Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 364 [Limited Time Mission: Dark Sky Haze]!
The "Bishop of Ring Flame" Drummond, who had already reached the fifth level of [Lost] fate... just died like that?

They, the players... had only been separated from "Bishop" Luo Xiu for less than an hour...

Another "bishop" died just like that?

Thomas was still a little confused. He couldn't help but look at the other players around him who were choosing weapons, and saw that they had the same confused expressions on their faces.

This means that other players have also received the prompt that the [Encounter the Ring Flame Bishop!] quest has been completed. This is not a glitch in my panel, but a real thing that happened -

"Ring Flame Bishop" Drummond... I was wondering if this would be the main boss...

Thomas thought to himself as he opened the chat group of the "patrolmen" of the Red Maple City Church.

The new messages came out like a Gatling gun, +1, +1. In just a short while, more than ninety messages were added.

[Wei Lou Ting Yu]: Damn, did you guys receive the task completion notification? That Ring Flame Bishop is dead?

[Rookie]: Die...die...

[Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile]: So cool, experience +5000 - but who killed him? Was it our bishop?
[Thomas the Tank Engine]: It must be the bishop... after all, it was he who issued the task, right?

[Thomas the Tank Engine]: I was thinking before, 'That "Bishop of Ring Flame" and our Bishop are both "Bishops", and I was wondering who is stronger...

[Thomas the Tank Engine]: It seems that our bishop is as strong as a monster (appreciation)

[Living with a woman]: You are not loyal!

Alicia: Indeed.
[Human High-Quality Repeater]: Indeed
【……】：……

Still chatting, after confirming that other players had received the prompt that the [Encounter the Ring Flame Bishop!] mission was completed, Thomas sighed for a while in the group chat and found that the other "Church Patrol" players had completely turned into Bishop bragging.

Comments like "I support the Bishop", "I think the Bishop is still charming~", "Bishop, I want to give birth to a baby for you!!!" and so on, emerged like mushrooms after a while of chatting. Thomas also followed suit with a few words, and then he temporarily closed the chat.

The "bishop" of the Red Maple City Church, that Luo Xiu Carlos, is indeed very powerful, which is a good thing for them, the players...Thomas thought to himself, and a smile of joy rose at the corner of his mouth.

This is the "Leader" NPC - Thomas, a heavy MMORPG player, knows very well how important a strong faction leader is to a novice.

As for this "public beta" - Thomas was originally worried that there might be better options besides landing on the "Red Maple City Fortress". After all, from the information of several players who were willing to disclose their respective landing sites, there were also several initial landing sites that should be quite attractive. But now it seems - landing on the "Red Maple City" again, this is the most correct choice he made for this "public beta".

Thomas felt quite satisfied.

At this moment, due to the completion of the mission [Encounter with the Ring Flame Bishop!], Thomas has accumulated nearly 6,000 experience points in his experience slot.

He had never fought such a prosperous battle...Thomas was secretly happy.

He temporarily decided to store these experience points first.

I don’t know when the apostles of “Holy Abyss” will appear during the public beta. If I can go to the Lost Royal Court again, these experience points can be used to learn a lot of skills, techniques and knowledge.

Thomas thought about this.

He is now extremely eager to complete some new church tasks as soon as possible so that he can use his "merits" to exchange for the "Bronze Key", the key to promotion to the second destiny, and officially become a transcendent.

But it was just a thought, and Thomas then let go of these thoughts and focused on the selection of the extraordinary weapons at hand.

There were many extraordinary weapons suitable for the "Priest" profession. After several choices, Thomas finally chose a long-handled warhammer engraved with golden inscriptions.

It was a green quality weapon named [Hammer of the Saints]. When held, it could greatly increase the "strength" and "divinity" attributes, and had the inherent skill effects of armor-breaking and penetration.

Its various attribute additions and inherent skill multipliers are higher than the original "Mithril Straight Sword", and it is more suitable for the "Priest" profession. It is the weapon on the display shelf that most suits Thomas's taste.

Thomas then gently took down the warhammer engraved with gold patterns in front of him, weighed it and found it was just the right weight, then took the warhammer to report to the priest Vidrian who was waiting at the door.

Seeing Thomas coming, Vidrian nodded slightly and asked him:
"Have you chosen yet? Thomas the Tank Engine?"

“Yes, I chose this one.”

Thomas said, holding the warhammer in both hands and presenting it to Vidrian.

When Vidrian saw Thomas choose this extraordinary weapon, his expression did not change. He just nodded and said:

"This is indeed a weapon that suits you very well."

"Its name is the Hammer of the Saint. It has been gloriously inscribed by your priest, the 'Pastor of Purification' Howard, and possesses..."

"..."

Vidrian introduced to Thomas in detail the characteristics of the extraordinary weapon in his hand. Most of these contents had already been explained in the panel, but Thomas still listened to Vidrian's introduction carefully.

After introducing all this to Thomas, Vidrian turned around, picked up a small purse from the table beside him, and handed it to Thomas.

"According to the bishop's instructions, this is the beneficence you deserve."

Thomas reached out to take it, weighed it, and found it was bulging with coins. These were the ten gold coins that Bishop Rossu Carlos had asked Vidrian to count and give to the players.

"Thank you, Vidrian."

Thomas thanked Vidrian. He had already made up his mind that he would go to the "Forge Manor" to see if he could forge anything good with these ten gold coins. It also happened that he could go and see if another beta test player "Frost Moon" was still there.

And Vidrian just shook his head.

"No need to thank me. The one you should thank is our bishop, Lord Ross Carlos."

“Thank you, Bishop!”

Thomas then showed sincerity and expressed his heartfelt thanks to his bishop according to Vidrian's words.

To be honest, whether as a "priest" of the church or as a "player" quasi-fourth calamity, he really likes this "bishop".

——Because he gave so much!

……

After Thomas, other "Church Patrol" players had also chosen their own extraordinary weapons and walked out of the room.

Just like when Thomas met Vidrian, the other clergy also reported to Vidrian, and the clergy handed over the gold coins that the bishop promised to give them to the players at the same time.

The players were all very happy holding their newly acquired equipment and gold coins, and they then left the "missionary station" under the guidance of Vidrian.

The captain of the team, "Iron Pot Stew Crocodile", told Vidrian that they had just finished today's mission and encountered many things. They wanted to go back to their residence to have a good rest. Vidrian then sent them out of the church.

It was on the way to the church's villa estate in the suburbs of Red Maple City.

"Old Crocodile, what should we do now? Are we really going back to our residence?" Thomas asked the "Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile" who was wearing heavy paladin steel armor beside him, watching him repeatedly playing with a huge double-edged battle axe in his hand.

[Paladin's Slash], the extraordinary weapon newly selected by the crocodile from the Holy Reserve Hall, has a very concise and straightforward name.

That and the [Hammer of Saints] chosen by Thomas are both green quality weapons, but the [Paladin's Slash] chosen by Tieguodun Dayu has higher attribute bonuses, and if you want to equip it, the requirements for basic attributes are also relatively higher.

The Iron Pot Stew Crocodile has been promoted to the second destiny of [Glory] and has almost all his attribute points in "Strength". His "Strength" attribute just meets the minimum requirement for the equipment [Paladin's Slash].

"Where are you going? Well, just take a stroll."

The crocodile put the double-edged battle axe in his hand on his back, spread his hands and said: "We don't have any mission now, and today's duty has been completed. Why don't we explore a little bit."

"In that case," Thomas suggested, "why don't we go to the Forge Manor? We just gave out ten gold coins. We can go to the [Authentic Dwarf Blacksmith Shop] and forge some new equipment and secondary weapons."

"Offhand weapon..."

The crocodile looked thoughtful, nodded after a while, and said:

"Indeed. This game has a setting where equipment will drop upon death... It is indeed necessary to prepare some spare equipment in advance."

The big guy agreed with Thomas' proposal, and other players also agreed. The group of players immediately changed their route and headed towards the [Authentic Dwarf Blacksmith Shop].

But just as they walked out of the street and were still a long way from the dwarf blacksmith shop.

--boom!!!!!

Suddenly, a huge bang was heard from the direction of the Red Maple City Fortress wall!
As the ground shook violently, Thomas, Crocodile and other players were all a little unsteady on their feet.

At the same time, the sky darkened and became much gloomier.

"What happened?!"

The player with the id "rookie" shouted first.

Thomas, who had a vague feeling of what was happening, had already opened the chat channel of nearby players.

【自甘Doro！】: My family, guard the city wall, the dark army is coming!

[Steel Jaw]: Wow, this is such an outrageous scene! There's a red flying dragon in the sky, and... a giant on the ground! Oh my god, it's a giant!
[Steel Jaw Warrior]: There are so many giants, it should be a legion!
[A Small Horse Pulling a Big Cart]: That must be the 'Executioner'... I seem to have seen that flag during the internal test, three executioners!
【2.5夂吾】: Will I win?
[Loser Eats Dust]: You will win!
【……】：……

"……what?"

Looking at the dozens of messages that were instantly refreshed in the chat channel, Thomas couldn't help but exclaimed "Ah".

And his panel also jumped shortly after the first roar, and showed a brand new mission content -

[Trigger limited-time mission: Dark sky haze (hell difficulty)]

[Recommended level: lv.30, triple destiny and above]

[Task type: time-limited task (countdown 11h59min)]

[Mission Description: The Dark Army has returned, and this time the momentum of the invasion is unprecedentedly fierce - the Red Maple City Fortress where you are is facing a new crisis!
As a "Church Patrolman", you know your duty - return to the church as soon as possible, prepare with the church's clergy, and fight against foreign enemies together!
You have truly been involved in this decisive battle, and now you will win the goal of this battle for your camp. 】

[Current Camp: Nolan Empire——Red Maple City, Holy See Church]

[Main mission objective: Kill as many enemies as possible from the "Dark Principality" camp, and drive the Dark Vanguard Army camp 20 miles away from Red Maple City (enemy targets are not limited to: players, NPCs).]

[Additional Mission Objective (Option 1): Assist in killing the enemy leader, Executioner 'Silver Blood Dragonborn' Quilton]

[Additional Mission Objective (Option 2): Assist in killing the enemy leader, Executioner 'Crow of Despair' Astralis]

[Additional Mission Objective (Option 3): Assist in killing the enemy leader, Executioner 'Storm Lord' Muset]

[Completion reward (completion of main goal): calculated based on task completion. Basic experience +10000, free attribute points +10; the more enemies you kill and the stronger they are, the more basic experience and free attribute points you will get.]

[Additional Completion Reward (Complete any additional goal): Basic Experience +5000, Free Attribute Points +5]

[Special Completion Reward: Complete the final kill of any enemy "Executioner" leader, and you will receive an additional 100000 basic experience points, 30 free attribute points, and an additional "Legendary" quality specialty*1 that matches your destiny (up to 1);

After completing the final kill of the enemy's "Quadruple Destiny" leader, you will receive an additional 30000 basic experience points, 10 free attribute points, and an additional 'Epic' quality feat*1 that matches your destiny (up to 1).

After completing the final kill of the enemy's "Triple Destiny" leader, you will receive an additional 10000 basic experience points, 5 free attribute points, and an additional 'rare' quality specialty*1 that matches your destiny (up to one)]

【…】

Wow, what a high reward!

After the panel refreshed with the newly triggered limited-time mission [Dark Sky Haze], Thomas' eyes lit up!
He had noticed it keenly.

Compared to the limited-time mission [Red Maple City Decisive Battle] during the same period of the internal test, the difficulty of this limited-time mission has directly increased from "nightmare difficulty" to "hell difficulty"!
The basic reward for completion is nearly twice as high as during the internal test!
——It’s time to live!

……

Red Maple City, main street, deep in Lane 36.

In the stronghold that originally belonged to "Bishop Ring of Flame" Drummond, the clergy were carrying out the final cleanup work.

Luo Xiu stood quietly waiting at the core of the stronghold - at Drummond's original ritual site, while guarding the tattered corpse of the "Ring Flame Bishop" in front of him. He opened the panel and paid attention to what his players were doing.

Until he suddenly felt the ground shaking slightly, and there were many more posts in the [Player Forum] about players witnessing the attack of the Dark Army...

Also, his panel popped up at the same time, triggering the acceptance of a twelve-hour limited-time mission [Dark Sky Haze (Hell Difficulty)].

"..."

"It's finally here..."

The moment you see a new task triggered.

Luo Xiu's eyes became deep and a smile of harvest appeared on his face.

A golden holy flame leaped up from his palm, and one corner of it burned towards the body of Bishop Huanyan, reducing his final remains to ashes.

Then, he turned around and left.

……

(End of this chapter)