Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 523: Settlement! [Grand and Sacred Expedition] (7k6)

The siege of Vaal Keep continues.

But everyone had already seen what happened in the sky before.

The "Dragon of Destruction" Fafnir annihilated himself, while the "Archbishop" Luo Xiu bore almost all the impact alone.

The entire sky above the Val Fortress had been illuminated red by the terrifying explosion, like a surging sea of ​​fire reflected in the sky.

This had a very obvious shock and impact on both the Empire's expeditionary force and the dark army of the Val Fortress.

The death of Fafnir basically indicated the total collapse of the garrison of Val Fortress. The morale of the expeditionary army was boosted to an unprecedented level. All the elite expeditionary soldiers fighting on the front line were like a torrent that destroyed everything, gradually clearing out all the enemies that stood in their way, and finally completely poured into Val Fortress.

Outside the fortress, the deep pit that had previously released the "Abyss Beasts" and the Abyss Beasts that kept pouring out of it were almost completely slaughtered by the warlocks under the command of the "Secret Sage" Dukeler, who controlled the war puppets.

The impacts don’t end there.

Fafnir's death also marked an irreversible gap in the strongest combat power between the two sides.

Although the "Archbishop" Luo Xiu has fallen into a coma due to serious injuries, the expeditionary force still has three "Six-fold Destiny" saints who are in almost prime condition.

"The Knight of Heaven's Word" Stuart, "The Holy Knight of the Sky Ring" Davild, and "The Sage of Secrets" Dukeler, three saints of the "Sixfold Destiny", crushed the only ten executioners left in the Val Fortress with great ease.

……

Afterwards, the siege of the Val Fortress developed like this—

Ten minutes after the explosion of Fafnir, the Dragon of Destruction, Quesanx, the Dragon of Justice, once again launched a "Surge of Destruction" at the Val Fortress, completely destroying the front wall of the Val Fortress.
Twenty minutes after the explosion of Fafnir, the "Dragon of Destruction", Tatia, together with the two "Four-Winged Angels" previously summoned by the "Archbishop", killed Alziaz, the "Lord of Illusionary Spirit", whose true name had been revealed.

Forty minutes after the Fafnir explosion, Stuart, the "Knight of Heaven's Word", and his Dragon Eagle Knights, and Darwild, the "Paladin of the Sky Ring", and his Knights Templar, occupied and cleared the outer city of the Val Fortress.

Sixty minutes after the explosion of Fafnir, Stuart and Darwild captured the inner city of Val Fortress and completely occupied its core official residence.

Three hours after the explosion, the expeditionary force completely occupied the entire urban area of ​​Val Fortress and thoroughly eliminated all remaining resistance.

……

During the siege of the Val Fortress, a total of 230,000 Dark Army soldiers were annihilated, and more than 100,000 were routed and fled.

More than 2,000 "Liao Shou" and "Black Fang" were killed or captured, and more than 1,000 fled;
Eleven "executioners" were killed, two were captured, and five escaped.

On the same morning, May 768, 5 in the Tianqi calendar, around 2: a.m.

The commander-in-chief of the Songyuan expeditionary army, Lord Gawain Bakar, the Knight Commander of the Songyuan Round Table Throne, announced the end of the battle to the entire army.

The Val Fortress was finally completely controlled and occupied by the expeditionary force.

The battle ended with the expeditionary force's resounding victory.

……

The next day.

Val Fortress, Rochester Manor.

In this manor, which was originally the special palace of the "Chief Executioner" Fafnir Roches, the Archbishop of the Church, "Rosius Carlos", was slowly waking up from a coma.

When he first woke up, he felt as if his whole body was falling apart, and he felt pain every time he turned his body slightly.

However, Luo Xiu quickly adapted to this feeling.

The first thing Luo Xiu did after waking up was to open the panel and confirm his current condition.

He still remembered that he had opened the "Lightless Cage" before and bore almost the entire impact of Fafnir's self-annihilation. At the moment when the maintenance time of the "God-cast Flesh and Blood" ended, the shield applied to himself was completely shattered in an instant, and his own health points were rapidly decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

However, thanks to his many life-saving expertise, the end of his health points dropping is just the "severely injured" blood line.

But despite this, the power of Fafnir's self-detonation, which combined his own life with the several powers of [Red Lotus], was still terrifying. Even Luo Xiu, who was at the center of the explosion, still lost consciousness in an instant. However, Fafnir's self-detonation did not spread outside the "Lightless Cage".

For Luo Xiu, the only cost of bearing it alone was being unconscious for a day, which was still worth it.

And now-

In the panel that Luo Xiu opened to display his own status, he was already in a very healthy state.

Powerful recovery specialties such as "Aspect of the Blazing Sun" and "Bloodline of the Demon God Brigantis" have healed all the injuries he suffered during the whole day he was unconscious.

You don't even need to rely on external means. Just rest for a day or two and you will recover your energy.

This is probably how Luo Xiu judged his current condition.

After making sure that he was in good condition, he propped himself up, leaned against the bed and sat up, leaning the upper half of his body on the soft pillow.

At this point, Luo Xiu's consciousness had completely returned to normal.

He then began to look around the room he was in. He was the only one in the room that was not luxurious and could even be called simple.

Luo Xiu then expanded his perception and could sense that there were no less than dozens of spiritualities surging outside the room, most of which were [Glorious] spirits, and some were [Supreme].

One can guess without even looking that Dawild and Stuart have arranged a number of clergymen and royal knights to guard this manor to prevent anyone from disturbing their rest.

That's fine too.

At least no one will disturb him now. Luo Xiu raised his hand and rubbed his temple. Then he opened the panel and began to recall other things in his mind.

He still remembers.

Before he finally lost consciousness and fell into a coma, he used the last "Ancient Dragon's Bite" to reduce the health of "Dragon of Destruction" Fafnir to 0 points.

I should have successfully taken down Fafnir's final blow.

At the same time, Luo Xiu had already opened his own mailbox panel.

At the top of the list was the reward for killing the "Illusionary Spirit Lord" Alziaz - Tatia and the two "Four-Winged Angels" who were summoned had already killed Him;
There are also rewards for killing the "Wild Hunt Demon" Gabriel, two "Executioners", and hundreds of ordinary enemies.

But there is no reward for killing Fafnir, the Dragon of Destruction.

In the task panel, there is no completion prompt for Fafnir's "Divine Oracle" task.

"..."

A solemn look appeared on Luo Xiu's face for a moment.

Such a scene seems familiar.

Luo Xiu vaguely remembered that he had encountered a situation where he had actually succeeded in killing the opponent but did not really kill him when he first arrived in Red Maple City.

At that time, he and Anthony, Connor and other Holy Inquisitors fought against the "incarnation of evil" Starro, and Luo Xiu also gave the opponent the final blow.

However, the kill reward was not triggered in the panel. At that time, Starro completed his resurrection with the "container" that had been prepared long ago.

The same is probably true for Fafnir now... Luo Xiu thought. That might also be related to the "Devourer Dragon" and the "Original Demon".

If we think about it from this perspective, perhaps the immortality of the "Original Demon" is also the reason why Fafnir dares to annihilate himself.

He also knew that he would not really die, at least not like this -

Luo Xiu thought to himself that if the "Original Demon" really appeared, relying only on himself in the [Glorious] form and the "Four-Winged Angel" Tatya, it would be difficult to reveal the true name of the Original Demon of a higher status, at least at the level of "Star Spirit", without exposing the existence of the [Abyss] and the "Holy Scripture of the Abyss".

This actually disrupted Luo Xiu's plans a little, but it might not be a bad thing.

Because in Luo Xiu's earliest plan, if Fafnir in the form of the "Original Demon" really appeared, and after several "Sixfold Fate" saints joined forces to seriously injure him, Luo Xiu would be ready to open the "Lightless Cage" to block the outside world's perception.
Then, he combined the "Scripture of the Abyss" with the [Abyss] skill "Demon Incarnation" to upgrade himself to a demon.

When facing the "Gluttonous Tyrant" Brigantis, Luo Xiu, who was only at the fifth level of destiny, was able to upgrade to the same level of "True Ancestor Demon" as Brigantis with the help of the "Holy Scripture of the Abyss".

Now I have reached the sixth level of destiny, and with the help of the "Scripture of the Abyss", I can theoretically be upgraded to the "Original Demon". This is the only way to truly reveal the true name of the "Devourer Dragon" Fafnir, and truly kill Him, or even devour Him.

But this would inevitably bring with it the risk of being exposed. However, at least now that the Val Fortress had been successfully captured and the "Dragon of Destruction" Fafnir had disappeared, there was no need to consider this issue for the time being.

"..."

While thinking, Luo Xiu was also thinking about other things.

At present, the other initiates in the expeditionary force do not know that Fafnir will become the "Original Devil".

And if Fafnir is really "resurrected", at least under the current circumstances, it will be impossible for him to recapture the Val Fortress.

This is a rare quietness.

The expeditionary force is taking a full rest in the Val Fortress, after which it will prepare to actually cross the Val Rift and head towards the heart of the Dark Principality.

Pointing directly to the Dark Metropolis - the end of the "War of Judgment", the final battle between demigods, is getting closer and closer.

Luo Xiu was thinking about this.

Then, he opened the task panel, opened the main task of the "annihilation" difficulty, and opened the [Grand and Sacred Expedition].

According to previous plans and arrangements.

After successfully capturing the Lower Val Fortress, Luo Xiu prepared to finally settle the main mission of the "Destruction" difficulty, and then settle the rewards for killing the "Wild Hunt Demon" Gabriel and the "Illusionary Spirit Lord" Alziaz.

At this time, in the task panel of [Grand and Sacred Expedition] opened by Luo Xiu, it was already in the "settlement available" status.

A bright light flashed in Luo Xiu's eyes.

He then put aside the messy and complicated thoughts in his mind and focused on the upcoming settlement of the destruction mission [The Grand and Sacred Expedition].

The necessary "sacrifice" of Anthony, Connor, Albert, Lansas, Hubert and a group of comrades was also routinely carried out.

"——Mission accomplished!"

Luo Xiu then gave the panel the final settlement instruction.

[Completed the main quest: Grand and Sacred Expedition (Difficulty of Doom)]

【The "War of Judgment" has reached the middle stage. The supreme emperor of your faction, the "Nolan Empire", "Emperor Augustwell", has officially declared a counterattack against the Dark Principality.

As the "bishop" of the Red Maple City Church, you lead your clergy on a sacred expedition, and eventually successfully capture the sinful nest, capture the "Fafnir City", and recover most of the sinful territory of Fafnir.

This is a great achievement worthy of praise.

The grand and sacred expedition has come to this point, you are now clothed in glory and singing a triumphant song along the way you have come. 】

[Main mission objective: embark on an expedition, eventually reach and conquer "Fafnir City" (completed)]

[Additional Mission Objective 1: On the journey of the Holy Expedition, conquer and occupy the "Caveri Fortress" (completed)]

[Additional Mission Objective 2: Kill the Executioner guarding "Kaffrey Fortress" and "Soul Taker" Zaska (Completed)]

【…】

[Additional Mission Objective 6: Kill the Executioner guarding "Esco City" (Completed)]

[Additional Mission Objective 7: On the journey of the Holy Expedition, conquer and enter the "Latama City" (completed)]

[Additional Mission Objective 8: Kill the Executioner guarding the "Latama City"... (Completed)]

【…】

[Additional Mission Objective 36: On the journey of the Holy Expedition, conquer and occupy the "Val Fortress" (completed)]

[Additional Mission Objective 37: On the journey of the Holy Expedition, conquer and enter the "Los Angeles City" (completed)]

[Additional Mission Objective 38: Kill the Executioner guarding the "Los Angeles City" (Completed)]

[The task is being settled...]

【获得主要完成奖励：基础经验+680000、自由属性点数+68、命途适配“传说”品质专长*1、命途适配“史诗”品质专长*2、命途适配“稀有”品质专长*3】

[Get additional completion rewards: Complete 38 additional mission objectives, get basic experience +6080000, free attribute points +608]

[Obtain special completion rewards: complete 38 additional mission objectives and obtain 3 "Legendary" quality specialties for destiny adaptation]

【…】

When the final reward results of the task settlement were refreshed on the panel, the light in Luo Xiu's eyes became brighter!

——Nearly 7 million experience points, nearly 700 free attribute points, three "rare" quality specialties, two "epic" quality specialties, and four "legendary" quality specialties!
This is all the huge rewards you can get for perfectly completing a "robbery" difficulty task!

Compared to the previously settled hidden side quest [The Scourge of Quesanx] of the same "annihilation" difficulty, except that [The Grand and Sacred Expedition] does not have a "divine" quality expertise reward, the other rewards as the main quest are indeed much richer.

Luo Xiu rubbed his hands excitedly, and then, with full of piety and expectation, he once again performed a pious and necessary ritual "sacrifice" -

"I sacrifice Anthony's ten years of singleness..."

"I sacrificed Albert to be single for ten years..."

"I offer Lansas ten years of singleness..."

"I sacrificed Thomas to be single for ten years..."

"I'm offering... uh, Dawild ten years of singleness?"

"..."

After destroying all of his comrades in a few minutes, Luo Xiu gave the panel the instruction to "resolve" all his specialties.

"open!"

"..."

[Adapting to the "rare" quality expertise generation...]

【…】

The first three times you perform the "rare" quality feat, you will get [Hands of Purity], [Light of Revelation], and [Guidance of Holy Prayer] respectively.
The first two are existing "rare" quality specialties, which enhance the effects of existing specialties by about 50%, while the latter is a brand new "rare" quality specialty that provides a small amount of mana recovery and skill cooldown reduction.

Next, Luo Xiu settled the "Epic" quality feat——[Adapting to the "Epic" quality feat generation...]

[Generated "Epic" quality expertise]

[Obtained expertise: Divine Glory's Absolution (Epic)! ]

[The Absolution of Divine Glory (Epic): All sins of the mortal world are as lost as confusion - you are granted absolution by the "Divine Glory".]

[Your "divinity" attribute increases by 48 points, and your "physical attack" gains an additional calculation base of 2 times the value of "divinity".]

[The divine light is the light of forgiveness - the "holy light" attribute damage you deal, which is affected by the "physical attack" attribute value, increases the damage by an additional 20%, and the "holy light" resistance penetration of this part of the "holy light" attribute damage increases by an additional 20%. ]

【…】

[Adapting to the generation of "epic" quality expertise...]

[Obtain the expertise "Spiritual Master (Epic)"]!
[You already have: Spiritual Master (Epic)]

[Spiritual Master (Epic)——Expertise Upgraded! 】

[Spiritual Master (Epic): Your control over 'spirituality' has been analyzed to the utmost. You are gradually understanding its essence and realizing that the body, mind and spirit are tending to be one.

Your "divinity" attribute increases by 36 points, and other attributes increase by 12 points. Your mana calculation base value will gain an additional 7.5 times the value of the "divinity" attribute. At the same time, your "mana" and "spell attack" will both gain an additional 30% increase. 】

【…】

After settling two "epic" quality specialties, the harvest was not bad. Finally, Luo Xiu rubbed his hands, and with bright eyes, he began to settle four "legendary" quality specialties!

[Adapting to the "Legendary" quality expertise generation...]

[Generated "Legendary" quality expertise]

[Obtained expertise: Holy Power of the Sun (Legend)! ]

[The Holy Power of the Sun (Legend): The Sun has blessed you in an instant - He promised you to be given a more original and purer spirituality and power. It is a divine right.]

[Your "divinity" attribute value +68, your "physical attack" and "spell attack" gain an additional calculation base of 1 times the "divinity" value. ]

[Once per day - When you use the [Glorious] Level I/Level II authority for the first time each day, you can reuse the [Glorious] Level I/Level II authority once more.]

【…】

[Adapting to the "Legendary" quality expertise generation...]

[Generated "Legendary" quality expertise]

[Gained expertise: Blazing Sun (Legend)! ]

[Scorching Sun (Legend): Blazingly fierce! The sun of heaven will descend! The pure light will purify! The unclean blasphemy will be annihilated!]

[Your "divinity" attribute value +32, "strength" attribute +32, "perception" attribute +24, your "physical attack" and "spell attack" are increased by an additional 20%. ]

[The blazing sun will purify everything. When you cause "Holy Light" attribute damage, you lose a certain amount of health points, and the target that has been damaged by your "Holy Light" attribute will be additionally damaged by "Original Trauma" based on its "Holy Light" attribute damage - you will take 5~10% of the "Holy Light" attribute damage, and the target will take an additional 20~40% "Original Trauma". When your health points are less than 50% of the upper limit, this feat will automatically become invalid. ]

【…】

[Adapting to the "Legendary" quality expertise generation...]

[Generated "Legendary" quality expertise]

[Obtain the expertise "Divine Aspect of the Blazing Sun (Legend)"]!
[You already have: God's Aspect of the Blazing Sun (Legend)]

[The Divine Aspect of the Blazing Sun (Legend) — Expertise upgraded! ]

[The Divine Aspect of the Blazing Sun (Legend): You will throw yourself into the Blazing Sun until you are refined into His satisfactory Aspect.]

[Your "divinity" attribute +72, ​​"physique" attribute +54, your "life value" gains an additional calculation base of 15 times the "divinity" attribute. ]

[When you restore mana, you also restore health at 90% of the amount restored; when you restore health, you also restore mana at 90% of the amount restored. (The health and mana restored passively by this feat will not trigger the restoration effect again)]

【…】

[Adapting to the "Legendary" quality expertise generation...]

[Generated "Legendary" quality expertise]

[Obtained expertise: Sword of Heaven's Strike (Legend)! ]

[Sword of Heaven's Strike (Legend): The Sword of Divine Judgement was given to me by the Sun of Forge, and I will punish it with Heaven's Strike! ]

[Your "Strength" attribute value +36, "Divinity" attribute +36, "Resistance" attribute +24]

[Bring down a divine punishment on a glowing enemy, the "holy light" attribute damage you cause increases by 30%, and the "holy light" resistance penetration caused increases by 30%. When the current health of the target punished by divine punishment is less than 50% of its upper limit, the "holy light" attribute damage caused to it increases by an additional 30%, and the "holy light" resistance penetration caused increases by an additional 30%. ]

【…】

"……call."

Staring intently at all the rewards calculated on the panel, Luo Xiu breathed a sigh of relief.

This is all the rewards you get after completing [Grand and Sacred Expedition]!

The settlement results of all the [Glorious] destiny adaptation feats were very good. Luo Xiu confirmed the settlement results with satisfaction. Then, he opened the mailbox panel again, and there were two heavyweight rewards that could be settled -

That was about the settlement of rewards for killing "Wild Hunt Demon" Gabriel and "Disillusionment Lord" Alziaz!

[Kill "Wild Hunt Demon" Gabrio (lv.70), gain 74311 basic experience points]

[Gabrio (lv.70), the "Wild Hunt Demon", is 10 levels behind you]

[Kill above your level! Gain 100% extra experience points...]

[“Burning Soul” takes effect…]

[“Evil Soul” takes effect…]

["Extremely Evil Soul" takes effect, gain 50% additional experience points]

[Gabrio, the Wild Hunt Demon, has the highest attribute of "Strength"]

[You gain: "Strength" attribute +10]

["Noble Divine Punishment" takes effect, gain 64 free attribute points]

[Rewards settlement, actual experience points gained: 222933! ]

【…】

[Gabrio, the "Wild Hunt Demon", is a annihilation-level boss]

[Rewards for killing the annihilation-level boss are being generated...]

【…】

[Kill rewards generated]

[Obtain the expertise "End of the Wild Hunt (Legend, Special)", free attribute points*20]!
[The End of the Wild Hunt (Legend, Special): The bloodthirsty, wild hunting horror will eventually meet his end - and before that destined end comes, he will kill until the end of blood, forever. ]

[Your "Strength" attribute increases by 102 points. Your "Physical Attack" gains an additional 3 times the "Strength" attribute calculation base, and an additional 20% increase. ]

[When you attack the same target continuously, each time the attack hits the target, it will be inflicted with a layer of "Wild Hunt Corrosion", increasing the total damage it receives by 1% for 3 seconds. When it is triggered repeatedly, the duration will be refreshed.

Every time 10 layers of "Wild Hunt Corrosion" are stacked, the target's all-attribute damage will be increased by an additional 5%, with a maximum stacking limit of 50 layers. 】

【…】

——"The End of the Wild Hunt"!
This is a legendary quality template feat with a "special" entry owned by "Wild Hunt Demon" Gabrio. It can grant the target up to 75% full damage vulnerability, which is really quite powerful.

Afterwards, Luo Xiu focused his attention on the final settlement—

That was the final kill by the "Four-Winged Angel" Tatya, and the kill reward for the "Illusionary Spirit Lord" Alziaz was settled!

[Kill "Illusionary Spirit Lord" Alziaz (lv.64), gain 67922 basic experience points]

[Alziaz (lv.64), the "Illusionary Spirit Lord", is 4 levels behind you]

[Kill above your level! Gain 40% extra experience points...]

[“Burning Soul” takes effect…]

[“Evil Soul” takes effect…]

["Extremely Evil Soul" takes effect, gain 50% additional experience points]

[The highest attribute of "Illusionary Spirit Lord" Alziaz is "Perception"]

[You gain: "Perception" attribute +10]

["Noble Divine Punishment" takes effect, gain 64 free attribute points]

[Rewards settlement, actual experience points gained: 163012! ]

【…】

[“Illusionary Spirit Lord” Alziaz is a calamity-level boss]

[Rewards for killing the annihilation-level boss are being generated...]

【…】

[Kill rewards generated]

[Obtain the expertise "Disillusioned Spirit Descendant (Legend)", free attribute points*20]!
[Disillusioned Spirit Descendant (Legend): Immersed in the elegy of destruction, the only surviving blood descendant ascends to a demon. 】

[Your "Perception" attribute increases by 80 points, and your "Resistance" attribute increases by 80 points. ]

[You are no longer affected by the "illusions" used by targets whose levels are not higher than yours (except for authority). At the same time, if the target who uses "illusions" on you has "perception" and "resistance" attributes lower than yours, the "illusions" used by them will backfire on themselves and increase their hallucination effects to 200% of the original. ]

【…】

——This is the final result of the reward for killing "Phantom Spirit Lord" Alziaz!

A "Legendary" quality feat, "Disillusioned Scion", is also very effective.

Luo Xiu then confirmed the result of the final settlement, and after completing all the settlements, he closed the panel with satisfaction.

Then he heard footsteps outside the door of the room, followed by a soft knock on the door.

There were three extremely dense and surging spiritual energies approaching the room from far away. Luo Xiu knew that they were Stuart, the Knight of Heavenly Announcement, Dawild, the Holy Knight of the Heavenly Ring, and Dukeler, the Sage of Secrets.

They must have come to visit him. The timing was so perfect, it must be that the clergy and royal knights guarding the door heard the noise when he just woke up.

Huh... Luo Xiu then let out a long sigh of relief.

He then stood up from the bed, took the brand new holy robe that had been prepared from the wall shelf, and put it on.

"Ah."

Luo Xiu then whispered to the outside of the door in a weak voice:

"come in."

……

Outside the Vaal Fortress.

There is a mountain range about a hundred miles away from the fortress, which is made up of the remains of giant dragons that fell during the Age of Gods. Somewhere in the center of the mountain is a deep cave that has long been cracked and eroded.

That is also the tomb of an "ancient dragon" left over from the Age of Gods.

Inside the huge cave, the dark dragon, which was already dead but whose body was only half-rotten, suddenly opened its eyes.

As if being controlled by something, his half-exposed ferocious dragon head, his dragon jaw trembled, and gradually uttered a sporadic, hoarse voice -

"in this way……"

"You have died once, Rochester..."

"..."

Strange shadows began to crawl on the half-rotten dragon corpse.

The jagged, horrifying erosion and decay were also recovering visibly, and his dragon pupils gradually emitted a scarlet light mixed with dark purple.

"Very good...very good. Wonderful."

“Death is reinvention…Death is the first step to rebirth.”

"Now……"

He is still making intermittent, distorted sounds—

"Rejoice, praise... This is the best praise we can give, we are so united."

"You have finally...completely become me, accepted me, and integrated into me."

"Fafnir Rochester..."

"..."

……

(End of this chapter)