Imperial Crown.

Chapter 423 Memories are a punishment

The doors and windows were closed, but a wind blew for no apparent reason.

It was as cold and strong as the night sea breeze, blowing away the salt sprinkled on the doors and windows.

The curtains surged up like waves, and the doors of the wardrobe and dressing table were blown open and closed repeatedly, slapping and making loud noises.

The oil lamp, jewelry box and picture frame on the dressing table beside the bed were swept away by a force and scattered all over the floor with a loud bang.

The ranger and his wife watched in horror. In their 40 years of life, they had never seen such an inexplicable and horrific sight!
The wife covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming and struggled to get into her husband's arms, but the ranger could only instinctively hug his wife and was unable to provide her with any warmth.

Faced with this situation, they should have fled.

Anyone faced with this situation should run away.

But they didn't, because the person sitting on the bed at this moment, who caused all this, was their daughter!
"Dad, Mom..." The girl had a devilish stiff smile and begged, "Please, let me out, it hurts, it hurts--"

"Stop abusing my daughter, you damned devil!" The ranger trembled and held his wife tightly.

But at this moment he was more afraid that he would not be able to help but rush forward and interrupt Priest Lacus who was performing the purification ceremony.

A trace of regret welled up in his heart.

He discovered his daughter's abnormality more than a month ago.

The cheerful and lively child became serious and unsmiling, some things in the house disappeared inexplicably, and there were always strange noises in the middle of the night, as if the daughter was talking to someone.

The ranger kept silent because he was worried that his daughter would be mistaken for a witch.

He can't lose his heart.

The ranger realized the seriousness of the matter when he found his daughter biting and eating the family hen to death.

So he went all the way to Eagle Town to find Lux—

Because he didn't trust the local priest, the old-fashioned priest would burn his daughter to death. Only Lux would give equal care and sympathy to even the poorest people.

now.

Lux was half-kneeling in front of the bed. Even though the holy emblem in her hand was bent, she was still chanting scriptures calmly.

The holy light cast a white cloak over her.

In the dark room, she is the only light.

At this moment, the recitation of the scripture gradually came to an end. Lux opened her eyes, and there seemed to be holy light rippling in her aquamarine eyes:
"...in the name of the Lord of Light, by His mercy, wisdom, and courage—

I command you, filthy spirit, to pronounce your cursed name!"

The salt that seemed to be scattered around the house without any purpose emitted light, forming a sacred pentagram, and also dispelling the darkness of the entire room!

The little girl on the bed screamed in pain, her neck suddenly turned 180 degrees, and black blood flowed from her facial features: "... Dad, Mom! Make her stop!"

Lux looked solemn and dignified:
"The Book of the Holy Words, Chapter 7, Verse 13, The Lord said: What is your name!?"

The little girl strangled her throat with both hands, her nails dug into her skin and black blood flowed out. She was originally sitting on the bed, but suddenly one of her legs bent 90 degrees against the norm, trying to cover her mouth!
However, Lux's voice brought a will that she, or the evil spirit within her, could not disobey, and she had no choice but to obey:

"Jie faction Gurusuofei..."

Jie faction is the ruler of the third layer among the nine layers of hell. Gurushofei is the real name of this evil spirit. Only these four words of the real name mean that it is a low-level evil spirit in hell.

Lux stood up and said, "With the laurel crown and the sword of the Lord of Light as evidence, with the blood of the evil dragon and the authority to protect the human race as evidence—

This body is the temple of the pure spirit and cannot be desecrated by evil!"

"Get out!"

The girl's mouth opened like a python, and she let out a shrill scream that didn't belong to a living person:
“No…No!!!!”

The sound changed from sharp to rough, and a black and red shadow was pulled out of the girl's body.

thump.

The girl collapsed on the bed, sweat oozing from her skin, but the light of the sacred pentagram circle in the room never dimmed.

"Daughter--" The mother broke free from her husband's arms and rushed to the bed.

He completely forgot Lux's previous instructions.

"Come back!" The ranger tried to pull his wife's arm, but he was still a step too late.

A piece of the magic circle constructed with salt on the ground was broken, and heavy black mist seeped out like dirty water, covering the entire room!

The ranger's heart was filled with regret and guilt.

As a mortal, he didn't know that the evil spirits from hell that could come to the human world, after adapting to the laws of the material world, each had a strength of at least level 3; nor did he know what disadvantages a priest would have if he was bullied by a demon.

But he had eyes and could clearly see the terrible changes happening to his daughter's body!
His hair grew wildly like water grass, his body stretched out like a thin ghost, his skin turned blue and black like a dead person, and on his face hidden by the long hair was a vicious and sinister smile, and his hands that turned into sharp claws suddenly stabbed at Lux!

"Beautiful and kind idiot!"

As an evil spirit from the third level of hell, Gurusofei is evil and smart. Although he has the strength of level 3, he still felt a sense of loss in his heart when he saw Lux coming.

He had finally managed to break through the cracks in hell and come to the material world, but he was afraid that he would be sent back again soon.

However, what he didn't expect was that this priest, whose beauty was no less than that of the Succubus Queen, did not directly use divine magic to expel him, but instead arranged a purification ceremony!
If it was half a month ago, this set of rituals might still be effective for him, but now he has almost complete control over this body, and the probability of success of this ritual is less than 3%.

As a clergyman, this priest must be more aware of the pros and cons than this evil spirit, but he still chose this method.

There is only one answer, that is, she is too kind and cannot bear to hurt the girl he possessed.

whoosh-

The sharp claws passed by Lux's face, bringing up a few strands of broken gold threads, and the priest dodged the attack at the critical moment.

"Don't move, Your Excellency the Priest!" Gulusuofei shouted, "Now, stand there quietly and let me devour your essence, otherwise--"

He pointed his sharp claws at the trembling forest ranger couple at the door: "I will kill them now!"

The ranger's body was shaking, and he wanted to shout out some of the lines spoken by the heroes in the stories, such as "Don't worry about us" and "Kill this evil spirit to rid the world of harm", but when he opened his mouth, no sound came out.

The instinct for survival has overwhelmed everything.

"Haha, the human race..." Gurusuofei sneered and set his eyes on Lux: "Now... what are you doing!?"

Lux clasped her hands together, raised her arms, and finished her final prayer:
“…The Supreme Judgement!”

The holy light blew up and down under her feet like the wind, and swirled like lightning, fluttering the hem of her clothes.

Under the shining white holy light, her face was as holy as an angel.

Gulushuofei wanted to move, but a cross made of light suddenly rose from the ground, and chains of holy light shuttled up and tied him tightly to it!

Where the chains touched, thick black fog rose up and was then purified by the holy light that followed.

Holy light was blooming between Lux's raised hands.

"No, you can't do this, you can't do this!" Gulushuofei screamed at the top of his lungs: "If you kill me, this little girl will die too, too!!!"

He thought that based on the character Lux had shown before, she would definitely hesitate and be hesitant at this time, but Lux did not.

At this time, he could only use the hidden trick he had prepared in advance.

A black aura was lingering over the ranger's wife's head. The woman suddenly screamed, bursting out with terrible strength to break free from the ranger's restraints and pounced on Lux:
"Don't kill my daughter!!!"

However, before she could get close to Lux, she was suddenly bounced away by a layer of holy light and hit the wall with a bang.

At the same time, the holy light in Lux's hands bloomed to the limit.

The holy light surged out like a flood, a sandstorm, and a muddy sludge, dispersing and purifying all evil and darkness.

Lux's golden hair fluttered in the wind, and her expression was firm without a trace of mercy!

“Ah!!!!” A shrill roar came from Gulushofei’s mouth. His eyes bulged, his long tongue trembled, and his green skin melted like a candle under the shining holy light!
Although he was in pain, Gurusuofei was not in despair. He was an evil spirit in hell, and being saved at this time was just a matter of returning to his original residence.

But when he left the little girl's body, he felt an indescribable terrible pain!
This holy light was actually erasing all traces of his existence!

A rift that would lead him back to hell had already opened up behind him, but the chains on the cross made of holy light bound him firmly in place!
Only at this moment did he understand that the reason why Lux held the purification ceremony first was not stupidity, but confidence.

Even if he hadn't been purified by the ritual, Lux could have completely destroyed him!
“I curse you, I curse you——!!”

However, this sound could not be transmitted in the material world, and his so-called curse with malicious intent was also completely evaporated under the holy light.

The holy light disappeared completely, Lux dropped her hands and breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, the ranger's wife had already woken up in her husband's arms. Thinking back to what she had just done, she felt very guilty: "I'm sorry, Priest Lacus..."

"You're just being manipulated." Lux comforted her instead.

The forest ranger's wife nodded in thanks, walked to her daughter who was slumped on the ground, and started to cry as she knelt down.

The ranger closed his eyes and sighed.

In the end, they still failed to keep their daughter. "Mom... Dad..." The girl stammered, "I... I'm so hungry..."

The ranger was overjoyed. He touched his daughter's cheek, turned to Lux and knelt down: "Lord of Light, Priest, thank you for your help!"

Lux calmly accepted his courtesy, and then said: "This method is more powerful than the purification ritual, and it also caused considerable harm to her."

"For the next year, don't let her do strenuous exercise. Let her eat more meat. If that doesn't work, let her eat more eggs and drink more milk. It's best to take her to church to pray every week."

After hearing this, the forest ranger and his wife nodded repeatedly, then knelt forward and respectfully handed a purse to Lux.

Lux took it: "May God bless you."

Then he turned and left.

She is not short of money and does not care about money.

But if she refused the money, she would certainly gain a reputation for being kind and selfless, but that would also block the way for other clergy who made a living from this.

The corruption of some priests in the Vatican is closely related to this inhumane and strict moral standard.

As for why she didn't use magic at the beginning, it was because using magic directly to exorcise evil spirits would cause serious damage to the little girl. After all, her purpose was to save people.

When Lux returned to the Eagle Town Church, the sky had begun to darken.

The sunset painted the earth a beautiful red.

In principle, Lacus is no longer a regular priest of the Holy See and should not live in this church.

But principles are principles, and no one expressed dissatisfaction with this, even Bishop Herlind of the neighboring Xuefeng Territory pretended not to know.

At this time, there were fewer and fewer people praying in the church, so Lux sat in the confessional.

Listening to people's stories and confessing their sins are also essential duties of a priest.

A peasant woman came to confess that she had put nails in her husband's bread in order to take revenge on her husband's mother; a baker confessed that in order to increase profits, he reduced the weight of each piece of dough by 1/10; a husband came to confess that he beat his wife after getting drunk.

Lux consoled him gently, never showing any contempt, disdain or hostility.

Another voice appeared from behind the black cloth-covered partition: "Priest Lacus."

It's Fiona.

Lux said, "Please speak."

After a brief silence, Fiona spoke with difficulty:
"…I want to confess my disrespect for my grandfather."

"My grandfather, Mr. Gordon, is a kind, gentle, and sometimes strict old man. My parents died early when I was young, and he raised me. I can't express his love for me enough."

"But in the last few years of his life, he became insane and could not recognize anyone. He would yell and beat others if he was not satisfied with something."

"At first, I was able to calm down and take care of him, but later, I don't know why, my patience became less and less, I started to lose my temper with him, and started to scold him..."

"Even, sometimes, I even look forward to his death. I, I really..."

Having said this, I was already crying.

After hearing this, Lux couldn't help but sigh secretly, and then said softly:
"It is not a sin."

"Relationships between people are based on emotional bonds, which need to be maintained by both parties. When Mr. Gordon fell into a state of dementia, he had already lost the ability to establish and maintain bonds with others. If you are the only one making efforts, of course you will feel tired of this relationship."

"Well..." Fiona's emotions calmed down a little, but she obviously hadn't come out of it yet.

Lux continued, "I didn't spend much time with my grandfather, but I had a teacher who raised me since I was a child."

"Once, I ignored his dissuasion and insisted on going to the Elf Empire. After returning, I was seriously injured. Guess what the teacher felt at that time?"

Fiona said without hesitation: "He will definitely feel bad that you hurt yourself."

"Yes, that's true." Lux nodded: "The same goes for Mr. Gordon."

"At the end of his life, only his body was still alive, and his soul was already confused. If he was awake at the time, he would definitely not let you suffer."

"And if he were still alive now, he would definitely feel very distressed to see you so sad and upset because of him and unable to get over it."

Lux lowered her voice: "The Lord of Light will not forgive you because you have no sins; and Mr. Gordon must want to see you live happily."

"Even if it's for his sake, let yourself go."

Fiona replied with a nasal tone, "Well...thank you, Priest Lux."

After sitting for a while, Fiona got up and left.

Lux knew that Fiona would never come over just because of what she said, but at least this could be a start.

People cannot be immersed in memories forever.

For those who are nostalgic, memories are a punishment!
Memories always like to punish those who are nostalgic!

There were footsteps, followed by the sound of fabric rubbing against each other, and someone else sat down across from the confessional.

However, this time there was a long silence. It was obvious that the person on the other end found it difficult to talk about what was being said.

"Priest Lacus..."

It's Denise!

Lux was a little surprised, but she still replied calmly: "Please go ahead."

"I, I want to confess to my Lord here..." Denise's voice was trembling, and she bit her lip tightly: "Raven and I have an improper relationship between a man and a woman."

After saying this, she felt like her heart was about to jump out.

She didn't know how Lux would react.

But she could only talk to Lux.

Denise does like Raven, but she has no emotional foundation or marriage with Raven's uncle Donald.

But she is Raven's aunt after all, and the moral confusion and pressure have always accumulated in her heart.

"This is not your fault." Lux's voice was calm:
"You and I both know Raven's character and temper. If he takes the initiative, you can't refuse, and there will be no room for refusal."

"As for this kind of illicit relationship, although it is morally unacceptable, it does not harm anyone and does not involve infidelity or betrayal."

"If my Lord can forgive those who point their swords at his people, how can he not forgive this small mistake?"

Denise imagined Lux's reaction, which could be anger, sadness, or a perfunctory response due to repression.

She might feel better this way.

The only thing she didn't expect was that Lux would act so generously, which made her feel even more guilty: "...but I hurt you."

"If I didn't have dark thoughts, I wouldn't choose to confide in you..."

"It's nothing." Lux's voice remained calm: "I'm also a woman, I can understand your thoughts."

After talking it out, Denise felt a little relieved.

She was jealous of Lux.

It’s not because Lux is younger than her and has a more prominent family background.

It’s because Denise knows that the person Raven cares most about is Lux, and she can never replace her.

Now that she heard Lux's answer, the jealousy in her heart disappeared.

Lux actually forgave her dark thoughts just like that.

Who can not like such a considerate girl?
"Madam Denise, you don't have to worry about me too much." Lux said, "I am poisoned. I will return to the kingdom of the Lord of Light in five years at most."

"When the time comes, you will need to accompany Raven."

Even though it was a matter of life and death, Lux didn't care.

That was not a disguise, but a real preparation to face death, calmly and peacefully.

Denise's heart trembled: "Don't worry, Raven will definitely help you solve this problem."

"I will fully support him too!"

This is not just empty talk uttered in the heat of the moment.

Because Denise is about to return to her territory for the first time.

Prepare for war with all your strength.

……

(End of this chapter)