The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 168 Underground Church
Under the cover of the explosion, the three of them quickly crept to the right side and hid by the steps in front of the church entrance.

Eric peeked inside and pulled out a few more sonic bombs. Molly spotted them immediately, then turned and whispered in Elise's ear, "My ears are practically deaf—"

The latter nodded, a hint of helplessness on his face.

Before the explosions ended, Eric forcefully threw the sonic bombs to the other side of the steps.

The explosions grew louder, and the three of them frowned and grimaced as they watched for a while longer. Then, Eric jumped up and flipped himself to the top of the steps.

Elise followed her up, and the two of them pulled Molly up as well, quickly rushing into the building.

Passing through the gatehouse leads to the front yard, but by the light of the external illumination spell, Eric can see that there are still many undead dressed in white robes wandering around in the front yard, seemingly unaffected by the violent commotion outside.

"Are these all martyrs...? How come there are so many of them?"

Elise and Molly couldn't hear him; they simply pressed themselves against the wall, hiding their figures, watching him, and waiting for his next move.

Eric pointed upwards.

There was space on the gate tower, and he planned to go up there first to observe the situation in the front yard.

There were stairs leading upstairs on both sides. Eric went first, followed by Elise. The three of them made their way upstairs and quickly eliminated the danger.

Eric remembered there was a tower to the right of the gatehouse, and after searching, he soon found the staircase leading to a higher place.

"Is there something you're looking for here?" Molly asked loudly.

Eric said he didn't know and told her and Elise to look for it here while he went up to the tower to check.

The three split up. Eric spiraled up the narrow staircase, and after a few turns, he reached the top and discovered that there was a clock hanging at the very top.

"It really requires both secrecy and conspicuousness..."

He estimated that the sound of the bell would only travel underground and not reach the surface. After all, he had already climbed to the highest point, but there was still a considerable distance between him and the ground above him. He now understood why the stairs that led down to the surface were so long.

Standing at the tower window, Eric unleashed a dazzling ball of light, illuminating the atrium below and taking in the entire scene.

Dozens of undead wandered aimlessly in the courtyard, making a rustling sound as they were dragged along. Occasionally, a few would look up at the light that suddenly appeared in mid-air, revealing faces that were almost completely rotten and reduced to white bones.

They appear to be slightly more advanced than the undead outside, and it's unclear whether they are affected by alchemical tools.

Eric looked around for a moment, then took out several cloth bags from his pocket, each about the size of a xiaolongbao (soup dumpling).

"Damn...it's all leaking, what kind of quality is this?"

Some of the powder leaked out of the cloth bag. Eric held it with one hand and flicked it with his right, causing a small ball of holy flame to ignite, which quickly set the bag ablaze.

He blew on the flame twice to extinguish it, then threw the cloth bag forcefully into the open space on the left side of the courtyard, where a plume of white smoke gradually spread.

This is human-scented smoke, which is said to contain human skin. When burned, it emits a very distinct smell of living people to the undead, thus attracting their attention. However, Eric could only smell pine wood chips no matter how hard he tried.

He stared down below. The sound of the cloth bag hitting the ground slightly attracted the attention of a few undead, and white smoke was spreading, but the other undead did not seem to react much.

Eric's first reaction was that he had been tricked.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that very few of the undead still retained any trace of a nose. After thinking for a moment, he simply lit the remaining packs of cigarettes that smelled of human scent and threw them down.

White smoke billowed out, and Eric then pulled out a larger phantom smoke screen from the packaging. This thing was a truly high-tech alchemical product; when lit, it released smoke that could form lifelike human figures, visually attracting the undead.

Eric lit the phantom smoke screen and threw it at the location where the human scent smoke had been lit. After waiting for a while, a figure indeed appeared in the white smoke, though it was still somewhat faint at the moment.

It seems we'll have to wait until it burns completely.

During this time, Eric searched the tower, but apart from the hanging clock, there was nothing on the top of the tower.

Back down, Molly said that apart from a few tattered books, she didn't find anything of value.

Eric glanced at the few "tattered books" she mentioned and almost knelt down.

"...The Holy Scripture...this should be the oldest version."

These sacred texts must have undergone special processing; even after six or seven hundred years, they have not rotted and are remarkably well-preserved.

Eric opened one of the books, and on the back of the cover was a sentence.

If the road ahead is dark, I will be the burning flame.

Below was a name, which Eric recognized as Samuel, and he swallowed hard.

“You probably wouldn’t understand anything about the church anyway. Just know that this holy book alone can sell for more than five thousand gold coins in Lutia… Add this name to it, and if you find a truly wealthy nobleman, it’ll easily fetch two, three, four, or even five times the price.”

Molly was stunned. "You're lying."

She leaned closer and looked at the name on the cover. "Samuel? Who's that?"

“Samuel?” Elise was taken aback and immediately moved closer. “The legendary saint who was burned to death by the demons?”

Eric nodded.

“His portrait still hangs in Lutia Cathedral,” Elise said. “If this holy book is genuine…”

She paused for a moment, unsure of what price to quote to match its value.

“Selling to nobles can fetch five or six times the price, so if we send them directly to the church, wouldn’t it be more than ten times?” Molly gave her imagination a twin-turbo engine.

“No, that would only lead to the church taking it back in the name that the relic originally belonged to the church, and we wouldn’t get a single penny,” Eric said.

"Pah, that's awful." Molly spat, staring at Eric, it was unclear who she was cursing.

“Then let’s sell it to a nobleman.” She intended to take back the Holy Scripture, but Eric raised his hand, and she grabbed nothing.

"What are you thinking? I'm a member of the church, I've confiscated it."

"Ahhh!"

Eric held the Holy Scripture high, and Molly tried to grab it while standing on tiptoe, but failed. She then punched him on the shoulder.

"Never mind... it's better to give it to you than to give it to someone else."

"Don't worry, you won't lose anything. There are many counterfeit versions of this kind of thing. Even if you dare to sell it, people won't dare to buy it."

"Hmph, it's all in your hands now, so what happens to it is entirely up to you."

Eric wasn't interested in the book's collectible value; he intended to keep it for his own use.

Holy Scriptures are also a medium for casting spells, and they are the medium that amplifies divine spells the most. They are considered off-hand equipment, and many clergy in the game are depicted with a scepter in one hand and a holy scripture in the other.

However, he was a warrior after all, and this was too inconvenient. He planned to find someone to make a buckle so that he could attach the Holy Scripture to his waist after he got out.

As for the remaining holy books, although they didn't have the signatures of saints like Samuel, they were valuable enough because they were old enough that Eric didn't fight with Molly for them and let her keep them all.

"Any other discoveries?"

"Nothing."

Eric walked to the window and looked out, only to find that most of the undead in the courtyard had been drawn to the left by the phantom smoke screen.

“That’s about it… Let’s go up there.” He pointed to the corridors on both sides of the front yard, where there was enough space for them to pass through, and it connected to the tower.

Of course, Eric should go up and try first.

He climbed over the window and carefully landed on the top of the veranda. He stepped around a bit with a little force and found nothing loose. He walked a distance and there were no problems before he called Molly and Elise to follow.

The two climbed out of the window one after the other, crouching low as they slowly made their way over to meet Eric.

On the other side of the courtyard, the undead gathered around the illusion woven from the smoke and shadows, each attempt ending in emptiness, yet they continued their pursuit with undiminished delight, completely unaware of the commotion on this side.

“Let’s go down over there and then hurry up and rush into the church,” Eric said, pointing towards the church.

“What if there are undead among them?” Molly asked hastily.

“From the front hall to the main hall, and then to the innermost semicircular sanctuary, the space inside is very large,” Eric said. “Even if there were, we wouldn’t discover it immediately.”

He wasn't sure if there were any undead inside, because in the dungeon, the area deep inside the church was the BOSS area, and the BOSS was a knight who had betrayed the church and fled here—a living person who didn't originally belong to this place.

Eric paused for a moment, "Or you two can stay here, and I'll go in alone, steal... find something, and come out."

“I’ll go with you,” Elise said immediately. Since she said that, Molly didn’t dare to stay here alone or go back to the tower, so she naturally followed her.

The three of them groped their way forward along the veranda. Reaching the main entrance to the church's foyer, Eric jumped down first, catching Molly as she leaped down, and carried her inside. Elise followed closely behind. Once inside the dark foyer, Eric put Molly down, glanced around, and saw nothing, but also heard no sound from within. He breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Elise, however, told the two bad news: "It seems an undead has noticed me."

Eric approached the doorway and peeked out. Sure enough, an undead creature was facing him, slowly swaying towards him.

"It's alright. If it really wobbles over here, one slash will take care of it."

Although they should try to avoid fighting these undead out of respect for the Church's sages, the safety of the three of them was ultimately more important. Eric was prepared to finish the fight quickly and avoid attracting the attention of more undead.

Just then, Molly whispered, "The door seems to be able to close."

Centuries later, the church's wooden doors had not rotted. The three quickly closed the two wooden doors. In terms of mobility, the undead were no better than wild beasts; a door was enough to keep them out.

After closing the door, the three of them held their breath and listened for a while. The rustling footsteps outside gradually approached, and after scratching at the door a few times, there was no more movement.

"left."

"Ah."

Eric then fired a ball of light into the church.

Their vision suddenly brightened, and all three of them squinted.

"This church is quite deep inside."

"After all, it's a cathedral; the nave alone has..."

The next moment, all three tensed up—on the innermost altar, in front of the statue of Yera, a figure slowly rose from the ground, seemingly just awakening.

But this place has been sealed off for hundreds of years, and apart from them, only the immortals can appear here.

This undead looked much more advanced. Unlike the ones outside whose faces were rotten, its body was intact and firm, and its figure was tall. It was more like the mummies they had encountered elsewhere before, only its color was grayer.

The two prominent bony horns on its head further indicate that it was not originally human.

"Demon clan..."

The three were horrified. Molly and Elise then looked at Eric, "How could there be demons here?"

"If I had known, I wouldn't have come in so rashly..."

Eric gripped his sword tightly, a golden divine mark appearing on his forehead. "But the battle is inevitable."

Once the tall, desiccated demon corpse had fully stood up, it turned its gaze to the three people at the door.

With a flick of its wrist, a curved sword over two meters long floated from the floor into its hand. Then, with a sudden swing, Eric could clearly hear the sound of it cutting through the air, even from a distance of more than ten meters.

Its consciousness has probably long since faded with time, but the instinct to fight still controls this powerful body, continuing to pursue its goal of eliminating life, especially humans.

"Take care of yourselves and don't come near for now."

Eric gave a warning, then swung his longsword, which was coated with a dazzling golden light, and charged towards the demon corpse—the latter had already taken the initiative to attack them.

when!
As the blades clashed, Eric felt a violent tremor in his hand, realizing that the power of this demon corpse was even stronger than he had anticipated.

"They possess the strength of at least a seventh-tier warrior! Don't come any closer!"

As Eric resisted the relentless pressure of the curved sword, he suddenly loosened his grip, shifting the force aside. At the same time, he pushed off with his feet, turning his body to the other side of the demon corpse, who was completely unprepared, and slashed down fiercely.

The demon corpse was indeed less agile than him, and he couldn't block the slash at all. However, its flesh was really tough. Eric's sword strike didn't even break its skin. Only the effect of the Holy Judgment Blade left an inconspicuous burn mark on its flesh.

The next moment, its counterattack came fiercely. The sweeping curved sword had a huge attack range, and there was no time to retreat. Eric immediately squatted down, but the mummified corpse's knee rapidly enlarged in front of him.

Is there still physical attack?
"..."

There was no time to curse. Eric immediately parried with his sword, gripping the hilt tightly with one hand and bracing the blade with the other, managing to block the mummified corpse's knee strike.

The curved sword, having swept across to its fullest extent, was raised and slashed down at him.

We can't retreat; the curved sword's attack range is too large to dodge!

Eric made a quick decision, pushed off with his feet, and charged towards the demon corpse instead. Just as the curved sword was about to strike its head, he suddenly disappeared and flashed behind it.

"The Wrath of Blasphemy!"
The power surges.

"Desperate to eradicate evil!"
Agile surged.

"Divinely gifted" perception!
Everything in the church became incredibly clear to him.

"Burning Blood to Prove the Dao!"
The golden divine mark on his forehead turned red, and all his attributes were further enhanced.

……

With several powerful buffs exclusive to the Unforgiving Cultivator being unleashed simultaneously, the world in Eric's eyes was instantly coated with an indelible layer of blood, while he gained a boost to all his attributes that increased several times over, as well as armor-piercing ability attached to his weapon.

The sword strike that came out with such force at this moment was fundamentally different from the one before.

The longsword of the Dark Mist cut diagonally into the body of the demon corpse without any resistance, from shoulder to chest, almost cutting it in two, but suddenly encountered resistance.

Did you cut into the bone?
No, with his current attributes, there's no difference between chopping bones and chopping meat.

Eric quickly realized what was blocking his attack—the curved sword in the hand of the demon corpse.

At the most critical moment, it actually blocked the way.

Eric immediately drew his sword and slashed again, but the demon corpse turned around and blocked his attack once more with the hard, shield-like curved sword in its hand.

when! when!
For every sword strike, another sword blocked it; the roles of offense and defense were reversed. The mummified face of the demon was expressionless; the battle was driven by instinct, and it had long since lost all emotion.

Eric was starting to get anxious—his buffs all had time limits. Once the time limit was over, the positive effects would disappear, and all the negative effects would take effect at once. Molly could kill him with her staff.

"Elise!"

As he intensified his attack, he turned and shouted, "Has that undead outside gone far? Let it in!"

Elise immediately understood his intention and quickly opened the door. The undead, who had already reached the middle of the stairs, heard the noise, slowly turned around, and then saw a living person rushing towards him.

"sorry!"

With a powerful punch to the undead's head, temporarily rendering it unable to react, Elise dragged the desiccated corpse back into the church. She took the opportunity to peek outside and noticed that several undead had noticed the commotion.

"Close the door right away!" she reminded Molly.

Eric was locked in a fierce battle with the demon corpse and couldn't break free, so he swung his short sword in a backhand motion.

"It's off!" He realized his mistake as soon as the short sword left his hand and shouted. Elise struggled to lift the undead's body and took the initiative to meet his throwing knife.

Pfft!

The rapidly spinning short sword severed the undead's head, completing the kill and instantly removing all negative effects from Eric's buff skills, while doubling the duration of positive effects.

when!
Eric's sword was blocked again, and he took two steps back. At the right moment, Elise threw his short sword at him.

The demon corpse did not pursue for the time being. It lingered under the statue of Yera with small, hesitant steps, its eyes fixed on Eric, and its curved sword was waved intentionally or unintentionally in its hand.

"It's as if I'm the one who's going to destroy the statue of Yela, and it's protecting it..."

Eric caught the short sword, took a deep breath, and moved closer again.

The buff still has plenty of time left, but we can't keep dragging it out; we must finish this quickly.

Eric's sword strike, aimed straight at the demon corpse, was easily blocked. He swayed and suddenly appeared beside it, swiftly slashing down at its neck.

when!
The attack was blocked again. Eric did not move his right hand, but turned his foot and thrust his short sword into the back of the demon corpse with his left hand. He pulled it up sharply and cut a long, thin wound that was deep enough to expose the bone.

His eyes widened in surprise. "This is..."

The force in his right hand had long since dissipated, and the demon corpse seized the opportunity to switch from defense to offense, the curved sword bracing against his longsword as it slashed or smashed towards Eric, who could only dodge.

boom!
The heavy curved sword crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

On the other side, Eric, who had stopped walking, couldn't hide his surprise.

The bones of this demon mummy... are golden?
(End of this chapter)