The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 292 Demon Descends
Almost immediately after obtaining that powerful soul force, Eric lost control of his body.

Under the Demon King's command, he climbed the crystal mountain made of soul crystals.

The moment they made contact, countless pure evil thoughts surged from the soul crystal, immediately overwhelming the command imposed on him by the Demon King.

However, before he could regain control of himself, the wave of malice had already overwhelmed his own will.

As the Demon King said, the power of the soul contains only pure malice and violent resentment, without any memory or consciousness, but therefore it possesses a purer and more unified aggressiveness.

This malice instantly seeped into every corner of Eric's will, wantonly distorting his memories of every single second of the past.

The memory of her uncle teaching her swordsmanship in her childhood was twisted into one-sided violent venting of anger. The well-intentioned cheers of the onlookers turned into bullying by abusing their power, while her sister remained indifferent.

His two years of training in the Holy City were filled with the old saintess's endless malice and coercion. The old woman's face no longer had any kindness. The nun who was close to him was always making sarcastic remarks, and the knights only laughed at him.

A female druid in the Gradia Forest secretly used snakes to lure him in; a silver-haired Aran from the North harbored murderous intent, wanting to offer his head to the demons; a female mage in Castelfel coveted his wealth; and the youngest sister of the emperor in the capital sought to use his family's power to seize the throne...

Every face in his memory was maliciously distorted, and overwhelming malice washed over his mind, urging him to become a part of them.

Deny everything, destroy everything!
"—Eric, retrieve the Thorn Soul Crown for me!"

The Demon King's will was once again imposed upon him, becoming the only remaining driving force amidst the endless surge of malice.

The body continued to act according to the Demon King's will, but even this sliver of thought was constantly being challenged, making each step difficult.

Suddenly, a black crown appeared in his hand.

The moment they made contact, two powerful evil thoughts from his feet and hands collided in Eric's mind, almost completely destroying his will, but also creating a vacuum that allowed him to regain a brief moment of clarity from his endless despair.

This must end...

Just as he raised his sword to slit his throat, he heard another voice.

"Eric!"

It's Natalia.

The anxious face I saw instantly dispelled the malice that had distorted the memory of that face.

He could only urge her to leave immediately and find a way to escape.

"Get down, Eric."

The Demon King's will was imposed once more, and he leaped from the source of countless evils, finally breaking free.

Without the support of subsequent malice, the pure malice that filled his mind and memory couldn't even withstand his gaze for a moment.

His own will began to fight back. Strengthened by a large amount of soul power, the counterattack of his will was strong and powerful, quickly dispelling the violent resentment and regaining dominance.

The moment he regained consciousness, he saw the mastermind behind it all: the Demon King Digot.

Recalling the Demon King's failed attempt to control him in the Demon King's Tomb, he now understood the Demon King's true intention in strengthening him with the power of his soul.

The only way to end the bond between them, forged through the sacrifice of blood and resurrection, is to kill the Demon King and break free from his control!

However, his attack failed to actually land.

"stop."

Now, the Demon King's will is his true master.

The sword tip was already pointing at the demon king's neck, but he could only watch as the demon king removed the crown from the sword and put it on his head.

The violent resentment that had subsided returned and instantly filled his mind.

This time, however, they have taken root completely.

“Eric, return to your land, drive out the enemies you have always wanted to drive out, become the shadow of Latrell… You now possess the power of destruction.”

After a brief pause, the voice gave him his final instructions.

"When everything is over, you will fall into slumber. With the power of the Thorn Soul Crown, let your life continue for me until the end of time."

……

Lessier.

The demons have been launching relentless attacks for over half a month now.

No one believes anymore that the demons' attack on the Holy Capital was merely a cover for their attack on Gradia, the empire's granary. The possibility of the Holy Capital falling is increasing daily, and more and more corpses are falling outside the Holy City.

Whether they were unarmed civilian believers or fully armed elite knights, they all fell one after another under the demons' relentless attacks. The demons seemed determined to conquer this last holy land.

Everyone knew that no reinforcements would come to their aid.

The demons have conquered most of Gladia's lands and are launching a full-scale attack on Gladia and Lesel. The Empire is not only facing the demons' strong offensive, but also the army of Arsha on the southern border, which has even entered the city of Tallinn in Dorne. The Empire is already overwhelmed with its own problems.

Lessier was teetering on the brink of collapse, and the day it would fall could be counted on one's fingers.

The inner city was heavily surrounded by demons, and the escape route to the Holy Mountain was completely blocked. The Papacy had nowhere to escape, and the Saintess Convent was also in dire straits.

"..."

As snow fell heavily and the sounds of battle raged outside the city walls, Alena's hand, gripping the dagger, trembled uncontrollably, not just from the cold.

She never imagined she would pick up a dagger again, let alone face a demon army.

She looked around and saw that the nuns of the Saintess Convent had been driven to the inner city walls as the last line of defense to protect the Papacy.

Whether they were ladies-in-waiting from the Holy Maidens' House or daughters of nobles from Lutia, they were all treated equally and placed here. Some of them didn't even have weapons in their hands, only a holy book.

“Do not be afraid.” The voice of High Sister Jabi rang out in front of us. “Her Highness the Holy Maiden has already returned to the Divine Kingdom. We are now merely following in her footsteps to leave this mortal world.”

"..."

Alena felt a pang of pain in her heart.

Her Highness is dead.

More than half a month ago, news of the saintess's death in Castelfel was transmitted to Lesser through the wings of the winged people.

—Saint Eric, and the Imperial Grand Princess Natalia, who traveled with him to the south, were surrounded by demons at the Castelfel Star Academy and died without even a complete corpse.

Given the current situation, morale is almost completely broken from Lutia to Lesser.

Alena couldn't remember what she was doing more than ten days ago. After receiving news of the saint's death, time seemed to stand still throughout the monastery until today, when the people of the Papal Palace forcibly drove them here to guard the city.

She looked back and saw that the noble nuns had cried until they were exhausted and collapsed on the ground, but the monks from the Papal Palace behind them wouldn't let them leave, even though they themselves were on the verge of collapse.

Further back, the Pope and the cardinals were gathered in the Apostolic Palace, and she had even heard that they were prepared to burn the entire palace down—the Daedric Princes did not accept their surrender at all.

Alena silently withdrew her gaze, letting her emotions roam freely, instead of constantly casting calming spells on herself like the other monks beside her.

The siege continued and grew increasingly intense. The battle lines had nowhere left to retreat, and people were falling from the inner city walls from time to time, with arrows constantly flying in.

Soon, the knights guarding the city walls were exhausted, and some people shouted for the nuns to send some of them up to defend the city.

As several female officials beside her were about to be pulled up onto the city wall, Alena finally couldn't help but speak up to stop them, "What can they do up there? They're just ordinary nuns!"

"Just do something, like Holy Light Retribution, right?"

"I told you, they were just ordinary nuns!"

"Then you go up in their place!" The monk who had come down to ask for people pulled Alena and several nuns who seemed somewhat useful onto the city wall, including the elder nun Jabi.

Upon reaching the city wall, Alena once again saw the outer city of Lessier, now completely reduced to ruins, with the last group of church knights defending against the demons' attack beneath the walls.

The only passage in and out of the inner city of Lesser was now piled high with the corpses of church knights and demon warriors, staining the earth with blood.

"Support them!" the monk who pulled them up shouted. Alena gripped the Holy Spirit pendant on her chest and used her only ability to attack the demons—Holy Light Punishment—to provide support in vain.

Several beams of holy light struck the demon warriors one after another, burning their skin and tearing their flesh. This only fueled their fighting spirit, making them even more ferocious in their battle. Alena saw the demon she had attacked suddenly slash a defenseless church knight, decapitating him.

"Well……"

Upon seeing the gruesome scene, the nun next to her immediately leaned over the city wall and began to vomit.

The next second, a knight's longsword was thrown up from below the city wall and pierced her neck.

"Mavis!"

Alena quickly pulled her behind the city wall for shelter. Mavis was spitting blood, seemingly trying to say something, but she couldn't speak, which only made her vomit more blood. Alena trembled as she cast a healing spell on her, but as soon as the light of the spell touched her neck, she became still.

"She's dead," the monk beside her said coldly, pulling the longsword from her neck.

"The Blade of Judgment!"

Golden light surged from the sword. The cultivator gripped the sword tightly, glanced down at the city wall, roared, and jumped down.

Alena stood up and saw that he had jumped onto a demon warrior, using the momentum of his fall to cut off one of its arms with his sword. Then he was cut down by several other demon warriors who rushed over from the side, and there was no more movement.

"Did Dania also face similar battles on the border during those years?"

Looking down, Jabi knew a few more offensive divine spells than Alena. Besides Holy Light Retribution, she also had several Holy Flame spells that weren't very powerful, which she was constantly casting down.

"My teacher and I never experienced a siege at the border... Encounters in the wild might have been more dangerous, or perhaps not as dangerous as what we're experiencing now... I don't remember anymore."

Alena paused for a moment, then continued to hurl Holy Light Smite downwards.

After saying this, Jia Bi stopped talking. After a while, she suddenly groaned and lay motionless on the city wall.

Alena rushed to help her up and discovered that she had been shot in the chest with an arrow.

"The High Nun!"

The arrow was deeply embedded in her body, and became even more slippery after being stained with blood. It took Alena two or three tries to pull it out before she could. She quickly used her divine magic to heal the wound that was still bleeding.

Jabi awoke from her coma, leaned against the city wall, and watched Alena and another nun treat her. Her gaze then focused further back.

That was the other end of the inner city wall of Lessier, which suddenly emitted a dazzling light.

Jia Bi blinked, and after what seemed like a few seconds, or perhaps just the next instant, a violent roar followed.

boom!
A sudden loud noise behind her made Alena shudder. When she turned around, she saw a glittering light on the other end of the city wall near the Papal Palace.

A group of people in red clothes were surging up the city wall from the other side.

“The final sacrifice…” Gabi leaned against the city wall, gazing to the other side, her voice weak, “A divine spell that only fanatics can master. Those knights who were his personal guards sacrificed themselves to create an opportunity for the cardinals to break through… The Pope must have been among them.”

boom!
As soon as she finished speaking, accompanied by a dazzling light, the booming sound of a self-destruction rang out again, and the faint sounds of shouts of battle could be heard from the other side.

Alena turned her head and looked around, when she suddenly felt a hand grasp hers.

Looking back, Jia Bi held her hand, shook her head, and told her to stop the treatment.

"That's enough. Let me die here, it's better than the demons charging up the city walls and me dying under their blades."

"The High Nun..."

“Escape that way.” Jabi gestured with her eyes to the other side of the city wall. “If you escape with those greedy and selfish cardinals, there might still be a glimmer of hope… But don’t follow them up the Holy Mountain. If you get surrounded up there, you’ll only delay your death by a day or two.”

The roar continued, and Gabi urged, "Hurry up, or we'll miss our chance. Go to Grandia and find Dania; she must still be alive."

Alena gave her a deep look, then without further hesitation, she pulled another nun along and shouted to the nuns below the city wall, telling them to run away to the other side.

The monks from the Ancestral Palace who had driven them over were now staring blankly at the other side of the city wall, and not one of them stopped them.

Before long, they joined the fleeing crowd, rushing towards that direction.

The closer Alena got, the more she could feel the immense power of the final sacrifice of those fanatical knights. The continuous and increasingly frequent roaring made her ears ring, and she could barely hear anything else.

When she reached the city wall, she discovered that the outer perimeter of the wall had collapsed, and the area below was filled with demons. The cardinals had not been able to break through at all!
One after another, fanatical knights charged toward the demons, attempting to create a passage by self-destructing, but even if they managed to blast an opening, the demons on the outside would quickly fill it in; the difference in numbers was simply too great.

"what!"

The nun beside her screamed. Alena couldn't hear her, but she could sense her terror. Following her gaze, she saw a cardinal in red being grabbed by several demon warriors, who tore at his arms and legs and dismembered him.

"..."

She almost vomited, but forced herself to hold it in, her heart already filled with despair.

The cardinals' attempt to break out not only failed, but also hastened the fall of the inner city. The demons discovered that the city walls had collapsed and were surging towards this side.

It's impossible to break through from this side anymore.

Alena felt as if she had regained some memories of her time at the border. She grabbed the nun beside her and led her back.

If the demons are all drawn to the breach in the city wall here, a gap might appear over there...

As she fled back along the city wall, she looked down and, realizing there was no hope of escape, the monks and nuns scattered and fled.

Alena paused as she returned to the section of the city wall where she had been.

Jia Bi lay there, an arrow still in her hand, piercing her heart; she was dead.

“High Nun…” another nun’s voice trembled.

"You go down first." Alena took a deep breath, stepped over Jabi's body, and went to the wall to look down.

The number of demons on this side has indeed decreased significantly, and they are all moving to the other side. The knights resisting below the city wall are clueless, but they seize this rare opportunity to catch their breath and heal themselves or their surviving companions.

There's a chance to break through here!

Alena's heart pounded, but when she looked up, another wave of despair washed over her.

—The demons around the city wall all rushed towards the gap on the other side, but the demons on the outer perimeter also came to replenish this side.

The ruins of the outer city of Lessier were the temporary camp of the demon army.

This brief respite may be the last chance for her and the Lesser defenders to catch their breath.

In the suffocating cold, Alena returned to Jabi's side, slumped down, looked at the arrow stuck in her heart, and picked up another arrow from the side.

At some point, the roar from the other section of the city wall ceased to be heard, replaced by desperate screams.

The demons seemed to have already poured into the inner city of Lesser from that side, and shouts of battle echoed continuously.

Alena stared at the arrow in her hand, regretting that she hadn't taken the opportunity to return to the Saintess's Convent, but now the chance was gone.

If she had a choice, she would prefer to die in the convent... or even in that little room on the Tower of Saintess.

"Your Highness..."

Alena raised the arrow, then closed her eyes, and the image of Her Highness leaving this place more than half a year ago appeared before her eyes.

That was the last time she saw him.

Now, she can follow him.

Tears streamed down her face as Alena opened her eyes, and the arrow aimed at her neck abruptly stopped.

—A vortex appeared in the sky above the Holy City Square.

Dark clouds swirled, and light flashed within the vortex, like lightning. In the blink of an eye, the vortex spun faster and faster, growing larger and larger. At a certain moment, the flashing of light and shadow reached its peak, and two figures appeared out of thin air on the plaza directly below the vortex.

"..."

Gazing at one of the tall figures, Alena and the survivors of the inner city felt their souls tremble, followed by an urge to worship.

"God... Yera, have you finally come to save your believers...?"

However, the next moment, the figure raised his long sword high, black energy surged around him, and he let out a terrifying roar that sent chills down one's spine.

"Demons—die—"

A sword pierced the sky, slashing towards the breach in the city wall through which the demons were pouring in.

The air seemed to ripple, and in the next instant, the entire section of the city wall was obliterated in a roar.

The figure appeared on the other side in an instant, seemingly just slashing at the air, yet everything in its path was annihilated and disappeared.

Alena stared blankly at the figure that was getting closer and closer.

“Your Highness…?”

Seemingly hearing her call, Eric raised his gaze from afar, his face churning with dark energy, and the crown floating above his head gleaming with black light.

(End of this chapter)