This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 319 Children
Who exactly is that person... or rather, what is that thing?
Nie Weiyang made up his mind that once this matter was resolved, he would communicate with the intelligent mind's mind to search for any possible traces of this strange girl. He couldn't allow such a presence to always follow him, like a ghost that only he could see; this might be a sign of some kind of danger.

But subtly, a certain feeling told Nie Weiyang...

……sad.

In the girl's eyes, a hazy sadness lingered, but he was too far away from it, far too far away, as if a misty barrier of millions of Caligan crystals stood between them. Therefore, this feeling was so vague as to be perplexing; if Nie Weiyang hadn't been so familiar with this emotion, he wouldn't have noticed it at all.

Was that her sadness?
No... such a vast emotion cannot belong to just one person.

Is it a vessel for some kind of emotion? A collection of some kind of spiritual entities? Is this related to those two space stations?

There are too many possibilities, and it's impossible to make a judgment right now, so let's put aside this thought for the time being.

Nie Weiyang let himself be dragged toward the so-called Cycle Cave. It was not far from the 'Sacred Tree' and emitted a strong stench of decay. Clearly, there were many corpses inside that had rotted and fermented; heaven knows what a hellish scene it was.

But just before he was thrown into the abyss, his keen hearing caught a faint whimper coming from the depths of the cave.

A child's voice.

...There are living beings here? Their mental responses are so weak that they don't even register with scanning and mind-reading techniques?
Nie Weiyang's heart stirred, and he let his body fall.

The wind whistled in his ears as he fell about fifty meters. In mid-air, he suddenly turned around, and at the same time, his longsword was already in his hand, its blade gleaming. He plunged it fiercely into the rock wall to the side!
A screeching sound rang out, sparks flew everywhere, and the downward momentum suddenly decreased.

He hung in mid-air like a gecko, looking down.

The scene at the bottom of the cave was nauseating.

Dozens or even hundreds of corpses were piled up like mountains, most of them already rotting and emitting a pungent stench.

Amidst the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, a small, thin figure stood out conspicuously.

It was a boy, who looked no more than seven or eight years old, who was curled up next to several fresh corpses, holding a piece of indistinct flesh in his hand and stuffing it into his mouth, with dark red bloodstains still on the corner of his mouth.

He seemed to hear the noise above, and suddenly raised his head, revealing a dirty but still handsome face.

He stared wide-eyed at Nie Weiyang, who was suspended in mid-air, radiating a faint light. His eyes were filled with confusion, fear, and a hint of... ferocity.

Like a startled wild beast.

So innocent, so dark.

He looked at Nie Weiyang without saying a word, seemingly not wanting to attract the attention of the people above.

After his initial surprise, Nie Weiyang simply hung there silently, listening to the enemy's conversation above.

Before taking action, he needed to know how to prevent the so-called 'sacred tree' from unleashing that indiscriminate mental attack again.

As for this child whose mind is almost blank...

...Last time, he saw far too many children like this. When civilization collapses in a region, children and the elderly who cannot immediately form a fighting force are always the first to be abandoned.

Above, the believers are having a heated discussion:

"We must stabilize the Sacred Tree immediately! Its condition is very strange!" shouted a man who looked like a researcher. "It just entered a defensive state! But there are no enemies around!"

Nie Weiyang felt a chill run down his spine. He instinctively thought of himself—even if what happened in the Chaos Sanctuary wouldn't reflect in reality, he, who had slaughtered countless Golden Angels, would naturally bear the marks…

Did that golden angel of the sacred tree sense his presence?
"How can we stabilize it?!" another person asked angrily. "We resonate with the sacred tree, but it is the entity that matters! Not ourselves! We, who are responsible for merging with its spirit, are merely its tools! Although it has no self, its instincts are there! We can't control it!"

"Then reduce the resonance depth! Lower the connection strength of the resonance sensor to 30%... no, 20%!"

“But that kind of data collection efficiency…” another person interjected.

The first two people exploded: "What kind of time is this to worry about efficiency?! If this explodes again, we'll all become idiots! Go and make adjustments!"
"Also, check the output of the [Level 1 Kaligan Crystal Amulet] to make sure they're running at maximum power. Absolutely no more leaks of the Holy Tree's painful fluctuations. And don't let me find out any more of you stealing Kaligan Crystals! If I catch even one more, the Sun Lord will have us all executed!" Nie Weiyang: "..."

Sure enough, even he couldn't resist touching a couple of pieces of such high-grade material and putting them in his backpack... Someone in this group had already stolen some of the materials.

"The control panel is in the sanctuary on the side of the sacred tree, and someone needs to operate it manually..." someone said hesitantly. "But operation requires mental interaction. If your mental value is below 80, you will die if you touch it. If it is above 80... who among us has that value? Show us your panels."

Nie Weiyang listened intently to all of them, taking in all their attribute values.

Clearly, these people didn't know how to manage the painful emotions stored in the tree either. The 'calming amulets' worn around the necks of the cultists were made of Kaligan crystal and could resist mental shocks. The control panel could adjust the state of the sacred tree to prevent it from going out of control again.

What are the requirements for using the console?
It's just a mere 80 points of mental energy.

No more waiting. A cold glint flashed in Nie Weiyang's eyes. He suddenly pulled out the long sword stuck in the rock wall, and his figure seemed to break free from the shackles of gravity, transforming into a dazzling stream of light, rushing upwards!

"Enemy attack!!"

The exclamation had barely begun when the sword flashed past.

【Holy Blade】!
A crescent-shaped, blazing white light blade swept out, moving as fast as a light curtain, carrying the power to purify the darkness.

The first few cultists were caught off guard and couldn't even parry before the dark energy surrounding them melted away like ice meeting fire.

The head flew off, blood gushed forth, and the corpse fell limply to the ground.

Nie Weiyang moved swiftly, like a tiger among sheep, his sword following his every move.

Each swing of his sword precisely claimed a life; anyone who made a move toward the control panel was instantly dispatched with a single strike. These elite cultists, averaging level 35, were as fragile as paper before him, utterly no match for him.

The sword flashed, and energy surged.

In the blink of an eye, most of the dozen or so cultists fell, leaving only the tall, thin leader. Taking advantage of the brief opportunity brought by the death of his companions, he scrambled towards the side of the sacred tree, to a small cave half-hidden by a cluster of crystals—that was where the control console was located!
His hand was about to press the largest button, which was flashing red!
At this critical moment, Nie Weiyang glared at a cultist until he was unconscious and kicked him, breaking his thoracic vertebrae. Without turning his head, he swung his sword out!
【Holy Blade】!
A white blade of light flew out from the sword, sharp and concentrated, striking first despite being struck later.

It pierced the leader's back in an instant, severing his spine and destroying his heart; the immense force snapped him in two.

His body convulsed uncontrollably, his eyes filled with terror, resentment, confusion, and disbelief... He watched the light disappear into the rock wall, and then his breath ceased.

The battle lasted only a dozen seconds from start to finish.

Without even glancing at the corpses, Nie Weiyang immediately turned around and leaped back into the bottomless looping hole.

He landed lightly on the pile of corpses, ignoring the suffocating stench, and walked toward the terrified boy who was curled up in fear.

He sheathed his longsword, and a shield appeared on his body, expanding to envelop the two of them and dispel most of the stench.

He tried to make his voice sound gentle: "Who are you?"

The boy stared blankly at him, his dirty little face expressionless, his eyes vacant, his mind a complete blank, as if he had lost the ability to think.

He was the first person in months to dare to look Nie Weiyang in the eye.

No. It's not that I 'dare'.

He simply didn't understand, nor did he think about it.

Nie Weiyang reached out, trying to get closer. But just as his fingers were about to touch the boy, the boy seemed to be pricked by an invisible needle. He recoiled abruptly, covered his head with his hands, and let out a suppressed scream.

In this fearful retreat, fragmented memories surged from the boy's mind. These disjointed pieces allowed Nie Weiyang to piece together a tragic story: traveling with his parents, encountering misfortune—a car accident, an attack, or other disasters—resulting in the successive deaths of his family members, ultimately leaving him stranded here, struggling to survive in this mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood, driven only by his instinctive will to live, and even…

Nie Weiyang looked at him silently, his gaze somewhat complicated. He bent down, ignoring the filth on the boy's body and the strong smell of blood, and gently picked him up.

The boy trembled violently in his arms, sobbing suppressedly, but as if by instinct—a sharp piece of broken bone was clutched in his thin little hand, and he suddenly stabbed it into his neck!
(End of this chapter)