A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 152 Holy Light, This Evil Is Worth Fighting

"Odysseus, brothers! Gather around us!" one of the grey knights shouted, urging those who wanted to slack off to regroup. The Sacred Heart Cathedral's underground was now littered with collapses and undead, and the paladins' enemies had all died, transformed into sacrifices to the evil god they worshipped.

The dense fog, earth, and vines compressed the original tomb passage, making it difficult for the team members to move forward. The golden, sacred light could not penetrate the stones, causing the undead to temporarily retreat as if they were wild beasts attracted to fire.

Fortunately, the Church of Order was not unprepared. Combining the failed attack on the Grand Theater with the intelligence gathered from subsequent contacts with the Church of Our Lady, they made targeted preparations against the poisonous fog. They not only added divine spells to resist and expel the poison, but also filled their helmets with cotton cloth and charcoal particles.

"Damn it, how do we get back to the surface?"

As the astonishing collapse occurred, residents on the eastern outskirts and pedestrians on the streets witnessed the bursting vines breaking through the ground. Amidst the terrifying and violent tremors, the entire church—the once majestic and towering large stone building—was collapsing little by little. If Rorschach were to use an analogy, the layered tombs beneath the church were collapsing like compressed wafers.

To onlookers, thick, dark green branches clung to the exquisite statues and white stone walls, and seeped into the shattered stained-glass windows. The building was sinking, as if the menacing, eerie vines were dragging the entire church into an abyss.

"Watch out for the poisonous fog!" The paladins in charge of the blockade abandoned their original duties. After training, they all understood the enemy's blasphemous methods. Although no green fog could be seen spewing out from the ground yet, undead were already climbing out from the cracks in the ground.

They—or rather, they didn't seem to be regenerating flesh and blood, but rather rotting clumps with plant-like skins and flesh-colored blooming flowers, as well as sporangium-like structures attached to their bodies. When they burst, they spewed out gushing mucus, and upon contact with fresh air, they instantly turned brown. These disgusting things sensed the presence of the living and began to roar and accelerate.

"Devil!" "Evil spirit!" The onlookers discovered that the legends preached by the church were actually true! But didn't this mean that the famous Sacred Heart Cathedral was actually located in hell? Would their donations to the Church of Order still be of any use?

Unlike the concerns of ordinary people, the Church is taking precautions to prevent the spread of these evil creatures. Holy light attacks are being poured onto the undead, and their painful screams indicate that they have suffered fatal injuries and will die again just as they are resurrected.

However, the tombs, which have been continuously expanded since the birth of the old empire, reveal a profound "foundation." Humanoid monsters, half-plants, half-fungi, and half-corpses, have been climbing up one after another. If the underground structure had not been destroyed, perhaps even more would have been able to return to the world.

"Teams one and two, attack with full force! Team three, organize the evacuation of the crowd!" The consecration balm had already been applied. After the commander finished speaking, he brandished his sword and charged into the horde of undead, hacking and slashing wildly. The golden arrows and sharp edges that rushed towards the monsters and vines illuminated his imposing figure, leaving the people with a solid and reliable silhouette.

Not only him, but the paladins who joined the battle also attracted the attention of the onlookers, calming the panicked people down a bit. Although the smart and timid people had already run away, there were still some spectators who risked their lives to watch the spectacle and were then driven away by the three teams to a distance, the farther the better.

On the first floor of the catacombs, Priest Joseph, the "Grey-robed Bishop," had a grim face. He was filled with rage, both at the paladins and grey-robed knights who were responsible for patrolling the catacombs but had ruined everything, and at the blasphemous acts of the heretics. Those who could be buried in the catacombs were all devout believers (who were also willing to donate), and now not only were they disturbed in their rest, but they had also been transformed into evil beings, and the entire church was going to be destroyed!

Joseph opened his arms, and the scriptures in his arms floated to his chest, moving on their own without wind.

"The Lord says: I have come into the world as light, and whoever believes in me in truth will not be in darkness." The hoarse voice was not loud, but all the paladins heard it. As soon as these words were spoken, Joseph's body shone brightly, causing all the rushing vines to fearfully swerve around him. Whether it was the paladins fighting on the ground or the patrol trapped underground, all of them were invigorated, and the radiance from the Lord of Order became even stronger.

"The grass will wither and the flowers will fade, but the word of the Lord endures forever, and the covenant of the Lord stands forever." This recitation seems to have become a law, causing the vines to wither, the flesh flowers on the living corpses to fade, the growth of evil to be curbed, and the church to seem to be restored, especially the brick walls engraved with divine words and the murals of the great epic to shine again.

Joseph recited verses from the scriptures, and each time he spoke a verse, the parchment would flutter and stop on the corresponding chapter or paragraph.

The collapse of the church was stabilized, and the chaotic sounding of the bells settled into a regular alarm.

The Cathedral of St. Miller, the main hall of the Valuana Cathedral, features massive stone pillars and side walls supporting a magnificent and high vaulted ceiling. Stained glass windows depict the images of various saints, most of whom have their eyes lowered, looking down with compassion upon the people inside and outside the cathedral.

Sensing the anomaly, Deplesi let out a long sigh and slammed his staff on the ground. The other divine servants, receiving the signal, began a grand ceremony.

A long, melodious sound descended from the sky, like a sacred melody coming down from the highest heavens to earth. The organ was played, and each time a pipe was struck, a radiant light accompanied the trembling sound, rising towards the infinite sky.

The tubular columns not only occupy the front wall of the main hall, but also the side windows. The entire dome and the entire church are its resonating chambers. Accompanied by such a magnificent instrument, the choir begins to chant, the servants of God begin to cry out, and the music is sometimes high-pitched and passionate, and sometimes deep and melodious.

With such instruments playing and such singers performing, everyone was overwhelmed and wanted to worship. Pedestrians outside the church slowed their pace, and the truly devout began to pray involuntarily.

The bell towers of other monasteries also began to chime rhythmically, not on the hour, but the harmonies resonating throughout every corner of Valois.

Joseph, far away on the other side of the city, was struggling to maintain his strength after the large-scale divine spell was performed, his priest's robes soaked with sweat. However, as the distant hymns rang out and the bells rang out in harmony, it seemed that the gods had responded. Power was continuously gushing out through the gray-robed old man, which accelerated the withering of the vines.

Underground, the knights were both slashing at evil creatures and using their greatswords to carve a path upwards. It was no time to worry about weapon wear and tear. They didn't know what oxygen was, but they knew they couldn't stay here any longer.

But Odysseus had deserted again. The captain often said he wasn't suited to be part of the gray-robed guild, but rather to be a regular paladin. The leader roared at Odysseus to maintain formation, but he turned and plunged into the thick fog and earth.

Thanks to the following readers for their recommendation votes: "ㄕㄐㄧ", "怕生的雷", "故人踏月而来", "吹散的云", "规律观察者", "天下有只熊", "无言的烟火", "俗人千面", "里嘉图", and "红细胞2002"!

(End of this chapter)