Black mist descends, and I and the witches take refuge in the dungeon.

"What are you doing? Father Aules is still behind us!"

Renee looked at Mill in front of her and couldn't help but retort.

"As a divine messenger of the Church of Light, I will lead you toward the light! Now, let us depart!"

Mir activated the magic within his body, maximizing the special effects of the afterimage behind him.

When Renee saw the phantom image of the goddess, she was completely stunned.

But Renee couldn't help but look back at Chong because of her concern for the old priest.

But the main force, at Mil's call, marched forward.

Moreover, the unusual phenomenon surrounding Mir boosted the morale of the entire group significantly.

That's the power of a goddess's influence.

Even so, Renee still rushed to Mil's side.

"Where is the priest?"

Mil grabbed Renee's wrist and forcibly pulled her outside.

"The priest was already corrupted by the black mist yesterday morning; he's long gone! Now he's doing his best to cover our retreat!"

Don't waste time, and even more so, don't waste the chance to live that the priest has won for us!

Mil looked at Renee, his eyes red-rimmed, his tone heavy and serious.

Renee, however, did not believe these things. She looked at Mil and tried to break free from Mil's grasp.

The next moment, the priest's voice rang out:

"Rennie, I will obey Lord Mil's orders."

Looking in the direction of the priest's voice, we saw that he was now standing on the top of the church.

He stood right next to the corpse hanging on the cross.

The old priest's soul lamp was flashing, clearly having reached its limit.

The warm yellow light shone on that somewhat aged face.

The old priest was smiling.

"Keep going, don't stop! I only realized after I climbed up that the view in the distance was pretty good."

Once you get up that high slope, the road will be easier; don't stop.

"Lord Mil, Renee, or rather, young people!"

The old priest's voice rose slightly by half an octave, carrying a sense of gratified encouragement:

"Your acceleration aura works great, keep it up and don't let it break. Also, the goddess phantom behind you is really beautiful and cool!"

Mil stopped and turned to look in the direction of the old priest.

Mir admitted that his nose was starting to sting.

But he didn't stop; he continued to pull Renee along as they ran quickly forward.

Renee had stopped struggling and was simply letting Mill pull her along, her eyes somewhat gloomy.

Mil could barely see the priest anymore; all he could see was the faint glow of the spirit lamp.

And that swirling layer of gray-black mist behind the priest.

"Father."

Mir shouted.

"Just go your own way."

The old priest's voice came from the fog, beginning to take on a sense of indistinctness due to distance.

His laughter was rather hearty:

"The road ahead is still long."

The knight at the very front did not stop; he continued to lead the way on his horse.

Renee was being pulled along by Mil. She didn't do anything, but Mil heard her mutter something under her breath, like she was swearing. The wind swallowed most of her words so she couldn't hear them clearly.

The procession continued forward, with Mir at the very back, his hand holding the Soul Lamp steady. A pale golden light emanated from him, providing everyone with a sense of security akin to that of the sun.

When everyone reached the top of the hill, Mil looked back once again, and he was finally able to see the entire old church clearly.

The stained-glass window of that tower gleamed dimly in the gray-black fog, like a piece of ancient corpse solidified in resin.

It was dazzling, yet tinged with a deathly stillness.

Beneath the cross on the church dome, the old priest's white robe fluttered slightly in the wind, like a lone sail nailed to the edge of the cross.

The soul lamp had been placed at the old priest's feet, and only a faint, almost imperceptible light remained.

If it weren't for the divine power that amplified his body, Mil wouldn't have been able to see the old priest's appearance at all.

The old priest had already climbed onto the cross.

His body was suspended below the crossbeam, a smile on his face, but the corners of his mouth were downturned, giving people an indescribable complex feeling.

It looked like it was crying, but also like it was laughing.

The old priest's hands hung at his sides, his gaze fixed on the direction the procession had gone. He seemed to see Mir and waved to him.

But the distance was too far, and Mir wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

The old priest looked at his son's corpse.

The smile on Leos's face was somewhat eerie, but his eyes were calm and gentle.

The old priest knew that the deliberately contrived eerie smile was nothing more than a filthy entity within the black mist trying to frighten people with such despicable means.

His own son was an excellent priest, an excellent priest who was willing to sacrifice himself for others.

The old priest lied to Mil. In fact, he saw his son being shrouded in the black mist, and he even knew the whole story.

His own son had already entered the area covered by the Soul Lamp, but he saw the phantom in the black mist nod at him and then rushed out without hesitation.

The old priest didn't know what Ores saw, but he knew that his son had willingly become a sacrifice while in a state of lucidity.

And he, under the immense pain of losing his son, had his mind corrupted by the black mist.

If he hadn't been inside the church, relying on his faith in Her Majesty the Goddess, he would have died long ago.

The old priest gently stroked his son's stiff face and whispered:

"How can a son go to heaven before his father? What an unfilial and foolish son."

However, now I understand why you did that.

What's inside this black mist is truly sinister.

If we don't restrain it with our own corpses, will it quickly engulf the world?

Then my son and I made a great profit.

That's more profitable than earning five copper coins from your mother!

As the old priest spoke, the spirit lamp beside him went out completely.

But the old priest's body emitted a dazzling light.

Even shrouded in black mist, it still appeared dazzling.

Mir didn’t know what happened next; he only knew that the black mist was held up at the Vatican for a full half hour.

The old priest, an aged and frail Order Two transcendent, withstood the black mist's erosion for half an hour.

Miracle.

As he watched this scene, Mir couldn't help but wipe his eyes.

He didn't say much, he just pulled Renee along:

"When will you be fully recovered, my holy lady? We need you at the front."

"Now is good! Now is good..."

"I'll lead the way to the east."

"Um."

Renee's tears kept flowing, but she still stubbornly stood up.

The group continued eastward into the night.

It didn't stop.