Chapter 307: The Angel's Descent (Part 4)
"Don't panic! Quickly take out the lost holy relics!" Olivia shouted immediately.
Since that hundred-year vintage holy artifact had shown changes, maybe...
Hearing this, the crowd quickly complied, but the results were mixed.
The good news was that holy relics of over ninety-year quality indeed flickered with Holy Light. The bad news was that holy artifacts below that tier still couldn't be used directly.
Olivia had no choice but to direct the crowd to gather under the high-quality holy artifacts.
At the same time, the two Sweepers opposite them also made their move.
The silver-skinned monster split its mouth open, extending a long, narrow scarlet tongue. At its end was a mouthpart-like appendage, covered in sharp barbs.
Squelch!
The mouthpart pierced into the neck of a deacon who had fallen behind. That person instantly stiffened in place.
Immediately after, the man's skin shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye. The muscles and organs within his body all surged toward the direction of the sucking mouthpart, creating a highly disturbing sight.
"John!"
A few survivors who were familiar with the man shouted and rushed over.
"Don't go!" Olivia hurriedly tried to stop them, but it was clearly too late.
The next moment.
Hundreds of tiny holes suddenly appeared on the silver-skinned monster's body. Subsequently, dense fleshy tubes extended from inside, each ending with the identical mouthpart.
Squelch... Squelch...
Accompanied by a series of agonizing screams, the few people who rushed over never returned.
Olivia's face turned extremely ugly. She immediately used a holy relic to set up a weak isolation magic array.
At this time, Bettis also walked over and lowered her voice: "Did you notice? Among the people who just perished, some had never been on an iron hook."
Olivia nodded: "Not only that, the power of the holy artifacts in our hands has also decreased significantly."
With the quality of a ninety-year vintage holy artifact, the strength of the magic array set up should definitely be more than just this.
While the two were pondering, gasps of alarm erupted from the crowd again.
They saw the lantern-wielding Sweeper also draw near.
It opened its mouth and spewed out a stream of yellowish-brown liquid. A putrid stench instantly filled the air. A few drops of the liquid fell to the ground, and the surrounding weeds instantly turned to powder.
But what was even more deadly came next.
After this liquid came into contact with the barrier's surface, the power maintaining the magic array instantly collapsed. The crowd inside was suddenly left without any cover.
The stench of blood, sounds of crying and shouting, the blood-mangled ground...
Within just a few seconds, nearly ten people were injured.
Hugh leaned back against a large tree, his eyes full of panic, his forehead covered in sweat.
Caroline rummaged through the stone seals, trying to aid the injured people beside her.
Shiloj had a serious expression, constantly weaving through the crowd. With agile movements, he led those people away from the vicinity of the Sweepers.
Bettis pointed to the hundred-year vintage holy artifact not far away, her tone anxious: "I can feel the power of that thing, we must decide quickly!"
Olivia tried her utmost to maintain her composure, her brain spinning frantically: "What do I do, what should I do..."
But the Sweepers obviously wouldn't give her time to think.
As the silver-skinned monster finished its meal, the two approached the crowd once again.
Just as Olivia was about to stake everything on a single throw and use that hundred-year vintage holy artifact, a loud boom suddenly came from the ground not far away.
Everyone present, including the Sweepers, looked in the direction the sound came from.
A loud curse was heard coming from mid-air: "Didn't you say there wouldn't be much commotion!"
"Hmph, this is nothing but a bit of smoke and dust. With our physical strength, if we used our true power, the entire ground would be lifted up," another deep voice replied.
Thud!
Several figures dropped to the ground.
"What if we landed right next to a Sweeper? Or ran into those guys from the Wings of Vengeance? Your mistake could have put us in danger!" William said in a serious tone. "Don't forget, your mask is still in my hands."
"What are the Wings of Vengeance? As for Sweepers... hmph, those slaves can just be killed." Jason stretched his limbs, knowing this threat was just to scare him.
"Hmm... the restrictions here are much smaller than in other areas." Freddy tipped his fedora, sniffing the air.
"T-three gentlemen, could you let me get up before continuing your chat?" Ruen's voice suddenly came from the ground.
The three lowered their heads, only to see their final companion lying flat on the ground.
At this moment, William was sitting on Ruen's back, while the two Sweepers stood at either end of him.
Fortunately, Jason and Freddy had only stepped on his clothes; otherwise, this illegitimate son of the Miso Cathedral might really have met God ahead of schedule.
"Sorry..." William hurriedly stood up and pulled the other party up.
"Is this where the final gate is located?" He looked around.
But the next moment, William was stunned.
Standing before him was a group of people wearing Church attire, and several of them looked quite familiar.
"To think you guys are here," William's tone was surprised.
"William!" Caroline waved her arms excitedly.
Olivia and Bettis let out long sighs of relief.
Hugh also wiped away his tears, poking his head out from behind a tree.
The blonde youth Shiloj looked him up and down curiously.
"Are you resting here? Are all these people survivors?" William said as he walked towards his companions.
At this time, Olivia suddenly pointed behind him.
The other survivors also had strange looks in their eyes.
William instantly became vigilant. He turned around, and immediately saw the two Sweepers.
And the other party also seemed stunned in place.
The air instantly fell silent.
"Hey... couldn't you guys have chosen a better spot." The corner of William's mouth twitched.
He didn't expect that a sentence he casually analyzed in hindsight would actually become a fulfilled flag.
Hearing William's words, Olivia almost coughed up blood from anger.
Do you think I wanted this!
But she also knew the situation was urgent, so she quickly recounted what had happened.
"Now this is interesting." William raised an eyebrow.
When they flew out of the cellar just now, he had already sensed an anomaly.
Aside from being able to get both feet off the ground, he faintly felt the energy fluctuations of Holy Power, only this power seemed to be blocked by something.
And the abilities in his system panel had already partially recovered.
"Since that's the case, it's time for you to work," he patted Jason.
The latter had long been eyeing the two uninvited guests.
Upon receiving William's order, Jason immediately clenched his fists and stepped forward.
Freddy also flashed his blades.
Under the shocked gazes of the survivors, the silver-skinned monster and the lantern-wielding woman were suppressed almost completely one-sidedly.
In just a few minutes, the two Sweepers fled in panic, leaving only some severed limbs and broken arms on the ground.
Jason was completely unharmed, while Freddy's sweater had a few more holes in it.
The former picked up a silver-skinned arm from the ground and tossed it into his mouth.
Accompanied by a chewing sound, he spoke: "The power of these slaves has been enhanced. Hmph... but they are still very weak."
The surroundings were dead silent.
The group of survivors stared at this tall, burly man.
Judging by his appearance and the strength he displayed, this guy perfectly matched their understanding of a Sweeper.
But right now, there was neither a red light nor a heartbeat, and this burly man could even speak!
Looking at it this way... he should be a "companion," right...
The crowd tried their best to convince themselves.
Freddy and Jason were now free from the Evil Spirit's control, which was why they lacked the characteristics of Sweepers.
But someone still recognized the former by his appearance.
Olivia and her group were already used to it, but the others were completely unprepared mentally.
Therefore, upon learning that one of the guys was a Sweeper, people revealed terrified expressions and backed away.
That blonde youth's eyes, however, showed even more curiosity.
Facing this situation, William knew they couldn't waste time, so he immediately stepped forward.
"Everyone, these two guys have turned over a new leaf and offered their devotion to the Lord," William said, patting the two serial killers, signaling them to show it.
Ahem... Freddy covered his mouth with his leather glove, giving a vague, noncommittal response.
Jason simply crossed his arms and turned around.
"Sigh... the two of them have also had hard lives." William immediately took the story of them being kidnapped by the Evil Spirit and adapted it with some artistic embellishment.
In short, the others believed it.
The survivors looked at William with admiration; to be able to make these two vicious guys repent and reform, this priest must be a person of noble character.
Afterward, Olivia led William to the hundred-year vintage crucifix.
Relying on the ability of [Divine Eye Seal], William indeed discovered a small magic array set up on it, which contained some peculiar energy.
The spirit particle runes making up the energy were chaotic and disordered; it didn't look like anything good.
Once the holy artifact was touched, the magic array would break, leading to intimate contact with that energy.
Regardless, staying away was the right choice.
After receiving validation, Olivia felt much more relieved.
"W-William!"
At this time, Ruen suddenly cried out.
William looked over, only to see the former lying on the ground, surrounded by quite a few people.
But he was looking toward mid-air.
At this moment, a spirit body was floating there. Although its appearance was blurry, from its outline and movements, it was undeniably Ruen.
"Having power restricted is indeed somewhat troublesome," William frowned.
But the next moment, Ruen's voice came to his ear again: "William! My old illness has relapsed again! There are many dead spirits' voices around!"
Jason had mentioned that Ruen's out-of-body soul was a talent. The reason his state was stable before was only because he was suppressed by the Evil Spirit.
Coupled with the change in rules and the restoration of panel abilities...
"It seems the Evil Spirit's control over this place has indeed weakened," William pondered.
He then looked at Jason: "Which direction is the gate?"
Jason pointed in a certain direction: "Getting over there might not be so easy."
"Oh?"
"I can feel a very powerful force separating the gate from our current location. I cannot shake energy of that scale," Jason said in a deep voice.
"To think even you have moments of humility," William couldn't help but roast.
"Hmph, I am merely stating the facts."
Freddy also adjusted his fedora: "He's not lying."
William frowned slightly: "Could it be those guys from the Wings of Vengeance?"
If even Jason thought he was no match, then it was even more impossible for him, whose power hadn't fully recovered yet.
"But it's not entirely hopeless," Jason's tone shifted.
William and the others looked at him.
Jason pointed at Ruen's spirit body in mid-air: "Dead spirits are extremely sensitive to spirit particle fluctuations. They can discover weak gaps in the energy."
"Since this kid is so well-liked by them, we can use him as bait. As long as we find such a weak point, I might be able to break the localized blockade."
William raised an eyebrow; this was actually a good idea.
Ruen gulped. He really wanted to refuse, but he was met with the burning gazes of several people.
Thus, not long after.
A group of people appeared at the edge of the blood-red barrier.
William led Ruen at the very front, while Bettis and the others followed far behind.
According to his plan, he originally wanted to let these people stay in place and have Freddy stay behind to protect them. Once a gap was found, William would go back and inform them.
But these survivors were absolutely unwilling to stay behind no matter what, hence the current situation.
During this time, they indeed encountered harassment from a few Sweepers, but Jason and Freddy acted as bodyguards.
As a result, there was no real danger on the road.
This made these people even more glad about their previous decision.
Ever since entering the Land of the Holy War, they had never dared to extravagantly hope they could swagger down the road like this.
On the other side, Ruen floated by the barrier, trying his best to suppress the urge to flee.
At this moment, dozens of dead spirits had gathered outside, all staring dead at him.
They constantly attacked the outer barrier, trying to get inside. But the energy fluctuations emitted by the barrier repeatedly knocked them back.
"W-William, is this really not going to cause any trouble?" Ruen gulped.
At this moment, William was walking directly below him, with Jason following closely behind, carrying Ruen's physical body on his back.
"Aren't we just waiting for trouble to happen?" William had a confused face, "Otherwise, how do we get out?"
Ruen instantly put on a miserable face, immensely regretting not leaving with his sister Vera.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit him.
Ruen grabbed his face with both hands and rubbed it wildly, occasionally stealing glances downward during the process.
Before long, his facial features changed positions, drastically altering his appearance. He looked about seventy to eighty percent... like a certain priest.
Ruen approached the barrier, looked at the face reflected on it, and nodded in satisfaction.
This ability was also something he had discovered after multiple out-of-body experiences.
In short, the disguised Ruen not only straightened his back again but also completely shed his previous dispirited look, becoming quite confident.
Whenever new dead spirits gathered, he would wave at them, fully displaying his "New face."
William, however, was completely unaware of this because his power was suppressed.
Jason aside did notice the anomaly, but he merely sneered inwardly.
Dead spirits identified prey by their soul itself; as long as the scent of the soul remained unchanged, permanently altering one's appearance would have no effect.
But Jason didn't expose it.
For him, enjoying such a trick while traveling was also a kind of amusement.
After walking for a while longer, a massive tremor suddenly came from ahead.
William immediately crouched low and signaled Ruen to go investigate.
With the latter's spirit body state, even if he encountered a Sweeper, he could easily escape.
Before long, Ruen returned: "Up ahead... there are several Sweepers surrounding two teams of Church personnel."
"Those people seem to be like us, but right now they are in some danger."
William was thoughtful. After warning the people behind him, he immediately took Ruen and Jason and sneaked over quietly.
The open street at the edge of town.
Three heads popped out of a pile of weeds.
"This is..." William narrowed his eyes.
He saw the area ahead was filled with a massive amount of pitch-black dense fog, with a blood-red light piercing through it.
The heartbeat was already like rapid drumbeats, vibrating against the eardrums of the humans present.
Tall dark shadows flashed through the dense fog from time to time.
The sound of chainsaws, mournful screams, low rhythmic piano notes...
This place seemed like a Sweepers' concert.
And in the deepest part, a crystal-clear barrier was on the verge of collapse.
Many corpses were piled up on the ground inside the barrier, and the vortex in the sky was devouring their souls.
Among the survivors still standing, only two could maintain their composure.
William recognized them—Sister Lorcy of the Zadok family, and Bishop Kalvis of the Saul family.
Both were members of the Holy Clans, with extremely noble status.
At this time, the Sweepers swung their weapons again, hacking viciously at the barrier.
Crash!
Hearing a sound like shattering glass, the barrier completely collapsed, and the Sweepers stepped into the humans' last remaining safe haven.
At this moment, the expressions of Kalvis and Lorcy finally turned solemn.
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you