Chapter 319: The Book of the World (Final)
"My apologies, next time I'll try to pour it out for you." William raised his hand in apology.
Tears streamed down Hugh's face, and he managed to squeeze out a sentence with great difficulty: "It's ok."
It was unclear if it was because the wound near his mouth was unbearably painful, or if he was simply rejoicing that he had survived.
Aside, hope was rekindled in the eyes of Bettis and Caroline.
Kalvis and Lorcy looked behind William. After confirming he was alone, their eyes were filled with doubt: "Did this guy... come here to commit suicide?"
Haggai winked and made faces at William, constantly gesturing behind him.
At this moment, the evil aura in the mist was no longer as chaotic as it was in the beginning, meaning the rules' restriction on them had become very weak.
But no one seemed to notice his strange behavior.
Surprise also flashed in Jolan's eyes when he saw William.
But his face quickly turned grave: "You guy, you should have reported the situation here to the Church, instead of playing the hero and returning alone!"
William shrugged: "Lord Jolan, it's better if you handle that kind of thing personally. You know I've never been interested in such matters."
"You... this is too dangerous." Jolan opened his mouth, but ultimately did not argue.
Seeing this scene, the four members of the Priest Order were dumbfounded. They had never seen anyone dare speak to Lord Jolan like that.
Moreover, looking at this, it seemed Lord Jolan was quite tolerant of this newly arrived priest. This made the few who frequently suffered the "Lord's discipline" somewhat envious.
Sid, however, had a strange look in her eyes.
Recalling the scene of this priest lending a helping hand earlier, she faintly guessed that the other party was the mysterious new member Lord Jolan frequently mentioned.
But even so, facing the current desperate situation, what could a priest do, no matter how capable...
The hope that had just ignited in her heart extinguished once more.
Valac, however, had an enthusiastic gaze: "Hey! You kid finally came. I didn't slack off on what you asked me to do; this guy can testify!"
It dragged its "gate" body and hopped over to Jolan's side, causing the latter's face to be splattered with quite a bit of mud.
"Thanks, this was agreed upon beforehand." William took out three glass bottles, then fished out two more.
Immediately after, he threw all five bottles of Holy Water at the other party.
Crunch... Crunch...
Valac revealed an excited expression, swallowing them all in one gulp. Subsequently, the "facial features" on the gate's surface began to twitch involuntarily.
Aside from the few Holy Clergy Members who had seen this scene before, the four from the Priest Order and the members of the Wings of Vengeance all widened their eyes.
"To actually derive a pleasure similar to drug addiction from Holy Power," Lucifer said with a curious tone. "No wonder it obediently followed your orders."
William waved his hand: "Don't try to sow discord. We are in a fine cooperative relationship."
Valac also twitched and squeezed out a sentence: "That's... right."
"Hmph, a cooperation between a demon and a priest, huh," Lucifer sneered.
"Since you appeared here, it means little Samael is already dead."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "Interesting, I actually cannot sense any information."
"He had always been deeply ashamed of your actions harming ordinary people, so after confessing to me, he chose to leave," William said.
"Hey, Samael would rather dine with Beelzebub than confess. You're lying!" Abaddon said in a muffled voice.
"I understand you want to use this sentence to emphasize that this person is lying..." Beelzebub frowned.
"But the example you used is an insult to me. I would never share a meal with a guy with such poor taste."
Mentioning the word "meal" brought strange expressions to the faces of the other Wings of Vengeance members.
"Alright, Mr. Priest," Lucifer spoke again. "Given your previous actions on Anniversary Day, you shouldn't have come here to die for no reason."
He beckoned with his hand as he spoke.
"I can allow you to use all your methods."
Hearing this, William raised an eyebrow: "As a villain, this sentence makes you seem very amateurish."
"Oh?" Lucifer smiled slightly, his tone curious, "Could you please enlighten me?"
William opened his hand: "Because of some experience or unforeseen event, you completely lost hope in this world, and therefore gathered together."
He pressed down one finger.
"You expended a great deal of effort to acquire the formidable strength you have today."
Another finger was pressed down.
"To achieve your desired goals, you spent a long time making meticulous plans and preparing the necessary supplies."
"During the execution of your plan, you made enemies of the entire world. Not only do you face danger at all times, but you also had to completely sever ties with everything in your past."
William held up only his pinky finger towards the Wings of Vengeance members.
"But when everything was ready, you didn't immediately turn your plan into reality. Instead, you proactively started to stall for time..."
"Are you so certain you can succeed at any moment that you planned to enjoy this fleeting thrill of controlling the entire situation?"
He sneered.
"But have you ever heard this saying: Villains die from talking too much."
"Meaningless delays will only give your enemies an opportunity to change the situation, sending years of prior preparations down the drain. Not even knowing to guard against this kind of risk, is that not amateurish?"
As soon as his voice fell, the air fell into complete silence.
The Church personnel all sized William up suspiciously, thinking to themselves, Could this person be a mole sent by someone?
And the members of the Wings of Vengeance were equally shocked.
This priest's words were simply a perfect summary of their past endurance of humiliation and heavy burdens!
And the other party's professional attitude even made them feel a trace of guilt.
Thus, the members all looked at Lucifer, the meaning in their eyes clear: Is this guy really not one of ours?
"Hmph." Lucifer's face darkened. "I don't need you to teach me how to do things."
William shrugged: "Your stubbornness only further proves the fact that you are powerless to refute."
"If you want to use the excuse that a certain existence hasn't completely broken free yet, save your breath..."
He looked at him calmly: "The moment the evil aura ceased its chaos, the Wings of the Fallen had already gained freedom, hadn't they."
Lucifer narrowed his eyes: "You are indeed very different."
"Correct. Since you have already figured it out, there is no need to hide it anymore."
As he spoke, he pressed his hand against his heart, and immediately after, a violent gale suddenly blew up in the mist.
An oppressive, negative, suffocating power descended instantly.
Everyone present instinctively wanted to kneel on the ground; an inexplicable desire to submit to the other party surged in their hearts.
Kalvis tried to turn his head to observe, but the next moment he actually felt that such a thought was a severe blasphemy.
He choked his own neck, even wanting to atone for his sins with death.
"Before you completely surrender your soul, I have one more question," Lucifer stared at William.
But the latter was actually still able to smile at this moment: "Oh? I thought you were going to try to recruit me."
Lucifer merely snorted coldly.
Earlier, when William provoked his authority in front of the other Wings of Vengeance members, he had already viewed the other party as a dead man.
"If you hadn't pointed out the True God's liberation, you might have lived a little longer." Lucifer was indeed very curious about this point.
From all aspects, that damn priest's words just now were entirely detrimental to the Church's side.
"About that..." William smiled slightly.
"Everyone present here is a powerhouse possessing both strength and wisdom, so to stall you here, there has to be sufficiently tempting bait..."
Lucifer frowned; he had said this exact sentence to the Church members not long ago.
He looked around, guessing what the other party was relying on inwardly, but the next moment his train of thought was interrupted.
"Stop looking," William spread his hands. "How could the power of a Holy Angel be perceived by you?"
"What... did you say?" Lucifer faintly had a bad premonition.
Hum—
As soon as his voice fell, a dazzling cluster of light abruptly appeared in the sky.
The clouds were dyed golden, and the earth became exceptionally bright.
"This is..." Jolan widened his eyes, a face full of disbelief.
He saw a massive silhouette within the clouds, almost occupying the entire sky.
Although the head of that giant silhouette was obscured by golden light...
The pure white wings faintly visible deep in the high sky, as well as the incredibly pure Holy Power gathering above, all made a bold conjecture pop into Jolan's mind.
"Damn it!" Valac suddenly regained its senses.
It glanced at the sky, immediately revealing an expression of extreme terror.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! How could this kind of existence break through the rules and truly descend!"
The gate suddenly began to shake violently, and cracks appeared on it immediately after.
Crack... Crack...
Under the amazed gazes of the crowd, the gate crashed into powder, and that demon completely vanished without a trace.
At the same time.
Hum—
A beam of blinding light suddenly descended from the sky. As it neared the ground, it split into eleven streams of light, enveloping the Holy Clergy Members, excluding William.
Jolan instantly felt a warm aura flow through his body, sweeping away the exhaustion from his previous battles.
Immediately after, under his shocked gaze, spirit particle runes continuously gathered at his severed arm.
From blood vessels to bones to flesh, it recovered as before in just a moment.
Jolan tried clenching his fist and didn't feel anything abnormal, as if his severed arm from earlier had never happened.
The other Holy Clergy Members felt similarly. The bindings on them were driven away, and their bodies recovered to their most perfect state.
They immediately knelt on the ground, praying devoutly toward the giant silhouette in the sky.
"Lord Angel, it was that guy who attacked the Holy Land and killed many of our Church companions, using their remains as sacrifices to summon evil..."
An abrupt, tearful complaint rang out.
The Holy Clergy Members present all hesitated to speak, watching this scene frantically.
What the hell is this crying and tattling!
That's a true angel up there; doing this is simply too impolite! God has His own will; how can we proactively intervene!
But to their surprise, another Holy Light actually descended from the sky, heading straight for the members of the Wings of Vengeance.
The latter reacted as if facing a formidable enemy, assuming defensive postures one after another.
Boom!
A massive energy collision occurred in mid-air, and the resulting shockwaves continued to roll in all directions, even dispersing a large amount of mist.
Immediately after, a pair of black and white wings flew out of the dense fog, and the nearby ground was instantly covered in shadow.
If one observed carefully, they would discover that the depths of those wings were pieced together from sections of arms.
Lucifer stood upon the black wings, glaring ferociously at the sky, not averting his gaze even when blood flowed from the corners of his eyes.
"Hypocrites of Heaven, the flames of vengeance will eventually rise from the earth, bringing decay and death to demand justice from you."
His voice was mixed with another voice, and his entire person exuded an extremely dangerous aura.
Boom!
Riding the mist, the black and white wings charged toward the giant silhouette high in the sky.
The next moment, a dazzling light suddenly bloomed in the sky, dyeing the entire space pure white.
This light submerged Lucifer and enveloped the earth.
Those present couldn't help but close their eyes.
Before long, the pure white light also completely covered them.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
William's fingers twitched, and then he suddenly opened his eyes.
He shook his head, recalling what happened before he fainted.
A moment later, he narrowed his eyes tightly, taking out a crucifix and remaining alert to his surroundings.
Suddenly, his foot stepped on a hard object.
William looked down and found a book with a black leather cover.
He bent over and picked it up. Upon opening it, inside were maps drawn with black ink.
"The Book of the World..." William muttered.
Earlier, when conversing with the existence that possessed Samael, he had said he needed to think about it, so he didn't take the book. He didn't expect it to appear here right now.
"Sigh... looks like I can only bring this trouble along for now." William tucked the Book of the World into his robes.
Immediately after, he turned around, and then saw a shocking scene.
He saw the ground beside his feet suddenly break. The gap spread outwards to both sides, extending all the way to an extremely distant place.
And the gap was pitch black, with no end in sight, as if it led straight to the depths of Hell.
A giant crater just appeared on the ground like this.
William raised his head.
At this moment, the sky was a clear blue. That divine existence had disappeared, and the leader of the Wings of Vengeance had similarly vanished without a trace.
He could only choose a random direction along the gap and search.
Before long, he actually found something.
"This is..."
William looked at the stone slab lying in the weeds, engraved with some kind of text.
Although he couldn't read it, the powerful Holy Power radiating from the stone slab was difficult to conceal.
"The Ten Commandments Stele..."
William originally thought this item had been destroyed; he didn't expect it to appear here.
He picked up the stone slab and tied it to his back with a grass rope.
After all, this was the target of this mission. Taking it back would definitely allow him to exchange it for some good things with the Church.
After searching a few more areas, William finally found living people.
"Are you still alive." He continuously patted Haggai's cheeks.
It wasn't until his face was somewhat red and swollen that the latter frowned and opened his eyes.
"Where am I? Is this Heaven?"
Slap! William immediately gave the other party another slap.
"Hiss—why did you hit me."
"The fact that you can feel pain means we're still alive."
Haggai clutched his head: "Do you remember what happened at the end?"
William shook his head.
He only remembered being swallowed by a dazzling white light, and then lost all subsequent memories.
After Haggai sobered up, the two continued to look for the others.
Perhaps their luck was relatively good; after this, they found Jolan, Bettis, and the others respectively.
Although everyone was in a similar state, they were not injured.
However, aside from the thirteen of them, all other Holy Clergy Members had died in the line of duty.
They were the people Jolan brought, including members of the Priest Order and ordinary Holy Clergy Members who had temporarily changed their minds and stayed behind.
Jolan's gaze was solemn, and he remained silent.
"Where are those people from the Wings of Vengeance!" Bettis broke the silence.
"No sign of them so far," William said.
"If we go by the style of that existence, perhaps..."
Everyone was shocked inwardly; they didn't expect they would actually witness a miracle descend this time.
"Now is not the time for idle chatter, we have to figure out a way to leave here," Jolan suddenly spoke up.
"Do you still have Teleportation Flying Stones?"
Hearing this, the several Holy Clan members each took out a pale blue stone.
"Very good, let's head back first," Jolan took one of them, immediately biting his finger and smearing blood on it.
But a moment later, nothing happened.
Jolan frowned, looking at Lorcy and the others.
The latter also tried their respective stones, but the result was still the same.
"How could this be..." Jolan frowned.
"As long as we are in an anomalous space, we can return via the Flying Stones. Could there be an anomaly with the teleportation base?"
"Perhaps... we aren't in an anomalous space," William suddenly pointed in a certain direction.
The crowd's gazes were doubtful, and they looked in that direction.
They saw a mountain there, and on top of the mountain were several rows of giant white windmills.
"Is this... wind power generation?" Bettis said uncertainly.
William shrugged: "Who knows. Anyway, there's no such thing in the Land of the Holy War. Let's look further out, maybe we'll find something."
Thus, the group headed in the direction of the windmills.
A few hours later.
Over a dozen figures walked out from a dense patch of tall grass.
Before them was a paved road with cars driving by occasionally, and further away were rocky mountains.
Across the road was a shop with a sign that read "Mexican Tacos."
The group looked at each other, then walked towards the shop.
Holy Land, Cardinal Conference Room.
A Holy Clergy Member in a black robe walked hastily and knocked on the door of the conference room.
"Lord Parolin, there is news of Lord Jolan."
"What!" Parolin stood up abruptly, reaching the Holy Clergy Member in a few strides. "Where is he."
The Holy Clergy Member replied, "We received a phone call."
"A phone call? Where from."
"A Mexican taco shop."
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