Tivian North Suburb, Royal Saint Crown University, outside the King's Campus.
At night, at the entrance of River Irrigation Bridge, three henchmen of Eight Point Nest looked at the scene of the fierce battle in the distance, talking to each other hesitantly.
"What should we do? Should we go help Mr. Ci Rong right away?"
"No, look at how they are fighting. Is that something we can intervene in? That's a battle between Extraordinaries!"
"Looking at the situation over there, Mr. Ci Rong has the advantage. The other side is about to collapse."
...
The three henchmen were talking to each other, commenting on the battle scene not far away. At this moment, none of them noticed that behind them, two figures were slowly standing up.
To Naifnis's astonished expression in the distance, two bodies that had been killed by Sister Vanya at the beginning slowly stood up again. One was Eile, the other was another Student member. They looked indifferently at the three people talking in front of them. Their words passed through the Corpse Puppets' ears to Dorothy, who was underground in the distance, causing Dorothy to smile slightly and mutter.
"Still hesitating? Since that's the case, I'll help you make a decision."
Saying this, Dorothy controlled the two Corpse Puppets to draw the small knives they carried on them. They stealthily crept up, then covered the mouths and noses of the people in front, one per person, and then slit their throats with the knives.
"Mmm!!"
"Huh, what... Ah!"
The person below heard the commotion beside him and slowly turned around, then was immediately rushed by the two Corpse Puppets together, restraining his movements and covering his mouth. One of them drew a knife and stabbed him to death.
In an instant, all five henchmen Mr. Ci Rong had brought were now eliminated. This caused Naifnis, who was watching all of this not far away, to open her mouth in astonishment.
'The bodies... the bodies actually stood up? And even killed people? Is this Miss Dorothy's Extraordinary ability? Where is she now? Is she perhaps nearby?'
Just as Naifnis was feeling surprised, Dorothy instantly expanded her Corpse Puppet control line to the maximum of five, directly turning the three newly dead bodies into Corpse Puppets and pulling them up. Then, Dorothy controlled the five Corpse Puppets to run towards the other side of the bridge together.
Turning the Sight back to the battlefield on the other side of the river, due to the difference on the panel, Sister Vanya was completely suppressed in the battle against Mr. Ci Rong. Under Mr. Ci Rong's continuous attacks, even Sister Vanya, who had already fully adopted a defensive stance, was finding it increasingly difficult to cope.
Even with the richest experience and the most exquisite techniques, it was impossible to compensate for the huge gap in panel attributes. It was now very easy to see that if this continued, Sister Vanya's defense would completely collapse in not long, which made Sister Vanya's heart full of worry.
However, the truth was that compared to Sister Vanya's defense, her weapon gave way first. In the process of constantly clashing with Mr. Ci Rong, the longsword in Sister Vanya's hand was full of nicks everywhere. After every clash with Mr. Ci Rong's short knife, a piece of the blade of Sister Vanya's longsword would almost certainly chip off.
During the high-frequency continuous blocking, the edges of the blade at various positions on Sister Vanya's sword were almost completely broken. It slowly turned from a sword into an iron rod, and the rod itself was even covered with fine cracks. Meanwhile, the short knife in Mr. Ci Rong's hand was still intact, gleaming with a fatal cold light under the moonlight.
Mr. Ci Rong was an Extraordinary of the "Shadow" path, and the Spirituality of "Shadow" has a characteristic that it can easily attach to weapons, strengthening them.
Spirituality of other attributes requires specific ranks or professions, or the use of specific items or runes, to perform weapon enchantment. "Shadow" is different; enchantment is an inherent skill for all ranks on the entire "Shadow" path. Even an Apprentice rank "Shadow" can attach Spirituality to a knife or sword to increase its sharpness, allowing it to easily cut through unarmored flesh.
At the Black Rank, this "Shadow" enchantment even added a bit of armor-piercing ability to the knife and sword. Although Sister Vanya was not armored, this armor-piercing ability was also displayed in the clash of knives and swords.
Mr. Ci Rong's short knife constantly collided with Sister Vanya's sword blade, breaking the edge and causing cracks. The sword blade, which had become an iron rod, became dilapidated in the few minutes of fighting.
Finally, after a powerful swing, the iron rod in Sister Vanya's hand, already full of cracks from being eroded by "Shadow," shattered, the fragments scattered, and Sister Vanya, holding an empty hilt at this moment, widened her eyes.
Seeing this situation, Mr. Ci Rong smiled sinisterly, then held the short knife and prepared to stab Sister Vanya, who had lost her means of defense. But at this moment, a voice suddenly rang out.
"Mr. Ci Rong! We're here to help you!"
The Corpse Puppets who had run to the other side of the bridge shouted this, and then they all picked up their small knives and daggers and slashed at Mr. Ci Rong. Mr. Ci Rong was deceived by the voice of his subordinates and was unprepared for a moment, not reacting until a dagger slashed in front of him.
He narrowly dodged the slashes of two daggers, and after paying the price of his clothes being torn, he counter-attacked with a knife, cutting the nearest henchman in two. Blood sprayed instantly.
Mr. Ci Rong did not immediately deal with the other Corpse Puppets, but focused his main attention on Sister Vanya, who had lost her weapon. He gripped his short knife and thrust it directly at Sister Vanya. He knew very well that the key now was not to deal with these subordinates who had suddenly rebelled for some unknown reason but had little combat power, but to take advantage of the opportunity when Sister Vanya had lost her weapon to finish her off.
"Die!"
Mr. Ci Rong's short knife rapidly stabbed at Sister Vanya, who had no weapon. Just as Sister Vanya was about to dodge in panic, a figure flashed between the two of them, taking the stab from Mr. Ci Rong head-on for Sister Vanya. The sharp blade pierced through the figure's chest and abdomen. This was Eile, now a Corpse Puppet controlled by Dorothy.
"What! A flesh puppet..."
Seeing this scene, Mr. Ci Rong also widened his eyes. He wanted to pull out the knife, but found that the arm he had extended was being held tightly by Eile.
At the same time, behind Mr. Ci Rong, the remaining few Corpse Puppets also stabbed with their daggers. Mr. Ci Rong, restrained by Eile, dodged urgently but was also stabbed twice in the back.
Although for Extraordinaries who assist the "Cup" path, this small injury is nothing, these few Corpse Puppets, after stabbing Mr. Ci Rong, directly chose to cling to him with great force, holding on tightly. Including Eile, four Corpse Puppets were restraining Mr. Ci Rong's movements at this moment.
For a time, a scene of being surrounded by men was playing out again, but this time Mr. Ci Rong was an Extraordinary with the "Cup" path, and his strength was incomparable to these ordinary Corpse Puppets. Due to the difference in strength, the Corpse Puppets could not smother Mr. Ci Rong like they had smothered Kim last time. Mr. Ci Rong would eventually break free, but it would take a little time.
"Quick! Now!"
With a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, Eile, whose abdomen had been pierced, turned his head and said to Sister Vanya, who was still a little startled behind him. Sister Vanya immediately reacted upon hearing this.
'These are... Miss Dorothy's puppets! I understand!'
Sister Vanya, who had reacted, threw away the useless sword hilt in her hand. Her mind began to concentrate, she closed her eyes, her expression became focused, and a sacred aura emanated from her body.
At this moment, Sister Vanya seemed to have returned to the St. Yong Cathedral where she performed her daily prayers. A holy and majestic phantom appeared in her heart. The training she had received as a Sister since childhood gave rise to a feeling of piety.
Sister Vanya extended her hand. Her piety reached its peak at this moment. As she opened her eyes, she muttered.
"Lord... grant me Light..."
As she muttered, the "Lamp" Spirituality within Sister Vanya's body was rapidly consumed. As the "Lamp" quickly flowed away, a dazzling golden light gathered in Sister Vanya's extended hand, then extended towards both ends, finally forming a slender beam of light, emitting a light countless times stronger than that under the street lamp, dispelling the surrounding darkness. This beam twisted and spread, resembling lightning.
"What? This is..."
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Somewhat dazzled by the bright light, Mr. Ci Rong's expression was momentarily surprised and startled. At this moment, Sister Vanya, holding the beam of light, had already assumed a javelin throwing posture.
"Solar Light Spear!"
Stepping forward, Sister Vanya threw the beam of light in her hand. The beam, at the moment it left her hand, turned into a long spear of light, piercing the night sky, penetrating everything in front of it, illuminating the riverbank.
After that bright light slowly dissipated, darkness gradually descended again, and finally the Light scattered, leaving only the scorched black marks of bowl-sized circular holes that pierced through two Corpse Puppets and Ci Rong's chest, with wisps of white smoke rising from the edges of the holes, and a smell of roasted meat permeated the air.
That beam of light just now directly pierced through three people in one go, their ribs, flesh, and spines were all burned and shot through, and Ci Rong stared with wide, astonished eyes at everything before him, then slowly fell down along with the Corpse Puppets that were pierced through in front and back.
And Vanya, after looking at the scene before her, looked at her own hands and murmured in disbelief.
"Light Spear... Lamp Spear... Sunlight Spear, is this the new grace Aka has bestowed upon me?"
Meanwhile, Dorothy, who was in the secret room, looked at the three bodies lying on the ground at the bridge entrance through the other two surviving Corpse Puppets and said with a light chuckle.
"Sunlight Spear, huh... Even with a bunch of buffs missing, the power is still so strong. I can only say it lives up to being Gwyn's miracle."
When Vanya was traveling to the King's Campus by car, Dorothy was worried she might encounter a strong enemy. To cope with a potentially unfavorable second situation, she decided to utilize Vanya's remaining portion of the book-sea navigation record, so she tried letting her perform an exchange, using the secret transmission Aldrich gave her last time to exchange for some otherworldly knowledge.
Dorothy used the book-sea navigation record to teach Vanya how to pray, offered the secret transmission she had just finished reading through the information channel, and then Dorothy threw this secret transmission to the system for exchange. The result was the ability she just used.
Sunlight Spear... or rather, Spear of Sunlight, is a skill from the action-suffering series game "Dark Souls", or to be precise, a miracle, a miracle of the Gods.
In the game, players can use miracles obtained by imitating the legends of various divine races. Among them, the Sunlight Spear belongs to the miracle of the most exalted divine race in the Dark Souls world, the "Sun King" Gwyn. It is rumored that He once used a light spear to shoot down ancient Dragons and, together with other holders of King's souls, opened the Age of Fire in the Dark Souls world.
In the hands of Dark Souls players, Sunlight Spear is a miracle whose power increases with higher faith. When equipped with gear that strengthens miracles and stacked with buffs, it has extremely high damage.
After being exchanged, Sunlight Spear still retains the characteristic of being stronger with higher faith. This object of faith does not need to be Gwyn. Although it lacks the bonuses from equipment and buffs, its power can be enhanced by providing more "Lamp".
The minimum activation value for Sunlight Spear is 3 points of "Lamp". The more extra "Lamp" invested afterwards, the stronger it becomes, and it is also affected by faith correction. The Sunlight Spear Vanya used just now, which consumed about 4 points of "Lamp", was perfect for her as a "Lamp" Extraordinary and a Sister.
'Good, so powerful... such a difficult enemy, at least Black Rank... was taken down just like that? Is this the power of the new divine sign bestowed by Aka?'
Looking at the corpse before her, Vanya thought in disbelief. And regarding Aka, who had bestowed this power upon her, Vanya now had new thoughts.
'Such a holy Light Spear, such pure 'Lamp' power, could Aka also be a deity in the 'Lamp' domain? Could He have some connection with the saints?
'Aka claims not to be one of the saints, but has bestowed upon me such a holy divine sign... Could He actually be one of the saints, and that denial is just Him testing me? Or is there some other hidden reason?'
After witnessing the power of her Sunlight Spear, Vanya was somewhat dazed and her thoughts wandered. When Dorothy saw Vanya's appearance through the surviving Corpse Puppet, she directly reminded her.
"Hey, Sister Vanya, now is not the time to be spacing out."
"Uh... Ah! It's Miss Dorothea. Sorry, I was a bit distracted just now. Thank you for your assistance earlier. Are you nearby now?" Vanya apologized, saying that she had already fully witnessed Dorothy's Corpse Puppet ability at the Field mansion, so she recognized it as Dorothy's Corpse Puppet at a glance.
"I'm not here right now. Due to some things, I'm temporarily unable to move freely. I just used some means to control the bodies here to help a little."
"Unable to move freely... Is everything alright on your end? Is it dangerous, Miss Dorothea?" Vanya asked with some concern, and Dorothy replied with a light chuckle through the Corpse Puppet.
"Although the situation on my end is a bit complicated, there's no danger for now. You don't need to worry too much."
"The trouble is resolved now. The person I asked you to pick up is on the other side of the bridge. Oh, did you bring a car?"
Dorothy asked Vanya, and the other party nodded in reply.
"Yes, I took a horse-drawn carriage up. Since the road the driver took is not connected here, I gave the driver some money and asked him to wait for me for a while on that road over there, which is a few hundred meters away from here... I hope he wasn't scared away after hearing the gunfire."
"Okay, good. Then you go ahead and pick up the person and take them to the City. Settle them in a safe place near the Church. Next, I still have some things I need to ask you to do, and I will pay you the corresponding reward when my matters are resolved."
Dorothy promised Vanya through the Corpse Puppet. Every time she asked Vanya to act, it was compensated.
"Um... actually, the reward doesn't matter. I just want to ask you, Miss Dorothea, is it also Aka's will? Are the enemies we faced this time the same evil cultists as the Holy Communion Society, like in Igwinte?"
Vanya asked with some concern. She was worried that Dorothy was using her as private force specifically to eliminate her opponents, and the targets were merely hostile to Dorothy, not necessarily evil. As a Sister raised under the Holy Mother's doctrine, Vanya hoped that everything she did was righteous under divine will, and not becoming someone's exclusive mercenary.
In short, Vanya was worried whether Dorothy would falsely claim Aka's divine will to make her do some private work? And were some of these private jobs bad things? She wanted to understand the meaning of what she was doing. To put it plainly, Vanya hoped she acted because of divine will, not human will.
Every time she was pulled by Dorothy to do things, Vanya felt like she was working for Dorothy rather than Aka. If she were truly executing Aka's divine will, she wouldn't need compensation.
Listening to Vanya's words and understanding her meaning, Dorothy laughed and said.
"Haha, don't worry. If tonight's matter wasn't Aka's divine will, then why would He bestow power upon you again?"
"Uh... that's true..." Vanya said, scratching her head, somewhat realizing. Thinking that Aka had indeed bestowed power upon her again this time, it proved that this was indeed Aka's will, and He wanted her to use this power to fight strong enemies.
'Looking at it this way, Miss Dorothea seems to have a high status in Aka's mortal organization... Many actions derived from Aka's divine will are her responsibility, which is somewhat enviable...'
Vanya thought this, beginning to feel a faint envy for Dorothy's status under Aka. Just then, Dorothy continued speaking through the Corpse Puppet's mouth.
"If you want to understand the meaning of what you did tonight and know what kind of enemy you faced, then you can ask Miss Naifnis, whom you are going to meet, later. She will tell you. Contact me with the book after you are both in a safe place."
"Okay, I understand. May Aka protect you and ensure everything goes smoothly on your end..."
Performing a Shining Light Church etiquette, Vanya said to Dorothy and then ran towards the other end of the bridge. In the secret room, Dorothy was slightly taken aback after hearing Vanya's words, then frowned and murmured.
"May Aka protect me?"
"Hmm... feels strange..."
Shaking her head and ignoring other things, Dorothy began to remotely control the Corpse Puppet to clean up the battlefield.