The previous second, there was only white mist outside the church, but the next moment, an overwhelming tide of undead had occupied almost every corner of the visible area.
The Miracle elements and divine power carried by the church itself instantly spread out during the first wave of attack, repelling the undead closest to the church building. Subsequently, all Ring Sorcerers above High-Ring left the church to fight outside. The bells at the top of the side tower chimed, and ripples of golden divine light continuously spread outwards from the church, counteracting the invasion of whisper elements that came with the tide of undead.
The Outsider had never witnessed a true war in his hometown, and despite experiencing so many major events in this world, he had never truly experienced war in the true sense. Only at this moment did he truly witness a great battle involving over a hundred Transcenders. Even with The Night Watchman in his hand, and the assistance of the Witch's Necklace and Divine Radiance, he still didn't believe he could play a significant role here.
He and Iluna, along with other Middle-Ring Sorcerers, defended the church entrance against the undead that managed to break through the outer perimeter. As divine power bloomed around him, Xia De also received various amplification effects from others.
While his strength, agility, spirit, and even soul resistance increased, he also unreservedly used Sunlight Ray in conjunction with The Night Watchman to attack.
The power of the sun and Xia De's diligent performance earned him further trust from the church's Ring Sorcerers. The high consumption of Sunlight Ray also meant that Xia De couldn't always stay on the front lines. When he temporarily retreated to rest by the bonfire, the nun in charge of logistics actually gave him three bottles of holy water, and they were high-purity No. 2 holy water concentrate.
This was a rare material that couldn't be bought even if one wanted to; only the Natural Church, which produced holy water itself, could be so generous.
It was clear that even without Xia De, with Iluna guarding the entrance and suppressing the power of the undead with the power of Balance, the church could hold out. But with Xia De, this “Sword Master,” first Sunlight Ray “light cannons” cleared scattered enemies, followed by remote Miracle attacks from the church's Ring Sorcerers, and finally, everyone temporarily rushed out to engage in close combat to clear the enemies that were still alive.
This standard combat procedure greatly reduced the defensive pressure. Even when troublesome enemies broke through the outer defensive rituals and the attacks of High-Ring Sorcerers to climb the church steps, Xia De could rely on The Night Watchman, which had powerful lethality against evil spirits, to hold them off for a period.
An seemingly endless number of undead continuously surged from all directions since the church's ritual officially began. As the undead in front were crushed, those behind would step on their not-yet-dissipated spiritual bodies and charge again.
Not only on the ground, but bone dragons and banshees, among other flying undead, appeared in the sky, while giant worm ghouls tried to burrow out from underground, but were immediately suppressed by the church's own power.
On the ceiling of the main hall, where a lush World Tree mural once was, a light golden three-tiered ring appeared. As the ritual progressed, the light gold was transforming into bright gold, and once all three rings had transformed, it meant the ritual was successful.
During the first hour of the battle, Xia De would look up every time he took a temporary break, but after that, he had no time to pay attention to the pattern on the ceiling.
This was not the most desperate battle he had experienced, but it was certainly the most mentally exhausting. Enemies were in every corner of his sight; as he pierced one target with his long sword, another would immediately appear.
Joey Barton never appeared. It wasn't until 9:20 PM in the real world, when Xia De returned to the bonfire again and sat cross-legged, wanting to quickly restore his combat state, that a thunderous explosion suddenly echoed from outside the church.
“What happened?”
He hurriedly got up, uncorked the No. 2 holy water bottle at hand, and took a big gulp. Looking up, two-thirds of the three-tiered ring on the ceiling had turned bright gold.
“A big one's here!”
A voice answered from the doorway, followed by two more explosions from the sky.
Footsteps echoed from deeper within the church, and the Thorned Nun, who had not yet appeared, emerged. She gave a few instructions to the Old Nun in charge of logistics by the fire, then also walked out of the church and flew into the sky.
This time, Xia De clearly saw a golden lightning bolt tear through the clouds, and then a colossal object fell from the thick mist in the distance. But then, a roar like that of a savage beast came from directly above the church, a sound that even made the building itself tremble.
“The wind of nature blows, the dandelion flowers bloom!”
A hoarse male voice chanted Sublimation Words. Xia De, inside, could only see countless green dandelion phantoms falling from the sky.
The effect of the Sublimation Words temporarily removed the High-Ring Sorcerer and the giant beast above the church from the battlefield. But immediately after, a rumbling sound came from outside the door. Xia De, holding his sword, rushed to the entrance and, along with others whose Destiny Rings had manifested behind them, saw a neatly arrayed army of headless undead, clad in armor and riding skeletal horses, rapidly advancing from the mist towards the church.
“sage-level relic The Headless Knights? How could they appear in Middelburg?”
Iluna was greatly surprised, but then, as a desolate horn sounded from the high point of the church, a light golden glow seeped outwards from the Natural Church's outer wall. Within those golden glows, transparent, solemn-faced souls emerged from the walls, including even the Guardian souls of the church that Xia De had seen the last time he entered the church.
“They are the past Guardians of the Gap Church!”
The undead Ring Sorcerers of the Natural Church appeared and charged outwards, scattering The Headless Knights that were about to reach the church. The appearance of these souls, who voluntarily guarded this place, also caused the Miracle elements within the church to spread to a wider area outside the church, illuminating a larger range.
“The ritual is three-quarters complete! The real world has sent that relic over!”
Someone shouted by the bonfire, and then a brass-colored box was brought to the second floor of the church. Immediately after, green seeds were thrown from the second-floor window onto the plaza in front of the church. With a dazzling green light, gray-green grass surprisingly grew in the Gap, which was only black, white, and gray. The grass extended wildly outwards, and within just a few minutes, the area around the Natural Church was covered in weeds.
“The Angel-level (Grade 1) relic The Seed of the Plant Protector's Resentment, housed by the Natural Church. If the relic loses control, it will cause plants to grow wildly regardless of any conditions, until all nutrients in the land are drained. This is a relic that, if unrestrained, is enough to destroy half of the Old Continent. The Natural Church uses this thing very cautiously.”
The appearance of plant power further pushed back the front line of the undead tide, giving the living a chance to breathe. But they didn't rejoice too soon, because as a giant scythe swept from the thick mist, all the weeds on the ground were instantly turned to Ashes.
The scythe even swept to the church entrance; two Middle-Ring Sorcerers who didn't have time to retreat into the church were struck by the decaying black light and died almost instantly. It was already unknown how many sacrifices had occurred since the battle began.
“Finally, he's here!”
The dense tide of undead parted, and a short, distorted figure emerged from within. Behind him, a tall, black cloaked phantom held a scythe, preparing for its next attack.
A whistle blew from above, signaling Joey Barton's arrival.
Without even needing to make a probing attack, Mr. Barton, wearing a child-sized black trench coat, slowly ascended to a high position. The black sphere in his hand rapidly expanded and then exploded:
“I bestow upon you—Fated Death!”
Black light swept across, but this time Xia De didn't feel the illusion of time being paused. Because from an even higher position, a Crown of Thorns was thrown down. The crown enveloped Barton, forcibly containing the spreading black light, and then perished with the Chosen One's innate ability.
“This is the final battle! Mystic Lock—Between Life and Death!”
A denser mist surged, and the compressed mist covered the area above the church. Joey Barton's figure, along with almost two-thirds of the High-Ring Sorcerers, disappeared, entering the Mystic Lock.
“Something's wrong, how could he be willing to face so many Ring Sorcerers at once? No, that's not his main body, it's a clone!”
Xia De didn't need to remind them; others also realized something was amiss. All the High-Ring Sorcerers on the periphery urgently returned to reinforce, but at the same time, another giant black scythe swept from deep within the thick mist.
And this time, this scythe was blocked:
“Balance!”
The dark golden scales behind Iluna forcibly blocked the scythe.
The scythe retracted, and another Joey Barton emerged from the mist. This time, he charged towards the church with the surrounding undead and became entangled with the church's High-Ring Sorcerers.
“Another one!”
The black scythe continued to attack, and a third and fourth Joey Barton emerged from the mist. He seemed to have the ability to enhance the power of evil spirits; the undead around him clearly became stronger.
“Bei Ya Si, don't leave the church entrance!”
After instructing Iluna, Mr. Landau of the Peace Church also had to leave the church and join the battle outside. By partially merging with Between Life and Death, Joey Barton, though still no match for the church, managed to tie down most of the people.
Everyone knew what he wanted to do, so Iluna at the church entrance was on high alert.
“Here he comes!”
Xia De shouted a warning. Before his voice fell, a thick, heavy black beam of light surged from the white mist, shooting towards the church entrance like a light cannon. Although he didn't know what it was, Xia De immediately went to meet it, thrusting his sword forward:
“Sunlight Ray!”
A warm yellow light cannon shot from the tip of his sword, intersecting with the black beam of light. The immense thrust made Xia De stumble backward, his clothes rustling in the wind pressure. But he was timely supported by others behind him, and his spirit, which had just recovered by more than half, was rapidly consumed.
Four black lights simultaneously flew past him, from his left, right, above, and below, but Xia De was fully focused on countering the pitch-black light pillar and couldn't intercept them.
“Four Joey Bartons! Is the Chosen One being too unreasonable?”
A gasp came from behind, and the subsequent burst of spiritual light was so dazzling that even Xia De, with his back to them, felt it.
The battle took place inside the church. In a mere few tens of seconds, Xia De couldn't even tell how many bursts of spiritual light had occurred behind him. Finally, two successive Sublimation Words appeared, seeming to halt the battle, but then came Iluna's voice:
“It's a substitute, his power has destroyed the defensive ritual, he's entered the church invisibly!”
This sentence was definitely directed at Xia De. Then, Iluna's footsteps also receded.
“Damn it!”
Xia De, uncharacteristically, cursed. As Joey Barton delved deeper into the church, the black light cannon he was countering also weakened, finally disappearing completely in the Sunlight Ray.
Turning around, the main chapel of the church was a mess, with silver threads and charms scattered everywhere, and the long benches almost all shattered. But thankfully, the ritual was not destroyed; the three-tiered ring on the ceiling was still slowly transforming into bright gold.
With the ritual progressing this far, as long as the ritual itself was not destroyed, those three passages were completely safe. Even if Joey Barton entered them, he would never be able to come out again. But he acted as if he knew nothing, still rushing into the depths of the church.
Joey Barton did not attack the Old Priests, but among the Ring Sorcerers guarding the place, a few turned into statues, half lost consciousness, and the remaining conscious ones had no strength to stand up:
“They're heading for the deepest part!”
Someone warned. Xia De, disregarding his unrecovered stamina and spirit, picked up the fishing rod and kerosene lamp by the bonfire and chased after him.
