"Sir, what will happen on the mountain?"
Although Bernhardt and Xia De didn't say the word in their previous conversation, the sharp girl still sensed something. Seeing that Xia De was really about to leave, Miss Swift asked timidly.
"Don't worry."
The Outsider patted the shoulder of the young witch with flaxen hair:
"Watch over this place. When I ran here just now, the situation outside was getting worse. I think the final battle is about to break out, and now you are the highest person in charge here."
He smiled and prepared to leave, but Miss Swift grabbed his sleeve:
"Just like that Vampire said, do you have to go up the mountain? The path up the mountain is very difficult, souls from various eras have appeared, and the Gap is releasing them into our world, whether those souls are willing or not."
"I must go."
Xia De clapped the fishing rod he had been carrying on his back:
"I must go."
"Then please do not miss them. Missing will draw souls related to you into reality, creating more enemies for you. Good luck."
When he crossed the City again towards the entrance of Sicar Mountain, there were surprisingly fewer undead on the streets than before, but the whisper element in the thick white fog was stronger.
Explosions and roars from unknown sources came from all corners of the City, and the light above the five churches in the City radiated more intensely across the entire area.
The Holy Tree Mark ritual was nearing completion. In the City, which had been sanctified, evil spirits were being rapidly expelled, but this also meant that the battle in the mountainous area, where civilization's power was sparse, would be even more intense.
The Holy Tree Mark ritual could only be truly completed after all evil spirits in reality were expelled, so the current battle should be the decisive one.
Following the red halo, he arrived at the foot of the mountain from the City with almost no obstruction, but as he approached the mountain forest, the dense souls patrolling in the thick white mist were almost comparable to what he encountered in the Gap.
There were also traces of rituals on the ground in the mountainous area, but not every inch of land had the light of divine art. From time to time, bursts of spiritual light appeared at higher positions in the mountainous area, and abnormal golden lightning flashed overhead.
Even with the Witch Emperor's blessing, Xia De inevitably encountered fierce battles after going up the mountain.
Without divinity in his soul, the feeling of emptiness already made his mental state very poor. Without the night watchman in his hand, he couldn't even use Sunlight Ray for area attacks.
Although he didn't fall into the tide of undead, every step forward wasted more time. Holding two Moonlight Greatswords, the glow of the silver moon accompanied Xia De's every step, but the undead rushing out of the dense forest seemed to have no end.
Fortunately, as the silver-white light erupted above the mountain peak, a giant red rose phantom bloomed in the air.
A massive brass Thirteenth Ring Destiny Ring appeared above the rose phantom. Then, as countless scarlet petals drifted towards the mountainous area, the thick fog in the mountains surprisingly thinned a lot.
In fact, when Xia De touched those petals, he found them to be solid. And according to "Her" prompt, eating these petals could restore consumed spirit and even heal injuries:
"The Thirteen Ring Sorcerer remaining in reality is Principal Andre Pigman. As expected, he would definitely make a move at such a time."
Xia De looked respectfully at the giant rose blooming in the sky. He remembered Grandma Cassandra saying that Professor Pigman brought a sage-level relic to support Middlesburg. The three Thirteenth Ring of the Orthodox Church were all in the Gap, and only this Principal of Saint Byron's was in reality:
"Thirteenth Ring combined with a sage-level relic, truly powerful."
These falling roses quickly covered the ground. The slight dissipation of the white fog caused most of the fierce undead to hide back into the tree-covered mountain forest, and the pressure of advancing suddenly decreased a lot.
But this situation did not last long, and the out-of-control Gap quickly gained the upper hand again. As the rose in the air disappeared, the white fog surged out again, and Xia De had to face dense enemies once more:
"No, if this continues, by the time I catch up to them, everything will already be too late!"
As he was thinking, suddenly a bang ~ of a gunshot came from the side of the mountain road, and a familiar figure darted out of the forest.
Wearing a Delarion Royal Army uniform and holding a pistol, this was a corporal. It was the young corporal who died in front of Xia De when he first entered the Gap, asking him to send the relic to Red Water Camp. (Chapter 600)
The agile soul darted out of the forest, and the transparent bullets spewing from his weapon quickly attracted the enemies blocking Xia De's path:
"Sir, I'll distract them for you, hurry! Thank you!"
Without even giving Xia De time to thank him, the corporal led the enemies and disappeared into the mountain forest.
Xia De pursed his lips, looked at the dense forest, and continued to move up the mountain.
As he delved deeper into Sicar Mountain, he gradually became aware of the presence of the Orthodox Church's Ring Arcanists. The appearance of the roses gave them a chance to rest and adjust, but the battle remained incredibly fierce. From time to time, figures even flew overhead, not knowing if they were High-Ring Sorcerers from the Orthodox Church or other organizations.
After Professor Pigman used that sage-level relic, he did not make another move. Instead, soon after, the divine ritual traces on the ground in the mountainous area became brighter, and spiritual light intertwined with thick fog, seemingly making a final probe.
Not only the Orthodox Church's Ring Arcanists, Xia De also heard dense and violent gunshots. The Delarion Royal Army, cooperating with the Orthodox Church to blockade the mountain forest, should have also encountered attacks from undead at this time. Bullets would have no effect on spirits, but there were not only spirits in the mountains; physical enemies like ghouls and yin corpses were their opponents.
Grace and Helen's red halo first went up the mountain along the main road, but then surprisingly turned into the dense forest. When Xia De entered the forest, vines immediately shot out from the surrounding trees, entangling his legs. Xia De then noticed in the darkness that these surrounding 'trees' were not trees, but a rare undead creature - tree demons.
He swung his sword to cut off the vines at his feet, but more vines shot out from all directions in an endless stream.
"Moonlight!"
The erupting Moonlight temporarily repelled the withered vines, but before Xia De could leave, the vines surged back:
"This place has become a tree demon Woodland. No, I can't waste too much time here."
Suddenly, a whooshing sound passed by his ear, and a transparent, dark object flew out from beside him. After landing in the forest, it immediately caused a violent explosion. Xia De turned around in surprise and saw Professor Higgins, a Carson Rick Kingdom agent whom he had buried in Sicar Mountain (Chapter 654).
The transparent spirit of the bespectacled linguistics professor, holding a steam bomb from who-knows-where, quickly threw it at the tree demons, while shouting:
"Gray Headed Eagle, hurry!"
Professor Higgins' soul, at that time, was directly sent to death by Xia De and should not have appeared here. At this moment, it seemed less like a soul and more like a kind of obsession, just like those shadows that attracted living people to dream into the Gap.
"But Professor..."
"Hurry! Remember, eternal loyalty!"
Professor Higgins' "soul" entangled the tree demons, allowing Xia De to escape from the tree demon Woodland and continue deeper into the dense forest.
The red halo did not go up the mountain, but instead hovered at the mountainside. At the same time, Xia De keenly noticed that the white fog in the mountains was actually gathering towards the sky above Middlesburg down the mountain, gradually forming a huge fog cocoon above the City, seemingly nurturing something.
A silvery light streaked across the sky, and the Principal of Saint Byron's flew towards the giant white fog cocoon, but this had nothing to do with Xia De for the time being.
The trees in the forest were lush, and Xia De, in order to save time, jumped and moved between branches. But he soon found that in the thick white mist, there were actually bloody traces. As the blood mist permeated the white fog, the traces tracked by Blood Echo became intermittent.
Although not completely gone, in the thick fog of the night, it was enough for Xia De to lose his direction:
"Damn it, that ritual is affecting the power of blood."
Sicar Mountain was so large that it was almost impossible to find a lost target in the deep night.
But it was at this moment that a young lady wearing a Mi Fort Mechanical College robe slowly walked out of the fog. The transparent spirit looked at Xia De, then pointed to the southeast direction.
Xia De was startled:
"You are... murdered by the serial killer Henry Val (Chapter 629)"
He hurriedly thanked her, then entered the fog again. Following the direction indicated by the soul, he indeed saw traces of Blood Echo again. Continuing forward, whenever Xia De lost his target, new female souls would emerge, continuing to guide him.
Their appearance was close to that of evil spirits, with their chests and abdomens cut open, revealing transparent internal organs, but their expressions remained gentle.
Although Xia De didn't know them, he guessed that they were all innocent victims murdered by Henry Val. Now released by the Gap, they had returned to the world of the living.
Xia De had done many things in Mi Fort this autumn, but he never imagined that he would also be helped by those who had passed away.
He continued to track Grace and Helen, but the direction surprisingly turned downhill:
"Are they going in circles?"
He closely followed them down the mountain in the forest, then realized that his current location seemed somewhat familiar. All the victims' undead had appeared, and no one would guide him anymore, but Xia De had already guessed the destination.
However, before he could think further, a heavy sound came from the dense forest ahead, accompanied by a slight tremor of the ground, and the undead of a heavily armored headless knight surprisingly walked out of the forest.
This was a member of the sage-level relic, the Headless Knights, which had charged into the Gap's church. At this moment, it was entangled with bloody thorns, as if controlled by the increasingly thick blood mist:
"The Vampire prepared thoroughly, even using the undead. But I don't have time to get entangled with them now."
He wanted to avoid it, but the undead knight had already caught up. The opponent, relying on its spiritual characteristics, charged through the trees, raised its long sword, and slashed down at Xia De's head—
Clang!
But it wasn't Xia De's sword that blocked the attack. A familiar figure leaped out of the forest, holding a rapier, preemptively blocking the knight, and then actively entangled with it.
It was a thin middle-aged man, dressed in a black formal suit, with a somewhat comical red flower pinned to his ear. It was Count Darlak of Candela, the Third Nail who had dueled Xia De in the fog:
"Mr. Hamilton, you go quickly, I'll hold him off!"
Although his body was still thin, his spirit was so healthy.
"Count?!"
"Leave here quickly, the Gap is nurturing the final undead aggregate, even you cannot defeat it. Hurry, go find the Orthodox Church!"
Saying that, the Count and the headless knight fought as they walked, and soon disappeared into the fog intertwined with white and blood colors.
The giant white cocoon above Middlesburg trembled, the Gap's final power was about to appear; although the blood mist from the Vampire ritual had not spread, the blood color was becoming increasingly thick.
Xia De looked at Count Darlak's retreating figure, speechless for a moment.
Suddenly, a loud noise came from the sky. Looking up, an unknown bird-like undead and a Ring Arcanist using divine art erupted in battle, flying further away. However, a dark metal object fell from the sky, igniting the mountain forest at night.
In the fog, in the fire, in the smoke, the voice in his ear sounded:
"You are not the only good person. Outsider, don't think of this world as so bad."
"She" chuckled:
"In this era, you have left deep memories for many who have passed away. They coincidentally reunited with you tonight. Meeting you was not an arrangement of Destiny. Originally, only living people missing the deceased could enter the Gap; now, the deceased remembering living people appear in reality, appearing by your side."
The Outsider remained silent and continued to walk into the increasingly thick blood mist.
"Good deeds don't always have meaning, but at least at this moment they do, don't they?"
