Outskirts of the ruins, edge of the dense forest.
Several black-robed Holy Clergy mbers sat on the ground, fiddling with the weeds by their feet.
After a mont, one of them aggressively yanked up a handful of dead grass and tossed it aside. "I really don't know what the Cardinal Council is thinking, letting those newcors handle such an important ritual, while we mbers of the Holy Clans are relegated to guarding the door!"
Hearing this, another person glanced toward a tree not far away, where a tall nun stood.
"Hey! Us guarding the door is one thing," he said. "But why was Her Excellency Rorsie sent here too! This is practically an insult to her status!"
"Shut your mouths!" A third, burly Holy Clergy mber reprimanded them. "Is Her Excellency Rorsie soone you can casually gossip about?"
The first two imdiately quieted down.
Rorsie, who seed to have heard the commotion, slowly walked over.
"The Holy Clans are the Lord's representatives in the human realm. Maintaining the security of the ritual here is naturally our duty. You are forbidden to utter such words again," she said calmly.
"Yes, we will follow your orders strictly," the three imdiately bowed and replied.
Suddenly, several loud booms erupted from the dense forest, and imdiately after, the entire sky was saturated with evil aura.
Seeing this scene, the three guarding Holy Clergy mbers were instantly filled with shock and suspicion.
"It's finally begun," Rorsie murmured.
She then looked at the three: "No matter what you see later, do not ask questions. Use all your strength to maintain the ritual, and do not let the lives of those sacrifices be in vain."
Hearing this, the three imdiately understood the true purpose of being sent to the periter.
They lowered their heads, their eyes brimming with excitent.
"I doubt those sacrifices appreciate your high regard."
A low voice suddenly echoed from the woods.
Rorsie whipped her head around, looking toward a spot beneath a tree.
Over a dozen figures stood there, all wearing tal pauldrons and each carrying a crucifix longsword at their waists.
The leader wore a black cassock with a bright red cross emblazoned on the chest. A silver longsword diagonally severed the cross from top to bottom.
"Who are you?" Rorsie stealthily slipped her hand into her pocket, grasping a high-quality holy artifact.
Even though the other party hadn't made a move, she felt an intense, oppressive pressure, as if a sharp blade was pressing against her cheek.
"Hugh Rowland, the current Grand Master of the Lord Knights," Hugh said in a deep voice.
"We ca specifically to defend against the Demon God's legion and protect the safety of civilians."
As soon as he finished speaking, a knight beside him drew his longsword and swung it lightly.
Imdiately after, a crescent-shaped arc of pristine white light flew out, splitting the ground along its path.
Just as the arc of light was about to strike Rorsie, an invisible barrier suddenly appeared, followed by a massive boom echoing through the dense forest.
"As a Grand Master, trespassing into a Church domain... are you trying to provoke a war?" Another voice erged from the dense forest.
Rorsie breathed a sigh of relief and imdiately bowed low: "Your Excellency Sandri."
Sandri nodded: "Leave this place to . Go proceed with the next steps."
Rorsie imdiately acknowledged the order and left.
"I have always heard that the Cardinals of the Church are powerful exorcists. I finally have the opportunity to face off against Your Excellency this ti," Hugh smiled faintly.
"Traitorous heathens, you should have been executed a millennium ago," Sandri said coldly.
Shortly after, violent tremors erupted from the outskirts of the dense forest.
Center of the dense forest, beneath a small hill.
Kalvis led William and the others to a halt.
On the back of the hill here was a pitch-black tal door. Its surface was covered in dust, making it look quite old.
But the surroundings were all woods and grass. For such a door to suddenly appear here... was clearly sowhat incongruous.
Kalvis, however, showed no signs of finding it strange. He walked up to the tal door and placed his hand on the wall.
With a rumbling sound, the heavy doors parted, revealing a long, narrow, pitch-black tunnel inside.
Seeing this, Kalvis imdiately walked in.
Dana, Marty, and the others hesitated, involuntarily looking at William.
William glanced at the ground, where pitch-black spirit threads were flowing. After pondering for a mont, he stepped inside.
Only then did Dana and the others hurriedly follow.
Not long after the group entered, the figures of two nuns appeared at the entrance.
"Cid, what we are doing violates Church law. We should go back quickly!" Betis urged softly.
"No!" Cid's gaze was resolute. "This might be my only chance. I must find that man and ask him clearly!"
With that, she walked into the tunnel.
Betis sighed and had no choice but to follow closely behind.
anwhile.
William's group descended approximately a few hundred ters before arriving in a vast, dimly lit space.
The floor and walls here were paved with special materials, and illuminated strips lined the edges. It looked like so kind of high-tech laboratory.
Kalvis stopped again, then turned to face the group, remaining silent.
"Where is this place? Weren't you supposed to take us out?" Marty couldn't hold back anymore. "Curt needs to see a doctor too."
But Kalvis acted as if he hadn't heard him, his gaze fixed solely on William.
Simultaneously, the silhouettes of the two nuns appeared at the edge of the tunnel. Seeing the group ahead suddenly stop, Betis and Cid imdiately hid themselves.
Clap, clap.
Kalvis clapped his hands, and a rustling sound echoed through the massive hall.
Subsequently, a large group of black-robed individuals wearing masks appeared above them. It turned out there was an upper level to the space.
These people all held a silver earthenware jar. The surfaces were painted with special runes, and the top openings were sealed with black cloth.
Seeing this scene, Dana, Marty, and the others instinctively huddled together, looking highly vigilant.
At this mont, Kalvis finally spoke.
"Wanted fugitive William. Secretly infiltrated a Church holy site, deliberately sabotaged it, leading to the fall of a safe house, which attracted an evil invasion and caused the unfortunate deaths of four sacrifices. The Church did its utmost to purify the evil, but could only find the leftover remains. The Church bears an undeniable responsibility for this..."
His tone was flat, as if describing an objective fact.
"I wonder if Your Excellency is satisfied with this conclusion?"
Hearing this, Dana, Marty, and the other two instantly revealed shocked expressions.
They were incredibly surprised by William's identity as a wanted fugitive, and they also didn't quite understand what the Holy Clergy mber before them intended to do.
Simultaneously, Cid and Betis, hiding in the shadows, also widened their eyes.
Betis wanted to say sothing, but Cid imdiately shot her a look, prompting her to close her mouth.
Only William's face remained calm, seemingly unsurprised by this outco.
Kalvis touched the cross on his chest: "However, Your Excellency did indeed earn so rit in the Land of the Holy War, and you also purified so evil spirits and demons for the Church..."
"I am willing to give you a chance."
William raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"
"As long as you are willing to cooperate with us and confess the mastermind behind the rescue of Jolan and the sabotage of the Church's plans..." Kalvis straightened his collar.
"The Church might just spare your life."
"Heh..." William chuckled softly. "This mastermind Your Excellency speaks of... do you want to confess voluntarily... or confess according to your script?"
Kalvis smiled faintly: "You are a smart person. You should know what to do."
"Save the false promises," William snorted coldly. "The ti for interrogation is when one of us falls into the other's hands."
Kalvis narrowed his eyes slightly: "Hmph. Arrogant fool."
He imdiately waved his hand. The Holy Clergy mbers on the upper level hurled all their earthenware jars down, and the sound of shattering pottery instantly filled the hall.
Accompanied by whispers and cries, a massive amount of evil aura poured from the broken jars.
It turned out these jars were all filled with evil materials.
Kalvis had already leaped up to the second level beforehand. Subsequently, a blood-red magic array appeared on the ceiling, trapping William and the others inside.
"Wh-what do we do now!" Marty gulped nervously.
Dana, Jules, and the others also revealed panicked expressions.
Unflustered, William took out a holy statue and placed it at his feet.
Then, a pristine white do of light materialized over him, expanding several ters outward in the blink of an eye, enveloping Dana and the other three.
At the sa ti, the evil aura within the do seed to be drawn in, converging into a single spot to form a pitch-black sphere.
These spheres rolled onto the floor, lining up one after another.
Seeing this scene, Kalvis looked surprised: "The Rule of Sanctuary... you actually mastered even this Holy Art."
"If I had known this, I should have eliminated you back in the Land of the Holy War."
His tone turned sinister.
"But your resistance is aningless now. The Church's plans will not be stopped by anyone."
"You sure talk a lot," William remarked. "Who said I was resisting?"
Kalvis narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.
"I just didn't want blood splashing on ," William said.
Hearing this, Kalvis seed to realize sothing.
He abruptly turned his head, only to see a towering figure standing behind him.
Holding a long machete, wearing a tattered jacket, and a white hockey mask covering its face...
"It's you... you're that guy from the Land of the Holy War!" Surprise flashed in Kalvis's eyes.
The next mont, the figure suddenly raised its machete and brought it down with trendous force.
A cloud of dust instantly kicked up from the floor.
A mont later, only the towering figure remained in place, while Kalvis appeared on the other side of the room.
"A killing machine..." he snorted coldly. "William, you actually dare to collude with such an evil existence."
anwhile, in the corner, Cid clenched her fists, and Betis covered her mouth.
"Hey... you're falsely accusing ," William spread his hands. "I only saw him appear behind you a few minutes ago myself."
"Hmph. Save your explanations for the Holy See's tribunal," Kalvis's gaze was icy.
As he spoke, a faint glow lit up on his body, and a holy artifact appeared in his hand at so unknown point.
But the next mont, another unforeseen event occurred!
Accompanied by bizarre sounds echoing around the hall, nurous shadows erged from the darkness.
A black-skinned gorilla, a man with knives embedded in his face, a giant spider...
These monsters moved swiftly, appearing beside the black-robed Holy Clergy mbers in an instant.
Before the latter could react, the monsters had already seized their vital points.
Simultaneously, the residual evil aura from earlier suddenly surged, completely enveloping Kalvis.
The Holy Clan mber was forced to activate his holy artifact, forming a protective barrier around his body.
With the scene under control, the towering figure in the mask walked over to William and stopped.
The two locked eyes for a mont, and then the towering figure raised its machete again.
Dana, Marty, and the others cried out, raising their hands to block.
But the anticipated bloody scene did not occur. Instead, the blood-red magic array on the ceiling shattered completely.
"William, we need your help," Jason said in a low, rumbling voice.
William raised a hand upon hearing this: "No rush. I still have so business with His Excellency from the Holy Clans."
He walked over to Kalvis as he spoke: "Now is the ti for interrogation."
"Hmph." Kalvis closed his eyes, seemingly intent on ignoring him.
Seeing this, William turned his head to look at Jason: "I think this guy is the stubborn type. Do you have any way to make him talk?"
"I can tear off his skin and organs," Jason said grimly.
"Too cliché," William waved his hand dismissively. "A person of his stature would never yield to physical torture."
He rubbed his chin, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
A mont later, William looked at the grotesque monsters nearby.
"These guys all follow your orders?" he asked.
Jason nodded.
"Excellent," William revealed a aningful smile. "I wonder how much ntal torture His Excellency of the Holy Clans can endure."
Kalvis narrowed his eyes, instantly feeling a bad premonition.
Shortly after.
"Stop! I'll talk!!"
Kalvis scread hoarsely.
William raised his hand, and Jason nodded in acknowledgnt.
Only then did the giant spider, the bizarre scarecrow, the man with the bloated stomach, and the other monsters surrounding the Holy Clan mber back away.
Right now, Kalvis's upper body was completely bare, his skin covered in filth.
He panted heavily, frantically snatching up his clothes from the floor to cover himself.
The group watching from the side gulped, all wishing they could delete the mory of what they just saw from their minds.
William walked up to Kalvis, waving his hand to fan away the air in front of him: "Then let's start with the most important question. What is the Church's objective here."
Kalvis tried desperately to steady his breathing and suppress the mories of what had just happened before finally speaking: "For the Divine Descent Ritual..."
He spilled everything about the Church's plan to summon a divine descent, their intentional sabotage of the Place of Suffering for this purpose, and their sche to use the newly recruited Holy Clergy mbers as Source Power materials.
Of course, this also included the plot to deceive the other exorcists.
"Right now... those guys should already be trapped by the magic array," Kalvis said slowly. "The magic array nodes will continuously extract their Source Power until those people are completely corrupted..."
Hearing this, the two nuns hiding in the corner looked utterly incredulous.
William remained expressionless. He had originally thought the Church rely wanted to do what the Wings of Vengeance had done—summon an angel.
He didn't expect these guys to be aiming for so much more.
"And what's the deal with the evil monsters here?" William asked again.
"The faith of the Lord will eventually rule the human realm..." Kalvis took a deep breath.
"But this outco requires an opportunity. And purifying dangerous evil monsters is the best way to earn the people's trust..."
William narrowed his eyes: "You're saying... you planned to release evil monsters to put on a show?"
Kalvis looked up: "You shouldn't be surprised. Since ancient tis, the lower-class masses have been ignorant and foolish. Appropriate lies actually allow them to live better lives."
A brief silence fell over the air.
In the corner, Cid clenched her fists, her entire body trembling.
William offered no reaction. After a mont, he spoke again: "The second matter..."
He stared intensely into Kalvis's eyes.
"Why did the Church suddenly move against Jolan?"
Hearing this, Cid jerked her head up.
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