Holy City, Holy Palace of the Holy Capital.
The grand palace stood solemn and majestic, maintaining its divine and transcendent aura as always. Although the purging of heretics had left the heart of this Theocracy sowhat deserted, the church had successfully quelled the crisis of internal strife and potential division.
The Main Hall of the Holy Palace, Prayer Hall.
Amid rising calls from the faithful, the largest temple in the Theocracy, dedicated to the Holy Court’s authority, reopened its doors to the devout worshippers of Myria, welcoming pilgrims from all corners of the land.
At the entrance of the hall, eight fully ard Templar Knights, all at least of Silver Moon rank, were stationed to guard the premises.
They ticulously inspected the credentials of each worshipper who approached the hall for prayer.
The pilgrims entered in an orderly fashion, respectfully presenting their docunts for inspection by the knights.
Everything was running smoothly.
“Stay alert! We are at a crucial mont. Everyone must thoroughly check each docunt to prevent infiltrators with ill intentions from entering the Holy Palace!”
Captain Enzo, leader of the eight Templar Knights, commanded with a stern expression.
Handing back the papers of yet another worshipper, Captain Enzo motioned for them to proceed.
Suddenly, as if sensing sothing, he raised his head.
In the distance, more than a dozen fully ard Templar Knights marched forward in unison.
They approached the entrance of the Prayer Hall, and the captain at the front handed over his credentials.
“Benito, Captain of the Eighth Squad of the Templar Knights, reporting for a shift change.”
“So early?”
Captain Enzo frowned slightly.
“The schedule has been adjusted. To heighten security, Her Holiness the Saintess issued an order to increase manpower and shorten the shift intervals.”
The newly arrived captain spoke in a deep voice.
“When was that order given? I haven’t heard anything about it…”
Captain Enzo muttered as he checked the credentials.
In the very instant his head lowered to examine the docunts, the knight claiming to be Benito suddenly drew his sword and stabbed it through Enzo’s chest.
The other guards were montarily stunned.
But they quickly reacted, shouting,
“Enemy attack—!”
Having killed the captain with a single strike, “Benito” raised his blood-stained sword and shouted fervently.
“Kill them! Charge inside! All for the Eternal Sun!”
At his command, the other “Templar Knights” drew their weapons and attacked the guards.
Even the gathering of worshippers outside the Prayer Hall seized weapons and donned robes emblazoned with the sun holy symbol, all while chanting “For the Eternal Sun!” as they rushed into the hall.
In an instant, the sounds of battle filled the air. Smoke began to rise throughout the Holy Palace, and cracks spread across the holy barrier protecting the palace, which eventually shattered with a soft sound. Crimson blood quickly stained the floor of the main hall.
“Templar Knight Benito,” now clad in the sun-emblazoned robe, approached the statue of the God. With a single stroke, he cut down the elderly bishop guarding it, then raised his voice in fanatical declaration.
“Lord Gregory has succeeded in luring away the false Saintess and those lackeys of Harald! According to the plan, quickly activate the artifact and comnce the summoning ritual!”
At his command, the Sun followers who had flooded into the hall swiftly set to work.
They began laying down the foundation for a long-prepared magic circle, chanting esoteric incantations in a rhythmic and haunting manner.
Silver light illuminated the room, spreading quickly across the hall like a dreamy mist.
Bathed in divine radiance, an ethereal scene materialized in the Prayer Hall like a vision from a dream.
It was a vast, ancient blood-red temple, its structure remarkably similar to the Prayer Hall. It was as if the hall had a mirror image, but instead of a divine statue, two altars stood in its place.
The two altars were side by side.
One bore the holy symbol of the Blood Demon Archduke, the Demon’s Eye. Upon this altar rested an open coffin filled with dark red liquid, within which lay a Judgnt Knight with his eyes tightly shut.
The other altar was adorned with the Sun Temple’s symbol, a sun holy symbol, atop which rested an ancient-looking statue.
The statue’s attire resembled that of Harald, except it wore a sun mask.
As soon as this vision appeared, the space within the temple began to warp.
Gradually, like a projection, the eerie blood-red temple beca clearer, its presence overlapping with the Prayer Hall.
By the ti the chanting ended, the surroundings had completely transford.
The solemn and sacred temple had vanished entirely.
In its place stood the blood-red temple with two altars, its mirage now fully materialized.
A spatial projection—the Myrick Shrine had breached reality with a spatial projection!
The Myrick Shrine had not been hidden elsewhere, it had always been concealed within the Holy Palace itself!
Gazing at the blood-red temple that had now invaded reality, the bishop, lying in a pool of blood, widened his eyes.
“A trap… The Holy Capital… in danger… I must… warn the Saintess…”
He painfully reached out, attempting to crawl outside the hall.
But he didn’t make it very far.
His final conscious mont was the cold, domineering expression of “Templar Knight Benito” and the sword descending from his hand.
“The ti has co, begin the ritual!”
Throwing away the knight’s sword, “Benito” spoke coldly.
With that, he was the first to approach the altar adorned with the sun symbol, kneeling on one knee.
He took out a dagger engraved with the sun symbol from his chest and, without hesitation, stabbed it into his own heart.
With a fanatical expression, he shouted hoarsely.
“All… for the Eternal Sun!”
The other Sun followers followed suit.
They stepped forward, knelt before the altar, drew out daggers bearing the sun symbol, and without any hesitation, stabbed their own chests.
“All for the Eternal Sun!”
As blood soaked the daggers, the sun symbols on them suddenly lit up, bursting with a platinum-colored holy light. In an instant, the Sun followers seed to be drained of life, turning into withered corpses.
Their bodies quickly disintegrated into dust, leaving only the strange golden-red blood that rged with the holy light.
The golden-red blood gathered beneath the Sun altar, soon illuminating the statue on the altar.
A vast divine power slowly erged above the altar, emitting a brilliant glow, and the statue began to transform, becoming a magnificent scepter.
The scepter looked identical to the “Hand of Holiness” artifact used by the Holy Court for amplification and control, though it appeared more ethereal. The ring cross symbol on the original scepter was replaced entirely by the sun symbol.
Imdiately after, the sun-engraved “Hand of Holiness” rose into the air on its own and flew into the coffin on the blood-red altar bearing the Demon’s Eye.
As the scepter entered, the dark red liquid in the coffin began to boil.
In the next mont, the entire altar emitted a dazzling red light. The dark red liquid surged, and a massive, intricate magical formation appeared centered on the coffin.
Crimson light radiated from the formation, and a black-red beam shot into the sky.
Inside the coffin, the Judgent Knight suddenly opened his eyes.
…
Outside the Holy Capital.
Following the high-level “purge” within the Holy Court, the atmosphere across the capital had been somber for days. The outer city’s streets were far quieter than usual.
In the church of District Nine, a priest nad Susan slowly opened her eyes in the healing room.
Her injuries had been healed by the clerics, and her once pale face had regained so color, though she still appeared weak.
“Sister Susan, you’re awake!”
The children from the Gray Swan Orphanage, who had been keeping vigil, excitedly gathered around her.
“Where am I…”
Susan glanced around, a little confused.
“You’re in the church! Her Holiness the Saintess saved you, she stopped the trial and cleared our orphanage’s na!”
The children exclaid excitedly.
“Her Holiness… saved ?”
Susan muttered to herself.
But soon, she felt a sharp pain in her heart.
Following so inexplicable sense, she instinctively looked out the window, only to see the sky stained red like blood, with the tall Holy Palace looming under a shadow.
“Sister Susan, are you… feeling unwell? What’s wrong?”
The children asked, concerned.
Gazing in the direction of the Holy Palace, Susan’s heartbeat quickened.
She opened her mouth hesitantly and said,
“I… I think I can feel my brother’s presence…”
As soon as she said this, she tried to sit up from the bed, but the next mont, the entire room began to shake.
Caught off guard, Susan almost fell, and when the shaking ceased, the light in the room abruptly turned dark red.
Dazed, she looked outside the window and saw that the sky was now enveloped in an endless blood-red hue, with countless bats flying in from all directions toward the Holy Palace.
Suddenly, a black-red beam of light shot up from the Holy Palace, piercing through the entire sky.
Dark clouds churned, and the void split open, releasing countless black dots from the fractured sky. Like rain, they began to fall upon the Holy Capital.
A sharp, violent screech filled the air as the black dots grew larger, revealing themselves to be hideous demons!
With an ancient roar, a terrifying crack spread across the blood-red sky.
The sky tore open to reveal a massive fissure, and from within it, a demon’s hand engulfed in blazing flas reached through!
The fiery fragnts fell, igniting the buildings below.
In the next instant, a towering fla demon, nearly 300 ters tall, broke through the spatial barrier, descending upon the Holy Capital, accompanied by a legion of demons.
Its body was divided into two distinct halves: one covered in jet-black armor, burning with hellfire, and the other unarmored, with skin as delicate as budding spring leaves, yet equally ablaze.
A sword scar remained where the two halves t, emitting a faint crimson glow.
Sensing its terrifying aura, far surpassing that of ordinary Legendaries, and recognizing its distinctive ram’s head and crescent-moon eye, a church cleric’s eyes widened in horror as he gasped the demon’s na.
“Fla Demon… Valaroka!”
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