In the southern forest, at the site where the illusion had once fought…
“Smart people are often victims of their own cleverness, Du Lin.”
“Sigh… I was careless… anyway! All thanks to Her Eminence!”
Two white spirits drifted about, observing the Church friars who were meticulously searching the woods.
Watching the search party’s intensity—they were even picking up the carcasses of rats that had been frightened to death—the two felt incredibly lucky.
They were grateful that the white ball deity had sunk their “corpses” into the river.
If their bodies had been discovered, they would surely have been treated as remnants of the Dark Faction.
They might have been stripped naked, hung on a special crucifix to prevent resurrection, paraded through the streets, and finally incinerated by holy fire.
Their portraits would then be framed on a wall, making them just two more faces among thousands of wanted targets.
Chosen Ones—the players—were essentially equivalent to the Chaos Faction in the eyes of NPCs.
They were both loved and hated.
This was because many players were opportunists who constantly flipped between the Light Faction and the Dark Faction just for quest rewards.
If you offered a rare orange chest as a reward, these guys might actually dare to assassinate a king.
To deal with this segment of the player base, the NPCs had conducted no small amount of research.
By now, the basic logic, privileges, and methods of the players had been mostly figured out.
The dull wait continued… until the sun reached its zenith.
An emergency retreat signal suddenly rose from the edge of the forest.
The teams still searching the area immediately returned at their maximum speed upon seeing it.
The **[Teleportation Interference Barrier]** also began to slowly dissolve from top to bottom.
“Du Lin—we can resurrect now!”
Su Yue pointed excitedly at the dissipating barrier.
Turning her head, she noticed Du Lin was staring thoughtfully at her system screen.
“Du… what are you looking at?”
Du Lin scrolled through the chat page.
“The system page is back. There’s a message from the Guild Master… Crossroads Market…”
After reading the content, she looked at Su Yue.
“Dummy, it’s time for you to show your divine grace.”
“Huh?”
“Go, go, go! Resurrect first, then head back to the Crossroads Market. Don’t go to the wrong place!”
*Whoosh—*
The two spirits vanished to resurrect.
The Church friars who had cordoned off the area chose to retreat because a mechanical messenger pigeon had brought news from the town.
To bolster their strength, they had been continuously summoning personnel from other churches in the Echo Domain, totaling over 400 people.
Now, they were charging toward the Crossroads Market in a grand procession.
The Church tried to provide a horse for every priest.
The distance from the southern forest to the Crossroads Market could be covered in about five hours on horseback.
As for the adventurers, the Priestess had not made things difficult for them.
After a simple inspection following their capture, they were released before dawn.
They had naturally received the news as well and were currently on their way to the Crossroads Market.
However, most did not have horses and had to rely on their legs, using a bit of augmentation magic at most to run faster.
There were, however, about a dozen nobles operating steam airships.
Carrying priests specialized in healing, they returned to the town in just over one hour.
“They’re back! They’re back!”
Someone spotted the priests descending from the airships and cheered.
Although their numbers were small, a single priest specialized in healing could save many lives.
Inside the cathedral.
“Ah… Du Lin… I can’t go on… *groan*…”
Su Yue was drenched in sweat, slumped like a dead dog on the blood-stained floor with a hollow gaze.
“Ha… I… I… *huff, huff*…”
Du Lin wasn’t doing any better.
Her tattered mage robes were damp and clung to her body, the ruby atop her wand was half-shattered, and her eyes were unfocused.
She was clearly suffering from extreme mana exhaustion.
Another group of stabilized patients was carried out of the nave to make room for those being sent from the rear hall after emergency treatment.
“Lord Chosen Ones, thank you for your hard work…”
A weary-looking nun approached them with gratitude, offering two cups of precious mana-restoring Holy Water.
In the current situation, it was truly invaluable.
The Holy Knight and the Mage before her had been an immense help.
With them there, many of the critically injured who were on the verge of death only needed emergency stabilization in the rear hall before being moved here.
Because of them, many had received timely rescue and managed to survive.
That Holy Knight could actually use a divine art called **[Overdraft Regeneration]**!
It was a technique that achieved rapid regeneration at the cost of drawing upon future vitality.
In the heat of battle, high-tier **[Overdraft Regeneration]** could provide an unimaginable advantage to one’s side.
The only side effect was a period of weakness.
However, there was a prerequisite for the spell: the recipient had to be conscious or at least able to nod in agreement.
The mana consumption of the spell was not small, but the other Mage made up for that flaw.
Her mana recovery speed was astonishing, and she was proficient in mana conversion techniques, allowing her to transfer her own mana to the Knight.
Ordinarily, anyone capable of performing such a divine art would be treated like a precious treasure.
It was unknown how this “wild” Holy Knight had ended up here.
Du Lin and Su Yue took the Holy Water and gulped down several mouthfuls.
They looked at each other and began to giggle foolishly.
**[Quest: Rescue the Injured]**
**[Status: Aid the injured in the town through healing, assistance, or any other method. Rewards will be calculated based on contribution.]**
**[Current participants: 276]**
**[Contribution: 684]**
**[Current Reward: One random skill crystal (Maximum Rank B)]**
—
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the side corridor.
“Quickly!!”
Several blood-stained guards rushed in, carrying an old man.
They shouted in panic and anxiety, “Where is the Priest!? Is there a Priest? Even a high-ranking cleric will do!”
“Inside! Take him inside!” someone shouted, pointing toward the depths of the cathedral.
“Thank you!”
The guards thanked them while rushing deeper into the building.
“Move!”
Once the guards were gone, the busy crowd began to whisper.
“Was that the Bishop just now?”
“I think so…”
“Someone mentioned earlier that he took men to pursue that Horned Demon.”
“I need someone who knows healing magic! This child still needs treatment!”
“I’ll do it!”
“That Horned Demon… was wounded by that Lady, right?”
“We thought it was dead at the time.”
“It was wounded that badly, and the Bishop still couldn’t beat it?”
“His condition wasn’t great either, was it? After being hit by that staff…”
“But at the end, he seemed almost completely recovered, right? The people from the delegation said their Bishop is least afraid of a war of attrition.”
“Then…”
“Shush—”
Another burst of chaotic footsteps followed as a dozen or so clerics, priests, and even high priests were carried in, looking like they were at death’s door.
They raised the same cry: “Is there a Priest! A cleric will do!”
They, too, were carried to the “emergency room” in the back.
The effects of the Holy Water were like a miracle drug for the two Level 15 players.
Having recovered their status, Du Lin and Su Yue placed the half-empty cups back on the table and got back to work.
Inside the emergency room, the scent of blood was pungent.
Only Lucia and a few high priests were still able to cast high-tier healing magic.
The other clerics had long since reached their limit, and many were unconscious from exhaustion.
From the moment the battle broke out until now, the healing had never stopped.
If Lucia hadn’t arrived later, those high priests probably wouldn’t have been able to hold out.
Water-blue healing light swirled around the bloodied figure.
Lucia, who was currently keeping the Bishop alive, had a strange expression as she asked the guards, “How did he end up like this?”
The guard lowered his head and replied in a small voice, “The Bishop went to find that Horned Demon… and the result was…”
“Was he ambushed?”
“No…”
The guard looked embarrassed and turned his head away.
“That Horned Demon just walked out openly and… with one slap…”
“*Cough, cough, cough…*”
The semiconscious Bishop seemed provoked, coughing violently.
“I see.”
Lucia nodded and asked, “Where did the Horned Demon finally appear?”
The guard looked at her.
“To the west, in an abandoned mine several kilometers away.”
His gaze was filled with respect and an undisguised sense of anticipation.
This was the legendary Black Witch.
Last night, it was she who had used two moves to knock that Horned Demon into the river, leaving it unable to rise.
“No need to worry. Once the Church’s main force returns, I’ll go deal with it,” Lucia said nonchalantly.
Ignoring the Bishop, who was regaining consciousness and glaring at her, she slowly continued, “It’s just… one tiny… little Horned Demon~” She dragged out the last word.
“…” The Bishop spat out another mouthful of blood.
Prideful as he was, he had assumed that even if the Horned Demon escaped, it was merely the struggle of a dying beast.
With his Level 60 boss-tier strength, he thought he could easily take it down.
He would then be able to claim the lion’s share of the credit for slaying a high-tier demon, since the monster had still had the strength to flee.
He never expected that when he followed the trail to the mine, the Horned Demon would be waiting right there for him.
By the time he realized it was a trap, he had already been crippled by a single slap.
The priests and clerics who had activated the link formation were also maimed by a couple of claw swipes.
Then, the Horned Demon had squatted next to him and cursed, “This is all you’ve got? You dare come out and act tough? I was living my life just fine, not bothering you! But you keep coming to play with me? Huh? You’re so damn annoying, aren’t you? If I wanted to, I would have leveled that crappy town long ago! *Ptooey!* Old geezer!”
Finally, it had spat on him, stripped them of their potions, and strolled away.
As for the fodder guards who had followed, the Horned Demon hadn’t even spared them a glance!
There was no need to say more about what happened after that.
By afternoon, the streets and squares of the Crossroads Market were filled with more and more busy figures.
Among them, one small figure was particularly conspicuous.
Everyone looked at her with deep respect and gratitude.
“Thank you, thank you!!”
“Miss Witch, please take a break… you can’t even maintain your mimicry anymore.”
“I’m fine… I… I can do it.”
“The Church’s forces will be here soon. Please don’t push yourself.”
“Mhm.”
“Someone help! There’s a seriously injured person here who needs help!”
“Over here!”
“It’s the Miss Witch! That’s great!”
Tentacles wriggled, delivering blooms of hopeful holy light.
Lu Koko’s face was deathly pale.
Her mimicry skill had failed long ago, and her mana was constantly hovering between empty and the red zone.
Although her head was spinning and her steps were light, Lu Koko was internally thrilled.
The exhilaration and fulfillment of saving lives manifested as milky-white spheres of faith that poured into her body.
Her experience points were soaring, and as her faith value increased, the luck stat in her status window was slowly rising.
All of this supported her, pushing her to continue toward the next target.
Just as the priest had said, the Church’s reinforcements returned in haste.
Hundreds of people quickly dispersed.
With enough manpower, a massive combined magic array slowly rose, completely relieving the pressure of medical treatment.
By evening, the adventurers had also returned and joined the rescue teams.
The rescue work didn’t fully conclude until noon the next day.
This medium-sized town in the game had a population of about 50,000 to 60,000.
In terms of the setting, that was a fairly large scale.
Nearly 30% of the buildings had been destroyed in the battle last night.
According to the statistics, the casualties reached 7,000.
Deaths: 500+
Serious Injuries: 2,000+
Others: 4,000+
It was said that this was the result after the members of the delegation had carried out evacuations.
The battle had started suddenly because, while the priest team led by the Bishop was setting up their formation, the Demon General hiding in the town had been unexpectedly exposed.
Immediately after, an assassin sensed the danger, and the great war broke out instantly.
The final result was this scene.
On the steps in front of the cathedral, the old Bishop, who could barely manage to get out of bed, sat quietly.
He stared at the ruined city before him with an expressionless face, his thoughts unknown.
Perhaps his head, filled with decaying old ideas, had finally been cracked open to new light.
Or perhaps he still felt that the ancient tradition that once granted him supreme glory was not at all problematic.
He simply hadn’t anticipated that the Saint Candidate would not resist but instead fled—fled right under his nose.
One had to know that back then, the trial for Saint Candidate Alicia was many times more difficult than this…
Behind him, footsteps approached.
It was Lucia, who slowly walked up to stand behind him.