Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1442 Nighttime Sweep
Old Parker's face contorted in pain, his mouth slightly agape as if he were about to say something, but the black longsword in Willard's hand pierced through his mouth in an instant, emerging from the back of his head and spewing out a large amount of wood chips.

The Oathkeeper's combat strength was equally formidable, and Villard's confidence was well-founded. With a slight flick of his wrist, the sharp black longsword sliced ​​off half of Old Parker's head. The head fell to the ground with two soft thuds, and the wood grain on the cut surface was eroded and turned black by the power of the longsword.

Old Parker stammered out what he wanted to say: "You've gone too far, Father. I was just looking for a new way out when I was desperate. Just like why I came to believe in the Church in the first place... You once said that the Church doesn't care whether a person's faith is sincere or not. And for at least the past few decades, I have truly believed in the Church."

“Faith resides only in the heart; it has meaning for you, but is worthless to the gods.” Willard flicked his blade, shaking off the sawdust clinging to it. The sawdust seemed to come alive, sprouting and growing on the ground, but was quickly covered with a layer of black.

“I haven’t done anything wrong. I just want my child to come back to life. He’s seriously ill, and besides the church, they are the only ones who can help me with treatment…”

The sound of the door being pushed open came from deep within the corridor.

A terrified woman emerged with a child whose limbs had been replaced with ball joints and whose eyes had lost their liveliness. However, the life force emanating from the child proved that he was indeed still alive, albeit in a very strange way.

"Do you consider the Plague Lord's gift to be a form of life?" Villard asked.

“Why not? He’s only had part of his body replaced, but he knows me and my wife. Maybe he’s not as smart as before, but Father, when being together can’t salvage the situation, even salvaging a part of it would be a great blessing for me.”

New wood began to grow rapidly from the broken surface of Old Parker's head wound, repairing the damaged part.

He was not an apostle; he had not learned any of the Plague Lord's divine arts. Villard had already realized that this family had been converted into "servants" commonly used by apostles, no longer considered human in the Church's definition, but rather something on par with "monsters."

It was blasphemy that a non-human being retained human cognition and thought. Willard glanced at old Parker's wife and son with regret. He could tell that the child was even modified by old Parker himself, so his appearance was not as perfect as old Parker's.

Servants beget servants, and plague spreads plague; this is precisely what makes the plague apostles so repulsive.

"rest in peace."

This time, Villar's knife pierced directly into old Parker's heart.

Old Parker's wooden body naturally didn't stop. At the same time, the woman and child pounced on him, their mouths open, their dark mouths concealing a deadly intent that was about to be unleashed. However, Villard was far more experienced. He immediately released his longsword, and with a flick of his finger, the two "spies" pounced, using the powerful impact to instantly knock the two women to the ground as well.

Immediately afterwards, a third-tier divine spell coalesced in his palm—"Detonate Creation".

The black longsword and the two secret agents who were suppressing the two men exploded and destroyed themselves instantly. The three wooden figures were instantly blown to pieces, and their vigorous life force came to an end, unable to regenerate.

The last spy stood beside Villard, warily looking around.

"The apostles aren't nearby?" Villard asked.

The spies reported some information, and Villard nodded: "Finding one means that many have already gone into hiding. Recently, quite a few people have come to Rosetta, and among them are probably plague apostles. If they leave even a little bit of filth and let it spread on its own, it will be a disaster for the town."

Villard walked toward the front door of old Parker's house, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Fortunately, as their mortal enemies, our existence has always been a top priority for those plague apostles to eliminate... Let me see just how many people are waiting for me outside the door now?"

The door was suddenly flung open, and about twenty people dressed as residents stood outside. There were both men and women, some carrying pitchforks or similar implements. Seeing Willard open the door, one of them looked surprised: "Father? We heard noises coming from here..."

“Ordinary people cannot hear the sounds coming from the ‘Silent Coffin’ unless they have practiced magic or are no longer human.” Willard interrupted him with a smile. “I cannot be sure if Old Parker is the source of the infection, but as long as all existing sources of infection are eliminated, the plague will not spread.”

"what did you say?"

Villard slightly raised his head and shouted to the night sky, "Liu, begin the cleanup."

To Willard's slight surprise, two figures appeared in the air, leaping up in the hazy moonlight and then rushing into the crowd gathered outside the house.

One of them was using the serrated folding knife commonly used by the Burial Pivot. It was Liu. Her movements as she wielded the weapon were as graceful as a dance, but the result was pure violence. The knife's true function was far from what she had described to Veronica and Vanessa before, using the serrations and weight to cut the enemy. Instead, she directly smashed the wooden bodies of these people with the blade, depriving them of their regenerative power with brute force alone.

Three orbs of light floated on the shoulder of another person. She was as young as Liu, but her methods against the servants were very sophisticated. She was the apothecary she had met during the day. The three orbs of light flew toward the servants with incredible speed, following her fingers, entered their mouths, and instantly scorched their entire heads.

The third-tier divine spell, "Blazing Sun".

Villard immediately recognized the divine spell; it was a high-level version of the Light spell. However, the fact that the apothecary could unleash the power of this spell so perfectly meant that his status in the Sacred Nexus was probably quite high.

The two of them worked together and killed the twenty servants in no more than ten minutes.

When Liu crushed the last servant's head into pieces with his bare hands, Willard couldn't help but clap softly.

"An efficient and beautiful cleanup, you two."

"You flatter me." Liu flicked the shards off the blade and tucked them into his robe. "Such a servant is hardly worth mentioning. It seems the apostles didn't consider this place important; they didn't value Rosetta Town."

“Hmm… indeed. In that case, what are they after? This divine spell doesn’t contain anything unique to the Plague Lord, and they haven’t even revealed their origins.” Villard picked up a severed limb from the ground. “A crude plague; I think it’s just a way to attract the Church’s attention.”

“The most valuable target here is, of course, Violet City.” The apothecary lit a puff of medicinal smoke and tossed it into the pile of his servants’ corpses. The plague-infected bodies quickly began to break apart and rot in the thick smoke, gradually losing their infectivity.

"Is that all?" Willard didn't answer the apothecary's question, but looked at Liu first. Liu simply shrugged: "It's difficult to conduct reconnaissance. Shouldn't that be your forte?" "That's not enough," Willard laughed. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked you to come and assist me—oh, Madam apothecary, thank you for your help as well. This gives us more leeway to deal with the follow-up issues."

"What are your plans for handling the clues about the Plague Apostle?"

“Of course it needs to be reported; it’s a necessary procedure. To avoid misjudgment, the Oathkeeping Council needs to conduct a very rigorous evidence-gathering process, which is why Old Parker is still alive today. I personally think that the time spent on this process may need to be reduced, but its necessity is beyond doubt,” Willard said. “The Plague Apostle should no longer exist in this town. I will complete the cleanup and reporting within three days.”

"Then I'll leave it to you. We'll be leaving tomorrow, sorry," the pharmacist said.

Willard shook his head: "No need to apologize, madam. Our operation went smoothly—of course, please note that since the Apostles' trail has been traceable all the way, there may be traces of them in Violet City as well."

“They will die just like these servants before them,” Liu replied.

That's a really unique answer.

The apothecary was simply there to watch the show. As an inquisitor, her combat prowess, barring encounters with apostles, meant she didn't need to consider servants or monsters, unless their numbers were overwhelming.

Even just watching the spectacle, the three "Blazing Suns" had exhausted her nine-fold magical power. Yet, Liu of the Burial Pivot had achieved the current result without using any divine magic. This was the difference between amateur and professional.

“Watch the boundaries, Willard. We can’t cause too much panic, even if the town has agreed to our clearing operation,” Liu cautioned.

Willard nodded. Liu then returned with the pharmacist.

"It's surprising that you noticed I left late at night," Liu said to the apothecary with considerable pleasure. "Normally, members of the Salvation Pivot wouldn't be this perceptive. Isn't your combat training usually just about self-defense?"

“If we are to travel abroad, then the scope of ‘self-preservation’ may need to be expanded further,” the pharmacist replied. “And the combat strength of the Burial Pivot is indeed as I thought.”

"Of course, we..."

Their conversation stopped simultaneously. Their heightened intuition alerted them both to a gaze emanating from the depths of darkness.

The gaze was very peaceful, without the slightest malice, but the aura was the stench of decay that both of them were familiar with.

A bright red figure stepped into the dim moonlight. It was a girl who looked a little younger than the two of them. Her hair had a bright red color that normal people could not naturally produce. In this world, when apostles truly unleash their abilities, such a phenomenon often occurs.

“I think it’s very impolite to come here and not greet the local church members.”

The girl bowed gracefully, and in response, the sound of Liu's pistol being cocked echoed.

"This is merely a manifestation through the body of a servant; there is no need to waste your precious steel-core bullet, esteemed nun. I salute you; I am Rosemerada, the Plague Apostle, the Chosen One. May our next meeting offer a better opportunity to speak."

As soon as she finished speaking, her bright red hair suddenly disappeared, and her face turned into that of an ordinary town woman before breaking into pieces.

The servants' power was insufficient to bear the manifestation of the apostle; in such a short time, the life force within this body was completely drained.

“Rosmerada…” Liu’s expression was quite serious. “Judging from her speech and the manners she displayed just now… her family must have been quite wealthy in the first place.”

“There are many records of people who, due to unforeseen circumstances, ended up becoming plague apostles,” the apothecary said. “I doubt you’ll find this name on the Empire’s list of nobles. However… ‘Selected One’ is no ordinary title.”

Within the Church, even those like the Pharmacist who can directly communicate with the Kingdom of God cannot obtain the title of Saint. Those who obtain this title can even sit on equal footing with the seven cardinals. The characteristic of a Saint is that, apart from the Pope, one is a person who has been given the divine gift of being able to perform ninth-order divine magic.

In contrast, while the Plague Lord creates numerous Plague Apostles by infiltrating the world, most of these apostles are insane. While troublesome, they are not the most difficult opponents. The most troublesome are the rational apostles who have received power but suppressed their madness. They call themselves the Chosen Ones and are the ones who can truly act on the Plague Lord's will.

"Unsurprisingly, yes." Liu unloaded the bullets from the gun, his expression not very good. "If it is a chosen one, then the situation in Violet City will probably be several times more troublesome."

Why such certainty? Because these top plague apostles never set their sights on a small place. If it's not Violet City, then we can only guess in a more terrifying direction—Toriljan.

The two looked at each other and could only manage a wry smile.

Now that things have come to this, it's impossible to change the itinerary at will. After all, the Plague Apostles could be found anywhere, and even if we don't go to Violet City, we probably can't avoid them.

"There are just more and more troubles..."

"yes……"

=
The next day, Father Thorne got up early and, with a few people, brought some of the ordered items, such as water bags and clothing. Because of the large demand for these items and the fact that they did not require high-quality materials, it would take the town some time to gather the necessary supplies.

“Thank you very much for your hospitality, colleagues. We’ll be on our way now.” Father Thorne thanked Father Jesse and received some books from him, which proved quite helpful to Father Thorne and the others in the small church.

Liu also joined the group. After leaving Rosetta, Father Thorne quickly rejoined the thousand-strong force. He openly displayed the food and supplies he had purchased and immediately announced the rules to be followed when traversing the wasteland. Under the intimidation of the knights' weapons and Father Thorne's consistently good reputation, the group at least outwardly accepted these rules.

"Wow, food rationing, labor allocation, and a certain degree of military control, Father Thorne is quite something." Liu was quite amazed as he looked at Father Thorne's series of actions.

“It’s hard to imagine that he came from just a small country church. But… I’ve had this thought several times along the way, so let’s get going as soon as possible,” the pharmacist said.