Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1479 A One-Sided Conflict

Lu Ning chose a roundabout route, bypassing the area mainly influenced by the gods, and began heading towards the Church of the East.

There's no time to worry about identifying people now. If things are delayed even a little, not a single person in Violet City will survive—and if the real ruler here, Grand Duke Toril, is no longer in the city, that probability will be much higher.

The situation varied across different districts; areas plagued by Plague Apostles or the strange power of the Plague Lord had become extremely chaotic. One positive aspect for Lu Ning was that, due to the arrival of the gods, the church's blockade personnel were no longer able to stand guard along the blockade line, but this also caused a large number of people to move around.

Lu Ning stole an abandoned horse. She was now thankful that the previous scene had given her some riding experience, so controlling the horse wasn't a problem. As she charged towards the Church of St. Ist, a bright golden bullet rose from the east and struck the body of the deity in the sky. The bullet pierced through the delicate silk threads and burned a small hole in the central cocoon.

It was the key figures from the various cardinals of the church who made the move.

Lu Ning was very close to the trajectory of the bullet. When she rode her horse over, she could see a cultivator in black armor on top of a water tower. He was loading bullets into an ancient hunting rifle that was almost as tall as him, facing the strong wind. A dark blue divine light surrounded him, and red inscriptions were engraved on the gun.

Remington mounted the enormous shotgun on the groove in the water tower wall and aimed it at the god once more.

"The man is old, yet there is still such a worthy prey to hunt... Oh?"

His sharp eyes immediately spotted Lu Ning riding past nearby and noticed her gaze directed in his direction. Seeing Lu Ning's direction, Remington almost instantly deduced her intentions.

“Go, son, go! I promise you, the gale will be a step behind you!” Remington laughed heartily, pulled the trigger again, and fired the golden bullet.

Lu Ning heard Remington's powerful voice, but she couldn't trust that this monk from the Burial Grounds could actually stop the gods. She could only speed up and get to the Church of East as quickly as possible.

However, when she arrived at the foot of the mountain, she immediately had a bad feeling.

In the most important part of the castle, no light shines through the windows.

When I visited the Church of St. Ist before, the castle was brightly lit all night.

But she had no choice but to go to the church, since if the church's army really came, only the Church of East could stop them.

Lu Ning began to walk up the mountain. Although the pharmacist was in good physical condition, the journey of riding a horse and then climbing the mountain was starting to make her feel tired. After thinking for a moment, Lu Ning took some stimulant pills from her medicine box and put them in her mouth.

Just then, she saw someone coming down the mountain path.

He was a middle-aged man dressed in aristocratic attire, walking at a leisurely pace. When he saw Lu Ning, he even nodded in greeting.

Good night, young lady.

His response was a flash of sword light.

As a status spell, "Snowlight Sword - Gui" doesn't require multiple casts; Lu Ning can activate it whenever needed. The middle-aged man clearly hadn't expected Lu Ning to attack without a second thought. He nimbly dodged, drawing a rapier from his waist.

"What does this mean?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Going out at a time like this without any guards?" Lu Ning sneered. "Normally I might listen to you, but now?"

"Tsk, aren't you wearing the emblem of the Savior of the Savior? Why are you acting like a madman who buried the Dead of the Savior—"

Very good, if you dare to say that, then you definitely made the right decision to cut it.

Lu Ning charged forward with her sword, while the middle-aged man opposite her, Edward, raised his rapier to counterattack. However, Lu Ning broke his sword in one move.

"Huh?" Edwid jumped back quickly, flying several meters backward. He glanced at the rapier in his hand. Although the items used by nobles were not specially forged divine weapons, they were still imbued with some enhanced magic. How could it have been cut in half in a single exchange?
He immediately used magic to levitate himself into the air, but Lu Ning's sword light still coiled around him like a serpent, and he couldn't shake it off at all.

“That’s strange. I’ve never heard of such a young expert in Violet City.” Edward conjured a one-handed sword with his magic. “Where are you from, Savior’s Lair? Could you be a reinforcement who secretly came into the city?”

Lu Ning thought to herself that this person talked too much nonsense. She swung her sword, and the sword created by magic finally blocked the snow light on her sword, but each strike caused some wear and tear on the sword.

Ed Wilder grew increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed. He had been on a covert operation and had no intention of getting entangled with an unexpectedly powerful opponent here. Moreover, with a god hovering overhead, every extra second he wasted here could plunge him into immense danger.

We must fight quickly and decisively.

While parrying Lu Ning's attack, he secretly tapped a switch on his left knuckle, causing a hollow, gun-barrel-like finger bone to protrude. Ever since peeling off his own skin, Ed Wilder had never stopped modifying himself, with small mechanisms hidden all over his body. After deflecting Lu Ning's sword strike, he immediately fired the bullet embedded in his finger bone at Lu Ning.

However, almost at the same time as his sneak attack, lightning also erupted from Lu Ning's left hand. The dim lightning was released almost simultaneously with his attack, annihilating the bullet he fired in mid-air.

Before Edward could react, Lu Ning had already seized the slightly awkward position he was in for the sneak attack, and slashed down with her sword, sparks flying from his shoulder to his waist.

The nobleman's magnificent robes were cut open, revealing a muscular body beneath. Edwid's skin had indeed been cut open, but only the skin; no blood flowed out, only a row of metallic-looking material padded beneath.

"Sigh... this outfit is ruined too."

Edwid reached down and tore off his ripped shirt, revealing his pale skin. He looked at Lu Ning, briefly assessed their fighting strength, and knew he probably couldn't defeat this cultivator anytime soon.

“I don’t want to be dragged to my death here…” Edwid retreated as Lu Ning approached, while pages of a book appeared in his palm. “Divine calamity, it’s very dangerous. Even I would die in this environment if I’m not careful. Everyone in your church is a loyal warrior, but I am not. I have to leave quickly—The End of Thirst, come on, protagonist of the book.”

A page stopped in his palm, then quickly expanded and cracked, and ragged people jumped out of the thin paper. They were all beggars, with black and sharp fingers, and almost nine-tenths of each person's face was occupied by a huge, black hole-like mouth, with the rest of their features squeezed into the corners and becoming very small.

The number of these people increased rapidly, and in a short time, as many as forty or fifty people jumped out, forming a solid human wall that blocked Ed Wilder from behind.

"Alright, little monk, next time I'll fight you seriously, if you don't die in this disaster." Edwid waved his hand. "I remember your face."

Lu Ning did not give chase. It was unrealistic to try to get past the human wall and continue the pursuit; these people were all difficult to deal with.

They possessed the most basic power of the King of Hunger: endless craving and devouring. Before they even began fighting Lu Ning, they started devouring the grass, trees, and soil around them. Lu Ning could clearly see that the one in the worst condition had his mouth ripped open all the way to his neck.

This feeding will likely only stop when their mouths grow large enough to devour themselves. Anything smaller than their mouths will probably be swallowed—including Lu Ning's sword and lightning. "The King of Hunger is such a nuisance," Lu Ning sighed. "The necessity of going to the Church of East has increased even further."

She threw a medicine bottle, which shattered on the stone steps, releasing a large amount of mist.

"Three bottles of medicine... should be enough." Lu Ning took out two more medicine bottles, but unfortunately it would take some time for the medicine to take effect.

Five minutes later, the group of people who had been summoned lay sprawled on the ground, their mutated bodies still slowly wriggling, but under the influence of the potent sluggishness potion, this was all they could manage.

Lu Ning bypassed the group and continued running up the mountain. Ed Wilder was long gone, and this time no one stopped her on the way. Lu Ning went straight to the Church of St. Ist.

Unsurprisingly, there were very few people left in the church. The core members of the seven cardinals had all gone off to provide support in various places, and apart from a small number of guards, only some people without combat capabilities remained.

For example, Father Petrov.

He was quite old, and although he knew some magic, the church wouldn't allow such an old man to travel around so much. Fortunately, it was an acquaintance who stayed here.

"Father Petrov! Which cardinal is in charge of the church now?" Lu Ning ran in and asked the priest sitting in the hall.

“Kishin, of course it’s them… What happened?” Father Petrov stood up in surprise.

"Didn't you sense the divine power outside?"

“I have never felt God’s grace.” Father Petrov shook his head.

This insulation is incredibly strong; if it weren't for directly seeing a deity, it probably wouldn't have been a problem at all.

"So, the church isn't preparing for a divine catastrophe?"

“No,” Father Petrov said. “Previously it was aimed at defilement, but later it was changed to a defilement-like isolation and defense. A divine disaster? Could it be…”

"Preparations need to be made as soon as possible. Why is there no commander remaining at the Church of East? What about Grand Duke Toril's regular army?"

Father Petrov smiled wryly upon hearing this: "We don't have enough manpower."

This is probably the funniest joke Lu Ning has heard all day. Not enough people to teach?
"How can there be a shortage of manpower?"

"Five days ago, the Archbishop dispatched a thousand men to the capital along with Roswell's team."

"Could it be that there isn't a single Silver Knight or Royal Guard Knight in the city right now?"

Petrov sighed. "Thinking about it now, something's really wrong. It's as if they had a premonition. I'm not sure if the Archbishop knew about this, but those thousand men were all elites. Without them, and with the increasing chaos in the city, the Church is indeed short-handed. As for the command issue you mentioned, the Church won't stay in the East Cathedral. Besides, it's quite a distance from the city. They moved to District Two a long time ago."

"Does this place store weapons against the gods? Also, we need to immediately notify the commander of District Two, whoever it may be—to prepare for a purge order from the Papal Office!"

“Pharmacist, they can’t be unaware of these things if a divine calamity really occurs. I think the deployment of weapons should have already begun, but we are not responsible for this part. Don’t worry, I believe the Church can handle it.”

If it weren't for tourists causing trouble, she might actually have believed it.

“Father Petrov, take me to the catastrophic cellar,” Lu Ning said.

“You certainly have the right, but may I ask why?” Father Petrov inquired.

A priest without divine perception is not qualified to know certain core secrets. He may be eligible to use the injections, but the cardinal's secret weapon cannot be explained to him.

"I'm sorry, it's a secret."

"Alright, please come with me."

Father Petrov led Lu Ning underground once again, but this time they took a different path.

Beyond their publicly known technical expertise, each cardinal naturally has their own private projects. This time, Lu Ning didn't climb too many stairs; with the Holy Emblem of the Savior Cardinal certified, the Savior Cardinal's own dedicated research facility was revealed before her.

Jars resembling urns were arranged on an iron shelf. A faint smell of dust filled the air, though the floor showed signs of having been swept. Father Petrov lit a candle; he didn't use any light magic, because spells could easily cause unnecessary problems.

“Every time I come here, I feel like I’m in a cemetery,” Petrov said.

Lu Ning did not answer him—this is the cemetery.

"Thank you." She took the candle from Petrov and held it up. "You may go now. It's best if you don't know what happens next."

“Then…may the gods continue to bless you.” Petrov bowed slightly, then turned and left.

Lu Ning's gaze swept over the jars. With the pharmacist's memories, she naturally knew what these things were.

Antigens of "plague".

The Savior probably understands the plague better than most of the Plague Apostles. Given this understanding, the natural next step would be to use this powerful weapon, even if it comes from an evil god like the Plague Lord. And this application has already yielded practical results.

"The secret weapon of the Savior Cardinal is the plague. I'm really curious what the other cardinals have come up with. Pharmacist, your church is really hard to judge." Lu Ning's fingers brushed over several jars, pulling out thin lead tubes from them. She opened the medicine box, found a strap with pre-cut positions to secure the lead tubes one by one.

"It's really heavy..." After Lu Ning tied the two straps, she tried it out. It felt like she was wearing a weighted vest. But she also knew that the lead pipe was probably the most suitable load-bearing material the church had found.

(End of this chapter)