Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1487 The Apostles Enter the City
Vanessa seemed to be in good spirits, and the pharmacist nodded to her. Vanessa immediately beamed and walked over to her.

"Pharmacist, you're back very early. I thought you'd be back later. After all that happened last night..."

“It is precisely because so much has happened that I needed to come back sooner. Come with me, there are two important figures from the church here recuperating.”

"Recovering from injuries?" Vanessa clearly missed the key phrase. "So they really fought? And what I sensed was real?"

The pharmacist nodded: "We can discuss the details when we meet. Now that you're the powerful figure in the Minute Church, you should also meet those two. Don't be nervous."

Vanessa wasn't nervous at all. She had no idea what a First-Class Archbishop was. At most, she knew that they would sign the reports she submitted—but the reports wouldn't be returned to her, so how would she know who was signing them?

Upon arriving at the large room where the wounded were being housed, Vanessa was genuinely taken aback by the sheer number of casualties. Then, Krom and Rosalind came out.

Rosalyn seemed to have recovered somewhat after undergoing treatment, while Crom remained unchanged. The pharmacist introduced Vanessa to the two, emphasizing that Vanessa now held roughly half the authority at the Minute Church.

“Don’t worry that we’re going to use this place as a base. We have no intention of seizing power. We’re only here for safety. We’re going back once we’ve recovered,” Krom said.

“Before that—” Rosalyn suddenly spoke up, “I hope someone can send a message to control your emotions and not let positive feelings get too overwhelming.”

The pharmacist immediately recalled those people who had turned into bubbles on the battlefield.

"Is this the truth behind the divine disaster and contamination?"

“It wasn’t verified, it’s just a judgment based on experience. After all, that thing almost killed me.” Rosalyn raised her arm with difficulty. “The timing was too coincidental, and I just heard several wounded soldiers’ descriptions of the battlefield. The front line collapsed because of the divine calamity, right?”

"That's right," Lu Ning said definitively.

"So I think that when you experience excessively high levels of positive emotions like joy and excitement, it can lead to contamination. You're more authoritative on this, Krom. I don't know if this judgment is correct, but you should understand what I mean."

“Of course you can. Frankly, this kind of thing isn't much different from a plague, just harder to deal with.” Krom sighed. “However, given your physical condition, you shouldn't take any risks. It's not good to keep troubling the people here. I'll go heal the two paladins…”

“I’m sorry, you two,” Vanessa suddenly said, “it may be easy for you to come in, but I doubt anyone can leave the Clockwork River area safely anytime soon.”

"What do you mean?" Rosalyn raised an eyebrow.

“Since yesterday, invisible monsters have already entered this neighborhood, and it may not be just this neighborhood, after all, I have no idea what is happening outside. They are weak individually, but they will merge and devour each other. The process is somewhat comical, but if they eventually form a powerful enough core, they will appear in front of someone whose fear has reached a certain level and become a powerful monster.”

“Monsters?” Rosalyn frowned. “It sounds like the King of Panic’s doing, but why can’t we leave? If they’re weak, they shouldn’t be able to stop us.”

“The Ritual of the Silent Night.” Krom sighed. “I think what’s stopping us from leaving isn’t the monsters, but the effect of this anomaly. Heh…”

Vanessa clearly hadn't expected that they already knew the truth about the danger; she had only found the key by constantly probing them yesterday and early this morning.

Based on Lu Ning's memories of reading the book, the pharmacist found the key words for creating "The Ritual of the Silent Night".

"Child, child, open your eyes. Strangers are walking by outside the window. In the woods where the wind blows, there are eyes watching you."

She read the first sentence quietly, and immediately knew where the problem lay.

“Currently, people who try to leave will begin to become infantilized. The closer they are to the edge, the faster they become infantilized. I asked people of different ages to help me test this. Even people in their fifties will become infantilized to the size of three or four years old when they get close to the edge. At that time, none of us would be able to fight.”

“There are a few questions,” Rosalyn immediately interjected. “First, is this rejuvenation completely reversible? Second, will rejuvenation attract attacks from cloaked entities? Third, does rejuvenation affect physical condition? Fourth, at what close range does it begin to take effect? ​​And what is the extent of its effects?”

"Hmm... As long as you stay away, it's reversible. As for the edge, it's quite a coincidence that it's basically our blockade line. As long as you get close to the blockade line, to be precise, about fifty meters from the inside out, it will start. The invisible entities will come out to attack if you don't evacuate in time, and as for the effects on the physical condition... they will become slightly more childish, and all the injuries on their bodies will remain and will not heal. Therefore, it is not a reversal of time."

Vanessa clearly understood the meaning behind Rosalyn's questions and answered them very accurately.

“This is troublesome, Crom.” Rosalyn touched her scabbard. “If I’m not mistaken, the person Vanessa just mentioned, someone whose fear has reached a certain level, is most likely a child.”

“Yes, it’s a series of interconnected crises. If this were a plague, I would definitely give it a high score in the case report… But now it’s us who are facing this predicament,” Krom remarked.

“You should be able to handle this, Crom,” Rosalind said.

“Yes, but to eliminate such a large-scale ritual, we would need to use the eighth-order divine spell ‘Disintegration’. We have a lot of wounded people here, and there aren’t many of the Saviors’ members among them.”

“I am,” Vanessa said. “Most of the people in this church are, and we should be able to take on some of the responsibility.”

“Ordinary people won’t do. This ritual doesn’t require too many people; six people who have learned this spell can cast it together. Each person only needs twelve Nas to activate it. The problem is that I’m the only one here who knows it right now. Rosalind is a warning custodian, so she can’t use this spell.”

"How many people are able to learn now?" the pharmacist asked.

“Three. There aren’t many Saviors here to begin with, and even fewer who are capable of learning this spell. In addition to spiritual talent, high-level spells also require a strong body, otherwise the body will be depleted when the spell is cast.”

"Then wouldn't the two of us be enough?" the pharmacist said.

Krom squinted at the two of them, finally fixing his gaze on Vanessa.

"We need to assess your talent."

Krom glanced at the apothecary, who then went to fetch the reagents used to test magical talent.

High-level magical talent is different from ordinary talent, but the apothecary has no doubt about Vanessa's talent. He might as well test Veronica's talent as well, as both of them are indeed very talented.

Just as she was thinking of Veronica, she saw Father Thorne had already gone out and was talking to Veronica. The pharmacist nodded to the two of them and said to Father Thorne, "Vanessa has some things to attend to right now. You two can talk in detail later." "I know, please don't worry."

"Pharmacist, is there any emergency now?" Veronica asked.

"We need to test your magical talent. If you're free, come along. That way, someone can take your place if something unexpected happens," the pharmacist said.

Veronica glanced at Father Thorne, who waved her off and let her follow him.

The two quickly arrived at the pharmacy. The reagents needed to be prepared on the spot, but the materials were readily available. At the pharmacist's speed, it would take less than ten minutes to prepare them.

"What is this spell talent test?" Veronica asked while helping out.

"To be precise, it's a spell inertia tolerance test. I originally planned to do it for you in the last one or two classes, since it involves high-level spells. High-level spells have high casting requirements, and if your aptitude isn't sufficient, you're prone to mental exhaustion due to the drain on your inertia. Therefore, you must undergo a test before you can cast the corresponding spells. This refers to spells of the eighth rank and above." The apothecary heated the potion, and during the waiting period, she explained to Veronica, "For example, the Plague Apostles' ritual to invoke the gods is this kind of spell. The reason this spell results in a sacrifice is because they don't test spell aptitude and directly force everyone to resonate and cast the spell. Ordinary people don't even have enough inertia, so casting this kind of spell will only result in death."

"If that's the case, will the Plague Apostles also die for this reason?"

"Of course, if they don't know how to measure themselves, it's common for them to beat themselves to death. However, those who are selected are already quite qualified, so they usually won't be beaten to death. At most, they will go insane due to mental exhaustion, which is why there are so many madmen among them."

After heating, the pharmacist quickly mixed the medicine and bottled it, resulting in three bottles in total.

"You, Vanessa, keep one bottle as a backup."

She herself is a saint, possessing the highest level of spellcasting aptitude, and therefore requires no testing.

"Let's go. Just so you know, this reagent will create a fake overdraft state to test your limits, so you might feel a little uncomfortable after taking it. But don't worry, it won't harm your body."

"I understand."

=
At the gates of Violet City, no one was on guard anymore. After the divine calamity swept through, the normal guards either vanished into thin air or were dealt with by monsters in the chaos. As for the abnormal guards... there was one person standing here.

When Rosemerada and her party approached the city gate, they saw a person waiting alone at the entrance.

"Hello?" Rosemerada realized that the person on the other end was waiting for her, so she raised her hand to greet them.

The man looked quite ordinary; he was wrapped in a cheap fur coat and held a tin wine jug in his hand, but he appeared very clean.

“Hello, madam. And fellow Plague Apostles, I am here to greet you. My name is Ted, and you have certainly not heard of me before, for I am but a nobody.”

“After the gods appear, you will be here to greet us, so you will not be an ordinary person,” Rosemerada said with a smile.

"Thank you for your kind words... Oh, there are two more people."

Ted turned to look at the street corner behind him. A man with golden light emanating from his head walked out from the corner, followed by a young doctor in a white coat.

"These two are also?" Rosemerada asked.

“They are not,” Ted shook his head. “I am the only one who will greet you. As for these two, let me explain why we are here.”

"I just came to see if there are any strong enough guys here," the man with the glowing head chuckled. "I just defeated a strong one, but that's not enough. There are many more strong guys in this city. But those who came in this time... don't seem to be very good."

He sneered, his gaze sweeping over everyone, revealing a contemptuous smile.

“But you are plague apostles, aren’t you? I want you to create as many powerful monsters as possible. You better not disappoint me too much. If you’re just playing those boring tricks, I’ll rip your heads off.”

The pocket watch and Lady Red showed expressions of anger, but they didn't say anything when they saw the guy's state.

It's not uncommon for plague apostles to be killed by things they created.

“I understand, I will try my best to satisfy you,” Rosemerada happily agreed.

“Very good.” The man said, then turned and left. The doctor watched him go in silence.

“He won’t live long, so he longs to experience as much exhilarating combat as possible before he dies,” the doctor said. “As for me… my name is Peverley, and I am a plague victim, just like this gentleman. I am curious about your arrival, after all, we are not plague apostles, but people whose fates have been changed by the plague.”

“Yes.” Ted raised his hand and pointed into the city. “Gentlemen, you can go in now. I don’t know why you chose to enter the city, but please be prepared. Once inside, your life or death may be uncertain.”

"That guy Blue Cobalt isn't coming..." Lady Red said through gritted teeth, "Do you think we can find anything in this city by ourselves? This is a divine disaster!"

“The church is about to conduct a screening. Blue Cobalt has the ability to hide himself, but what about you? The church personnel inside the city don’t dare to go in easily, so they still have a chance to escape. If you are outside the city, you will be executed on the spot if you are found out,” Rosemerada said.

"Isn't this because you summoned the gods?" the pocket watch said.

"Even now, you still want to blame me for this? Instead of acknowledging the greatness of this feat?" Rosemerada sneered. "These gentlemen... their art has surpassed yours! The use of plague, the research on the Plague Lord—these have collectively created the plague on their bodies. Can you really ignore that?"

Ted clapped his hands in response to these words.

“Your energy could indeed bring about more change, and might even find a way out for the city. So let me invite you all into the city; after all, it’s better to be a little more formal. Mr. Peverley, would you like to invite them along with me?”

“I’m just looking for people who truly want to become immortals.” Peverley shook his head. “What I need is a sufficient body, a healthy, strong, and mentally resilient body, but unfortunately, none of you apostles are willing to come with me.”