Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1489 Heterogeneous Infected

After Lu Ning woke up, she also took a look at Rosalin's teaching.

This is indeed an excellent sword technique. Lu Ning knew quite a few martial arts-type tourists at the gathering place, so her judgment was sound. Suppressing, destroying defenses, and striking weaknesses—it certainly lives up to its name as a combat sword technique, but it's not suitable for the average person to learn.

The pharmacist couldn't learn it, but Lu Ning could learn a thing or two from it. This set of sword techniques requires a very high level of close-combat judgment. Without this kind of judgment, it can only be used as a mediocre suppression method, at most able to fight people who are weaker than oneself.

But Crom had mentioned that Rosalind earned the nickname "Crimson Front" solely through this set of sword techniques. She had fought countless battles where she was outnumbered and outmatched, and even her spatial slash technique was derived from it. No one could deny its power.

Just focus on figuring out how to use the Snowlight Sword.

"I know." The pharmacist wasn't that eager, but he was slightly disappointed to find that he couldn't practice it.

However, everyone has their own strengths. For example, she is far ahead in learning magic, while Rosalind's swordsmanship was naturally honed by Vanessa and Veronica, two gifted monsters.

The others didn't perform as well, so some of the bolder ones asked Rosalyn this question during breaks in training.

Rosalyn's answer was that the two were young.

The more familiar someone is with their fighting style, the harder it is to change their habits. Young people are always more malleable, and both of them were already adults; if it were about eight years earlier, it would have been the perfect time.

Upon hearing Rosalind's words, Veronica mentioned that the church had taken in some children, some of whom were of appropriate age. Rosalind readily agreed, and Veronica went to select ten children of suitable age.

The pharmacist noticed some shady dealings in Veronica's selection of people, but she didn't say anything. After all, the biggest pressure right now was external. Everyone had been studying for a few days, and during that time, various relevant forces had probably gathered outside the city and begun discussing the future of Violet City.

Ironically, the future of Violet City is not determined by its people.

Krom's assessment was nothing out of the ordinary.

The first-level bishop seemed to have anticipated the outcome of the discussion among those outside, and proceeded to teach at his own unhurried pace. After half a month, he finally taught everyone how to use the eighth-order divine spell "Disintegration".

This is a formation specifically designed for countering established spells, encompassing, but not limited to, fixed spell effects such as barriers, rituals, group buffs, and special environments. It has a vast range and powerful effects, but requires at least six people to activate it simultaneously.

“Very good… Now, we need to prepare defenses against the casting of ‘Disintegration.’ The spell is used in an instant, but there’s a lot of preparation beforehand: a suitable location, precise strikes against the nature of ‘Ritual of the Night’… and the enemies, and even the wielders of the alternate entity, that might be attracted if it is destroyed,” Krom said. “A fierce battle is inevitable, Rosalind. It’s time to test the results of your short-term training.”

"Don't worry, I'll guard it myself." Rosalyn flexed her wrists; her arms were still not very nimble, but spellcasters don't necessarily need arms to fight.

"Pharmacist, you need to stand outside the door. The central auditorium of the Sacred Heart is the most suitable place. If you discover any problems, you need to take over the key to the problem as quickly as possible. Of course, if multiple people are experiencing problems at the same time, you need to notify the people outside of the situation as quickly as possible," Krom instructed again.

The pharmacist nodded.

“Father Thorne…please take all the civilians and monks who are not capable of fighting to the underground for refuge. Unless one of us comes to call you out, do not leave. We do not know if there has been any mutation in the Ritual of the Silent Night, or if any special changes will occur due to the gathering of people.”

Father Thorne bowed slightly: "Yes, First-Class Bishop. I will make sure everyone remains underground."

"very good."

Krom walked toward the chosen chapel, waving to Rosalind to indicate that everything was in her hands. Rosalind, along with a group of soldiers, stood at the chapel entrance.

The apothecary arrived at the auditorium. The space was large enough and blessed by the divine power of the Savior's Pivot, allowing the divine power of the Fountain of Youth to be transmitted here, thus alleviating the pressure on the caster to some extent. After Krom and the other six entered, they took their seats according to the pre-arranged positions and then simultaneously raised their hands.

The shortcoming of "Disintegration" as an eighth-tier divine spell, rather than a top-tier one, lies in its inability to perform general destruction; it requires a certain amount of analysis of the target before it can be used. However, higher-level divine spells cannot be mastered in a short time, and the required conditions are much more complex, which cannot be met at present.

The apothecary watched the flow of magical energy within the hall. As the six people jointly cast the spell, the spell's structure condensed in the air, and the "Ritual of the Silent Night," which had seeped into the earth, gradually revealed its corresponding structure. Because she wasn't casting the spell herself, the apothecary couldn't directly perceive its structure, but she knew that the analysis was underway.

I don't know how long this will take.

The sound of swords being drawn came from outside the door. Clearly, some invisible monsters had sensed the change in the ritual and were beginning to surge towards them. The apothecary glanced in that direction and saw that Rosalind had used Storm Hand in place of her less-than-nimble arm, yet nothing could penetrate her defenses. Under the light emanating from the nine eyes, the invisible monsters were revealed, their greatest advantage of concealment gone.

Even with a slight reduction in combat effectiveness, the first-level bishops of the Warning Hub still possess considerable strength.

In this way, she is currently the one who is the most relaxed.

Strange, hasn't she been a little too idle lately? Ever since Lu Ning returned to replace her, as if to compensate for the long period of physical and mental stress, she hardly needs to put in much effort in subsequent practice. Learning divine arts is completely stress-free, Rosalin's swordsmanship doesn't need to be learned either, and now she's been assigned a subtly idle position.

However, as she thought of this, the answer naturally came to mind.

That was a gift from fate.

Everything she had experienced before, and everything she was about to experience after, was the reason for the temporary peace and quiet she was enjoying now.

Fountain of youth?

The pharmacist suddenly realized that the deity had communicated with her once again, but how could the deity normally communicate with a human on its own initiative? Only when a human prays to the deity—

The future. The answer surfaced in her mind once again.

If there's anything that could make the gods bound to this world nervous, it's probably this.

The Fountain of Youth specifically highlighted these two words: "fate" and "future," implying that they are also important to the gods.

Just as she was about to ponder and exchange ideas with Lu Ning, she suddenly felt a strong, pungent smell of blood rushing in from outside the church, almost making her want to vomit. She quickly waved her hand to create a filter to block the bloody smell from entering the hall, then moved a few steps out to a spot where she could see the doorway.

Before the heavily armed troops appeared a person covered in blood, surrounded by a cluster of blood vessels that looked like wildly growing branches.

“Fate is truly fascinating. We have the same fate, but I, who was once in a dominant position, am now being forced to do things by my former slave… But since it is the way it is, I have no choice but to comply.”

Once a nobleman, now an infected man, Lugo stood outside the church. He and his veins had emerged from the waterways, and since the church was located by the river, this mode of movement was completely unstoppable.

He had clearly merged with "The Skin Illusion," the book, resembling a blood clot, slowly expanding and contracting in his abdomen like a heart. Except for his head, the rest of his flesh had detached from his body, some still clinging to his blood vessels, but judging from its current state, it would likely all fall off soon. As for bones, only the skull and a section of the spine remained; the rest of his skeleton was long gone, with only a vast network of blood vessels maintaining his mobility.

“I recognize you, Bishop Rosalyn. I also donated to the Church of East.” Lugo grinned. “But you certainly wouldn’t remember a minor noble like me. It’s better that way, because if you did know, you’d probably come and kill me.”

“Now too.” Rosalind stared at Lugo. “Just looking at these veins tells you how many sins you’ve committed.”

"Creating servants is in the nature of many infected. I am relatively gentle and have not taken away their will. Of course, the will of blood will will not be listened to by flesh and blood, so the part that does not conform can only be destroyed. I sincerely hope that you will join our ranks. In this way, we will still have a chance to make that woman who is addicted to panic regret her actions."

After Lugo finished speaking, he looked at the people guarding the door and said helplessly.

"Looks like my communication skills weren't very good, were they?"

"All hands on alert!" Rosalind shouted sharply. As she issued the warning, Lugo leaped up like a red bat, while his blood-red servants rapidly approached the church entrance. In an instant, the light of the sacred flame exploded on some of their veins, forcing them to sacrifice parts of their bodies, but none stopped their advance.

"Trends...excitement."

Lugo's veins transformed into a giant hand that descended from the sky. Rosalind's knife immediately met it. The red blades clashed and separated instantly. The bloody hand was slashed open by the blade, and a large amount of blood sprayed out. However, Rosalind's knife also showed some signs of corrosion. After all, this knife was only picked from the church's armory and could not compare to her original one.

boom.

Everyone felt a jolt in their hearts, a moment of tension gripping them. Rosalind immediately opened her eyes and shone them upon the group, cleansing them of the contamination.

"Ha, Warning Hub." Lugo leaped through the air, blood seemingly becoming his foothold, the blood-soaked sky allowing him to move freely. "I thought you were strong enough, so I left you some room to test me, but it turns out you're only this strong?"

"Who gave you the confidence to mock me?" Rosalind sneered, her eyes suddenly turning to Lugo's location. A powerful beam of light instantly froze him in place, and then the blade came at him. Lugo didn't even have time to shout before his head was chopped off. The skull that looked like a human was just blood vessels of varying thicknesses and fragments of skull fragments.

"That was a quick reaction."

Lugo's eerie laughter came from all directions. The so-called head was just made for show. Since he had abandoned the skin, why would he leave a separate part behind?
"Priest, I feel... not quite well."

"My heart is beating very fast! It's not from nervousness, it's just unusually fast!"

Some of the surrounding warriors had already begun to feel unwell, and some who were severely contaminated by the divine calamity even knelt down, blood flowing from their mouths and noses.

"I feel...blood is gushing out!"

"It's this mist of blood!"

Rosalind cast a red glow over those whose bodies were reacting violently, frowning. The power of the Bloodthirsty King was extremely troublesome. Unlike the Hungry King, whose desire was simply for food, the Bloodthirsty King also harbored a craving for his own kind. If left unchecked, it would only grow stronger.

Unfortunately, her physical condition is too poor. The pollution has not only caused permanent damage to her athletic ability, but also damaged her mental state. In other words, her Na is also declining. She can no longer use some high-level spells, and the low-level spells of the Warning Cardinal do not have the ability to cause large-scale damage. After all, all the Cardinal needs is the ability to obtain warnings.

The blood vessels converged, forming Lugo's head once again.

"I can see you're really weak... Is it my good fortune? A first-level bishop can't even use a high-level divine spell, so I might as well plant another beacon here. When the blood in your veins becomes my kind, I'll be happy to share it with them—"

Before he could finish speaking, a thin bullet was embedded in his head.

The sound of the Savior's gun firing wasn't very loud, and besides, Lugo was in the midst of his triumph and didn't even notice that someone further away had raised a gun and was sniping. He wasn't afraid of ordinary bullets, but the destructive power of this special bullet was incomparable to ordinary bullets. In a moment, the head, along with the blood vessels that made it up, melted, and the black smoke it emitted even pushed aside the space occupied by the surrounding blood mist.

The pharmacist calmly began to shake the propellant charge, preparing for the next shot. Krom saw her use the gun but said nothing, tacitly agreeing to let her use it. Compared to Lu Ning, the pharmacist wasn't as adept at quickly drawing and firing a weapon in intense combat, but her sniping skills from a safe position were excellent.

After taking that shot, Lugo stopped gathering, and even the sudden attacks on those blood vessels stopped.

After a deathly silence lasting for more than ten seconds, a scream, no longer as elegant as before, finally rang out: "What the hell is that thing? How can something bring death to beings as great as us? Damn woman, if that thing hits us, we're all dead!"

Rosalyn narrowed her eyes upon hearing this.

She had a feeling that this guy's strength was not as good as the Queen of Insects. Now it seems that the Queen of Insects, who has two different books, is indeed much stronger than Lugo.