Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1521 The Graveyard of Beasts

Vanessa watched as the Ranger chose to abandon the path of reason. She was only curious about how this person, who seemed to have suffered psychological trauma from the war, would choose, but she never expected that she would choose to go back.

Perhaps war truly possesses some kind of magic, capable of drastically changing a person. According to the pharmacist, even she herself would likely harbor some resentment towards the pharmacist and her current decision in the future, hence Vanessa's lack of intention to criticize others' choices.

The plague unfolded in her hand, transforming into the shape of a scythe. To be honest, a scythe is not a very useful weapon; its symbolic meaning far outweighs its practical value. However, she felt it was just right for her now.

"Spatial Slash".

A dark green light cleaved space in two as she swung her blade. The core of spatial slashing lies in understanding space; only through understanding can one cleave it. Vanessa, having practiced instantaneous movement to the point of exhaustion, naturally gained a similar understanding.

Unlike Rosalind and her two children who imitated Rosalind's spatial slash, Vanessa's spatial slash did not create obvious spatial ruptures, but it reverberated in layers of ripples. These were spatial tremors caused during the slash. Although it lost the indiscriminate killing effect produced by the recombination of ruptures, it could cause more damage in areas outside the slash surface.

The shattering began where Iron Hammer and the others had been cut. Even if their bodies were cut, they could be glued back together; however, the dislocation and fragmentation caused by the spatial quake meant they could no longer find their original positions.
"What a pity."

Vanessa sheathed her sword, her expression calm. From the beginning, she hadn't felt any danger; she simply wanted to see what the Rangers were thinking, or rather, what the Plague Apostles were really thinking. Unfortunately, she was met with a disappointing outcome.

The ranger was also caught in the slashing range. She watched her body gradually crumble, yet remained remarkably calm. Having abandoned reason, the panic seemed to have vanished as well; now, only the instinct for battle and the resolve to survive remained within her.

So she swung the strange weapon, swiftly severing her other arm, and then, grabbing it along with the weapon, hurled it at Vanessa.

As Iron Hammer and the others were gradually torn apart by space, Ranger's action caused Vanessa to immediately teleport to a distance. After Ranger's body was shattered by space, the severed arm quickly grew back into a human shape and then transformed into Ranger's appearance.

“I am a higher being,” the ranger muttered to himself, then lunged at Vanessa once more. “But you pose a threat to my survival.”

Although her form can regenerate with any body, Vanessa's spatial slash did indeed pose a threat to her life.

If it were the previous ranger, she would have chosen to run away, but the current ranger would choose to attack death, to eliminate the source of death, and to overcome her inner fear.

"Is this the final result of your plague? Even the ability to communicate has vanished." Vanessa, scythe in hand, looked at the ranger with a sigh. "Then it's the end. Even leaving behind a single hair could bring you back to life..."

Gas erupted from the armor, and a thick purple miasma began to cover the area around her.

Environmental data collection is complete.

"High-risk cluster".

The wandering swordsman plunged headlong into the purple mist and never came out again.

=
Elti was somewhat surprised to see that his physical body had actually withstood the bombardment from his giant cannon.

She had fought Peverley before and was well aware of his ability to create monsters. Those enormous monsters possessed a certain level of vitality and thick hide; a single cannon shot might only create a crater. Unless one used Kishi's specially made cannonballs or more powerful weapons, the effect of artillery fire against these monsters was rather poor.

But those were huge monsters; she had never seen a person withstand such an attack with their bare body.

Duckworth had been crouching on the ground, clutching his head, but after the devastating barrage subsided, he discovered he felt no pain at all, and immediately burst into laughter.

"I wasn't lying to you, was I?" Peverley's gentle voice reached his ears, and he jumped up hurriedly, looking around anxiously. "Peverley! Are you alright? Don't get killed by that cannon! You're really amazing. I'm not afraid anymore, I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Alright, you can join the herd and destroy those things that frighten you."

Duckworth nodded repeatedly, then charged toward the artillery position in a disheveled and comical manner.

Looking at the figure baring its fangs and brandishing its claws amidst the beasts, Elty felt a sense of absurdity. She knew this was Peverly's doing—a monster transformed from a human; how many of those creatures were truly human beneath that skin? She certainly had ways to increase firepower, but Peverly's objective was clear: to delay the church's strongest army, buying time for the elite duel on the other side.

This means that Rosemerada's side is confident of winning, or at least achieving their goal.

"Send two men to summon Archbishop Charles, First Class," Elty immediately ordered. "I believe the Rosemerada forces have hidden methods. Our overt analysis may have shortcomings. Archbishop Charles, please make sure you have backup plans!"

After sending out the messenger, Erty's gaze returned to Peverley and Duckworth.

Peverley was still hiding behind the pack of beasts, his exact location unknown; Duckworth charged into the fray like a fool, seemingly unafraid of the current artillery fire.

"Order to activate the four 'Forging Hammer' compression power cannons."

Elti laughed; it had been a long time since she had fought a battle where she could fire so freely. Want to fight in close combat? The monks of the Kishi no Kami (or Kishi no Kami) didn't like close combat. If they couldn't blast the enemy to smithereens within range, they'd better think about whether they'd been properly preparing.

Darkworth, who had already spotted the first cannon, grinned, a shattering spell already forming in his hand, though he had no idea when he had learned such a spell. But just then, he heard a crisp sound, like the sound of a blacksmith's hammer striking casting, but countless times louder, carrying a force that seemed to shake the very earth—

嗵。

The sound of an unusual explosion instantly engulfed him. A neat, cylindrical hole suddenly appeared on the ground where Darkworth had been standing. The edges, scorched by intense heat, were still blackened with charred black. Wisps of white smoke drifted out of the hole. Several monsters that had just been beside Darkworth had all their flesh and blood smoothly sheared off along the edge of the hole. Some of the monsters that had lost most of their bodies died on the spot.

But right there in that pit, Darkworth suddenly jumped out, a smug look on his face.

This made Erti squint his eyes.

The "Forging Hammer" is no ordinary weapon. Even a heavily fortified church could be cracked by a single shot, and nothing has ever been known to withstand its power, not even tearing the clothes. Because of Elti's absolute confidence in this weapon, she was certain that the opponent had not withstood the attack by any means, but rather avoided its force through some kind of illusion.

Unbeknownst to her, Peverly had already withdrawn from the war. All these monsters, including the modified Darkworth, were bait to lure away Elti and Kiss's massive army; enough to delay them was enough. Peverly didn't believe this force could hold out indefinitely; after their last encounter, he knew perfectly well that there was no possibility of defeating the Church's army in a direct confrontation within the city.

He reached out and stroked the strange book in his arms. When he first got the book, he had only written a few notes on it, but now he had filled in nearly half of the pages.

"Very satisfied?"

A dejected man awaited his arrival; that was Ted, the holder of "The Invitation of Van Bion".

His gaze was vacant, so Peverley couldn't read his eyes and could only reply, "Not really. The mystery of immortality isn't over yet, which means my search isn't finished. Duckworth can only be described as a perfect work in between, but he is not immortal."

“I really envy that you still have the energy to study these things.” Ted looked up at the sky. “I don’t have that kind of energy at all.”

He took out a wine flask from his pocket and took a sip.

"Aren't you going to lead anyone?" Peverley asked. "How many invitations have you sent out already?"

“Eleven… all ordinary people, as ordinary as can be. In this Violet City, it’s so easy to find people like that.” Ted shook the flask. “Rosmerada rejected this despair; she still has passion for this cycle. A rare person indeed, I bless her.”

“Rosmerada is not someone you can persuade; she even persuaded us,” Peverley laughed. “Now, I’m ready to leave this city. I’m not going to board her ark. I’ve given her enough, and what she’s given me is enough for me to continue my research.”

"How do you plan to leave? In a place like... Violet City?"

“A tunnel.” Peverly pulled open his clothes to show Ted the tangled stitches on his body. The stitches didn’t look like the Oathkeeper’s technique, but rather some simpler magical effect.

"A tunnel?" Ted sneered. The siege of Violet City wasn't a place where you could just slip out through any tunnel. Anyone who managed to peek out would be discovered.

Pepperly found a way to divide his body into nearly independent life forms by relying on the superhuman vitality granted to him by "The Mystery of Immortality" and his simple study of the gods that appeared in Violet City. Each of these life forms reacted much like a rat. Judging from the threads that barely held these life forms together, he only had his head left to be dealt with.

“I can escape in different directions, even the aliens can be scattered. For every customer who gains immortality from me, I take a portion of their life force as payment. The fusion of life is the domain of the gods, so I just… stitch them together and then find a future for myself.”

"Up to the head?" Ted asked.

“Yes, the most important part, I must choose carefully.” Peverly took out the “material” from his medical kit and said, “So far, there have been three beings that have descended from the outside to Violet City. The god with the implanted roots is easy to identify, but I dare not borrow the power of such a great god without authorization; the red giant that appeared in the south is also a material that I cannot access, so I can only choose the gentlest one among them, which is also the one that I can most likely control.”

The wriggling, grayish thing "flowed" in Peverley's hand.

"It's Darko Woz..."

“His contaminated brain, containing the words of God’s close followers, the blessing of the ‘pituitary gland’.” Peverley nodded. “The rest of my head, except for the brain, will be reconstructed in this way, and eventually, I will flow out of the city through tunnels.”

Flowing...

Ted gave him a hollow smile and raised the flask in a salute.

"I wish you success, my friend."

“You actually wanted to give me an invitation, didn’t you?” Peverley put the materials back and said, “Unfortunately, I’m not ready to give up yet.”

“My blessings are sincere, and my invitation is heartfelt.” Ted took another sip of his drink. “I have seen the end times that the gods have shown me. Until that time comes, I will only extend an invitation to those who have already succumbed to despair, so that they will not suffer unbearable pain on the end times.”

"Then, we probably won't see each other again."

The two said their goodbyes and then went their separate ways.

Only the beasts continue their charge towards the front lines of Elti, towards the death illuminated by the flashes of cannon fire. This process will likely last a long time.

In addition to legion-level operations, there are also "churches" that fight against gods and are moving around.

Charles had pinpointed the location of Pandeon; the chilling atmosphere was too obvious under the church's extensive scan. He originally planned to drive the church directly to Pandeon, but Remington sent word that the Serpent Dragon's tracks had been discovered in the ruins of a neighborhood near the church.

According to the previously designated battle plan, he could only go with Remington and Rosalyn.

The multi-point operation did not go as smoothly as expected. Elti's legion was blocked by the beast horde near the foot of the mountain, while the two acting bishops who went out to deal with the Soulwriters and Gatekeepers either failed to find anyone or were ambushed and killed by the Gatekeepers. Under these circumstances, Charles even had to ask the church for external reinforcements to provide the necessary elite combat force.

As for the battle at the Southern Minute Church, due to its great distance from the Church of the East, the intelligence feedback was slow, and he didn't know the extent of the ambushes in various locations. The only confirmed good news was that Bavotley had dealt with the pocket watch, but after that, Bavotley went elsewhere and was lost to contact.

Violet City is indeed inconvenient now. The pollution left by the gods still interferes with many ways of communication. The most accurate information can only be transmitted by people, and other channels are at risk of being contaminated along the way.

"Lock on, bombard, ignore everything Pan De'ang says until the place is leveled and Pan De'ang is confirmed to be completely annihilated."

After giving the group of cardinal monks left behind in the church battle instructions, Charles left the war fortress and headed to the rendezvous point given to him by Remington.