Baron Cullen

"What did you say?!"

Karen's pupils contracted sharply as she stared intently at the monk.

"Wraiths...it's wrathful demons!" The monk's voice trembled. "A large number of wrathful demons suddenly appeared near the church and are attacking it frantically! At least...at least dozens!"

Although we activated the church's barrier immediately, it's almost at its limit now!

"Holy Maiden...the Holy Maiden sent me to you for help!"

Karen's expression changed.

Church attacked?

At this critical juncture?

He immediately realized something was wrong.

This seems a bit too much of a coincidence…

The chapter leader was cursed and went out of control, prompting almost the entire chapter and Order Keepers, who were the main force responsible for the city's defense, to leave the city to hunt him down.

At that very moment, the church was attacked.

And it's a vengeful demon...

Karen thought of Bastian Jim and Sinda Ruff from before.

Those two had summoned vengeful spirits; the former used a magic scroll, while the latter used a strange magic book.

But what they have in common is that both the scrolls and the spellbooks were made by the Arcane Society!

Thinking of this, Karen suddenly realized!

This is all a conspiracy by the Secret Society!

First, they used the werewolf curse to control Vaughn, drawing away the main force of the Warband and the Order Keepers.

Then, taking advantage of the city's weakened defenses and the absence of high-ranking priests such as Bishop Albert, they launched an attack on the church!

Based on the clues deduced from previous investigations, it is suggested that there is something within the church that the Secret Society is determined to obtain.

What could a church that believes in the God of Light possibly have that would be coveted by a secret society formed by vampires and sorcerers?

Suddenly, Karen froze on the spot.

A terrible thought flashed through his mind…

It's a sacred artifact!

What the Arcane Society truly desires is the sacred artifact Rasmias!

At this moment, the three who were fighting the werewolf Vorn also realized the true purpose of the Arcane Society.

After exchanging glances, Bright, using his professional speed advantage, quickly disengaged from the battlefield and arrived beside Karen: "Karen, you must immediately return to assist Saintess Serena in supporting the Church!"

"But here...!" Karen was still a little hesitant.

But he soon understood what the three men meant.

With his current strength, staying here wouldn't be of much use, and forcibly participating in the battle might actually hinder the three of them.

The true purpose of the Mystic Society is clearly to seize the Church's sacred artifacts, so providing aid to the Church is the most important thing right now.

Another point is that the individual strength of those who besieged the demon must not be high, otherwise that cultivator probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to come for help.

In other words, while he couldn't defeat the werewolf Vaughn, who was at the sixth rank, dealing with the vengeful demon would be much easier for him.

Thinking of this, Karen instructed, "Vice Chief, you must be careful!"

If anything unexpected happens, it's best to evacuate back to the city first and then make further plans!

Bright nodded in agreement.

He understood what Karen meant; the two had spoken briefly when the group departed from the city gate.

The terrain and location of this forest are ideal for an organization like the Mystic Society to hide.

The fact that Vaughn's transformation into a werewolf was part of the Arcane Society's conspiracy suggests that the other party is likely hiding in the shadows.

"Understood!" Blyt nodded. "Go back and support the church first. We'll do our best here, and we'll adapt to any changes."

Having said that, Karen didn't linger any longer and immediately turned and headed towards the City of No Breath.

At this moment, his right eye felt a slight stinging sensation, but his speed increased even more.

Now that Bishop Albert has gone out with a large number of high-ranking priests and has not returned, even if Saintess Serena is a third-rank priestess and has a sacred artifact in hand, she may not be able to successfully suppress those vengeful demons.

After all, this was clearly a move that the Secret Society had been planning for a long time.

A moment later, Karen arrived outside the south gate.

Chaos had broken out at the gates of Assassin's City. Many people tried to escape, but they were all stopped by the Knights.

Karen disregarded all of this and immediately leaped over the crowd, heading straight into the city.

However, the situation inside the city was even worse.

The streets were filled with people running...

Cries, shouts, and pleas for help were mixed together.

Some people ran home with their children in their arms, some dragged their bags and tried to hide in the basement, and some knelt by the roadside to pray.

Flames and black smoke can be seen in the distance, but it's unclear where the fire is.

Karen hurried through the chaotic streets toward the church.

The closer you get to the church, the worse things become.

From his peculiar perspective, the air was filled with dark red mist, and there was even a faint chill in the air.

In the distance, faint roars and the clanging of metal could be heard, suggesting a fierce battle was taking place.

As he turned the last street corner, a horrifying sight immediately came into view!

Corpses lay scattered haphazardly on the ground...

There were church monks, members of the Order Keepers, members of the Mage Association, and even some from the city lord's guards.

However, a quick glance revealed no civilian corpses.

The square in front of the church was densely packed with vengeful demons!

Those things looked like they crawled out of hell, and they came in all sorts of shapes…

Some resembled rotting human figures, some resembled twisted beasts, and some were simply a mass of writhing flesh and blood.

They roared and attacked any living thing in sight.

The church's protective barrier was crumbling, and the golden dome was covered in cracks.

Each time the vengeful demons attacked, the cracks widened a little more.

Outside the barrier, members of the three factions guarded the various points on the verge of collapse, doing their best to clear away any vengeful demons that tried to approach.

However, due to the sheer number of vengeful demons, they were clearly struggling after consuming a large amount of supernatural elements and physical strength.

At that moment, Karen's gaze swept across the crowd and landed on Fiona.

She stood at the very front of the defensive line, like a war god who could rival ten thousand troops. With each swing of her long sword, she could instantly kill more than a dozen vengeful demons!

Even after a long battle, her movements remained fluid, showing no signs of fatigue.

Chairman Donald is also here.

The fifth-level mage stood on the church steps, his hands raised high, chanting incantations rapidly.

Immediately afterwards, a fierce rain of fire fell from the sky!

Each drop of fire rain could burn a vengeful demon to ashes!

But his face was also somewhat pale, clearly indicating that he had exhausted a lot of energy.

Karen was about to rush over to help when she suddenly heard footsteps behind her.

He turned around and saw Saintess Serena leading a group of monks running towards him from another street.

Serena's black and white robes were stained with blood, and her golden hair was somewhat disheveled, but her eyes remained calm.

She was followed by more than a dozen cultivators, all of whom were first-level divine servants.

"Your Excellency, Baron!" Serena exclaimed, a hint of surprise in her eyes. "You're back so soon? What's the situation outside the city?"

"Yes, but I'm the only one."

Karen nodded and quickly recounted what had happened outside the city.

Upon hearing this, Serena's expression turned unusually serious: "I see. I was originally leading people to treat the wounded of the battle group..."

Not long after you and His Excellency Lamont left, the monk in charge of guarding the gate found me and said that the church was suddenly besieged by a large number of vengeful demons.

Seeing that he was covered in wounds, I didn't want him to risk returning to the church, so I sent him out of town to find you and tell you about the church's situation.

After listening, Karen looked again at the chaotic church in the distance and said, "Let's go and meet up with the others first."

Your Excellency, please keep the sacred artifact in your possession safe. I am worried about the person who launched this attack…

They're very likely after the sacred artifact!

"Okay, I understand!" Serena took a deep breath and gripped the long staff wrapped in red cloth tightly. "As a saintess, it is my duty to protect the sacred artifacts."

"Unless I die here, I will never allow evildoers to take the sacred artifact from my hands!"

After saying this, the two immediately led a group of monks behind them and rushed towards the church.

As the group arrived outside the church, several nearby vengeful spirits immediately noticed them.

The vengeful demons let out piercing roars and pounced on us in all sorts of bizarre and terrifying poses!