On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

The priest shook his head.

"Dulin, I'm so disappointed in you. I thought you could be one of us, but now it seems..."

"You not only gave up the opportunity for promotion, but you also abandoned your wife."

Upon hearing the word "wife," veins bulged on Dulin's forehead. The knight, unable to contain his anger any longer, suddenly lunged at the priest before him, but...

The priest didn't even move, but the enormous rebound force blasted Dulin away.

The kind old man had disappeared, replaced by a priest with a distorted, wrinkled face shrouded in a murky red mist.

The one who has been afflicted by the Calamity, and judging from the fluctuations of the Calamity, has already surpassed the "normal level" and reached the "danger level"!

"Pah! You son of a bitch! One day, the true church will rid you of such filthy maggots!" Dulin, struggling as the priest stomped on the ground, cursed angrily.

Instead of getting angry, the priest seemed even more interested.

"Dulin, actually, I used to share your thoughts, fearing that the people from the church would come and discover my heretical behavior, that I was conducting forbidden experiments, but..."

“Just yesterday, a very important figure from the church came over, and he even came directly to me. He is a truly important figure, someone who can even surpass the bishop. He is a Lightbearer.”

The priest's face was filled with fervor and respect as he spoke, but then, in a mocking and sarcastic tone, he half-squatted down and whispered in Dulin's ear, who was glaring at him menacingly:

"But do you know what that Lady Lightbringer chose after learning everything about me?"

Even the priest here still found it unbelievable, but that didn't stop him from stating the facts. With an arrogant and unrestrained tone, Groon opened his arms, as if in front of him appeared the Radiant One from last night, so beautiful and charming, so perfect and flawless, that he was infatuated with her, even adored her.

After all, only a radiant being like him, possessing both beauty and wisdom, could understand him, and only such a person could...

"She made her choice."

"Help me!!"

Chapter 48 What do you know?

Seeing Dulin's expression of utter disdain, as if he didn't believe her at all, well, after all, the Lightbearer was a secret nun who was above the church hierarchy and belonged only to that "goddess". How could she possibly collude with him?

Even Groon himself still thinks it's a dream, so it's perfectly normal that Dulin doesn't believe him.

Possible

The priest snorted and released his foot from Dulin, then pulled the knight captain up from the ground.

Immediately afterwards, the priest took out a monitoring device from his pocket and pointed the screen at Dulin.

"Take a good look at these two poor little mice that have been lured into the sewer by the cheese."

Following the priest's words, Dulin looked at the monitor screen, and in an instant, his already pale face turned completely ashen.

On the screen, three figures could be seen slowly advancing through a dark, abandoned underground drainage ditch.

Dulin recognized the two of them, a man and a woman, at first glance; they were the young man from the coffee shop and the female companion he had taken to the Sea Sand Bar.

Leading the way ahead of them was a nun whom Dulin had never seen before and who was completely unfamiliar with her.

Liao Ji definitely entered through the underground entrance in the library, the one he had told the young man about. Combining this with what the priest had just said and the surveillance footage, Du Lin instantly understood.

The young couple

They fell for the trap.

This is a trap, a trap set by the priest and that strange nun. The young man has already been exposed. Liao Ji and his companions are no longer hunters, but prey walking step by step into a death trap.

"See that? That's Lady Maria! Tsk tsk. As expected of a Lightbearer, she can easily put aside her noble status to achieve her goal, and even personally take the lead as the key bait to make these two excellent test subjects cooperate obediently."

"An excellent test subject!?"

Dulin gritted his teeth; he seemed to understand why the priest and the Lightbringer had gone to such lengths.

"That's right. Although I don't know exactly what happened at the Kaleva factory last night, there's no doubt that the man and woman could make the 'relic' react. Unbelievable, simply unbelievable! Is there any better test subject in this world?!"

"Since he can awaken the 'Crimson Star,' he can definitely activate my two 'Emperor's Emblems' as well! Dulin, do you know how long I spent, how many mice I experimented on, just to be able to use those two Emperor's Emblems and integrate them into my body?"

"Unfortunately, among all the rats were also those who had suffered calamity. More than half of them, after using the 'Emperor's Crest' only once, either went completely mad, turned into murky corpses, or even worse, exploded and died halfway through. But it's different now. Lord Lightbringer told me that the young man can perfectly use the power of the 'Emperor's Crest'—this damned talent that makes people jealous and envious! But..."

“It doesn’t matter, it’s mine now!” The priest stretched out a hand and clenched his fist tightly.

"That youth's talent and power will be seized by me and Lord Lightbearer. From then on, we will not only have the power to use the 'Emperor's Crest,' but all the legendary 'Emperor's Relics,' hahahahahaha!"

The priest let out a maniacal laugh, which echoed in the church's sacramental library, a symbol of "knowledge," and seemed so ironic.

Looking at Dulin, the once most "rebellious" and "troublemaker" knight, whose eyes had now completely lost their light, becoming cloudy and dim, the priest felt an unparalleled sense of pleasure.

That's why, even though Dulin's little tricks were no big deal, he still came over, ruthlessly exposed Dulin, and then revealed his grand plan in its entirety.

Greatness needs to be witnessed, it needs an audience.

Therefore, Gronn will not kill Dulin.

He even let the knight captain go.

After all, no matter what Dulin did, he couldn't change the outcome, so why not let himself enjoy this wonderful feeling of despair a little longer?

"Alright, get up, Captain Durin. Don't worry, you're my best knight. How could I bear to let you leave the field? This is just punishment for your misbehavior."

The priest took a small medicine bottle from his pocket and threw it in front of Dulin.

"Reduce your wife's medication by half this month. If there's a next time, you can just watch her turn into a filthy corpse!"

Having done all this, the priest strode away, heading towards the underground entrance of the library to meet with Maria and prepare for his "new life."

Dulin, who was lying on the ground in a daze, hadn't even gotten up when a series of urgent rings came from his pocket.

When Dulin hurriedly answered the phone, he heard Tamik's anxious voice.

"Master! Master's wife's illness has suddenly worsened again! Where are you? Come back quickly!"

Chenhui Hospital.

This is a church-run hospital, the largest and best one you can find in the Black Hole settlement.

Sitting outside the emergency room, Dulin held his head in his hands, his fingers buried deep in his hair. He exuded a deep sense of self-reproach. The young knight accompanying him, Tamik, tried to comfort him several times, but ultimately could only remain silent.

at last.

The emergency room lights went out, and several church doctors came out. Facing Captain Dulin rushing over, the doctor nodded to him, indicating that the resuscitation was successful and the person was temporarily saved.

but

"Captain Dulin, we've never seen your wife's illness before. I suspect it's a chronic disease caused by the Turbid Calamity. We can't predict when it will flare up again, or how severe it will be."

Dulin gestured for the doctor to stop, that there was no need to say any more. He knew more about Susan's illness than anyone else. Dulin's hand, hidden in his sleeve, gripped the medicine bottle the priest had given him tightly.

"Captain, that's great! I knew Susan would pull through!" Tamik walked over, and after holding back for a while, he finally managed to say something comforting.

However, Dulin completely ignored Tamik.

He pressed his head against the door and window of the ward. In the eyes of this knight captain, the whole world seemed to consist only of the blonde woman sleeping soundly in the intensive care unit, who had just undergone surgery.

After a short silence between them.

Tamik knew that Dulin must be feeling terrible right now and wouldn't have the energy to think about anything else, but

"Captain, I have something very important to report to you. According to my investigation, there is a high probability that a tainted item with a pollution level of at least C was stored in Kaleva's factory last night. However, after searching all night, the Knights have still not been able to find the tainted item. Therefore, I suspect that there is a high probability that the man and woman took it away from the factory!"

"That's a pollution source of at least Class C. If it erupts, the consequences would be unimaginable! Most of the people in the Black Hole could be affected, Captain! We can't stand idly by, we can't let everyone in the Black Hole be exposed to such a perilous crisis! So, Captain! I request permission to contact Mr. Liao Ji again! I implore him to tell me what happened last night, and I implore him, for the sake of the people of the Black Hole, to hand over the pollution source, that perilous item, to our sect."

"enough!"

The young knight's report was interrupted by a furious shout.

Dulin finally left the door of the ward. He stared at Tamik across from him, recalling what the other had just said, and an inexplicable anger rose from the bottom of his heart.

"That's the end of last night's matter. Everyone in the Knights, return to your posts! No one is allowed to continue investigating this matter, including you. If you understand, then get out of here!"

However, Tamik, who always obeyed Dulin's orders without question, stubbornly chose to stay where he was this time and shook his head firmly in the face of Dulin's command.

"Captain, I am afraid I cannot obey this order!"

This seemed to completely ignite Dulin's anger, and he even began to lose his temper, letting out a roar filled with despair.

"Disobey? Ha! Tamik, let me tell you, what I hate most is someone like you, a self-important brat. You refuse me? What gives you the right to refuse my orders? You think you're so great? You think you're so capable? You think you know more than me? What do you know?"

Tell me, you

"What do you know about him?!"

Chapter 49 Faith

Amid Dulin's venting and roaring, Tamik neither backed down nor got angry. He simply stood up, listened, and then gave Dulin his answer.

"Captain, I know that compared to you and many others in the Knights, I am still very weak and have much to learn. I do not understand many things, but the one thing I do understand is..."

"As a knight, I must heed the teachings of the goddess, take Lady Styutia as my role model, protect those weaker than myself, stop the spread and devastation of the calamity, and uphold my faith!"

"This is what I understand!"

The young knight stood tall, and the silver-gray Holy Cross seemed to shimmer faintly under the lamplight beneath his knightly uniform, echoing his presence.

pity.

"Heh heh heh, goddess? Instruction? I'm warning you, don't you dare mention the word 'goddess' in front of me! There are no goddesses left in this world! Even if a goddess truly existed, she would have long since fallen, long ago mingling with darkness and ugliness!"

“In my heart, the Holy Goddess of five hundred years ago is dead, and on this land now, faith no longer exists. The teachings and maxims from Styutia that you speak of are a joke, understand? A joke!”

Dulin let out a hoarse, desperate shout, his face turning red. He had always held onto hope, however faint, but he also fantasized that the Black Hole was only able to escape because of its remote location, which prevented the goddess's holy light from shining here. But one day, one day, the wicked would be punished and receive the punishment they deserved!

But what was the result?

The result was that the priest today slapped him in the face hard, and even the direct lineage of the goddess, the "Lightbearer" of Lady Styutia, chose to stand on the priest's side, abandoning her faith for the power of the "relic".

At that moment, Dulin truly felt something inside him shatter.

Even the highest levels of the church are like this.

So what about these lowly people at the bottom of society?

And what are they still holding onto?

"Dulin, I need you to apologize to Lady Sthiuthia for your words just now!" This was the first time Tamik had addressed Dulin by his first name without adding the word "captain" after it.