The mastermind behind this started by creating a strange story

Arthur suppressed the doubts in his heart and walked towards the soldiers. Under the guidance of the soldiers, they came to a wall inside the cave.

"Huh? This is it?"

Only after he walked completely to the wall of the cave did Arthur discover something unusual. There was nothing unusual about the wall under the platinum light, but only when he got closer could he find that there were vague engravings on it.

The engraving was blurred due to wear and tear, and it was unknown how long it had existed. Arthur could only vaguely make out that it was a language.

"Why do I feel that these words are familiar?" Arthur looked at the words on the wall and was a little confused. "I seem to have learned them somewhere before?"

The text on the wall was neither Romanian nor Lucia. He had learned both languages. Although he had only learned Lucia recently, communication was no longer a problem.

But he couldn't remember where he had learned the words on the wall. Although they were very familiar, he still couldn't understand what they meant.

"Do you know what it says?" Arthur asked the soldier who brought him here.

"I don't know either. This writing is vaguely similar to Lucia, but I can't understand it."

"This is Church Slavonic. We learned it back then. Have you forgotten it?" Melina, who came along, explained.

"Although the format is slightly different, we can still roughly tell that this script we learned before was used as a language for worship ceremonies and writing."

"This..." Arthur looked at the words on the wall in confusion, "No wonder I feel a little familiar, but I can't recognize the meaning of these words. Do you know?"

"...I don't know either." Melina was a little embarrassed. "Although it was used in church worship ceremonies, I didn't take it seriously at the time."

"The Patriarch will definitely know what it means. Why don't we just write it down and take it back with us?"

"Um..." After glancing at the wall, Shaq raised his hand weakly and said, "I might know someone."

"Huh? How do you know him? Are you also a monk of the church?" Melina looked at the young Shak and asked curiously.

"No, it was mainly because I was a bit stupid back then, thinking these words were cool, so I stayed up late to learn the grammar of the words, but I found out that they were of no use at all after I learned them." Shaq covered his face in embarrassment. This was one of his dark histories.

At that age when it was difficult to explain clearly, he heard from somewhere that Church Slavonic was an advanced form of Russian, and he foolishly thought that was very cool. If he learned the advanced form of Russian, he would definitely be the coolest boy in the school.

But when he learned the language and used it to show off, he suddenly realized that... it was useless to learn it, and then... then there was nothing else.

This language is even less useful than Old Russian. Shak originally thought that he would never use this skill, but he never expected that it would come in handy in such a place. Life is really unpredictable.

"No, you're not stupid, you're foresighted!" Arthur comforted Shaq, who was covering his face in embarrassment. Hearing this comfort, Shaq was so embarrassed that he wanted to dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.

"Just shut up." Melina reached out and covered Arthur's mouth, feeling a little tired. "He's a fool, don't take it to heart, just look at what's written on the cave wall."

"I understand." Shaq also took this step to get out of the embarrassment and turned to look at the cave wall with the words engraved on it.

"Hmm...it seems to describe religious content. Let me take a look." Looking at the blurry engravings, Shak recalled the Church Slavonic he had learned.

"The religious split outside is inevitable. Patriarch Nikon's reforms seem to have become a wave. Conflicts are beginning to intensify. The Old Believers, led by Archpriest Avvakum, are very dissatisfied with this. The separatist movement has begun to affect all aspects of society. I don't know when it will stop."

"I am an evader. I don't want to choose any one of their teams, but in this division, no one can avoid it, and no one can be immune."

"So, I chose to become an ascetic. I escaped from society. Mountains and wilderness are my home. If it weren't for that incident, I might have continued to practice asceticism."

"One day after three years of asceticism, I met another ascetic. It was not until that moment that I learned the truth beneath the surface of the world..."

Chapter 302 Holy Grail Array

"What is the truth beneath the surface of the world?" Arthur, who was listening on the side, suddenly interrupted Shak's interpretation, "I didn't expect that Lucia really has secrets hidden in history. This just verifies the bishop's guess."

"Okay, okay, don't interrupt the interpretation so suddenly." After hitting Arthur, Melina asked Shaq to continue interpreting it. She didn't know whether the secrets recorded in it were related to the sudden outbreak of zombies.

"Some of the inscriptions are already blurred, and I can't be sure of their accuracy." Shak touched the cave wall where a piece was missing, "The information recorded here doesn't connect."

"I'll interpret what I can recognize first."

Exhaling lightly, Shaq stretched out his index finger and gently stroked the mark. Although the mark was a little blurry, it was still roughly visible.

"The Holy Grail suppresses the darkness underground, but the power of the magic circle is draining away all the time. I hope that this replenishment can allow the power of the magic circle to last for a few hundred more years."

"Under the Chita, the souls of hell are always trying to escape from their bondage, but the holy light will turn into shackles..."

"I can't see the rest clearly, but Chita is mentioned here." Shak pointed to a blurry word and said, "Читинская, although it's a little blurry, the shape of the word is definitely this."

"Chita was established as a settlement in 1690 and was named Chita in 1706. The religious schism mentioned earlier also happened in Russia in the 17th century."

"So this text should have been carved between the 17th and 18th centuries, and it has a history of at least three or four hundred years."

"It feels a bit like a religious story..." Based on the information recorded on the wall, Shak guessed what these words meant, "The underground of Chita, the darkness... the dead souls..."

"You're not talking about zombies, are you?" Shaq suddenly remembered a series of unreasonable things that happened recently. "They persisted for hundreds of years... Now it's been hundreds of years since then. Because the power of the magic circle has faded, the suppression of the underground darkness has begun to weaken, so the souls of the dead in hell have begun to return, and the dead bodies have turned into zombies!"

"This... seems to be connected!" Shak suddenly exclaimed. The engravings on the wall and what happened recently were too coincidental.

Whether it is the description above or the time node, even the location matches, it’s Chita!

"Speaking of this... could the incident in 2007 be a sign?"

A certain memory in Shaq's mind began to emerge. He ignored the people looking at him and just guessed the connection between all the things.

"In 2007, there was a rumor on the Internet that zombies appeared in Chita City, but there was no official response and no substantial evidence. In the end, because it was too long ago, no one mentioned it again."

“There may be a gap of more than ten years between 2007 and now, but compared with hundreds of years, there is no difference between 2007 and now.”

"Based on the information above, perhaps the power of the magic circle began to collapse at that time, because signs of zombies appeared at that time, but the zombies did not actually appear until now!"

"I don't know why the government didn't pay enough attention to this matter, which led to the current tragic situation of zombie siege!"

"Damn it, is there no other record passed down except this place?"

Shaq suddenly punched the wall of the cave with an unpleasant look on his face. If the government had discovered this problem in the early 2000s, why didn't they solve it sooner? Why did they wait until the zombie outbreak today?

"No, it's not too late!" Arthur suddenly patted Shak's shoulder and said with a firm look: "If we find the location of the magic circle and inject power into it, we can seal the darkness again!"

"Then we'll find a way to completely solve this zombie problem!"

Listening to Arthur's firm words, Shaq took a deep breath and suppressed the resentment in his heart. That's right, now is not the time to complain, but to prioritize solving the problem.

"Does it mention the magic circle, or the location of the sacred grail?" Melina calmly raised the key point of the question.

I wanted to find the source of the zombies, but I didn't expect to know this secret. Holy light? It should refer to holy light.

Now the source of the zombies is no longer important. What is important is the location of the magic circle seal!

"Let me take another look." Hearing Melina's question, Shak perked up and carefully identified the blurred words on the cave wall. Some of the carvings had disappeared due to the peeling of the cave wall. He didn't recognize some of the words, so he could only look for sentences he knew.

I hope the place where the magic circle or holy grail is written has not fallen off.

"The sacred is real, the gods are real, and even the demons in hell are real. So this is it... The mark here is gone."

"I have taken over his responsibilities. I have become the new caretaker. I will dedicate everything I have to the peace of the world..."

"The Holy Grail has miraculous powers. I have been favored by the Lord because of it. I have become the Lord's messenger walking among the world."

"I will die here and merge all my strength into the magic circle, so that the power of the magic circle will be replenished again. I hope that those who come after me can see this and take over my responsibility!"

"Those who are about to die greet those who come after them!"

"That's it..." Shaq pointed at the last paragraph of text, "This is all I can recognize. Some of the more important parts have fallen off."

"He is going to die?" Melina looked at the mummy sitting on the stone platform. "He integrated everything he had into the magic circle, hoping to suppress the darkness for a few hundred years..."

"Senior Saint Fool, I, the newcomer, pay my respects to you!"

"Since Senior Sheng Yu died here and integrated all his strength into the magic circle, it means that the magic circle is here, at least in this space."

Melina walked towards the stone platform and looked at the only object in this space. The space was unobstructed, with only a stone platform and a mummy.

The mummy is the holy fool who went to die, so only this stone platform has the mechanism connecting the magic circle and the sacred cup.

Melina silently apologized to the mummy, then reached out and lifted up the mummy sitting cross-legged on the stone platform, then turned around and put it on the ground.

Then I carefully observed the details of the stone platform. At first glance, the stone looks like an ordinary stone platform, but upon closer inspection, I could find subtle lines engraved on it.

"This is?"

Melina had some vague ideas in her mind as she stroked the lines: magical power...the favor of the Lord...a messenger walking on earth.

These descriptions seem to represent her and Arthur as well. The only difference seems to be the messengers. She and Arthur are holy light warriors fighting against darkness, not messengers spreading the glory of the Lord.

But... as believers in the Lord, we may also have the same miraculous abilities, which are...

Holy light!

The flowing holy light spread along Melina's fingers to the engraved patterns. The holy light spread at an extremely fast speed like flowing water.

Chapter 303 Faith has no nationality

"Click~"

In just a few seconds, the extended holy light completely enveloped the entire stone platform along the lines.

At the same time, the stone platform suddenly made a slight sound, a thin line appeared in the center of the stone platform, and then the entire stone platform split apart.

The stone platform, which had been split into two halves, slid outward, and a spiral staircase appeared where the stone platform had originally been, extending downward.

"Is it coming out now?"

Melina looked at the spiral staircase leading to the underground with some disbelief. It was too simple. She thought it would take a lot of effort to find this passage.

It's so simple that there's no hiding at all. It will appear as long as you activate the holy light.

However, the most important thing now is to follow the message left by Senior Saint Fool to find the Holy Grail and the magic circle. A long time has passed and their physical strength does not allow them to stay for another day or half a day.

Perhaps he and Arthur could still hold on, but the remaining ordinary people were already beginning to show signs of fatigue, and they had to return and could not stay any longer.

"You guys rest up there for a while, Arthur and I will go down."

Looking at the ordinary people approaching here, Melina stood at the entrance of the stairs and said, while calling Arthur to come over and not waste time.

Everyone in the team wanted to say something, but was firmly rejected by Melina. They were stronger than these ordinary people and had much more physical strength, so it would be inconvenient for them to act together.

Without wasting any more time, Melina asked Arthur to walk in front of the spiral staircase to explore the way, while she took out an ordinary cross and infused it with holy light that could restore physical strength.

There would be no light source after she left, so she could take this opportunity to get a one-time Holy Light Cross and add a buff that slowly restores physical strength. By the time they come back, the physical strength of these ordinary people would probably have been almost restored.

Then we can go back as soon as possible, and then bring back the supplies to continue exploring.

After leaving an ordinary cross to act as a fountain of recovery, Melina followed Arthur's footsteps and headed downwards.

"What should we do after we find the Holy Grail Circle?"

Melina looked at Arthur who was exploring the way ahead and asked in a depressed mood. Because there were other people up there, she couldn't speak up. Now that she was alone with her own people, she could ask Arthur for his opinion.

Although Arthur seems unreliable, he is more decisive than her on major issues, so she will listen to him on important matters.

"What do you mean?" Arthur didn't turn around, but asked Melina back, his voice a little muffled in the narrow spiral staircase.

"You know what I mean." Melina looked at Arthur's broad back and said in a low voice, "We can't be like that holy fool senior and devote ourselves entirely to the magic circle to suppress the darkness here."

"We also have the mission of restoring our country on our shoulders. This is Lucia, and we are Romanians."

"According to Shak's explanation, the only way to fill the magic circle is to die and merge all your strength into it. And that Saint Fool Senior also said that he hopes that the next generation will take over his responsibility and suppress the darkness under Chita..."

"If we don't suppress the darkness, no one knows what will happen next." Melina said all her thoughts in one breath, and suddenly she felt that the depression in her heart had dissipated a lot.

At the same time, she was also very glad that Arthur was with her, otherwise she would definitely go crazy if she had to bear all of this alone.

Fortunately, she had two holy feathers, fortunately she was not alone in a foreign country, and fortunately, the one who accompanied her was Arthur.

Perhaps it was Arthur's frequent nonsensical and optimistic spirit that allowed her not to constantly think about her lost hometown and the heavy responsibility placed on her shoulders.

After walking in silence for a while, Arthur finally spoke: "Don't say such things again in the future. It's enough for us to understand it in our hearts. After all, we are here to seek help from another country, and... who knows if our conversation will be eavesdropped on."

"But they probably don't dare to install a bug. After all, we are both different from ordinary people. Some minor problems can still be discovered. They don't want to make enemies with us."

"You can probably tell from the attitude of those people. They want to keep us here and make us forget our homeland, but we have no other choice."

"If we want to save our homeland, we can only borrow the power of other countries."

"As for the question you want to ask..." This time, Arthur was silent for an exceptionally long time.

“You also said that this is Lucia and we are Romanian.”

After saying this, Arthur said nothing more, but just walked quietly on the spiral staircase, heading downwards.

Hearing this answer, Melina breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly felt that her previous struggle was really unnecessary, just like what she and Arthur thought.

They are Romanians.

Religious beliefs have no nationality, but religious believers do.

After a while, after walking for about half an hour, the spiral staircase finally reached the end.

The exit of the spiral staircase is a long corridor, a corridor that runs through the door at the end. The walls of the corridor are engraved with complicated magic arrays, extending all the way to the door at the end.