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Chapter 116: Disappeared in Place
Not long ago, outside the Church of Silence.
Oliver guarded vigilantly in front of Virgil and Colestoro. After Aurorae noticed the abnormality of the Church of Silence, he only stayed in place for a few minutes and then moved on. It seemed that the camouflage array was successful, or the other party noticed something and decided to ignore them.
The figure that was getting smaller in their field of vision was no longer simply moving forward. He held the hilt of the big sword behind him firmly in his hand. The color of the armor was similar to the color of the great sword. Looking at it from a distance, Aurorae’s right arm seemed to grow a strange and abrupt hyperplasia.
Clenching the hilt of the sword in his hand, Oliver hesitated a little. According to Colestoro’s memory, counting the first time, Aurorae should have come to apply the seal for the third time. He just followed the agreement and tried to use the seal to weaken Colestoro’s pain as much as possible, but now that Colestoro had been taken out of the church by them, Aurorae had no need to move forward.
“Shall we inform him…?” He turned tentatively to Virgil.
“He knows,” Virgil shook his head and said in a dry voice. “Even I can feel it. The cracks in the law have opened, and Colesi’s body is falling back into the abyss. If he only had this purpose, he would never move on.”
But not only did Aurorae not leave, he even made a posture to prepare for battle.
“Does he have any gripes with the Abyssal Church?” Oliver knew very little about that weird-tempered superior demon killer.
“I can’t guess what that Lord is thinking,” Virgil looked at the person in his arms. His tone was still mixed with a bit of vigilance but had eased a lot. “Even among superior demons, Aurorae is the one with the most eccentric temper… Personally, I’m very grateful for everything he’s done for Colesi, but I suggest you don’t intervene.”
“But if you leave it alone…”
“If Aurorae only relies on common sense to act, it’s the best way to unite with other surface religions, but I assure you that no matter you, me, or other surface churches; once they approach rashly, they will only be killed.” Virgil stroked Colestoro’s long hair.
“He’s the first superior demon to appear on the surface in recorded history. I have studied his intelligence for a while, and in recent years, Aurorae’s power has been constantly weakening… In this case, he insists on provoking a battle, so he must have some thoughts about it.”
The church sank by about a fifth. Countless black smoke appeared out of thin air and then condensed into an army. The open space in front of the church became crowded for an instant and the Knights of Silence drew out their bone swords one after another and rushed towards Aurorae, who was standing alone in front of them. The actions of the Knights of Silence were almost silent, which made the atmosphere of this bloody battle even more strange. There was only the sticky sound of flesh and blood being spilt; no dull hum or screams.
Aurorae wielded a big sword. With every swing, it reaped several lives. His movements were ruthless and accurate. The trajectory of the great sword swept through the space and black spells were thrown out. The wind wrapped around the blade of the sword, making a harsh sound of silk cloth being torn, and directly shattered the black helmet of the Knights of Silence. Blood and internal organs splattered the ground and covered Aurorae’s breastplate, all the while the latter remained indifferent, as if he wasn’t chopping the flesh and blood of people, but rather some kind of succulent plant.
Even if Virgil claimed that this wasn’t Aurorae’s peak level, the momentum was still terrifying. If Nemo’s sense of oppression was like being buried deep in the soil and gave people the illusion of being choked to death, then Aurorae’s was more like thorns all over the skin, bringing dampness and tingling deep into one’s bones.
He could be sure with just a glance that he was not yet a match for Aurorae.
Oliver suddenly had a strange sense of familiarity, and the indifference of the ancient demon did not stem from contempt or arrogance. Aurorae’s aura was relaxed and casual, like a gardener hired by an inn; he skillfully sprayed the pesticides to remove the insects from the garden. The dying bugs fell on the soil in pieces, twitching.
However, a gardener wouldn’t feel sad or joy because of such scene, just like the current Aurorae.
At this point, Virgil shouldn’t have provided him with false information to deliberately mislead him. That meant that Aurorae wasn’t an object that couldn’t be communicated with on normal terms. This type was the most dangerous.
Oliver added a few more camouflage array around him. He instinctively lowered his body’s center of gravity. The center of the battlefield was not far away, and it wasn’t a good idea to rush out to find Ann right now. The timing of the operation was very clear. When the armies of the other surface religions appear, he would take advantage of the chaos between the three groups and escape. If he guessed correctly, in the absence of communication, everyone would reconvene at the same place.
Their original campsite. It was far and safe enough.
Oliver adjusted his breathing and stared at the sinking church. Although he knew in his heart that Nemo would be fine, he couldn’t help but feel his heart tighten with worry. Nemo’s mood hadn’t been very good during the period before they separated. Oliver could perceive the surging pain under the calmness.
If it weren’t for the circumstances that didn’t allow it, he really didn’t want the other party to face this alone.
The sleepy Colestoro suddenly let out a muffled hum, and Virgil, who was easily holding him, knelt to his knees. Oliver’s scalp exploded and rushed over as quickly as possible. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Virgil said reluctantly. His knees kneeled against the soft soil. “We are just weakening… Mr. Light is probably disconnecting the flesh from the body. But this…” Even if Colestoro’s contract was incomplete, it would not be easy to disconnect. That meant that Nemo Light was not only more powerful than Aurorae, but he also had amazing understanding of the origin of magic.
At least on the surface, such superior demons have never been recorded.
“Mr. Ramon,” Virgil gasped for a moment and sank his voice, “Aurorae may have gone to Mr. Light.”
Originally, Virgil believed that Nemo Light could lift the seal, and to some extent, he exploited the weakening of Aurorae’s power, but now he wasn’t sure. If he was stronger than Aurorae’s during his peak… This kind of power is enough to disrupt the order on the surface.
Oliver’s movements suddenly stiffened, and he frowned. Virgil thought he would rush over to support his lover, but the young leader of Tumbleweed took a few deep breaths. “Your power is weakening… Can you still fight now?”
“I’m afraid it’s not much better than an ordinary person.” Virgil shook his head. “But you don’t need to worry about me. The camouflage array can still protect us. If you need to find Mr. Light—”
“I promised him,” Oliver’s voice was hoarse. “Nemo doesn’t like conflicts. Even if he fights Aurorae, he can escape with his strength— I promise him I would take care of you and send you out safely.”
He made a promise. Oliver thought he couldn’t do it; leave the client who had lost his powers behind and go to Nemo to appease his “worries”.
“Let’s leave now.” Oliver glanced at the huge bony hand behind Virgil. As Virgil’s power weakened, he could feel the strong demonic aura around him. “If your power is weakened to this point, we have to leave before the troops from the other religions arrive. It’s better to be discovered by the Abyssal Church than to be discovered by them.”
Virgil stared at Oliver with complicated eyes and was silent for a long time before he nodded. He put Colestoro on his back and signaled that he was ready.
Oliver propped up the protective cover and rushed out of the camouflage array.
The start went smoothly. Thanks to the superior demon aura that leaked out by the two of them, they didn’t encounter any trouble from the guardian demons. They hurried through the dead woods as Oliver ran to the destination in his memory, leaving the bloody smell of the battlefield behind.
Suddenly a burst of white light swept across the land under his feet and there was a tremor of death.
Things were about to get worse.
Several screams came from far away. Virgil paused for a moment and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Oliver raised his Rest in Peace and looked around vigilantly. No problem, he repeated desperately to himself. They were already close to their destination, and they could even see the lush green on the edge of the dead land. It was far from the center of the battlefield and other religions would not invest their troops in such a place…
His judgement was correct. There was only one team wandering there, but it wasn’t the Knight of Judgement he was familiar with.
They held up blue and white flags, and their cloaks were clean and pure dark blue. Several of them were half kneeling on the ground, inserting their broad swords deep in the soil. Wave after wave of white fluctuations spread along the surface, like ripples on a lake.
“Willard’s Mooney Sect,” Virgil said in a low voice, firmly supporting a camouflage spell. “This is the junction of the three kingdoms. They won’t let the Laddism Church take advantage of it alone.”
“Characteristics?” Oliver held his breath and hid behind a scorched trunk. On the trunk of the tree above his head, a few surveillance bugs crawled slowly, almost integrated with the dark branches.
“They are good at guarding and restraining.” Virgil’s movements are still sharp. “Unlike the Knights of Judgement who focuses on attacking, this group is sticky like gum and is difficult to get rid of. It’s best not to fight them.”
During their conversation, a demon worshipper was discovered not far away. One of the knights had a solemn face, raised his hand and threw out a few pieces of silver metal. They clung to the struggling demon worshipper like maggots to his ankle and blue arcs of light flickered around him. Within a few seconds, he disappeared in place, leaving only a lone demon. The next second, it was nailed to the mud by a broad sword.
“What is that?” Oliver asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen it before.” Virgil’s expression was serious, “Mooney’s techniques are much more secretive than the Laddism Church, so their information is difficult to get.”
They were so close. Oliver could even smell the fresh vegetation not far away. If he was the only one, he could probably put up a fight, but considering a demon warlock who had lost his combat powers, it was safer to hide quietly. Unfortunately, they hid stiffly more nearly half an hour, but the knights didn’t have any intention of moving at all.
They were guarding the array, and it was too passive to go on like this.
“I’ll make a move in a while,” Oliver said softly. “I’ll use my greatest strength to create an explosion. It may be a bit uncomfortable for you, but it can temporarily force back that group for a while. Mr. Virgil, you should know where we first made camp. They seem to be guarding the array and will not pursue you desperately.”
“What about you?”
“I will catch up later. They can’t trap me.”
“…Thank you.” Virgil lowered his head solemnly.
Oliver grinned at him. He didn’t hesitate anymore, and directly pointed the Rest in Peace towards the sky.
This time he didn’t suppress his strength.
Cold blue-white beams of light rushed straight into the sky. With the bone sword as the center, waves of violent fluctuations like explosive winds shook around. The force left a lone passage that allowed Virgil to carry Colestoro on his back to rush through.
“It’s a demon warlock!” a knight yelled, but most of them were firmly nailed in place by the cold force and was unable to move forward a single step.
A few were still able to move. They rushed towards the fleeing Virgil and the magic array suddenly spread out and broad swords swung towards the two of them.
However, the swords were blocked by a slender bone sword.
Oliver put his helmet back on to hide his face. He waved the Rest in Peace, unreservedly exuding a fighting spirit, and firmly blocked the group to one side. This “Knight of Silence” who did not use Abyssal magic plunged the knights of the Mooney Sect into temporary chaos, but that didn’t last long.
“It’s a move from the Laddism Church!” the knight closest to Oliver shouted. “What the hell is this?”
Oliver closed his mouth firmly in his helmet; every nerve on his body was stretched tightly. Countless pieces of metal shining with silver light flew towards him but were all shot down to the ground.
“You’re not a Knight of Silence,” after a burst of sparks from the collision of weapons, the leader of the group of knights hissed. “No matter who you are, we formally warn— Please stop. You’re sheltering a demon warlock, and according to the surface agreement, you’ll be convicted of the ‘crime of not fighting’.”
Oliver did not answer.
The demonic aura had not disappeared yet. He had to delay for longer while Virgil escaped further.
Oliver drew his Rest in Peace in a semicircle in front of him. It’s pure and majestic power repelled the three knights who rushed up. He didn’t think carefully as the knowledge Adrian Cross had taught him turned into instinct in this moment. The broad swords of the opposite knights were staggered from the blow, and even cracks started to appear. His spare hand kept drawing magic arrays, resisting the restraint props and spells that were thrown at him.
His coordination ability was terrifying. Under the stormy attack, the knights of the Mooney Sect were completely repelled, but no one had any serious injuries. The knights who have been on the battlefield naturally knew that this was deliberately done by their opponent; whether he was doing it out of kindness or ridicule, this was a desperate suppression of strength.
On the scorched branches, the surveillance bugs flew quietly, like a few pieces of ashes that occasionally floated by. They approached the mud, picked up a piece of metal with a faint blue light, and then disappeared into the air.
“Priority is given to guarding the formation.” Seeing that the long struggle had no effect, the knights of the Mooney Sect decided to change their strategy. “Use the drift net to deal with him!”
Although he didn’t know what the “drift net” was, Oliver instantly found that the opponent’s offensive had weakened. Now that Virigl’s aura was so far away that he couldn’t detect it, he simply turned around and ran away.
Then he guessed the meaning of the drift net.
Two knights followed him from a distance that wasn’t far or near. They were sticky as spider silk, and it was difficult to get rid of them. He didn’t want to kill them, so he had to circle as hard as he could and shoot down those piecemeal harassing attacks. As time passed, Oliver’s speed became faster and stronger, without showing any fatigue or omission.
He didn’t know how long it took but the knights of the Mooney Sect seemed to realize they couldn’t take advantage of the supposedly decrease in stamina and decisively retreated.
After making sure that no one was following him, Oliver finally ran to his destination with confidence. Mr. Cross and Dylan weren’t there yet, but Ann arrive at the camp early. The female warrior was taking care of their client and for some reason, her expression wasn’t very good-looking.
Seeing Oliver coming back, Virgil struggled to stand up and bowed solemnly. He took out a gold coin from his pocket and put it in Oliver’s hand. “I know it’s not enough at all,” Virgil said in a deep voice, “If you have anything you need help with…”
“You’re too polite. This is the deal and we’re just following the rules of the guild.” Oliver tugged the corner of his mouth, put the gold coin in his pocket and turned his gaze to the bird nearby. The weird one-legged bird was flapping its wings beside Virgil, screaming unpleasantly. Oliver looked at the bird carefully for a moment, only to feel that all his hairs was about to stand up.
Virgil frowned. “…Are you sure nothing is following you?”
“No.” Oliver shook his head, still staring at the bird. “Why do you say that—”
A blue arc of light flashed across his fingertips. Oliver was startled and looked down at his hands. Ann took the crystal piece out of her pocket, opened her mouth sightly as if she wanted to say something…
In the subtle buzzing of insects, the world in front of Oliver instantly changed and the unique discomfort of being teleported hit him instantly.
He didn’t even have time to think.