Chapter 131: Leave None Alive!
Base number two.
In the dim ancient city square, dark mages sat with their eyes closed, resting and conserving their energy. They weren’t privy to the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s plans for tonight. They only gathered here out of awe for the tremendous power Geoff had displayed when recruiting them, as well as their belief that seeking refuge under a more powerful being’s wings was the wise thing to do.
According to Geoff, the reason dark mages became vermin that everyone wanted to crush wasn’t because of their cruelty, but because they hadn’t banded together to form a united front. The world operated on the exchanges of interests. Once a unified force was established, dark mages could walk freely in the light.
Geoff was preparing to establish a Dark Magic Alliance and sincerely invited like-minded individuals to join. Things might be arduous in the early stages, but once they weathered the difficult period, everyone would have a bright future.
“This bunch of worthless fools!”
Geoff looked at the roughly two hundred underlings he had painstakingly recruited, all mediocre at best. He felt deeply ashamed for failing his master’s order, so he had been planning something big.
While gathering information on dark mages, he had discovered an orphanage in the Central District. It was clearly no ordinary institution, and following the trail could lead him to a powerful dark mage.
Geoff planned to contact the mage tonight. If he could recruit them, his master would surely be delighted. However, the precedent set by Bruce made him hesitant. What if he recruited another ungrateful bastard who later bit the hand that fed them? Wouldn’t he be falling into the same pit twice?
It was too difficult to be a subordinate!
In the end, his loyalty prevailed, and he decided to set out that night. Clearly, he was also unaware of the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s plans, believing himself to be the demon’s right-hand man and an indispensable subordinate for the execution of the plan. To the demon, however, Geoff was merely a slightly better cannon fodder, nothing more.
Boom!!!
Somewhere in the courtyard, brick and stone cracked open with a thunderous roar. The stable space of the ancient city was torn open in one corner. Black fissures crackled and spread, and searing light poured in like a flood, its sacred and majestic force unstoppable. The blazing white flames instantly erased several dark mages in the vicinity.
“Holy light magic?!”
Geoff jumped in alarm. Entering and exiting the ancient city required passage through portals, and without the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s permission, no one could break in. What had gone wrong for this to happen?
His eyes gleamed with murderous intent as he scanned his subordinates. Without a doubt, there was a traitor among them.
Suddenly, brilliant light blazed, and a figure clad in white armor leaped out. The armor inscribed with sacred scriptures was noble and magnificent, with intricate and mysterious patterns like a meticulously crafted work of art, detailed down to the last element. The knight wearing the armor was tall and imposing in stature, his eyes glinting with dancing golden flames. He wielded an entirely white sacred spear, covered in complex golden patterns.
Atori!
Former captain of the Knights Templar and now the leader of the church’s tactical unit.
He raised his spear to the sky, his mana erupting in a wild tide, pushing the waves of holy light to greater intensity. A great cross formed of holy light rose from the ground like lightning. It radiated unyielding brilliance that illuminated the dim dome of the ancient city, inspiring a fearful awe that prevented any blasphemous deeds.
As the cross took shape, tactical team members entered the ancient city through the spatial rift one by one. Their numbers were modest, around twenty. All wore white robes with silver light glinting in their eyes, and each of them was an elite capable of taking on ten opponents. The robes they wore were the same style as Mona’s. The design was similar to the armor Atori wore, likely mass-produced imitations.
“Lackeys of demon...”
Atori scanned the battlefield, finding Geoff, who stood out among the black-robed figures due to his distinguished bearing. Atori took a step, shattering the ground beneath his feet. His sacred spear blazed with light as he suddenly appeared before Geoff like he had teleported.
Geoff’s form dissolved into black mist and scattered, narrowly avoiding the fatal attack.
Atori swung his spear horizontally. Where the blade of the spear passed, the air hissed and exploded. Condensed holy light bloomed like flowers, shooting petals after petals of white sacred flames that burned whatever they touched.
Around Geoff, more than ten robed followers who had come to find support were instantly reduced to ash; at the contact of the sacred flames, they became dust without even letting out a single scream.
Geoff watched in terror, his mana erupting as he wielded black gales with his five fingers, concealing five blades within. He stirred up cold gleams that were no less sharp than the sacred spear, striking hard against Atori’s chest.
However, his usually unstoppable attack was less than effective today, easily dispersed by the radiance blooming from the armor. The remaining force struck Atori, but did nothing at all. With a simple swing of his sacred spear, Atori picked Geoff out from the black mist that concealed him, slamming him hard into the ground.
Boom!
The ancient city’s ground shook thunderously. Shattered stone shards flew, and pillars of dust shot toward the sky.
Atori looked at the tattered black robes and white doves in the crater, letting out a cold snort as he burned them all with sacred flames. He then raised his voice and commanded, “Leave none alive!”
Despite the order, his team members could only watch as he slaughtered dark mages everywhere, unstoppable and unrivaled. He burned each robed figure with his sacred spear until not even ash remained.
They went after the occasional strays and offered support, forming a circle and herding the dark mages toward Atori. They tried to maintain distance from their captain, lest he, in his killing frenzy, mistake them for enemies and burn them too.
Within the encirclement, Geoff had barely escaped death through substitute magic, still reeling from the near-death experience. He had thought he was going to die.
Fighting wasn’t an option. The armored warrior was a humanoid monster shrouded in holy light. He quickly contacted the Thousand-Eyed Demon, informing him that the base was compromised. All the while, he opened a portal and took several of his subordinates to the third base.
There, Wayne sat on a sofa drinking tea, with the obedient clergywoman Mona standing beside him.
As soon as the portal opened, and Geoff emerged with four of his underlings, Wayne made a shot.
Bang!
One robed man fell to the ground. Wayne bluntly declared, “Get lost. This is my territory. By Master’s order, I don’t want to fight you now.”
Geoff closed the portal behind him. He couldn’t afford to care about the underling who had just been shot. He hurriedly said, “There’s a mole! The church is attacking!”
“Nonsense! The portal requires a key to enter and exit. Without Master’s approval, no one can get in. How could the church’s people invade?” Wayne laughed heartily, patting Mona. “Well, there’s one, but I’ve broken her.”
“Trust me. There is a mole.” Geoff was anxious to make Bruce believe. Without sparing the broken woman a glance, he said darkly, “Something might have gone wrong with my recruitment, giving the church a chance to plant their spies. But this isn’t the time to discuss that! Your base is safe. The church people can’t break in.”
As he spoke, thunderous noise rang through the space, and a black fissure tore open. Atori emerged with his sacred spear in hand.
“Damn it, you are the mole!” Wayne pulled his trigger repeatedly after putting on a look of shock. “Geoff, you led the enemy here!”
All of Geoff’s subordinates had been dropped. Looking at the armored figure who had barged into the base, Geoff struggled to defend himself. “It wasn’t me! It has nothing to do with me! Bruce, you have to believe me. I’m utterly loyal to Master. I’m not the mole.”
“The enemy’s here, and you want me to believe you?” Wayne emptied his magazine before tossing his pistol at Geoff, roaring, “Don’t try to convince me. Prepare to face Master’s wrath!”
With that, he opened a portal to escape, but couldn’t. The key failed.
Wayne was visibly surprised. He wasn’t sure whether it was the church’s doing or if the Thousand-Eyed Demon had arrived. He discreetly pinched Mona’s waist and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Geoff, the portal is sealed! What exactly did you do?”
Geoff was nearly dying from the injustice of it all. Not daring to face the armored warrior, he tested his portal to base number two and immediately dove in when he realized that his key still worked. He ran quickly, opening and closing the gate in one fluid motion, giving Wayne no chance to follow.
Meanwhile, Atori had punched the ‘traitor’ before him, sending him flying away. Then he extended his fingers to form a prison on the ground, locking Wayne in place with holy light.
“I’ll deal with you later.” He gave Wayne a meaningful look. Like Mona, he was also curious about the face hidden beneath the mask.
“As for you...” Atori sprinkled holy light to dispel the corruption within Mona. Bathed in the sacred radiance, she was purified on the spot. “I’ve temporarily sealed the demon minion’s thoughts. Watch over him and don’t be deceived by his silver tongue again.”
“Understood, Captain.” Mona bowed to accept the order. When she straightened her back, Atori had already leaped back through the spatial rift to attack base number two once more. She looked at Wayne with a cold smile, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Master, you must have been quite pleased when you were toying with me!”
Sis, this isn’t part of the script. Stop improvising!
Besides, don’t you know if I’ve toyed with you?!
Wayne scoffed and turned to the side. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. This place is sealed. Once my master returns, you’ll all die.”
“You’re loyal, but your master never values you.” She circled the holy light prison twice, her gaze growing increasingly malicious. For whatever reason, she decided to suddenly reach out and pinch Wayne’s bottom.
∑(Ò_Ó;)
Shit, he was no longer pure!
Let me see what you look like! Mona went up to him and raised his hand to push off the mask covering his face. She gulped when she met his cold eyes.
“Master...”
The conditioning, while false, hadn’t been entirely without consequences. At least the instinct to call Wayne ‘master’ had been drilled into her mind. She didn’t want to develop some strange fetish; she would have to visit the Red Leaf Asylum for counseling later.
His gaze was so frosty that it made her feel guilty. She was unable to meet his eyes or push the mask away. She settled for the second-best course of action, moving behind Wayne and giving his rear a few more pinches.
It was fine not being able to see his face. That wasn’t the only way to recognize someone. This would do.
Boom!
The portal opened, and Geoff was slammed into the ground like a ragged sack, his face covered in blood. When he saw Wayne trapped in a cage as a prisoner, the last glimmer of hope in his heart went out.
Atori’s sacred spear flew out of the portal and pinned Geoff to the ground. Sacred flames blazed, burning him until nothing remained.
Wayne’s heart thumped. Geoff was no weakling, definitely more powerful than Mona. Wayne would have to go all out to defeat Geoff, and based on Silvia’s assessment of Wayne, Geoff should be a Silver-rank mage nearing the peak of the stage. In the Church of Nature, he would be more than qualified to serve as a priest, yet he was less of a threat than a dead dog to Atori.
The royal family was wise to have gone after the Church of Heavenly Father. Were he the king, he would’ve done the same.
Atori picked up his spear and shouldered it. After two assaults, he had managed to kill all the dark mages with his team, leaving only Bruce alive for interrogation. His team members filed in one after another. Under their captain’s command, they surrounded the red-lipped mouth.
Just when Wayne thought they were going to set up a magic circle to drive evil out with holy light, two more team members entered with two green wooden crates. After prying them open, they expertly retrieved grenades from the crates and pulled the safety pins, beginning another round of ‘feeding’.
...Such efficiency! Who said the church was rigid and inflexible? They’re clearly keeping up with the times!
The mouth was average in intelligence—no, it had no intelligence at all. It instinctively opened its mouth, waiting to be fed. It ended up swallowing two crates of grenades in one gulp. As the team members retreated to a safe distance, a series of explosions erupted almost simultaneously.
Amid the noises of sinews and bones bursting, the mouth screamed and spat out large volumes of thick black blood. The foul-smelling breath spread like toxic gas. A deep, bottomless fissure emerged from the alchemy circle. A massive hand emerged from underground, shattering earth and stone. The owner of the red-lipped maw slowly sat up.
It was a humanoid monster with only limbs and no head, over five meters tall. Its body was swollen like a bloated corpse. A maw gaped open in its abdomen, groaning and moaning while spitting out corrupted blood, questioning why its mother had fed it such terrible food.
Everyone froze for a moment, including Atori, who had come prepared. According to the requirements in the alchemy book, sixty-six corpses were far from enough to create a corpse fiend. And this abomination didn’t look like one, which should have six hundred and sixty-six hands, feet, and eyes.
It looked more like a familiar of one of hell’s Seven Demon Lords—the Lord of Gluttony!
“Fall back!” Sensing something wrong, Atori raised his sacred spear to meet the threat.
With a rumble, the ground beneath everyone’s feet shattered. The entire base and the adjacent base number two collapsed and fell into the black abyss below.
The place permeated with red light was like hell itself.
***
Base number one.
Bo boredly kept watch of the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s crystal ball. As a water ghost who had made his home at the bottom of the River Thames, being away from the river for extended periods with only half an hour of shower time per day made him dry up, which was deeply uncomfortable to him.
In the vast courtyard, over a hundred bizarrely shaped magical creatures stood in neat formation, each possessing physical characteristics that were beyond description. All of them looked hellish and embodied various negative emotions—twisted, pained, struggling, and radiating heartbreaking despair.
The Thousand-Eyed Demon stepped out of a portal. Seeing that this location hadn’t been discovered by the church’s forces, he said to Bo, “Change of plans. The church found us. Quickly summon your master.”
Bo hid his joy at the demon’s anxious tone. He hurried through the portal and disappeared into the sewers.
“Damn it, can’t even handle the most trivial tasks properly!”
The Thousand-Eyed Demon was furious that the Death Knight couldn’t be summoned at will and equally furious at Geoff’s incompetence in recruiting a mole into their headquarters. He had witnessed everything that happened at the other two bases. Geoff had made blunder after blunder. It would’ve been fine if the imbecile just died, but he also dragged Bruce down, making him a captive of the church.
It was rare for the demon to find a loyal subordinate he approved of, but now, the table was turned, and Bruce became a plaything to the clergywoman.
“Told you to play around only, or she would ruin you... In the end, you fell for a pretty face and amounted to nothing!”
Although he had lost two bases and the situation seemed beyond salvaging, the Thousand-Eyed Demon wasn’t panicked at all. This was nothing. He had been through far worse situations in hell.
“You think you can drive me back to hell? It’s not that easy.”
The demon shattered the crystal ball, erasing Bo’s authority to control the army of magical creatures and dismissing the force propping the ancient city up, plunging the city to even deeper layers of the demon’s lair, along with the church’s people within. The hundreds of magical creatures that had been twisted by the mist fell, too.
“Ignorant fools, you’re the ones being cornered!”
“The day I arrived in Londan, everything was already over. The city has long been blessed by the Lord of Pride and branded with hell’s mark...”
The Thousand-Eyed Demon murmured as his body disintegrated into countless bugs. Then they reassembled into four beings.
“Three legendary mages with chaotic faiths. You’re destined to serve me!”