Chapter 207: Miracle… and the Cost of a Miracle

“The【Killing】kin… Blade Demons, huh? It’s shocking to see nearly ten of these solitary creatures all at once, and this is just one of their scattered squads. No wonder the Holy City fell.”

The Saintess murmured under her breath, her voice not loud, yet those around her, particularly the nearby girls of noteworthy strength, could clearly hear her remarks.

Miss White Fox turned her gaze towards the humanoid figures floating above the demon army, clad in exquisite yet sinister crimson armor, wielding deadly blades.

The Blade Demons are a direct lineage of the King of Slaughter, Sluthel; their relationship is somewhat akin to that of Succubi and the King of Corrosion, but much closer.

According to some dubious legends, before the King of Slaughter achieved his title through massacre, he was an ordinary Blade Demon.

Now, among the four great Demon Lords, he alone ascended to power through postnativity, while the realms of【Chaos】,【Corrosion】, and【Unclean】 were innately powerful, existing as the only unique races transcending demons.

From a certain perspective, only【Killing】 among the four Demon Lords is a true demon, while the other three resemble the creators or ancestors of demons.

Though an exception, the mere existence of someone who achieves lordship in a mortal form signifies the considerable power of Blade Demons. They rank among the strongest in direct combat among all high-ranking demon types.

Though somewhat rejected and suppressed by the world’s powers, they are by no means opponents that ordinary strong individuals can rival.

Demons and the Church of the Goddess have been age-old foes; upon meeting, they ignite flames of hostility. As the two armies come face to face, there is almost no space or need for communication. The massive Hammer Demons charge forth, moving towards the already towering walls of Sacheno City!

“Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud！！！！”

The thunderous sounds, still dense as raindrops, now come not from war drums atop the city but from the pounding footsteps of those colossal beings!

“Activate the barrier.”

Calm amidst chaos, the Saintess raised her pure white hand, and a grand golden curtain of light rose from the magic circle constructed at the city’s central temple, acting as a giant shield against the crashing, roaring giants!

“Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!!!!!”

The giant hammers swung with fierce wind pressure, smashing into the golden shield, creating sounds reminiscent of thunder.

In the face of the full-force attacks from over a dozen high-level demons, the temporary barrier quickly began to develop terrifying cracks, shattering into light particles in mere seconds after.

However, the first wave of their full-on assault, bolstered by their speed, was completely absorbed by the curtain beyond the city walls, failing to damage the southern gate of Sacheno City itself.

As the Hammer Demons, having smashed through the curtain, raised their deadly weapons for a second round of assault on the wall, at that moment…

“Ascend!”

“Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud!!!!!!!”

The resounding war drums transformed into a tangible golden aura, enveloping over a thousand Temple Knights stationed at the southern walls of Sacheno City!

As if they had rehearsed this a thousand times, they drew their long swords in perfect unison. Golden flames erupted from the blades, lifted high by the Holy Knight leading them, the spirited shout rising above the rest!

“Holy—Shine!!!”

Over a thousand roars surged forth, meeting the golden flames rising into the sky, and instantly coalescing into a radiant sword measuring hundreds of meters, held aloft by the golden-haired Holy Knight girl, releasing the divine retribution!

“Slash!!!!!!!!!!”

The radiant sword tore the air, targeting the ten or so Hammer Demons that led the charge against the demon army.

Some instinctively raised their hammer shafts to block, while others, overestimating their might, stubbornly charged forward, intent on meeting the attack head-on and slamming their weapons against the reinforced, only slightly taller than them golden wall.

Regardless of their response, that monumental, earth-shattering sword would, in the next moment, cleave all that sought to halt its edge, slicing through everything in its path, transforming into a golden tsunami, swallowing towards the sea of magical beasts farther back!

“Boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!!!!!!!!”

The aftershock of the golden swordlight transformed into a tidal wave, instantly consuming over a thousand magical beasts at the front. The once-feared demon army stood defenseless before it, as if they could not resist, quickly dissolving into the golden light like snowflakes.

At that moment, the ten or so isolated, frozen Hammer Demons beneath the walls began to tumble backward, their solid bodies and hammers, cut down by the Holy Light blade, scattered across the land by the Star River, oozing black-green blood.

Total Annihilation.

“Wow… a joint attack, huh.”

Even Miss White Fox, watching from the sidelines, couldn’t help but mumble in intrigue, while the two angelic girls behind her exchanged various expressions, secretly whispering to one another.

“Wow… sister, that last sword…”

“It can’t be blocked; maybe it can be dodged, but taking it head-on, I’d definitely be hurt. That strike already hinted at the flavor of【Laws】.”

“I feel it too. Is it true… is the Holy Empire this formidable? Is this the quality of the world’s strongest nation?”

“No… it’s not that simple. Aside from the pivotal role of Miss Edwina herself, the cost is very high. This is likely what Miss Xī referred to before—【Hurt a thousand enemies, harm yourself eight hundred】. Just look at those Temple Knights’ conditions.”

Listening to the soft discussions of the two Angel Misses behind her, Miss Vilyric also noticed the rough principle and turned her gaze toward the surrounding Temple Knights.

Earlier, about half of the soldiers at the southern gate drew their Holy Swords, channeling their power into the sword strike by Edwina.

But the cost is that those Temple Knights are now all exhausted, their aura of Holy Light almost completely dissipated, quickly leaving the walls under Yuna’s coordination to be replaced by new warriors.

Faith-based magic is not unlimited power.

While it doesn’t require the user to possess magical power, that doesn’t mean it’s inexhaustible. The more frequently and powerfully faith-based magic is used over time, the more fatigue the believers feel, necessitating rest for recovery.

Regarding this, the Holy Kingdom’s mainstream belief seems to be that mortals cannot bear the overwhelming power of the Goddess continuously, hence creating a burden on the body…

However, Vilyric, who encountered this concept in Theological Hall, noted that the Light Tribe girl, Ella Light, pointed out a different, more rigorous possibility in her research report at【The Conclave】.

Essentially, the nature of faith-based magic is to exchange the user’s mental energy for elemental power.

Or to put it more clearly, it uses【Void】energy to swap for【Material】energy.

Though it currently stands that in mainstream academia, the two foundational energy systems of【Void】and【Material】are considered parallel and irreducible, Ella put forth a hypothesis.

It’s simple reasoning—just because we can’t do it doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

【Void】and【Material】are indeed two fundamentally different forms of energy, but that only reflects the current understanding of scholars.

Ella Light’s core theory counters the mainstream view and introduces a hypothesis known as the【Unity of All Things】.

Everything in this world, whether【Material】or【Void】, essentially stems from some purer and more primal existence, so as long as certain conditions are satisfied, reversing back could enable the interconversion of the two basic types of energy.

Such a reversal requires a specific catalyst or medium—what that medium specifically is, and whether it truly exists is another matter entirely. But assuming its existence for argument’s sake…

The conversion between【Material】and【Void】—the essence of faith-based magic—could fundamentally be reduced to the notion of mental energy exchanged for elemental energy.

In truth, during Ella’s relentless efforts, she had also begun to discern the true nature of this medium, but due to a lack of evidence and certain external constraints, she had never formally published her findings.

However, on the night Miss Vilyric found her, as a gesture of goodwill for collaboration, Ella Light revealed this speculation to Miss White Fox.

That was the power known as【Faith】.

   

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