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Chapter 102: Drawing the Tiger out of the Mountains

A sword that sliced through the sky earned cheers from the knights and the crowd.

“It’s Lord Rayo!”

“The hero who saves humanity! We’re saved!”

Rayo didn’t even glance at the giant before him, his gaze lost in the collapsed ruins.

Necessary sacrifices…

After a beat, he then shot a glance filled with latent killing intent in another direction.

“Show yourself, brat.”

Mist outlined the form of a young necromancer.

Faced with one of the strongest extraordinary beings in the human realm, the necromancer showed no fear; in fact, he clapped his hands with excitement.

“Truly worthy of the Sword Saint! A rank 5 undead creature is nothing for you!”

“Knowing that, you still dare to show yourself? You really must be bored with life.”

“Haha, only those bored with life can appreciate the beauty of eternal silence…”

The young necromancer’s expression darkened, a sinister smile creeping across his face.

“But it seems most of you still haven’t lived enough, have you?”

“Sure, rank 5 is nothing to you, but if it’s a rank 4 of the same level, willing to kill everyone here at all costs, how will you respond?!”

Rayo’s eyebrows tightened, then he raised his hand and swung his sword.

The holy sword unsheathed, and the terrifying sword energy surged like a flying dragon, effortlessly tearing apart the young necromancer’s body.

But before that, he had pulled out his own heart.

“The Sword Saint’s strike is nothing more than this…”

As the heart was burned, the one-eyed undead giant’s momentum skyrocketed, unleashing numerous eerie white flames that engulfed the entire southern district.

At the same time, Holy Light rained down upon the northern part of White Harbor.

Corpses melted away, and phylacteries were pierced through their bodies.

Invisible souls were guided back into their bodies by the Holy Light, and even the ripped and torn flesh received the same healing.

However, a bald female mage had already snapped her own neck, her vacant eyes emanating a terrifying white flame.

In the next moment, she shrieked to the heavens, a massive ghostly white magic circle overshadowing the sky, the chilling mist of death making the place as cold as winter.

An upper-ranking lich with a scythe coldly laughed as he slowly emerged, like a nightmare come to life.

Rank 4?

What a joke…

Teresa’s face remained unchanged, but her mood was weighed down to the utmost extent.

Since the ancient Holy Maiden Trial, White Harbor’s recent defensive measures were comparable to any diocese in the Eastern Continent.

How could these cultists have evaded the barriers of White Harbor to infiltrate the city?

The cultists relied on sacrifices to temporarily boost their power, which wasn’t too surprising.

But such a ritual required extensive preparation—getting into the city was outrageous enough; how did they manage to set up the ritual, draw the magic circle, and orchestrate this attack in advance?!

“Lady Teresa, what should we do now?”

Brought back to reality by the knight’s anxious words, Teresa forced herself to calm down: “Surround the north; don’t let the lich escape.”

“I’ll handle this big guy.”

Taking a step forward, Teresa summoned a torrential downpour of holy rain, creating a barrier that kept the wave of liches at bay.

No matter what, the priority now was to deal with the immediate crisis. The reason the cultists had successfully infiltrated could only be considered later.

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Outside the White Harbor church, panic reigned.

When Roy and Simon arrived outside the church, they could already glimpse sword energy tearing through the skies from the north and south, cold mist rolling in.

The terrifying extraordinary fluctuations jolted everyone’s nerves. Even civilians who couldn’t sense the extraordinary aura turned pale and struggled to breathe under the heavy oppressive feeling.

Fortunately, the White Harbor church remained safe.

With the knights guiding them, many civilians sought refuge here.

In any city, the church has become a consensus safe harbor for believers of the Holy Light.

“Everyone, do not panic!”

“Our Knights will protect you with all our might! Plus, there are two Six Heroes in the city, and a Grand Archbishop is stationed here! Those cultists relying on dark arts to become extraordinary will only seek their own demise!”

The priest’s shouts calmed the crowd, allowing them to settle a bit.

“That’s right! This is the territory of our church; they can’t cause a ruckus here!”

“Three against two; clearly, we have the advantage!”

“By the Holy Light! They dare to disturb the Holy Maiden’s inauguration ceremony; they’ll pay dearly for it!”

An optimistic atmosphere began to take hold.

Yet, Roy understood that the situation was far from as rosy as they portrayed.

Having personally felt power beyond the extraordinary, Roy knew that battles between high-ranking extraordinary beings—even mere projections or impersonators stepping into that realm—could easily destroy a city.

The Sword Saint and the Holy Maiden would undoubtedly triumph.

But right now, they were merely trying to keep the battle contained, and with tensions escalating, how long could the church remain safe?

Moreover, the previous two waves were clearly feints.

The cultists seemed mad, but they weren’t irrational; every action served their own purpose.

No faction could stand by while its people were slaughtered, and the Sword Saint and the Holy Maiden knew this was a blatant ploy to draw them away.

And in all of White Harbor, the place most worth targeting by the cult and the most dangerous was precisely here.

Unwilling to just sit and wait, Roy quickly suggested, “This place isn’t safe; we should immediately halt the Holy Light baptism and let me take Alice to a secure location.”

But Simon shook his head: “The Holy Maiden’s soul is already beginning to entwine with the power of the Holy Light; you within her and she within you. Forcing an interruption in the Holy Light baptism would cause irreversible damage to her soul.”

Phoenix also worriedly stated, “He’s not lying. The ascension of the soul requires complete focus; Alice can’t afford any interruptions right now.”

Damn it!

Setting aside how they managed to infiltrate White Harbor, why did the cultists pick this moment…?

Roy stared blankly at Simon’s silhouette, a terrifying thought flashing through his mind.

Is it him?

Is this his way of seizing Alice?

But why?

The church and the cult are irreconcilable enemies.

Moreover, if something were to happen to Alice at the hands of the cultists, it would be detrimental to the church in every way…

Roy ruminated, filled with suspicion but lacking motive and evidence against the other party.

Even he found such thoughts ridiculous.

However, before Roy could sort through his thoughts, a much more terrifying aura approached, sending chills down his spine.

Grey mist crept in quietly, blocking out the sunlight, leaving behind a bone-chilling cold.

Unlike skeletons or corpses, an endless sea of undead soldiers marched in perfect unison, slaughtering all that stood in their way, coming from afar like a pale tide that utterly encircled the White Harbor church.

At the forefront of this undead army, mist half-coalesced into a human form, revealing a pair of chilling blue eyes exuding an icy stillness that seemed capable of freezing all living things.

Seeing this figure slowly raise a withered hand, Simon was the first to raise the holy text, stepping forward to meet it.

 

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