Azure Scepter

Page 152

"Looking for the missing city hall." For some reason, the beautiful red-haired female pastor suddenly became cold. She glanced at the old pastor with disdain, as if looking at an eyesore. "By the way—you also need to help. First, evacuate the refugees, and then you need to take this team of papal guards to the Great Cemetery area."

Before the old pastor could respond, a large number of soldiers filed in. They began to wake the refugees and take them to other places. Several masked warriors who looked lifeless and a tall, abnormal-looking man walked directly to the old pastor.

"Lead the way to the cemetery area," the unusually tall man said in a muffled voice.

—The red-haired female priest could not possibly be a proper priest; she was the high-ranking succubus Orianna in disguise.

Trier's alliance with Lady Bloodthorn against Losevie and Fusada was certainly not for sharing the spoils of war; Lady Bloodthorn was naturally expected to contribute manpower and support.

Because Orianna was quite familiar with the Kingdom of Orko, she was unfortunately sent back again.

The succubus had just sensed the rising lust in the old priest's heart. The old priest's lust was strong, and his strength was not bad either. She originally thought that this old man was a rare and precious soul for a succubus, but when she found him to be ridiculously cowardly, and considering that this was the Southern Duchy, she gave up the idea.

To be fair, the succubus Orianna now harbors some psychological trauma towards the Southern Duchy...

For hundreds of years, she had roamed the entire prime material plane without ever encountering any major setbacks. However, since arriving in the Southern Duchy, she was first melted by Trier's magic, then died from the backlash of magic while trying to save the Balrog, and finally, she even came close to the end of her immortal life—on the day of the massacre, if she hadn't reacted quickly and banished herself back to Hell in advance, she would have been directly killed by the seemingly innocent but actually extremely terrifying Edith.

Orianna sighed, her gaze sweeping around before finally settling on the shattered statue of Saint Seir—a slight smile involuntarily playing on her lips.

"I never thought I'd be a priest one day. This feeling of blasphemy is so strange~" she muttered to herself.

The square outside the Wirth Cathedral was under the protection of a large number of soldiers.

Fully armed, Trier slowly raised his longsword. A magical wind surged instantly, and a cobalt blue light emerged from the tip of the sword, then spread rapidly—a few breaths later, a dazzling wave of cobalt blue magical flames suddenly ripped through the sky and pierced the ground.

Through clues inadvertently leaked by the water sprite and through long and meticulous calculations, Trier finally pinpointed the possible location of the entrance to the underground mirror city of Wirth—within 600 meters of Wirth Cathedral Square, with a total of 32 possible specific locations.

Right now, Trier is channeling a spell that can reveal the collapse of hidden spaces, enough to cover all possible areas. Next, all that's needed is to send people to the various locations and then wait for news.

The light was dazzling, bursting forth as bright as day. With a casual wave of his hand, Trier sent the brilliant Quranic light spinning and swirling with a buzzing sound, before transforming into a perfect hemisphere. In an instant, a gale arose, and the trees and wedding decorations around the square were blown askew.

At this moment, with Trier as the center, one after another dazzling red lines slowly appeared on the ground. These red lines began to reflect light like spears. Red and blue light intertwined above Trier's head to form a semi-circular light net. All the lines that made up the light net rotated clockwise under Trier's control, which was dazzling and mesmerizing.

The next moment, Trier had a sudden thought, and a beam of light suddenly streaked across the night sky, flying straight towards the large cemetery area behind the Chapel of Purification.

Two minutes ago, in the cemetery area outside the Chapel of Purification.

The dry cawing of crows drowned out the noisy sound of boots treading on the ground.

The old pastor took a deep breath and looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar cemetery before him.

It was the dead of night, and a thick fog drifted by like a ghostly mist. Tombstones, withered trees, and drowsy crows created a disturbing scene.

Suddenly, the crow perched on the withered branch stopped cawing. It turned its head and stared intently at the unusually tall soldier beside the old pastor.

The soldier took off his helmet, revealing an Asmo-like face.

The old pastor was taken aback. His eyes widened and he involuntarily took two steps back.

PS: There will be one more update today.

Chapter 294 Survivors

The old pastor was taken aback. His eyes widened and he involuntarily took two steps back.

That's Asmo, a celestial being!

The old pastor's cloudy eyes narrowed slightly, and then he gave a fawning smile.

“Sir, are you the great Asmo?” he asked with a smile.

However, the Asmo soldiers merely snorted and didn't even glance at him, as if he were some kind of refugee on the street.

It actually mistook me for a refugee? How dare it?! The old pastor was stunned.

In an instant, astonishment and resentment rose from the depths of his heart like flames.

The elderly pastor averted his gaze, glancing at the other man out of the corner of his eye, while silently vowing to himself: One day, I'll make you regret this...

"boom!"

The next moment, a dazzling blue beam of light, like lightning, suddenly streaked across the night sky and flew into the silent cemetery, instantly illuminating the entire world as if it were daytime.

The old pastor was immediately startled.

Beneath the terrifying blue flames, space itself seemed to distort. Dead trees were set ablaze, and crows squawked as they took flight. Then, an even more unimaginable spectacle appeared before the old pastor: a massive, dark, architectural phantom slowly materialized before him!

The old pastor reacted for a moment, then instinctively covered his mouth.

That's the city hall that went missing a few days ago!

The cold, cobalt blue light twisted near the building, bending inward in a ring. Centered on the building, the light and heat seemed to collapse into a spherical hole. At the center of the sphere, the city hall, like a mirage in the desert, became increasingly solid, while the cold flames surrounding it added a sense of contradiction.

What incredible power this is! Even if Saint Seiya himself descended from the heavens, he probably couldn't match this...

The old pastor instinctively took two steps back, shielding everyone in front of him, but the next moment, a malicious thought slowly rose from the depths of his heart.

The missing city hall must be incredibly dangerous; you could use that danger to teach Asmo a lesson...

No, a little lesson is too lenient—kill him, kill this stupid, arrogant bastard, and no one will dare to look down on you...

The old pastor's heart pounded faster and faster. His pupils contracted as he tried to suppress his strange behavior. However, behind him, where he couldn't see, a twisted red light slowly wrapped around his shadow like a rope and reached towards his head.

At the base of the shadow, a high-ranking succubus dressed as a priest stared at the old priest with amusement. Her slender fingers gripped the red light as if holding an iron chain, and at the end of the chain was the old priest.

—She secretly placed a "mind chat" message; she had just disguised her seduction as the old pastor's own thoughts.

After some internal struggle, the succubus Orianna decided to snatch the soul that was naturally suited to be a succubus from the jaws of death. However, it would be inappropriate to forcibly take it as before, since Trier and Saint Seir were likely watching. But if the old priest brought this upon himself and caused his soul to fall, then she wouldn't be blamed for it.

If the old pastor could scout ahead and then kill that annoying Asmo as well, that would be even better!

The next moment, the old pastor shoved Sergeant Asmo aside and rushed ahead towards the city hall that was gradually solidifying in mid-air.

Wirth's town hall is a colossal building as imposing as the Golden Palace and the cathedral. It originally stood majestically on Judgment Hill outside Wirth. This spectacle, constructed entirely of granite, is a powerful symbol of the power of law and order. In addition, since it was originally built on a hill, there are quite a few steps in front of the town hall.

However, driven by nameless rage, the old pastor stepped onto the illusory, twisting sixty-two stone steps without hesitation, crossed ten broken Greta columns, and only when he reached the end and stood in front of a giant oak door that was a full 6 meters high did the old pastor realize that something was wrong with this place.

On either side of the giant oak door are reliefs of the Southern Dukes of all time, each holding a scepter or a scale, in various poses. But at this moment, all these reliefs look as if they have been weathered and eroded, becoming incomplete. Especially the fourth Southern Duke, the nameless Duke "The Bard," whose face has been eroded to the point of being almost faceless, the old priest even had a hallucination that he was looking at the statue of Saint Seir.

Such weathering and erosion is undoubtedly highly suspicious, after all, the city hall has only been missing for less than two weeks. But now, this spectacle seems to have been taken out of amber that has frozen time, a specimen about to weather into ash. Combined with the collapse on the stone steps that seems to have been weathered by time, the entire city hall seems to have gone through hundreds of years.

The old pastor hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and reached out to push the oak door open. The steel bearings rumbled, and acrid dust mixed with stone fragments rained down. To his astonishment, the old pastor found that he had opened the door with almost no effort.

Unlike the weathered facade, the lobby at the entrance of the city hall looks quite new, though it is completely empty.

The old pastor stepped across the threshold and entered the spacious hall. The air was filled with the calming scent of incense, and on the table to his left sat a cup of steaming coffee. At the far end of the empty hall, two spiral staircases led to the second floor, and beneath them was a translucent green crystal door.

Suddenly, a series of heavy footsteps echoed in the hall. The old pastor listened intently, and it seemed that a faint sob was mixed in with the footsteps.

Could it be a demon?

No, I'll seize the opportunity and use the demon to kill that damned Asmo.

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, then looked up at the crystal door at the bottom of the stairs.

however--

"Old man, are you crazy?" The footsteps stopped abruptly, and Asmo's rebuking voice came from behind, "You should wait for reinforcements. This place is too dangerous! If you don't want to die, get back here and come with me right now!"

Asmo's arrogant yet slightly concerned rebuke struck the old pastor's head like a hammer blow. He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly shuddered in shock.

What am I doing? Why did I even come up here?! Radiance...

The next moment, the crystal door at the end of the stairs was slowly pushed open, and a slightly overweight man, leaning on a cane and wearing a somewhat bulky hat, appeared behind the crystal door.

Could there be any survivors in this godforsaken place?

The old pastor gaped in astonishment, glancing at the rather well-dressed man opposite him.

Is that the municipal official, Baron Tosby?

Just as the old pastor was puzzled, a slightly unfamiliar male voice suddenly rang in his ear.

"Get out of the way! That's not a human!"

The next moment, the municipal official suddenly raised his head, revealing his face under the brim of his hat—millions of worms intertwined and tangled together, their hideous mouthparts and wet segments forming a rotting face!

That's not a municipal official, that's a worm-like agglomerate!

PS: Second update.

I have an exam tomorrow, so updates will be late, at least after 11 p.m.

Chapter 295 The Gluttonous Insect Swarm

That's not a municipal official, that's a worm-like agglomerate!

"Clap."

Half a worm fell from the municipal official's face, crashed to the ground, and the bursting, viscous liquid splattered onto the old pastor's shoes, burning up a cloud of white smoke.

What is this thing?!

The old pastor was startled.

In a moment of utter horror, the worm-like aggregate dressed as a municipal official slowly split open a "mouth," and then a tongue formed from the twisted worms, like a flesh-colored lightning bolt, suddenly blasted towards his eyeballs!

He instinctively reached out to block them, but several slender, long worms instantly clung to his forearm, then hissed and opened their mouthparts, suddenly protruding into his skin!

At that moment, Trier had just arrived at the chapel of purification when he witnessed this grotesque and disgusting scene from a distance...

The worms that were ejected all poured into the old priest's body through the pores in his skin. In the blink of an eye, the old priest's emaciated body swelled to a horrifying degree. His bloodshot eyeballs bulged out like a vengeful ghost, and one small worm after another squeezed out of his eyelids and fell to the ground, hissing as they pounced on the others.

The next moment, the old pastor managed to squeeze out a barely audible, inhuman scream, and then—"Bang!"

In an instant, all the old pastor's muscles dissolved and collapsed, and worms emerged from beneath his skin one after another. In less than half a breath, a new worm aggregate was born from the old pastor's skin. These newly born, bizarre worms all had densely packed, terrifying teeth, resembling winged leeches. They were densely intertwined, a sight that sent chills down one's spine!

A swarm of miniature gluttonous insects!

As Trier looked at the tiny gluttonous insects with the old priest's tattered face twisting and writhing, constantly hissing, his face twitched slightly. At that moment, he felt a chill run down his spine.

The reason is simple: this thing is disgusting.

The Micro-sized Gluttonous Insect is a rather outrageous variant of the Gluttonous Insect, and these bizarre abyssal creatures have a very outrageous characteristic: each Micro-sized Gluttonous Insect has a full 25 points of magic damage reduction!

What's even more terrifying is that these microscopic gluttonous insects, which are basically immune to ordinary spell damage, can also form swarms, and as is well known, microscopic biological swarms are immune to physical damage.

The swarm of ultra-miniature gluttonous insects is extremely difficult to deal with. Without prior preparation, even a whole team of high-level professionals could be wiped out if they encountered them in an encounter. What's worse, these things look so unique that they are definitely the ultimate nightmare for people with trypophobia.

Upon witnessing this horrifying scene, the Asmo soldiers beside the old priest immediately began to gag. However, the next moment, a rustling sound suddenly rang out from behind the crystal door, followed by a flood of tiny gluttonous insects!

Without hesitation, Trier reached out and grabbed the swarm of tiny gluttonous insects, unleashing a divinely powered "life and death" command. However, the next moment, his expression darkened slightly.

A divine power was protecting this large group of miniature gluttonous insects with its divine essence, but the attempt to control them by life and death failed!

"Boom!" A dazzling flash of fire disappeared in an instant.

Suddenly, a purple flame surged from the sky, piercing the city hall like a divine lance that pierced the heavens. The air exploded violently, and the scattered embers merely brushed against the granite exterior wall of the city hall before it instantly burned, melted, and boiled. The terrifying purple flames lashed out like whips at the flesh-colored worm sea, and the surging swarm of worms abruptly stopped!

Trier instinctively looked up and saw that the high-ranking succubus Orianna had removed her priest disguise and was flapping her wings, flying into the air.

"This is real work..." Trier thought to himself.

The secondary explosions generated by the flame storm escalated in layers, with black smoke carrying flames tearing at the massive swarm of insects, creating a terrifying spectacle. However, after only half a breath, the explosions were overwhelmed by the surging worms.

Trier frowned. Although the succubus's spell looked powerful, the miniature gluttonous insects didn't seem to be seriously damaged. However, it should be noted that the succubus Orianna was a legendary mage.

These gluttonous insects have a magic damage reduction of well over 25%!

The next moment, Trier raised his hand, controlling the remaining nameless undead in the city hall to rush towards the swarm of insects, and then he snapped his fingers.

Chain reaction of corpse explosions.

If the life-and-death mechanism is useless, then use the power of numbers to overwhelm the opponent!

The battle was fought in the blink of an eye. Although Trier had already completed two rounds of casting, in reality, less than two seconds had passed between the old priest's sudden death and the explosion of the Flame Storm.

The Asmo soldier only then realized what was happening. When he saw the burning, writhing sea of ​​flesh, his face turned ashen, and he turned and ran!

He paid no heed to the soldiers who were rushing forward like madmen!

The next moment, several dazzling blue lights suddenly emerged from behind. The blue light was so dazzling that it obscured the firelight all over the sky. In this blue light that seemed to be able to dissolve everything, the world seemed to fall into stillness.

Time seemed to pass for a long time, yet also as if it were only a moment. Suddenly, the world resumed playback from its pause, and in an instant, the eerie blue flames engulfed the Asmo soldiers from behind.

The Asmo soldier thought he was going to die, but after a while, he realized that he was actually alright!

He was stunned for a moment, then looked back shakily and found that the whole world was clean, and the surging, terrifying worms had all evaporated—swept away!

The only strange thing is that even after such a massive explosion, the hall remained completely intact.

However, he no longer had the mind to think about such questions. He looked dazed, slowly turned around, and walked slowly towards the illusory steps behind him.

At this moment, more soldiers finally arrived to provide support, and they rushed directly into the hall along the illusory steps.

It was all over, and he had survived! Asmo burst into tears of joy.

However, the next moment, a sonic boom suddenly exploded!