Chapter 458
Tara quickly rummaged through her belongings, but after a long search, all she found was a clean white handkerchief tucked in her inner pocket.
“Sorry, it seems I lost the pen earlier, My Lord Shaer...” Tara's face flushed with embarrassment; she felt frustrated for not keeping the items that Lord Shaer needed safe.
“It’s fine, the handkerchief will do,” Shaer replied, taking the handkerchief from her. “Could you hold it over me to shield me from the rain?”
“Of course, My Lord Shaer.” Tara glanced around and then decisively tore off her apron, holding it above her head to block some of the rain.
Shaer took the handkerchief and bit a small hole in it with his fingers, using his own blood to begin drawing on it.
It was a simple summoning circle for the Otherworld, one that Shaer had previously recorded to summon Xiao Zuo.
At this moment, Shaer intended to use this summoning circle to negotiate for more assistance from the Church of the God of Order.
“Take this to the Pope of the Church of the God of Order and tell her that sacrificing a finger will allow her to summon beings from the Otherworld... Remember this phrase...” Shaer instructed Tara, imparting the obscure incantation that sounded almost like a whisper.
“Tell her I have another summoning circle that can call forth that white-armored creature... but she must help me with this task first before I can give it to her... consider this circle a down payment.”
“What task, My Lord Shaer?” Tara asked.
“Have her assist the Church of the Savior Goddess in stopping Qiangyin—she must not kill him; he must be left with a breath,” Shaer said. “Once it’s done, have her notify me.”
“Understood, My Lord Shaer.” Tara accepted the handkerchief he handed her, carefully tucking it into her pocket before vanishing like a wisp of white smoke.
Meanwhile, Shaer gazed at the battlefield before him, a curtain of chaos resembling the duality of yin and yang, and took a deep breath.
He sensed the footsteps of another group of knights approaching from behind; he could feel several gazes fixed upon him.
While Persi and Eleanor fought within, it was best for Shaer to help keep unnecessary threats at bay.
Just then, Shaer’s form twisted.
The side effects of time distortion struck at the most inopportune moment.
His pupils flickered; the once black, honeycomb-patterned eyes were now replaced by a pink glow, and the pink tendrils deep within his pupils writhed wildly.
It was the “Subverter” archive...
In that instant, as Shaer’s form changed, the faint connection he had with the surrounding crimson bacteria was severed—those crimson monsters that had been lurking around him slowly turned their heads, fixing their gaze on Shaer.
She turned to look at the monsters behind her, tilting her head slightly, and let out a somewhat flippant exclamation, “Wow...”
The bacteria had slipped from Shaer’s control.
Whoosh—
A silvery, ethereal armor instantly enveloped Shaer. She rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a bacteria that lunged toward her, and half-kneeled, looking at the approaching knights, shouting, “Come help me! Duke Russell is trapped inside!”
“We need to deal with the monsters outside first!”
A smile hid at the corner of Shaer’s mouth, her pink pupils glinting with mischief, as if she was already plotting how to toy with the newly arrived extraordinary beings.
...
In the Pope's reception room at the Church of the God of Order.
Pope Erigema held a blood-stained white cloth in her hands, her green eyes glowing as she contemplated the blood array and its contents.
Soon, she beckoned a bishop nearby to come closer.
“Your Holiness,” the blue-clad bishop bowed slightly, only to see the Pope grasp his hand and forcefully tear off his pinky finger.
“Ugh...” The pain shot through him, causing beads of sweat to form on his brow, but he showed no outward reaction, merely staring at his severed finger, curious about what the Pope intended to do with it.
The Pope unfolded the handkerchief, laying it flat on the table, and placed the bloody severed finger on top.
As she recited the obscure incantation, the blood from the finger twisted into strands, wrapping around it and swiftly draining its life force.
At the same time, the Pope felt her own mental energy rapidly depleting as she finished the incantation...
The remaining blood strands quickly coalesced above the handkerchief, forming a swirling blood vortex. Almost as soon as the blood array took shape, a grotesquely pale hand emerged from within, resting on the edge of the array.
The moment that hand appeared, the expressions of everyone present shifted, even the Pope felt a surge of astonishment within.
Is this the gateway to the Otherworld...? But it’s a bit small; is it due to insufficient sacrificial flesh or the limitations of the blood array?
This was a stable method for summoning through the blood array, and both the Pope and those present understood the weight of this gift.
Once the terrifying left hand fully emerged, it crawled across the table, glancing around in apparent confusion.
It had been summoned by a familiar aura, yet it saw no familiar faces.
“Come here...” The Pope, suppressing her excitement, slowly extended her iron finger toward the left hand.
That left hand, which made one’s very blood boil at the sight, hesitated for a moment before crawling a few steps toward the Pope’s finger, extending its index knuckle to gently touch hers.
“Phew...” The Pope suppressed her excitement and turned to Tara, saying, “You mean to say that once we help Lord Shaer with this task, she will directly provide the summoning array for that Otherworldly armor?”
Tara nodded slightly and replied, “I relayed every word from Lord Shaer as it was.”
The Pope hesitated for a moment.
With Qiangyin’s location known, and him currently engaged in battle with the Church of the Savior Goddess...
A simple stab in the back, and there was no need to kill Qiangyin to obtain the Otherworldly information she had long desired...
This was definitely worth doing, and it could also serve as an opportunity to deepen cooperation with Lord Shaer.
And the half-dead Qiangyin would be the “token of loyalty” she would offer.
“Henry, gather the blue-clad cardinals; we must set out.”
...
“Damn it...”
“Cough, cough...”
Not far from the Church of the Goddess, just a hundred meters away from the black-and-white curtain, two silver-armored knights lay on the ground.
One knight knelt, blood oozing from the seams of his armor. He looked up, despair etched on his face as he watched the swaying crimson monster in tattered armor approaching him.
“Just a little more...” He clenched his fist and slammed it into the ground, shattering the cobblestones, his voice tinged with frustration.
If only he hadn’t made so many mistakes during the battle earlier, perhaps he wouldn’t have lost so many comrades...
“Cough, cough...” Beside him, another silver-armored knight struggled to stand, swaying as he positioned himself in front of his fallen comrade.
“My lord...” The man gazed at the knight blocking him, his mouth slightly agape beneath the helmet.
“Captain, you need to go... don’t you have a wife and children waiting for you?” A sweet yet weak voice emerged from within the silver armor as the female knight drew her broken longsword, saying, “You go find reinforcements...”
“No! I can’t retreat now...” The recent camaraderie in battle had made him recognize the unknown female knight before him; she always managed to shield their team from critical attacks at crucial moments... It was just unfortunate that the mutated monsters on the other side were too strong...
Those crimson creatures seemed to possess endless stamina and gained formidable defenses by devouring their prey... It felt like fighting against the undead; the more they battled, the more despair they felt.
Even the bard in their ranks had inexplicably been infected and died on the spot when the fight had barely begun, which was why this battle had become so arduous.
And now, even if he were to die here, he could not retreat any further. For the noble spirit of that female knight, he would fight alongside her until the end.
He steadied himself with his sword, swaying as he stood up, looking at the back of the female knight, and resolutely declared, “I will stand by your side until the very end!”
Table of Contents
