Chapter 695

Chapter Eighty-Two: Corruption Part Two

In the next moment, a terrifying scream echoed abruptly and without warning.

“Ugh—”

The scream only lasted for a split second before it was cut off as if something had clamped down on its throat.

In this instant, Lawrence, the Knight Commander, reacted extremely quickly.

He first noticed something amiss on the faces of the dozen or so knights further away. As the first eerie sound came, the man instinctively lunged forward, rolling on the ground several times before quickly getting up. He raised his head, still in a daze from the previous moment’s thoughts of glory, but saw a flash of golden light ahead. The priest of the Faith团 also dodged, appearing on the roof beside the road.

“Camille, Duke—”

“What the hell is happening?!”

The nearby knights shouted towards the direction of the flames, their expressions bewildered and terrified. They stood with their swords drawn, eyes wide, staring at the sudden surge of dark mist at the center of the road. By the time Lawrence understood the situation, the dark mist had already begun to flow back towards the burning blood ball in the sky.

Below the blood ball, the six knights who should have been standing there vanished in an instant. Even the two piles of foul-smelling corpses had disappeared without a trace. Any place touched by the dark mist was left empty, save for a few drifting ashes that seemed to be the only proof of their existence.

The pillar rose and collapsed with a loud crash, turning into scattered sparks of light. Six faint white wisps rose with the dark mist and returned to the sphere. Lawrence vaguely saw that the burning sphere had already developed a tiny crack, and within that crack, there appeared to be a blood-red eye staring at them.

The man felt a shock wave run through his scalp.

That—

He stumbled backward, his mind in chaos. In a daze, he thought he heard a devilish laughter coming from inside the sphere, like a ghostly “咯咯咯咯.”

“Abyss!!!”

Lawrence turned and roared at the knights, his voice hoarse, spittle flying everywhere: “It’s the Abyss!!! Everyone, get out of here now—! Quickly!!!”

After shouting, he quickly ran to the side of the road, mounted the beast, and urged it forward. The anguished horse neighed loudly, its iron hooves pounding the ground. The Knight Commander held tightly onto the reins, his eyes fixed on the burning blood ball suspended in the air. He saw the dark mist returning, vanishing instantly into a sea of red.

A bone-chilling cold rushed up his spine, a scene beyond his comprehension.

Why…

Why would the dead smoke come out of the cracks in that sphere…

Why was the burning fire concealing a damned Abyss…

Isn’t the Abyss and heretics supposed to be completely contradictory…

Why…

Why why why…

What the hell is going on here!!!

Buzz—

In the next moment, a divine chant echoed from the roof on the left. Amidst the flickering light, the priest of the Faith团 waved his hand, sending a sharp holy lance towards the blood-colored orb in the sky.

Lawrence’s heart sank.

He could no longer think clearly; instead, he felt a terrible premonition deep within him.

They shouldn’t rush into action…

“Go!!!”

The man urgently turned the beast’s head, shouting at the figure on the roof, but it seemed too late.

“咯咯咯咯…”

Above, from the center of the blazing fire, the silver-like, chilling laughter resounded again, echoing in his ears as if it were reverberating in the depths of his soul, exploding directly in his brain, piercing and clear.

Whoosh—

In his vision, the sharp holy lance swept past in a blink, shooting into the flames with a “whoosh,” merging silently into the blood ball, causing not even a ripple.

In the next moment, a blue-green arm wrapped in black mist and flowing flames suddenly stretched out from the intense karma fire.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

With a light swing of that arm, the surging dead smoke twisted like a python, darting towards the roof. In an instant, it swallowed the priest’s figure, then continued to twist and squirm as if it were a living creature, roaring towards its next prey.

Underneath the street, over a dozen knights had already turned their mounts around. Some were pressing their bodies against the beasts’ backs, starting to run westward toward the town. The scout knight named Ianlot ran at the rear, abruptly turning his head, opening his mouth as if he wanted to shout something to Lawrence.

Before his face could clearly appear in the eyes of the knight commander, the surging dead smoke already swept over the road from above, engulfing everyone and everything. The faint glow of the light shield flickered a few times in the black mist, followed by the sound of “hissing” and a few weak screams. In an instant, several wisps of white smoke rose up.

“Aha ha!”

In the intense bloodfire, that eerie laughter followed closely behind.

Lawrence’s eyes were bloodshot.

“Aaaaahhhhh!!!”

He watched the rapidly retreating dead smoke, the black fog rolling with dozens of rising white streams, which instantly retracted back into the blood orb, leaving only an empty, lifeless dirt path. The man stared at the scene, his eyes bulging, letting out a furious scream.

“You damned—”

It’s over…

“Ghost thing!!!”

Now, it’s all over…

Buzz buzz buzz…

A strong golden light burst forth from Lawrence’s body. He turned his mount back, his left hand brushing over the sword blade, and purple stars once again shimmered on the sharp edge. His expression was fierce, as if he had lost his mind, shouting “Ah!” and swinging his sword with all his might. The dazzling purple blade detached from the sword and shot towards the burning blood orb in the air.

He then tightly squeezed the beast’s back, closely following the light blade, raising his sword high, charging alone towards the unknown, terrifying monster within the egg-like sphere!

“Glorious in my heart, belief coexists with me, the enemy’s wails are our glory! Turn justice into a sword, defend the honor of the knight—”

Clack clack clack!

The hooves rang out on the yellow earth. At this moment, Lawrence on the beast’s back had no other thoughts. He seemed to have resolved himself to die, determined to cut down the monster hidden in the bloodfire, no matter what it was or how powerful, even if it meant his death, he would tear off a piece of flesh from it.

But in the next moment, the situation changed again.

Boom boom boom boom!!!

Lawrence did not know what happened. His eyes were fixed only on the floating egg-like sphere in the air. The light blade entering it did not cause any disturbance, but at the same time, a thunderous explosion suddenly erupted from the distant town!

That sounded like the direction where Lord Apfel and the female heretic were fighting. Before the man could turn his head to look, the shockwave reached this side. The ground shook violently, and the buildings still smoldering on both sides collapsed instantly. Amidst the dust, his unicorn suddenly stumbled, throwing him forward.

“Ugh…”

The man fell heavily to the ground, groaning as he rolled a few feet away from the flames before stopping. Struggling to his feet, he felt the fierce wind howling from afar, almost knocking him down again.

Through the swirling dust, he saw the unicorn’s leg broken, lying nearby, gasping and whinnying. His sword was nowhere to be seen, and his right arm throbbed painfully. Lawrence held his arm with one hand, struggling to open his eyes against the gusts. He saw the blood-red orb hovering in the air, and on it, the originally small crack…

seemed to be gradually widening.

Before he could see what was inside, a burning object, like a meteor, streaked low from a distant direction.