Chapter 48: Divine Word
“What is that?! Alert! Alert!”
Suddenly, the sentry shouted and blew the horn.
“Quick, everyone, grab your weapons and prepare for battle.”
Reflexively, Noah stood up and shouted loudly.
The warriors who had followed him on the expedition demonstrated exceptional military discipline; within just a few breaths, they had formed two rows of formations.
Then their bodies trembled violently.
Without needing the sentry to point it out, they saw the eerie blue flames igniting in the darkness.
Those who had participated in the campaign against the necromancer recognized this familiar flame.
“Be careful, it's a necromancer!” Noah roared, and his squire came out holding his armor to help him put it on.
“There's no time, raise your spears!”
The eerie blue flames surged forward, tracing a path through the night.
Pushing aside his squire, he drew his sword and stood with his shield.
With a “boom,” the eerie blue flames collided with the spears.
Without evading, under this impact, the front row's spears pierced through Fur's body.
“It hurts, it hurts so much.” Fur screamed, but his face showed a morbid joy.
“Pierce him!” Noah ordered, and the warriors on both sides thrust their spears through his body, lifting him high into the air with force.
“Hod!”
“Haah!” Hod let out a roar, leaped up, and swung his short-handled axe down hard, chopping at Fur's neck.
The sharp axe severed Fur's neck, leaving only a layer of skin preventing the head from falling.
“Is he dead?!”
Noah asked in surprise and doubt; given the speed at which the opponent had charged, he shouldn't have been subdued so easily.
“Jie hahaha, of course not dead.” The hanging head of Fur emitted a strange laugh.
Eerie blue flames emerged from the severed neck, pulling and reconnecting the head and neck.
He grabbed the spears embedded in his body with both hands and exerted a little force, breaking the spears.
“This is bad.” Noah's eyes trembled; his combat intuition as a prospective knight judged that this guy was not someone they could kill.
Moreover, that speed just now...
“Hod!” Without hesitation, he shouted, “Mount your horse and flee quickly, go find Knight Wolf, tell him I'm in trouble here.”
Hod's hand holding the axe trembled.
Having made the move himself, he naturally understood that his axe could chop a cow in half, let alone a human neck.
However, there was still a layer of skin uncut.
This was not right.
He heard Noah's voice and understood his meaning.
But Noah was the knight he had sworn to serve.
“Hod, obey my command! I am a knight, the head of the Hughes family.” Noah's angry roar came.
Hod no longer hesitated, threw down his axe, turned around to untie the terrified and struggling horse, mounted, and fled.
“Hod! Remember to tell my father that Noah has disappointed him.” Only the voice remained in his ears.
...
Flower Church, back room.
Corleon was writing a book explaining all things in the name of the Lord.
As for the book's title, he hadn't thought of it yet.
Suddenly, the candlelight in the room flickered.
Corleon's brows furrowed.
The spiritual power enhanced by the Commandment · Bishop sensed something amiss.
It felt like his spirit was being polluted.
Thinking of the believers outside wrapped in burlap, sleeping on the ground.
Corleon stood up, pressed down the parchment, and picked up the Holy Scriptures.
He pushed open the church door; outside was silent.
The night wind blew, and Corleon frowned.
His nose could smell a fishy stench.
Closing his eyes, when he opened them again, his eyes seemed to be tinged with gold.
“The Lord says, darkness cannot obscure the eyes.”
Even in the night, Corleon's vision was no different from daytime.
He could see the stacked stone bricks, the sleeping believers, and the excavated foundation.
Everything was normal, as if it were just his illusion.
No, it couldn't be an illusion; after receiving the Commandment · Bishop, he had the ability of revelation.
Corleon was very sure there was definitely something, and if it wasn't on the ground...
His heart suddenly pounded, a sense of danger arose.
Looking up, a dark mass pounced from the top of the church, like a predator.
He grabbed the cross on his chest and raised it high.
“The Lord says, the evil hiding in the dark cannot harm my servant.”
A thin film unfolded, but it was as solid as a brick wall, blocking the attack.
“What is this...” Corleon frowned.
It had bloated five limbs, besides its own mouth, there was a vertical mouth at the nose, revealing sharp teeth when opened.
At the eyes were two small mouths, showing crimson eyeballs when opened.
The ears were two mouths, with slender tongues extending and wriggling.
Its arms and legs were covered with mouths of various sizes.
But the most conspicuous was the large mouth on its belly, opened wide as if to swallow Corleon whole.
Only this thin film blocked the large mouth.
“Squeak, gurgle gurgle...” A low voice came, perhaps that guy was speaking.
“The Lord says, words should not be a barrier to communication.”
“Hunger, eat, hunger, eat, eat everything...” Corleon could understand the meaning of this voice.
“This is... gluttony?” Corleon didn't recognize this creature, but its behavior, this endless hunger, led him to name it thus.
“Then try this.” Saying that, the cross in Corleon's hand suddenly shone.
“The Lord says, let there be light.”
“Ruaaaa...” Gluttony let out a scream; under the illumination of the holy light, its body seemed to be burning.
Flames ignited, enveloping its bloated body.
The intense pain made Gluttony unable to press on the thin film; it released its large mouth, rolled off the film, with all its mouths opening and closing, gnawing on grass, soil, and wood chips.
And as it kept gnawing, its flesh continuously regenerated; although it couldn't extinguish the flames, it gradually reduced the burning fire, and its skin and flesh kept regenerating.
“The Lord says, I bless the earth to bear much fruit, not to be defiled by evil.” Saying this, Corleon stepped towards it, and with his steps, the turf trembled and sprouted buds; Gluttony's mouth bit into the soil as if biting into iron and stone, unable to swallow.
Corleon just approached step by step, watching its actions.
As if understanding that all this was caused by this detestable human before it, this pure restraint made Gluttony emit a fearful cry.
It rolled on the ground, pounced on the piled bricks.
“The Lord says, I bless the bricks made of fire and stone, so that evil cannot disturb.”
A squeaky, tooth-grinding sound; its teeth were shattered.
It wanted to crash through the bricks to escape, but the piled bricks seemed to have become one with the earth; even its impact couldn't move them at all.
“The Lord says, under the holy light, all evil shall be purified.” Corleon raised the Holy Scriptures and cross high.
A strong holy light rose, illuminating the church area brightly, and under this holy light, Gluttony screamed, its body curling up, its mouths opening and closing, biting its own flesh.
Golden holy flames enveloped Gluttony, continuously burning its body.
The dark skin was destroyed, revealing dark red flesh, using this flesh as fuel to burn, purifying the black bones.
The purification of the flames brought it pain, making it gnaw at itself even more.
This pain continued until its death.
Most of its body was self-devoured by Gluttony, and the remaining small part was completely burned by the holy fire, leaving no trace.