35: Chapter 35 The Source of the Church's Strength

Under the bright moonlight, a steed galloped wildly along the narrow dirt road.

The Believer, acting under the orders of Bishop Charlie, felt it was still too slow and swung his long whip hard to urge the horse to run faster.

He estimated that at the current speed, he would likely arrive at Bala City by sunrise tomorrow.

Before he could collect his thoughts, the Believer suddenly heard the chaotic sound of hoofbeats coming from ahead.

As the sound drew closer, he saw eight horses.

When they were not far away and he could see the people on horseback clearly, the Believer yanked the reins, causing the horse to rear up on its front hooves.

Before it even landed, the Believer vaulted off the horse, pressed his right hand against his left chest, knelt on one knee, and saluted the group that had stopped: "Bishop Haige, greetings."

"Are you a Believer from the Kas Town branch?" asked the middle-aged man in a bright red robe who was leading the group.

"Yes, Bishop Haige." The Believer lowered his head and answered, feeling puzzled in his heart as to why the Bishop was rushing toward Kas Town overnight.

Haige glanced at the bright moon and asked him: "Are you planning to go to Bala City? What is the matter?"

Hurriedly standing up and handing over the letter from his bosom, the Believer explained: "A heretic has appeared in Kas Town, and they are powerful. Bishop Charlie needs reinforcements."

"A heretic?"

Haige's expression remained calm, though he found it inexplicably amusing. Do I not know what kind of person Charlie is?

Did he provoke someone he couldn't afford to offend while extorting money?

Taking the letter, Haige couldn't be bothered to open it: "I know. You may return first."

"As you command, Bishop Haige." The Believer got back on his horse and returned the way he came.

As the figure moved away, a Believer in light armor behind Haige squeezed his horse's flanks with his legs to move forward a few steps: "Bishop Haige, shall we deal with the heretic first, or shall we first search for..."

"Ignore him. Charlie is cautious by nature; he won't step a foot outside the town before we arrive at Kas Town. If he really lost his mind and walked out of the town, then he is just courting his own death."

"As for the person he provoked." Haige chuckled, "On the Saul Continent, no one dares to violate the Church's rules in human settlements..."

A milky white light suddenly erupting from inside his robe interrupted his confident statement.

The seven Believers looked toward the light source simultaneously, their expressions as shocked as if they had seen a deceased loved one come back to life.

Haige pulled out the crystal ball emitting the milky white light from his bosom, his tone filled with disbelief: "The True Word Spell cast upon the statue of god in the Kas Town church has been activated?"

Rage rose simultaneously in the hearts of all eight men.

If a bishop in a remote town were killed in the wilderness, they would have no interest in wasting effort to investigate the culprit.

But the activation of the True Word Spell meant that the local church bishop had encountered an enemy in the church that he could not defeat.

"How dare they violate the church rules! heretic! I will tie him to a cross and burn him to ashes with the most intense flames in the world!"

Haige raised his long whip above his head and lashed it fiercely against his horse's rump, charging madly toward Kas Town, with the seven Believers following closely behind.

... Kas Town church.

Zhang Mu, standing in the middle of the courtyard, watched the fist-sized pure white orb of light flying toward him and nearly laughed himself to death.

Flipping through books and chanting divine punishments, is that it?

He didn't choose to dodge; he waved his staff lightly, a Fireball Spell appeared before him, and it shot straight at the orb of light.

The two collided and exploded in mid-air, with flames and shockwaves rippling outwards.

Charlie and Zhang Mu simultaneously chose to stir their Mental Energy to offset the aftermath of the shockwave.

The ordinary Believer, standing a few steps away from the center of the impact, was unsurprisingly blown away, landing in a flower bed, his life or death unknown.

Charlie, on this side, narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself that it was indeed as he had guessed—an Apprentice Magician.

The mana of a Magic Apprentice would not be enough for a Fireball Spell to resist his amplified Holy Light Orb.

Believing he had confirmed that Zhang Mu's strength was exactly as he had thought, the last bit of panic in Charlie's heart was replaced by confidence.

He turned a page of the white book in his hand: "Even the merciful light can be angry. Oh light, transform into an invincible longsword, pierce the enemy, Light Sword Slash!"

The pure white light condensed into a longsword, leaving streaks of afterimages in the air as it thrust straight at Zhang Mu's forehead.

"Useless trash."

Even with the light sword almost upon him, Zhang Mu still had the presence of mind to curse Charlie.

Common sense from Avril's little classroom—needing to chant spells to assist in casting magic means the caster's proficiency with that magic is extremely low.

As a member of the Church, needing to use an incantation to help cast a spell within his own level meant all his years of training had gone to the dogs.

Zhang Mu raised his staff, and mana surged like a torrent into the crystal at the top.

Three fireballs appeared simultaneously, crashing into the light sword like a string of pearls.

He had to admit that the blessing magic from the statue of god really had something to it; when the Fireball Spell and the light sword were of the same level, the latter directly pierced and dissipated the former.

Its momentum did not weaken in the slightest, and it continued to thrust toward Zhang Mu.

No wonder no one dared to defy the Church.

Zhang Mu's expression was strange; such a piece of useless trash had been forcefully amplified by the blessing magic to surpass himself, who possessed the "Genius Magician" character template.

Fortunately, I am not some genius magician; I am a cheater.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Mu mobilized his mana again and condensed a fireball.

"It's useless. Go and meet my god." The three fireballs being pierced and dissipated by the light sword gave Charlie immense confidence.

However, the fireball did not rush out immediately; it shrank rapidly, going from the size of a basketball to a fist, and the flame color changed from fiery red to pure white.

"Go."

The pure white fireball, which looked completely unremarkable, collided once again with the light sword that was tearing through the air.

There was no explosion, nor was there any light.

The light sword was like Ice and Snow encountering a scorching sun; starting from the tip that struck the fireball, it melted section by section toward the hilt, turning into countless specks of light that dissipated into the air.

The pure white fireball continued to drift toward Charlie. It wasn't very fast, but Charlie jumped away as if he had been bitten on the buttocks by a dog.

However, under the control of Zhang Mu's Mental Energy, the fireball made a direct turn to chase him.

Seeing that he couldn't dodge it, Charlie suddenly threw the white book in his hand, smashing the fireball and causing it to explode.

Of course, the white book distributed by the Church was also damaged, falling to the ground with a charred cover.

"Do you have any more of those?" Zhang Mu waved his staff, and another pure white fireball condensed. His free hand pointed at the black-covered book on the ground. "If not, you can just wait to die."

"Heh, wait to die?"

Charlie brushed the dirt off the surface of his white robe, which had been kicked up by the recent explosion: "On the Saul Continent, no one has dared to fight a bishop inside a church for ten thousand years."

"This has caused you to forget the source of the Church's power."

Although using the True Word Spell on the statue of god would lead to his memories being inspected and everything he had done over the years being exposed, it was still better than losing his life.

Damn magician, your bones will just have to endure being pecked by birds and devoured by insects in the wilderness while watching me be punished.

Charlie stretched his hands out to the sides into a "one" shape, his expression solemn: "I implore the gods, grant me power."

In the church where the statue of god was placed, a beam of peerless light pierced through the walls and enveloped Charlie.

The light was indifferent yet merciful, scorching yet cold. Standing within it, he looked as if a god had descended.

Charlie felt the strange energy circulating within his body. Smiling, he raised his right index finger and pointed it at Zhang Mu: "Although it can only be used once, it is enough to take your life."

His voice was ethereal and distant, as if it were falling from the sky onto the earth: "God says, you must die!"