215: He died and he lived again!

Within the Formation, the battle had reached a fever pitch.

Of the four Judgment Knights, only two were still desperately holding on.

Their Holy Light shields had long since shattered, and their once-proud, finely crafted armor was now covered in hideous claw marks and cracks, its luster gone.

One of them had a bone spear from a black mist Cursed Spirit piercing his chest, black blood continuously gushing from the wound, his life force rapidly draining away.

"Holy Light... why...?" He clutched the Holy Emblem on his chest, feeling his life ebb away, the last glimmer in his unfocused eyes the ashes of collapsing faith.

The other Knight was in no better state; his hand, gripping his greatsword, trembled ceaselessly, each swing appearing so weak.

The power of Holy Light was receding from their bodies.

Father Leo was in the most disheveled state.

His hair was disheveled, and the erosion of resentment had left half of his body numb.

He continuously chanted holy words, attempting to summon Holy Light to purify the surrounding Cursed Spirits, but what answered him were only increasingly sparse points of light.

His faith, in the face of the threat of death, began to waver, to collapse.

"No! I cannot die here!" Father Leo's eyes gleamed with madness, "I am the Lord's most beloved servant! I am destined to be promoted to Bishop, to wield authority over a region!"

"How can I die in such a filthy place!"

He glanced at the Wraith Aggregate in the sky, resembling a Demon God, then stared at the endless black mist Cursed Spirits surrounding him.

Fear.

Unwillingness.

He made a desperate decision.

"By my devout Soul, by my pure blood, I humbly invite Holy Light to descend and burn away all evil in this world!"

Father Leo raised his staff high, bit his tongue, and spat a mouthful of vital blood onto the crystal at the top of the staff!

Buzz--!

That crystal, which had been dim, erupted with dazzling golden light after absorbing his vital blood, its brightness overshadowing the giant crimson eye in the sky!

A terrifying energy fluctuation spread out from the staff!

"Father Leo! No!" The two remaining Judgment Knights cried out in horror.

They recognized this Spell.

This was "Holy Light Sacrifice," one of the Church's forbidden Spells!

It exchanged powerful strength for a short period by burning the caster's Soul and life!

Once cast, regardless of victory or defeat, the caster's Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and even the qualification to enter the Lord's divine kingdom would be stripped away.

Inside the hotel room, Mo Yan's eyes reflected the brilliant golden light.

"Using the Soul as fuel, squeezing out the last bit of value? It's just like how they treat the villagers."

Beside him, Bai Lingyue's delicate brows furrowed slightly, and she let out a soft hum: "Adult, this power is very overbearing, forcibly detonating the energy balance here. The first layer of illusion Formation I set is about to be broken through."

Despite her words, her fingertips merely lightly formed a hand seal, and a stream of Spiritual Qi entered the ground.

Instantly, the illusion, which had begun to distort and flicker, immediately stabilized, remaining perfectly still around the hotel no matter how the Holy Light storm raged outside, as if isolated from the world.

"A bit interesting," Bai Lingyue licked her lips, her amber pupils gleaming with excitement, "This Holy Light power burned his Soul into the purest energy."

"But it's also like a key, opening his connection to this land of resentment. His humanity was burned away, and the empty shell just happened to become the best vessel for resentment."

"It's somewhat similar to the Demon Race."

At this moment, Father Leo couldn't care less.

"All of you, die! You filthy monsters! Despicable heretics!" He was like a madman, his expression twisted and ferocious.

Golden Holy Light, centered on him, formed a violent energy storm that swept in all directions!

Those black mist Cursed Spirits who bore the brunt of it, upon contact with this destructive Holy Light storm, didn't even have time to scream before turning into wisps of green smoke.

Roar--!

An extremely mournful wail echoed through the night sky; one of the Wraith Aggregate's crimson giant eyes was actually burned into a smoking hole by the Holy Light!

Its massive body trembled violently, countless twisted Cursed Spirits were peeled away from its body, dissipating in the golden light.

The power of the Holy Light storm exceeded Father Leo's own expectations, and also exceeded the expectations of the Formation setter.

The storm came quickly and went quickly.

When the last wisp of golden light dissipated, the entire battlefield fell into a dead silence.

Centered on Father Leo, a huge scorched pit, over fifty meters in diameter, appeared on the ground; everything within the pit was purified, not a trace of resentment could be felt.

And the Wraith Aggregate was also heavily wounded, its massive body shrunk by nearly half, its aura weak, suspended in mid-air, its sole remaining eye fixed on the center of the pit.

The two Judgment Knights, having managed to hide behind Father Leo in time, narrowly escaped, but they were also thoroughly shaken and disheveled by the aftershock.

They tremblingly got up and looked towards the center of the pit.

Father Leo was still standing.

However, his appearance at this moment was more terrifying than a demon.

His luxurious clerical robe had turned to ash, all the flesh and blood in his body seemed to have been drained, his skin clinging tightly to his bones like dried jerky, his entire person emaciated beyond recognition, like a dried corpse that had just crawled out of a grave.

The flame of life within him had completely extinguished.

"Father Leo... he..." One Knight's voice trembled.

He was dead.

As the price for casting the forbidden Spell, his Soul and life had been completely burned away by the Holy Light.

Just when everyone thought it was all over.

A completely different aura slowly emanated from Father Leo's "corpse."

It was a cold, deathly, and utterly life-hating... undead aura!

Crack!

Crack, crack!

Father Leo's shriveled body let out a crisp sound of bones grinding.

His skull-like head slowly lifted.

In his eye sockets, two sickly green flames suddenly ignited!

His skin was no longer dry and yellow, but rapidly turned a lifeless grayish-white, even showing faint corpse spots.

On his shriveled fingers, his nails grew wildly, becoming long and black, like sharp claws.

He wasn't dead.

At the moment of his death, he was transformed into another form of existence by this land full of resentment and death!

An undead!

He felt the cold power surging within him, completely opposite to Holy Light, and he felt his immense craving for flesh and Soul.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands, which had already turned into sharp claws.

He showed no fear, no anger.

Instead...

"Heh... heh heh..."

A hoarse, dry laugh escaped his now lipless mouth.

The laughter grew louder and more frantic, finally turning into a wild cackle that echoed throughout Black Crow Town!

"Haha... Hahahahaha!"

"My Lord did not abandon me! No!"

"This is not punishment! This is a gift! It is eternal life!!"

His voice was no longer human, but carried the hollow resonance unique to the undead, filled with madness and twisted joy.

In front of the sky-high black mist and the heavily wounded Wraith Aggregate, an undead, freshly transformed from a Father, was laughing wildly at his "new life."

This scene was utterly bizarre.