CA - Chapter 193
Chapter 193
According to Erin's investigation, there were a total of twenty-three Dark Formations within the Gosse Empire. Fifteen of them were still producing monsters, while the remaining eight had already been brought under the control of the Elf Race.
The Holy See only needed to deal with those fifteen, and the Gosse Empire could temporarily return to peace. However, to completely expel the darkness, they would still need to wait for the main formation within Witch City to be broken.
Erin had already figured out a method to resolve the Dark Formations, but it required a Red-robed Archbishop to execute. Although Reese wasn't particularly invested in expelling the darkness, she didn't slack off either, methodically dealing with them one by one under Erin's guidance.
Of the fifteen Dark Formations, resolving one took about three days. It was a time-consuming and exhausting project. Fortunately, Tang Qiu, whose Power of Light was nearing the level of a Red-robed Archbishop, and several other bishops were there to share Reese's burden.
While Reese, Tang Qiu, and the others were sealing the Dark Formations, the bishops who had come with them were not idle. They split into ten squads, leading Holy Knights and priests to begin a sweeping cleanup of the monsters within the Gosse Empire.
In just one short month, much of the black mist lingering over the skies of the Gosse Empire had dissipated, and the aura of darkness was gradually being suppressed by the aura of light.
The first place on the continent to see results in the expulsion of darkness was the Gosse Empire, followed by Setaya, where the Holy Son and Gabriel were stationed.
After receiving news that the Holy See's forces had been ambushed, the Holy Son, in a fit of rage, decided to postpone his trip to the Gru Empire and remain in Setaya to seal the Dark Formations there.
Setaya was a medium-sized country, vast and sparsely populated, yet the number of Dark Formations was no less than in the Gosse Empire.
Although the Holy Son's team lacked someone like Erin who understood Dark Formations, their overall strength was the greatest.
The Holy Son's Power of Light had never met the Pope's expectations, but this didn't mean he was weak. In fact, among the Red-robed Archbishops, his Power of Light was considered to be of a high standard.
After all, the Pope had tried every method imaginable to enhance his power. The only thing that disappointed the Pope was the Holy Son's inability to break through his bottleneck and learn the Forbidden Techniques.
Forbidden Techniques were a symbol of the Pope's authority and majesty.
The Holy Son didn't send anyone to investigate the distribution of Dark Formations in Setaya. He simply chose the nearest one and ordered everyone to bombard it directly with light magic.
Although the method was simple and crude, it was highly effective. With the Holy Son and Gabriel overseeing the operation, they spent five days and finally destroyed one Dark Formation.
But the Holy Son was not satisfied with this, believing it had taken far too long.
"Speed it up," the Holy Son said with a cold face, standing on a hastily built high platform and looking at the Dark Formation, which was nearly submerged in light magic but still struggling to resist. "How long are you going to drag this out?"
The dark vortex above the formation had already been blasted apart by light magic. The bloody swamp had gathered to form a beast over ten meters tall, which was now furiously waving its arms under the barrage of spells.
Gabriel finished chanting the last line of his spell, and a golden light shot toward the blood beast. Half of the beast's body was eroded by the golden light. It struggled defiantly but ultimately dissolved back into a swamp.
He glanced at the subdued beast and lowered his staff. "Soon. This formation will be destroyed in two days."
The Holy Son stood with his hands behind his back, his expression already showing impatience. "These rats that should be living underground actually dare to challenge the authority of the Holy See."
He commanded a nearby Holy Knight, "Send word to the other Red-robed Archbishops. Give them two months to deal with the Dark Formations in the three great empires and nine principalities."
He could no longer wait to go to Witch City and wipe out this nest of rats.
The Holy Knight accepted the order and departed. Gabriel glanced at the Holy Son, his eyes deepening for a moment, but when he spoke, his tone was as respectful and gentle as ever. "It is getting late, Your Highness. You should go back and rest. I will keep watch here."
The Holy Son was already tired of waiting. Gabriel's words eased his grim expression slightly. "Mm, thank you for your hard work. If anything happens, send someone to report to me."
Gabriel bowed slightly and agreed with a smile. He watched the Holy Son leave, and only after he was out of sight did the smile on his lips slowly fade.
Abel walked up the high platform from below, frowning as he looked toward the Dark Formation. "Why did His Highness leave? If he took action, we could resolve this faster."
They couldn't stay in this small country forever. Besides, according to the information from Rona and the others, the Black Witches were about to make a new move.
Abel sighed inwardly. He had worked so hard to climb to this position in the Holy See. He couldn't let the Black Witches' actions lead to the Holy See's downfall. All his years of effort would be for nothing.
Gabriel caressed the staff in his hand and said faintly, "The Holy Son is already bored."
The Holy Son had never had a long attention span. Having served him for over a decade, Gabriel knew his temperament like the back of his hand.
Abel frowned but said nothing.
Gabriel put away his staff, turned to Abel, and said, "Send someone to the Gosse Empire to contact the Holy Knight I had you plant there. Give him this scroll; he'll know what to do."
He took a pitch-black scroll from his Space Gem and handed it to Abel. Wisps of dark energy swirled around it.
Abel wasn't surprised that Gabriel produced a scroll containing dark energy; it wasn't the first time he had seen it.
He took the scroll, feeling the intensity of the Power of Darkness emanating from it, and his heart grew heavy.
Abel stood motionless, drawing a curious glance from Gabriel. "What is it?"
"Nothing." Abel composed himself and bowed naturally. "I'll go make the arrangements now."
He turned and left. As he descended the high platform, his expression slowly darkened. Was Gabriel planning to make a move against Reese?
But the golden-haired bishop was also with Reese... Abel rubbed the scroll in his hand, his brow furrowed tightly, and it remained so for a long time.
The Gosse Empire was vast. After sealing a Dark Formation, cleaning up the surrounding monsters was another massive undertaking. Monica was responsible for clearing out the monsters in the southwestern part of the empire with several other bishops. The number of monsters was simply too great. As if stimulated by the sealing of the Dark Formations, they constantly tried to attack nearby cities.
Protected by Holy Knights, Monica chanted her spells. After eliminating another wave of monsters, she paused to wipe the sweat from her forehead, then took out a bottle of Holy Water of Light and drank it to restore her nearly depleted spiritual energy.
They had been working continuously for over ten days. It was exhausting, but more than half of the monsters had been eliminated.
Just a few more days... Monica raised a hand to rub her temples. Tang Qiu and... Reese had it even harder than she did.
A hand gently tapped her shoulder. Monica turned in confusion and saw one of the bishops who was also in charge of this area.
Monica frowned and asked, "What is it?"
"A Holy Knight is looking for you. It seems he was sent by Archbishop Reese."
The male bishop pointed to an empty space nearby, where several Holy Knights were indeed standing.
Monica glanced in the direction he indicated and, without suspicion, put away the empty bottle in her hand. "I see," she said faintly, turning to walk over.
The male bishop stared at her back with a strange expression, but it vanished quickly.
"Where is Monica going?" someone asked, noticing Monica leaving with the Holy Knights.
The male bishop turned back, his expression normal again, and said with a smile, "It seems the Holy Son sent someone to find Bishop Monica."
"The Holy Son?"
"Yes, it seems the Holy Son intends to promote Bishop Monica, so he probably wants to keep her by his side for observation."
"Ah... that's truly enviable."
Monica walked with the unfamiliar Holy Knights for a while, noticing that their surroundings were becoming increasingly remote. A sense of alarm grew within her. She stopped and demanded coldly, "Who are you?"
The Holy Knight turned to face her and said with a blank expression, "Archbishop Reese sent us to escort you."
Monica sneered. "Is that so? Then I'll go ask her myself."
The guards who had been following Monica moved to protect her. Monica took out her staff and began to chant a spell.
The faces of the few Holy Knights changed slightly. They exchanged a look and drew the longswords from their waists.
Flames of light descended from the sky, trapping the Holy Knights. The knights Reese had specially chosen to protect Monica, realizing something was wrong, emerged from the shadows, drew their swords, and leaped into the circle of light, clashing with the other Holy Knights.
The sudden appearance of these knights startled Monica for a moment, but seeing they were not with the enemy, she slowly relaxed.
She held her staff high and continued to chant. A cold wind suddenly swept over her, making her shiver. A thick red mist silently enveloped them. Monica's arm grew heavy, and her staff slipped from her grasp, falling to the ground.
The flames of light were extinguished by the blood mist. Four slender figures emerged from within it, their bodies and faces concealed by black robes, revealing only pairs of eerie, blood-red eyes.
"...Vampires." Monica's heart lurched. Her hand moved toward the Space Gem at her waist, but before she could touch it, a hand seized her by the throat. Her face turned crimson as she struggled for a few moments before her eyelids grew heavy and she passed out.
The vampire caught the unconscious Monica and said in a low voice to the others, "Kill them."
The other vampires raised their hands slightly, black energy gathering in their palms. The Power of Darkness condensed into arrows that pierced the necks of the guards rushing over to save her.
Blood sprayed onto the ground, and the guards quickly became corpses.
One knight reacted faster. Seeing that a rescue was hopeless, he turned to flee and raise the alarm, but he was trapped within the Blood Domain, unable to escape. His sword of light only managed to tear a small slit in the blood-red mist.
This was the Blood Domain of a 4th Generation Vampire...
In just a few breaths, all the guards and knights had become cold corpses. The vampires handed Monica over to the Holy Knight sent by Gabriel, then retracted the Blood Domain and vanished into the darkness.
The Holy Knight took out a scroll, unfurled it, and disappeared from the spot with Monica.
After the blood-red mist dissipated, only a field of corpses remained. The air was thick with the rich scent of blood. A few monsters, lured by the smell of flesh and blood, found their way to the scene. They grabbed the bodies on the ground and devoured them. Soon, aside from crimson blood and some bone fragments, nothing else was left. No one would ever know what had happened here.
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