Chapter 195: Land of Dragons (Part Two)
I was momentarily stunned, “What? You mean…?”
Eye of the Ancient God? Sounds fancy, but what on earth is that? Some miracle that could fly all of us there directly?
Stopping the beast’s hooves, I shot an inquiring look at Jeffrey Priest, but the man ignored my question, dismounting and waving his hand to the three clerics, “Come on, right here, let’s wager the honor of the Faith Organization. We’ll escort Lady Silvya to the ruins.”
With that said, he glanced back at the red light in the sky, as if confirming something. Behind him, the clerics exchanged uncertain glances, frozen in place, their expressions a mix of fear and hesitation.
I furrowed my brow at them.
What’s going on…?
“Jeffrey Priest, do you want to…?”
“Sir Priest—”
Almost as if we were in sync, the young cleric next to me clenched his fists, his voice a bit hoarse, “Do we really have to go through with this…?”
Hearing this, Jeffrey stepped closer, looking seriously at the pale, dry-lipped young cleric sitting atop the beast. After a moment of solemnity, he took a deep breath.
“Everyone down.”
He turned to me, “Lady Silvya, you returned from the Southern border, so it was Pope who activated the Divine Reliquary ‘World,’ sending you directly to the teleportation point at the Woodward Forest border. Am I right?”
“Uh-huh…”
I nodded, my mind buzzing slightly.
Could it be they could teleport too?
“To follow this, we’ll use the same method to send you near the ruins,” Jeffrey Priest said in a grave tone, validating my guess. “Just now, I suddenly remembered that around ten days ago, our scholars began establishing a teleport node around the ruins. This node was initially intended for future assessments of the ruins and the Land of Dragons, to save His Holiness time and labor, and to have an emergency measure in place.”
“I’m not sure whether the teleport node is complete after ten days, especially since when those heretics attacked, many scholars couldn’t escape and most have perished. My mission to find you was hurried, so I couldn’t confirm these details. However, I think we can take a gamble…”
“…Gamble?”
So, if that node was completed, he might have a way to send me there.
But isn’t that ‘World’ still with Angel…?
“How do you plan to do this?”
I turned, using all fours to climb down from the beast, catching a glimpse of the three clerics still lingering atop, either worried or scared. Seeing this, Jeffrey turned back to them, looking up.
“What, scared?”
He sneered.
“…Not scared!”
One of the clerics seemed provoked; he jumped off the beast and approached Jeffrey with clenched fists, determination glaring in his eyes.
“Very good.”
Jeffrey nodded at the cleric, looking at the other two.
“And you two?”
Faced with his question, the other two gradually lowered their heads.
“Sir Priest…”
The youngest cleric mumbled, trembling slightly.
“That sound just now may not necessarily be… a precursor to the Land of Dragons awakening. It could just be a false alarm. We… we could still ride the beasts and maybe… maybe we’d have time…”
“You look me in the eyes and say that!”
Jeffrey suddenly barked, causing that cleric to shudder, stammering and too afraid to look him in the eye again.
“You are part of the Holy Church Faith Organization! The most trusted saints of the people! Don’t you know when to act? Don’t you have that level of awareness?!”
The elder priest’s voice echoed through the forest. I stood to the side, sensing something wasn’t right. This so-called ‘Eye of the Ancient God’ miracle might not be as simple as it sounds. So, I stepped forward and asked him seriously, “First, clarify this for me. What method, what’s going on?”
“It’s our duty, Lady Silvya.”
Jeffrey replied quickly, not even glancing at me, “The Eye of the Ancient God was originally a miracle to assist ‘World’ for teleportation and positioning, a miracle every member of the Faith Organization must grasp. Without ‘World’ as a medium, achieving success does entail some cost. However, since the distance from here to the ruins isn’t too far, we can bear that cost. You need not worry any further.”
…So, you’re saying you plan to force a teleport without ‘World’?
Is that even doable?
I furrowed my brows deeper, “What exactly do you…?”
“Our task is to ensure we bring you to the ruins before the demon awakens, no matter the cost.”
Jeffrey abruptly interrupted me: “And your task is to end the source of the Gate of Truth’s power, to completely eliminate that demon, and bring peace back to this world, ensuring those heretics lose their power to wreak havoc. This is something only you can do! Compared to the responsibility you bear, what we sacrifice is inconsequential!”
The dawn light illuminated the man’s resolute face, determination gleaming in his eyes.
The horned horse neighed loudly, and the second cleric dismounted silently, positioning himself beside Jeffrey. He raised his head, thumped his chest with his right fist, and offered us the highest of honors: “I’m willing to sacrifice everything for glory, my Lord!”
“Good!”
Jeffrey looked at him, suddenly smiling.
“Lady Silvya, see? Our young gentleman from the Faith Organization, an excellent cleric, he’s already ready. Now, allow me, allow them, to fulfill the sacred duty bestowed by the Holy Church.”
The man turned to me, speaking earnestly, “I beg you.”
“……”
Faced with such earnestness, I opened my mouth but found myself speechless.
Fine then, I’ll trust them…
“Okay.”
I nodded, taking two steps back.
Jeffrey then turned to the last trembling young cleric still on the beast. The lad didn’t seem much younger than me, and to be in the Faith Organization at such an age, he must have considerable talent and a noteworthy family background.
“Oxie…”
Jeffrey called his name, and I noticed the cleric’s hand trembling even more.
At that moment, another thunderous sound, like a mountain collapsing, roared again, making the ground tremble. The horned horse panicked and neighed, one even bolted away. I instinctively shrank my shoulders, swinging around quickly to witness the distant crimson sky darkening further.
Amidst clouds seemingly stained with bl**d, deep purple lightning surged and twisted, causing a terrifying spectacle that scattered the air. Such power didn’t belong to order, nor perhaps to miracles— it was something I’d never seen before, and it weighed on everyone’s hearts like a stone.
“No time! Prepare to chant!”
Jeffrey dismissed the hesitating cleric, quickly organizing the other two, forming a triangle around me, their hands clasped before their chests.
“Lady Silvya, please stand between us!”
The priests urged me. I rushed over, the incantation starting before I even steadied myself. The ancient, awkward syllables flowed beautifully from their lips, a sacred and solemn hymn. Golden radiance quietly bloomed from their praying figures, and the air around us seemed to freeze for a moment before distorting, waves of dizziness hitting my brain, akin to the sensation during a teleport with ‘World.’
“Ugh…”
I couldn’t help but clutch my forehead.
Here we go…
Golden sparkles, like countless fireflies, drifted from the three clerics, spiraling around me. The brilliant light reflected in my pupils, growing ever so blinding as I squinted. Just then, I heard a desperate shout.
“Sir Priest, it’s my shame that I’ve brought disgrace upon the Faith Organization! I’m sorry—!”
Amidst the shout, I faintly saw the youngest cleric rush over, standing in the golden light, teary-eyed, but whether those were tears stirred by the brightness or not, I couldn’t tell. Before I could confirm it, he had bowed his head and started praying, joining the others in their chant.
I felt so dizzy…
Buzz—
The humming of the miracle assaulted my ears, and the dizzying sensation intensified. I gritted my teeth to endure as I slowly felt my feet leave the ground. At that moment of weightlessness, golden light enveloped everyone and everything around me. My vision abruptly whitened, and all negative sensations washed away like a tide, leaving me with a ‘thud’ as I landed, plopping down on my b*tt, my head still spinning. Struggling, I half-sat up, opening my eyes desperately to glance around.
The golden light was fading.
The environment before me had changed.
Thud, thud, thud.
Before I could even process where I was now, I heard three heavy thuds hitting the ground. I momentarily froze, my gaze instinctively following the nearby sound.
Just a few steps away, a cleric had collapsed, his golden and white cleric robes billowing as he fell, then slowly fluttering down.
!
What’s happening…
Did we succeed or fail… why is he…?
Dazed, I stood up slowly, my vision sweeping around, noticing the other two clerics also laid out, faces down. I couldn’t see their faces, but I realized their bodies were twitching, bl**d seeping from beneath them, soaking their golden robes and staining the earth.
“Hey…”
I walked over to one of them.
“Cough…”
He seemed still alive, coughing lightly. I quickly knelt down, flipping his body over— it was the face of the youngest cleric.
His eyes were glazed over, bl**d oozing from his nose, mouth, and ears, mixing with the dirt on his cheeks, looking as if he were on the brink of d*ath.
“Sir Priest…”
His voice was feeble, barely audible.
“I’m sorry… I… shamed the Faith Organization… forgive me…”
“Hey…”
I felt utterly lost.
What’s happening…?
“Oxie, you did well… you’re a good kid…”
Suddenly, Jeffrey’s voice rang behind me.
In a daze, I turned around.
The man stood not far away.
But like the clerics, bl**d was gushing from his mouth and nostrils, spraying out like a fountain, splattering on his collar and the ground, a shocking sight to behold.
“You are all the best kids… the church’s finest saints… your names, your glory… will be remembered by the world…”
Pfft—
The man’s eye burst open.
That scarlet, viscous bl**d sprayed onto the ground less than a meter from me. I stood dumbfounded, my head buzzing wildly, until I finally heard the thud of the man collapsing to the ground, suddenly jolting upright.
“Why, what’s happening?!” I shouted at Jeffrey.
The price…
Is that price your lives…?
“Didn’t you say the cost could be borne?! You all…”
No one told me… it would turn out like this…
“Ha, ha… cough cough…”
Jeffrey knelt on the ground, his body swaying, the once steadfast expression now vanished, scary sockets where his eyes should be, bl**d streaming down from his mouth, trailing like threads across the earth.
Yet, he smiled.
“Yeah…”
His voice was hoarse and weak, looking like he was on the verge of d*ath, yet he smiled at me.
“We… didn’t we succeed…?”
I stood frozen for two full seconds before I grasped what he meant.
So, the cost they could bear… was the sacrifice of their lives to sustain the miracle’s operation, enabling transfer without ‘World’ as a medium…?
Dazed, I stood up, rubbing my aching eyes again, and glanced around once more.
Rotting, blackened soil, twisted giant dead trees; on the gnarled branches, some golden cloth strips fluttered, with the tips fastening fist-sized orbs, the golden veins still shimmering around the orbs— this was the teleport node the priest mentioned, and we had made it.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
Above me, the bl**d-dyed clouds twisted with purple lightning.
We did indeed arrive…
But the clerics who brought me here… were all dying.
“Silvya… Lady…”
Jeffrey trembled, pulling out a slightly smaller golden orb from his chest, tossing it to the ground.
In a moment, dazzling light burst from the orb, “Whoosh,” it let out a sharp whine as the Light of MaFa shot into the sky, exploding like the fireworks from Saint Brun’s Festival, a blurred vision.
“I, Jeffrey… did not disgrace… the honor… and the awareness of being a saint…”
In that blooming spectacle, Jeffrey crumpled, tumbling into the rotting black mud. His fading words seemed to drift from the bl**d-soaked mire.
“Our mission… is complete now… and the rest… is up to you… dear… Pope Knight…”
“Please… go to the Land of Dragons… eliminate… the heretics… eliminate the demon… and may this world’s creatures… be saved… by you…”
