Chapter 141: Haze Extermination Dead City (Three)
——Where’s Carlos?
Following my thoughts, my eyes started scanning the wreckage below, trying to spot that signature lightning-striking silhouette. Yet, everywhere I looked were collapsed walls, ruined houses, battle-scarred streets, and scattered corpses— shockingly, the devastation here was even more tragic than outside the city.
This is—
“Holy crab…”
Clearly, this was a brutal and prolonged battle.
What my eyes beheld indicated that some destruction seemed to date back at least a month or two, with half-burnt houses now covered in a snowstorm of dust that blanketed everything in sight.
Then there were the fresh scars, like they’d only just been carved into existence in the last few days. Among those wrecks, a few gigantic craters stood out, like nature’s striking performance art, scattered to the northwest of the city, each boasting a radius of over a hundred meters and depths rivaling our deepest fears, obliterating entire streets and decimating what once looked bustling.
At the center of those giant craters, stood a platinum-encrusted high tower, the lone skyscraper that still dared to defy gravity, with a long sky bridge extending from its back, soaring above the ruins, disappearing into the ominous gray fog, leading who knows where.
On the other side, to the south-southeast of the high tower, was what had once looked like the most prosperous area of the Holy City, now in shambles, a sad ghost town devoid of life.
Towering over there was a massive and striking golden building resembling a church, with a gigantic square in front of it, bearing the remnants of battle cries echoing through its expanse, making its emptiness even more haunting.
To the east of the city, not too far from the church, scattered ruins revealed the ghostly remains of something massive, resembling the skeletal remains of some ancient beast—white bones sticking out from the rubble, bent ribs, in a horrifying display of decay.
Even further, a section of the city wall had collapsed, not from an external assault but as if it had been shattered from within, golden bricks scattered outside, blending into the holy light.
The traces of destruction seemed to have radiated from behind that high tower, a wave of energy busting through everything, smashing the enormous skeletons, reducing buildings below into piles of scrap, and finally bursting forth through the city walls, vanishing into a glowing void, leaving a deep chasm of ruin etched into this city.
To the west, the walls lay severed in several places, with flags fluttering forlornly, but not a single soul to be found.
Above me, clouds like swirling black smoke rolled ominously.
Golden holy light pierced through the clouds, casting a surreal brightness over a city that was dead yet daubed in ghastly hues—so strange it felt like a prelude to something worse, something lurking beneath the silence.
——Apocalypse.
As this unfolding panorama settled into my mind like an overcooked noodle, the first thought that popped into my head was one of panic—where on earth is everyone?
d*mn it, where are the people…?
In a city this size, there doesn’t seem to be a living soul in sight…
This can’t be true…
I was speechless and utterly shocked, not even remotely prepared for this level of chaos, no matter how bad things got.
Where’s Angel?
Where’s St. George?
Sword Saint Ryan, Magipanny, Tarlasya, Sword Demon, Sharman, Doctor Romani, those two Cardinals, The Choir of Saints, the Faith Organization, the nobility of the city, so many clerics, and the Pope Knights—anyone, really! Where are they?!
Where the heck did everyone go???
In my overwhelming confusion, I barely noticed where I had landed; everything around me was basically just rubble. I stood there in the middle of ruins, my gaze somewhat lost as I patted the dust off my clothes.
After what felt like an eternity, I noticed a flash of lightning in the southern direction, its glow threading through the same wreckage. My vision clicked back, remembering that Carlos had entered the city before me, so he should be nearby.
I took a Moon Step closer, ready to search when suddenly I heard a call: “Hey, over here.”
Following the voice, I spotted Carlos, clad in shiny silver armor, hair tied back, standing atop a collapsed wall of a high-rise, hand resting on his sword hilt, frowning down at a scroll map.
I landed beside him, still feeling a bit disoriented, and forced myself to suppress my anxiety, instinctively rising on my toes to peek at the map with him.
This map of the Holy City came from Viki; I guessed she snagged it from St. George. Unlike the usual maps, it marked several crucial landmarks of the churches and their internal structures.
Landmarks like the Temple Church, which everyone knew, along with details that weren’t publicly disclosed, including the distribution and entrance points of the Underground Prison.
The map was originally pretty clear, but now Carlos stared at it with a furrowed brow, hesitating as he compared it to the devastated surroundings, occasionally glancing up at the wrecked cityscape, his face growing even grimmer.
Many marked areas, routes, and landmarks used as reference points had become unrecognizable due to the destruction— at least half had turned into nondescript piles of mess.
After watching for a while, I shifted my gaze from the map to Carlos and asked, “So, is this your first time here?”
“No.” Carlos shook his head, still fixated on the map. “I’ve visited the Holy City plenty, but this is my first time in its ruins.”
His tone held a teasing note, but the weight of his words was palpable.
He studied the map a bit longer before shutting it and tucking it away in his chest armor, “The direction is barely discernible. Did you spot that high tower to the north?”
Oh, I definitely noticed that tower as soon as I came in, but nobody ever mentioned it! So I asked, “What is that?”
“That’s the Tower of Divine Grace. Basically… um, it’s used for high-level baptism ceremonies, and it’s where all past Popes have been chosen.”
Carlos didn’t elaborate much more and pointed again, “Using that tower as a reference, when I came down earlier, I saw those massive dragon bones in the eastern ruins, right? That place used to be the Holy City Exhibition Hall, which originally had other interesting artifacts apart from the dragon bones, but now… looks like most of it’s been wrecked.”
“The Temple Church is to the south of the Exhibition Hall, right?” I responded, realizing the lavish structure he’d referred to earlier, “I thought the Temple Church was behind the sky bridge.”
“Exactly!” Carlos admitted, “And for the Underground Prison?” Since Carlos skipped the crucial detail, I’d probed further, “I remember there are three entrances marked on the map.”
“That’s exactly why I’ve been staring at this map for so long.”
Carlos shrugged, “Two of the Underground Prison entrances are near the Tower of Divine Grace—one to the east and one southwest. I checked the map, and unfortunately, they’re both in the areas that are heavily devastated. Finding them would be a tough cookie to crack.”
He must’ve meant the areas affected by that massive chasm, right?
With all that destruction reaching from behind the sky bridge all the way to the city walls, those entrances were probably buried deep. We’d need to dig three feet to even find a hint of them… Okay, let’s not stress over that for now.
“What about the third one?”
“The third one’s actually pretty close to us, and the surrounding area isn’t severely damaged either. If we’re lucky, we might still have a chance to peek inside.”
Carlos said, nodding towards the once-bustling area, “It’s right behind the Temple Church.”
