Our Family Has Fallen

Because of their shared origins, Alhazred clearly sensed that the other was no ordinary Heretic Priest. Lance’s blow not only shattered the Saintess’ delusions but also sliced away Alhazred’s fear. The Lord is truly damn strong! he realized. Witnessing the Lord clash against Sorcery without a scratch gave him immense psychological support. The Lord is already charging, so what’s with all my pointless hesitation? Just do it!

Alhazred momentarily cast aside his fear, feeling his blood surge with a heat he hadn’t felt in a long time. Hmph! When it comes to tentacles, I’m a professional, too, he thought. The ritual scroll he’d prepared was swiftly put to use. When he lifted the Skull Candleholder in his hand, it immediately radiated with intense spiritual light.

Hand of the Abyss!

The boundary between the Abyss and reality was breached. Instantly, numerous shadow-like tentacles emerged from beneath the Saintess’ feet, seemingly aiming to drag her into the Abyss. The shadowy tentacles clung to the Saintess’ exposed body, creating a scene of extreme visual impact.

Under normal circumstances, the Heretic Saintess would not have been ensnared so easily, being adept in manipulating the forces of the Void herself. But the problem was that Lance had just forcefully broken her secret incantation. The resulting backlash left her vulnerable, and at that very moment, Alhazred cast his spell. The backlash from her Sorcery, combined with the shadowy entanglement, plunged her into chaos. She flailed her arms uncontrollably and writhed, struggling as if fighting against something invisible to ordinary people in another dimension. Her frenzied state even vaguely resembled the statue of the Evil God.

Initially, I didn’t think this would be effective, Alhazred mused, but this being that inspired such fear in me... doesn’t seem so strong after all.

The Heretic Saintess was restrained, but Lance’s pace didn’t slow as he rapidly advanced. Instead of killing, he focused his attention on the corpses left from the fight, offering them up as Sacrifices to clear away all the bodies. He knew the ways of those Heretics; the more they died, the stronger their power grew. They could even recover their state by relying on corpses, just as they had done earlier. To deal with these Heretics, the first thing is to destroy their battle environment, Lance strategized.

But that didn’t mean Lance was without hindrance. Heretics stumbled towards him, brandishing their sharp claws. Yet, the next second, their bodies were cleaved in half. Before the chunks of flesh could fall, they were devoured out of thin air, their Spiritual Essence flowing into Lance’s hand.

The Saintess had already suffered repeated setbacks. She had even lost her left arm, along with her significant Magic Wand, and now she was being targeted again. But she was still the Saintess. Even under these circumstances, she quickly broke free from the control of the Hand of the Abyss. As she came to her senses, her first realization was that the number of corpses on the battlefield had drastically reduced, and the aura of death had been dispersed. The targeting is obvious, she thought, but I won’t succumb so easily!

”Stop them!” she cried out, not caring for the lives of her adherents. She reached straight for a Pigman Mob in front of her; everyone knew what she intended to do.

BANG!

Lance fired a shot. At such close range, it was easy enough to aim for her head. Unexpectedly, Lance, who had never missed before, didn’t hit his mark this time. More precisely, the Heretic Saintess dodged by tilting her head, displaying agile evasion.

Meanwhile, the remaining Heretics charged toward Lance. Though they were but weaklings, they could at least delay him with their deaths.

But Lance was not alone.

SHARK!

A roar sounded, and an Axe Spear burst forth from beside him. The sharp spearhead pierced directly into the abdomen of a Heretic trying to approach Lance. Under the sheer force, it even penetrated through to a second one. It was only because the axe blade got stuck that the spear didn’t skewer both Heretics like kebabs.

Boudica broke through, pushing the two Heretics aside. As she pulled out the Axe Spear, blood gushed from them like a fountain. To their terror, they discovered their wounds weren’t healing. Instead, their flesh seemed to be devoured, turning to pus and rotting away. As their relied-upon abilities failed, fear inevitably surfaced on their faces. It’s not Boudica we fear, they thought, panicked. Have we lost our god’s favor? Can we still achieve Ascension?

On another flank, a whip snapped out like a venomous snake, fiercely ”biting” into a Heretic’s hand. With a sharp tug, the Heretic tottered, his body pulled off-balance. Boudica and Amanda had also charged in, clearing the lesser foes for Lance.

But the Heretic Saintess knew her enemies were formidable. I have to give it my all, she realized. The momentary delay caused by the Heretics allowed her to complete her dark ritual. She pressed her right hand onto the Pigman Mob’s corpse before her.

The Ascension Sect’s control over flesh and blood was displayed. As her hand made contact with the Pigman Mob’s corpse, flesh buds grew from it as if animated, crawling up her arm and quickly connecting. The touched part seemed to fuse with her. The Saintess appeared to be in ecstasy, enjoying the pleasure the flesh brought, which soothed the backlash she had just suffered.

Even the stump where her left arm had been severed began to sprout flesh buds that intertwined and merged, growing new tissue. However, upon closer inspection, it was clear her newly grown left arm was rather odd. It was not the shape of a human arm but a tangle of flesh and tentacles. Within one of them, an alien Bone Blade was steadily growing. This sight was somewhat eerie and twisted. It would likely warp the sanity of any ordinary person who witnessed it.