Vol 3. Chapter 96: Remote Control
Although Xue Tianao held the exalted status of the Child of Destiny and was the savior foretold by the Asumos Church, strictly speaking, most of the Church's upper echelon, including Nick, didn't particularly like him.
Over the past few years, in order to strengthen his control over the Snow Night Empire, Xue Tianao had secretly suppressed the influence of the Asumos Church within the empire on numerous occasions. This had pissed Nick off for a long time. The achievements he had accumulated in the Snow Night Empire back then had directly gone into the negatives because of this damn bastard...
And aside from obstructing their missionary work,
this guy also wanted to use his cooperation with the Asumos Church and his identity as the Child of Destiny to seize control of the Church in reverse.
Not only was he unwilling to listen to them, he even wanted to steal their authority?
Naturally, Nick thoroughly despised Xue Tianao as well.
At first, when the Abyss Demons attacked the city, Nick had even secretly rejoiced. He hoped that the Abyss Demon horde's offensive would knock Xue Tianao down a peg or two, reduce his popularity within the Snow Night Empire, and weaken the new emperor's influence.
That way, when they negotiated with the Snow Night Empire in the future, the Asumos Church would have more bargaining chips.
However,
once the Abyss Demons actually counterattacked and slaughtered the imperial legions, even breaking into Skyvault itself, Nick changed his mind.
Although he hated Xue Tianao, he couldn't simply sit back and watch Skyvault be destroyed by the Abyss Demons. If the imperial capital fell, then the collapse of the entire Snow Night Empire would probably only be a matter of time.
Without the Snow Night Empire serving as a barrier, the Crimson Leaf Empire, where the Asumos Church was based, would have no choice but to face the Abyss Demons' attacks directly.
That was no laughing matter.
After weighing the pros and cons, Nick ultimately decided to mobilize the elite 'Light of the Sun' forces stationed in the southern part of the Snow Night Empire and bring them north as reinforcements.
He could consider it doing Xue Tianao a favor...
Assuming that Child of Destiny could still regain his sanity.
And so, Nick began trying to contact the troops in the south using his communication magic stone.
"Fiona! Mobilize the troops and head north immediately! Skyvault needs reinforcements... Hm???"
However,
even after calling several times, there was still no response whatsoever from the other end of the magic stone. All he could hear was intermittent static.
Nick couldn't help but furrow his brows.
"Wh-What's going on? Why can't I contact the Light of the Sun?!"
Unwilling to give up, Nick continued trying.
But he quickly discovered
that forget the Light of the Sun—he couldn't contact a single person outside Skyvault...
At that moment,
Nick realized an almost inconceivable fact.
Skyvault had most likely been sealed off by some kind of magical barrier, which was why they had completely lost contact with the outside world.
Thinking about the Abyss Demon horde continuously attacking the city from outside, as well as the monsters rampaging within the city itself, a drop of cold sweat involuntarily trickled down Nick's forehead.
"Who the hell is it? Who would actually help those Abyss Demons?!"
Nick couldn't help but cry out.
The young knight beside him revealed a puzzled expression upon hearing this.
"Someone is helping the Abyss Demons? Archbishop, what do you mean by that?"
"..."
However, Nick had no intention of directly answering the knight. Instead, he anxiously looked around.
If his guess was correct, whoever had erected the barrier probably intended to see Skyvault completely destroyed.
In that case, those of them trapped inside the city would inevitably be caught up in the destruction as well.
With no reinforcements available for the time being, if they wanted to escape this hellish city overrun by Abyss Demons, they would have to rely on a top-tier powerhouse!
Only then would they have any chance of breaking through!
The Lord of Golden City and the Venerable of the Holy Tower were both being ganged up on by groups of Seventh-Tier Abyss Demons, so there was obviously no point counting on them.
Fortunately,
as one of the Church's strongest combat forces, Nick happened to have brought a Heavenly Apostle with him on this trip.
Namely, the Mid Eighth-Tier Sword God—Bai Xiaozou!
Uh...
No, White Yama!
The name Bai Xiaozou sounded way too weak...
Naturally, the person Archbishop Nick was looking around for was White Yama.
With the Abyss Demon horde invading the city, he would only feel safe if that Heavenly Apostle personally protected him. Relying solely on these elite Light of the Sun troops was absolutely out of the question.
After all, Nick knew damn well just how thoroughly rotten this unit had become...
However,
after frantically looking around for a while, Archbishop Nick discovered an extremely awkward fact.
The white figure he was searching for had already disappeared without a trace...
In an instant,
Nick's face visibly darkened.
"FUCK YOUR XX!!! BAI XIAOZOU! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!!!!"
After being chased and battered into a miserable state by the Abyss Demons, Nick had now discovered that his most important subordinate had simply vanished?!
Rage immediately surged through his heart, and he couldn't stop himself from roaring furiously.
I clearly told you
to protect me properly?!
How the fuck did you disappear again?!
At such a critical moment, where the hell did that girl run off to?!
Nick was practically beside himself with rage.
The Asumos Church knights and priests around him exchanged bewildered glances as well, completely dumbfounded. After all, none of them knew where their esteemed Heavenly Apostle could possibly have run off to at such a critical moment.
After his bout of impotent rage,
a powerful sense of unease surged into Nick's heart.
After all, the Holy Aura within members of the Asumos Church was far more effective at attracting the hatred of Abyss Demons than ordinary magical power or battle aura.
Now that countless Abyss Demons were flying into the city from the sky, the aggro-pulling effect of their Holy Aura had practically reached MAX.
They had already effortlessly attracted several Sixth-Tier Abyss Demons and even one Seventh-Tier Abyss Demon.
Fortunately, there was still a Brave accompanying him. Otherwise, they probably would've gone GG already.
But they couldn't keep going like this.
After all, the number of Abyss Demons surrounding and attacking them would only continue increasing!
Sooner or later, they were screwed...
Realizing this, Nick's entire body began trembling.
And then, the Archbishop suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"That's right! Mengxi!"
Exactly!
Mengxi could still help them!
Once Mengxi used her miracle, driving back these cannon-fodder Abyss Demons shouldn't be a problem at all!
She would definitely be able to protect them and carve a path out of this encirclement!
Moreover, now that the Child of Destiny had completely lost his damn mind and his prestige in the capital was plummeting, this was the perfect opportunity for the Asumos Church to use Mengxi's identity to gain new followers!
At that thought, Nick revealed an expression that practically screamed, 'All according to plan.'
Then, he immediately turned around.
"Mengxi, hurry up and... Hm???!!"
...
...
After a brief silence, Nick immediately revealed an expression of utter despair.
Because he discovered that his plan had already fucking gone bankrupt before it could even begin...
The breathtakingly beautiful silver-haired girl who should have been standing behind him
had disappeared without a trace, just like White Yama.
For a moment,
Nick's mentality collapsed just a 'little.'
Grievance, anger, depression, anxiety, and all sorts of other emotions gradually gathered across the old Archbishop's face, twisting his features into an increasingly comical expression.
Seeing more and more Abyss Demons gathering around them,
Nick's face twitched uncontrollably, and he finally let out a hysterical roar:
"FUCK?!! WHERE THE HELL IS MENGXI?!!"
...
--
Several blocks away, a silver-haired girl who had tied up her long hair and changed into a dashing knight's outfit was rapidly running across the rooftops, surrounded by silver Holy Aura.
After hearing Nick's furious roar, the silver-haired girl—our Miss Mengxi—helplessly glanced back in the direction of the Asumos Church's main group.
"That old bastard Nick sure can yell. Looks like he's pretty pissed."
Mengxi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
The main reason Nick was angry was probably Sister White's disappearance, right?
Sigh...
Thinking of this, Mengxi sighed helplessly.
Sister White hadn't actually disappeared.
Although Sister White usually loved gambling and slacking off and always acted completely unreliable, deep down, she still upheld the principles of a Heavenly Apostle.
Especially the one about exterminating Abyss Demons...
After seeing a Demon King-class Abyss Demon openly break into the city, Sister White had left without saying a word.
Presumably, she had gone to deal with that Demon King-class existence.
Archbishop...
You've spent so much time with Sister White, yet you still don't understand her personality?
You even got that angry over it.
Sigh, seriously...
Hmmmm,
although that old bastard getting angry might have something to do with me too?
But so what?
It's not like that guy can do anything to me.
Thinking this, Mengxi couldn't be bothered to care about the situation of the Asumos Church group anymore.
Besides, those Abyss Demons didn't seem to be trying to kill them...
'Not trying to kill them?'
If she said that out loud, probably no one would believe her.
After all, everyone knew how savage and bloodthirsty Abyss Demons were. Whenever these monsters encountered another living creature, they would inevitably do everything in their power to tear it apart.
Hold back?
How could that possibly happen?!
Indeed,
the Mengxi of the past wouldn't have believed such a thing either.
But after recalling her daily life together with Sister Yumo, as well as the abnormal behavior of this Abyss Demon horde,
Mengxi narrowed her eyes slightly after pondering for a moment.
The girl arrived at an almost inconceivable conclusion.
"These Abyss Demons... seem to be controlled remotely by someone..."