Four Split Personalities

...

Five minutes later, the vanguard led by Motan passed through the southern district. Although the great fire, due to strategically planned evacuations, didn’t burn for long, the rubble was still difficult to clear. Often, it required violent efforts from Ger and Cordova and others to make a way through, so the advance of the combined forces was not very fast.

Throughout the journey, Motan kept observing the environment around them, finding numerous remains of mutants. These charred bodies had been completely destroyed. Nearly a thousand monsters that had simply been consumed by the flames were likely towards the back, so they got caught as the fire exploded. Additionally, many seemed to have died at the hands of the Princess’s royal guards, marked clearly by physical wounds. This suggested the latter might have been fighting while retreating, dealing with these monsters as they made their way to the central area—the Holy Church Union Chapel of Savva City.

This grand and majestic building was protected by divine power, and its defensive power was much stronger than that of a single sect’s chapel. Moreover, the last evacuees deliberately avoided accumulating too much fuel nearby, therefore, it remained quite intact after the city was burned. From two streets away, Motan and his associates could see the top tower of the building, and they noticed that it didn’t even have a single trace of scorching.

A moment later, as the main force was just one street away from the chapel, Motan suggested everyone halt to regroup temporarily; hence, they paused in a long street filled with the charred bodies of mutants while refreshing the state buffs they had applied earlier.

Although he claimed to have resigned as commander, Motan still held absolute authority over the troop, and even high-ranking Holy Knights like Ger naturally followed his commands.

"Something is amiss."

This thought had haunted Motan since they entered the city. According to the previous plan, after Yu Chen went offline and the Princess’s royal guards were annihilated, the aimless mutants should have wandered around the city and largely have been killed by the raging flames. Specifically, the southern district where the fire was strongest and witnessed a high concentration of armed forces, should have had many mutants, but Motan had not encountered a single one on their way aside from those killed by the fire.

This was very alarming...

Just then, shouts and battle cries suddenly erupted from not far away, right in the direction of the Holy Church Chapel!

Everyone who heard this froze because these were not the senseless roars of mutants but...

"Go!"

Without a moment’s thought, Motan fiercely tugged at the reins, and his mount, Little White, darted like an arrow released from a bow towards the central city district, Cordova and Ger appearing simultaneously beside him, flanking him to the left and right. Paula and Feather Song followed closely; the former had already drawn her enormous firearm, creating waves with every leap that seemingly raised from nothing, while the latter became a vague shadow, constantly leaping across still-hot eaves, rooftops, and burning ashes, keeping pace not much slower than Paula’s.

Falling in behind were the two hundred and sixty players forming the Dare Death Squad, four haphazardly assembled combat arrays, and the Holy Knights aligning with the second and third arrays on both flanks. Apart from those knights ordered not to charge at full speed, everyone pulled out their weapons, prepared for battle, following closely behind the spearhead formed by Motan and his team!

...

Half a minute later

Long street opposite the Holy Church Union Chapel of Savva City

Ger, Motan, and Cordova, who had just rushed out from the inside, stood there stunned without even having time to survey the situation...

The instant they caught sight of the square in front of the chapel, a massive dark pillar of light, at least three meters in radius, descended silently from the sky and smashed into the center of thousand mutants nearby!

Some twenty-odd mutants were instantly swallowed by the thunderously falling pillar, and several seconds later, as the dark light collapsed, they disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a crater more than half a meter deep!

"Damn it!"

Cordova’s eyes widened, and he blurted out in instinctual awe, "I feel like I’ve seen this move before!"

He wasn’t wrong, in a way. He had indeed seen that destructively powerful pillar before—only, back then, the pillar that instantly killed Kanglan was disguised with a brilliant layer of Holy Light.

That was "Dawn’s Prayer," the skill that had saved countless lives recently... its other side.

...

"Dark Apocalypse" (Domination of Darkness activated) (Shadow Covenant triggered)

Dark attribute active skill

Mastery requirement: Devotee of the Goddess of Darkness, Delia

Cost/Limit: 30% max Magic Points, 30% max Belief Value, 30% max Physical Strength Value

Effect: Drops "Dark Apocalypse" in the designated area, dealing massive shadow damage to all units within, reducing their All Attributes by 25%, movement speed by 10%, and all resistances by 5% for the next five minutes. "Dark Apocalypse" has a 100/80/60/40/20/1% chance of dispelling 1/2/3/4/5 or all positive effects on the affected units and converting them into "Shadow Chant", each layer of "Shadow Chant" will cause minor shadow damage after a brief delay, with up to 5 layers bursting simultaneously, dealing additional 20% damage to followers of the Goddess of Dawn Paxcine, cooldown time 300 minutes.

[Note: Omitted]

...

"Motan~"

Yu Chen’s tired yet surprised voice echoed from the chapel stairs. Her frail body seemed wrapped in a layer of black mist, rendering her face barely visible. Even her originally pure white priest robe had turned ominously dark, and her gentle, serene voice carried a chilling echo, "I’m sorry, I... uh."

The next second, the black mist around the girl suddenly dispersed, and then she collapsed sideways, caught in the embrace of the badly injured Snow Mane.

"Black Vatican Priest!"

Despite being covered in dense wounds, Snow Mane, who had miraculously survived, gazed intensely at Motan...

"Her Highness the Saintess saved us, the rest... is up to you!"

...

Two hours earlier

Game Time PM21:40

Misha County, Southern Territory, central district of Sawa City, in front of the Holy Church Union chapel

The scorching fire had consumed the entire southern district, but it had only taken out a small portion of the slower-reacting mutants. The crazed monsters had almost clung to everyone, killing their way to the chapel. During this ordeal, no matter how fiercely the knights defending the rear fought, they couldn’t stop them. It wasn’t until Snow Mane and a few other advanced stage Holy Knights employed some form of Divine Arts to create a temporary crimson barrier that they barely managed a few minutes’ respite.

Yu Chen, who was escorted to the entrance of the chapel, forcefully stopped and turned around to look at Snow Mane and others who had already formed a defensive formation, lightly biting her thin lower lip.

Every member of the Princess Guard was exhausted. Tero, in the worst condition, could barely hold onto his sword, yet he still managed to kill four or five mutants in the brief journey, perfectly covering the few corners that Snow Mane couldn’t attend to, not letting a single monster get close to him.

The few advanced stage Holy Knights were also barely holding on. They had fought continuously in the second phase and met up with Ger’s Knight Order in the third phase to execute those rounds of decisive charges. After barely two hours of rest, they rejoined the Princess Guard on board the Kirov, fighting tirelessly until now...

Five minutes? Or ten minutes?

Yu Chen didn’t know, but she knew that if nothing unexpected happened, these people in front of her would soon all be gone, without any doubt.

[It seems I still have to do this...]

Having just made up her mind, she subconsciously sent a message back to someone, and then...

’Why haven’t you logged off yet?’

"Forget Language! Quickly get into the chapel, we’ll hold them off here!"

Motan and Snow Mane, not far away, urgently urged her.

"Sorry~"

The girl stuck out her tongue, quickly brushing off someone who had obviously become suspicious, while lifting her small hand, casting a dazzling halo, stabilizing the minds of Snow Mane and the others.

It seemed even the heavens wanted to help her; two short system prompts then flashed before Yu Chen’s eyes...

[Dark Interference triggered]

She grinned, her pale hand pointing towards the mutants amassed in the plaza, her gaze firm and clear...

[Arc of Light]!

Two weirdly shaped long spears shot out, swirling with icy Holy Light.

Chapter Four Hundred Fifty-Nine: The End