Chapter 165: War Always Involves Sacrifice

Compared to the Blood-colored Holy Sword, the Magic Mirror was clearly more useful.

Fang 11 used his extra eyes to see the entire devouring process clearly; that mirror was like a giant mouth, directly swallowing the excess flesh and body, and for the first time in his life, he saw a mirror eating until its mouth was dripping with oil.

He didn't know what Laina's body had been cultivated with to make it so greasy.

What was even stranger was that he didn't feel afraid; instead, because he had more eyes, his field of vision was clearer.

Shortly after, he felt a twitch in his body, and his field of vision diminished significantly, as if his entire range of view had shrunk by a portion.

"What a tough person, to still be alive," Aikemengde, holding a Purification Charm, sighed. The people of the War Church were indeed tough; even with so many eyes growing out, he didn't cry out once from the pain.

Of course, the wailing not far away was incessant, and there were indeed those who were fragile, but it had to be said that at least these people on the front lines were all very tough.

It was only then that Fang 11 realized he had returned to normal, at least to the state of having two eyes.

But his injuries were very severe; he tried to crawl out of the ruins, but he didn't have any strength at all.

Even more helplessly, another one of Laina's clones was not far from him.

"Old thing, what are you doing?" This body of Laina's was the darkest among her several bodies; because of the splitting, her liver and intestines were hanging directly on the outside, looking exceptionally disgusting.

Aikemengde gave a cold snort, "You filthy thing, can you look at what you are doing?"

"Filthy? Could there be anything filthier than you sanctimonious guys?" Laina laughed, stretching out her hand to crawl on the ground, "I'm no good at dealing with that guy with the sword, but dealing with something like you is still..."

"It seems you still don't understand your situation." Aikemengde opened his arms, and the moon in the sky seemed to dim by a few degrees.

The light of the sun shone through the clouds, as if illuminating everything.

Even Chen Zhi felt a bit afraid.

That feeling of the unknown was too terrifying; he even felt that this thing might be able to purify him as well.

After all, this was borrowing the power of a deity.

"Damn it!" Laina hadn't considered today's weather at all; her original goal was to repair herself, then get the other Seal Object and escape.

But now she was directly exposed in full view of everyone.

"You should have had a better plan, but you didn't. Do you think it's still the time when the Wealth Church managed Tana City?" Aikemengde said in a low voice, "Other churches didn't bother you back then, but that doesn't mean they won't now."

Laina squinted her eyes and thought about it, but her brain was clearly not enough to ponder this question.

But Chen Zhi, who was in the shadows, could understand.

The Wealth Church's downfall back then was indeed a result of everyone pushing a falling wall; it was just a pity that so many people were sacrificed at the time.

Knowing Laina was doomed, Chen Zhi directly withdrew his focus from her; since she was going to die anyway, it was better not to worry about her.

As long as he wasn't purified along with her when the time came, it would be fine.

Not only that, Chen Zhi very cautiously kicked all the surrounding players offline.

Although Zhuguli had also grown two arms, he was still eager to try and participate in the battle.

It was a pity that Chen Zhi didn't give him the chance; he was logged off directly, and everything went black before his eyes.

On the forum, players had already started to look forward to it.

Some people posted their own recorded videos on the forum; in the recordings, a Red Moon looked exceptionally eerie, and one had to know that it was daytime at this moment—the appearance of the Red Moon was too ominous.

Other players uploaded screen recordings of the war after logging off.

Of course, it had been edited to a certain extent to pass censorship.

Still other players began filming the situation inside the city.

This time was much better than when the Wealth Church faced it alone.

Tana City seemed to have regained the power to resist evil.

The Wisdom Church managed the people in the Factory District in an orderly fashion; although many people still had to sleep outside, at least the children were guaranteed to have sufficient food.

In addition to Andrew's orphanage, the Wisdom Church also provided food and shelter for the children, and coupled with the previous temporary housing, the workers in the Factory District could even continue working in the factories, and the factory owners would provide black bread.

For those commoners, this was simply too benevolent; all of a sudden, the reputation of the Wisdom Church in the Factory District became even more resounding.

Besides that, there was the Sun Church; most of the thugs from Bar Street had now become believers of the Sun God Cult, and to avoid any more smashing and looting, they even spontaneously organized patrols to patrol the aristocratic areas.

Those nobles were also not huddled together like before.

The Government Building had long since issued a notice for all the nobles to wait at home.

Of course, it was mainly because the surrounding patrols gave the nobles a backbone, and coupled with the previous incident which caused them to have more or less financial losses, they didn't dare to run around randomly this time.

The players uploaded these phenomena to the forum, and many people began to sigh.

Tie Mang: It seems wealth can't have everything; at least you can forget about having something like prestige.

Duduan Honglou: It's not that I'm saying anything, but I compared the last witch incident with this one; in terms of terror, this one is definitely a step up. If the Wealth Church had encountered this witch last time, the players would probably have had to reload their save.

Yezi: Now the middle-class people around the theater are all hiding in the Shooting Club; last time we could only hide in the theater and shiver.

Da Chui: I've looked into it, and the support actions of these churches are also more prompt and generous than last time. I see that from beginning to end, they were just trying to make the Wealth Church truly step down from the stage of management in Tana City. Now both the Wisdom Church and the Sun Church are satisfied, and as for the nobles, they haven't lost any money, and have even earned a bit more. They can buy advanced machines from the Wisdom Church and can also have the Sun Church assist in purifying the various resentments in their rooms; in short, it's much better than the Wealth Church having sole dominance.

Luolita: It's a pity about the commoners who died last time; those hunters were really innocent, dying for no reason because of this. I still remember Uncle John; he was a very good hunter with a gentle personality. He taught me a lot of hunting knowledge, but it's a pity he died under the blades of the barbarians.

If the War Church had been as proactive when dealing with the barbarians last time as they were this time, I'm afraid Uncle John wouldn't have died.

Zhuguli to Luolita: You can't say that; the barbarians' attack this time was indeed not as hard as the last time, and their numbers were halved. It can be seen that they came for the witch's plan this time.

The players were discussing it lively, while Chen Zhi huddled in the Sewers, acting as if he knew nothing.

A burst of scorching light erupted in the sky, and the thick clouds seemed to be dispersed by this intense light.

This beam of light shone directly onto one of Laina's bodies in front of Aikemengde.

The scorching light made Laina emit a sizzling sound; she swung her arms viciously, and her sharp nails tore up the ground, but her movements were very difficult.

She couldn't move much.

Or rather, the sunlight was controlling her body.

Fang 11, who was closest to her, also began to emit black smoke.

"What a pity, still too deeply polluted," Aikemengde shook his head, "You probably don't know that the sun and the moon are originally opposite sides; using sunlight to purify the influence brought by the Red Moon Goddess is not difficult."

"You're talking nonsense. The Red Moon Goddess is invincible, as long as She can descend!" Laina's teeth grew longer and longer; she seemed to want to devour Aikemengde before her directly.

But her mobility was truly too poor.

The sun's shining made her feel like she was melting; that sensation made her feel as if she were about to become a beam of light.

"That's enough, you should be purified." Aikemengde looked at Laina with pity, "Turn around and look, how many companions do you still have?"

The several bodies that Laina had split off had already been completely wiped out.

The Blood-colored Holy Sword had already begun to absorb the flesh and blood on her body.

That Magic Mirror had also already devoured two bodies, not even leaving behind any residue.

As for herself...

Laina suddenly said with a hint of loneliness: "It seems I failed after all, right?"

"I thought I could succeed; at the very least, I should have been able to complete the first stage. It's a pity, I am not a child chosen by the Goddess; I am merely a descendant of a Believer of the God of Death." Laina began to cry, "I don't want to die yet. I want to complete my faith; I still have many convictions."

Laina wailed, "Why, why couldn't the holy artifact be with me from the beginning? I could have done better than Agnes, my teacher!"

Her eyes turned blood-red, and then she laughed loudly and said: "I can do it, I can make the Goddess descend, I can do it!"

Clusters of black Formation emerged from beneath her feet; she grew long hair, and that hair scattered and surged outward, attempting to devour the flesh and blood of the Warriors who had already died.

"You have no chance left." A great sword appeared before Laina's eyes; she tried to dodge in a rush, but it was too late.

Her greasy body was unable to move normally at all, and being shone upon by the sun, her movements had become much slower.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Laina's voice echoed, and then everything ended.

The Blood-colored Holy Sword began to devour Laina's flesh and blood, and Laiende just watched like this, with no intention of stopping it at all.

The method to seal this holy sword is to devour those it has killed.

If it hasn't killed anyone, it will devour its wielder.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, Laiende does not use this holy sword.

After all, not everyone can guarantee they will kill their enemy.

"My condolences; the impact of this incident is truly too great." Aikemengde walked over, looked at the corpse on the ground, and said, "They were all brave people; at least from beginning to end, they didn't cry out."

"I know." Laiende glanced at Zhuguli's body not far away, "However, it seems they haven't completely died yet; they just fainted."

"Indeed, they should still be savable." Harriet, the Bishop of the Wisdom Church, also walked over, "However, I need to go seal this mirror; I don't have time to chat with you all for now. I imagine those barbarians should be retreating by now, right?"

"Thank you for your help." Laiende glanced at Sarana not far away, "I also thank the people of the Wealth Church; you were able to set aside past grievances."

"Hmph, I have already looked up the information on this person for you; it can be clearly confirmed that Gannaer does indeed have movements." As she spoke, she glanced at Harriet to the side, "It is very obvious that this war will last a long time; it will not be as you imagined."

The woo-woo sound rang out once again; the buzzing of the horn was short and powerful.

The manpower of the War Church was almost all used up, and the online players were no exception; everyone felt that kind of pressure.

No one knew why the barbarians would attack again, and in such a rapid manner.

Several nodes of the Defense Array had already been damaged; what needed to be done now was to fill the gaps with human lives.

Fortunately, the people of the War Church were not pushovers; relying on the city walls and various combat equipment, they fought back and forth with the barbarians.

It was just that one could still feel that endless pressure.

"All of you, keep your spirits up! There will be a new round of impact later; no one is allowed to sleep!" The voice of Camp Commander Jili was deafening, and everyone's physical strength seemed to have increased as well.

This was the power of Exhilaration, the players thought numbly.

They had all looked forward to going to the battlefield, but no one had ever thought it would be in this way.

Mechanical, endless fighting, and those barbarians were the same, constantly using human lives to fill the trenches under the city wall's defense.

It was simply insane...

"What exactly are they thinking?" Laiende, who was heading to the city wall with fresh forces, furrowed his brows tightly, "Does Gannaer want to clash with the entire Federal?"

"We should have thought of it earlier; the last incident let them see the fragile side of Tana City. If I were the Queen of Gannaer, I would also hope to take Tana City and pull out this stronghold." Jili said in a muffled voice, "The reinforcements from above will arrive at night; there is a good show to be performed tonight. As for Gannaer, how is the investigation going on the Wealth Church's side?"

As long as there are commercial activities, there will inevitably be Believers of Wealth.

Therefore, it was impossible for the Wealth Church not to have such information.

To want to attack Tana City, the barbarians and Gannaer must possess enough Grain, weapons, gunpowder, craftsmen, and so on.

Through trade, one can know their movements in advance.

"Sarana said it will last at least half a year; the other side has made very sufficient preparations for this. I'm afraid that back during the last time, they already had this intention." Laiende said with some regret, "If we had known earlier..."

"Even if we hadn't done that last time, the result would be the same. If we had really helped the Wealth Church, they might not necessarily be able to deal with the problems that appeared in the city this time. Moreover, it would have dragged us down," Jili said coldly, "War itself requires sacrifice."

(End of this chapter)