Chapter 830: A Missed Strike, Jier's Talent

Two Sun God Church Priests pursued relentlessly, following the wails of two Baron Heir family Soldiers who had been snatched away by the parasitic Monster, constantly circling within the towering log piles that obstructed their line of sight.

Very quickly, the two Priests discovered that the parasitic Monster was playing them for fools.

Perhaps it was stalling for time, or perhaps it deemed itself no match for the two of them, but the parasitic Monster consistently avoided direct combat with them. Yet even so, the opponent still did not release the two Soldiers it had snatched during a moment of carelessness.

"Be careful, that Monster definitely has something strange about it!" one Sun God Church Priest said.

The other nodded, expressing support for their companion's view.

But just circling around with the Monster like this wouldn't do; after all, when the Priests had separated, they had each gone off to pursue a parasitic Monster, and although no one said it explicitly, it was obvious that these Church Priests in Yemei Town were treating this battle as a secret competition between the churches.

Whoever could be the first group to eradicate the parasitic Monster they were chasing and return to the Flesh Mansion would naturally be the strongest church present; while this could not truly represent the strength of the deities the Priests worshipped or the scale of their churches, in a remote little place like Yemei Town, it naturally determined who was truly superior.

Considering the ability the Church of the God of the Dead Priests had shown in easily dealing with a parasitic Monster on the way to the Lumber Yard earlier, the title of first place among the churches had already been decided. The question now was, among the remaining three churches, whose strength was the most inferior?

The two Sun God Church Priests did not want to be the most inferior group. Although the Sun God they worshipped had caused quite a stir in the east last year, leading even the church in their remote region to have to close its doors to avoid the limelight, to be honest, the two Sun God Church Priests believed they were not much weaker than the people of other churches, and the faith of the believers over the past year had not wavered much.

The two of them did not want to become the most inferior group in the competition.

Therefore, after a brief discussion, the two Priests separated, bypassing the log pile in front of them from the left and right, not choosing to continue following behind the Monster's tail, but instead splitting up to intercept it.

This move was very effective. When the parasitic Monster dragging the two Soldiers turned a corner in the complex terrain of the log piles to avoid the Priest chasing behind it, it was suddenly struck on its torso by the other Priest who had lunged out from the front, swinging their staff with a heavy blow.

The two Sun God Priests had long since seen through the fact that the parasitic Monster's true body was hidden within the human torso, so this sneak attack did not strike the human head the Monster was parasitizing, but instead, the head of the staff, carrying surging, coiling white light, struck the Monster's chest with a heavy blow.

Bang!

The heavy, charged-up blow, accompanied by the intense white light that exploded upon impact, heavily knocked this parasitic Monster flying onto the ground to the side. The two Soldiers it had been dragging on the ground were also sent wailing and sprawling in place.

"Don't block the way!" the Priest who had launched the sneak attack shouted. The two Soldiers on the ground immediately rolled to the sides, clearing the path for the Priest to strike directly at the parasitic Monster.

But this slight delay still allowed the ambushed parasitic Monster to recover. Ignoring the Sun God Divine Power that was releasing white light and high heat against its entire body, it used its hands and feet, and even the vine roots extending from its torso acted like extra limbs to assist its movement, fleeing in a panic toward the other side where no one was.

But it had only run a few steps when the Sun God Church Priest who had been chasing it relentlessly flashed out from the corner of the log pile ahead. This Priest sang a phrase praising the deity, then leaned back sideways, pulling their whole body into a charged, bow-like posture, holding the middle of their metal Jiao Shi Chang Zhang high with their right arm, treating the entire heavy metal long staff like a long Throwing Spear, charging it up, and then throwing it!

"Look directly into the gaze of my God!!"

The Priest shouted this. Although this set of movements was very non-standard in the eyes of professional Warriors, and the heavy metal long staff was not something that could be thrown to the parasitic Monster by the Priest's insufficiently strong arm—it would likely fall to the ground halfway, making people laugh their heads off.

But the magic of Prayer Divine Art lies right here: the Divine Power produced by believers and transformed by the deity contains all sorts of incredible, miraculous powers.

The released metal Jiao Shi Chang Zhang, the entire staff shrouded in a mass of elongated white Divine Power, flew straight like a dazzling Meteor, carrying an unstoppable, powerful momentum as it was projected straight forward.

The parasitic Monster let out a strange cry, seemingly knowing that it could not block an offensive of such power, so its entire body froze in place, and it waved its arms and the various vine roots extending from its body wildly, hoping—just hoping—that its 'frail' roots could actually block the incoming Divine Power strike.

At this moment, time seemed to slow down. The Sun God Church Priest who had thrown the strongest blow was full of confidence in his eyes; he believed that this strike would surely kill this parasitic Monster and secure a better result for the Sun God Church in this secret competition.

The other Sun God Priest's eyes were full of envy. He was slightly weaker than his companion; although he was also very hardworking, he was slightly inferior to his companion in both communicating with the deity and recruiting believers for the Sun God. He could also release this strike, but firstly, releasing Divine Power like this made his heart ache, and secondly, he could not so easily release such a lethal Prayer Divine Art while in pursuit.

A Prayer Divine Art of this power almost looked like a Battle Divine Art.

As for the parasitic Monster in its desperate situation, the Core Human Face on the abdomen of the human torso it was parasitizing was full of panic and despair. It had only descended to this place from the deity's Divine Kingdom for half a month, and it had wanted to accomplish a great cause for its deity and completely destroy the human society here. But who could have imagined that today they would encounter such a group of capable local Soldiers and hateful Church Priests of the humans.

At this instant, thinking of this, the parasitic Monster seemed to have given up. It silently recited the true honorable Divine Name of the Flesh Demon, and the waving vine roots also went limp. It knew it was finished, but it only hoped that the other parasitic companions surrounding them could completely bury these local human forces.

The two Refining Qi Soldiers who had fallen and rolled to clear the way were full of panic and confusion at this moment. Although they were both in chaos, their eyes still saw the powerful Divine Art projected by the Priest not far away, which left them somewhat at a loss.

They had originally thought that coming out this time, their group of ten Refining Qi Soldiers, led by the Baron Heir who possessed the strength of a Knight, would be the core force of the lumber convoy. But who could have imagined that these Priests were the truly formidable ones.

Thinking of this, they all became confused, unable to understand: whose fist was the biggest in town? Who was really in charge? Sasi Baron? Or these various churches in town?

By the way, is there any future in us switching to join a church later?

However, everything—the confidence of the Priests, the despair of the Monster, or the confusion of the Soldiers—all changed completely in the next instant.

Just look at that metal long staff, blooming with white light like a Meteor skimming the ground; after leaving the Priest's right hand, it charged straight forward, moving at high speed with incomparable power. The blooming white light was not only dazzling, but the closer one got to the staff full of Divine Power, the more scalding that white light became.

One must know that the sun represents not only light but also the most supreme heat in the world.

Whether it is the earth illuminated by sunlight as known to the world, which gradually warms up under the sun, or the Mages who have studied the star overhead and know that the real sun possesses a massive amount of high heat far beyond what humans can imagine, it all causes the so-called human Sun God, His Divine Essence and Divine Power, to inherently carry light and heat.

Needless to say, as long as the Priest's metal long staff hit the Monster, even if it only hit the limbs or torso, the high heat contained within the white light Divine Power would instantly burn this parasitic Monster into a pile of hot ash.

As long as it hit.

The projected metal long staff, carrying white light and high heat, moved straight forward, carving a straight flight path in the air, neither high nor low, neither left nor right. Whatever trajectory it had when released, it would maintain that trajectory until the Divine Power on the staff was exhausted.

But unfortunately, the Church Priests are not professional Soldiers or Warriors. Although they usually practice a little martial arts in the church's practice grounds, for a skill like throwing a spear, you either have to be very talented, or you have to go through long-term practice and a considerable amount of actual combat experience.

Only then can one accurately hit the target locked by the thrower according to the thrower's will in a real battle.

Instead of what is happening now, as the two Priests watched with gradually uncontrollable expressions, it passed by the top of an empty log pile a few meters away from the parasitic Monster that had given up on resisting, carrying a straight white trail of light, flying further and further away, further and further away...

The two Priests' faces gradually twisted. The Priest who had thrown the metal long staff subconsciously dodged the other's stern, scrutinizing gaze, his lips trembling as he muttered to himself: "Um, the long staff has a bit of a problem, but it's not a big problem. This time, this time let's try with an axe."

Saying this, amidst his muttering, he drew a one-handed lumber axe he was carrying and gripped it tightly in his hand.

As for the other Priest, he rolled his eyes, cursed fiercely, and subconsciously looked down at the two Baron Heir family Refining Qi Soldiers behind him, forcibly suppressing the expressions of the two Soldiers who were about to burst into laughter.

These two Soldiers simply closed their eyes, kicked their legs, and shouted: "Oh my, we just fainted! What happened here? Priest, did you save us two from the Monster? Ah, that is truly thank you so much!"

They chattered on and on, only hoping that the Sun God Church Priests would forget about the two of them later.

And as for the parasitic Monster, long after the thrown metal long staff missed, it let out a strange laugh from the human torso, then jumped on the spot, leaped onto the log pile, and fled randomly in a direction away from the Lumber Yard.

"Should we chase or not?"

The Priest holding the one-handed lumber axe asked his companion awkwardly. After unleashing the previous blow, the Divine Power on his body was significantly weakened, and his attitude toward his companion had changed slightly.

Perhaps, at this moment, the person he least wanted to see was his companion from his own church.

"Sigh, nonsense! Chase! Chase after it, defeat that Monster! This time, leave it to me..."

The Sun God Church Priest holding the staff with white light dissipating from its head sighed and finally said.

After speaking, the two of them ignored the two Soldiers still chattering on the ground and quickly chased after the parasitic Monster.

The parasitic Monster itself had several extra vine roots that could be used as legs, and coupled with the fact that it had dropped the two human Soldiers it had snatched earlier, it was fleeing extremely fast. If it weren't for the two Sun God Church Priests still choosing to split up to intercept it, this guy would probably have run away long ago.

But the two sides chased and fled, fled and chased, all the way from the Lumber Yard cabin smeared with flesh and blood to the edge of the Lumber Yard entrance.

This was the place chosen by the lumber convoy to collect firewood. Not only was the entire convoy parked here at this time, but the dozens of Lumberjacks brought by Jier were currently gathered together, shouting messy work chants and working in full swing.

"Oh no! Up ahead are just some powerless carters and Lumberjacks. If this strengthened parasitic Monster rushes in, it will cause a large number of casualties!"

"What should we do?"

The two Sun God Church Priests chased up quickly, watching as they were about to catch up to the Monster, not expecting that they would actually chase it here.

If the parasitic Monster caused heavy casualties here at the caravan, not to mention that they would undoubtedly lose in the competition between the various churches, even the local Sun God Church would be severely affected; once the bad news spread, it would inevitably be very difficult to carry out missionary activities again.

Not to mention that the competition for believers between churches is full of underhanded tactics; it doesn't take much imagination to think that in the future, other local churches will certainly publicize the incompetence of these two Sun God Church Priests.

The Sun God Priest, gripping a one-handed logging axe, hardened his heart and said directly: "Use full power! We must stop it!"

"Right!"

Just as the two Priests reached an agreement and were preparing to stop the parasitic Monster regardless of the consumption of Divine Power, the parasitic Monster in front suddenly came to a sharp stop amidst the neighing of a horse, stumbling to a halt on the spot.

This caught the two Priests off guard, leaving them no choice but to grip their weapons tightly and imbue them with Divine Power, while their feet kept moving, though they cautiously slowed their pace.

Pata-pata, pata-pata, as the sound of horse hooves rang out, a Knight riding a horse draped in thick horse Armor emerged from behind the bustling woodpile ahead. The Knight raised a hand to wave at the wagon drivers crouching on the high woodpiles nearby, signaling them to continue keeping watch on the surroundings. Then, the Knight flipped up the Faceplate of his Steel Helmet, revealing an exceptionally young face underneath.

"Two Priests, er, Sun God Priests. Do you need my help? Let me solve this trouble for you." The young Knight asked in a deep voice.

He pointed in the direction from which the Monster and the Priests had come: "I saw that one just now, wow, what an amazing strike."

The Priest holding the sharp axe twitched his mouth awkwardly: "Be careful, this Monster just dodged my Divine Power throw."

The young Knight shrugged: "I thought as much. But don't worry, I'm quite talented when it comes to throwing or archery."

As soon as the words fell, the parasitic Monster, which had been deterred by Jier's killing intent, confirmed that the Knight radiating strong killing intent was indeed going to act against it. It could no longer hold back; it had no confidence in turning to face the two Sun God Church Priests of unknown depth, nor did it intend to face the highly threatening young Human Knight. Instead, it chose the woodpile to its side and a sentry driver on top of the woodpile who was staring at it with wide eyes.

It kicked off the ground, and the vine roots acting as its legs did their best to assist in pulling against the ground and the woodpile, maintaining its balance and speed during rapid movement. At the same time, the vine roots on its upper body split front and back, swinging as if to intimidate, one side toward the Priests and the other toward the young Knight.

Baring fangs and brandishing claws.

"Chase it! It's going to hurt that driver!" one Priest shouted.

The other Priest, holding the one-handed logging axe, immediately infused and wrapped his axe with a great deal of Sun God Divine Power; this time, he was determined to finish off this parasitic Monster with one blow.

But before the two Priests could nervously launch their attack, Jier, riding on the Tianxuecao, glanced leisurely at the familiar Divine Power surging from the two Priests.

"Hmm, Sun God Divine Power. So that's how it is..."

While muttering, Jier patted the Hunting Sword Sheath hanging on his left waist with his left hand, and the obedient Long Sword automatically sprang out from the sheath with a clang, landing perfectly in his right hand extended in front of his chest.

Then, without looking closely, Jier swung his right hand hard to the left, hurling the Hunting Sword toward the parasitic Monster climbing the woodpile.

Whoosh—

The Long Sword was extremely fast, and because the speed of Jier drawing and throwing the sword was much faster than the Priests ahead, by the time the axe-wielding Priest had not yet raised his hand, the tip of Jier's Long Sword emitted the familiar white light of Divine Power, drawing a white trail of light in their vision, and flashed into the torso of the parasitic Monster.

Thud!

With a muffled sound, the Long Sword pierced exactly into the spine position of the human body the Monster was parasitizing, running the parasitic Monster through completely, and then pinning it to a thick log.

The front half of the Long Sword was embedded entirely into the log, very securely; no matter how the parasitic Monster beat the log or its own body, it could not detach its pinned body.

"Wah￥￥#￥%!!" A strange hiss came from the Monster's mouth, accompanied by angry and desperate hissing; in its attempt to break free, it even tore off some of its own less sturdy vine roots.

A fresh scent of plants dispersed in the air; Jier sniffed, closed his Faceplate, and jumped off the Tianxuecao.

As he walked toward the parasitic Monster, he said to the two Priests standing stunned not far away: "I said just now, I happen to have some talent. At this distance, I wouldn't miss my target."

At these words, the face of the Priest holding the sharp axe turned red; he awkwardly put away his axe and looked at his companion, only to see a look of disdain in his companion's eyes.

The Priest defended himself awkwardly: "The Monster dodged it just now."

It was unclear who he was defending himself to, or whether his Priest companion would even believe it.

Subsequently, the two Priests saw the young Knight actually approaching the parasitic Monster pinned to the log and hurried forward: "Wait a moment, be careful of this Monster, it has great strength! And they can control ordinary people through contact!"

Jier nodded: "I know, it's fine, I'm wearing Armor. And this Monster looks slightly different from the previous ones."

The Sun God Church Priest immediately stepped forward, preempting him: "It's better not to have close contact with them, let us burn it away with Sun God Divine Power!"

Jier waved his hand: "Absolutely not! You two, these are all woodpiles that have lasted through the winter, they are already very dry, and since it hasn't rained recently, if they catch fire, no one will be able to handle it. Even rain might not be able to extinguish a fire at the Lumber Yard."

Once he said this, the two Sun God Church Priests realized that if a fire were to break out at the Lumber Yard, although it wouldn't cause casualties among the people now, these logs at the Lumber Yard were exactly the fuel most needed by the people of Yemei Town; without this wood, the people in town would really have to chew on dry grain.

The two of them and the local Sun God Church could not take the blame for that.

Thus, the two Priests stopped their steps, but still advised the young Knight to choose a safer method to execute the parasitic Monster.

Jier smiled, ignored them, climbed onto the woodpile, and approached the pinned parasitic Monster.

The Monster waved its limbs and all the vine roots on its body, but Jier caught and tore them off one by one. With the loss of the vine roots and the purple juice flowing from the broken ends, the parasitic Monster's counterattack grew increasingly weak.

Finally, Jier reached out and poked around the torso of the parasitic Monster, and amidst the Monster's screams, he exerted force and pulled out a Human Face Core from the abdomen of the human torso.

Having lost the control of the Human Face Core, all the roots on the human body parasitized by the Monster went limp.

Jier looked at the palm-sized core, which was no different from the other Human Face Cores he had seen before, and felt a wave of disappointment.

He spoke to this face: "You are not quite the same as the ones I've seen before, can you tell me, how exactly are you different?"

This thing was on its last breath, having lost the human body it could control; any child could beat it to pieces with a wooden stick. Now that it was captured alive by a Human Knight, it remained silent and unresponsive.

Just like the Human Face Cores Jier had found before.

Feeling a sense of boredom, Jier snorted coldly, exerted force with his left palm, and the steel Gauntlet crushed the thing in his palm entirely.

As for the small amount of purple juice that flowed out, Jier collected it with a small Leather Bag that could hold water; perhaps this thing could be sold for some money?