Chapter 89: The Battle of Momona Village (Part 1)

As hunting falcons carrying oil lamps circled in the sky above the forest opposite the village, basically everyone around Momona Village noticed that thing.

However, Clark did not immediately indicate that it was time to start the battle; he carefully observed the situation ahead.

"You, or all of you, what are you still waiting for now?"

Jier finished preparing the weapons and equipment on his body; he had not brought the Dwarf Soldier Spear out this time, as it was inconvenient to use a four-meter-long spear in a forest area after all, so Jier had left the spear he usually took out for display at the supply Yingdi to the south, resting on the Tianxuecao weapon rack there.

He cast Radiant Weapon on the Hunting Sword in his hand, checked the Blessed Short Staff and Sun God Statue he had only recently obtained, and then put them back into the leather pockets on his belt and fastened them.

"The Baron Heir's team is still some distance away from Momona Village; the head priest seems to be waiting for this team to reach a suitable battle position. As soon as the position is reached, the battle will begin immediately."

Clark was actually quite composed at this moment, and with the demeanor of a team leader, he had the subordinate Hunters check their bows, arrows, and equipment one last time. He also suggested that Jier call back the Warriors he had sent out.

Jier gave a shout and gestured a killing motion to the Warriors.

Upon receiving the order, the Warriors immediately abandoned their plans to play with the parasitic Monsters, and with quick hands and sharp blades, they hacked the parasitic Monsters they were fighting to death one after another.

Afterward, they retreated, drank water, fanned themselves, and cooled their bodies down.

Clark walked over to the group of Priests, and though it was unclear what he muttered, the Priests then had all the combatants, including Jier and the Church Hunters—more than twenty people in total—stand together.

"In the battle a moment from now, we need to break into the Altar where the Evil God is located along with the men from the Hunting God Church, so the clearing of the parasitic Monsters in Momona Village will depend on you," an Agricultural God Church Priest shouted.

Clark also added: "In a moment, the Warriors under Knight Jier will move out first. Under the leadership of Knight Jier, launch a fierce attack on Momona Village to attract all the usable forces under the Evil God. Afterward, you need to entangle and fight with them inside the village, while I and my men need to break through to the Evil God's Altar hidden in the Underground Karst Cave."

"Please fight heroically, everyone; do not let the minions of those Monsters support the Evil God and His Altar."

"For this reason, our five churches will now cast Battle Divine Art to strengthen everyone's power. Please do not actively resist; quietly accept the various Divine Arts that will strengthen your physique and combat power."

After he finished speaking, he was the first to act.

Unlike other churches that required at least two or three people to cast a Battle Divine Art, Clark, this Priest of the Hunting God Church, cast the strengthening Battle Divine Art he spoke of all by himself.

Facing the crowd, he knelt on one knee, took several heart-like offerings from the leather pocket behind him, placed them simply in front of him, and began to mutter words that others could not hear clearly.

Jier could hear them clearly, but what Clark was saying was not Human Common Language, but another language he had never heard before.

Combining his physique and title, Jier suspected it was the language used by the northern Human ethnic groups.

Unlike the vast majority of the Saint Hors Kingdom, which consisted of immigrants from the Empire, other surrounding countries also had a certain history, so it was quite normal for them to have developed their own unique language.

Although it was a new language, the pronunciation of some vocabulary was not much different from the Common Language, and Jier could make out words like offering, praise, prayer, and blessing.

When Clark finished chanting, the several heart-like offerings he had placed on the ground ignited directly, and the pitch-black smoke that emerged rose straight into the sky, soon flying far away to a place beyond sight.

At the same time, a surge of Divine Power appeared in the hands Clark stretched forward.

This Divine Power changed and condensed in the Priest's hands, emitting a blood-red light; then, with a flash of red light, this mass of Divine Power turned into more than twenty Divine Power Arrows, which were rapidly projected forward toward every surprised Warrior.

Jier also received one, while the Priest's subordinate Hunters were neither surprised nor did they dodge, puffing out their chests to accept the impact of the Divine Power Arrow.

The next moment, as the Divine Power spread through everyone's body, the strength of everyone present rose significantly, their jumping ability was enhanced, and their stamina became much stronger—especially their breathing, which felt as if they had gained an extra, invisible lung; with just a relaxed breath, the whole person felt as if they had fully absorbed the life source Qi from the air.

Jier's Warriors felt quite novel, and even Weier clenched his hands and jumped on the spot to check how much Divine Art enhancement he had received.

As for Jier himself, he swung his arms to test the strength increase and noticed that Clark's battle-strengthening Divine Art had increased his original physical strength by one and a half times; it was not considered strong, and it only strengthened basic physical strength, not an overall enhancement like the Magic Amplification Bracelet, so it could not be stacked multiple times to strengthen his power to an exaggerated degree.

But for ordinary people, this kind of strengthening meant a great increase in strength.

Next were the two accompanying Sun God Priests, who joined forces to cast two Battle Divine Arts, Radiant Weapon and Light Battle Armor, to strengthen everyone.

Jier could cast Radiant Weapon himself, so it was nothing, but it was his first time being strengthened by Light Battle Armor. He stroked the gorgeous light flowing on his armor, as well as the layer of light that had also appeared outside the white-gold tabard of the Divine Knight.

He hadn't expected that the tabard of a Divine Knight would also be counted as part of the armor when receiving the Priest's Light Battle Armor.

This was really quite nice.

It wasn't that Jier thought this Divine Art was anything extraordinary, but at this moment, the armor surcoat he was wearing, once strengthened by Light Battle Armor, looked very good, if nothing else.

It particularly suited his aesthetic.

It was a pity that the armor itself was not very good; the armor he was wearing at the time was his old full-coverage Hard Cowhide Armor, which had been modified by adding a large number of Metal Armor Plates to the surface of the cowhide. If it were a formal Knight's steel plate armor with silver and gold decorations, it would probably look very good after receiving Light Battle Armor.

The various plates of the armor on his body were layered, and although the weight and mobility were good, it was indeed not as good-looking as Knight Plate Armor.

Additionally, the two Battle Divine Arts of the Sun God Church Priests were not of much help to the Hunters of the Hunting God Church, because many Hunters did not carry common weapons like swords or knives; they mostly carried some Daggers or Short Swords for close-range self-defense, and these items did not have much effect after being strengthened by Radiant Weapon. And Light Battle Armor also had no effect at all because the Hunters did not have any armor on them.

The dim, mottled Cloaks of the Hunters were far inferior to the Divine Knight tabard Jier was wearing at the time.

The Agricultural God Church then also cast a Battle Divine Art; it was not a Divine Art that instantly replenished everyone's stamina, satiety, and spirit, but an auxiliary Divine Art that slowly restored everyone's stamina, and it was strangely named Iron Stomach.

The two Priests of the God of Wealth cast a Battle Divine Art that could enhance everyone's Yongqi; this had an excellent effect, and the spirit of the crowd, which had seemed somewhat exhausted after waiting since the afternoon sun, was instantly invigorated by this Battle Divine Art, and their mental focus was also temporarily improved by a lot.

Jier also noticed that among the Divine Arts cast by the Priests of the various churches, this one provided the greatest improvement for him.

After just one Divine Art, he reckoned his combat ability had improved by about thirty percent. In particular, the improvement in mental focus had enhanced his observational skills, and the movement of his hands and feet had become much smoother and faster.

Finally, because there was only one Priest from the Church of the God of the Dead, and he alone could not cast any Battle Divine Art—this Priest truly lacked that ability and skill—he had to stand out and encourage everyone in front of the crowd, telling a cold joke about not wanting to personally collect the corpses of the Warriors later.

He didn't know how others felt, but Jier was amused.

"Alright, everyone move around and get ready for intense combat; check the improvements after receiving the Divine Arts from the Priests, and don't wait until you've started fighting to realize how powerful you've become."

Jier said with a smile, as the improvements brought by the Priests' several Battle Divine Arts mostly had little effect on him. It wasn't that the Battle Divine Arts were ineffective, but that these Divine Arts for strengthening soldiers were inherently prepared for ordinary Warriors and ordinary Soldiers who were average in strength but large in number.

The improvement that was nothing to Jier was very different for these Warriors.

Many people's strength had directly increased several times over, making it possible for them to fight several of their pre-strengthened selves at once.

Especially the two whose strength was already outstanding, Weier and Sipulu.

Jier saw that Sipulu's eyes were bright and he looked eager to try; his left hand pressed against the scabbard of his Battle Knife at his waist, his right hand lightly gripped the hilt, and his whole body remained in a critical state of being about to draw the blade, yet not having drawn it yet.

Many people, just by looking at this quiet Warrior, had the feeling that they were about to be slashed.

Weier, meanwhile, had not drawn his Steel Long Sword, and he was waving his empty right hand in small, rapid motions, looking quite curious.

While Jier and his group were receiving the pre-battle Divine Art strengthening in turn, over on the side of Bell's team, which was still fighting, there were also a larger number of Church Priests collectively casting Battle Divine Arts.

First was the Large-scale Divine Art that the Sun God Church had previously cast at night outside Bitter Water Village.

Following the collective prayer of more than a dozen Priests, a thin ray of light suddenly descended and projected from the emblem of the human Sun God in the sky. This was what could be seen when looking from a distance, but for those within the range of the Divine Art like Jier and his men, a bright sun had appeared in the sky.

It was truly terrifying; even though the real sun was about to set, the human Sun God had given this land a new sun.

The overly bright light shone upon the entire earth and the mountain forest, and the shadows of countless trees were cast downward in excessive clarity by the light from the sky.

Birds flew out of the mountain forest in large numbers, panicked and helpless against this abnormal scene, chirping and flying chaotically over everyone's heads before fleeing into the depths of the forest.

The Humans let out a loud cheer, while the parasitic Monsters inside Momona Village were clearly thoroughly enraged by this scene.

Countless parasitic Monsters jumped onto the roofs of the residents' houses in the Cunzi, waving the vines spat out from their mouths, attempting to lash out and drive away the radiance produced by the other "sun" overhead.

As the Sun God Priests continuously cast large-scale Battle Divine Arts, the other Priests on Bell's side also successively reinforced the numerous Town Guards and Armed Civilians with their respective Divine Arts.

After being strengthened by the Divine Arts, Bell and his companions also made their move in one go, crushing the parasitic Monsters continuously emerging from Momona Village head-on, and pushed the team forward to the entrance of Momona Village in one breath.

"It is time!" Priest Clark said loudly.

Without him needing to say it, Jier could also see that the timing was right. He drew his Hunting Sword, stood at the very front of the Warriors, and strode forward, with the Warriors following behind him in high spirits.

Then, Priest Clark took out a beast horn and blew into it.

Woo-woo-woo-woo—woo-woo-woo—

Subsequently, the sound of a horn also rang out from Bell's team.

Woo-woo-woo-woo—woo-woo-woo—

The same horn sound also rang out from the mountain forest opposite the Cunzi.

Woo-woo-woo-woo—woo-woo-woo—

Jier had sharp eyes and immediately saw about thirty Hunters emerging from the mountain forest opposite.

The three teams launched a formal attack simultaneously.

However, just as Priest Clark's plan stated, the Hunters emerging from the mountain forest opposite were not moving fast, clearly waiting for the other two groups to attract the large number of parasitic Monsters entrenched within the Cunzi.

Their goal was the Alien Evil God, not these minions of the Evil God.

Those Hunters detoured far away toward the towering trees at the edge of Momona Village, and Priest Clark and the Hunters on Jier's side also began to fall out of sync with Jier's team, slowly approaching and converging on the same location from afar.

A fierce battle broke out on Bell's side, and because they were close to the Cunzi gate, they immediately engaged in a head-on battle with the numerous parasitic Monsters.

Jier led more than ten Warriors and seven Church Priests to quickly charge toward another Cunzi gate of Momona Village that was closest to them. Many parasitic Monsters also surged out here, but Jier and his subordinates were not afraid at all; they were like a chisel, drilling directly into the group of parasitic Monsters.

"Stay close to me! Cover each other!" Jier roared, first throwing the Two-handed Axe 【Moon-Water Decapitator】 forward, and immediately following up with his Hunting Sword, swinging it rapidly with his steps to hack the parasitic Monsters that dodged the axe's slaughter directly into pieces.

Weier followed Jier closely with powerful and agile movements, directly and quickly hacking off the ankles and elbows of the parasitic Monsters attacking from his left, causing them to lose most of their mobility and combat ability. Sipulu was on Jier's right, his Battle Knife swinging rapidly, severing the torsos of every approaching parasitic Monster, and relying on the power of the 【Radiant Weapon】 Divine Art on his weapon to burn the severely wounded parasitic Monsters to death.

Aoni led the remaining Warriors to follow closely behind Jier, and everyone relied on their respective strengthened bodies to knock over approaching Monsters with their Shields, then suppressed and hacked them to death with chaotic blades.

Bawei was having a blast; his heavy Two-handed Axe felt far too light at this moment. He did not fight the parasitic Monsters normally at all, but simply jumped out and delivered a head-on Heavy Cleave, splitting the Monster from head to toe along the center line of its body!

It was fine even if he was hit by the Monsters' counterattacks twice, as the Divine Power flowing on the surface of his heavy Armor absorbed the damage, and then it was blocked by the armor plates. When Bawei ran out of stamina, he immediately retreated back into the defensive circle of Shields formed by Aoni and the others.

As for the Church Priests, they were even more impressive. They all brought out their true skills at this moment; statues of deities with different appearances were held in their hands, their Jiao Shi Chang Zhang knocked over approaching parasitic Monsters, and then the light of the deity statues in their hands flashed, and waves of Divine Power Impact were released outward one after another.

Often, a single Divine Power Impact would clear a large open space in the dense group of Monsters at this moment, severely disrupting the Monsters' attempts at encirclement and chaotic fighting.

And the attacks from the parasitic Monsters against them were easily blocked by the Divine Power Shields flashing on the Priests, unable to harm the Priests in the slightest.

The Human formation was stable. Jier held a white-light Long Sword in one hand and a Blue Axe in the other. After gripping both weapons with two hands, he began to rotate slightly in the front row of the team, slaughtering the parasitic Monsters approaching him into severed limbs and fragments.

Following closely were the Warriors expanding the front of the team; they forcibly occupied and pushed open the passage Jier had broken, charging forward rapidly to compress the space for the Monsters to move.

And the seven Priests in the rear row thoroughly blew away the parasitic Monsters that had fallen into chaos, leaving them with broken hands and feet, making it difficult for them to catch up with the entire advancing team.

Even though those parasitic Monsters all had excellent recovery abilities, at this very moment, the battle speed of the entire battlefield was extremely fast, and their self-healing was clearly unable to keep up with the entire battle.

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