Chapter 766: Great Melee

Clearly, there had only been thick fog outside the church a second ago, but the next moment, overwhelming wandering souls had already occupied almost every corner of the field of vision.

The miracle elements and divine power carried by the church itself expanded instantly when facing the first wave of attacks, repelling the undead closest to the church building itself. Afterward, all Shushi above the high level left the church to fight in the outside world. The bell at the top of the side tower rang out "dang-dang-dang~," and the ripples composed of golden divine spiritual light continuously expanded toward the outside of the church, offsetting the invasion of whisper elements that came with the undead tide.

The Outsider had never seen a real war in his hometown. Having experienced so many major events in this world, he had still not experienced a war in the true sense. Only until this moment did he truly witness a great battle between over three hundred supernatural beings. Even though he held 【Night Watcher】 and had the help of the witch's necklace and divine afterglow, he still did not think he could play a significant role here.

Together with Yin Yi Yi Lu Na and other mid-level Shushi, he resisted the undead that could break through the outer perimeter battle at the church entrance. While divine power bloomed around him, Xia De also received various amplification effects from others.

While his strength, agility, spirit, and even soul resistance were improved, he also used "Sunlight Ray" without holding back, coordinating with 【Night Watcher】 to attack.

The power of the sun and Xia De's hardworking performance made the church's Shushi trust him further. The high consumption of 【Sunlight Ray】 also meant Xia De could not stay on the front line at all times. When he temporarily retreated to the side of the bonfire to rest, the nun responsible for logistics actually gave him three bottles of holy water, and it was high-purity No. 2 holy water concentrate.

This was a precious material that couldn't be bought even if one wanted to; only the Natural Church, which produced holy water itself, could be so generous.

It could be seen that even without Xia De, with Yin Yi Yi Lu Na guarding the entrance and relying on the power of "Balance" to suppress the power of the undead, the church could still be defended. But with Xia De, this "Master of Swordsmanship," first using the "light cannon" of Sunlight Ray to clear scattered enemies, then the church Shushi's long-range sorcery attacks, and finally everyone temporarily rushing out of the entrance to melee-clear the enemies that were still alive.

This standard combat procedure made the pressure of defense much smaller. Even when tricky enemies broke through the outer defensive ritual and the attacks of the high-level Shushi and climbed the steps in front of the church, Xia De could rely on 【Night Watcher】, which had powerful lethality against evil spirits, to hold the other party for a period of time.

The seemingly infinite number of undead kept rushing in from all directions without stopping from the moment the church's ritual officially began. The undead in the front were crushed, and the undead in the back stepped on their spiritual bodies that had not yet dissipated and rushed forward again.

Not only on the ground, but bone dragons, wraith banshees, and other undead capable of flight appeared in the sky, and giant worm ghouls wanted to drill out from the ground, but they were immediately suppressed by the power of the church itself.

On the ceiling of the main hall, where the lush World Tree mural had originally been, an additional pale golden three-layered ring appeared. As the ritual progressed, the pale gold was transforming into bright gold, and once all three layers of the ring were transformed, it meant the ritual was successful.

During the first hour of the battle, every time Xia De rested temporarily, he would look up at the ceiling, but afterward, he had no time to care about the pattern on the ceiling.

This was not the most desperate battle he had experienced, but it was indeed the most mentally exhausting battle. Enemies were in every corner his eyes could see; as soon as the long sword in his hand pierced one target, the next target would immediately appear.

Joey Barton never appeared. Until 9:20 PM in the real world, when Xia De returned to the bonfire again and sat cross-legged there, wanting to restore his combat state as quickly as possible, a thunderous explosion suddenly came from outside the church.

"What happened?"

He hurriedly climbed up, pulled the stopper out of the No. 2 holy water bottle at his side, and gulped down a mouthful. Looking up at the ceiling, two-thirds of the three-layered ring on the ceiling had turned bright gold.

"A big guy is coming!"

The answer came from the entrance, followed by two more explosions from the sky.

Footsteps came from deeper within the church, and the Thorn Nun, who had not appeared until now, walked out. After exchanging a few words with the old nun responsible for logistics by the fire, she also walked out of the church and flew into the sky.

This time, Xia De clearly saw a bolt of golden lightning cut through the cloud layer, and then a massive object fell in the thick fog in the distance. But afterward, a roar like a wild giant beast came from directly above the church, and the sound even made the building itself tremble.

【The wind of nature blows, the dandelion flowers bloom!】

A hoarse man's voice chanted the words of sublimation, and Xia De inside the room could only see countless green dandelion phantoms falling from the sky.

The effect of the words of sublimation allowed the high-level Shushi and the giant beast above the church to temporarily disengage from the battlefield. But immediately afterward, rumbling sounds came from outside the door again. Xia De, holding his sword, hurriedly went to the entrance and, together with the crowd behind him whose life rings were manifesting, saw an orderly army of headless undead wearing armor, riding on skeletal horses, rapidly charging toward the church from the fog.

"Sage-level Relic 【Headless Knights】? How could they appear in Midhillburg?"

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na was greatly surprised, but immediately afterward, as a desolate horn sounded from the high point of the church, pale golden light seeped outward from the outer wall of the natural church. In those golden radiances, souls with transparent bodies and solemn expressions walked out of the walls. Among them were even souls guarding the church that Xia De had seen when he last entered the church.

"It's the successive guardians of the church in the Ringed Sect!"

The undead Shushi of the Natural Church appeared and launched a charge outward, scattering the Headless Knights that were about to make contact with the church. The appearance of these souls who volunteered to guard this place also allowed the miracle elements in the church to spread to areas further outside the church, illuminating a larger range.

"The ritual is three-quarters complete! The real world has sent that relic over!"

Someone shouted by the bonfire, and then a brass-colored box was sent to the second floor of the church. Immediately afterward, green seeds were thrown from the second-floor window toward the square in front of the church. As the dazzling green light flashed, gray-green grass actually grew in the Ringed Sect, which only had black, white, and gray colors. Those grasses extended wildly outward, and in just a few minutes, the area around the natural church was covered with wild grass.

"The Angel-level (Level 1) relic 【Seed of the Plant Protector's Resentment】 housed by the Natural Church. Once the relic goes out of control, it will ignore any conditions and grow plants wildly until all the nutrients in the land are drained. This is a relic that, if not restricted, is enough to destroy most of the Old Continent. The Natural Church uses this thing very cautiously."

The appearance of the plant power further pushed back the front line of the undead tide, also giving the living a chance to catch their breath. But they did not rejoice too early, because as a massive scythe swept over from the thick fog, the wild grass on the ground was turned into ashes in an instant.

That scythe even swept to the entrance of the church; two mid-level Shushi who did not have time to retreat into the church were hit by the decaying black light and died almost immediately. This was already the umpteenth victim since the start of this battle.

"Finally here!"

The dense undead tide was split to the left and right, and a short, deformed figure walked out from within. And behind him, a tall black phantom wearing a cloak was holding a scythe, preparing for the next attack.

A whistle blew from high above, reminding people of Joey Barton's arrival.

There was no need for any probing attacks at all. Mr. Barton, wearing a child-sized black windbreaker, slowly rose into the air and reached a high point. The black sphere in his hand expanded rapidly and then exploded:

"Bestow upon you—the destined death!"

Black light swept across, but this time Xia De did not have the illusion of being paused. Because higher up, the Crown of Thorns was thrown down. That crown covered Barton, forcibly encircling the expanding black light, and then perished together with the Chosen One's innate ability.

"This is the final battle! Labyrinth—Life and Death Ringed Sect!"

Even thicker fog surged over, and the compressed fog covered the top of the church. Joey Barton's figure, along with almost two-thirds of the high-level Shushi, disappeared and entered the labyrinth.

"Something's wrong. How could he be willing to face so many Shushi at the same time? No, that's not the main body, it's a clone!"

Xia De didn't need to remind them; others also realized something was wrong. All the high-level Shushi on the outer perimeter returned for reinforcements urgently, but at the same time, another massive black scythe swept over from deep in the thick fog.

And this time, this scythe was blocked:

"Balance!"

The dark golden scale behind Yin Yi Yi Lu Na forcibly blocked the scythe.

The scythe was retracted, and another Joey Barton walked out of the fog. This time, he and the surrounding undead rushed toward the church and became entangled with the church's high-level Shushi.

"Another one came!"

The black scythe continued to attack, and the third and fourth Joey Bartons walked out of the fog. He seemed to have the ability to enhance the power of evil spirits, and the undead around him clearly became more powerful.

"Beiyasi, don't leave the church entrance!"

After giving Yin Yi Yi Lu Na an instruction, that Mr. Landau of the Peace Church also had to leave the church and join the battle outside. Merging part of 【Life and Death Ringed Sect】, although Joey Barton was still no match for the church, he had entangled most of the people.

Everyone knew what he wanted to do, so Yin Yi Yi Lu Na at the church entrance stood ready.

"It's coming!"

Xia De reminded loudly. Before the sound fell, a thick black beam of light rushed from the thick fog, shooting toward the church entrance like a light cannon. Although he didn't know what this was, Xia De still met it for the first time, raising his sword to thrust forward:

"Sunlight~ Ray!"

The warm yellow light cannon shot out from the tip of the sword and intersected with the black beam of light. The massive thrust made Xia De stagger backward, his clothes fluttering in the wind pressure. But he was supported in time by others behind him, and the Qi that had just recovered more than half was rapidly consumed.

Four black lights flew past his left, right, up, and down at the same time, but Xia De was fully resisting that pitch-black beam of light and could not intercept them at all.

"Four Joey Bartons! Is the Chosen One too unreasonable?"

Exclamations came from behind, and the subsequent burst of spiritual light made even Xia De, who was facing away from them, feel dazzled.

The battle took place inside the church. In just a few dozen seconds, Xia De couldn't even tell how many times the burst of spiritual light had appeared behind him. Until the end, the appearance of two consecutive words of sublimation seemed to stop the battle, but immediately afterward, it was Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's voice:

"It's a substitute. His power destroyed the defensive ritual, and he has turned invisible and entered the church!"

This sentence was definitely said to Xia De, and then Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's footsteps also went away.

"Damn it!"

Xia De rarely cursed. As Joey Barton went deeper into the church, the black light cannon resisting him also became weak and finally disappeared completely in the Sunlight Ray.

Turning to look behind him, the main chapel of the church was a mess, silver threads and charms were scattered all over the floor, and the long benches were almost all smashed into pieces. But fortunately, the ritual was not destroyed, and the three-layered ring on the ceiling was still slowly transforming into bright gold.

The ritual had progressed to this point; as long as the ritual itself was not destroyed, those three passages were completely safe. Even if Joey Barton entered them, he would never be able to walk out again. But he acted as if he knew nothing and still rushed into the depths of the church.

Joey Barton did not go to attack those old priests, but a few of the Shushi guarding this place turned into statues, half of the people were unconscious, and the few remaining conscious people did not have the strength to stand up:

"They are heading toward the deepest part!"

Someone reminded. Xia De could not care about his unrecovered physical strength and Qi, picked up the fishing rod and kerosene lamp by the bonfire, and chased after them. *** **CHAPTER 767: Entering Death Again**