Volume 6, Chapter 41 – The Monster Reappears

Visibly rich gold descended from the sky. Like a giant hammer falling, a magic hammer so thick that it shattered the walls on both sides slammed heavily onto the paladin and the beast. However, only the beast was affected; the paladins only hunched their shoulders slightly and were not smashed into meat patties.

One of the secrets that allowed the church to survive between the empire and the kingdom with relatively little land was that its magic would not accidentally injure allies. The reason paladins were crowned with the word ‘holy’ was because they had undergone a sacred baptism ceremony, and from then on, they would not be harmed by the church’s improved holy magic.

“Gawu!”

As if subjected to ten times the previous gravity, the beast that was originally pouncing on the paladin was slammed hard onto the ground. Its whole body was pressed against the ground, unable to move. Blood even began to seep from the weaker parts of its skin, and it let out a cry of pain.

“Finish it!”

Gritting her teeth, Evelyn urged the paladins to act quickly. Holy Suppression required the caster to continuously output magic power, and for the level 25 Evelyn, twenty seconds was the limit.

“Haaaah!!”

No longer hesitating, the paladins slashed at the beast together. Unable to move, the Fallen-turned-beast was repeatedly hit in its vital spots. With blood splashing all over the paladins, its cries gradually lost their strength. Finally, with a heavy blow from a paladin that severed its neck, it closed its eyes.

The leading paladin panted heavily and kicked the Fallen, which was now no different from minced meat—several young men who had never been on a battlefield did not know how to hold back when faced with a death threat. Even though the Fallen was already dead, they still added a few more cuts.

“Hah, hah… Lady Evelyn, he’s dead.”

“What in the world is this monster? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

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Wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead, Evelyn straightened her white and gold priestess’s habit, brushed her damp silver bangs to the side, and walked slowly towards the mud-like Fallen with the Staff of Divine Retribution.

“This man was one of the Fallen who ambushed me before. Because he had dodged pursuit many times, he overused his ability and went berserk. All berserk Fallen will look like this. They betray the Goddess, sell their souls to the devil, and in the end, they don’t even retain their human appearance, turning into beasts.”

“If it weren’t for you, Lady Evelyn, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to get back in one piece this time…”

“I didn’t expect the Fallen to be so terrifying. When they were being hunted before, they were like rats, scurrying everywhere.”

“Alright, stop dawdling. Report this matter to the church and have them send more people to search the city. There might be more than one fish that slipped through the net. If a similar incident happens again, it will deepen the residents’ anxiety.”

Glancing at the Fallen on the ground, Evelyn gestured with her chin towards the woman who was now a corpse on the other side.

“Take care of the body while you’re at it. Investigate the woman’s identity and give her family a pension. The church is partly responsible for the appearance of the Fallen in the city.”

“Yes!”

Under Evelyn’s command, the paladins dispersed. Forcibly enduring the stench of blood that filled their nostrils, they began to clean up the bloodstains.

And just as Evelyn was about to turn and join Yisi, who was walking up, she suddenly caught a glimpse of something with a metallic luster in the corner of her eye. She subconsciously stopped to check and found that it was a pendant hanging around the Fallen’s neck—a holy relic of the church.

Evelyn frowned, squatted down, and placed the church’s holy relic in her palm, turning it over to examine it.

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“It’s not a fake. How boring.”

Although the church’s holy relics couldn’t be called street-stall goods, they were very common. One could be bought for just a silver coin. Moreover, the holy relics would not rust, and one could be used until the buyer died of old age.

“But why would it appear on a Fallen…”

It couldn’t be because the Fallen also had faith in the church, could it? Or was it something the Fallen had snatched from some believer?

Pressing the knuckle of her index finger to her lips, Evelyn fell into thought. Although she had seen bandits, rapists, and even assassins carrying the church’s holy relics, this was the first time she had seen a Fallen wearing one. Just as the church was extremely hostile to the Fallen, the Fallen also extremely hated the church, refusing to use anything related to it.

“He must have worn it to deceive the city guards.”

Just as an undercover agent infiltrating an enemy country needs a presentable identity, wearing a church holy relic could greatly reduce others’ suspicion of him.

However, Evelyn always felt that she had missed something, like seeing a black cat run past before going out, or finding that her bootlaces had come untied when turning a corner. An exceptionally ominous feeling.

To figure out the reason, Evelyn, ignoring the fact that the blood on the Fallen would dirty her hands, turned the prostrate Fallen over.

There was nothing to be found.

And then.

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The next second.

The already dead Fallen suddenly opened his eyes.

“Urrrrrrgh!!!”

Instead of coming back to life, the man seemed to have been possessed by something. His eyeballs rolled up uncontrollably, and his already misshapen body convulsed continuously. The Fallen markings on his body pulsed as if they had come to life. His skin burst along the markings, and the blood that had stopped flowing began to flow again. His limbs twisted at impossible angles. Amidst the continuous cracking sound of bones being broken, the corpse gradually turned into a soft-bodied, completely unsupported lump of flesh. Then, his legs bent upwards and joined with his similarly raised head. His muscles collapsed and fused, turning into something Evelyn had seen before.

The ball of flesh she had encountered in the outskirts a few days ago.

Already scared back by the strange sight, Evelyn, her hands tightly gripping the Staff of Divine Retribution, held her breath. Although she had already seen it once, she still had a physiological fear and disgust, not to mention that this time she was much closer to the ball of flesh than last time, and the impact was naturally much stronger.

“Lady Evelyn, what is this?!”

“A monster…”

“Ugh…”

The sense of discomfort made the paladins take a step back.

Realizing that she could not retreat here, Evelyn took a deep breath, condensed magic power in the Staff of Divine Retribution, and her sharp voice brought everyone back to their senses.

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“Don’t just stand there. Finish it before it moves!”

“Yes!”

But Evelyn’s words were a step too late.

No matter how hard the paladins slashed, the ball of flesh showed no signs of dying. On the contrary, even though it was constantly bleeding, its body continued to swell. When it had swelled to a certain extent, the entire ball of flesh began to contract like a heart. Its dark red skin quickly turned a translucent pink due to the rapid expansion. Under the sunlight shining into the deep alley, the group could even see through the skin, the several fetuses, like six or seven-year-old children, gestating within.

“Damn it, faster, faster, aaaah!”

“Die!”

The paladins’ slashes were not unable to cut into the monster’s body, but cutting it could not stop it from growing. If Yisi were to describe it, it was like facing a creature with infinite health but zero defense. Although one could reduce the monster’s HP, one could not truly threaten it.

And during this time, the monster’s level had already doubled, reaching nearly forty.

It was better for her to step in and solve it.

But Evelyn acted a step ahead of Yisi—she threw a magic crystal at the ball of flesh, and raging flames instantly engulfed it.