Chapter 686: The Legacy of Deities
The man who wore Ellington’s face let out a short, contemptuous laugh.
“Monsters? Isn’t this body your creation? You built these extraordinary warriors from witches’ blood and God’s Stones of Retaliation—but the process was flawed. You skipped critical steps. They came out without souls. You placed your hopes in these soulless half-finished things, expecting them to hold their own against demons on a battlefield. And now you see a genuine finished product, and you call it a monster?”
“A genuine… finished product?” Tayfun’s pulse beat fast and hard. This man knew things about the God’s Punishment Army’s creation that were the most closely guarded secrets the church possessed.
“All-out attack—protect His Eminence!” the Praetorian Guard ordered.
The ten God’s Punishment Warriors surged forward to shield the Archbishop, moving with the inhuman speed of their kind.
The invaders were the same kind—and stronger.
They were not more numerous, but they fought with a fluency that the church’s warriors could not match. The invaders drew them close and then fragmented them—whenever one of the church’s warriors engaged an opponent in front, another invader slipped behind him and struck. A God’s Punishment Warrior who could not receive updated instructions from his controller became nearly helpless in a shifting fight; the Praetorian Guard could not simultaneously direct ten warriors through a chaotic close-quarters battle. The church’s side had equal raw strength but moved like puppets with tangled strings; the invaders moved like individuals who had chosen to fight together.
The result was one-sided. The church’s warriors were disabled or destroyed without a single invader falling.
The one who looked like Ellington dispatched the Praetorian Guard himself, a single clean stroke at the end. Then he lifted his blade and rested it on the old Bishop’s shoulder.
Black-blue blood from the God’s Punishment Warriors and red blood from the Praetorian Guard mixed on the blade. It dripped into Tayfun’s collar.
“You can’t kill me,” Tayfun said. His voice shook but the words came out. “If I die, the Holy City loses its order. If the Holy City falls, who stops the demonic beasts? If they break through the Hermes defense line, all four kingdoms will collapse into—”
“Ruins?” The leader cut him off. “Save that story for ignorant believers. We know what demonic beasts are looking for. If you hadn’t brought it here, why would those simple-minded beasts swarm to this trap of ice and snow season after season, when magic power peaks at its highest?”
“I don’t… I don’t understand what you mean…”
The man who wore Ellington’s face shrugged. “You haven’t even seen the relic. What a pity.”
Tayfun drew breath to answer.
Then there was cold at his throat, and then there was nothing at all.
Elena kicked the old man’s severed head and watched it arc away. She lowered her sword as his body toppled slowly to the floor.
“Let’s go. We still have work to finish.”
A hand caught her from behind. “Wait—you’re wounded. Stop the bleeding first, or the body will start to slip.”
“Where?”
“Your waist. You’ll need to remove the armor.”
Elena swore. “This damned body. It can’t feel anything.” She stripped off the chest and back plate, revealing a powerfully built torso.
“Would you look at that,” someone said admiringly. “That body would have cost at least fifty gold royals back in Taquila. Be honest—have you ever looked in a mirror and…”
“Carol.” The witch treating Elena’s wound didn’t look up. “Stop. That kind of thinking is torture for us. I don’t even let myself remember the days in Taquila. Compared to that life, this existence feels like being sealed inside a cage of endless void.”
Someone else agreed immediately. “Carol is right. If someone could make me feel what it was like to sleep with a man again, I would give anything to marry him. No—I would treat him as my lord.”
“A man?” another voice said. “I would be satisfied with a fried steak in butter. Real butter.”
“I just want to feel sunlight on my face.”
“Damn it, who started this?”
“Miss Betty.”
“I only meant to make casual conversation. This was the kind of body I always wanted in the first place…”
“Enough.” Elena raised her voice. “Don’t forget why we came. The others are waiting for us at the top of the tower. Focus.”
She led them into the concealed tunnel once Carol finished tying off the wound. They climbed up through the passage into the library, where another group of witches—also housed in God’s Punishment Warrior bodies—waited for them.
These were the remaining members of the Union.
Lady Natalya, Elena thought, looking at them all. Do you see? We won in the end.
“Have you found the relic?” she asked aloud.
Zoe, the other team’s leader, came forward. “The old place. Everything arranged identically to how it was in the Holy City of Taquila. By the way—why did it take you so long down there? You didn’t let anyone escape?”
Elena coughed twice. “Of course not. Everything went exactly as agreed—”
“So we touch the relic together.”
She nodded. “That’s it. Let’s begin.”
The relic—the deities’ legacy—was the origin of the Battle of Divine Will and the Union’s most closely held secret. None of them had known of its existence before the witches’ empire collapsed. Only when the survivors had gone underground, hidden and hunted, had the Three Chiefs finally revealed it to those who remained.
From that moment forward, all distinctions of rank had dissolved. They had become a group without hierarchy, equal in purpose, bound together by the single task of finding a way to defeat the demons. Every survivor was equally necessary. That was what the Three Chiefs had said.
Elena’s heart beat faster at the thought of touching something made by the deities themselves.
She knew it was an illusion. This body couldn’t feel anything real.
She followed Zoe through a trapdoor concealed behind a bookshelf and climbed up to the top of the library.
A narrow room waited there, windowless, lit only by a Magic Stone overhead casting dim blue light. Nothing inside but that glow and bare walls.
“Is this the Prayer Room Pasha described?”
“Yes.” Zoe lifted an iron hammer and struck the wall. A dull impact—only a small white mark. She moved and struck again. And again. On the third or fourth attempt, the wall opposite the entrance cracked.
“Here—help me.”
Elena drew her sword and came alongside. Together they struck at the cracked section until a gap opened, half the height of a person. They looked through it.
The wall’s thickness was nearly half an arm’s length. Both surfaces had been covered in heavy layers of mortar—the kind of construction that would yield nothing when you knocked on it and listened. This was not a passage to another level. It was a secret chamber.
Inside, Elena saw the deities’ legacy.
Chapter 686: The Legacy of Deities
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
The man who looked like Ellington sneered, “monster? Isn’t this body created by you? You made this kind of extraordinary warrior with the witches’ blood and God’s Stones of Retaliation, but unfortunately, they were defective. Because of the lack of key steps, they don’t have souls, but you still placed great hope on them. You believe these soulless semi-finished products can compete with demons on the battlefields, but now when you see a real finished product you call it a ‘monster’? ”
“A real… finished product?” Tayfun’s heart began to thump, as he found this man seemed to know better than himself the process of creating God’s Punishment Army, a top secret of the church.
“All-out attack, kill them all!” the Praetorian Guard ordered.
The ten God’s Punishment Warriors following him quickly came to the front to protect the Archbishop. They moved incredibly fast, lunging at the invaders.
However, these invaders were also God’s Punishment Warriors and even stronger than them.
They did not outnumber church’s warriors, but they fought much more skillfully. They lured them close and broke them apart. Every time one of the church’s warriors was fighting against someone in front of him, he would soon get attacked from behind. Under such circumstances, even Tayfun could tell it was better to retreat. However, a church’s warrior would not know how to react unless his controller, the Praetorian Guard, gave him further order. Controlling 10 warriors at the same time, the guard was unable to take care of every situation in this fight, so the church’s warriors were clearly at a
disadvantage to the invaders who were equally strong but could act independently.
These extraordinary warriors of the church soon lose their combat capability when they were separated.
The invaders quickly killed them all without any casualties.
The leader of the invaders, the “Ellington”, easily hacked the Praetorian Guard to death at the end of the fight. After that, he lifted his sword and put it on the old Bishop’s shoulder, who was standing petrified with shock.
The black-blue blood of the church’s God’s Punishment Warriors and the red blood of the Praetorian Guard mixed on the blade and dripped into Tayfun’s collar.
Tayfun said with a trembling voice, “you… can’t kill me. If I die, the Holy City will collapse… When that happens, who will stop demonic beasts? If they break through the defense line of Hermes, I’m afraid the four kingdoms will fall into—”
The leader of the invaders interrupted, “fall into ruins? Save it. You can deceive ignorant believers with this story, but we know what those demonic beasts are looking for. If it was not you that have brought it here, why would those dumb beasts swarm to this trap of ice and snow during Months of Demons when the magic power peaked in the year?”
“What… I don’t understand what you mean…”
This leader looking like Ellington shrugged and said, “what? It seems that you’ve not even seen the relic. What a pity.”
The bishop was about to say something, but suddenly he felt cold in his neck. Soon endless torpor and coldness occupied his mind.
Elena kicked the old man’s head up, sending it flying and saw his body slowly fall down to the ground. She took back her sword in satisfaction and
said, “let’s go. Time to finish our task.”
Someone pulled her back from behind, saying, “wait, you’re hurt. Stop the bleeding first, or your body will get out of control.”
“Where’s the wound?”
“In your waist. You’ve got to take off the armors first.”
Elena cursed, “this damn body. It doesn’t feel a thing at all.” She took off her chest and back armors, revealing a well-built upper body.
“Gee, look at this. It would cost at least fifty gold royals back in Taquila. To be honest, have you ever looked into the mirror and…”
The one who was treating Elena’s wound interrupted, “come on, Betty. Isn’t that kind of fantasies like torture for us? I don’t even dare to recall the days in Taquila. As compared to the life in the past, my life now resembles being imprisoned in a cage of endless void.”
Someone immediately agreed with her, saying, “Carol is right. If someone can make me feel what it’s like to sleep with a man again, I’ll give anything to marry him… No, I’ll even treat him as my lord.”
“A man? Come on. I’ll be satisfied if I can eat delicious fried steak with butter again.”
“I just want to do some sunbathing…”
“Damn it, who brought up this subject?”
“Miss Betty.”
“I just wanted to make some casual conversations. This is the body I wanted to have in the first place…”
Elena got a little upset and shouted, “stop it! Don’t forget the purpose of our trip! The others were still waiting for us at the top of the tower. Concentrate your mind!”
She led the team into the secret tunnel after Carol finished treating the wound.
They got up to the library through the tunnel. Another group of witches looking like God’s Punishment Warriors were waiting there.
These witches were the remaining members of the Union.
Elena sighed in her heart, “lady Natalya, have you seen? We win in the end.”
She asked, “have you found the location of the relic?”
Zoe, the leader of the other team, came up and said, “the old place. Everthing is arranged in the same way as that in the Holy City of Taquila. By the way, why did you spend so much time down there? Are you sure that you didn’t let go of a person?
Elena coughed twice and said, “of course, everything went well, so by agreement…”
“We’ll touch the relic together.”
She nodded, saying, “that’s it. Let’s get started.”
This relic, the deities’ legacy, was the origin of Battles of Divine Will and the top secret of the Union. In fact, before the collapse of the witches’ empire, none of them had known about it. When the old order had disintegrated and they had hidden underground, all the survivors like them had finally heard it from the Three Chiefs.
From then on, they had become equals and formed a classless group searching for the way of defeating demons, as they had been clear that each and every survivor of the Union would have been equally important in this process.
Thinking that she was going to touch an object created by deities, Elena felt her heart was beating faster.
However, she knew it was just an illusion, as she could feel nothing in this body.
Following Zooey, she walked through a trapdoor behind a book shelf and got up to the top of the library.
Up there, she saw a narrow room without a window, which had nothing inside except a Magic Stone giving out dim blue light above her head.
“Is this the Prayer Room mentioned by Pasha?”
“Yes.” Zooey lifted up an iron hammer and smashed it against the wall. With a dull thud, it left only a small white spot on the wall.
“It doesn’t seem to be here.” she said and chose another position to hammer. After several attempts, the wall area opposite to the entrance cracked.
“Find it! Come here to help me,” Zooey said.
Elena drew out her long sword and came up. They struck at the wall together and soon opened a gap which was half their height.
Looking at the gap, they found that the broken wall was almost as thick as half an arm’s length and both sides of the wall were brushed with a thick layer of mortar. Given that, they could never find this section of hallow wall simply by knocking at the walls and listening to the knocking sound. Looking through the gap, they found a even smaller secret chamber instead of another passage leading to the underground.
In this chamber, Elena saw the relic of deities.