The gate to the church district collapsed with a thunderous crash.
No one knew who let out the first roar, but everyone knew that this gate was pushed open by the strength of ordinary people.
Without the blessing of transcendent power, even the gate leading to the church district was just so.
"Destroy the church!" "Kill the bishop!" "For the children!!"
The enraged crowd seed to forget the terror of the Transcendent for a mont, as if they forgot the oppressive power accumulated by the cathedral over centuries. The White Knights initiated the charge at the front of the crowd, followed closely by free rcenaries and adventurers from Carol and the surroundings of Lu’an, forming a second wave. Behind them were farrs and rchants wielding scythes, hoes, staffs, and pitchforks. The massive crowd surged through the gate like a tide of mud, drowning the limited number of Church Knights and soldiers guarding the entrance in an instant.
This was the ordinary people’s first revolt against the transcendent powers; however, this was still a world where transcendent power completely surpassed mortals’. A direct assault by commoners on the defensive line ford by Church Knights could only make this action a aningless sacrifice, so leading the charge, besides dozens of White Knights, were the rcenaries and adventurers gathered from various places.
At least these people had relatively fine equipnt, or had a certain amount of transcendent power. They could already contend with the Church Knights with their numbers, but they also remained a group of people long oppressed and controlled by the church, also a part of the "commoners."
The newspapers distributed and the programs broadcasted in various places had not only angered the rural folk but also these people who lived by licking the blood off the knife blade. They volunteered to be the sharp spearhead of the assault on the cathedral, and now, this spearhead had already crossed the first line of defense in the church district and was continuing to advance towards the cathedral.
Amber and her team mingled in the crowd and as they crossed the plaza of the small church district, her keen eyesight caught the figures swaying at the edge of the plaza.
Those were the clergy of the small church district — they had taken off their conspicuous priest robes and changed into clothes indistinguishable from the commoners, with white cloth strips tied around their arms. They ran along the plaza, guiding the crowd, faithfully performing their duties.
Amber breathed a sigh of relief — not only did those priests rember to wear white cloth strips as a marker, but they also changed their clothes in advance, which was indeed a wise move.
This wave of anger was destined to sweep through the entire church district in a semi-uncontrolled state; the angry crowd was almost impossible to restrain with reason. Although it had been repeatedly propagated among the crowd before the action that "those with white cloth tied on their arms are allies," once the flas of anger were ignited, the ornate priest robes would undoubtedly be more eye-catching than the cloth strips on the arms.
In rely ten minutes, the crowd had crossed the virtually defenseless small church district, approaching the ring-shaped plaza in front of the cathedral without causing much destruction or bloodshed.
The thunderous roars and the clamor from various weapons and spells reverberated in the air over Lu’an City. The solemn doors and magnificent stained glass windows of the cathedral creaked unsettlingly amidst the waves of sound. A priest in a white robe with golden edges dashed into the grand corridor, the Holy Light surrounding him was very dim, and charred burn marks covered his face — a wound left after a Holy Light Impact Hand Cannon had shattered his barrier.
"They’re coming! They’re coming! The mobs! They’re everywhere!" The priest ran and shouted through the corridors, "They also have the Holy Light! Those mobs... those mobs have the Holy Light in their hands too!"
The corridor was filled with people running aimlessly, the panicked clergyn scurrying like headless flies among the glistening doors. A Disciplinary Monk in black robes stopped the priest running down the hallway: "Where are the Church Knights? The soldiers? The defenders outside?!"
"Scattered! The soldiers were broken up by a sudden attack from a rcenary group, the knights were defeated by those in white armor, and the remaining ones can’t hold them back—the mobs are about to burst into the cathedral!!"
A loud crash ca from the ring-shaped plaza, accompanied by the great noise of sothing collapsing and shattering. The stained-glass windows of the cathedral wobbled with the thunderous sound. A priest with a face full of blood ca running from afar: "Priest! Priest! The barrier on the plaza is about to break!!"
Desperate cries rose from all directions: "What about the theurgy circle? Why hasn’t the theurgy circle been activated?"
"The small church district has been breached—the theurgy circle there never activated from the start!"
"The bishop... where is the bishop?"
Finally, soone rembered the temporary bishop of Lu’an City, rembered the one who should be presiding over the situation at this mont. The priest with his face burned by the Holy Light grabbed the black robe of the Disciplinary Monk, yelling without regard for any etiquette: "Where is Bishop Fran Belon?! Why hasn’t he appeared?!"
"The bishop is in the prayer room... he is communicating with God..."
"There’s no ti—those mobs are about to break in!"
"I’ll go get him!"
A series of loud noises echoed from the square, and the doors and windows of the cathedral began to shake. Inside the great hall of this colossal building, trembling priests and clergyn gathered, while the last batch of Church Knights stood guard in front of these spellcasters—all eyes fixated on the gilded white door ahead, so murmuring prayers, others shouting curses, each one summoning their Holy Light Power, ready to respond to the mont the door was breached.
Until those "mobsters" stord the cathedral district, they never imagined they would face such a formidable force. They believed that their own transcendent power and the cathedral district’s theurgy circle would be more than enough to tear apart all the invaders. However, reality shattered their hopes: the cathedral district’s theurgy circle had never activated, and those "mobsters"... they also wielded Holy Light.
On this land dominated by the Holy Light God, there existed Holy Light beyond the control of the gods!!
A priest with a terrified expression listened to the commotion outside, and couldn’t help but say with a trembling voice: "Those guys using Holy Light and warhamrs...where did they co from?!"
"The church never trained such...monsters," a Church Knight wiped the cold sweat and blood off his forehead, constantly adjusting his grip on his sword as he tried to calm down, "Their Holy Artifacts are imnsely powerful, and they seem tireless when casting spells. We planned to launch a surprise attack during their casting pauses, but half of our people were killed by their continuous Holy Light impacts...they are truly monsters!"
"The Lord...The Lord will save us..."
The explosion sounds from outside suddenly stopped, and a surge of joy arose in the hearts of the nearly desperate clergyn. However, the battle-hardened Church Knights and Disciplinary Monks instantly turned pale: "The door’s protection has been broken!!"
The light curtain covering the cathedral door finally could not withstand the continuous damage and shattered into countless fragnts like broken white crystals. Two White Knights, just like iron giants, wielded heavy chanically Powered Warhamrs, slamming with all their strength onto the gilded white door—with the contact of the hamrhead and door, the warhamr’s Repulsion chanisms and Gravity Adjustnt Runes instantaneously activated, unleashing a frightening impact strong enough to turn boulders to dust in a split-second beyond human reaction, resulting in a thunderous crash, and splitting the door of Luan Grand Cathedral into pieces.
"Activate shields!"
The White Knights charged towards the now open door, each activating the energy shields on their armors. The sacred white light curtains enveloped these warriors...the war clerics, who strode through the smoke and dust, shouting their unique battle cry: "The doctors are here!!"
Within the chaotic smoke and dust, a dozen beams of Holy Light of varying intensities flew forth from opposition, causing layers of ripples on the White Knights’ energy shields. Wright, carrying a heavy chanically Powered Warhamr in one hand, fearlessly advanced against the enemies’ attacks. As the haze dispersed, he saw the situation across—a flimsy defensive line composed of seven or eight wounded Church Knights, with a thin layer of Holy Light floating over their tal shields and armors—without magic capacitors and overload modules, human flesh could only output such weak energy—and behind those Church Knights were dozens of priests and clergyn in cloth robes, looking vulnerable.
Is this the last resistance of Luan Grand Cathedral?
Those feeble clergyn and their guarding Church Knights congregated at the far end of the hall. Seeing the invading White Knight team and surging "mobsters," those with courage expressed their stance by loudly cursing: "You commoners possessed by devils! You will go to hell! Your devil master will burn you a thousand tis! The Holy Light God will..."
Yet, the loud cursing couldn’t impede the White Knights’ actions—as elite troops transford from professional soldiers, the first batch of White Knights who stord into the cathedral strictly executed the tactical moves rehearsed countless tis in the Combat Corps—raise shields, find nearby cover, simultaneously detach a grenade from the waist, pull the pin and throw it over, conveniently add a dozen Impact hand cannon shots.
A string of unreasonable explosions directly drowned out all opposition from the Luan Priests. Amidst the vast smoke and noise of the detonated grenades, only large patches of Holy Light suddenly illuminated and went dark.
Wright hoisted his warhamr and led his team forward, amidst the swirling smoke and dust, he saw a few remaining Luan Priests and Church Knights still moving, so surviving thanks to protective artifacts, sheer luck, and comrades by their side. They saw the steadily advancing White Knights, and a clergyman almost instinctively raised a hand, conjuring a scorching light orb towards Wright.
Wright did not dodge, permitting the light orb to fly towards him, while a small translucent figure instantaneously materialized from the air, swiftly grabbing the orb, and proceeded to munch on it before disappearing into the atmosphere again.
This utterly irrational scene caused the attacking clergyman to cry out: "...devil...devils!! You are all devils!!"
Wright tightened his grip on the warhamr and approached the now babbling Luan clergyman: "You label every adversary as devils and heretics, yet the doctrine of Holy Light is forgotten by you, judgnt power should belong to the canon but turned to your hands...enough, gaton Warhamr!!"
The battle within the cathedral’s hall ended in a very short ti, and as another opponent fell, Wright shouldered the warhamr again, looking back at his subordinates: "There shouldn’t only be this few people in the cathedral...other priests may be hiding in various rooms and secret passages, search separately, and anwhile provide tily aid to wounded civilians and Volunteer rcenaries."
The White Knights obeyed and departed, while more rcenaries, adventurers, and ard civilians started entering the cathedral and nearby annex facilities, sweeping room by room for hiding priests, yet amid this seemingly smooth scenario, Wright couldn’t help but frown.
A shadow erged in the surrounding air, and Amber leaped from the darkness to the ground: "Fran Belon isn’t among these priests."
Wright imdiately realized the source of his dissonance, and almost simultaneously perceived an unusual energy fluctuation emanating from the depths of the cathedral.
A nearby vigilant White Knight also sensed the anomaly—the eyepiece on the White Knight armor used to detect abnormal magic power fluctuations showed him assembling dangerous energy: "Great Shepherd! Sothing is happening! Below ground!"
"I’ll go check it out!"
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