As the flying dragons in the west of Gray Island retreated, other dragon groups began to show their intention to retreat after losing flank cover. They reduced the frequency of attacks and gradually slowed down their offensive.
Ten minutes later, accompanied by a few scattered dragon roars, many flying dragons all over the island fled back into the dark clouds in embarrassment. Because of a powerful warrior, today's fifth raid by the crazy dragons came to an abrupt end. , the sky is clear.
At this time, the priests who originally held the summoning ceremony were treating many injured crew members inside the Time Ship beside the Ark.
Due to the break into the abyss and the subsequent battle with the Crystal Demon Dragon, the Ark experienced several strong impacts. Many crew members who were not very strong fell into a coma and have not woken up to this day. Moreover, some particularly unlucky crew members were affected by the exploration team and were parasitized by the brain-eating worms that Nolan spread in food and tea.
Unlike the powerful exploration team, they do not have the strength to resist the destruction of the brain-eating insects. Even after receiving timely treatment from the three members of the church, many crew members are still in danger of life and need emergency treatment.
But all this has nothing to do with Joshua and his group who are already in the central temple area - after relying on their own pressure (?) to drive away a large number of flying dragons, the warrior and others quickly received a message from the church.
Pope Eagle is now at the top of the Holy Mountain, waiting for his arrival.
The silent Steel Elemental No. 1 - even if he spoke, he could only speak quietly - held the still sleeping Hei under his arm, with the Shenji siblings sitting on his shoulders, following Joshua. They were surrounded by a young man. Under the guidance of the priest, they quickly moved towards the central temple area.
Along the way, the group passed through several abandoned small towns, which were the residences of the priests living around the Holy Mountain. But now, due to the invasion of the mad dragon, everyone lives and lives around the solid temple.
Despite this, some of the peripheral temples, such as the thirteen coastal temples in the west of the island, are basically abandoned. If it were not for the fact that the Time Ship was built at the port in the west of the island and the determined coordinates were also nearby, then they would definitely will not be enabled.
The Holy Mountain is majestic. As long as you look up, you can see the mountain exuding holy white light. Countless tall and solid temples are scattered on it. Under the leadership of the trembling young priest, who is reluctant to even move, Joshua, who was still in a bad mood, came to the first line of defense outside the central temple area with a gloomy look.
The stationed priests seemed to have gotten the news, and they did not stop the warriors and the group. Of course, there were a few knights who did not have enough self-control and drew their swords as soon as they saw Joshua, but that It's just a subconscious sense of self-preservation, and the warrior won't be angry about it.
Even if you hear the words 'Big Devil?' spread among the crowd? ! ''Why do humans have an aura of despair...''Is he a humanoid dragon being escorted? ' The soldier was not angry at the doubts.
Because he was looking at his character panel and had no time to waste on such meaningless things.
[You killed the Abyss Demonic Dragon Shadra the Corroder]
[You killed the Black Dragon of the Underworld, Dead Smoke Grandi]
[You have arrived at the 31st level of the abyss: Blood Moon Abyss]
[You killed the Famine Spokesperson, the Crystal Demonic Dragon Mandagal]
[You destroyed the super large complex chaos ritual·overlapping realms]
[You have completed the legendary event—The Dark Moon!]
[You have achieved an achievement—Staring into the abyss]
[You returned safely from an abyssal plane, proving that no matter how dangerous the environment is, it cannot hinder your pace. Your resistance to any bad attribute is increased by 30%, and the speed of resistance increase is doubled.]
Bad attribute resistance means that when the holder is located in the abyss, chaos plane and various elemental planes, it can slow down the erosion speed of local special forces, whether it is the abyss breath, chaos power or the erosion of the four major elements. Being weakened can be said to be an enhanced version of all-element resistance in a sense.
Demons have extremely high resistance to magic. It is precisely because of this ability that all demons have this resistance to harsh attributes. They can adapt to any environment. Even in the void without air and elements, demons can survive for a certain period of time. Seeing this, Joshua nodded. This achievement is quite good, at least it is much better than the elf's favorability increase last time.
You know, since the warrior returned to the Mycroft continent from the world of Ilgona, he has not encountered an elf once! And even if he did meet him, he would probably be just like the other priests who were on alert and extremely nervous. It would take a lot of courage to even look up at him.
All in all, excluding divinity, although this adventure in the abyss was a bit dangerous, the gains were far more than the last time in the world of Ilgona, at the cost of almost dying.
Shifting his gaze, Joshua looked at his character card.
[Name: Joshua Van Radcliffe]
[Template:Hero]
[Title: Exterminator of Hundreds of Races (unlocked by killing one hundred different races of creatures)]
[Race: Human·? ? ?]
[Racial Skill: Divinity (?)]
[Level: LV63·Jiyi Intermediate]
[Challenge Level: LV59 (Hero)]
[Attributes:…]
[Charm: -238]
"laugh."
Seeing this, Joshua made an inexplicable sound. By now, he was no longer surprised by the decline in his charm. Fortunately, he didn't kill many monsters this time, so his charm dropped less. The big one should be destruction. Chaos ritual, the reward for killing those demonic dragons, the result of being reversed by the chaos curse.
Generally speaking, as adventurers take risks, they will kill many monsters and gain a lot of glory. Resentment and praise cancel each other out, and the charm should slowly increase or decrease, but Joshua's charm is due to the curse. It has plummeted all the way, and may have broken through the historical lower limit of Mycroft Continent.
And just when Joshua was about to continue flipping through his character cards, suddenly, the entire system blurred for a moment.
This feeling is difficult to describe in words, because the system's light curtain appears in the warrior's mind and is then projected into his eyes - so its blurring is a mental change, as if the mind has become hazy in an instant. It will be forgotten soon.
However, this blur only lasted for a short moment. Even Joshua couldn't be sure whether the blur just now was his illusion. The warrior rarely used the system and didn't know what the status of this thing was on weekdays.
In this regard, he could only frown, secretly remember this strange change, and then continue to look down the character card.
Since there were too many specific professions, skills, talents, and statuses, and there were no special changes, he simply skipped several pages and looked directly at his extra special protections.
[Intensive Care]
[Silent Exterminator: Once a day, designate a race, causing great intimidation to it, and the corresponding attack will be greatly increased, lasting for three days]
[—Killing requires no words, just waving your arms.]
[Silent Arrogant: Ignore spells and special abilities two levels lower than the holder's current level (currently the highest level ignored: Silver Intermediate)]
[—Arrogant people always look down upon the weak’s counterattack.]
Description: Your reputation spreads far and wide, and rulers around the world will pay attention to your voice. Even the mountain people living in the deep mountains and old forests may have heard of your deeds. In terms of reputation alone, you have left your name in history, and you will be a prominent figure in the history books of Mycroft Continent.
Seeing this, Joshua couldn't help but turn his head and look at Hotaru and Rin sitting on No. 1's shoulders. The silver-haired girl was doing nothing now, swinging her feet in boredom, while the black-haired boy looked at the surrounding scenery with interest. As if he was memorizing the layout of the defense line.
And Hei... who was clamped under the steel element's armpit was still sleeping, and the girl's eyelashes were trembling slightly, as if she was dreaming.
These two extra blessings come from the special abilities of the Shenji siblings. As their master, Joshua can get this power as long as he does not break the Shenji contract.
But... no matter how you look at it, this ability has nothing to do with positive words such as good people and heroes. The so-called deeds are probably all negative news, right
Simply ignoring this information, Joshua closed the character panel.
They had arrived at the foot of the Holy Mountain, leading to the entrance to the great temple at the top.
The entrance and exit were located inside a simple stone temple. Joshua and others walked in under the guidance of the young priest. The pyroxene lamps embedded in the inner wall emitted bright light, bringing a touch of sanctity to the simply decorated hall. feel.
Unlike the outside world, which is covered by dark clouds, the interior of the hall is surrounded by a fresh and gentle wind, which continues to purify the surrounding air. The entrance and exit is a stone arch tunnel, and the camera is a long ladder leading to the top of the mountain. There are not many priests patrolling and guarding nearby, but all of them are strong and have the strength of the gold level.
"The 'Hall of Benevolence' is one of the oldest temples of the Seven Gods. It was originally the temple of the God of Life and was later transformed into an entrance and exit leading to the top of the Holy Mountain."
The young priest who guided Joshua and his party gradually adapted to Joshua's coercion along the way. Although he still did not dare to look at the soldier, he no longer stuttered when speaking, and he looked aside with a serious face. The stone wall said: "My lord, I can only take you here. Without the permission of the bishops, ordinary priests are not allowed to enter and leave the Holy Mountain at will."
"I understand, thank you."
Joshua noticed that the young blond priest shivered when he heard his voice, but now was not the time to care about such trivial matters. The priest guarding the entrance had already moved out of the way, and the warrior walked straight away without hesitation. Enter the arch and go through the tunnel.
A few seconds later, pure white mountains appeared in front of him.
The mountain is like a sharp sword, reaching deep into the clouds. The dull thunder sounds on the mountainside, and lightning can be seen flowing. The stairs made of solid rock are like endless long chains, passing through the endless gray arches. The thunder spread towards the top of the mountain.
"The Path of the Fire Sword."
After reciting something softly, Joshua turned his head and told the silent No. 1: "Follow me closely. There are quite a lot of time and space locks in this place, and it's easy to get lost."
"Zizzizi."
It seems to be a response. Even the warriors don't understand what the steel element's reply means - but no matter what, in this battle in the abyss, No. 1 made a great contribution. If it hadn't hidden everyone's unconscious bodies and awakened them again. He killed Hill so that Robzek could help Joshua crush the Chaos Rune. The outcome of the battle was hard to predict.
There is no doubt that the steel element has wisdom beyond convention.
Joshua plans to have Miss No. 3 give No. 1 a powerful makeover when he returns to Moldavia. He thinks it will be very happy.
Along the way, because the warriors possessed the power of order of the Azure Orb, and the Shenji siblings also received a trace of holy light protection due to the infiltration of holy light in the holy hall, they were not blocked and walked towards the top of the mountain very quickly. go.
On both sides of the road of the Fire Sword, from time to time, some huge statues of the Seven Sacred Relics appear, which contain traces of inexplicable auras. If it were Joshua in the past, he might not be able to distinguish the identity of these auras, but now, he But he knew that it was a trace of divinity contained in the holy objects, which might be used to attract the power of the Seven Gods.
Although Joshua does not believe in the Seven Gods, he has a trace of respect for these great beings who protect human civilization. According to the information obtained from the Father of Nature and Organa, the warrior knows that the Seven Gods of the human race died one day after the catastrophe. For more than a thousand years, it has been protecting the development of civilization without any slack. Faced with such achievements, no matter who they are, they will stop slightly and show respect.
Not long after, after passing all the seven sacred objects, the warrior group passed through the clouds, fog and lightning, arrived at the top of the holy mountain, and arrived in front of the great temple, which was illuminated by the sun, the bright moon and the stars at any time. .
"boom!"
At the door of the temple, there were many guards wearing white robes with gold patterns. When they saw Joshua, they were just slightly stunned. Then they stood up straight and saluted seriously, their iron boots made a dull sound, and then they gave way to the great temple. internal location.
For these determined clergymen, the difference in charisma between people is like the difference between stones and has no substantive meaning, so even if Joshua's charisma has hit rock bottom, People can't make them feel fear. At most, their bodies will have some instinctive reactions.
The warrior nodded slightly, returned the greeting to these people, and then entered the temple.
'The lonely sun, the twin moons, the endless stars, the thousand-year plain, only the light remains forever'
Passing through the majestic arches of the Great Temple, the warrior glanced at the sacred words engraved on them and followed the passage to the end of the arcade.
At the Heavenly Temple in the center of the Great Temple, he saw an old man wearing a holy silver crown and holding a pure white scepter.
Pope Eagle, who was looking up at the skylight of the temple's dome, lowered his head. He looked directly at Joshua, his eyes swept across the warrior's body, and then focused on the warrior's heart.
"Lord Joshua Van Radcliffe."
The old man raised his head, looked at the soldier, and said kindly: "Hello, we meet again."
"Hello, Your Majesty the Pope."
Facing the Pope of the Church of the Seven Gods, who was not an incarnation but his true form, Joshua nodded and performed a simple courtesy. He simply asked: "Why did you ask me to come here?"
This is a habit formed by taking on too many tasks in the past, and soldiers rarely talk nonsense in this regard.
"Maybe you don't know."
However, Pope Eagle did not directly answer Joshua's question. The old man showed a smile, and then said slowly: "The design and construction of the Time Ship are all by my own hands, and every magic circle on it is made by I engraved it with my own hands.”
His brows were raised slightly. Although Joshua was a little surprised as to why Eagle, as the pope, would personally inscribe a magic circle on a temple ark, he suddenly understood a lot when he thought that the destination of the ark was the abyss.
But the soldier didn't know why the old man would talk about this topic. Did he want to express his hard work? Although the ark was seriously damaged during the expedition... But you wouldn't call yourself here just for this matter, right
And Eagle continued: "The Glow Fire Array is the crystallization of my decades of research. Its purpose is to convert holy light and positive energy to form the purest barrier of order to resist the abyss and the atmosphere of chaos. Erosion is at the heart of the Church’s plans for the coming decades.”
Speaking of this, the old pope showed a strange smile: "Although I am a little embarrassed, I built an observation circle into this circle, so when the Ark left the abyss and returned to Gray Island, I I already know all your experiences in this exploration.”
"It's normal." Joshua nodded. He didn't feel anything about it. It would be better to say that if it wasn't like this, it would be abnormal: "Don't save me or Robzek and the others from reporting it again."
Seeing through at a glance, this was the soldier's true thoughts. Pope Eagle's expression could not help but freeze slightly for a moment. He frowned in distress, and then asked tentatively: "Joshua... don't you really have any feelings? "
Sensing the seriousness of the old man's tone, the soldier also became serious. He frowned, and then solemnly said: "Excuse me... what are your thoughts?"
"Divinity."
After sighing, Pope Eagle said it directly: "Although I am surprised, you actually have the already formed divinity in you."
"Joshua, I can't be as calm as you. This is an extremely serious matter."
(End of chapter)