"Is that... the church?" Naimes blinked slightly, then located where the sound had come from.

Naimes glanced at the others around him.

The village guard, Pur, and Tangs exchanged looks signaling they were ready, and Naimes charged toward the church.

The villagers searching with them froze at that moment—should they follow the commotion or stay put?

Naimes moved extremely fast. Although the mountain path was rough, he quickly covered the distance, and the church soon loomed ahead.

What he found there surprised him more than he had expected.

He had sent Isabella out to probe, but he never imagined she'd uncover something like this.

The church had already collapsed in large part, and a black-furred humanoid "Big Black" was sprawled on all fours nearby, its blood-red eyes locked onto Isabella across the way.

This Big Black stood roughly five meters tall, its black fur bearing a strong resemblance to that of the Nest Beast.

But its fur was much longer and fluffier, which made it seem even more enormous.

"So everything really did proceed under the old priest's push," Naimes realized with a quick thought.

When Op came to deliver the house and suggested Naimes move out, it was very likely arranged by the old priest.

This church had actually been modified by the old priest;

beneath the church lay his experimental base.

Otherwise, with his limited mobility, the old priest staying inside the church all day would have nowhere else to hide.

That was why the old priest had wanted Naimes moved out in the first place.

He had even magnanimously ignored Naimes's breach of the rules.

Isabella had clearly come to the same conclusion, and she had an extra piece of information Naimes lacked: that the old priest was still conducting bloodline experiments. After confirming the old priest was suspicious, she went to investigate the church.

Earlier had been a good opportunity. When she returned, she intended to find Naimes first, but the villagers told her the old priest had left the church unusually.

She had stayed here for more than ten days and knew the old priest's routines;

such a departure was rare. She immediately entered the church to search.

She soon found the entrance to the basement in the confession room;

when she opened it, she discovered the Big Black.

Sensing the intruder, the Big Black instantly went berserk, and any restraints on its body were torn apart in a flash.

If Isabella hadn't been fast, the creature would likely have grabbed and swallowed her in one bite.

Isabella called upon the faith of the church and cast divine arts, but she still couldn't restrain the Big Black.

Although it radiated intense evil, it displayed strong resistance to divine arts.

Isabella had no choice but to cast multiple divine spells on herself to boost mobility and defense, and only then managed to dodge to her current position.

"Huge build, holy resistance—this thing isn't Black Stone grade;

it's an underdeveloped Steel Seed!" Naimes declared, exposing the creature's true nature.

Naimes gripped the holy sword tightly;

the holy characters on the blade lit up one by one, and a force filled his whole body, invigorating his spirit.

This was the sword's "inspire" effect, which roused morale and awakened bodily potential.

Unafraid, Naimes charged at the monster.

The threat he presented forced the Big Black to temporarily abandon its "desire" for Isabella. Though massive, it moved surprisingly fast.

It sprang, its arm shooting up as claws hidden in the black fur thrust out.

The next instant, clawed slashes ignited.

Several massive streaks of black light came down like rifts tearing the earth, pressing toward Naimes.

He raised his sword and struck;

blade met claw with sparks flying.

Naimes's raised arm involuntarily bent downward.

Using that force, Naimes retreated, spun, and swung his blade to meet another clawed strike.

His feet dragged across the ground as he slid backward a few meters before regaining his stance.

"This thing's numerical value is around eighteen," Naimes assessed;

just as he had expected, it was a malnourished Steel Seed.

"Support me!" Naimes shouted and charged at the Big Black.

His blade sliced across the ground, then slashed upward!

The Big Black merely raised an arm;

the black fur on its limb writhed and braided together, layer after layer, wrapping around Naimes's blade in an attempt to wrest control of his weapon.

The black hairs writhed in front of Naimes's eyes, which made him finally realize their true nature—blood vessels.

He spun, slashing to cut through the black hairs, and white light spilled down onto him.

Divine Art·Sanctuary had been activated.

That slowed the Big Black's swinging claw and allowed Naimes's rotating horizontal cut to catch up, colliding with the claw and successfully stopping it.

"As expected, one of the old priest's research results is the Nest Beast." The Nest Beast's black hairs were its embryos.

To nourish those embryos, the black hairs connected directly to the Nest Beast's blood vessels.

The Big Black before him had completely de-embryonated its hairs;

they had fused with its blood vessels.

"The Nest Beast disaster eight years ago wasn't entirely an accident."

"It happened because the old priest's research hit a critical phase and went wrong, which led to the Nest Beast leaking out."

"Op was also parasitized by the Nest Beast back then;

he was probably bought by the old priest at that time."

"So what is the purpose of this Big Black?" Naimes stepped back to avoid another pounce from the Nest Beast, then raised his hand slightly and flicked his palm;

the long sword in his grip began to spin.

Secret Sword Technique·Spinning Flying Swallow!

Though the knight sword was long and broad, at that moment it whirled into a single white line.

That white line shot forward and collided with another incoming claw. For more chapters visit Nove1Fire.net

Black hairs flew everywhere and a palm rose—one of the Big Black's claws was severed.

Isabella behind Naimes watched in disbelief and murmured, "Thousand Moons' Extinction, Flying Bird Turns — Nether Sword?"

That odd-name secret sword technique left a deep impression on her, so when Naimes used one of its forms she recognized it immediately.

She never would have expected Naimes to know the swordplay that had made such a big name a few years ago.

The technique had been developed by a genius holy knight and could unleash 200% of the numerical value's effect.

Though the technique had been passed down, very few people succeeded in learning it.

It was said to require the soul and spiritual control of a meditation methods practitioner to master.

That genius was thought to have become even greater had he pursued priestly cultivation.

Isabella had only ever seen one priest who liked to train use this move.

She hadn't expected to see it here today.