CHAPTER 146: THE HOLY CHURCH’S MYSTERIOUS PROJECT

[Inter-Guild Display Event Ranking]

1. Holy Church – 2000 points

2. Olympus Guild – 2000 points

3. Adventure Guild – 1990 points

---

Jack froze, his grip tightening around the golden spear.

"Holy Church... two thousand points?!" he exclaimed in shock.

Even the commentator’s voice cracked in disbelief. "Ladies and gentlemen... in a shocking twist, the Holy Church has taken the lead! It seems they’ve just wiped out an entire monster wave, including multiple high-value targets!"

In the plaza, some fans of Olympus cursed loudly, while Holy Church supporters erupted in cheers.

"Tch." Jack clicked his tongue, spinning his spear before slamming it into the dirt. This could only mean one thing—somewhere out there, the Holy Church had taken down something big, maybe even bigger than the goblin generals, or perhaps multiple generals.

Aria stepped up beside him. Behind her, the army of goblins had been decimated, and the ground was soaked with blood.

"If they’ve got that many points already, it means they’ve targeted the high-rank monsters," she said softly.

Jack’s eyes narrowed. "Or... someone on their side is baiting them directly into large hordes."

A shiver of annoyance went down his spine. He hated being second place.

---

Elsewhere...

"Woah, it’s moving fast."

"I can barely follow it with my eyes."

"Who would have thought the Holy Church had such a thing on their side? If we had used this from the start, we’d be in first place."

A group of players belonging to the Holy Church faction whispered in amazement as they watched a shadowy being zigzag through a horde of goblin-type monsters.

FBOOM! FWOOOOOM!

The strange shadow devoured the goblins at an alarming pace, and wherever it passed, it left only the bones of the monsters in its wake.

Not too far from the battlefield, on a hill, Alfonso—the High Cardinal of one of the Holy Church branches in the capital city—watched with a pleased expression on his face.

"His Holiness would definitely be proud that the project was a success." He chuckled softly as he looked up at the rankings, which now placed the Holy Church in first place.

The project had taken down three goblin generals with a little help from Alfonso, and the more monsters it killed, the stronger it grew.

"Hahahahahah! Long live the Pope!" Alfonso shouted passionately.

"Long live the Pope!!"

"Long live the Pope!!!"

On the game’s official forum, most players were caught off guard by the sudden jump in ranking, which was the result of not paying attention to the Church.

After their first-day performance, most had already ruled them out and thought the only real competition was between the Adventure Guild, Olympus, and Martial Palace.

---

Forum Chat:

Kyle_Hilbert: There’s something so wrong about that thing, it feels so unholy.

Chris_Cole: You’re right, why would the Church have something like that?

Iihossil: Bro... it’s literally eating the goblins. I thought the Church was all about light and purity??

KrelLin:LOL light and purity my foot, this is clearly some cursed demonic summon.

Jessierose3600: Maybe it’s one of those "holy relics" that just happens to be demonic... you know how these factions twist things.

Terrofreeze: Wait, are you saying the Church has demon tech???

Kamynyx: Not saying they do... but I’m not saying they don’t either.

JDragonblade: HAHAHA demon pope confirmed!

At that pivotal moment, a moderator in the headquarters frowned and quickly began typing.

Mod: Please don’t spread any misinformation. The Holy Church is not affiliated with demons in any way! Further discussion of this topic will result in a ban!

Something was definitely up, however, none dared to speak after that warning. The last thing anyone wanted was to be kicked out of Realm of Ascendency.

---

"Dammit, at this point there’s no hope for us... there’s no way we’ll win this event." The vice guild leader of the White Flame Guild sighed in defeat when he saw the numbers of the top three.

"It’s just the second day, don’t tell me the White Flame are a bunch of cowards!"

"I didn’t sign up for this!"

Players began to complain when they noticed that the guild leader of the White Flame Guild had already given up.

So had the members—right now, they were fighting more for survival than to win the competition.

---

Back at Scarlet’s location, the surviving goblin general had started fighting more cautiously after his comrade’s death. His regeneration skill gave him confidence, but Scarlet left no room for mistakes.

She was like a raging storm, and out of 100 slashes, at least 80 connected.

"You think cutting me will change anything?" the goblin general roared. The more he was injured, the more he healed. "You can’t kill me!"

Of course, Scarlet didn’t let any of the lowly goblin’s taunts get to her. Instead, she calmly analyzed where to strike next to end the goblin once and for all.

A strange gleam flashed across her light blue eyes, and with purpose, she dashed forward.

The goblin’s eyes widened, not expecting her to make such bold, reckless moves all of a sudden.

’Don’t tell me she found out my weak spots.’ His blood ran cold. Even before he could act, he saw the enemy blade flashing towards him.

SHHHK!

-10,000

A deep gash tore through his chest. He roared in pain, realizing that his intuition might be right.

As if she had used teleportation magic, the vice leader vanished from his view, appearing behind the unsuspecting goblin.

"This ends now."

The silver blade plunged into his back, piercing his heart.

-20,000 (Fatal Hit!)

The goblin collapsed forward, lifeless, as blood pooled beneath him.

"Every other place can regenerate, but not the heart or head." She muttered coldly and shook the trail of blood from her sword.

---

Not too far from there—

"I guess she was right after all." Ken had a complicated expression on his face when he noticed the rankings.

He was currently competing with the White Flame Guild for fifth place.

Well, from the start he knew this would happen. That was why Lillith had specifically instructed him to target the Adventure Guild squad instead.

"Halt!" Ken suddenly shouted. He squinted his eyes and noticed the presence of otherworlders with weapons preparing to attack their ’target.’

"Are they here for the same reason?" he frowned, walking up to the person he assumed was the leader.