CHAPTER 155: CHAPTER 155: THE END_1

Under his terrifying brute strength, even a body extraordinary to common folk was slashed along the shoulder to a gruesome depth.

But just when he thought his sword was about to claim a victory, that Heretic Warrior underwent a monstrous transformation.

The gash that had been cleaved open twisted with strands of flesh, visibly distorting under a strange power, attaching and adhering to itself at a frightening speed to heal rapidly. However, this was just the beginning. After the wound healed, it didn’t stop there but continued to grow terrifying flesh tumors. Numerous protrusions emerged on its surface, and the next second, they split open to reveal pure black eyes.

And it wasn’t over yet; the twisted flesh rapidly covered the upper half of the body, even spreading to the arms, further causing aberrations and sprouting twisted, spiky tentacles.

"Damn!" Lance couldn’t help but curse at the sight. This scene seems familiar.

Almost like that Sheriff, but the difference in the speed of their mutations is huge; this guy’s transformation was almost instantaneous.

And he was a warrior.

As expected, before the transformation completely ended, he launched an attack on Lance. Those twisted tentacles whipped over like agile serpents, and his original claw-like weapon was the serpent’s sharp fang.

Although Lance could inflict damage by swinging his sword against the warrior, the wounds would heal in the blink of an eye.

A brief exchange made everything clear. Obviously, unlike the half-baked Sheriff, this guy knew how to harness that power.

But Lance was no ordinary man either. He had previously cut down a similar being and knew that this kind of healing was limited. He also knew that, like the others, beheading would kill them.

As long as you deplete their health bar, what does it matter who you are up against?

But at this moment, a painful wail on the battlefield caught his attention.

Dismas was holding his head and crying out in pain. Through Lance’s eyes, wisps of dark miasma could be seen swirling around him.

And the reason for his agony was, of course, the woman standing upon the altar, heavy black miasma swirling around the short Magic Wand in her hand.

He had forgotten about this; he was immune, but they could not withstand it.

Letting a Heretic Priest perform Sorcery from behind was a foolish move; he had to cut through to the back line.

But currently, he was entangled by the mutated monster, and Reynard was also tied up by another.

And there, the woman was already raising her Magic Wand towards Dismas, muttering an Evil Curse, and the black mist in her hand began to stir again.

Just as Dismas was about to suffer, a shout erupted.

"For justice!"

Fergus’s agile figure dashed forward. With a pouncing leap, he jumped onto the altar and ferociously bit the woman, interrupting her Casting Spells.

"AHH!"

The woman’s agonized scream echoed throughout the hall. It seemed she wasn’t adept at combat like a warrior, faltering as soon as someone got close.

"All evil shall be brought to justice!"

Fergus’s strike proved successful. At that moment, William also approached the woman, the bloody club in his hand expressing his stance.

With the woman under attack, the two mutated monsters’ attention was drawn there. They attempted to return to protect their Priest, but Lance and Reynard wouldn’t agree to that.

No longer holding back, "Bless" activated. As the experience points rapidly depleted, it granted Lance boundless and increasingly exaggerated strength.

Like a madman, he swung his longsword, smashing it down. The monster’s regeneration couldn’t keep up with the damage. It was quickly cleaved of an arm, and before it could recover, the next swing was a clean beheading.

Compared to Lance’s brute force, Reynard exhibited exquisite swordsmanship, not breaking limbs but taking advantage of the monster’s distraction to thrust directly into its neck, severing the spine and then finishing it off completely.

He had heard similar tales from the Lord and knew about these monsters’ general nature and weaknesses.

"WOOF! AWOO!" A dog’s bark drew their attention.

Fergus approached Dismas, barking, and then began to lick his hand, waking him up.

Dismas felt his headache ease a lot when faced with the dog’s concerned gaze, raising his hand to pet the dog.

Lance also rushed over, quickly applying a status remedy to Dismas, then helping him to his feet.

"Are you okay?"

"I’m fine, just a headache and nausea." Dismas waved his hand, still feeling a bit uncomfortable speaking about it now.

He had noticed this Priest from the start of the battle, having heard from the Lord about the threat they posed, so he wanted to go over and kill her.

He just didn’t expect to be overpowered by a simple gesture as he approached; that bizarre method still scared him when he thought about it.

Thankfully, he had trustworthy companions...

Thinking of this, Dismas patted the dog’s head. "When we get back, I’ll give you a big chunk of meat. We’ll celebrate properly with a drink."

"WOOF!" Fergus seemed excited by these words, barking happily with his tail wagging.

Seeing that Dismas was unharmed, Lance immediately made his way to the altar area.

He had felt something was off before, but upon getting closer, he indeed discovered the problem.

The ritual described by the Sheriff had been crude and brutal, and there would definitely be signs of flesh having been devoured.

But this offering had no blood spilled. Instead, there was an extra... heart?

He shifted his attention from the offering to the stone platform in the center, staring at the purple-black lump of flesh that had stopped throbbing.

He was sure this ritual was no ordinary sacrifice!

What on earth were these people up to?

Lance turned back to look at the Priest held under control by William.

He went straight up and removed her helmet. To his surprise, underneath was a rather pretty face, but it was her eyes filled with hatred that left a deeper impression.

Lance couldn’t help but laugh on seeing her expression.

Fucking hell, weren’t you acting all high and mighty just now?

"Speak. What kind of ritual is this? What are you doing?"

Lance was still civil, not resorting to violence immediately, but some people are just not appreciative.

"Not talking? Then it’s your turn, Dismas."

Dismas, having been tormented earlier, was also filled with fury. He didn’t care if the person was male or female; he was ready to unleash it.

But the real trouble was yet to come. Unlike the Sheriff, a shallow believer who had only joined within the last month, no one knew how long the Ascension Sect had been developing here. This individual was one of the fanatics who had been thoroughly brainwashed.

The intimidation tactics that were always reliable had no effect on her. The expression of physical pain only brought out her insane laughter and a torrent of blasphemous words.

It made sense, though. Why else would someone be part of the ritual unless they were a devoted believer?

"Don’t waste time. Kill her," Lance said, waving his hand as he came back to his senses.

Dismas didn’t bother with more words for the fanatic, just thrust his sword right into her heart.

"Hahaha! We are all part of God! We will all return to God and achieve Ascension together!"

Even death did not subdue her. Instead, a fanatical expression appeared on her face as if it wasn’t death awaiting her, but rebirth.

The others, witnessing this scene, couldn’t help but feel pressured, their expressions turning grave.

"I think you’re not going back."

Showing off in front of me? Lance raised his hand to the nearby corpse and cast "Sacrifice." The Void Devourer approached, wiping the body from the real world.

"I will banish you to the Void until you turn to dust. You will never find your god, nor will you achieve Ascension."

The Priest was stunned at this move, a look of terror emerging on her face.

"No! You can’t do this!"

But sadly, no one would listen to her. Lance, aiming to crush her spirit as well as kill her, after taunting her, finished her off and then immediately sacrificed her to prevent any further trouble.