Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 686 The Post-War Era (First Update)
Achilles, the "Primordial Demon," is dead.

At this moment, Luo Xiu stood on the floating stone where "Actus" had once been. He looked at the ground in front of him, where the half-remains of Akpirus were now emitting a grayish-white light.

One, two, a dozen, dozens of cracks appeared on the remains, and then pale flames ignited from them, burning the remains into some kind of black particles, which then dissolved into a dark mist that drifted in the air or sank into the surrounding flowing magma.

Achilles, and any remnant of his existence in the world, thus completely vanished—

He was originally a deity born entirely of spirituality, and when He died, He indeed left behind no material possessions.

Moreover, according to normal logic, He did not truly perish. Luo Xiu had already foreseen that He would leave nothing behind after His death.

Rather, this is exactly what Luo Xiu wanted.

If the "true name" of the demon is not destroyed, then the supreme demon will not perish—this is common knowledge among the saints today.

The "Primordial Demon" Accipiles is not dead; He will return to spread blasphemy—Luo Xiu hopes the saints will have this understanding.

This is advantageous to him, and in the current 'Holy Court', he is probably the only one who can "deter" Accipiles.

No one will question themselves anymore, and as long as "Acpilus" exists, the Holy Court will always need to rely on itself.

This is true for the Holy See, and it is also true for the Empire—

After all, only the cardinals and the "angels" of their contract can truly kill demons. And as the sole "Lord of the Wings of Light," only he can prevent Accipile's return.

If you want to—prevent the "Primal Demon" Accipiles, you can use this as leverage to live off him for a lifetime.

"..."

Luo Xiu was thinking about these things.

He let out a long sigh of relief; the weakness from just having gone through a fierce battle began to surge up from every corner of his body.

Now, his spirituality was truly "exhausted," and he unleashed the final "Fourth Luminary" at Achilles, which indeed pushed Luo Xiu to his limit.

His consciousness, as if struck by a heavy blow, began to waver, almost fading into unconsciousness. But his strong willpower held him up, preventing him from simply "falling asleep" on the battlefield.

And the battles on this battlefield have ended.

The beasts and demons that were controlled by Accipile and infiltrated the church have been purged by the clergy of the Church of Agus and the angels of Rosh.

The only two remaining "primordial demons" of Accipiles—the "Great Whale of the Underworld," Hellrak—have been killed by three "six-winged angels" and banished back to the River Styx.
Fafnir Ramziaz, the "Devourer Dragon," has escaped. Flandre's contracted angel, the Archangel Aziphil, has gone to hunt him down.

The chaos within the Church of Agrus, instigated by Accipreus and Finlake, has now come to a complete end.

All that remained was devastation—the buildings within the Church of Agus were almost entirely destroyed.

The church's clergy were almost half dead or wounded, but compared to the truly hellish "dead city" scene that Luo Xiu saw in the "divine revelation," the current situation was much better.

At least more than half of the clergy survived—with them, rebuilding the church is only a matter of time; with them, the Church of Agus can still see hope for the future.

……

At this moment, the "Saintess" Franya, high in the sky, slowly descended to the ground, supported by the bright light, and came to Luo Xiu's side.

Luo Xiu could feel a warm hand gently stroking his back. Then, a warm spiritual energy flowed into him; it was Franya channeling her spiritual energy into him, healing his injuries.

"..." Luo Xiu wanted to turn around and look at her, but she pressed her other hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"...Don't move."

The ethereal voice came from behind; it was Franya's voice:
"You are seriously injured. Your spiritual energy is disordered, you have several broken ribs, and almost all your internal organs are shattered... Luo Xiu..."

Frania's voice gradually became excited—

"Why...don't you cherish yourself? Why do you have to use your body to bear the weight of Cardinal Finlayk's authority? [Divine Sin and Holy Collapse], do you know how dangerous and terrifying that is? Have you ever thought that if you die because of this, then I...never mind. Don't move around, it'll be over soon."

"..."

Luo Xiu could hear a hint of anger in Franya's voice.

But she remained restrained, controlling her emotions from showing any more. What she had said to herself was enough to show that she was quite angry with herself.

...Indeed, in her eyes, I was probably too crazy.

At that moment, he rushed to Finlake's side without hesitation, pulling Finlake to share the brunt of Quesanx's [Destructive Surge], and then, at such close range, endured Finlake's [Divine Collapse]—

If it were any other saint who had done what they did, they would be dead by now, even if they died ten times over.

"...As you know, I am the 'Lord of the Wings of Light.' When I become that divine incarnation, the 'Incarnation of the Holy Wings,' the Great Sun will protect me for a moment, and will not let me die..."

Luo Xiu smiled, and even though his back was to Franya and he couldn't see the expression on her face, he still spoke to Franya in a gentle voice:
"Besides, you know. Under those circumstances—there was only one way for me to get close to Finlake and, in the shortest amount of time, make him lose… cough cough!"

As he was speaking, Luo Xiu suddenly felt a sharp, tearing pain in his chest and lungs, which made him catch his breath and start coughing violently.

"...I told you, don't move, Luo Xiu."

Behind Luo Xiu, Franya seemed to sigh and shake her head slightly.

She did not refute what Luo Xiu said, and then focused on treating Luo Xiu.

Luo Xiu stopped talking. He felt the warm spiritual energy flowing into him from Franya, swirling within his body. The severe injuries he had suffered earlier, as well as his depleted spiritual energy, were gradually restored.

……

As Luo Xiu felt the drowsiness that had been lingering over his consciousness gradually dissipate, it was as if a clear spring had welled up again in his previously exhausted spirituality.

From that point on, the depleted spirituality was able to recover and gradually replenish itself.

At the same time, the restoration of his spirituality led to the spontaneous healing of his injuries. Without Franya's further treatment, he would be able to recover to a similar state in a few hours.

"That's enough." Luo Xiu then turned around.

He saw Franya; her eyes seemed a little red, and her face showed undisguised worry and fear. She seemed quite afraid that something might have happened to her in the intense battle just now. When Luo Xiu turned around, he also saw a moment of panic flash across Franya's face.

The panicked expression, along with the worry and fear, vanished. Franya returned to her solemn and dignified "saintess" demeanor, her golden eyes fixed on Luo Xiu, and she spoke softly:

"...You seem to be feeling better."

“Perhaps you are right, but I don’t want you to... so easily put yourself in such a dangerous and perilous situation again. Even if you are the ‘Lord of the Wings of Light,’ possessing unparalleled power bestowed by the Great Sun, you shouldn’t do this…”

“You should know, Luo Xiu. The last authority that His Holiness the Pope of Lorend entrusted to you was to make you our last hope. If he were still alive, he wouldn’t have supported you putting yourself in such a dangerous situation. Promise me, Luo Xiu, that you will never, ever do this again.”

"..."

Looking at Franya, Luo Xiu saw in her eyes a strong expectation; she wanted him to give her a positive answer.

But Luo Xiu also knew that it would be difficult—when the "Crimson Tide" and "Abyss Hanging" truly arrived, he would face even more terrifying and powerful enemies and be drawn into one more battle after another with even greater intensity.

By then, winning every battle with ease will not be such an easy task...

"If there's a next time..."

This was the only way Luo Xiu could respond to Franya's expectations:
"I promise you, I will tell you in advance."

……

"..."

Just as she had anticipated Luo Xiu's answer, a moment of disappointment flashed in Franya's eyes, and she sighed softly and deeply.

"……Ugh."

Through their long-term interactions, Franya had come to know that Luo Xiu was indeed that kind of person.

She didn't say anything more. And since Luo Xiu had promised to inform her beforehand if there were any more situations requiring him to risk his life... that was good, Franya thought. At least it would allow her to be prepared in advance.

Franya shook her head; she decided to stop thinking about it. And Luo Xiu was still standing perfectly fine before her; that was enough.

Her expression quickly turned serious. As a "saint," she hadn't forgotten the most important thing. Her gaze fell on the spot where Accipile had vanished, and she said:
"Acpilus...is dead."

“Yes, He is dead.” Luo Xiu nodded and responded in a low voice.

"..."

"...We have not destroyed His true name, and He will come back again."

Frania's gaze turned serious, and she said:

“But we did not come away empty-handed—we…at least discovered His essence. He was once an 'angel,' who eventually fell and became a demon. I now recall that even though it is not recorded in most of the scriptures, ‘Acpilus’…that was the name of Saint Leron, the original guiding angel.”

“I hadn’t thought about these things… Hmm. Is it because of the influence of the [Void]? We all saw it, Cardinal Finlayk was tainted by the [Void], which made us all… forget these things…”

"..."

Franya spoke as she thought, while Luo Xiu simply listened quietly.

Luo Xiu could sense that as Franya spoke, her mood gradually sombered, but she quickly rallied and said:
“In any case, we have dealt Him a heavy blow. Moreover, Luo Xiu, He must be afraid of you now. As long as you are still alive, He will not appear again for a long time.”

"..." Luo Xiu did not answer, but responded with silence.

"Moreover, Accipiles lost 'Fenrique,' lost His earthly vessel. I think that even if He were to reappear, with only Him and without Cardinal Fenrique... we need not fear Him."

"By the way, where's Finlake...?"

As Frania spoke, she finally realized that she didn't see Finlayk around the spot where Accipiles had vanished—

Finlake, the First Cardinal, along with Accipiles, received the light of the seven luminaries of revelation, four times the sun.

Accipiles was dead, but there was no trace of Finlake around the pumice where Accipiles was.

However, the third spiritual surge that did not belong to Luo Xiu and Franya did exist—it was a faint and dim spiritual reaction not far away, which was Finlake's spirituality.

At the same time, Luo Xiu and Franya looked into the distance.

At this moment, the magma that had been illuminated and melted by the [Seven Luminaries of Revelation] had solidified again. And about fifty meters away from where Luo Xiu and Franya were, they simultaneously saw a figure emitting a faint golden light.

Luo Xiu and Franya walked in that direction at the same time.

In Luo Xiu's eyes, he had already seen it; the figure radiating a faint golden light was indeed the "First Cardinal," Finlake Saint-Larren—

His lower half, up to his chest, was buried deep in solidified rock.
The upper half of his body, above his chest—on the face that could still be vaguely identified as "Fenlake"—blood welled up from his eyes, as if he could no longer see anything; his mouth was wide open, he was breathing heavily, and blood was also flowing from the corners of his mouth.

The source of that golden light was the blood gushing from Finlake's body; its color gradually turned golden, rising upwards and spreading into a golden mist that enveloped Finlake.

Within the mist was the figure of another "saint"—

The saint in the golden mist looked very much like Finlake, but he was not Finlake. He appeared much older, his eyes were filled with pure piety, his demeanor was equally sacred, and his face showed a complex mix of compassion, kindness, sorrow, and regret.

He wore a simple yet clean holy robe, carrying a lantern engraved with sacred runes in one hand and a silver-white scepter in the other—a scepter that Luo Xiu had seen before, the very holy relic that Franya had been using, the "divinely forged" scepter, the [Saint Lelang's Silver Staff]!
That was the golden light that rose from Finlake's "Blood of Saint Leron," the light that allowed Finlake to survive the Seven Luminaries of Revelation—it was the protection from his bloodline.

It comes from the true and original "Saint Leron" protection!

That golden, blurry, aged saint was the original "Saint Leron," and the direction his scepter pointed was the heavens—the direction from which the [Seven Luminaries of Revelation] would ultimately descend.

Under Luo Xiu's watchful gaze, the illusory figure eventually faded and disappeared.

Only Finlake remained—he had fallen into a coma, his head lolling to one side, completely unaware of anything.

……

(End of this chapter)