Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 689 So-called Decay (First Update, 4k4)

Before Luo Xiu, the throne knight wielding a long axe, who had blocked his path, cast a cold, unfriendly gaze at him from beneath his visor.

Behind that cold and unfriendly gaze was his almost unreserved hostility towards Luo Xiu—and Luo Xiu sensed from him a certain arrogant and haughty aura emanating from him. This feeling was quite "supreme." Luo Xiu felt that sense of being looked down upon, even despised.

He was clearly the captain of all the Imperial Guards stationed in this area—as he raised his long halberd to block Luo Xiu, the dozen or so Imperial Guards behind him also raised their weapons and blocked Luo Xiu's way.

"..."

"you,"

Gazing at the Throne Knight before him, whose entire being exuded an aura of rejection, Luo Xiu's voice gradually lowered as he asked:
"Your knight commander, Lord Lukel, ordered you all to stay here?"

"The city lord's mansion is the most important place in Agus City, so of course we must be stationed here to protect Lord Lukel's safety."

Before Luo Xiu, the Throne Knight's voice remained indifferent, and his gaze, peering at Luo Xiu through his visor, had also turned slightly colder.

“Holy one, you should return to the Church of Agus to resolve the calamity you yourselves have brought upon yourselves. Lord Lukel will personally visit the church after everything is over. You cannot go in now.”

"So, please return, Saint—"

The knight of the throne did not finish his sentence.

When he uttered only the first half of the last syllable of "Saint," he saw in his eyes that the Saint before him had taken a step forward.

Boom! !

At the same time, the earth trembled violently, and Luo Xiu's spirituality was released outward without reservation—a terrifying spiritual pressure erupted from Luo Xiu's body in an instant, and quickly overwhelmed all the surrounding Supreme Knights like a tsunami!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

One, two, ten, dozens of weapons fell to the ground in succession, clanging and clattering. The terrifying spiritual pressure pressed down on the Throne Knight, making it impossible for him to bear such a terrifying weight. His knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground with a thud!

Pfft!Pfft!Pfft!
More Royal Guard Knights knelt after the Throne Knights, overwhelmed by the immense spiritual pressure, involuntarily prostrating themselves in Luo Xiu's direction, as if in worship.

As the knights knelt in worship, Luo Xiu walked step by step toward the city lord's mansion.

"You...you can't—you...ah!!"

Behind Luo Xiu, the throne knight who had already passed by was still struggling, trembling as he reached out to Luo Xiu, trying to grab the hem of his robe—

boom! ! !
But then, an even more terrifying spiritual pressure crashed down on the Throne Knight's head and back!

The immense spiritual pressure seemed to materialize, causing the armor on the throne knight's back to cave in instantly. He was completely pressed to the ground, unable to even lift a finger.

His helmet was lifted by his movement, revealing his face—he looked to be about thirty years old, with a well-preserved face that showed no signs of the wear and tear of war.
But that fair, handsome, and well-maintained face was now devoid of elegance, displaying only a ferocious and angry expression.

He seemed bewildered by everything he had just experienced, and all he knew now was that he, as the "Supreme," had been suppressed by the spirituality of that unreverent saint!

He felt anger, but also fear. His face was contorted with rage as he screamed at Luo Xiu, his voice broken and desperate.

"You...you've committed a crime! Saint! Lord Lukel will not forgive you...ah!!"

The more ferociously and angrily he screamed these words at Luo Xiu's retreating figure, the heavier the spiritual pressure exerted on him became, until finally his mouth could only be opened with difficulty. When he let out his last scream, the pressure even made him bite his own tongue through the blood.

"what!!!"

"..."

"Am I committing a crime?"

Luo Xiu did not stop and walked towards the city lord's mansion.

As he moved forward step by step, all the Supreme Knights who knelt before Luo Xiu saw that Luo Xiu's clothes had changed.

The holy robe, which was originally somewhat tattered and only showed a pure white background and golden holy symbols, was completely renewed and transformed into another magnificent and solemn robe with white and red intertwined.

At the same time, a three-colored holy crown appeared above Luo Xiu's head. The holy crown was exquisitely and meticulously carved, and the three-colored gems inlaid on it were now emitting a bright and vivid light.
In his hand, he held a scepter that shone with a dazzling golden light, symbolizing holiness. The light emanating from the scepter was a deep gold, which seemed to be turning dark red, and it emitted waves of scorching heat.

The spiritual energy emanating from Luo Xiu had materialized—transformed into visible, radiant golden light, and the resulting spiritual pressure weighed heavily on all the surrounding Imperial Guard Knights.

The immense pressure rendered them completely immobile, and as they barely endured this terrifying spiritual pressure, they could only hear, filled with rage and fear—

“My name is ‘Rossi Carlos’, and I am the ‘Radiant Wise King’ personally bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor.”

“You should kneel and worship when you see me, but instead you turn your swords against me! But I will not hold you accountable for your sins, but only make you repent here—repent for your lack of reverence and your foolish act of aiding and abetting evil.”

After Luo Xiu finished speaking, he didn't say another word, leaving only the dark mass of royal guards kneeling on the ground behind him. Their gazes toward him had truly turned to fear, and no one dared to stand in his way anymore.

Especially that young Throne Knight—

His name was Iverson Havengard, and his identity was the nephew of Knight Commander Lukel—"Luke Havengard." He was sent to the side of Lukel, the "Lord" of Argus City, as arranged by his family, but Iverson had never seen such a truly important person before.

This was the first time he had ever been intimidated and even suppressed by such terrifying spiritual pressure.

Having stayed in Argus City for a long time, Iverson didn't pay much attention to the outside world. His knowledge of the "Judgment War" was limited to the fact that the Empire had won and the Emperor had returned in triumph.

However, no matter how arrogant and foolish Iverson was, the fear that welled up from the depths of his heart was real—even though he still didn't know what the name "Rossi Carlos" represented, he knew that if he dared to say anything more, he might die... no, he would definitely die!
The immense difference on a spiritual level made Iverson, kneeling on the ground, look at Luo Xiu's back as if he were looking at a towering mountain with no visible summit, an insurmountable obstacle... This feeling was far more real than anything else, and the fear of death silenced Iverson.

Now, he only dared to stare at Luo Xiu with his eyes full of resentment and venom, but dared not utter a single word.

That was all he could do—in his eyes, he saw Luo Xiu step onto the marble steps leading into the city lord's mansion, and then that terrifying figure disappeared behind the mansion's doors.

But Luo Xiu's spiritual pressure remained—even though the knights could no longer see him, they still felt that terrifying pressure from above, so much so that they couldn't even struggle to their feet and could only kneel there, kneeling in fear. They would remain kneeling until Luo Xiu and the Knight Commander Lukel appeared.

No one dared to stand up.

No one was able to stand up.

……

Luo Xiu had entered the city lord's mansion where Knight Commander Lukel was located.

He was in a bad mood. After witnessing the tragic state of the Church of Agnes and seeing the City Lord's Mansion, Luo Xiu felt as if he were seeing a group of termites trapped in an iron shell.

Argus City is a holy city—for the saints of the Saint Leron family, the easiest people to control are weaklings like Luke and Iverson, but they are utterly useless in dealing with crisis situations, as they are now.

Although they hold the title of "Supreme," they have completely abandoned the responsibilities of that position, enjoying only the power and benefits that their status brings. Such "Supreme" status is utterly devoid of honor.

Having just returned from the war of judgment, the "Royal Guard Knights" and "Knights of the Throne" that Luo Xiu saw were completely different from those he had seen in the city of Agus.

It was as if they were completely different species, and these high knights of Argus City seemed to have never left Argus City since the beginning of the war. They had never experienced a real war, yet they enjoyed their status and power—therefore corruption was an inevitable result, Luo Xiu knew this, but he also instinctively felt disgusted by it.

His footsteps echoed through the city lord's mansion, and at the same time he had completely dispersed his spiritual energy, feeling the clearest and most intense surge of spiritual energy in the deepest part of the mansion—that was where Lukel was.

Luo Xiu walked straight toward where Lukel was.

During this process, he also encountered many royal guards and throne knights who blocked his way.

But even at a distance of ten steps from Luo Xiu, they were all heavily suppressed by the spiritual pressure emanating from him, forced to their knees, just like all the royal guards and throne knights outside the mansion.

They knelt before Luo Xiu, unable to stand up no matter how much they struggled. They could only roar and curse at Luo Xiu with ferocious expressions, before being suppressed by an even heavier spiritual pressure that bit or even severed their tongues.

There was a Throne Knight who was cursing Luo Xiu with a ferocious expression, but suddenly his upper and lower jaws were filled with extremely heavy spiritual pressure, and his teeth fell directly onto his tongue, biting off most of it.

Blood gushed from his mouth like a fountain, and the Throne Knight immediately fainted and lost consciousness. But Luo Xiu paid him no heed, simply passing by his body. At this moment, they were getting closer and closer to the hall where Lukel was.

Further ahead, there were no other royal guards or throne knights blocking his way.

Luo Xiu fully released his spiritual energy, and right in front of him was a lavishly decorated gate, behind which was the city lord's hall, where Knight Commander Lukel was located.

At the same time, two other spiritual energies surged forth, their auras slightly weaker than Lukel's. They were two "Divine Seal Knights"—presumably Lukel's right and left hands, and two vice-knights.

As Luo Xiu approached the hall's entrance, he heard a middle-aged man's voice, filled with anxiety and anger, coming from behind the hall—

"Knight Commander!"

“We can’t, we can’t just keep waiting here. We don’t know what’s happening at the church, and you’ve ordered all the knights to stay here and not let anyone in. What are we going to do if Bishop Donovan sends someone over?”

"Furthermore, if we don't go to reinforce the church and help it overcome its crisis, what will we do when the disaster truly spreads beyond the church? Are we really going to abandon the common people of Agus by letting that terrible calamity sweep across the entire city?"

“We are knights—the most glorious Supreme Knights, Knight Commanders! We shouldn’t… we shouldn’t stay here any longer… Please give the order, at least let me lead a squad of knights out to help the church resolve the disaster, at least let me go into the city to appease and quell the panic of the common people, Knight Commanders!”

"..."

“You don’t know, Reiner.”

Following "Divine Knight" Reiner, a somewhat hoarse and trembling voice echoed from within the city lord's hall—

“You’ve been with me for four years now, Reiner. Don’t you think this is a great opportunity? Look, there’s been no unusual activity around the city lord’s mansion so far, which means the calamity hasn’t spread yet, and it means Bishop Donovan can still control the situation!”

"If he can't control the situation and allows the calamity in the church to spread outwards, then we'll... um, we'll go out again! At that time, we'll help Bishop Donovan quell the calamity, and then Donovan will thank us and give us more benefits. Only then will the common people see us and be grateful that we protected them!"

"Moreover, if that calamity really gets out of control, wouldn't it be good if we could weaken the Saint Leron family's strength? They... only in this way will they rely on us more! Think about how we were treated before, Reiner! Before the calamity, when did those self-proclaimed saints ever even look at us?"

"Ha, besides, you felt it just now too—the aura emanating from the church, that was... that was such a terrifying surge of spirituality, it was almost... no, it was a surge of spirituality that transcended the 'Sevenfold Destiny'!"

“Leinard, you’re just a ‘Knight of the Holy Light.’ What can you possibly do if you go there now? If even Bishop Donovan can’t resolve that terrible calamity, do you think you can? Don’t be so naive. Think about yourself, Leinard!”

"..."

"But……"

"No buts, Reiner! Now, I want all the knights here. No matter what happens, not a single one of them is allowed to leave without my order!"

"That's the order, do you understand, Lai—"

……

--boom!!!!!

As Lukel's voice, almost a scream, issued this "command" to "Divine Knight" Reiner, the doors of the city lord's hall were blasted open by a surge of annihilating light overflowing with golden radiance!
The heavy roar, along with the massive cracking sound of the door being blasted open, erupted simultaneously, interrupting Lukel's words and exposing him to the outside of the doorless hall.

In Lukel's eyes, all he saw was the figure opposite him—outside the gate, half of which had been blasted to dust—a "saint" dressed in magnificent crimson and white robes, wearing a tricolor crown, and holding a scepter.

The saint appeared quite young, and his eyes were now burning with a bright, dazzling golden light. He held a scepter that pointed at Lukel, and asked him:
"You're Lukel?"

"..."

……

(End of this chapter)