Long-term salvation

After selecting his target, Constantine pulled the trigger. This act of taking someone else's life had long become part of his muscle memory, perhaps even surpassing his proficiency in using a knife and fork.

The night vision device was penetrated before the bullet hit the skull, but compared with the wearer, it was at least lucky - the bullet penetrated the head of the pursuer wearing the night vision goggles, not in the center, but slightly to the left - a horrible hole was blown in the back of the man's head, and blood mixed with brain matter splattered out, allowing the insects and ants in the forest to enjoy the feast given by humans.

Before the body fell, its open mouth was still trying to scream, but the sound could only linger in the throat, turning into a faint buzzing that was no different from the surrounding flies and insects.

"Don't disperse. We also lack sufficient identification methods."

Constantine said in the communication channel. He looked at the panicked enemies in front of him, those idiots who were running in the woods but screaming because they bumped into trees or scratched their eyes. Suddenly, his mind recalled that rainy night in England... Was this how the Son of God viewed us at that time?

He stood on high, in the darkness, hunting us like pigs.

Just as he was thinking, Constantine heard a faint rustling sound. The next second, along with the sound of branches being stepped on and the explosion of gunfire, it was heard!

The bullet grazed Constantine's cheek, causing his pupils to shrink suddenly—it was the enemy! An enemy attacking from the side. If it were daytime, he would have been killed in this sudden attack!

Relying on his last memory, Constantine fired two shots in the direction of the flashing gunfire. He did not have time to change the magazine, but drew his pistol himself, bent down and quickly shuttled between the straight yet crooked trees, leaving the darkness and his own shadow behind.

The sound of bullets piercing the leaves never stopped, and the torn air made a sharp cry, but this just pointed Constantine in the direction.

He suddenly broke through the branches and leaped out like a tiger, firing several shots at the attacker with his pistol!

The 9mm bullet was embedded in the heavy bulletproof vest, which also eliminated the dull sound. However, it was far more than that - the fist wind whistled, and Constantine felt a dull pain in his chest, which made him fall headfirst, almost half-kneeling in front of the attacker.

What a humiliation! Constantine didn't have much time to think. He forced himself to stand up, crossed his arms, and blocked the pursuer's kick. He was almost kicked away. The opponent's strength was too great to be human!

All who draw the sword will die by the sword.

Constantine suddenly remembered this warning from the Gospel of Matthew, but he did not give up. Instead, he howled like a wounded beast and climbed up, drawing the dagger from his waist and running towards the sturdy figure:

He will not die here. He must die after he has atoneed his sins for the Son of God!

In the moonlight, the figure looked like some kind of catalytic creature: robust, slow, and immensely powerful, yet its weight seemed completely inconsistent with its appearance. What company produced these biochemically modified soldiers?! And why was it even heavily armored?

As his thoughts raced, Constantine pulled out the incendiary grenade hanging on his chest. He didn't carry many explosives. After all, this was just a pilgrimage, and carrying guns was just their habit.

The howling of the wind and the roar of the modified soldier rushed into Constantine's ears, causing him to instinctively turn sideways, barely avoiding the opponent's right fist while stabbing the tip of the dagger into the enemy's flank. There was no bulletproof vest covering the area, only a thin layer of fiber cloth. The dagger penetrated the sturdy muscles, which had not yet been completely modified to the point of being unable to withstand the impact, and would still be injured by the sharp blade... but that was all.

That's all, it's enough!

The incendiary grenade exploded on the modified soldier, engulfed in flames, and he let out a piercing scream. The flickering flames illuminated the surroundings, causing the nocturnal beasts and birds to flee. A few sharp cries mingled with the still-unceasing gunfire not far away.

"Ha! That's what you deserve! The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will take all things that offend and those who practice lawless deeds and throw them into the furnace of fire!"

Constantine let out a joyful shout, but then he saw the modified soldiers tearing off their bulletproof vests and clothes, tearing off and throwing away the things stained with fire, and then striding towards him in several clusters of eternal phosphorescence.

Constantine: “…”

Just as Constantine stood up from the ground and was thinking about how to get away, he found that the speed of transforming the soldiers in front of him was getting slower and slower, and even the flames rose again, burning the flesh and making it emit a strange sizzling sound.

In just a dozen seconds, the cloned inhuman creature was completely engulfed in flames. It howled and ran to one side, illuminating the entire forest like a torch.

As if realizing something, Constantine turned his head and saw a thin figure standing behind him. It was the girl with the shaved head. She was breathing heavily, and her eyes showed fatigue and disgust. How did she find this place?!

"...Thank you for your help?"

Constantine carefully considered his words and stepped forward to support the limp girl. He realized her value—so, he asked cautiously:

"I'm planning on going to Arkham Town. You can seek help there... Hmm? That's your destination too?"

At this moment, Constantine felt that he was lucky to be favored by God for just a second.

+ + + + + + + + + +

"What the hell? How did I complete one of my missions?"

Rhode, still a little dazed after getting off the plane, was instantly awakened by the system prompt. He wiped his face and focused his attention on the interface in front of him:

[Side Quest: Start Now (10/10, Completed)]

[Repeat Quest: Keep Moving Forward (1/30)]

[Mission Description: Find and train children with abilities and qualifications, making them the future candidates for managing the otherworld. A reward will be given if the number of such children reaches 30.]

"Where the hell am I going to find so many qualified children for you?!"

Chapter 265: Daily Life: A Scene in the Church (1/3)

Arkham town, early morning.

The light gray limestone exterior of the church glows a soft pearly white in the morning light. The Gothic spire of the same color extends vertically upward, and the golden cross mounted on top of it shines brightly under the gaze of the sun.

The oak door of the main entrance was only slightly opened, leaving a gap wide enough for one person to walk through. The steps were planted on both sides with unknown pure white wildflowers, instead of statues of saints from Christian history. Cold religious objects were the lowest decoration, and the vibrant and colorful sea of ​​flowers was the most beautiful embellishment.

Maybe add the lovely nuns and angels?

"what……"

Rhode, pulled over by Mary and Mika, was yawning. He slumped down on a church bench, his mouth slightly open like a dead fish, his eyes fixed on the "Nativity" mural on the church ceiling. Having returned to Hill Manor in the wee hours of the morning, he had no desire to enjoy the warmth and softness of his wife and fell into a deep sleep until he was awakened:

Some idiots are planning to come on a "pilgrimage", and Father Merlin, Father Gabriel, and Bishop Raphael, who are peripheral personnel of the Cogito Foundation and representatives of the Vatican, will also come to attend the upcoming council meeting at Hill Villa.

Although the participants were more or less aware of the content of the meeting and had no objections, as witnesses of history, they were still very much looking forward to it.

Because of this, Mary and Weihua dragged Rod to the church outside Hill Villa early... You would come too, but she didn't have Rod's ability to recover her energy as quickly. She probably just woke up and would take a while to come over.

Out of some evil taste, Rhodes also asked Hinai to come with You at that time.

Now, in order to make cleaning easier, the girls did not change into nun uniforms or their usual pure white dresses, but chose simpler outfits - their formal clothes were placed in the residence behind the church, so it would not affect anything.

Rhode stretched and fixed his gaze on Mary, who was walking out from behind, carrying a bucket and making a sound. The edge of her shorts had shifted slightly from the motion of cleaning, leaving a faint red mark on her skin. Perhaps from constantly moving between the large floor-to-ceiling windows, the black quick-drying fabric created a subtle gradient of light and shadow at her hips, outlining the perfect curve of her back.

"..."

Mary felt Rhodes's gaze, pursed her lips, and let the blush flow from her chest and spread all over her body that was being bitten - as if this could resist the unscrupulous gaze - but unfortunately, it was in vain.

The little nun stammered and begged for mercy, but Rhodes only became more aggressive.

A gentle breeze blew across Rhodes' cheek, attracting his attention. As soon as he turned his head, he saw Weihua flapping the small wings behind her waist rapidly, holding two rags in her hands, and it seemed that she was planning to fly up and wipe the entire ceiling.

"Sensei, don't look up."

Mika floated through the air with a sweet smile, and waved a finger at Rhodes. Rhodes blinked and looked up at the girl. The hem of her swaying sailor skirt was trying hard to reach her knees, but it could only stop halfway. The high-waisted cut raised her waistline to a position that would make the observers hold their breath, and made her perky chest more prominent.

Rhodes' eyes swept over the pair of white thighs, sighed, and took out a telescope essential for soul travel from the storage space.

"—Sensei!"

"Okay, okay, I won't look anymore," Rhodes put the telescope away, but his eyes did not move away at all.

"...Sensei!" the girl cried out coquettishly, "Didn't we agree not to look?"

"Naive! How can you believe a man's words in this situation?! And time is running out, Weihua, you still have so many places to clean."

"Um..."

Weihua sobbed as she flew forward, squeezing her thighs together to prevent exposure. But as the burning heat from her earlobes spread from the back of her neck to her waist, she suddenly felt a strange thrill. Perhaps she could relax her leg muscles a little, to make... no, herself, feel more comfortable. After all, she was working, and efficiency was the most important thing!

Breathing slowly, Weihua relaxed her body and slowly wiped the dust off the mural. She wiped carefully, and carefully cast a glance downward, wanting to know - what she couldn't know, could know, must know - his expression.

Sensei would look at me with lustful eyes, wouldn't he? Just like last night when I came back, he pressed me against the wall of the villa corridor and kissed me, not allowing me to resist or escape.

Thinking of this, Mika, with a hint of cherry red on her cheeks, shrank her head, turned her head carefully, and looked downwards—

Rhodes was no longer in his place.

He was standing at the church door, gazing at the town in the distance, cigarette smoke drifting upwards from between his fingers.

Weihua: “…”

With the girl's low cry of "Hey!", Rhode was caught off guard and kicked out of the church by a knight from behind. He supported himself on the ground with one hand and rolled a few times before getting up from the ground in a slightly embarrassed manner. He shouted in a daze:

"What are you doing?!"

"That's what happens when you toy with a girl's heart, Sensei," Mary said, putting on the same deadpan look as Rhode, placing the bucket by the church door. "And I have to remind you that Weihua put in a lot more effort than I did."

But no matter how strong you are, you're just a fool who goes limp with just a kiss... I'll have plenty of time to deal with you later!

Rhodes brushed off the dirt on his body and was about to return to the church when he saw the people who had gathered at the foot of the hill.

A bishop, two priests, and of course Constantine, the Holy Trinity commander Rhodes was familiar with, arranged the soldiers into neat rows before slowly walking down the road on the hillside.

Seeing this, Rhode turned to Mary and Mika who were peeking out and said:

"You guys go change your clothes first. The guests are already waiting at the foot of the mountain. They arrived quite quickly. By the way, ask if You is up yet."

"Okay." / "Sensei, do I need to wear a nun's uniform too? Eh, can I just wear my regular clothes? Okay."

Looking at the girls disappearing behind the gate, Rhode stroked his chin and decided to wait until one night to let Mika try on the nun's uniform... and then call Mary? He would get beaten.

Rhodes, who was lost in thought, didn't have to wait long before he saw the four men coming up the hillside with uncontrollable excitement on their faces.

"Ah, stop! If you try to kneel down, I'll kick you right off the mountain—don't expect me to be kind to you," Rhodes raised his hand, noticing Bishop Raphael's movements. He continued unhappily, "Hey, can you give me some time to rest?"

"I'm sorry, my Lord."

"You're quite smart. At least you knew to contact the two priests in advance. If you were planning to go straight to Hill Manor, I would definitely kick you all out. Forget it..." Rhodes waved his hand, no longer dwelling on the matter. "After the meeting, I have plenty of time to rest. But speaking of which, Constantine, what's wrong with your injury?"

Sighing, Rhodes cast his gaze on Constantine, who puffed out his chest—which made Rhodes raise his eyebrows slightly, as he noticed that the man in front of him had changed a little—then Constantine succinctly recounted everything that happened last night, including the abilities displayed by the girl known as "11."

Rhodes: “…”

So you helped me complete the task? Where's that person? Where did he go?

"We handed the girl over to the soldiers of the Army Without Borders," Constantine said with his head down. "They said they would first send her to the hospital and then to Arkham Asylum... That's the otherworldly research institute under your command, I heard from the two priests."

"That's fine, I'll go take another look."

Rhodes breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Bishop Raphael and Constantine with a complicated expression and said softly:

"The Pope hopes that I can give your Knights a name and grant you a coat of arms, and that you will become the Crusaders against the disasters of the other world. After careful consideration, I have—"

After a slight pause, Rhode's gaze swept across the eyes of Bishop Raphael and Constantine, digging out the anxiety and expectation from their eyes... In the end, they still heard the words they wanted:

"I grant the request—let them come over, and let me see my knights."

Chapter 266: A Contract Made with the Ashes of a Burnt Offering! (2/3)

The small church next to Hill Manor and even the church in the small town of Arkham are not big. Compared with those cathedrals that can easily accommodate thousands of people, they look particularly shabby. Naturally, they cannot accommodate all the knights who come here.

This gave Rhodes a headache, so he had no choice but to ask the knights to come to the back of the church and sit on the fairly neat lawn. Because it had rained a few days ago and the lawn had not been trimmed in time, some unknown wild flowers had sprouted here. The pale yellow petals swayed in the breeze, floating past the people sitting cross-legged.

The knights were allowed to talk in low voices, and most of them had expressions of excitement and anticipation on their faces. They secretly glanced at Rhodes, who was talking with Bishop Raphael and the two priests, with fanatical and respectful eyes.

The people who came here were wearing ordinary clothes. If it weren't for the calluses on their hands from holding guns and daggers, no one would have thought that they were a secret Christian order that had wreaked havoc in many ruins, assassinated, and kidnapped those who were unwilling to follow... This was not surprising, after all, they did the same when they went to Jerusalem hundreds of years ago.

"Okay, I know this is kind of like a grade school outing, but I don't like church either."

Rhodes stood in front of everyone and said helplessly, he shrugged:

"This place was built only for the sake of my beloved ones, so don't expect me to give you a good opinion of religious buildings."

Love?

The knights turned their attention to Mary, Mika, Yuu, and... Hinata, who were standing on both sides of Rhodes.

The lovely leader of Solomon's seventy-two demons was looking back with a cold face, her empty eyes full of terrifying majesty - she didn't sleep well last night and insisted on standing in front of the door with the others to welcome Rhodes' return - now, all the "angels" standing here have taken the initiative to reveal their wings and halos, which are clearly visible even in the sunlight!

"What a devil..."

A young knight said this with emotion, but he was immediately slapped on the back of the head by the middle-aged knight next to him - didn't you see that the Son of God's face has swelled up like a pufferfish?!

You want to get punched in the head too, right?!

"Ahem, I can't talk much about my personal situation, and you don't have to worry about it in the future."

Rhode coughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject. Soon, his expression turned serious. He stood in front of the knights with his hands behind his back and slowly spoke:

"I already know enough about your situation. The Pope of the Vatican has also sent me several letters explaining... Now, you should understand that with me, there is no such thing as offsetting merits and demerits, or absolving sins."

"Your sins can only be redeemed by yourselves. As each day and night pass, the resentment of the innocents you have killed will echo in your ears until it is drowned out by the gratitude of those you have saved. Only then will you be allowed to sleep peacefully, and receive the same death as the other warriors—the warriors of the Army Without Borders."

"Death is death. You won't go to heaven or hell, and you might not even leave a name behind—because the pollution of the other world might be spread again under your name—your record on the monument is only 'Anonymous', an empty grave with a cross on it."

"Now, let me make my final decision." Rhodes looked up and saw the sun climbing to the top of the sky. The summer heat wave was slowly rising, causing a slight mist of steam to rise across the lawn. "My patience has run out."

The grim words of the worshippers echoed through the crowd, and the three hundred or so crosses hanging from their chests shone like stars in the sunlight. The summer breeze stirred the distant treetops, causing the knights' garments to sway slightly.

The silence lasted for several minutes. Finally, a knight stood up, half-knelt down, and burst into tears:

"Thank you for your kindness—we can even appear on the monument and even have a grave! I swear in the name of God, I have never had such a luxury. Even in the Holy Trinity, I never thought that I could have a grave, even if it was empty!"

"My Lord, we once slaughtered people across the world in the name of Christ." Another knight stood up and half-knelt. He gripped the cross tightly in his right hand, letting the four prongs pierce his palm and letting blood seep out from the cracks between his fingers. "We made a grave mistake. If it weren't for that rainy night in England... I'm afraid we would have become even more blasphemous."

"I confess to you and promise you that no matter what the final outcome is, we will fight for the world you want to save, for all the people in this world, whether they understand it or not!"