The Villain Saint is my secondary account

But this is very important for the church procession that is about to depart.

The strange celestial phenomenon, an ominous sign, inevitably filled the young saints who had lived in peacetime with apprehension. Moreover, it was foreseeable that a fierce battle would ensue.

Therefore, many believers were actually quite unsure of what to expect before Ella's speech.

But after Ella's simple words of encouragement, and with the thought of the Holy Maiden of Light who had left behind many legends in Loren leading the way, the unease in everyone's hearts immediately dissipated.

……

Meanwhile, on the system forum, the post about the situation in Valenfog City had rapidly risen to the top of the popularity charts.

[Any brothers in Chongqing? Is this the end of the world?]

The heated discussion below stretched for hundreds of posts, and the bewildered players in the foggy city could only temporarily relieve their confusion and anxiety by posting.

Many players talked about the mist, saying that unknown and eerie monsters seemed to roam inside, and that almost without exception, those who dared to venture deep into it never returned.

The few survivors who managed to crawl back covered in blood and howling in pain under the watchful eyes of the crowd were already not quite in their right mind.

Their limbs were strangely deformed, twisted and elongated, bones bent, with curly fur and fangs protruding from their skin, and even well-meaning priests or doctors who tried to treat them were to no avail.

Some players in cities near Fog City who saw the forum posts tried to go to Fog City to investigate, only to find that the entire city was shrouded in a strange fog, and the city walls were not even visible. The city's edge was covered by layers of thick fog, like a high mountain blocking all players who tried to enter.

The same applies to those within the city. Players attempting to escape to the border can only see endless fog outside the city walls. Those who venture out into the fog either disappear without a trace or become corpses.

Ultimately, the emotional journeys of most players trapped in the foggy city can be summed up in a single sentence at the bottom of the building.

[#2798 Disheartened Bro: Damn it, we're doomed]

But just as panic and despair were spreading, a comment suddenly appeared a few floors below:

[#2903 Anti-Mage: Brothers, don't despair! Isn't the Holy Maiden of Light in Fog City? With her there, things should be alright.]

[#2903 Bounty Hunter replies to Anti-Mage: Really? Is that true??]

[#2904 Don't Want to Take Risks Anymore: Don't you guys follow the news? She mediated between the Holy Temple and the Fog City Vampires before.]

[#2905 Bounty Hunter: Holy crap, I've never been to Loren, is this guy really that good?]

[#2906 Anti-Mage: I heard from my friend Loren that there's a rumored ruthless guy over there who can fight an evil god one-on-one]

[#2907 Butter is for looking at: Guys, there's hope!!]

[#2908 Disheartened Bro: It's just a rumor, and rumors are always exaggerated. There's no one that strong. Sigh]

[#2909 The Saintess's Dog: I'm a Loren player, this isn't a rumor, it's true. I personally witnessed her chopping down that evil bishop during the pilgrimage festival.]

This heated discussion reached its climax after being discussed on multiple platforms, with a picture posted by a player who is also a priest.

[#2947 Lime Priest: (View image) The Holy Maiden has assembled her forces at the Fog City Sanctuary. Her target is that tall tower; the core of the incident is probably there.]

In the picture, Ella, dressed in a pure white dress, raises one hand under the blood moon, creating a stark contrast with the dark night sky. Her petite and lovely face is filled with a resolute gaze, and below the steps where her dress flutters, a group of saints raise their arms and shout.

[#2947 Empty_Empty ...

[#2948Tenkiko: Oh my god, it really is there, so it doesn't seem so bad.]

[#2949 Wooden Bucket Rice Bucket: Can you farm monsters in the fog? Are there many universal points?]

[#2950 Divine Move: Should we just find a safe place to wait?]

[#2951 Goblin Slayer: Charge! Long live the Holy Maiden!]

[#2952 Anti-Mage: Long live the Holy Maiden! ...]

Before long, the posts downstairs became a repetitive chant of "Long live the Holy Maiden".

As local players joined the cheering crowd after seeing that glimmer of hope, more and more players were drawn to this faint light shining from the depths of the foggy city.

Some players began to inquire whether there was any talk of joining the Holy Temple and assisting the Holy Maiden in the campaign.

The dangers in the darkness are indeed terrifying, but the legendary saintess is right before their eyes. Aside from the potentially generous rewards for participating in this event, the simple desire to fight against the darkness and reclaim the light also begins to stir the players' emotions.

Ella probably never expected that her formulaic pre-battle speech would actually create a new group of fans on the local forum.

But most importantly, as this information spread wider and wider on the system, groups of players began to spontaneously form teams and ask the player who originally posted the image of the saintess how to participate in the raid.

The "Lime Priest" was a part-time Sanctuary player who had chosen the priest profession. At first, he just followed the team led by Ella as they recruited. Seeing so many messages flying in like snowflakes, he couldn't help but scratch his head.

He only posted that message to comfort everyone, but he's not some high-ranking priest, and whether or not someone can join the team isn't up to him.

But having someone to help is always a good thing. After thinking for a moment, he simply asked his pastor mentor, "Mr. Oni, I have some friends who also want to join the Holy Church's expedition. I wonder if that's possible?"

The elderly pastor named Oni was taken aback. "Is that so? Are there many people?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I sense there are quite a few, mostly adventurers or something, and they're certainly capable in combat..."

"Pastor Lime" scratched his head.

"Well... I'll go ask the elders..."

Although Ella was in charge of leading the team, she had never participated in the training of the knights of the Mist City Sanctuary, and she was not familiar with formation coordination. Therefore, the one who was truly leading the team at this time was Elder Antal, who was following the team as his deputy.

Elder Antal heard the report from the priest below and told Ella about it. Ella thought it was just a militia composed of enthusiastic citizens and adventurers. She thought it was a good thing, and since she had limited manpower, she agreed without hesitation, but on the condition that they first explore the situation in the fog.

Meanwhile, at the southern outpost of Fog City, after sealing off the gate, Li Cheng, taking a break from his busy schedule, habitually logged onto the forum to check nearby intelligence. Upon seeing this situation, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

[#3102 The Saintess's Dog 2: Brothers, relying solely on the forum for organization is too chaotic. How about this, everyone choose one person from each region to form a unit and contact each other. We'll start from the south of Fog City. Those closest to us, contact us; those closest to the sanctuary, contact the priest. Let's use the chimney in the mall as a signal to gather.]

[#3103 The Saintess's Dog 2: Oh, and you, 2909, change your nickname!!!]

Chapter 163 The Undying Tide

Regardless of the players' discussions, Ella, having finished preparing, hurriedly set off for the tower.

The towering structure pierced the clouds and was likely located in the factory district on the east side of the city.

The sound of hooves rang out, and the saintess, riding a white horse and holding a scepter, led the church procession out of the square and into the mist.

Just as they left the area of ​​the holy light barrier at the boundary of the sanctuary, an unpleasant aura wafted towards them from the thick fog.

The surrounding street buildings were transformed into blurry, dark silhouettes that dissolved into the fog, becoming hazy and distant, as if the people were walking through a dark red oil painting.

The light from gas lamps and torches couldn't penetrate the fog; even at a distance of only three or four meters, the lights behind would likely be swallowed up by the thick fog.

To avoid falling behind, the saints stayed close together, with a holy arcane mage positioned at intervals to summon holy light from their staffs. This radiant light, imbued with divine power, was more effective at dispelling the fog than torches.

As time passed and the procession ventured deeper into the area, the surroundings gradually quieted down. As they moved further away from the church, the noise from the people seeking refuge gathered in the square faded away, and the environment became so quiet that it seemed as if only the sounds of horses' hooves and footsteps could be heard.

The unsettling feeling grew stronger, and soon Ella, who was leading the group, saw several strange figures crawling on the ground emerging from the fog ahead.

"Halt, everyone, be careful, there's movement ahead."

Elder Antar, the deputy commander standing nearby, also saw it and immediately gave the order.

Upon hearing this, the Templars following behind began to stride forward, raising their shields and spears.

The figures crawling in the fog gradually emerged. At first glance, their silhouettes resembled several long-limbed wild dogs peeking out of the fog, their steps interlacing. But as they drew closer and their vision cleared, the people of the sanctuary realized that they were actually a group of people on all fours.

It seemed that their skulls had become deformed, becoming narrow and elongated, causing their originally human faces to be stretched taut. Their eyes were dull and empty in their narrow eye sockets, and the corners of their mouths were hooked and pulled towards their earlobes, as if they were making a silent, sinister grin.

Their torsos and limbs seemed to be clamped at the ends, abnormally elongated by several centimeters, becoming thin and gaunt. Upon seeing the procession of the sanctuary, they were like wild dogs smelling blood, spreading their five slender fingers, like tree branches, and crawling over by scratching at the bricks on the ground.

“By the Holy Light, what a blasphemy this is against life.”

Elder Antal, seeing the scene before him, spoke with considerable reluctance.

Ella frowned slightly, pointed her scepter at the group of strange figures, and said softly, "Knights, in the name of the Holy Light, let the suffering victims tainted by evil return to peace."

As the melodious and holy voice of the nightingale faded, the Templar Knights, shield in one hand and spear in the other, formed a fan-shaped formation and marched down the street to meet the approaching monster.

The seemingly emaciated monsters moved with surprising speed along the ground, even clinging to nearby shops and streetlights, like a pack of wolves attacking the array of Templar Knights.

However, thanks to Van Hessin's reminder, the knights' weapons were baptized with blessed holy water before the battle. Similar to silverware, the holy light, symbolizing order, was also very effective against these chaotic monsters.

As the monster roared and pounced, sharp spearheads pierced their chests or skulls like hot needles into butter, murky blood and wisps of smoke spraying everywhere.

As the battle raged ahead, the deputy commander, Elder Antar, also opened his palms to carefully sense this strange feeling.

“Your Holiness, this mist seems to contain a magical power that can influence people’s minds.”

He slowly began to speak, “These dissipated magical energies may be what constitute the fog and influence the transformation of citizens into monsters.”

Could it be related to that blood moon?

"Ella asked."

"I'm afraid I can't answer that right now, but I can say for sure that the concentration of this magic is slowly increasing."

Ella nodded. "Does that mean that the walls and windows of ordinary residential buildings probably can't withstand such fog erosion for too long?"

"I'm afraid so, Your Majesty,"

Elder Antal looked worried. "Without the protection of the Holy Light, the fog will eventually seep into those ordinary brick walls."

"Therefore, the longer time goes by, the more citizens will be affected, and the more monsters will appear."

This is not good news.

Ella looked towards the distant tower; they probably needed to quicken their pace.

She tried to manipulate the raven familiar to investigate the tower, but the tower seemed to be shrouded in a barrier, and the familiar would be torn to shreds by powerful magic as soon as it got close, so she could only observe from afar.

Furthermore, even when flying high in the sky and not in the fog, familiars that are too far away from her will mutate after being exposed to the blood moon for a long time, breaking free from her control and becoming insane monsters.

This means that the unknown power cast by the Blood Moon is even enough to erode the life force she placed in her familiar, and this power is gradually growing stronger.

The demons that were corrupted from the citizens were quickly killed by the Templar Knights, and the holy power remaining on their corpses continued to scorch their decaying bodies.

Ella also ordered the team to speed up their advance.

Before they could even cross the street, the saints following behind the group were surprised to find that the gaps in the corpses of the monsters that had just died were slowly being filled by mist and turned into new flesh and blood.

Before long, the monsters staggered to their feet again.

Seeing this, Ella roughly understood why Li Cheng had said that the dead Samuel Order followers in the stronghold would rise again under the blood moon.

Holy light and silverware can harm these monsters, but what ultimately drives them is the magic that permeates the fog.

As long as the source of magic remains, these mindless, bloodthirsty monsters will revive once more.

This also reminded her of the legends she had heard about the vampire queen Isadora—it was said that as long as the queen did not die, even if the high-ranking vampires of the thirteen clans died in war, their souls would return to the queen's embrace, and then be reborn in her blood.

During that dark age, the only way for humanity to truly and completely destroy them was to relentlessly kill them and wear down their souls.

Isadora's descendants all possess such immortality thanks to this god-like ancestor, but Ella truly doesn't understand how Isadora herself died.

However, these terrifying low-level monsters probably don't even have souls; they are just empty shells that move under the influence of the Blood Moon's magic. Trying to kill them would be utterly futile.

Chapter 164 Reinforcements

Ella then instructed the members of the Sanctuary to stop trying to completely purify the monsters and instead focus on fighting while advancing.

However, the deeper they went, the more the number of monsters increased.

Because in addition to the mutated citizens, other creatures in the city will also be affected.

Bloodthirsty rats, ferocious wild dogs resembling cheetahs... they kept pouring out from the surrounding alleys, and given their inability to be completely killed, the entire Holy Church contingent began to find themselves in a predicament of being attacked from both sides.

The relentless onslaught of the massive monster horde gradually eroded the knights' stamina. As some knights were unintentionally injured while struggling to fight, their formation became unstable. Consequently, the arcane mages and priests among the captains ceased to conserve their magic and began to continuously cast holy light spells to assist the Templar Knights in their fight against the monsters.

However, bad things are often followed by even worse ones.

With a sharp howl piercing the night sky, followed by a strange sound like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, a tall and bizarre body crashed through the wall of the street and appeared in front of everyone.

It was a giant, spider-like monster, but the legs it trod on the ground were not insect limbs, but the feet of a human wearing tattered trousers.

Its upper body was like a thin pole five or six meters long, and its abdomen and lifeless face were covered with ugly scars connected by rough stitches. It wielded the thick bone blades at the ends of its arms.

Arthropods?

Ella immediately recognized the object as something she had encountered once before. It was a monstrous weapon crafted by the Samuel Hermitage using multiple low-ranking holy remains stitched together. She never expected it to be here.

Moreover, judging from the red light flashing in the eyes on that head, it seemed to have been strengthened by the Blood Moon's magic.

As soon as the monster appeared, it charged straight at the Templars' defenses, its two arms wielding powerful blades that crashed into the crowd, hacking and slashing through the Templars as they fell to the ground, enduring the thrusts of shields and spears.

The formation that everyone had maintained for so long was suddenly breached, and the low-level monsters immediately rushed towards them like sharks smelling blood.

The arcane mages in the group were busy chanting spells, summoning a dazzling array of golden holy light spears to repel the enemy, while the priests at the rear hurriedly cast healing spells to pull the wounded knights up from the ground.

Elder Antal then ordered the saints to unleash their full firepower without holding back. Dozens of Templar Knights raised their lances high and, with a cry of "In the name of the Holy Light," simultaneously donned their golden armor.

Their spears were bathed in holy light, and the legs of the arthropods on top of their kite-shaped shields pounded and trampled, riddling their massive bodies with holes.