Chapter 313: Chapter 313: Cult
"Who are you?"
The demon stared at the person who had suddenly fallen from the sky, its pupils glowing red and contracting slightly.
For the first time in centuries, it felt pressured by a human. This had never happened before.
Even when facing the three people earlier, it felt no pressure at all.
When did such a powerful human appear? The human in front of it was naturally surrounded by sparkling points of light, which were actually manifestations of power.
York watched the demon in front of him with an indifferent expression, not responding.
Without any movement, the unconscious monk from the villa, Xavier, floated up and drifted to the back.
"Eileen, take care of him."
Still recovering from the shock of the bishop's return, Eileen nodded eagerly.
"Yes, Bishop!"
Her voice trembled with immense surprise.
She looked towards Hilary, who was relaxed and smiling.
After Hilary nodded, the two of them quickly helped the lying Xavier towards the car that had just stopped...
"Who are you!"
The demon roared angrily, but its counterattack was a claw strike.
A claw made of dark energy reached out through the air.
No one doubted that this claw could slice a person into five pieces.
"Who am I?"
York chuckled, still not making any move.
The claw strike in front of him exploded as if it had hit an invisible wall.
"It seems you're just a lesser Karami," York smiled, as a knight's sword as large as a building appeared above his head.
The holy light was brilliant, its tip piercing the clouds and scattering them across the sky.
The sight was so spectacular that even Zhang Zhouyuan, who had just arrived, was stunned.
Even Hilary and Eileen, who were tending to Xavier's wounds, involuntarily shifted their gaze to the enormous knight's sword piercing the clouds.
"Roar!"
The demon, facing a great threat, had a heavy and twisted expression. It stomped on the ground and vanished on the spot.
This time, it didn't leave any afterimages; it simply disappeared without any noise or movement.
York narrowed his eyes.
The knight's sword above him instantly slashed downwards to the right.
Silently, it reached the ground in an instant.
But before even a second passed, a huge noise erupted, creating a massive disturbance.
Boom!
Under the stunned gazes of those behind him, the villas were split in two by the blade of the knight's sword, which now rested on the raised hands of the demon, sparking fiercely.
Bang!
The demon's face contorted in pain, its feet slowly sinking, forming an increasingly larger pit.
"Indeed, just a lesser Karami. Tell me, who summoned you here?"
York walked forward with his hands behind his back.
"Apart from Father Jin Shanyu and his family, you've slaughtered everyone in this area. Your sins are heavy. Name your summoner, and I might consider sparing you."
As he spoke, he drew nearer, putting great pressure on the demon.
It did not respond to York's words, instead roaring again, as if the roar gave it deeper power. Its body, initially a few meters tall, suddenly grew to tens of meters, towering over the villas.
It finally managed to withstand the size of the knight's sword.
"Explode!"
The demon's body trembled, hoping to instantly shatter the sword above it.
But a light scoff made it feel even more weighed down.
The knight's sword pressing on its arms suddenly grew larger, expanding from the size of a building to that of a skyscraper.
A skyscraper pressing down on a twenty-meter-tall entity was a spectacular scene.
"Roar!"
The demon grew anxious, feeling its arms numbing as if losing sensation.
The holy light under the sword's blade scorched its body, as if it was trapped in flames.
In desperation, its gaze flickered to a corner.
In its eyes, a tiny human with hands behind his back walked towards it step by step.
Step by step, he grew larger.
But the figure remained so small.
It brought an intense déjà vu not only to the demon but also to Eileen and others by the car.
"Who the heck are you!"
The demon roared, having never imagined encountering such a formidable enemy here, powerful enough to make it feel like it was facing a demon lord commanding an army.
Like a tidal wave, the sound waves that Eileen struggled to resist came to an abrupt halt in front of York.
"Who am I?"
York looked up at the enormous demon, as if looking at an ant, and smiled gently.
"When you can kill me, it won't be too late to ask my name."
Then, thinking of something, York added, "Oh, if you want to know, you can also ask those Satans in your family; maybe they can tell you my name."
The demon paused, showing a very human-like expression.
But before it could think further, a deaf
ening sound erupted by its ears.
Bang!
As the sound erupted, the knight's sword pressed down even harder.
"I'm talking!" The demon roared, not wanting to die and even regretting its emergence into the world. It realized why those big demons had never emerged in their true forms but always operated through incarnations.
"I'm talking!"
Swipe! The knight's sword halted directly in front of the demon.
York watched the demon, smiling silently, and set up a seal to prevent it from returning.
Feeling the surrounding constraints, the demon took a deep breath.
"The Church of Light..."
Before long, the demon confessed everything.
York narrowed his eyes, understanding the situation. He felt utterly disgusted.
It was simple.
This demon had been summoned by a cult in H-country called the Church of Light.
The method of summoning was, of course, malevolent.
They captured homeless people with no social ties, murdered them on the spot, and threw them into an altar.
Then, they randomly targeted families, slaughtering them to collect the necessary malice for the summoning.
They even used the lives and souls of dozens of their followers as a price.
Such actions, accumulating over time, finally met the requirements for this demon to emerge in its true form.
"And here I thought there was something substantial, but it's just the same old crap!"
York looked down at the demon in the pit, frowning all the while, then stood up.
"I've spoken. Now release your restraints; they're draining my power..." the demon hurriedly said.
York ignored it, looking towards the right.
There, Father Jesus' convoy was arriving late, and a group of clergy was disembarking, joining Eileen, Hilary, and others...
At that moment, the still-hovering knight's sword crashed down.
Furious cries erupted.
"You lied! I curse you..."
Boom!
His words were drowned out by the thunderous noise.
The ground trembled, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.
A column of light of equal size exploded from the pit again.
"I was just considering whether to spare you."
York's expression was calm, his mind untroubled.
"And I've decided not to."
The sound of a successful mission chimed in his ears.
"And besides, I have a mission, don't I? How could I possibly spare you?"
York mused for a moment, watching the transparent virtual window that appeared in front of him.
"..."
"Conditions met: Trigger random mission, Demon Emergence"
"Mission requirements: Eliminate (Completed)"
"Mission reward: +33 attribute points (Issued)"
"..."
"A demon with a base strength of three to four hundred thousand points is only worth thirty-three attribute points?"
York felt somewhat reluctant, looking at the available points.
Adding the daily prayer's fixed 0.5, he had 33.5 points available.
But through this mission, York speculated about some matters.
He had a feeling that the thirty-three points merely represented the demon's strength.
"So it really was just a lesser Karami?"
York unconsciously recalled the demon, now dead beyond revival.
"According to assessments, that demon had a strength of around three to four hundred thousand points. Combining this with the mission rewards," York shook his head.
"Does that mean the demon's strength was only worth thirty-three thousand points?"
"Indeed, that makes sense. I suppose from now on, I can use the mission reward points to accurately judge a demon's strength, although I've always done so..."
York stopped walking, facing all the clergy kneeling before him, including the excited Eileen and Hilary, and the bewildered Zhang Zhouyuan.
"How is the monk doing?"
"Lord Bishop, Monk Xavier's injuries are under control, but he will need some time to recover,"
Father Jesus, as a monk and a knight, knew more about Xavier's condition and answered earnestly.
Knights naturally had better physical health than ordinary clergy due to years of being blessed with holy power. What would be a fatal injury to a normal person was merely a minor wound to them, and they had stronger recovery abilities.
They were worthy of being called mini-Supermen.
Having been a knight himself for a while, York understood this well. He nodded, not immediately responding to Eileen and Hilary's gazes, continuing in a business-like manner.
"If that's the case, then all is well. Due to the demon's brutality, all residents and Father Jin Shanyu's family have already..."
Hearing this, all kneeling clergy looked even more somber.
A villa after villa meant a family after family.
Such a large area indicated a significant number of deaths.
"...The origin of this incident is the Church of Light in H-country." York's voice turned cold, carrying a killing intent.
"It had nothing to do with us initially, but since it involves a demon, investigate it thoroughly at all costs!
Even if the cult has official backing, still investigate!
No one is to be spared
; the guilty will be punished, and the innocent will receive a few strikes..."
York was indifferent to what Zhang Zhouyuan thought, even though he was from H-country and had even worked for H-country's government, continuing impassively.
"If anyone dares to obstruct, just let me know. After all, the officials in H-country are just so-so. At worst, I'll have the U.S. troops stationed here take action!"
After speaking, York glanced at the silent Zhang Zhouyuan and left.
"Yes, Lord Bishop!" All the clergy obeyed, signaling that a storm was about to hit H-country.
Eileen and Hilary exchanged glances, then stood up and followed their bishop.
Eileen, seeing Zhang Zhouyuan, who was just part-timing and hadn't stood up, didn't speak, but followed her bishop resolutely.
Lagging behind, Hilary sighed and patted Zhang Zhouyuan's shoulder.
"Mr. Zhang Zhouyuan, the bishop didn't mean it that way. Don't misunderstand."
Zhang Zhouyuan's expression was heavy, not because of those words, but because of what the bishop had said.
"I understand, Monk Hilary. You don't need to worry about me."
Hearing this, Hilary smiled and patted Zhang Zhouyuan's shoulder again, then followed the nun, leaving him with a final word.
"Thank you for risking your life to drive here. I'll remember it,
And you should drive back first later; I'll call you."
Watching the departing figures, one in front and two behind, Zhang Zhouyuan nodded...
"Bishop!!!"
Hilary suppressed his excitement, looking up at his bishop, who was a head taller than him.
"Where are you going, sir?"
Silently following, the unnoticed Eileen also turned her gaze to her bishop.
After a month without seeing him, her bishop's authoritative aura had only grown, and she wondered what he had done in the rift. Yet one thing that hadn't changed was the calming quality of his presence.
"Such a hassle. I had planned to treat you all to some good food after coming back,"
In the next second, her bishop revealed a familiar, even more relaxed expression, assuring her he hadn't changed.
"Now, with this mess... Well, let's head back, and we'll talk more tomorrow."
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