Unexpected Incidents Keep Arising (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Boom! Boom! Boom! Westminster Abbey reacted quickly as well.

The chaos was not widespread, but it was critical.

The moment the cultists they had been guarding against appeared, Westminster Abbey's forces decisively deployed the troops they had prepared long ago.

The heavily armored paladins split into eight squads, raising their Sword and Shield as they marched into the alleys near the grand square.

At the same time, as the Bell Sound of Westminster Abbey rang out, hymns began to echo from within the church.

Brilliant white positive-energy light radiated outward from Westminster Abbey, sweeping back and forth through the surrounding area.

When the positive-energy light fell upon Gu Xi, he felt as though every cell in his body was about to burn. Every inch of his skin felt scorching hot.

Even his blood seemed to have grown much hotter, and his face turned bright red, making him look as if he had drunk too much.

Gu Xi understood that this was one effect of positive energy stimulating vitality.

But the feeling was truly unbearable.

Gu Xi had no choice but to retreat again and again, unwilling to be affected by the positive-energy light.

Just then, the paladin squads charged into the alleys. Carrying Square Shields nearly as tall as themselves, they pinned down every unfamiliar stranger they encountered with their shields.

Gu Xi wanted to retreat farther, but two Square Shields immediately pressed him against the wall.

The Bone Shield on his body was crushed by the Square Shields, while two heavy Longswords were raised above him.

"Don't move. Make one move, and my brothers will strike."

"What the hell are you doing?"

Gu Xi was both angry and helpless.

He had not been involved in any of this at all, okay?

Yet the two paladins ignored him. They had received orders before taking action.

There was currently no way to tell who was good and who was bad.

Therefore, anyone not from Westminster Abbey was to be restrained first.

If they dared resist, it did not matter whether they were enemies or not—they were to be killed immediately.

Gu Xi was obviously a Necromancer, while these two paladins were newcomers. Their current combat strength existed only because of the enhancement from Westminster Abbey's hymns.

Normally, they had not even reached the point where they could wield holy light.

Though they had Gu Xi pinned against the wall, they were extremely nervous. Their Longswords were raised over their heads, ready to come down at any moment.

Seeing the tension in the two paladins' eyes, Gu Xi instead calmed down.

"Don't be nervous. I'm not an enemy. I won't move, so you two don't make any sudden moves either, all right?"

Before Gu Xi had even finished speaking, an explosion suddenly sounded behind the two paladins.

The two paladins' Longswords slipped from their grip and hacked down at Gu Xi.

Gu Xi ducked his head. "Watch what you're doing!"

Fortunately, the two Longswords struck the wall behind Gu Xi. Otherwise, those two strikes would at the very least have left him Severely Injured.

But Gu Xi was truly frightened this time. He had not resisted earlier because he had no conflict with Westminster Abbey's forces, and he could not yet make sense of the situation. Lying low for the moment was perfectly normal.

But he was not the kind of person who would take a beating without fighting back.

"That's enough. If this keeps up, I'm going to retaliate."

The two paladins did not respond to Gu Xi. They did not even pull their Longswords free from the wall.

This surprised Gu Xi. He hurriedly looked at their faces and discovered that their features were constantly twisting, while the blood vessels around their eyes looked ready to burst.

Gu Xi tried pushing the two paladins. The moment he did, they toppled straight to the ground.

Gu Xi hurriedly tried to catch them, but before he could move, the sight before him stunned him.

At the site of the earlier explosion, a vine root as thick as a person burst out from the ground.

A pale pink flower grew at the top of the root. It was shaped like a trumpet, and its pistil continuously sprayed fine red threads outward.

Everyone nearby had been entangled by those threads. It was obvious that this root was controlling all the humans before it.

Gu Xi had been relatively lucky. The two paladins had pinned him against the wall, so the threads had not reached him yet.

That was how he escaped disaster.

But Gu Xi also understood that he could not simply stand by and watch.

Without the paladins' protection, he would not be able to withstand being entangled by those threads.

So Gu Xi swept his gaze across the battlefield before him and spotted the cultist he had killed earlier.

The corpse was still some distance from the root, but the current situation was still something he could work with.

Gu Xi's heart stirred, and he pointed at the corpse.

"Lesser Corpse Explosion!"

With a loud explosion, the corpse burst apart on the spot.

The ordinary people nearby who had been brought down by the blood-red threads were blown apart on the spot.

Gu Xi raised his hand. "Bone Spike!"

Three bone spikes shot out, striking three unarmored ordinary people squarely.

Kill Cultist (Level 2), gained 22 experience points.

Kill Cultist (Level 1), gained 11 experience points.

Kill Holy Oil Believer (Level 2), gained 27 experience points.

Gu Xi did not care that he might have killed the wrong people. Given the current situation, he could not afford to worry about such things. He had to find a way to break out of this deadlock.

The fact that he had not attacked the paladins was already out of consideration for Hart.

"Summoning!"

You successfully used Summoning and obtained a skeleton (Level 0). Summoning Experience +1.

You successfully used Summoning and obtained a skeleton (Level 0). Summoning Experience +1.

You failed to use Summoning. Summoning Experience +1.

"Damn it."

Gu Xi muttered casually.

The newly summoned skeletons were all still Level 0. It seemed that acquiring a Death City had not changed that.

Gu Xi soon stopped paying attention to it. With a wave of his hand, he said, "Go. Pull that flower out for me."

At Gu Xi's command, the two skeletons ran toward the tree roots.

As the skeletons ran over, the tree roots noticed what was happening. The pale pink flower growing from the top of the roots actually closed up.

The moment he saw the roots react like that, Gu Xi dragged the fallen paladin to his feet.

Gu Xi's reaction was correct. Just as he pulled the paladin up, the pale pink flower snapped open and sprayed out a mass of blood-red threads.

The threads surged toward Gu Xi like a net.

If Gu Xi had not placed a paladin in front of himself beforehand, he would definitely have been caught by those red threads.

After blocking the attack, Gu Xi shoved the paladin to the ground and began running outward.

The flower still wanted to attack Gu Xi, but the two skeletons had already reached the roots. Following Gu Xi's orders, they decisively grabbed the flower and yanked downward with all their strength, pulling off the head-sized bloom.