Luan's Grand Cathedral stood in the center of the city, on an oval plaza paved with broad, orderly white stones. Twenty-two avenues stretched outward around the plaza, branching toward every corner of the city like the main strands of a spiderweb. As a typical city of the Order State, the Grand Cathedral also served as Luan's administrative center. It was therefore the only large building in the heart of the city. For several kilometers around the plaza—not to mention the entire city—there was not a single structure that could rival the church. And now, this once magnificent, soaring cathedral was shrouded in the same shadows of darkness and chaos as the rest of the city, gradually sinking into ruin.
Countless shambling figures appeared on the avenues, their forms overlapping in the distance, eerie and sinister. They were Luan's former citizens: commoners, nobles, and even monks and city-guard knights. Their faces were stiff and their eyes vacant as they trudged through the darkness toward the Grand Cathedral, like the eternally wandering souls and shadows of Helheim in legend.
The sight was spine-chilling even from afar, let alone when witnessed with one's own eyes at close range. Even Hao Ren, who had seen more than most, felt his skin crawl, while every member of the Sanctuary Investigation Team wore a tense expression. Kalasios traced a holy symbol over his chest. "The evil power within the chaos must have twisted these innocent citizens... They've already lost themselves."
A Church Knight drew his longsword, but after looking around helplessly, he could only say, "We can't let them defile the sacred Grand Cathedral... But there are too many of them!"
Indeed, there were far too many. Everyone at the scene could see that these walking corpses were headed for the sacred Grand Cathedral. Stopping them