Everything Comes at a Price

A magnificent, pure gold spearhead hovered in the center of the glow— the Fire Keeper didn't care about revealing this secret.

So she sang—

"The Holy Spear, the guardian of the Goddess Filianore."

"Display your Divine Might here, just as you have defeated the evil of blasphemy a thousand times!"

As soon as she uttered the first word, the knights of the church roared and charged at her, cursing and even hurling heavy warhammers in an attempt to mortify her.

However, not a single knight was able to step out of their position until she finished reading the last word.

With double incantation and top-notch spellcasting skills, she was able to maintain the illusion while summoning a miracle!

The next moment, the earth turned pure white. Thousands of golden spears suddenly rose like a forest, and in an instant, all the church knights and all the consecrated armor were riddled with holes amidst the forest of spears. The scorching light instantly burned away the flesh of the church knights, and the armor melted, turning into molten iron that fell to the ground and quickly solidified.

Miracle, the Sacred Spear —a miracle belonging to the Goddess Filianore. Legend has it that the Goddess's guards are called the Spears of the Church. The highest-ranking wielder of the Sacred Spear is rarely seen. Even when he does appear, he usually acts as a spirit.

No one knows that every Fire Keeper wields the Sacred Spear.

Of course, nobody knew. Filianore didn't need any protection at all.

Then the Fire Keeper tilted her head playfully, raised her hand and held the light in it. The trapped people, who were about to scream with various emotions of fear and surprise, fell into a deep sleep under the light.

She made several complex gestures, and the light extended further. The small chapel used for purification was then shrouded in Oolacile's light magic, disappearing from sight—but this disguise could not last long, as some kind of corrective force was restraining it, making the spell's effect unstable.

"The internal defensive barrier of the church has not been completely destroyed yet," the Fire Keeper murmured to herself—stepping out the door, her form transformed back into that of a knight as she left the church entrance—the corrective force of the barrier was disturbing her, but this was merely a self-triggered mechanism; the changes in the core area left the array's mastermind with no time to spare.

"Miss will be alright," she murmured to herself, tilting her head to sense the other mark. "The other one is fine too, though she might suffer a bit..."

"Let her suffer a bit," the noblewoman in black scoffed. "How dare she disrespect Miss. Even if Miss favors her, she deserves sufficient punishment." She then turned and walked towards another area not on the main battlefield.

Chapter 188. Everything Has a Price

Kal'tsit gritted her teeth, enduring the excruciating pain, and, protected by the Verdant Dragon Serpent, left the center of the battlefield—an elite squad of knights was pursuing her within the magnificent and complex church. Meanwhile, even more knights, priests, and sorcerers surged in groups toward the location of the coffin.

The church trembled, shook, and swayed, cracks constantly forming in the walls only to heal instantly. Meanwhile, surging flames billowed everywhere, and under the influence of some unknown force—unknown to Kal'tsit —they transformed into a mere, uncomfortable heat.

Kal'tsit took a soft breath and rushed into a relatively quiet, empty hall.

Her body was in excruciating pain—at the very first moment of Surtr's actions, she followed Miss Surtr's instructions, summoning Mon3tr to sever the restraints on her body and escaping amidst the dust and mist—she was doing well at first, but it wasn't long before several priests discovered her whereabouts.

Sorcery Fireball, flying Black Vampire Worm, Blowdart and Flying Axe fired by the lithe, agile dwarf—she dodged some, Mon3tr blocked others. Yet a small number still struck her precisely, tearing bloody wounds on her hands and back.

Her counterattack killed some, but immediately attracted more. Mon3tr's claws might be able to cut through a knight's sturdy armor, but facing a horde of knights would inevitably lead to defeat!

These church knights' Consecrated Armor is even stronger than Terra's Composite Alloy Plate!

At that moment, she almost thought she was going to die—she nearly ordered Mon3tr to kill her first when she realized the enemy didn't seem to intend to kill her outright, but rather to capture her—even she knew how detestable a hostage who was a hindrance on the battlefield was.

She didn't want to hold Surtr back, so she decided to end her own life. However, just as she was about to do so, a sudden burst of Dark Red Flame erupted from within her body, granting her immense explosive power while simultaneously forcibly healing the wounds on her skin!

—Surtr, you've prepared insurance for me.

—She...had long suspected my plan would fail...but she still allowed it...to take the risk because of me!

She gritted her teeth; more painful than the forced healing of her wounds was the overwhelming sense of defeat that filled her heart—she could do nothing, she was utterly useless. Perhaps her life was less useful than her death!

—I remember Persephone once speculated that people like me, brought into the dream world by her, exist only as Spirit-like Entity beings. Although we can laugh, feel pain, breathe, and eat, death for us is merely equivalent to waking up from a nightmare without causing any real harm... That was her conjecture, but she hadn't actually verified it.

—Perhaps I can help her verify... No, I can't die now! Surtr doesn't want me to die here. So, no matter what, I must at least hold on until the battle is over!

She took a deep breath, slightly suppressing the pain in her body and mind. Mon3tr's shared senses told her that the main battlefield was fiercely contested, and even without the advantage of terrain, victory seemed to be steadily tilting towards Surtr's hands!

—Surtr will definitely win.

—What I need to do is try my best not to be a burden... but I've already been a burden to her... wait!

Kal'tsit's breath hitched, and she instinctively took a step forward, ready to run away.

In the few seconds she was recovering, the church knights familiar with the terrain had already discovered the traces she had left behind—accompanied by a series of messy and heavy footsteps, a group of fully armed knights were approaching!

No! There's more than one group!

She whirled around and found both her way in and out blocked! So that's it—those ten-odd seconds of breathing space weren't something she'd bought herself, but rather a deliberate act by the other side to cut off her escape route!

Despair gripped her heart—not because she was doomed, but because all her actions had served no positive purpose. She gritted her teeth, and a section of the Verdant Dragon Serpent's bladed leg shot up. In the next moment, she would tear her own head apart to avoid having any negative effect.

—So, I've made so many mistakes that even fate doesn't want me to try to make amends...

—Surtr ...If only I could have gotten along with you better from the beginning...

With a sudden thrust of its blade, the two gates on either side were forcefully pushed open at the same moment. Fully armed knights surged in.

Kal'tsit held her breath—

The blade stopped just half a millimeter away from her forehead.

"She's not here." — She heard the knights' voices.

"We've been tricked." — She saw the priest cast a detection spell, a wave of light swept over her but didn't detect anything unusual.

They couldn't see her.

Their magic couldn't see her either.

Only then did she realize that a faint membrane of Light Membrane had appeared on her body and upper body without her noticing. This faint light rendered even the powerful knights, who were right in front of her, completely invisible!

—It's that Lady in Black Dress!

—That Fire Keeper!

Did she help me?

Holding her breath, she moved carefully. Kal'tsit watched as the persistent knights searched the room, nearly hitting her several times as she moved subtly, only to be caught off guard and lucky enough to avoid them each time.

Until a high-ranking knight let out a low growl.

"She must still be nearby, go search!"

The pursuers scattered, but Kal'tsit remained motionless. Just seconds later, the returning knights launched another surprise attack, which they found fruitless.

They turned back twice.

When the third one failed to arrive and no heartbeat was detected nearby through shared perception, Kal'tsit finally let out a soft breath, controlled the emerald green dragon-snake to pick herself up, and then climbed up the wall to the ceiling to continue her mission.

—The best thing I can do is escape from here; this pretense doesn't seem like it can last much longer.