Time for Us to Act (End of Volume)

The Church of Neutral Light and the Adventurers' Association were somewhat special organizations found in cities across the continent. Simply put, both maintained a neutral stance.

The Church of Neutral Light had physicians responsible for treating the sick and saving lives, ensuring the health of the local people. It also had Church Knights who hunted cultists, protecting the locals from their persecution.

The Adventurers' Association handled all kinds of commissions from local residents, sorting them into tasks of varying ranks for adventurers of varying ranks to accept, greatly easing the burden on the local lord.

However, these two organizations were neutral, which meant they could not interfere with local lords exercising their authority or issuing various decrees. That was why they had been able to establish themselves in the territories of so many nobles.

Therefore, for something as significant as purging every Death Cult cultist throughout the territory, the Church of Neutral Light had to inform the local lord to avoid misunderstandings, seek the lord's assistance, minimize casualties, and prevent the cultists from escaping.

The operation was set for noon that day. According to the list of cultists, aside from the already-dead Black Robed Man, the highest-ranking member of the Death Cult in Azure Stone Viscount Territory was Vice Captain Ma Xi of the Patrol Team. He was the deputy mentor of all cultists throughout the territory.

As noon approached, under the orders of George, the Patrol Team captain acting on behalf of Old Azure Stone Viscount, the entire Patrol Team and the City Guard silently completed their deployment.

If time had not been so short, the knights loyal to Old Azure Stone Viscount throughout Azure Stone Viscount Territory would probably have come to join in. This was a perfect chance to make themselves known. If they performed well, Old Azure Stone Viscount might even grant them an extra piece of land!

But time waited for no one! Those knights could not make it here in a single night. If they forced themselves to rush over, they might alert the enemy instead. Thus, they could only assist the Church's Knight Captains outside their respective territories in encircling and eliminating the cultists within them.

This created a problem: there were only two active Bronze-level knights in Azure Stone City—John and the Patrol Team captain.

Old Azure Stone Viscount was too old and riddled with illness. He had not left Azure Stone Castle in a long time. Otherwise, given his temperament, he would certainly have personally led the purge against the cultists and brought a perfect conclusion to his lifetime of glorious achievements.

Actually, if things had gone according to plan, two Bronze-level knights—no, John alone would have been enough to kill Ma Xi. The other cultists in the city could naturally be dealt with by the Patrol Team, the City Guard, and the Church's Knight Apprentices.

However, an accident occurred. Ma Xi received Reporting News from a mysterious mage and fled ahead of time! John arrived a step too late and could only watch helplessly as Ma Xi's escape tunnel was blown apart. He had nearly been buried in the collapsing house himself.

"Pah, pah, pah! Damn it! He got away!"

Waving away the dust before him, John wore an irritated expression. Parr and Ithil, who had rushed over with him, also looked disappointed.

"How did he get away?"

"Damn it!"

The only people who had come to kill Ma Xi were John, Parr, and Ithil. George, the Azure Stone City Patrol Team captain, had led his men to crush the cultists scattered throughout the city.

"We don't know where that tunnel leads, but it shouldn't go far. You two, inform the others and seal off every road intersection."

After giving the instruction, John leaped onto the tallest nearby building and looked around.

Parr and Ithil exchanged a glance, then sprang into action. Both wanted to kill Ma Xi. Parr wanted it even more than Ithil did, all because of that wager he had blurted out in a moment of impulse. His dignity was at stake—he could not lose!...

At the same time, people across the city began moving as well. Azure Stone City was not large, and the City Guard and Patrol Team knew it well. Once the Church personnel provided the list of cultists, they easily found where the cultists lived. Relying on their numerical advantage, they launched an all-out attack and caught the cultists completely off guard.

As mentioned before, Death Cult cultists were at their weakest under the blazing sun. Their specialty, the Walking Corpses, was practically useless—things that became useless the moment they saw daylight.

Thus, the Church personnel, Patrol Team members, and City Guards swept through them like a hot knife through butter! The cultists did not have a single worthy opponent. After putting up the slightest resistance and proving that they were indeed cultists, they were cut down in a flurry of blades. The ordinary Walking Corpses buried in their courtyards never had the chance to emerge and remained underground forever, eventually blending into the earth as time passed.

Of course, that was also because these cultists were not very high-level on average. Most of them could only be considered believers of the Death Evil God, the sort who did not even possess a Walking Corpse. Only a small portion were true cultists.

The purge within the city quickly entered its final stages, after which a thorough search began. No matter how meticulous a plan was, accidents could always happen. Some cultists escaped disaster because they had not been home at the time. Seeing the situation and realizing they had been exposed, they cleverly hid themselves, intending to find an opportunity to leave the city after nightfall.

So, under Patrol Team captain George's leadership, everyone began a thorough search for the escaped cultists.

From time to time, cultists were discovered and then hacked to death amid chaos.

Overall, the cultists in Azure Stone City had suffered a devastating blow this time. But who told their mentor to carry their list on him? Wasn't that just asking for them all to be wiped out in one sweep? Cultists truly were impossible to understand. There was a reason they were called madmen.

As time passed, nearly every cultist in Azure Stone City had been found and killed, but Ma Xi, the cultists' Steward, still had not been found. He seemed to have vanished into thin air. After freeing up his hands, George led people to dig open the collapsed tunnel and confirmed that Ma Xi had not gone far. He was still in the city.

"This is strange. Could Ma Xi fly or something?"

The search continued. Curious, the people of Azure Stone City went out to ask around. Cultists! They hurried back home, shut their doors and windows, and hid inside.

In the blink of an eye, evening arrived, and the sky gradually darkened. John, George, and Old Larry, the Church's Steward, determined that Ma Xi would definitely use the cover of night to flee the city. They ordered everyone to stay vigilant and discover Ma Xi's whereabouts at the first possible moment.

Not long after that order was issued, a signal came from Azure Stone City's East Gate. At the same time, the Church personnel used special means to sense a fluctuation of death element there. It was Bronze-level.

What more was there to say? The two Bronze-level knights, John and George, rushed over first, while Old Larry led the lower-level personnel to surround the area.

When they arrived, they saw a large number of City Guards lying at the gate. The remaining guards held spears and fearfully encircled a tall Black Robe. They only surrounded him, not daring to charge. For every step the Black Robe took, they retreated a step. They were about to be forced all the way back to the city wall.

At that moment, John and George, who had just arrived, launched Battle Qi attacks without a word. John used his usual move, a blood-red crescent shooting from his blade.

"Blood Moon Slash!"

"Blazing Thrust!"

George was broad and burly, with an honest-looking face, brown hair, and green eyes. He looked like a good man at first glance. Flame-like Battle Qi rose around him as he gripped a spear and charged at the Black Robe who appeared to be Ma Xi with huge strides.

Slash! Whoosh! Both attacks struck their target. The black robe was first torn apart by the crescent, then burned away by flames, revealing the Black Robe's true form. This was not Ma Xi at all! It was clearly a Bronze Walking Corpse clad in heavy armor!

John and George's attacks shattered part of the heavy armor but failed to injure the Bronze Walking Corpse.

Roar...

Only then did the Bronze Walking Corpse let out a roar that revealed its identity. Then, the skin all over its body split open as it directly entered berserk mode and began fighting John and George.

"Not good, it's a diversion!"

"Over there!"

"Let's hurry!"

In Azure Stone City South District, Parr and Ithil, who had spent the entire afternoon searching without finding anything, also saw the signal from the East Gate. Knowing Ma Xi had been discovered, they ran in that direction, wanting to witness Ma Xi's death with their own eyes—or kill him themselves.

However, before they had taken more than a few steps, Little Green's voice came from an alley behind them.

"Boss, Boss."

"Hm?"

Parr and Ithil turned around and saw Little Green running out, panting heavily. Pointing behind himself, he said in broken phrases:

"Boss, we saw Ma Xi."

"What?"

Ithil froze for a moment and glanced back toward the East Gate, as if she understood something. Still, she needed to confirm it with Little Green.

"Little Green, how did you see Ma Xi?"

At Ithil's question, Little Green showed a shameful expression.

"Boss, it was our fault that we worked for Ma Xi. So, to make up for it, all of us spent the afternoon combing every corner of the South District. Just now, my brother and I saw Ma Xi sneaking toward the South Gate."

"You weren't mistaken?"

Though Ithil asked that, she had already started moving. There were many people at the East Gate, so her presence would be useless there. There were fewer people here. If it was true, Ma Xi would not escape.

"We couldn't have mistaken him. We know him very well."

Little Green hurriedly led the way. Parr gripped the hilt of his Black Short Sword and quickly followed.

After winding east and west through the streets, Little Green and Big Green had their own secret contact signals. Without Little Green ever pausing, he led Ithil and Parr to an alley near Azure Stone City's southern wall. Just as they were about to continue, Big Green stepped out from a corner and made a gesture for everyone to be quiet.

"Shh..."

Then Big Green beckoned, signaling for them to follow him.

Scrape, scrape, scrape...

Moving quietly, the four arrived outside an extremely dilapidated little courtyard. They heard the sound of digging from inside. Carefully peering through a crack in the wall, they saw that in the dim surroundings, a large and sturdy man was using tools to dig a pit. A greatsword was planted in the ground beside him.

After withdrawing her gaze and thinking for a moment, Ithil turned to the Grimm Brothers and whispered, "Little Green, you and your brother go notify the City Guard, Patrol Team, or Church personnel."

"Boss, don't act rashly!"

The Grimm Brothers looked at Ithil worriedly, afraid that she would charge in and start cutting people down because of her hatred.

"Do I look like someone who acts rashly?"

Ithil rolled her eyes, then reached out and grabbed Parr, who was eager to launch a sneak attack from behind.

"We'll watch him here so he can't escape. You two hurry and notify the others. The sooner we reach them, the safer we'll be. Go!"

"Fine!"

The Grimm Brothers, who were not even Knight Apprentices, knew that if a fight broke out, they would not be able to help and might even make things worse. They could only nod unwillingly, turn, and leave quickly. Once they were farther away, they broke into a run in separate directions to notify the City Guards and others.

However, the moment the Grimm Brothers left, Ithil turned to Parr, whom she was holding back. A smile full of killing intent appeared on her face.

"It's time for us to act."

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