Betrayal (2)

The temple warrior reciting the words of betrayal was swiftly engulfed in flames of divine power.

The flames nearly set his entire body ablaze, turning rapidly from gold to black.

This was the gods' punishment for betrayers. The divine power cultivated by these clergy would become the weapon the gods used against them.

The divine flames nearly burned this clergyman to death.

In the end, however, he survived—but he lost everything. He was no longer a believer of the gods, and not a shred of power remained within him.

If another god had been willing to accept his faith when he betrayed his own, he might still have had a chance to regain his strength.

But clearly, that would not happen now, because every god was Huo Ling's enemy.

What god would accept the faith of a captive sitting in the enemy camp? That would simply be asking for a scolding.

After all, a believer's prayers could reach the ears of the gods.

The final curse of betrayal worked the same way.

Of this small group of captive clergy, barely one-third survived the backlash of the divine flames.

The other unlucky ones suffered far worse. They would have been better off having their heads chopped off directly.

Being burned alive by divine flames was truly a torturous ordeal.

Those who survived by luck had also lost their value.

Still, Huo Ling had no intention of discarding them. Though they could no longer serve as professional soldiers, they were at least laborers, and there was no harm in keeping them.

Inside the command tent, Huo Ling looked at these clerical soldiers burned into lumps of charcoal and shook his head regretfully.

Clergy really had it too miserable. Even surrender was not an option.

What a pity.

Even the souls of these