Sacrifices

"Attack!" Garr roared, and instantly all his undead began to move.

Battle mage Vinia, bone mage Smithson clad in bone armor, assassin Hans lurking in the shadows, elegiac singer Ian, and summoner Adrian with three summons.

Ian provides a buff.

Vinia unleashed a fireball spell, and a massive fireball condensed from the sky and descended.

Smithson charged at Claude, his hands transforming into bone spikes as he thrust straight at him.

While Melesen was distracted, the assassin Hans immediately grabbed Loris and Eugenie.

Adrian immediately took command of the Leopard, Dragon Turtle, and Bull.

The Swift Leopard, its body radiating purple light, charged toward a tall puppet.

The dragon turtle unleashed an ice field that instantly froze the feet of all enemies.

Steam billowed from the bull's nostrils, its entire body turned bright red, and it rushed into the puppet.

Garr also rushed out of the stable, attacking from the flank, compressing the Lv3 light orb spell at the tip of his staff to its maximum and unleashing it.

For a moment, Gal's surprise attack was grand and magnificent, seemingly catching Melessen completely off guard.

Meleson turned his head to look at the dazzling scene, his eyes showing no panic, but rather widening as that chilling smile once again appeared on his lips.

He was laughing hysterically.

"You finally came out! I thought you were a coward!"

Garr sensed that something was wrong.

But this surprise attack was indeed effective. All the enemies suffered heavy losses at this time. The Dragon Turtle's Ice Domain froze the entire battlefield, the Fireball spell melted a deep pit in the ground, Cloud was pierced by Smithson's bone spikes, the Swift Leopard's purple lightning entangled several puppets, and the Bull also smashed three puppets.

At this moment, all the puppets were so vulnerable.

Hans led the somewhat dazed Eugenie and Loris to Gar's side.

"Bishop Garr." Eugenie staggered two steps, still flustered by her earlier act of standing up for him.

"Eugenie, Loris, you have done well. The God of Light is proud to have two such loyal followers." Garr didn't turn around, his voice low.

"But now, please get away from here."

Eugenie opened her mouth, knowing that the bishop was present, so she grabbed Loris's sleeve.

Loris was still holding the wooden sword, his hands trembling slightly, but his eyes were unwavering.

"I swore an oath," he said, "I will protect..."

"Loris, I know you swore an oath to protect the weak, but you are still weak now. Only by surviving can you have the chance to become stronger and protect the weak."

Loris wanted to say something more, but Eugenie pulled him away: "Bishop Garr, we won't interfere with your battle, please do your best!"

"Yes, I will." Garl glanced at them and, seeing that they had reached the end of Church Street, felt completely relieved.

He stepped onto the ice laid out by the dragon turtle and entered the battlefield once again.

Meleson watched his puppets fall one by one, but he showed no panic; instead, his eyes held amusement and amusement.

"A very moving scene." Meleson savored what Gar had just witnessed, as if watching a stage play: "The bishop shelters the lamb, and the lamb swears to be loyal to God to the death—the Church of Light has done a good job in doctrinal training."

"What's so funny about that?" Garr raised his staff. "You're in trouble yourself now."

"Oh dear, I'm so scared." Melison immediately put on a terrified expression; his acting was excellent, but his voice remained very calm.

Immediately afterwards, he seamlessly switched to his previous maniacal laughter:

"Then look at this church behind me, it's about to disappear."

As he spoke, he raised his hand, touched his middle finger and thumb together, and snapped his fingers.

Garr didn't quite understand the meaning behind his actions, but he immediately knew what had happened.

Suddenly, the dozen or so magic arrays above the Church of Light burst forth with a scarlet light, and a tiny beam of light pierced through them.

The next instant, the beam of light suddenly spread out, enveloping the entire Church of Light.

Garr's breathing suddenly stopped.

He trembled as he raised his staff, conjuring wave after wave of light barriers, but they were instantly pierced by the terrifying magic circle in the next moment.

Gar watched helplessly as his Church of Light was annihilated by Melesen's spell scroll.

The air fell silent for a moment.

Boom—

Gar opened his mouth, but seemed powerless.

Gravel splashed at his feet, and a wave of scorching heat lifted his hood, revealing his expressionless face.

Gone.

all--

"What a beautiful voice, what a lovely expression." Meleson slowly walked over to Garr's side, admiring his expression.

"Hmm, a little anger, a little helplessness, and a tiny bit...regret?"

"Attack! Kill him!" Garr roared, and all the undead around him rushed forward at their fastest speed.

Meleson was instantly pierced, torn apart, frozen, and melted, becoming completely unrecognizable as human.

So... he's dead?

Garr stared blankly at the puddle of mud on the ground.

"How could they be dead? I haven't had enough of admiring them yet." Melissan's voice rang out again from the rooftop, as he proudly shook the puppet in his hand: "These are just puppets I made."

With lightning speed, the leopard once again bit through Melison's neck on the roof, and Melison immediately fell to the ground like a kite with a broken string.

"It's no use, I'm behind you now." Meleson's voice came from behind him.

Garr swung his staff and smashed it into his head, instantly splitting it open to reveal the straw inside.

"Don't waste my dolls. I have hundreds more like these."

The new Meleson reappeared on the ruins, arms outstretched, as if savoring the smell of gunpowder, completely absorbed in it.

Garr's fingers dug into his palm.

This time, it was a complete defeat; he was completely manipulated by Melesson.

"So you knew everything?" Gal decided to take advantage of his arrogance to extract some information: "I entered the mansion, switched identities with him, and then sneaked in here, you knew all that?"

"Of course." Meleson shrugged. "I have spies all over Blacktwilight City, including the Earl's mansion. For example, that orc maid was given to Earl Zane as a pet by me."

"So...I see." Garr lowered his head.

"So, I've been waiting for you, waiting for you to decide to take the risk, waiting for you to decide to take the initiative, waiting for you..." Melison's smile deepened:

"Wait until you feel you can win."

Garr took a deep breath, gritting his teeth, his voice almost squeezed out from between them: "Why are you targeting me? Why are you fixated on the Church of Light? Why?"

"Because the Church of Light is hindering Lord Hades' plans." Meleson jumped down from the ruins, walked to Gar, and slowly spoke:

"The god of war is a sacrifice offered to Lord Hades."