Little Tyrant Doesn't Want to Meet with a Bad End

Chapter 665.2: Beneath the Abyss (2)

This was a massive, holy-white structure modeled after ancient divine temples to Sia, located at the heart of the city. A thousand years ago, people coming from all over the Ancient Austine Empire would embark on a pilgrimage to the Capital Cathedral to pray. It was a sacred place where faith and hope converged.

It was the first time in a thousand years that the Capital Cathedral had any guests, but unfortunately, Roel’s team were uninvited ones.

Within the cathedral’s tall walls, Roel spotted an old man who was emaciated like a skeleton.

The old man was dressed in opulent robes, and he held a magnificent scepter that showed no signs of age even after a thousand years. On his head was a holy crown reserved only for the highest clergymen.

Nora’s sapphire eyes widened at the sight of the holy crown. Roel and the others revealed grim expressions too. Those traits made it clear to them who the old man had been before he turned into a Fallen.

The old man was the Genesis Goddess Church’s pope in the Second Epoch.

Roel and the others heightened their vigilance upon this realization, and started to channel their mana.

The emaciated pope’s turbid eyes lit up with a crimson glow as if waking from a long slumber. He gazed down at the nave as he did a thousand years ago, expecting to face his followers. Yet, he was only met with the eyes of intruders.

His sunken face distorted, and he raised his scepter up high and slammed it on the ground.

Tok!

As this sound reverberated, a peculiar mana pulsation rippled through the imperial capital.

All of the Fallens fighting in the city fell silent. The monsters lurking in the shadows opened their eyes and looked toward the heart of the city, as if having received a divine oracle. After seconds of silence, powerful auras gushed from different parts of the city.

At the same time, the emaciated pope’s body began swelling up. It was only then that the crowd saw his true appearance. His top half looked normal, but his bottom half resembled roots anchored to the ground… except those ‘roots’ were really tendrils of blood and flesh.

Hoarse growls echoed from the surroundings, as thousands of Fallens swiftly homed in on the Capital Cathedral.

Knowing this was the decisive battle, Roel’s team finally let themselves loose.

With a graceful raise of her hand, Lilian summoned an order of blue heavy-armored knights, who charged at the enemies approaching the Capital Cathedral.

Nora unfurled her light wings and rose into the sky, taking her place as the Angel Sovereign.

Charlotte transmuted her Golden Soul into a gaseous state and diffused it into the surroundings. Once the Fallens breathed it in, she would ignite the Golden Soul and blast them into bits.

As for Alicia and Wilhelmina, they led the remaining squads to assault the emaciated pope. Over thirty high transcendents simultaneously unleashed their powers, bombarding the pope with all kinds of spells.

Unfortunately, under the effects of the holy crown, their attacks disintegrated in mid-air before they could even reach the pope.

In retaliation, the pope’s scepter began glowing with a mysterious light. All mana inside the Capital Cathedral flowed into his body, and his flesh tendrils rapidly grew and filled the sky.

Roel’s golden eyes quietly lit ablaze in the face of this formidable adversary, as the surrounding mana began flowing toward his body as well.

Before he could make a move, Alicia raised her hand and said, “Lord Brother, leave him to us.”

“Yes, Roel. You just need to advance ahead. Leave everything else to us,” Wilhelmina said.

A cold white light shrouded Alicia, while Wilhelmina laid her hand on her sword for the first time since the commencement of the battle.

Boom!

All of the flesh tendrils exposed under the moonlight simultaneously exploded, and a silver inferno engulfed the area around the pope. Not even the pope’s holy crown and scepter could completely suppress the flames.

At the same time, Wilhelmina drew her sword. For a brief instant, all swords inside the imperial capital lost their sounds. A line severed the world. The monstrous pope violently writhing against the silver inferno immediately stopped moving, then it exploded apart.

“Now!”

“Lord Brother, hurry up and go!”

Both Alicia and Wilhelmina exclaimed at the same time. Roel charged forward like a loosed arrow, leaping right across the pope’s yet-to-recover body.

“Grar!”

The pope screeched in anger amidst the silver inferno when it saw that Roel had breached its defense, but Alicia and Wilhelmina immediately swooped in to suppress it, rendering it unable to do anything at all.

Leaving the chaos behind him, Roel rushed into the depths of the Capital Cathedral.

…

The Ancient Austine Empire’s Capital Cathedral was a holy land to humankind.

It was constructed two thousand years ago, and it was subsequently refined and perfected by later generations of emperors. By the final years of the Ancient Austine Empire, it was one of the most extravagant buildings in the world.

This was how the Capital Cathedral had been described in records, so it was understandable that many historians were enamored by it despite not having witnessed it in person.

As the first human to visit the Capital Cathedral in a thousand years, Roel found this description completely insufficient in detailing just how majestic and mystical this place was.

All sounds suddenly vanished the moment he stepped into the inner area of the Capital Cathedral, as if he had been transported into another world. He was welcomed with splendid scenery he could have mistaken for heaven.

The fineries in the Capital Cathedral retained their magnificence even after a thousand years. Whether it was the tapestries or the hung paintings, it was as if they existed outside of time, as their colors remained as vibrant as ever.

It was only a pity that this place had been reduced to a demonic lair after being exposed to the Savior’s madness for a thousand years. Not even its breathtaking decor could distract one from the suffocating depravity lingering in the air. Those who tried to relish the epic paintings here would descend into lunacy.

For a second, Roel wobbled dazedly under the intense aura of madness, but his golden eyes quickly lit up and dispelled its adverse influence. He took a brief moment to sense the mana in the vicinity to confirm his target before flitting down the corridor.

He didn’t spare a single glance at the beautiful paintings along the way.

Soon, he arrived before a stone gate.

This was the only unadorned gate in the Capital Cathedral, looking like an ancient artifact from millennia ago. The gate was open, revealing a room so dark that its shadows felt corporeal.

Its ceiling was covered in glowing Sia murals, whereas the area beneath appeared to be an unfathomably deep hole. Two different energies could be sensed at the entrance of the hole.

One was tinged with a faint golden light, reminiscent of a barrier. The other was darkness mixed with an aura of depravity and madness. The two energies were intertwined.

The faint golden light resonated with the glowing Sia murals on the ceiling, and Roel felt exceptionally intimate to it. This was likely the seal Roel’s ancestor had placed on the Abyss, just that it was on the verge of collapse now that the Savior was about to awaken.

Roel stared at the entrance to the Abyss in contemplation.

Just as Carolyn had deduced, the seal that had previously hindered her from leaving the Abyss had eroded so much that it wasn’t an obstacle anymore. Members of the Kingmaker Clan and those who possessed the Savior’s powers could freely pass through the seal now.

Roel would be alone once he entered the Abyss. None of his companions would be able to lend him a helping hand. That was also the reason Alicia and the others hadn’t followed here.

It was as if he was staring into the face of hell, but he felt no fear or hesitation. He took a deep breath and jumped down.

This was not his first time descending into the Abyss, though he didn’t think a day would come when he would do it of his own volition. It wasn’t a pleasant journey, as his surroundings were suffused with a thick aura of depravity and madness.

His Crown Origin Attribute faintly glowed, as he emitted his mana in an attempt to find his goal. His relentless search eventually paid off, as he finally sensed a tinge of Paul’s mana.

His speed of descent gradually slowed.

Once he passed through another layer of black fog, a structure appeared before his eyes. It was a legendary underground altar many races had worked together to construct in the ancient era. This altar was constructed on a flat plot of land, and it remained pristine even after many years.

It was where the Kingmaker Clan had sealed the Savior, and Sia’s Scepter was in there.

Upon confirming his target, Roel quickly made his way toward the altar. He entered via the skylight instead of the main entrance and ran straight toward the heart of the altar.

There, just as he had expected, a person appeared in his sight. It was a middle-aged man with black hair and an impassive face. He wasn’t tall, but he had an imposing disposition that few in the world could rival. He was dressed in the Austine Empire’s imperial robe.

He was Lukas Ackermann, the traitor of humankind.

And he was standing before a glowing ancient scepter.