Our Family Has Fallen

But everyone here was ruthless, and her action had particularly enraged someone who had long viewed the corpses as private property.

This wasn’t about sucking the flesh and blood of a Pigman Mob; she was sucking his Spiritual Essence!

”Die!” Lance roared and swung his blade at her.

But the Heretic Saintess was not at all intimidated, raising her freshly regrown fleshy tentacles and flinging them towards him.

Both being made of bone, the Wolf Fang collided with the Bone Blade and, surprisingly, failed to cut through.

Clearly, this Bone Blade, created through some special method, possessed Supernatural Power.

But Lance had achieved his goal. Sacrifice!

The nearly drained Pigman Mob corpse passed the judgment, and the power of the Void began to devour it. The initially excited Heretic Saintess suddenly sensed something, and horror filled her face.

”No! This can’t be!”

She involuntarily cried out, wanting to distance herself, only then realizing that her hand and the corpse were fused through flesh and blood.

She wasn’t given much time to separate the flesh before the power of the Void engulfed her, spreading to her hand.

But she was ruthless too. In that critical moment, she reacted by severing her right arm with the Bone Blade that had just grown on her left.

The freshly severed right arm, as if still alive, twitched wildly, but the Saintess didn’t even glance at it as she rolled away to create distance.

And in that final second, the Void completely devoured both the Pigman Mob and the severed right arm.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and she had managed to escape.

Lance felt a twinge of regret. Out of curiosity about whether the Sacrifice could also devour her, he hadn’t delivered a follow-up strike.

However, it was mostly due to the Saintess’s own strength and ruthless decisiveness that she had survived.

The Saintess rose from her roll, blood still dripping from the stump of her severed arm.

She no longer bore her earlier arrogance. Instead, a twisted mix of rage and terror now composed her distorted emotions.

Lance, on the other hand, laughed. Seeing her freshly grown left arm while her right arm had been self-amputated—her bedraggled state was rather amusing.

”It seems your god hasn’t granted you Sanctuary~” Lance teased casually.

His words, however, made the Saintess tremble instantly, the fury in her eyes overshadowed by fear.

Heretics usually aren’t afraid of death, so why was her reaction like this?

The reason was simple: Lance had exposed the true nature of her fear.

She was a Saintess, blessed with divine grace, with God watching over her at all times. But in that instant, she had felt God’s attention shift away from her. A Saintess abandoned by God—was she still a Saintess?

It was only for a moment, but it was enough to shake her faith.

Because she had lost her meaning, her purpose.

”No!” The Saintess refused to dwell on it. It was definitely her fault for disappointing God—all her mistake.

Now, the only thing she could do was kill this blasphemer to seek God’s forgiveness!

If Lance knew he was considered a blasphemer by these Heretics, he would probably laugh out loud. The idea was too absurd.

But the Heretic Saintess was not joking. Her only thought now was to kill Lance and pray for God’s forgiveness.

”Aminos...” Incomprehensible incantations burst from her lips as a bizarre power began to spread.

What little remained of her right arm withered away on its own. Using her flesh and blood as the price, she cast a sacrilegious Evil Curse.

This spellcasting method must be unique to the Ascension Sect. It was incredibly fast, completed before anyone could even interrupt.

Fate Revealed!

As she raised her tentacle-entwined left arm towards Lance, a dark ray, so dense it was almost tangible, shot out instantly. It hit Lance, erupting with negative energy so chilling that even those not in the attack range felt a shiver down their spine.

Boudica and the others, in the midst of battle with the Heretics, were also drawn to this suddenly unleashed power. An immense pressure instantly assailed their souls, as if revealing a terrifying fate where they glimpsed their own deaths.

Boudica’s movements faltered, a look of terror appearing on her face. She wasn’t so much feeling the raging evil energy in the air as she was the amplified negative effects from the two pieces of Extraordinary Equipment she wielded.

But she was somewhat prepared. Alhazred and Amanda, spellcasters with extraordinary inspiration, were even more affected by the turbulent evil energy in the air. They felt their Spiritual Essence churn restlessly within them, and the pressure they experienced was even greater.

Compared to Amanda, Alhazred’s reaction was more dramatic. His contorted features showed him struggling against something, fighting for control of his own body.

They weren’t even the Heretic Saintess’s targets; just a fraction of the dispersed power had such an overwhelming effect. So, for Lance, the direct recipient of the curse...

He was completely unscathed.

Lance just stood there, his expression calm, showing no sign of being affected. Instead, he taunted, ”That’s it?”

The supposedly serious battle suddenly stalled. The Saintess was dumbfounded.

This... This isn’t right...

Seeing her reaction, the corners of Lance’s mouth curved up uncontrollably. He even casually raised his hand to brush off non-existent dust from his body.

Extraordinary Sanctuary, kid! Using such soul Sorcery on him was a joke.

Lance could even spare the effort to Bless Amanda and the others, refreshing their status and calming their agitated Spiritual Essence, pulling them out of their negative state.

Not only the Saintess was stunned by this scene; Amanda and the others were as well.

They already knew their Lord was strong, but his strength still surpassed their expectations.

Having such a person on their side, however, brought an unparalleled sense of security.

Conversely, it was hard to imagine the utter despair one would feel being his enemy.

Lance could sense this woman was no ordinary Heretic Priest. Unwilling to delay any further, he immediately advanced, blade raised to kill.

The Saintess reacted too. Her first instinct now was not to fight, but to escape.

The minds of Heretics are usually unstable, but she, being of a higher grade, retained fairly complete self-awareness.

The first time, ambushed in the wilderness, Wang Cai had bitten off her finger, and she had fled. The second time, attacking the outpost, Geralt had severed one of her arms, and she had fled again. Now, forced to sever her own arm, and with her Curse Magic rendered useless, she was already habitually preparing to flee.

But Lance had no intention of letting her go, nor did Alhazred.

Suddenly, the Saintess found a cluster of shadows appearing beneath her feet, from which countless shadowy tendrils reached out to grasp her.

Hand of the Abyss!

Not far away, Alhazred held up the Skull Candleholder, his expression now regaining its usual calm.

She had already suffered from this spell earlier and wasn’t about to fall for it a second time.

It was unclear what she did, but with a wave of her tentacled arm, the shadows were instantly dispelled. Fortunately, Alhazred, being a crafty veteran, was prepared and suffered no backlash.

Nevertheless, this brief delay was enough for Lance’s blade to swing.

The Saintess, realizing she couldn’t escape, thrust back with her tentacles, revealing the Bone Blades hidden within.

Such minor feints wouldn’t even deceive Boudica. Lance casually slashed out, parrying the blow. The sharp edge of his blade cut into the tentacle’s flesh; if not for the bone within, it might have been completely severed.

”Ah!”

The force of the blade sent her staggering uncontrollably, utterly crushing her attempt to escape.

Lance had no habit of pausing for taunts mid-fight. His attacks were relentless. He swung his blade again, carving a wound across her chest. Had she not reacted quickly, her chest would have been split open.

The Saintess’s healing abilities far surpassed those of ordinary Heretics. The superficial wound closed almost before blood could even seep out, and the tattered remnants of her clothing fell away in the process.

Lance showed no inclination to pity her beauty; his longsword never paused, each strike lethal.

It couldn’t be helped. Firstly, he wasn’t the type of man to be ruled by his baser instincts. More importantly, in his eyes, these Heretics weren’t human.

No matter how pretty or alluring they appeared, it was pointless.

Or perhaps Alhazred was right. They were all monsters in human skin.

So... ”Kill!”