Knock knock!
“Anybody here?”
“Is there anybody?”
No answer.
Gu Qing Shan took a few steps back and carefully observed the monastery.
Due to the heavy rain, the entire monastery was enveloped in a misty shroud, making it impossible to see anything inside.
Laura observed the metal gates of the monastery and commented: “There are a lot of sealing techniques placed on these gates, we won’t be able to enter”
Gu Qing Shan also looked towards the heavy metal gates and said: “This sealing power is very potent, it’s most likely some sort of unique barrier. My inner sight can’t pierce through it at all, seems like we can only discern the situation inside by entering”
Laura mumbled: “How strange, they clearly told us to come here… but now…”
——the doors were completely locked.
Gu Qing Shan’s spirit sense could clearly discern the existence of some sort of unique power.
This power had far surpassed Gu Qing Shan’s range of comprehension, which allowed the monastery to maintain an inexplicable state.
——just like that monster.
Gu Qing Shan fell into thought.
Earlier when I fought against that monster, the knights didn’t show up, and the monastery didn’t react at all either.
Were they simply helpless in providing aid, or were they on the same side?
——guess I’ll find out now.
Gu Qing Shan thought briefly and pressed the knight captain’s badge against the metal gates.
The badge began emanating a gentle holy light that illuminated the entire gate.
At this point, numerous holy runes could finally be seen engraved on the gates.
Perhaps it had been far too long, but the engravings were clearly rusting away. Under the washing of the constant rain, the rust almost seemed to be visibly spreading, which gave off a sense of an indescribable eeriness.
Clak!
The metal gates suddenly gave off a loud noise, startling Laura.
“Gu Qing Shan, what happened?” she timidly asked.
“Don’t worry, some unique power must have been activated just now”
Gu Qing Shan maintained his guard while softly consoling her.
Under their intense gazes, the badge had completed sunken into the metal gates, seemingly becoming a part of it.
At the very next moment, Gu Qing Shan felt all of his hair standing on their ends.
He abruptly took a step back, shifting into a stance as he drew the Six Paths Great Mountain sword while shielding Laura behind him in one swift motion.
“What’s wron——–”
Before Laura finished her words, she shut herself up.
She tightly covered her mouth to make sure that she wouldn’t scream out loud.
A figure had suddenly appeared next to where they originally stood.
——the knight captain from before.
He silently stared at the metal gates without any expressions on his face.
Both Gu Qing Shan and Laura hadn’t noticed when he appeared.
“Weren’t you in the middle of patrolling, sir?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
The knight captain didn’t answer.
——boom!
A bolt of lightning erupted in the sky.
Cold rain buffeted the knight captain’s face and body, but he still didn’t move at all.
After a while, he finally turned his head towards Gu Qing Shan.
“In the monastery, you’d be provided some free food and drinks” the knight captain said.
Gu Qing Shan frowned a bit.
This was the same thing the other party told them the last time they met.
“Captain, why are you alone? Where are the other knights?” Gu Qing Shan asked again.
Hearing this, the knight captain finally displayed some sorrow on his face.
“Them? The monsters caught them to make the bridge, I couldn’t protect them” the knight captain muttered.
The knight captain then continued: “You were right, the monastery is actually a trap”
“Gu- Gu Qing Shan…”Laura fearfully muttered while hanging tightly onto Gu Qing Shan’s sleeves.
The other party knew what Gu Qing Shan had said.
This meant that he had been constantly accompanying us, but neither I nor Gu Qing Shan noticed him at all.
If he had wanted to take our lives…
No!
I had clearly been using [Infinite Worlds Shelter], not even that monster managed to discover us, so why——
Laura felt a chill run down her back.
Gu Qing Shan solemnly asked: “So you gave us the badge in order to keep track of us?”
The knight captain lightly nodded.
Gu Qing Shan then asked: “Then why did you want to lure us into a trap, sir knight?”
The knight captain didn’t say anything.
He placed his hand on the metal gates and muttered in a low voice: “By my tattered and crippled body, I summon the holy light”
The gates opened up on both sides revealing an open metal coffin sitting between them that was full of sharp knives.
Each of those knives was engraved with holy runes.
The knight captain looked at the metal coffin with an indifferent look on his face.
“The monastery was filled with powerful wicked entities, the same as this city”
He continued:
“The entire city had already been plunged into utter darkness, but there was still a tiny bit of hope within the monastery, so a wicked barrier had been erected around the monastery. No living being would be able to enter this place unless those who originally belonged to the monastery like us make the final sacrifice to grant them a single chance of entry”
The knight captain’s face muscles contorted a bit as if he wanted to make some sort of expression but still ended up maintaining absolute calm.
The knight captain simply looked at Gu Qing Shan and told him in a low voice:
“Although you didn’t manage to triumph against that monster, there was no longer anyone in the flow of history that could be trusted. What I’m saying is that, if you’re willing to enter the monastery and search for that final bit of hope——”
The knight captain then glanced at the knife-filled coffin.
Gu Qing Shan understood.
He sheathed his sword and sighed: “I will triumph against that monster”
The knight nodded with a blank expression.
“Very well”
“Remember my words, there is only a single place in the monastery where you’d be provided free food and drinks”
He repeated these words again before walking into the metal coffin.
Bam bam!
The curt scream of pain was overpowered by the abrupt slamming of the metal coffin.
A second later.
A small door opened on top of the heavy metal gates, from which fresh blood could be seen dripping down.
“Let’s go” Gu Qing Shan said.
He picked Laura up, then leapt into the air and through the door.
Bam!
The small door instantly closed back up right behind them.
All the noise had vanished.
Silence.
A breeze blew past.
The scenery inside the monastery was now revealed to Gu Qing Shan and Laura.
But neither of them was in the mood to take a look at it.
“Gu Qing Shan, that knight just now——”
“Yes, he used the power of a sacrifice in exchange for a chance of entry for us”
A complicated expression could be seen on Gu Qing Shan’s face as he continued: “He also had no way of fighting against that monster—- nothing in the monastery could achieve that, so he most likely died a long time ago—– perhaps he was some sort of heroic spirit, and that was why I continued to sense death accompanying us”
“We were his final hope”
Laura was stunned and sighed: “I have countless exceptionally powerful artifacts with me, but when I stood against that monster, I could sense that all of my artifacts were useless”
“That’s right”
Gu Qing Shan also sighed: “After taking a long time carefully thinking about it, all the powers we’ve ever known before was most likely useless against that monster—— perhaps useless against its compatriots or subordinates as well”
There was a large path paved with bricks in front of them with various holy statues on both sides.
A voice could be heard from afar:
「 Death seekers, two more of them! 」
A group of shadows could be seen at the very end of the road.
These shadows were flying towards the two of them.
Holding up her flower umbrella, Laura quickly asked: “Do we fight or flee?”
Gu Qing Shan drew his sword.
“You should take shelter first, I’m going to give it another try” he said.
“They’re weaker compared to the monster earlier, but the kind of power they’re carrying is the same” Laura reminded him.
“If it was that monster, I wouldn’t have tried to test this newly evolved ability, so now is just the perfect time to train it” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“Hm, do you best, Gu Qing Shan!” Laura opened her flower umbrella and stepped aside.
Wielding the Earth sword, Gu Qing Shan stepped forward.
“All of my other powers were ineffective…”
He moved forward step by step, then raised his hand and clenched tightly.
Lines of glowing text then appeared on the War God UI:
[The Twine of Cloud Atlas’ power had been granted to you by that esteemed lady]
[From now on, you will no longer require Prayers to activate the Sacrificial Dance, and each time you perform the Sacrificial Dance, it would only grow more powerful]
[—–to sate all desires for killing, that itself is saintly]
Poof poof!
Two skeletons wielding weapons emerged from a bloody mist behind Gu Qing Shan.
They approached Gu Qing Shan closely before swiftly entering the void of space behind him and vanished without a trace.
Gu Qing Shan’s figure flashed forward to intercept those shadows.
