“It’s Mr. Etha. How can it be Mr. Etha?”
It seemed to be rather difficult for Carice to believe that the figure which had appeared outside the small house was, astonishingly, old man Etha who had disappeared for more than ten days and that the evil heretic those Guardian Swordsmen spoke of was old man Etha.
Merlin fixed his eyes stubbornly on old man Etha. Although he knew that old man Etha was very mysterious and seemed to have kept some secrets that no one knew about, he had not realized that old man Etha was such a powerful and strong master.
Those few Elemental Swordsmen had died at old man Etha’s hands. Moreover, that pitiful Second-level Light Swordsman had also been defeated by old man Etha.
However, what Merlin was paying even more attention to was the question of what sort of power did old man Etha, who looked extremely ordinary, used to defeat so many masters?
“Shut up, heretic! Your soul has already been completely depraved. If you don’t believe in God, then you must receive God’s punishment!”
The voice of the white-robed man was very sharp. He waved his hand violently, signaling Swordsman Bogg to go forward.
Swordsman Bogg took a deep breath. He raised his greatsword with both hands and right at that instant, the greatsword emitted an incomparable dazzling light.
“Light Sword!”
Swordsman Bogg brought the blade down. The strong force in the air spread out into the surroundings. Even Merlin could feel the great power as though he was going to be squeezed open.
“Such power and might from a Second-level Swordsman!”
Merlin could not help but feel a chill in his heart. By relying on the mysterious posture of the relief sculpture, the strength of his body had been improved to a state where it could barely rival that of a First-level Elemental Swordsman.
However, if he was to face a Second-level Swordsman, Merlin knew without a doubt that he would not have any chance of winning.
Nevertheless, although he faced an attack as ferocious as Bogg’s, old man Etha behaved as though he had not seen it. He even shook his head gently and said, “Still sending a Normie to die. You Church of Light are hypocritical to the extreme!”
All they could see was old man Etha waving his finger around. A cluster of fireballs with the size of a fist each appeared in the direction of his finger. This cluster of fireballs floated in midair and was even spinning around furiously.
“Go!”
The moment old man Etha’s voice fell, this cluster of fireballs charged toward Swordsman Bogg and collided brutally against that strong and bright light of his.
Swordsman Bogg was a Light Swordsman, so he could channel and erupt the powerful force of the Light Elements.
Nevertheless, when Swordsman Bogg’s greatsword encountered with the fireballs, the solid greatsword was immediately melted by the scorching heat. The fiery flames even continued burning directly toward Swordsman Bogg’s body. Swordsman Bogg made a quick decision and threw the greatsword in his hand away promptly. The light on his body flashed once more as his body speedily retreated backward.
The greatsword that had been thrown by Swordsman Bogg onto the ground turned into a clump of metallic liquid in the blink of an eye. It was enough to show how terrible the temperature of the cluster of fireballs earlier had been. The three Guardian Swordsmen who had died previously had probably been burnt to death by them.
Old man Etha’s eyes narrowed slightly and shifted his gaze at the white-robed man. In a hoarse voice, he laughed coldly and said, “Hehe, First-level Spell Caster, could it be that you still want these Normies to die in vain?”
Being stared at by old man Etha, the white-robed man’s face turned ashen and green. He said, “Evil heretic, you’re courting death!”
The voice of the white-robed man was shrill beyond compare, causing a stinging pain in the ears. It was evident that he could not be more furious. He sat on his horse as always, with both hands propped up before his chest as he began chanting in a low and deep voice, “The Lord of mercy, the omnipotent Lord, your faithful believer needs to borrow your strength and eliminate that evil heretic! Holy Light Adjudication!”
For a moment, the sun in the sky dimmed. Beams of gigantic white light condensed above the small wooden house, bringing humongous airwaves and slashing down directly, whistling toward old man Etha’s head.
Old man Etha had originally been wearing a black bowler hat but following the spell cast by the white-robed man, the great airwaves that had surged up immediately blew old man Etha’s hat away, revealing a head of sparse hair.
Old man Etha’s expression slowly became grave and serious. He pointed his skinny hands into the airspace in front of his body. Clusters of fireballs appeared promptly, spinning non-stop.
This time, there were four or five fireballs floating in the empty space. Old man Etha’s face had also turned pale. It seemed that four to five fireballs were already his limit.
“A First-level spell, Holy Light Adjudication?”
There were faint traces of craziness in old man Etha’s serious expression. Pointing with both hands, the four to five fireballs charged toward the Holy Light in front at a great speed.
“Fizz… Fizz..”.
It was as though those four to five fireballs had fallen into the water and they were drowned by the vast Holy Light. All they did was emit some strange noises before they moved no more.
Seeing that his Fireball seemed to be useless, old man Etha hurriedly took a few steps back. However, his feet staggered slightly, causing him to almost fall to the ground. Apparently, he had already retreated until the front steps of the small wooden house. Behind him was the building – there was nowhere else he could retreat to.
“Whirlwind!”
Old man Etha gritted his teeth slightly and waved his hand where a whirlwind appeared in the garden in front of the small wooden house, whistling away and uprooting the plants and trees that had originally been all over the place. Earth was being mixed into the whirlwind endlessly, showing off its tremendous destructive powers.
The gigantic whirlwind whistled as it rushed toward the Holy Light which was closing in quickly. Suddenly, both powerful forces collided and, in that instant, sand and pebbles flew everywhere as the earth shook. The small wooden house seemed to be somewhat unable to withstand such a violent shock and it looked as though it was about to break apart and collapse.
Finally, the Holy Light drowned the whirlwind that old man Etha had cast. The vast light was like a giant web, enveloping old man Etha ferociously.
Old man Etha seemed calm. A hint of a smile slowly appeared at the corners of his lips.
“Boom!”
A cluster of flames appeared above old man Etha’s body and swallowed him entirely. In the blink of an eye, old man Etha had been burnt into ashes by the flames. The Holy Light struck the ground brutally, blasting the steps in front of the small wooden house into powder where tiny gravel flew in all directions.
Old man Etha was dead. His body had been instantly turned into cinder by the fire.
The corners of the white-robed man’s lips contorted. His expression looked very dark as he stared at the spot where old man Etha had been standing. A long while passed before he gave his instructions to Swordsman Bogg. “The evil heretic has died. Swordsman Bogg, bring your men into the house where the heretic had lived and search it at once. Don’t let go of anything inside the house, take them all away.”
Swordsman Bogg nodded. He immediately led the remaining Guardian Swordsmen and dashed into the wooden house.
Having witnessed such a dream-like battle from the sidelines for a long while, everyone’s faces had become rather agitated. Perhaps everything that had happened today would become memories they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
“Sir pastor, please pray and bless us. Help us cleanse the filth of the evil heretic!”
The Normies around them bowed slightly toward the white-robed man, expressing their respect for this honorable pastor. They did not know the true identity of the white-robed man. Amongst the people they could see in the church, only the pastor who specialized in leading the people into prayer seemed to fit the identity of the white-robed man.
The thoughts of these people were very simple. Unbeknownst to them, an evil heretic had slipped into their midst. Perhaps their bodies had also been stained with the filth of the evil heretic. This was why they were begging the honorable pastor who had eliminated the evil heretic to cleanse them.
A smile broke out on the face of the white-robed man. The pastor was the most basic clergy member in the church as well as one of the lowest positions. He, on the other hand, was a Wizard in the Inquisition. When it came to the position, his was naturally higher than that of a pastor.
However, at the moment, he was glad to be a pastor. Thus, he said in a high voice, “Don’t worry, the evil heretic had used evil magic to hypnotize all of you but if you would only believe in God sincerely, God will not abandon you.”
Then, the white-robed man spread out his arms and chanted loudly. Vaguely, a hint of faint white light enveloped everyone and put their hearts at peace.
Many stayed where they were, praying to the God of Light in low voices. Only Merlin and Carice were somewhat at a loss. Carice’s face was turning slightly pale, and her lips had become purplish blue. It was evident that there was utter horror in her heart.
Anyone, as long as they had been living in the Kingdom of Light and had stayed under the influence of the Church of Light for a long time would be horrified at the evil heretics. Carice was not an exception. She was unable to imagine that old man Etha, who had not seemed any different from any ordinary old man who had extensive knowledge, was a terrifying and evil heretic.
Merlin’s face looked bad as well but he was much calmer than Carice. Merlin did not feel horrified by old man Etha’s identity as an evil heretic. Rather, he felt that this matter might get him into trouble.
“Miss Carice, let’s go.”
Merlin stretched out his hand to hold Carice’s. Her palm was sweaty, showing how nervous and scared she was.
Luckily, many people were still praying. No one really noticed Merlin and Carice so they went into their carriages and left without a sound.
…
Back at Wilson Castle, Merlin hurriedly entered his room.
“Hoo…”
It was only after he had returned to his room that Merlin let out a long sigh of relief, feeling much more at ease. Thinking back to everything he had just seen, he still felt it had been rather unimaginable.
The battle between old man Etha and the white-robed man seemed to have opened up an entirely great, new door for him. Previously, he had thought that Elemental Swordsmen were strong and powerful beings in this world. The energy that a First-level Elemental Swordsman could break out into with all his might was downright terrifying.
However, the energy of old man Etha and the white-robed man from the church was completely beyond Merlin’s imagination. The usually superior and aloof Elemental Swordsmen did not have the slightest bit of resistance before old man Etha as they were extremely weak.
Old man Etha and the white-robed man were the ones who possessed the truly great and powerful energy!
“Right, old man Etha has given me a ring before.”
It was then that Merlin remembered the ring that old man Etha had given him. He had originally thought that it was a normal handicraft but after having discovered how abnormal old man Etha was, naturally, Merlin no longer considered the ring to be an ordinary handicraft.
Thus, Merlin began to search the room in haste.
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