The gruesome scenes were too cruel to bear, and the bloody images were appalling.
Linde stepped past the crowd and, like everyone else, offered a prayer for the indomitable priest.
Then, Lind helped him collect the body.
Although he had never met the priest, Lind knew that a soul that never yielded and refused to fall should at least have a complete body.
Lind gathered up the nearby remains, and soon, a nearly complete priest was pieced together.
Rest in peace... May the Holy Spirit guide your soul.
The little girl beside him gripped Father Reed's already cold hand tightly, her small body trembling slightly.
At this moment, an old woman beside him sighed and said:
"Poor child..."
Linde sensed the implication in the words and continued:
"This child is..."
"This child is Father Reed's daughter. Her mother died in the war when she was still an infant. Now, her father has also died at the hands of cultists..."
"..."
Linde remained silent for a moment. Having memories of Earth, he knew what it was like to be an orphan, and he felt a deep empathy for it.
But then he saw the girl turn around, her resolute eyes flashing with a burning hatred.
“My lord, I know where the priests might go! I overheard their location at their outpost when I was captured.”
"I'm willing to do anything!"
Looking at the girl's current appearance, Linde knelt down in front of her and asked:
"Child, do you want to avenge your father?"
The girl nodded firmly.
“That just so happens, I had the same idea.”
Linde had originally intended to have the church deal with the escaped priests, but after witnessing Father Reed's miserable state, he changed his mind.
This beast must not be let escape!
"Leonis, let's go find that priest."
…………
"Huff... huff"
"We've finally arrived."
The priest had by then arrived at one of his hidden strongholds in the mountains outside the city.
This hideout was filled with gold and silver he had embezzled while working in the church, as well as some cult supplies he used.
"Now we're finally safe for the time being. Let's pack up and get out of here."
He kept talking but his hands didn't stop; the priest was hurriedly packing his belongings.
After tidying up for a while, suddenly his ears twitched, as if he had heard something.
"Yes, who is it? Who's there!"
The priest shouted warily and grabbed the evil staff lying nearby.
Just then, the door to the stronghold was kicked open, and Lind rushed in with Leonis.
When the priest saw the person who had arrived, his face turned deathly pale, and his legs began to tremble uncontrollably.
"How...how did you find this place?!"
He cried out in terror.
Linde sneered:
"You monster! You've done so many beastly things here, do you really think you can escape?"
The little girl behind Linde peeked out and stared at the priest with eyes full of anger and hatred.
"It's you? I remember now, you're Reed's..."
"shut up!"
Linde interrupted the priest's reminiscence and said:
"Fine, I don't want to listen to your rambling anymore."
"We've been climbing mountains for ages to find you, and we haven't rested yet. Let's get this over with quickly."
Linde stopped Leonis from making a move, rubbed his wrist, and drew his sword after a long time. This time, he intended to take action himself.
"You protect her, I'll get to know him. Don't worry, it won't take long."
The priest was furious when he heard this.
"You, a noble young master, with only Silver-level strength, think you can kill me? I think you're asking for death!!"
As he spoke, he grabbed something from the side and threw it at Lind.
Using his silver-level physique and the effects of his activation aura, Lind swiftly dodged the priest's sneak attack and lunged forward, aiming for the priest's head.
"So fast?"
The priest was greatly alarmed and hurriedly turned his head to dodge the fierce attack.
But he was too late; Linde sliced off his ear with his sword, and blood flowed incessantly.
"hateful."
The priest clenched his arms, and his right hand instantly grew larger. Then, he mustered his strength and threw a punch at Lind.
Linde lowered his center of gravity and dodged the powerful blow with an extremely agile sliding step.
And that was immediately followed by an upward slash.
This strike was a direct success, severing the swollen arm.
Just as Lind was about to continue, the priest unexpectedly raised his right leg and delivered a straight kick with an enlargement effect, slamming it hard into Lind's chest armor.
Linde was kicked several meters away.
Because he was wary of Leonis behind Lind, the priest did not dare to continue the pursuit. Instead, he turned his eyes around, treating his injuries while thinking of a way to break the deadlock.
An eerie silence fell over both sides.
After stopping, Lind assessed his injuries.
It was a powerful blow; three ribs were broken, and internal organs suffered varying degrees of damage...
Fortunately, this injury won't kill me.
As the activation aura took effect, Linde's injuries healed rapidly, returning to full health in just a few seconds.
"It's just really itchy..."
"Sir, are you alright?"
Linde waved his hand and said:
"It's nothing, just a minor injury."
"Hahaha? You still dare to call it a minor injury? With that kick of mine, you probably broke quite a few ribs, and your internal organs probably suffered a considerable impact. And you still dare to shamelessly call it a minor injury?"
The priest was very confident in his power; with this one strike, an ordinary silver knight would have already coughed up blood, been seriously injured, and lost his fighting ability.
However… the priest thought to himself.
This kid's got some skills; an ordinary Silver Knight would have been unable to stand up long ago, but he's still jumping around...
There's something fishy going on, but not much; the advantage is on my side.
As Linde watched the priest slowly reattach his severed arm, his plan to defeat the Gold-level leader with physical strength alone had failed.
"Okay, I'm not messing around with you anymore, let's finish this quickly."
As he spoke, Lind unleashed a mental shock and activation aura, launching a direct sneak attack on the priest's two weaknesses.
The priest immediately clutched his chest, his brain feeling as if it had been hit by a heavy hammer, making him unable to stand steadily.
"W-what happened?"
"Your conscience hurts, you know that?"
With just one sword strike, the priest's head flew into the sky.
With another flourish of his sword, he pierced the still-beating core of the priest.
After deactivating the activation aura, Lind tossed the still-pulsating core and the ritual dagger he had obtained earlier to the girl.
"Do it, and complete your revenge."
The girl picked up the dagger from the ground, her eyes burning with hatred.
Without hesitation, she walked to the priest's still-beating core, took a deep breath, and plunged the dagger into the still-beating core.
The injured core was still throbbing, and the little girl mustered all her strength to stab the dagger in another three-tenths of an inch.
"This is the retribution you deserve!"
The girl gritted her teeth and said.
With the core shattered, the priest's evil power also vanished completely.
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