Chapter 788 The Starfire Church is too insidious.
One day after the Battle of Hypa ended.
Inside Bishop Megan's secluded little room at the Church of Holy Light.
"Damn it, what kind of resounding victory is this?!"
Megan's angry voice was accompanied by something being slammed heavily to the ground.
Fortunately, no one was around, and her somewhat erratic behavior went unnoticed.
"What do you mean that even though most of the soldiers were seriously injured and unable to recover, successfully driving away the rebels is considered a great victory? Who wrote this report? No matter how exaggerated it is, you can't write it like this!"
After venting her anger, she had calmed down and let out a long sigh. She then tossed the report, which she had intended to throw on the floor, onto the table beside her.
The battle is over; it is a victory for the Church of Holy Light.
The Dark Moon Church deserves credit for this achievement, as they were the ones who brought the "magical canopy" that reversed the course of the entire battlefield.
Whether it's the fully-powered hero Caius or the magical canopy covering the battlefield, either one of them alone would be enough to give the rebels a hard time, let alone when these two powerful weapons are combined. The victory of the Holy Light Church is almost a foregone conclusion.
This was something she knew before the army set out; she knew her army would surely win.
Megan has specifically studied the Sien Dungeon, or rather, there is a dedicated department within the Church of Holy Light that studies various dungeons, and Sien is their current primary target.
They discovered that the Sien Dungeon possessed "Campfire" and "Blessing" that could rapidly boost the strength of those who entered, quickly raising the stats of an ordinary person to the level of a seasoned warrior. Skills and other abilities could be supplemented through combat magic, which explained why it had a large number of loyal customers.
The Church of Holy Light collected a vast amount of data on those who improved their strength in the Sien Dungeon, obtaining thousands, even tens of thousands of data points. After analysis, they reached the following conclusion:
Although the Sien Dungeon can enhance the strength of those who enter, it seems rare for their strength to increase dramatically; people progress little by little—except for a few individuals who are wealthy enough to buy large quantities of soul blocks.
It's as if the Sien Dungeon was planned and intentionally controlled.
The Church of Holy Light separated this data into different strength levels and found that each level had a reference average speed of becoming stronger in Sain, and the stronger a person was, the slower they became stronger.
Megan used this data and time calculations to decide to have Anlessie and the others launch the attack yesterday.
That time coincided with the development of the improved version of Unity, and the fact that the rebels' strength had not increased far beyond what it used to be.
As she predicted, victory was within her grasp.
"But what exactly happened to cause such horrific battle losses?"
The report mentioned that various unexpected forms of resistance emerged from the rebels, making the entire battle more difficult than expected.
The biggest variable was that Herve, who used to be quickly defeated in front of the fully armed hero, had grown to the point where he could briefly exchange blows with him. In the end, he even detonated the strangling dragon tooth that covered most of Hypa Town, blasting a large number of Holy Light soldiers into near-death injuries. The explosion even threatened the unconscious Anlessie, forcing Caius to abandon the battle and turn back to defend.
Under the cover of this massive explosion, the rebels successfully withdrew, and some even managed to transport a significant amount of supplies from the warehouse. The entire retreat was smooth and efficient, without much trouble.
It feels like they rehearsed their retreat beforehand.
Megan's expression twitched at the thought, but considering the presence of the Church of Sparks, it wasn't impossible for them to rehearse their retreat ahead of time.
The main reason was that Hervi was ruthless enough to detonate countless strangling dragon teeth and pre-planted explosives, even controlling the power of the explosions to leave people severely injured but not dead in order to deplete the medical resources of the Holy Light Church.
So much so that now, after seeing the army's casualties, Megan felt no joy at the victory report.
"Forget it, let's focus our attention on the distant Sien Dungeon."
Megan can't get to the Sien Dungeon right now, and she doesn't want to get close to it at all, so she's relying on a telepathic device to send orders to Anlessie and the others.
However, Anlessie is still unconscious, so Caius should answer the phone.
She picked up a magical artifact that resembled a conch shell, held it to her ear, infused it with magic, and waited a while. When she heard a faint breathing sound on the other end but no one spoke, she realized that Caius had answered the call.
Without any unnecessary pleasantries, she went straight to the point:
"I'm here to end the Sien Dungeon!"
At this very moment, in Hypa Town.
The town of Hypa, which had been thriving under the construction efforts of the rebels, has become desolate again after this battle. No, it can't even be called desolate; it's completely dilapidated.
It's hard to imagine that after such a large-scale battle, Hypa Town could still maintain its complete appearance, with some buildings still standing. Apart from the severely damaged city walls, it's still quite presentable.
However, in the eyes of the magician, the city was far from being as "healthy" as it appeared. Its interior was completely destroyed, leaving only an empty shell that could collapse if touched too hard.
Herve's self-destruction erased all traces of the rebels' presence here, rendering even tracking magic ineffective—although everyone knew the rebels would inevitably flee to their base.
Therefore, the Church of Holy Light had already deployed troops to intercept the rebels along their anticipated escape routes.
Unfortunately, the team responsible for the interception has yet to send back any news, which is probably not a good sign.
The Holy Light forces in Hypa Town are too preoccupied with dealing with the interception forces to spare any attention; they're too busy tackling their own problems to care about anything else.
As expected of a weapon that is a degenerate version of a divine artifact, Hervé, who wields it, can hold his own against a hero, and even after detonating a portion of the strangling dragon's teeth, he can still leave a mess for the enemy.
The explosion from the Dragon Fang not only injured the Holy Light soldiers' bodies but also their minds. Or rather, Herve had orchestrated this attack from the very beginning to damage the enemy's spirit, thus deliberately reducing the physical damage of the explosion and increasing its destructive power on their minds.
The soldier who was most severely injured by the bomb is now lying in bed, drooling and muttering "Aba aba," and will not recover to normal for some time.
This move has given the Church of Holy Light a real headache.
Because of this, they would be unable to use the power of the Sien Dungeon to heal more wounded soldiers.
I don't know when or who invented it, but some people, after being seriously injured, will run to the campfire in the Sien dungeon and commit suicide. After being resurrected, they are healthy and strong again. The only price they have to pay is a little headache.
Compared to the medical expenses required to treat serious injuries, headaches are simply insignificant!
The Church of Holy Light had the same idea, so its soldiers fought very bravely, relentlessly attacking as long as they weren't killed.
However, Hervé's bombing directly broke the spirits of many wounded soldiers.
If these seriously wounded soldiers dare to commit suicide in the Sien Dungeon, they will be rendered even more mentally impaired by the mental energy extracted upon resurrection, and may even suffer irreversible damage.
The Sien Dungeon will kick out those whose mental strength has reached the danger line, but it will not turn away those who are at the danger line but insist on entering. The adventurers will have to bear the consequences themselves.
For now, at least until they recover mentally, these seriously injured people can forget about entering the Sien Dungeon and will have to stay in Hypa Town, wasting medical resources.
In response, the healers of the Church of Holy Light simply want to say:
"The Church of Spark is such a bastard!"
Through the window, Caius watched the civil engineering mages demolishing one dilapidated building after another, let out a breath, and put down the telepathic magic tool in his hand.
"What's wrong, bro?"
For a moment, he thought he heard his younger sister calling him, but when he quickly looked down, he saw her lying peacefully on the bed, fast asleep.
He was lying on his back in a perfectly normal position, with his hands folded over his chest. The only thing missing from this position was a white sheet covering his face.
“.”
Caius, his face dark, shoved her hand to his side, and now it finally looked like a living person.
I wonder which genius came up with this pose for him.
Anlessie was also affected by the huge explosion caused by Hevy during the battle. Not only that, but she also seemed to have taken a hit from Charizard's Flamethrower and Gastly's Odd Light, which made her confused.
As a result, her mental state is also severely damaged, but thanks to her warrior's constitution, her recovery speed is relatively good.
But he still hasn't woken up. The doctor said he'll need another two or three days.
Caius stared at Anlessie for a while, pursed his lips, and finally turned his attention back to his work.
He looked at the conch-shaped communication device in his hand and recalled the instructions that Bishop Megan had just given him.
The other side wanted them to send people into the Sien dungeon as soon as they finished resting and kill as many monsters as possible.
However, the reason was not explained.
Caius could hear the urgency in Megan's tone, and after thinking for a while about why she was in such a hurry, he understood.
The bishop is doing this to improve the soldiers' strength more quickly!
That's right, sending more people into the Sien dungeon is to find usable treasures, and killing as many monsters as possible is to collect souls to level up!
Although it's not obvious on the surface, it's surprising that Megan is quite concerned about the development of the church.
It sounds like Megan wants the soldiers to rest for a day or two before heading into the Sien dungeon, but these are my soldiers, and I make the decisions.
A day or two of rest? Are you treating people like animals? How can a day or two of rest be enough after such intense fighting?
It will take at least three or four days!
The time lost in between must be made up by oneself.
He stood up, and although he tried his best to hide it, he still exuded a powerful sense of oppression.
Because Anlessie is in a coma, his current strength is still at its peak. This is the first time he has been in this state for such a long time, and he will probably not be used to it after he turns back.
Compared to other soldiers, I have taken the least damage, and my hero's constitution allows me to recover quickly. No one is more suitable to explore the Sien Dungeon now than me!
As expected, he was better at individual combat than commanding an army.
Caius left the ward and patrolled around the town of Hypa.
The Holy Light Church's troops are well-trained and have a well-established procedure for dealing with captured enemy cities. They are currently clearing out Hypa Town in an orderly manner.
In addition, since Hypa Town itself is not very large, the surface clearing work can be completed quickly, and it only takes one night to transform the area into the shape of the Church of Holy Light.
Even the prototype of the Church of Holy Light has already been built in the center of the town, and its aesthetics are quite impressive.
The only area requiring caution is underground. The rebels have dug many underground spaces, and the intricate network of tunnels has temporarily slowed down the Church of Holy Light's cleanup efforts.
It's a real shame we couldn't find any intelligence on the rebels, Caius thought to himself.
Hervey's massive explosion wiped out all the remaining rebel forces, and the wounded were taken away. All Caius and his men could see were dead bodies.
This is truly unbelievable, but the rebels managed to do it anyway.
Just then, a soldier hurriedly crawled out from underground, carrying a stack of messy papers. His face lit up with joy when he saw Caius, and he quickly ran over and said:
"Lord Caius! I've found it! I've found useful intelligence!"
"What?" The news came so suddenly that Caius couldn't help but exclaim.
"There's still quite a few left. Please wait a moment, we'll sort them out and deliver them to you as soon as possible!"
The soldiers, eager to claim credit, ran off again, while Caius picked up the papers and began to read them.
Before he had even looked at many pictures, his usually furrowed brows showed signs of relaxing.
Although much of what's written on these papers is nonsense, there's some real stuff in them!
"Exploring the Path of Diseased Villages"
A very detailed and exquisite map was in his hands!
I never imagined that the rebels had developed the Sien Dungeon to such an extent, and that their map-drawing skills were so high.
Having this item has truly saved the Church of Holy Light a lot of effort!
What a coincidence! It's like a pillow being delivered when you're sleepy!
Caius's gloom vanished, and he flipped through the other papers, some of which contained information he already knew, while others were completely unfamiliar.
These materials corroborated each other with his memories, instantly increasing the credibility of the information; it was indeed true!
Even the most meticulous plans can have flaws, Hervey.
Holding this intelligence, Caius straightened his back a little more.
Next up is the Church of Holy Light's turn!
(End of this chapter)
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