When Duanmu Huai and his group hurried out of the cathedral, everything before them had completely changed. Just moments after they left, the entire structure was suddenly shrouded in a powerful, murky, deep crimson force. Its form was no longer the same—under the glow of the burning red flames that now flared from the twin towers, massive, contorted faces twisted in agony emerged, while above the church, countless black crows shrieked in ear-piercing tones as they circled the sky.
Not only that, but the lake that had once surrounded the cathedral was now frozen solid, filled with jagged ice. The once lush trees and grassy fields had withered into brittle, lifeless branches.
"How… how could this be…"
Lorena's face turned pale as she stared at the sight.
"Long story short—what's going on right now?"
Duanmu Huai gave the cathedral behind them a quick glance and lowered his voice.
"They… they opened the gate to Hell! They're trying to merge this place with the underworld and summon the King of the Frozen Abyss!"
"So did they succeed, or fail?"
"I don't know. But they didn't fail, that's for sure. I can feel the hellish aura spreading... We have to report this to the Archbishop immediately!"
"But we didn't see anything like that inside the underground cathedral, did we?"
Duanmu Huai was certain—if he'd seen anything remotely like that, he would've smashed it with his warhammer already.
"I don't know either… Maybe that underground cathedral was just a decoy. The core must be hidden somewhere else…"
"How annoying…"
Duanmu Huai scratched his head and turned to look at his system interface again. At this moment, his quest status had changed.
[Special Quest: 'Hunt the Killer' – Completed]
[You've uncovered the mastermind behind everything, but this is only the beginning. Defeat the villain's conspiracy and seal away their ambition and evil once and for all!]
[Special Quest: 'Extinction Day' – Activated]
[Objective: Find a way to close the portal and protect the safety of the Holy City.]
"Well, guess we've got no choice now!"
Seeing the system prompt, Duanmu Huai gripped his warhammer once again and turned back toward the cathedral.
"Sir Knight? What are you doing?"
"Going to shut that portal! It just opened, right? Better close it before anything worse shows up!"
What, were they really gonna wait around like in some CG cutscene, watching the boss walk out of the portal before starting the fight? If you could shut the damn door before the thing even crawled out, wouldn't that save everyone the trouble?
Duanmu Huai was now certain: the Holy City's destruction had been caused by Ivel opening a portal to Hell and summoning the so-called King of the Frozen Abyss. That must've been when he was fully prepared. But now, with Ivel dead, the ritual was clearly incomplete. Even if that demon nun activated it, there were bound to be flaws.
So if they didn't take the chance to find the portal and smash it now, what were they gonna do—stand outside like idiots waiting for a boss fight?
Bosses in soul fragment realms didn't even give [Experience Points]!
"Olgis, let's go!!"
Duanmu Huai called out and charged back into the cathedral, with Olgis right behind. Lorena bit her lip as she watched them go, then turned to Melodie.
"Miss Melodie, I'll leave notifying the Archbishop to you. I'm worried about Sir Knight—I'm going too!"
With that, Lorena followed after Duanmu Huai and Olgis, re-entering the cathedral.
By now, the cathedral had transformed into something entirely unrecognizable. The walls were covered with grotesque, blasphemous carvings and sculptures that seemed to mock the world itself. Corpses of the cult's followers littered the floor—at a glance, their limbs had shriveled and their skin clung tightly to their bones, as if all flesh and blood had been drained from their bodies.
"Sir Knight, how are we going to find it?"
Upon seeing this, Lorena gasped, then hurriedly asked. Duanmu Huai paused and gave it a thought.
"Got any suggestions?"
"Uh… umm…"
Lorena furrowed her brow, racking her brain.
"Sorry… I really don't know much about this sort of thing…"
"Then we'll just blow the place up!"
With Lorena out of ideas, Duanmu Huai made the call without hesitation. Lorena was stunned.
"Blow… blow it up?"
"Yeah. If we can't find it, we'll blow the whole thing sky-high. Let's see what tricks it has left."
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai pulled several grenades from the belt of his [Power Armor]. As a melee-focused Inquisitor, he didn't carry many explosives. These grenades were part of his starter kit. Technically, he could build [Void Barracks] to manufacture firearms and such—but honestly, he wasn't interested, so he'd never bothered.
Still, even a few grenades, if planted properly, were enough to bring the cathedral down. Why else had he been saving them all this time?
Too bad he couldn't call in the [Blackstar Night Raven]—if he could've done an orbital strike from above, it would've been a done deal.
After bundling the grenades, Duanmu Huai took aim at a central load-bearing pillar. Just as he was about to dig out a hole to plant the charges, a voice suddenly rang out.
"Can't let you do that, Iron Knight."
Everyone looked up at once. The demon nun floated above them, smiling as she held a staff embedded with crimson gems.
"This is where the great King of the Frozen Abyss shall descend. I won't have him arriving in a pile of rubble."
"That's not up to you!"
Before the words had even finished, Duanmu Huai raised his left hand. A burst of fire erupted—but the nun gracefully twisted her body, dodging the blazing projectile.
"Olgis!"
At the same time, Olgis leapt into the air, pouncing toward the demon nun. Her hands spread wide, casting out invisible silk threads that weaved together into a massive web from all directions, wrapping around the nun like a fish in a net. With a swift tug, the threads tightened—only to do absolutely nothing.
"My, how scary."
Still floating, the nun watched with a mocking smile, feigning terror. Duanmu Huai clicked his tongue. It was obvious—this nun wasn't human. Whatever race she was, physical attacks clearly couldn't hurt her.
Unfortunately, their whole team relied on physical attacks. Even Lorena, despite being a [Priest], was built for brute-force combat. That meant breaking her magical tricks was basically impossible.
But who said he needed to break her magic?
The more you don't want me to do something, the more I want to do it. I'm blowing up your crummy cathedral—what are you gonna do, bite me?!
Without wasting another second, Duanmu Huai lunged forward and slammed his warhammer into the support pillar.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Cracks formed instantly with each impact. Seeing this, the demon nun's expression finally changed. Her smirk vanished as she raised her staff with urgency.
"Stop that!!"
As she shouted, the dried-out corpses scattered across the floor suddenly twitched and rose. Their hollow eye sockets glowed crimson as they raised their arms and howled, lunging at Duanmu Huai.
"Hold them off, Olgis! Lorena!"
He didn't need to say it twice. Olgis's silk threads transformed into blades, slicing dozens of undead to ribbons. Meanwhile, Lorena raised her [Holy Tome] and smashed the charging corpses with righteous fury, splitting skulls wide open.
BOOM!!
Duanmu Huai's warhammer landed another crushing blow, shaking the very ceiling. He shoved the bundle of grenades into the crack he'd just made.
"You bastard! You can't do this!!!"
The nun, now enraged, raised her staff to strike—
CRASH!!
Suddenly, glass shattered. Javey, eyes bloodshot and feral, lunged at the nun.
"You killed Master! You killed my Master!!!"
"You worthless puppet—how dare you interfere!"
Caught off guard by Javey's sudden assault, the nun staggered backward. At that moment, Duanmu Huai grabbed Olgis and Lorena, pulled them to the ground, and threw himself on top of them.
A blinding light erupted.
—————BOOM!!
Thunder roared through the chamber as the explosion obliterated the load-bearing column. The massive shockwave rippled outward, shaking the cathedral's marble floor like waves on the ocean. Towering stained glass windows shattered, raining down shards of glass and stone amidst clouds of dust.
The cathedral began to collapse.
The tall towers crumbled like brittle cookies, crashing down onto the roof and smashing it open. The once-gorgeous structure now resembled a broken toy, smashed by some rowdy child. Intricate decorations and marble façades fell in succession, setting off a chain reaction of destruction that plunged the whole place into ruin.
No one knew how long had passed when, amidst the silence, a slab of ceiling several meters thick was suddenly pushed aside. Duanmu Huai stood up, with a dust-covered Olgis and Lorena beneath him.
"Ahh… now this feels better."
Duanmu Huai looked around, pleased at the ruins laid out before him. It was like the aftermath of a bombing run. Sadly, only the central portion had collapsed—both towers were still somewhat intact. Even so, he could feel it: the explosion had definitely weakened something. That deep crimson aura had visibly faded.
"You… you actually dared to do this…"
The nun's voice returned—but this time, it wasn't the sugary, cutesy voice from before. It was filled with fury and malice, like a snake's venomous hiss. Duanmu Huai looked up. The demon nun still floated above—but she now looked haggard and ragged. Clearly, she hadn't escaped the blast unscathed.
"What? Come bite me if you can."
Duanmu Huai flipped her off and raised his warhammer again. The nun's eyes widened with rage.
"Don't think this will stop the King of the Frozen Abyss! If that's how it is, then I'll complete the ritual with your blood!"
She raised her staff high—but before she could strike…
—————!
A streak of radiant starlight shot down from the sky, shattering the staff in her hands.
Everyone was stunned. They turned their eyes skyward and saw a tiny, winged angel hovering there, silently watching the battlefield.
"You winged freak—!!"
The nun's face twisted in fury. Her body began to change. Her once-curvy form turned gaunt and skeletal. Gigantic, black demon wings unfurled from her back. Bone spikes sprouted from her legs, and her hands transformed into massive, steel gauntlet-like fists.
"Whoa… final form already?"
Duanmu Huai couldn't help but comment. But the angel remained calm and composed.
"This world is not yours. Leave it, and never return."
As she spoke, she slowly raised her hands into a targeting stance. Several glowing orbs floated around her, forming a rotating ring aimed directly at the nun.
In the next instant, countless beams of light rained down from the heavens. The blinding barrage engulfed the demon nun entirely.
(End of Chapter)