Chapter 118: Holy Light Above

“Holy Light, grant me your strength!”

Yuwen raised his longsword, channeling his devout faith to unleash holy power.

The holy power clung to his weapon, bathing it in a golden glow.

The gilded blade plunged into the body of the abyss-corrupted magical beast.

“Oooh!!”

The beast let out a mournful cry, rearing back to counterattack.

But before it could move, Yuwen surged with explosive force. He gripped the sword with both hands, slicing through the creature’s flesh and shattering its magic core.

The vicious monster collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Stray wisps of abyssal aura clung to Yuwen’s armor, but his face remained resolute, unmoved.

“Knight Captain!!”

The knights battling nearby beasts erupted in cheers at the sight.

“Thank you!”

The civilians who’d been fleeing for their lives offered hasty thanks before bolting from the scene.

“Huff… huff…”

Yuwen’s breathing came ragged.

He scanned the surroundings, but not a trace of optimism crossed his features.

After emerging from the underground cavern beneath Kado City, he’d rallied with other Holy Knights and Holy Land clerics to repel the beasts invading the streets.

But then disaster struck.

Under the demonized’s command, the abyss-corrupted beasts launched a ferocious assault.

In the ensuing chaos, they’d lost track of Sophie.

Without her aid, holding the line against these horrors was grueling. Even with holy power bolstering them, the aura eroded their bodies bit by bit.

Before reinforcements from the Holy Land or Saint Luo Empire could arrive, every cleric here might succumb—twisted into demonized themselves.

No one could say when aid would come.

“Damn it…”

The usually steadfast Yuwen couldn’t hold back a muttered curse.

What good was felling one corrupted beast?

In normal times, a single such monster would spark a major incident anywhere.

But now? They swarmed the city in droves.

And then there was that eerie white abomination.

After demolishing Kado City’s square, the white monster had vanished—gone who knew where.

But one thing was certain: as long as it roamed free, lives would keep falling.

Even if every cleric and soldier in the city banded together, they couldn’t defeat it.

The situation bordered on hopeless.

“Knight Captain, what’s our next move?”

One of Yuwen’s subordinates approached, voice laced with urgency.

“Do we still have a shot at beating that white monster—saving our people in the city?”

“We…”

Yuwen hesitated.

His gaze swept over the other Holy Knights, meeting their expectant stares. He swallowed the grim truth and forced it down.

“The Holy Land knows about the crisis in Kado City by now—they’re rushing reinforcements!”

“Really?”

“Of course! As Holy Land members, we must trust in it without question!!”

Yuwen’s voice rang out strong and clear, a proclamation to all.

“Once reinforcements arrive, the demonized, the beasts, that white monster—every last one will fall! All we need to do is hold fast in our faith, fight the evil, and shield the innocent!”

“Yes!!”

The Holy Knights, fired up by his words, found new resolve.

Morale, which had dipped low, surged back to life.

“Holy Light above! God bless the Holy Land!” Yuwen declared.

“Holy Light above! God bless the Holy Land!”

The knights echoed in unison.

Good.

Yuwen thought to himself. If he could rally everyone like this, maybe—just maybe—there was still hope.

History was full of miracles born from moments like these.

Buoyed by his own speech, he regained a sliver of confidence. First, track down Sophie. Steer clear of the white monster. Thin the beast numbers. Buy everyone a fighting chance at survival.

“Such naive, laughable notions.”

A resentful voice cut through the air.

In the next breath, Yuwen’s eyes flew wide at an unbelievable sight.

The very subordinates who’d just chanted “Holy Light above” before him—sliced clean in half by a dark purple aura. They crumpled lifeless at his feet.

Wounds like that? Even the finest priests couldn’t mend them with sacred arts.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!”

Yuwen roared in fury.

Watching his men die before his eyes ignited a blaze in his gaze. His sword hand trembled with rage.

“Right behind you.”

The voice slithered from the shadows at his back.

“Holy Judgment!”

Yuwen didn’t hesitate. He whirled, swinging his weapon in a blazing arc of gold-fueled wrath.

Clang!

Sparks flew in a sharp metallic ring. A black-robed figure emblazoned with a crimson single-eye emblem parried with a bizarre curved blade.

Yuwen realized it instantly: one of those self-proclaimed Abyssal Eye demonized.

“Filthy heretic! Die!”

Yuwen unleashed the Holy Land’s inherited swordsmanship—Holy Blade—unleashing a tempest of strikes on the demonized.

But to the Knight Captain’s shock, every blow was effortlessly countered.

The foe read him like an open book, defending with flawless precision.

It was almost like—

“Hmph. Even after all these years, not an ounce of progress.”

The demonized sneered, his curved blade shearing through Yuwen’s sword and rending his armor.

Yuwen hit the ground hard. Abyssal aura seeped into his wounds.

The devout Knight Captain’s pupils quivered.

Not from fear.

From disbelief.

“Ah!”

Because he’d heard it—a voice achingly familiar.

Years ago, when Yuwen was just an ordinary Holy Knight, he’d followed his captain and comrades on a mission.

Disaster had struck en route: a monstrous ambush beyond their worst nightmares.

The beast’s power outmatched them all. The knights fell back in disarray.

In that desperate hour, Yuwen’s captain had stepped up, pouring his all into a superhuman burst that felled the horror.

Afterward, most of the squad made it back to the Holy Land for treatment.

Yuwen, spared infection by sheer luck, survived—and earned recognition for his valor, earning promotion.

He’d assumed the others, including his captain, would receive honors too.

But what came instead?

Not triumphant returns.

Death notices.

His comrades and captain hadn’t pulled through. The Holy Land’s higher-ups informed him: those brave souls had all perished.

From then on, Yuwen honored his captain’s teachings, carrying the torch as an unyielding cleric. He fought for faith, forever chasing that heroic shadow.

Now, as Knight Captain himself, he never dreamed the regret that haunted him would return like this.

“It’s been too long—”

Zak pulled back his hood, revealing a face half-ruined in a grotesque grin.

“Yuwen.”