Though the cleric probably didn’t need their protection, the soldiers all understood that in the current situation, only the cleric could sense the enemies’ true positions.
Feeling the ominous pressure closing in from all sides, the muscular bald cleric showed no fear. With his other hand, he opened the holy scripture recording the All-Father’s teachings: “All-Father above, may You guide the path of Your lost lambs.”
As the cleric prayed, Holy Light radiated from his body. Under the Holy Light’s illumination, many previously empty spaces suddenly warped and twisted to reveal goblin figures.
They were surrounded!
Hearing three screams from behind him, the old soldier’s face darkened.
The goblins surrounding them were vastly different from any they had encountered before.
Though their bodies were still small, they wielded sharp daggers and short blades, their entire forms wrapped in cloaks, radiating a dangerous aura.
They looked like assassins.
But could monsters like goblins even have professions like assassin?
Assassin wasn’t a profession you could just pick up by swinging a stick around.
The skills of stealth, tracking, and assassination were extremely complex.
Even commoners who hadn’t received basic education had no conditions to become assassins.
Yet now these small, dim-witted goblins could actually become assassins?
The veteran felt he must be dreaming.
But they were completely surrounded now. Even to run, they’d have to carve out a path. All they could do was stake everything on one desperate gamble!
“Form up! Break out!”
Scattering would be suicide.
The veteran ordered immediately.
The swordsmen and halberdiers clustered together, forming a small circular formation with the veteran.
Relying on the swordsmen’s shields, they might still break through the goblin encirclement.
But the cleric chose not to stay in the relatively safe center of the formation.
Holding the holy scripture in one hand and a war hammer in the other, he voluntarily stepped out of the formation that was protecting him.
“Reverend, you—?” the veteran asked in confusion.
Though all battle clerics of the All-Father were equipped with one-handed war hammers, due to their relatively scarce numbers, these clerics rarely fought personally.
Usually, the Church’s combat duties were handled by the faith defense forces.
In the veteran’s impression, battle clerics were mainly responsible for boosting troop morale—they were existences that needed protection.
“Eliminating monsters is my duty. You all retreat quickly.”
With a wave of his hand, the guard soldiers began shifting formation to break outward.
But the cleric’s next words silenced the veteran.
Glancing at the cleric radiating Holy Light, the veteran didn’t hesitate.
Since there was no longer anyone to protect, there was naturally no need to maintain the slow-moving circular formation.
Four shield-bearing swordsmen raised their shields at the front, three halberdiers thrust their weapons through the gaps, and the veteran stood at the very back holding his longsword.
He had to watch for enemies behind them and the goblins closing in from both sides.
Several soldiers pushed forward in the direction they had come from.
The goblin assassins didn’t recklessly charge into a head-on clash.
From the shadows emerged more ordinary goblins carrying clubs.
These monsters, still radiating Black Qi yet possessing low intelligence, swung their clubs and charged madly at the breaking soldiers from every direction.
“Filthy beasts! Your opponent is me!”
The battle cleric shouted, the Holy Light around him blazing even brighter.
The Black Qi on the nearby ordinary goblins sizzled and burned, and many goblins let out screams of agony.
The cleric swung his war hammer into the goblin horde, black blood splattering everywhere.
He brought down attack after attack, desperately trying to eliminate as many goblins as possible.
This was not only him practicing the creed he had held since joining the Church, but also his devotion to the All-Father.
The All-Father had taught them to show compassion to all beings.
Clearly, at this moment, nothing showed greater compassion than drawing as much goblin attention as possible so more soldiers could escape.
The veteran, furiously swinging his longsword at the rear of the formation, noticed the cleric’s intent.
Though he didn’t entirely agree with the Church’s ways, he was filled with respect for the cleric at this moment.
This man was using his life to clear a path for them—common soldiers!
And now he had voluntarily chosen to hold the rear for the sake of nine grunts like them…
A goblin sneaking up from the left was cut down by a single swing of his sword.
“Hans! Don’t let your legs go weak! If we don’t make it out, we’d be wasting the reverend’s efforts! The Church’s battle clerics are all men with bright futures ahead of them. Goddamn it, move!”
The veteran’s longsword swept past as the two shield-bearing swordsmen he had called out had bloodshot eyes.
Facing a situation where they might lose their lives, they couldn’t afford fear—their minds were filled with the will to survive.
He slammed his shield forward with everything he had, and the other three swordsmen beside him did the same.
The goblins closing in had no time to be cleared with their swords—that was all left to the three halberdiers behind them.
“My leg!” A dark shadow flashed past, and the swordsman’s calf was severed clean through.
The unfortunate swordsman collapsed, blood pouring endlessly from the wound.
In the terrible conditions of the Sewer, unless magic could be used immediately, given the Human Kingdom’s current medical level, only a miracle could save him.
But if miracles were going to manifest on them, they would have escaped long ago.
The swordsman seemed to know he was beyond saving.
Looking at the ordinary goblins closing in, he tossed aside his shield and grabbed his straight sword, swinging wildly.
The ordinary goblins actually couldn’t take him down for a while.
But the consequence was that he gradually felt his strength draining away.
Soon his sword swings slowed dramatically, his power nowhere near what it had been at the start.
Taking one last look at his comrades who had vanished into the darkness, the swordsman’s head lolled to the side, and he fell silent.
He was the fourth soldier to die at these goblins’ hands.
But weak goblins naturally couldn’t compare to humans—let alone the fact that these goblins hadn’t fully gathered.
After paying the price of three casualties, the soldiers finally returned to their outpost.
The sentries saw their ragged retreat and the goblins chasing behind them, and immediately blew their whistles.
The entire outpost’s strength was mobilized at once.
The swordsmen let the fleeing comrades pass, then immediately formed a shield wall to block the goblins.
“The reverend is still in there!”
The veteran, who had barely escaped with his life, didn’t have time to rest.
He shouted immediately.
Only after confirming the knight on duty had heard him did he finally lie down on the ground to rest.
The Canonization Ceremony began.
With the Kingdom’s tacit approval and the Church’s organization, the entire Royal Capital had become a pilgrimage site for All-Father believers.
Standing in the Church plaza, Astraea looked at the sea of people before her and was utterly startled.
She hadn’t expected that in this tech-underdeveloped otherworld she’d ever see this many people in her lifetime.
Well, no—she had a long lifespan.
Wait a thousand years, and maybe she’d see something like her previous life?
After all, two thousand years ago when the All-Father still walked the world, human technology had been about the same as ancient Greece.
The plaza was filled with rising and falling prayers.
These pilgrim believers had no uniformity—over a thousand people crammed into the plaza, each praying their own way, reaching Astraea’s ears as a blur of noise.
Worse, to display the Saintess’s grace, Astraea was forced to maintain a smile on her face.
Heavens!
Astraea just wanted to return to Luo En’s embrace.
Today, Astraea wore the Saintess attire the Church had tailored for her.
The outfit was improved upon the nun’s habit.
Unlike the gray nun’s habit, the little elf’s Saintess attire was white, decorated with golden patterns, with the Church’s sword-and-wing emblem on the chest.
Except Astraea’s chest size was different from ordinary nuns—she stretched that emblem somewhat out of shape.
Wearing this outfit now, nothing was actually exposed, yet she somehow managed to make it look like suggestive clothing.
She felt excited again—what was she supposed to do about that?
Shooting a strange glance at Luo En, who now bore the title of paladin, Astraea suppressed her desire and continued playing the mascot at her seat.
She could only curse this damn ceremony for not being faster.
Astraea hadn’t been a member of the Church of All-Father before, so she needed to undergo a conversion baptism before the canonization began.
Naturally, the person performing her baptism couldn’t be some ordinary priest.
After deliberation, the Pope decided to do it himself.
As Astraea rose and walked to the baptismal stand, the waiting Pope held holy water in one hand while the other pressed on the holy scripture laid open on the podium.
The plaza, previously filled with the noise of various prayers, fell instantly silent.
All pilgrims watched the baptism ceremony on the stage.
Facing Astraea, who stood only one meter forty tall, the Pope had to lower his head to speak: “Astraea, because you put your faith in the Father of Humanity, I baptize you in the name of the All-Father.”
In the Church’s propagation, Astraea had no surname.
She would become a nun of the All-Father as a commoner without a family name.
The Pope removed his hand from the scripture and dipped it into the basin of holy water.
Astraea knelt on one knee, pressed her hands together, and bowed her head as if reciting a silent prayer.
Of course, in reality, Astraea was reciting nothing at all—she was just pretending to pray silently.
It wasn’t like the All-Father would mind.
The Pope’s hand collected a few drops of holy water, then he touched it to Astraea’s forehead.
Because of the height difference, he had to lean down.
“May the All-Father protect you and grant you boundless courage.”
With that, Astraea officially became a formal nun of the Church of All-Father, and she was now qualified to wear the same nun’s habit as Sister Yisiweila.
“Praise the All-Father.” Saying it somewhat stiffly, Astraea stood up.
The baptism ceremony was immediately followed by the Canonization Ceremony.
The Pope pressed his hand back onto the holy scripture and turned to face the pilgrims in the plaza.
A priest had already come to take away the holy water he had been holding.
Astraea remained with her hands pressed together, standing at the Pope’s side.
“By the will of the All-Father, and by the authority vested in us as the foremost of His apostles, we declare and define: Sister Astraea is a saint of the All-Father walking among humanity, and the universal Church shall honor her teachings.”
The moment the Pope finished speaking, Holy Light blazed around Astraea.
No—this was not ordinary Holy Light, but a manifestation of the All-Father’s own power!
The plaza instantly fell to its knees in waves.
The fervent pilgrims chanted their prayers in perfect unison, culminating in a thunderous “Praise the All-Father.”
The Pope, who had originally prepared Holy Light special effects, was now thoroughly relieved.
So the All-Father had been watching all along—his preparations had been rather superfluous.
With this, the core of the Canonization Ceremony was complete.