Chapter 56: You Are Still Young, Having Ideals Is Right |
"Excellent. To cast a Divine Art of this caliber without an incantation... Isabella, you truly are exceptional." Seeing this, Lao Mushi couldn''t help but feel a pang of admiration for her talent.
"Become my true student. Help me complete this experiment."
"When the time comes, this achievement will make you a key talent nurtured by the Church."
"Conversely, if you ruin my experiment, you will only get in the way of certain people. In that case, you might not reap any benefits at all!"
"So... is profit the only thing left in your mind?" Isabella looked at Lao Mushi with deep sorrow, the disappointment in her eyes almost palpable.
The next moment, she controlled a massive burst of holy fire, launching it directly at Lao Mushi. Splitting her focus, she maintained the holy flames while simultaneously weaving a new Divine Art.
"What happened to your adherence to the truth? Where is your Conscience and Justice?" Isabella demanded.
Lao Mushi waved his arm, manifesting a cloud of white Qi around himself to block the holy fire.
Forcefield Spell: Breath of Isolation.
"Ideals are the most useless things in the world!" Lao Mushi declared, clinging to his own twisted logic.
"Back then, to punish the Blood Demon and save a village afflicted by a Curse, you willingly tainted yourself with the blood hex to find the Demon''s true body! Were your ideals useless back then too?!" Isabella shouted.
She had always held a certain level of admiration for Lao Mushi.
Otherwise, she would not have sought him out when she wanted to solve her family''s bloodline issue.
That was exactly why she had come to this small village to act as a Trainee Priest.
The moment he heard Isabella''s words, Lao Mushi''s expression could not help but turn slightly dazed.
That pursuit of ideals, driven solely by a commitment to justice and righteousness without any thought of personal gain or loss, seemed so far away from him now.
It was so distant that just catching a fleeting glimpse of it through Isabella and her words made him feel the urge to weep.
However, Lao Mushi raised his hands.
In his eyes, his hands were currently dripping with blood, enveloped in a foul stench that permeated to the very depths of his soul.
That young, fearless, and idealistic man was no longer the person he was today.
"Now, I only want to atone!!" A flush of manic, blood-red excitement spread across Lao Mushi''s weathered face.
At this moment, Lao Mushi finally grew serious.
Tangible Mental Power fluctuations began to bleed into reality, blanketing the surrounding area.
That faintly blood-tinged Mental Power pried open the perceptual layer of their surroundings, rapidly weaving into a Spell.
Perception Spell: Phantom Manipulation!
Lao Mushi''s greatest expertise lay in two fields: bloodline research and perception Spells.
After reaching the Iron Rank, many Priests chose to Cultivate perception Spells in addition to holy Spells and the Spells native to their Pantheon.
The reason for this lay in the very nature of a Priest''s Cultivation. Starting from the Black Iron Rank, they used their minds to enhance their own senses.
Upon reaching the Iron Rank, these senses would unify to form a rudimentary Supernatural perception.
Because their perception was so powerful, Cultivating perception Spells granted them a significant advantage.
Lao Mushi''s figure vanished once again, and the environment inside the Cathedral began to warp bit by bit.
Isabella knew that an illusion was overwriting reality to deceive her senses.
This was exactly why lower-level Priests struggled to fight higher-level Priests; their senses were far too easily suppressed.
This also explained why she had dismissed the commotion she sensed from the Cemetery earlier in the Cathedral as a mere hallucination. Lao Mushi had been interfering with her perception and judgment, most likely using a suggestion-type perception Spell.
''Against a perception Spell of this intensity, standard holy manifestations are already useless,'' Isabella quickly judged.
At the same time, the Divine Art she had been preparing was finally complete.
Her Mental Power merged with the power of Faith, rapidly forming the structure of the Divine Art.
Divine Art: Holy Intervention.
In critical moments, it could form a holy-attribute magic circle. It could also be actively summoned when facing an energy attack; the circle would materialize to block the strike and reflect it as holy damage.
Without knowing what offensive methods Lao Mushi might employ, she needed to prioritize her own defense.
Isabella knew her margin for error was perilously slim.
After all, she was only a Black Iron Rank Priest.
She was outmatched by Lao Mushi in every conceivable aspect.
There was a high probability that she would die here.
Yet, at this moment, Isabella''s heart harbored no fear, only a pure, burning desire for victory.
''The outer layer of my body is protected by holy fire, so those black threads will find it difficult to approach.''
''However, holy fire only defends against physical attacks.''
''As long as it isn''t an Evil Spell energy, it generally won''t trigger combustion.''
''Lao Mushi is definitely aware of this. What I need to guard against the most right now are his Spells.''
''I must use this opportunity to uncover his true position, then secure victory with a single strike.''
Winning a battle against a higher-ranked opponent wasn''t impossible, and Isabella was no ordinary Priest.
She was the elite of the elite.
Furthermore, by utilizing the Blood Liturgy, she temporarily monopolized the Divine Arts.
Coupled with Lao Mushi''s advanced age, his physical decay resulted in a lack of vitality in his Mental Power. This flaw was evident in many aspects.
For instance, the expansion efficiency of the Spells he cast was significantly slower.
Under normal circumstances, when Lao Mushi cast Phantom Manipulation, the surrounding environment should have shifted instantaneously.
In reality, however, the illusion blanketed the area at a crawling pace.
This was the direct result of his sluggish Mental Power.
Having analyzed her strengths and weaknesses in her mind, Isabella began to chant.
"Bear witness, Faceless God—"
"Gaze upon the chaotic ripples, this is the light of redundancy;"
"In the name of the Precepts, I judge your soul!"
As the chant concluded, a terrifying Spiritual Pressure erupted from the Divine Idol behind Isabella.
Divine Art: Might of Judgment!
The primary function of this Divine Art was to judge chaotic energy.
The dogma of the God of Precepts championed Energy Conservation, exercising extreme suppression over redundant and chaotic consumption.
By casting it now, Isabella was using the Spiritual Pressure of the God of Precepts to classify the illusion as a form of chaotic energy, thereby shattering the energetic mirage.
Most importantly, it allowed her to transmit that Spiritual Pressure through their energy connection to directly damage Lao Mushi''s mind.
"Still too young." Lao Mushi''s voice echoed from an unknown direction, followed by a sudden ripple in the air.
Isabella heard a disturbance behind her. She spun around, only to see the previously motionless Divine Idol springing to life, as if it were a true Divine Descent of the God of Precepts.
"Those who disrespect divine guidance are Guilty!"
The penalty decreed by the "God of Precepts" transformed into an oppressive Spiritual Pressure that crashed directly into Isabella''s heart.