"Thankfully."
Listening to the notification sounds by his side, York felt a sense of relief as he observed the battlefield below.
"Lucky I came here."
The battlefield beneath his feet had escalated into intense combat.
However, from what the naked eye could see, humans were unable to withstand the onslaught of the massive group of animals.
After all, regardless of skill, a human without supernatural powers could hardly survive being surrounded by dozens of fierce beasts.
A quick glance revealed that many humans had died.
This caused York to unconsciously purse his lips, starting to identify each cleaner below by their uniforms.
He directly accessed the accumulated holy power from the nearby Traken Church.
In these brief moments, Traken Church had filled up with converted holy power, and it surged toward a third-level church with a rapid impact.
"It seems that Markalov has already informed the people of Byragde City of my arrival."
Thinking this, York tightened his right hand, then released it and pressed down again.
Holy power inherently has healing effects. While it may not be very useful for terminal medical conditions, it is extremely effective for physical healing.
He released it fully.
York, maximizing the effect, directly depleted hundreds of points of holy power accumulated by Traken Church.
The people below seemed to feel the changes in their bodies.
Ginias felt a warm sensation throughout his body. His previously painful wounds had now vanished without a trace.
He instinctively touched his chest, where he had been bitten by a leopard, and in an effort to escape the leopard's grip, he had punched it, causing the leopard to tear away a large chunk of his flesh.
Now, to the naked eye, it was a bloody mess, but now...
"The bleeding stopped."
Ginias looked up at the bishop in the sky, feeling a surge of admiration and a sense of worship.
But the next second.
He heard what seemed like the bishop's voice right next to his ear.
Ginias suddenly knelt on one knee.
And not just him—all the surviving cleaners on the battlefield knelt on one knee.
They were all covered in blood, looking up with fervent eyes at the bishop in the sky.
"All cleaners, hear my command!"
York said expressionlessly, purposely scanning the cleaners kneeling before him.
"Once ordained as priests, evacuate this place immediately, contact the leader and Father Markalov, and cooperate together.
Set up new churches along the way, and wait for my arrival."
It goes without saying, he was genuinely concerned that the aftermath of the battle might reach this area.
After all, the previous twenty million points of holy power could cover the entire city of Belst.
And Byragde City was roughly the same size as Belst.
"Yes!"
Ginias and the other cleaners below shouted, as if they had found a backbone to lean on.
York nodded, directly using the remaining holy power of Traken Church with the authority of consecration, transforming all ninety-seven cleaners into priests.
After completing this, York stared ahead and disappeared from his location under the gaze of everyone below.
Now in control of millions of points of holy power, consecration had become a trivial task.
Ginias was still dazed, looking at the sky.
"Lord Ginias!"
Several voices calling out brought him back to reality.
"What do we do next?"
Several remaining cleaners began to gather around him as their leader.
Ginias subconsciously glanced at the battlefield, a fleeting sorrow in his eyes.
From the looks of those still standing, many had died in this battle.
"Lord Ginias!"
Hearing the voice beside him again, Ginias took a deep breath to suppress the complex emotions within him. He knew that as a leader, he absolutely could not show such emotions now.
Emotions are contagious, just as terrifying as a demon's infection.
"Count the numbers!"
"Check the injured!"
"Clean up the battlefield."
"Evacuate everyone!"
"..."
Finally, a series of commands were issued, and Byripe Town began to return to normal as everyone orderly retreated inland.
After tending to his wounds, Ginias reappeared at the temporary command post, dialing Markalov's number...
"Just like the power of demons in the real world, they lead to the same result."
Narola North City.
York walked aimlessly along the main street.
This town now resembled a ghost town, eerily quiet as if no human had ever set foot here.
However, the brightly lit houses and the traces of hasty departures along the roads, the abandoned items, all testified to what Narola North City once was.
Most importantly, he gained something akin to what he found in hell from the dark smog lingering above the town.
"Give it some time, and this place will be transformed into an environment just like hell, unsuitable for human habitation."
York stopped, his brows slightly furrowed.
The demons of this otherworld had adopted a scorched-earth policy.
"According to Ginias's insight, this is the first contact point between two towns, and the infected spirits are all concentrated in the town of Suzdal up ahead."
As York's thoughts concluded, he vanished again, reappearing instantly far away in Belst City, where he could hear the sound of holy power being expended.
"I'll check out Suzdal Town next."
A figure appeared over the wasteland between Suzdal Town and Narola North City.
Roar!
Accompanied by a fierce roar, the sound of human footsteps formed a thunderous drumbeat.
"They're all infected."
York hovered in the air, looking down.
Below him, a dense crowd of infected humans moved at a brisk pace, pushing forward relentlessly.
Overall, it resembled the hordes of zombies from movies of a past life.
The only difference was that these infected spirits were intelligent humans, which made them more deadly.
"They are merely influenced in their minds, transformed into zealots who give their lives for their god."
Watching, York recalled the followers of the Satanist cult he had encountered in Thailand.
"There are many, but that doesn't matter."
York focused ahead where he didn't need his psychic senses to see the thick black mist; it was visible to the naked eye.
The dense black fog covered everything, as oppressive as dark clouds threatening a city.
It reminded him of the real-world hell.
As a well-known priest, when not manipulating his abilities elsewhere, he naturally visited hell.
That was when he sought vengeance for his followers, venturing into hell and personally slaying a demon.
Thinking back, it was also quite frightening, so his memories of what hell looked like were particularly vivid.
York squinted his eyes, making comparisons.
The colors were slightly different—hell was red, while this was black.
Still, the essence was the same.
"You probably wouldn't guess, but my power comes from the faith of all humanity."
York thought to himself, summoning even more holy power.
[30 points of magic used]
The thirty points of magic power were doubled in their effect.
The summoned holy power instantly doubled to a significant figure—100,000 points of holy power.
York lowered his head, his heart moved slightly, and he released the holy power within him into the surroundings.
A magnificent and spectacular scene appeared in the air.
The perceptible ripples spread instantly, waves rolling continuously.
Like a typhoon sweeping through, clearing all the dust.
The dark fog that had lingered around was instantly dispersed by these endless ripples.
Narola North City and Suzdal Town, along with other towns, were all engulfed by this power.
50,000 points of holy power were casually expended.
At this moment, York was like a sovereign, his expression stoic as he stared ahead.
"You spared so many lives for two reasons: first, to test or deplete my power. Second, even if I hadn't intervened to save these people, the multitude of spirits could cause greater casualties and trouble, achieving a greater effect.
But you miscalculated. As long as the populace has faith, my power won't disappear, or perhaps you never anticipated I could wield this power.
So, I want both."
Seeing the infected below, the endless horde of spirits suddenly stopping, their numb expressions returning to life, York left a message for the people below and for Markalov, busy miles away, then continued to step forward.
"Don't stop, keep moving forward! There will be someone to receive you!"
"Receiving the people at the front line..."
"..."
As this phrase echoed, everyone on the ground abruptly awakened, all looking up to the sky.
But as York took his next step, he had already disappeared from the spot.
He had restored the wits of these tens of thousands of spirits, leaving behind a very clean area; that was enough.
"Next..."
York suddenly appeared over Suzdal Town.
Here, strong winds began to blow, painful enough to sting the skin.
Under the influence of the thick black fog, the wind seemed like black blades continually striking York.
Suzdal Town had turned into a black town, completely different from the surrounding townships.
Sunlight couldn't penetrate here, much like an event shrouded in mist.
"Not coming out?"
York chuckled, still hovering in the air, his gaze intense.
"Or are you just a turtle hiding in its shell? No matter, then I'll continue to sweep, slowing down your transformation plans."
The remaining 50,000 points of holy power exploded once again.
Endless power emanated from York...
"What's this?"
"What's happening?"
"..."
Those who had regained their wits noticed the situation behind them.
They saw a giant ball of light that could fill the horizon, suddenly appearing amidst a vast swath of black fog.
The orb, like a sun, emitted countless rays of light, piercing through the dark clouds.
In the next second, the black fog was swept away by an invisible hand, disappearing to the extent that it couldn't be seen with the naked eye
.
And the giant ball of light also vanished from the spot.
They all recalled the phrase that had just echoed in their minds.
They couldn't figure out what had happened, but they could see that the darkness in their view was gradually disappearing, including the distant darkness that was almost out of sight.
What they didn't know was that York had already directly approached the original front line of the collapse.
Even along the way, appearing in various small towns' dilapidated churches, he ignored the ruin of the old churches and used his mind power to carve an image of Jesus from a large piece of wood, forcefully consecrating it.
Then, using this newly created church, he immediately converted it, thus starting the accumulation of holy power and setting up the holy protective formations typically used during church establishment.
This method was quite straightforward, much like a plague of locusts,
Back and forth, the holy power York had previously expended was forcibly replenished.
For a time, the situation for both parties completely reversed.
If the demon didn't appear to obstruct, then York's advantage would snowball, and in such a scenario, his advantage would only grow larger.
After some time passed.
After clearing the territory before the collapse, York appeared on the front line laden with numerous corpses, his expression somewhat speechless.
He had swept through all the areas before their collapse in one go, restoring the previous territories and consecrating all the old churches into true churches. Yet, the attacking demon had still not shown itself.
"If that's the case, then I'll continue!"
York glanced at his personal panel and pressed forward again.
His original plan was to see the demons of this other world, and he was determined to see it through.
Only by seeing the true face of the demon could he understand what these otherworldly demons really were.
"Anyway, I still have several hundred million points of holy power to use, let's see who can last longer,"
York's approach was somewhat brute force; he continued forward, ignoring the dense black fog, and began establishing new churches along the way.
"Even if you appear and kill me, I'm just a divine incarnation that only costs one point of holy power to create. But do you still have the strength to destroy my divine incarnation?"
York was not unprepared.
This was his wisest preparation.
"So, today I'm definitely going to see for myself. If you don't come out, you'll die; if you do come out, you'll still die. This is the end I've set for you..."
Arriving at an old town and its many years old church, York continued to summon all the holy power accumulated by the churches, ready to deliver a harsh blow.
The church in front of him was forcibly dismantled, like butchering a bull.
York carefully selected the thickest piece of wood and a foundation stone, forcibly crafting a passable image of Jesus.
In the midst of the ruins, it was very conspicuous.
"Cough."
York looked at the created image of Jesus, feeling somewhat fearful and timid inside.
He wasn't sure if God was always watching, as his actions were indeed bold and potentially offensive.
But this step had to be taken.
He extended his hand, and holy power spread out, completing the consecration.
He now had an additional level-one church, and the new church's data panel appeared amidst the ruins showing the number of followers.
York took a deep breath, treating it like a game, reallocating the faith power from other churches that hadn't been converted to this one.
Faith power materialized out of thin air; in this church, which only had an image of Jesus and a simple pedestal, began accumulating holy power.
"Continue!"
York didn't use his own power; he directly summoned the holy power that was beginning to accumulate in this church and set up a protective formation with a reverse hand.
White patterns of the formation appeared on the ground, radiating light to form a dome that covered the entire town.
Just then, York's lips curled up slightly, and he looked ahead with a focused gaze.
"Finally, you've come."
A claw, larger than the entire town and made of black fog, suddenly swung from beyond the dome of darkness.
A deafening roar exploded, and the black claw fiercely struck the newly formed dome of the formation.
Snap!
The dome, made up of only a few dozen points of holy power, shattered like tofu under the force of the hard claw, turning into broken shards.
The momentum of the claw did not diminish.
The oppressive force and impact in the air could crush an ordinary person on the spot, grinding them to dust.
Under this claw, York appeared like an ant, the wind and the overwhelming force pressing down on his priestly robe, causing it to make sounds.
The divine incarnation bore the massive weight and oppressive forces combined.
"Go."
York's face was devoid of any expression as he softly uttered a command.
Almost endless holy power materialized out of thin air, instantly forming a knight's sword of equal size,
fiercely slashing toward the claw.
The roaring sound drowned out all other noises.
The two forces collided, the giant sword like a moving mountain, the claw like a furious beast.
Boom! The two clashed!
The entire world seemed to tremble. A massive shockwave swept across the fields, the storm raging as if the earth itself couldn't withstand the fierce impact. Low rumbling sounds filled the air.
The collision of black and white forces sparked countless flashes of light, so bright that York instinctively squinted his eyes. He could feel his skin bearing the invisible pressure in the air, his entire body being pulled forward by this force.
Yet, he remained as immovable as a deeply rooted boulder, simply watching the entangled clash above.
Finally, with a snap, the giant claw formed from dark fog was slashed into pieces, and the holy power-formed giant sword also shattered into fragments, the transformations mingling together almost taking over the entire sky...
"Hello, demon, it's nice to finally meet you."
Ignoring the spectacular scene in the air, York shifted his gaze forward, smiling.
Before him, a gigantic creature had appeared at some unknown time.
Dark skin, two red eyes flashing with malevolent light. Long, sharp teeth protruded from its lips, its arms and legs were strong and powerful, with sharp claws and toenails, and behind it were a pair of wings made of black feathers.
The face, though, was human, and ignoring its humanoid shape, it was entirely that of a handsome man.
"Oh, wrong, hello, devil."
Seeing this creature, York smiled again.
He finally understood what type of demons inhabited this otherworld.
The legendary angels who had fallen from heaven to earth, the Fallen Angels...
___________________
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