"We cultivate prayer."

"Prayer?" Carl raised an eyebrow. "A priest?"

So-called prayer was faith. It was this kind of method that priests in the Main World's churches cultivated.

Doubt quickly arose in Carl's mind. Prayer needs a god's response to transform into strength. Without a deity, what use is prayer?

"Prayer can purify the soul." Yana looked up, adoration surfacing in her lifeless eyes. "The radiance of the Moon Goddess always envelops this land. We can also use faith to resist the corruption of the Evil God."

What did she mean? Carl frowned, pondering for a moment before he understood.

The Desecration Knights possessed the Evil God Bloodline. This power made them strong but also eroded their minds and bodies.

And prayer could strengthen this resistance.

Theoretically, then, the better one cultivated prayer and the more devout their faith, the more effectively they could resist this erosion.

The upper limit of their strength would also be higher.

"Your guess is correct." When he voiced his thought, Yana nodded. Her expression grew complicated as she said slowly, "But... it's often the traitors among these Desecration Knights who are stronger."

Hmm? Traitors? Carl asked curiously, "Why?"

"Because their faith is not in a deity," Yana replied. "But in themselves."

The Desecration Knights were a pitiful group.

From birth, they were implanted with the Evil God Bloodline, compelled to cultivate, fight, and die.

Because they carried Divine Blood, they were also unwelcome in the Holy Hall, regarded as outcasts.

Desecration! That one word said it all.

Their very existence was a blasphemy against the divine.

Because that 'corpse of the Evil God' was rather unique, most Desecration Knights were female.

There were males, but they tended to appear rather effeminate.

In fact, due to the high mortality rate of male infants, many houses within the Holy Hall had stopped breeding male Desecration Knights.

Theoretically, they were all children of that 'Evil God's corpse'; all Desecration Knights were siblings!

Likewise, they were also vessels for the 'Evil God's' revival.

To prevent the Evil God from reviving within them, the Holy Hall placed numerous Prohibitions upon them.

For instance, they could not attack Holy Knights.

No matter what Holy Knights did to them, they could not retaliate, or the Prohibitions within them would activate and kill them.

Not every Holy Knight was a gentleman; Yana herself had witnessed such perverted, disgusting individuals.

"Great Moon Goddess, please save Your believers, rescue her soul that is about to plunge into the Abyss."

After completing her daily prayers, Yana turned towards Carl, who was meditating a short distance away.

The Guardian. Hope for finding the Goddess.

Recalling the mission the Holy Hall had given her before she left, Yana's eyes flickered. She instinctively touched the hilt of her sword.

No matter what means are necessary, we must bring the Guardian back to the Holy Hall!

Use force if necessary!

"We've found nothing in two consecutive locations." Carl opened his eyes, seemingly oblivious to her actions. "Next, we go to the Scythe Brotherhood's territory."

"Yes." Yana bowed her head.

Their movements were dictated by the people outside; they went wherever the shark-folk were lured away.

Plus, with Carl's inexhaustible array of Wizard techniques, they hadn't encountered any danger so far.

「Evening.」

This was when people were most fatigued.

Yet, peculiarly, the Death Knight was most energized at this time, urging everyone towards Freedom Port.

A team of fifty men moved under the cover of darkness, slipping into a wandering group of shark-folk.

"Be careful!" Great Knight Quincy gripped his Long Spear, his body tense as he constantly scanned his surroundings.

Two figures appeared within his field of vision.

"Kill!"

With a flick of his Long Spear, two cold glints of light flashed. The two shark-folk that had just appeared were instantly impaled through their throats.

Such was his speed that the shark-folk collapsed, dead, without uttering a sound.

"Move!" After taking a deep breath, Quincy waved his hand backward. "Another fifty meters, and our task for today is complete. The Sea God Society will take over after that."

"Fifty meters?" Conni's face turned pale. He shook his head, seeing more clearly than Quincy, and said, "John's objective is for us to draw the shark-folk out. If we don't make enough noise, this mission won't be considered complete."

"Careful!"

He had barely finished speaking when several shark-folk suddenly appeared from behind a nearby wall. Spotting the group, they shrieked and lunged.

"Charge!"

"Kill them!"

The men roared, charging forward with weapons ready.

In the past two days, they had grown familiar with the shark-folk's habits, their attacks becoming swift and precise.

However, though they quickly dispatched their opponents, the commotion alerted other shark-folk nearby.

More and more shark-folk appeared in their sight.

"Die!" Quincy's eyes turned bloodshot. His Long Spear danced, creating a flurry of afterimages as he sent one shark-folk after another flying.

As a Great Knight, his explosive power was devastating. In just a few breaths, he carved a path forward.

An unremarkable shark-folk charged from ahead.

The shark-folk was gaunt, its movements stiff and clumsy; it had clearly only recently transformed.

He still thrust his spear.

The spear tip thrust straight at the shark-folk's heart.

CLANG!

The Long Spear struck the shark-folk's chest, emitting the sharp clang of metal on metal.

Huh? Quincy's expression changed. He felt as if his spear had struck a great mountain; the recoil tore the Long Spear from his grasp.

How could this be? Before he could process what had occurred, the shark-folk before him had already swung its arm.

So fast!

Quincy's eyes narrowed, and he rapidly retreated with a quick step.

Battle Skill—Rapid!

But as fast as he was, the shark-folk was faster.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.