Chapter 28: The Fallen Monastery
In front of the main gate of the Moon God Monastery, a dozen steam bombs were fixed to the corners of the metal door. After a series of continuous explosions, the metal door crashed inward with a loud bang.
Su Xiao stood before the main gate of the Moon God Monastery as one transcendent after another rushed past him, charging into the monastery grounds.
The moon was exceptionally round that night, though its lower edge was tinged with red. The cool summer night was filled with the chirping of various insects.
It seemed the old Holy King had the upper hand, but that was not the case. The cornered Moon Goddess had become exceptionally dangerous. This woman had somehow produced over a hundred assassins, who had already set out to kill the old Holy King.
As things stood now, it was a race to see who would die first.
Countless transcendents surged into the monastery. After passing through the main hall at the front and entering the side corridors on both sides, they encountered the Moon Apostles guarding there. Neither side spoke a word, immediately clashing in battle. The roar of explosions and sudden screams of agony caused dogs to bark throughout the surrounding area.
The Moon God Monastery was vast, not much smaller in area than the Lurenfei Palace. To level this place would require at least three or more Apollo bombs.
At that moment, Bubu Wang was with the Moon Goddess, providing Su Xiao with her location, while Baha conducted aerial reconnaissance.
Su Xiao was followed by a man and a woman. The man wore light metal armor with a longsword at his waist, while the woman was the young adjutant.
Boom!
An explosion rang out from the right corridor. Dozens of transcendents scrambled out of the corridor, their faces covered in blood.
"Sir, these Moon Apostles are very wrong."
A pale-faced transcendent with a severed arm rushed up to Su Xiao.
Squelch, squelch...
Strange footsteps came from the right corridor. A humanoid creature, its skin and flesh somewhat translucent and entirely azure blue, emerged from the corridor. Its body was covered in protruding blue crystal shards that looked very sharp. Its hair hung to its shoulders, fluffy and transparent, emitting a blue glow.
"Roar!!"
The humanoid monster let out a furious roar. Its mouth was also filled with that translucent blue. Its pupils contracted to the size of rice grains, and its arms hung naturally at its sides.
Whoosh, the humanoid monster vanished from its spot, leaving behind a puddle of blue fluorescent slime.
Clang, clang, clang.
Suddenly appearing blade auras formed a sphere-like shape. The humanoid monster, which had leaped into midair, was sliced apart, turning into blue, translucent chunks of flesh that scattered on the ground.
[You have killed a Fallen Apostle (Half-Form).]
[Tip: Fallen Apostles are transformed from Moon Apostles.]
[Tip: Fallen Apostles are under the gaze of the Moon God.]
...
Just after Su Xiao had sliced apart a Fallen Apostle, he leaped backward. The pile of flesh in front of him was rapidly expanding.
Bang!
Translucent blue crystal fragments exploded in all directions. Now Su Xiao understood why the transcendents had been driven back.
The Moon Goddess was ruthless enough. She had used some method to transform the Moon Apostles into Fallen Apostles, enhancing their combat power and making them fearless, never retreating.
Explosions also came from the left corridor. Su Xiao looked over to see that the transcendents on that side had also been driven back. Over a hundred Fallen Apostles were entrenched in the corridor, their bodies emitting blue fluorescence, their flesh becoming transparent, and their bones resembling crystal, with the marrow inside clearly visible. When that marrow also turned blue, they would be in their complete form.
The Fallen Apostles were strong, but the transcendents under the Holy King were no pushovers either. Although their first wave of assault was repelled, they quickly organized a second charge.
Roars and screams mixed together. The Fallen Apostles had astonishing vitality. Some, even after being cut in two, would still use their remaining upper bodies to pounce and bite at a transcendent.
After a few minutes of fighting, something even more unexpected happened. The transcendents who had fallen in battle began to rise from the ground, their bodies also turning a ghostly blue and gradually becoming transparent.
Even though the Fallen Apostles' abilities were troublesome, they were far outnumbered by the transcendents. Before long, the transcendent forces broke through the side corridors on both sides and entered the monastery's courtyard.
Su Xiao did not intervene. He needed to conserve his stamina, so he stayed behind the transcendent forces.
Upon reaching the courtyard, Su Xiao saw a ghostly blue magic circle at its center. The circle was a full 50 meters in diameter. A group of Moon Apostles in gray robes and hoods sat in a circle, their heads bowed and their wrists slit open.
The transcendents showed no mercy. Within a dozen seconds, they had killed all the motionless Moon Apostles, and the main force charged deeper into the courtyard.
Su Xiao crouched in front of the magic circle and dipped his finger into the fluorescent blue slime on the ground. The energy fluctuation of this circle felt familiar to him, almost identical to the phantom of the Moon Goddess that had appeared earlier.
The sounds of battle gradually pushed forward. Su Xiao wiped the fluorescent blue slime off his finger onto the young adjutant's clothes. The young adjutant pouted in grievance. The group then headed deeper into the monastery. According to Baha's observations, bringing just two people along was enough for Su Xiao to advance; any more would risk exposure.
In the inner courtyard ahead, a brutal melee had begun. Over a thousand Fallen Apostles and transcendents were locked in a chaotic battle.
Seeing this, Su Xiao leaped onto the wall of the inner courtyard, bypassing the main battlefield.
With Baha's guidance from above and the cover of night, Su Xiao and his two companions quickly circled around the inner courtyard and arrived in front of the grand cathedral.
Fallen Apostles were pouring out of the cathedral. Su Xiao looked through a window and saw Moon Apostles sitting on benches, bowing their heads in prayer. From time to time, one of them would emit a blue fluorescence and transform into a Fallen Apostle.
Given the combat power of the Fallen Apostles, the transcendents would not be able to break through anytime soon.
A monster covered in fluorescent blue tentacles, its exact form unclear, was lying on the high platform inside the cathedral. Its several-meter-long tentacles swayed slowly, emitting a psychic force that controlled all the Moon Apostles, forcing them to sit and pray until they turned into monsters.
"Soul Lord... Moon God... Supreme Being..."
Su Xiao could only vaguely make out these few words of prayer. The rest were indistinct murmurs. If he listened too closely, he felt dizzy and lightheaded.
There was no doubt that entering the cathedral now would be suicide. So Su Xiao bypassed it and arrived at the backyard behind the cathedral.
The young adjutant following Su Xiao was beginning to question her life choices. She felt that this place was nothing like the Moon God Monastery she knew. Even a cult organization wouldn't be this terrifying.
Su Xiao pressed forward and reached the backyard. There was a large flower bed there. During the day, it would have been a riot of blooming flowers, but now the plants in the bed had withered, the nearby trees had died, and the ground was covered in yellow-brown fallen leaves.
In the dim backyard, a frail figure sat on the flower bed. Her hair had completely turned fluorescent blue, emitting a magical glow in the darkness.
"Goddess, where are you... it hurts... my body hurts... it's eating me... save me..."
The frail figure kept her head down, muttering to herself. Her arms were almost completely transparent, the blue veins and bones beneath clearly visible.
Sensing Su Xiao's presence, the frail figure suddenly looked up, staring directly at the three people standing on the wall.
The frail figure had become a monster, but from the contours of her face, she had once been a beauty, a very, very beautiful woman.
"I'll handle this one."
The young adjutant leaped down from the wall and walked slowly toward the frail figure sitting on the flower bed.
"To have been such a beauty... what a pity."
The young adjutant pulled a long dagger from her calf with one hand and held a steam bomb in the other. She recognized this monster. During the war, they had been on good terms.
Su Xiao continued along the wall. Soon, he stopped near a dilapidated church. When the Moon God Monastery was first expanded, this had been the main cathedral. In fact, the original Moon God Monastery was only this big. Though this old church was small, it was the purest place of faith, having nothing to do with divine authority or royal power.