Chapter 683: 4 Holy Apprentices
Chen Rui first heard the term ‘holy apprentice’ during the battle with Nero in the Demon Realm. Nero mistaken the star armor of the [Royal Star Transformation] for the [Armor of Faith] of the holy apprentice.
He learned the real intel about the holy apprentice from Paul. The holy apprentice was a sacred believer directly under the 3 archangels and had been recognized by the 3 archangels. [Body of Light Blessing] was the most basic condition. Every holy apprentice had special abilities and combat power with the corresponding [Armor of Faith]. The level below the holy apprentice was the holy envoy. Paul originally wanted to be the winner of the Divinity Temple Knight contest in order to attract Raphael’s attention and become holy envoy under the cherub, then he would covet the position of the holy apprentice. Unfortunately, in the end, it was in vain and even his life was gone.
The status of holy apprentice was very special which was not subject to the pope’s control. Only in special emergency situations like this could the pope’s order be used to mobilize them.
Chen Rui was slightly surprised, “The 3 of you are holy apprentices? I have a question, how do you know that I’m the 1 who sneaked into the Holy Light Mountain? How do you see through my disguise?”
The sturdy man sneered, “Your disguise skill is indeed brilliant. Your appearance now seemed different from the fatty image that we received this afternoon. Unfortunately, no matter how strange your methods are, you can’t hide from Sir Isyorul’s divine eyes!”
“Isyorul?” Chen Rui could not help but be secretly wary when he had heard this name for the first time.
“Hmph!” The spear in the beautiful woman’s hand pointed at Chen Rui, and the air in the entire plaza suddenly became hot, “It’s useless to delay time. Prepare to die!”
“Wait a minute!” Clark took a step forward, “You got the fire element crystals? Where’s Chief Bishop Phil?”
“It seems that I sneaked in at the right time just now. You should have gathered the people to set up an ambush not long ago, right? Unfortunately, you are a step late… Chief Bishop Phil is now in the basement cell of the Meditation House, and Clyde is on the sofa in the Meditation House. However, they are just 2 ugly corpses.” Chen Rui’s words had unconcealed murderous intent when he said these 2 names.
“You killed them?” A cold light flashed in Clark’s eyes, “It seems that I overestimated you in some respects.”
“You didn’t overestimate, but the thrifty and upright chief bishop who is not close to female!” Chen Rui pointed to the 2 boys behind and said angrily, “You know that my goal is actually to get the fire element crystals. But did you know what the upright chief bishop was going to do to these 2 kids when I saw him?”
Clark looked at the 2 boys and suddenly thought of the missing persons notice that he saw at the hotel entrance today. 1 of them was the child on the missing notice. His expression changed suddenly.
At this moment, a Light Knight, who went around to surround and investigate, had already rushed over to report the death of Phil and Clyde to Clark and the other 2 persons. Facing the legendary holy apprentice, the Light Knight didn’t dare to lie and told the death of the 2.
Clark clenched his fists when he heard Phil’s whole body was naked, and the beautiful woman became even more furious. The spear in her hand was thrust into the ground fiercely, and a large crack suddenly appeared, “Damn bastard!”
“He should have died a long time ago. These 2 children are not the first batch of his scourges.” Chen Rui’s eyes were sharp like a blade, “If you mean that the so-called churches that advocate the light are all such beasts in human skin, I don’t mind if my hands are covered in blood.”
The sturdy man with bronze arms frowned. After giving a few instructions to the Light Knight, the knight nodded and obeyed. The rest of the Light Knights withdrew from the plaza and activated a certain magic enchantment at the same time.
“Stop talking nonsense! You can’t escape today anyway!” The sturdy man made an eye gesture at the woman. The woman pondered for a moment, pulled out the spear, and moved slowly. The 3 holy apprentices were in a triangular formation surrounding Chen Rui.
“I have no plans to escape for the time being, but before the fight…” Chen Rui glanced at Clark who was silent, “I am your target. It has nothing to do with these 2 children. Shouldn’t we let them go first? If I did not underestimate you?”
Clark nodded and was about to speak. “No, these 2 boys are the Black Death Followers and must die.”
“Murev!” Clark looked at the strong man in anger, “You’re crazy! These 2 children are innocent! There are posts in the city to find missing children. 1 of them is…”
“I’m not crazy, you are not clear-headed!” Murev interrupted him coldly, “Phil is the chief bishop, the leader of the highest church in the entire Loya Empire. This matter is directly related to the reputation of the Holy Light Mountain. Once it spreads out, the consequences are unimaginable! Therefore, Chief Bishop Phil is still a model of integrity and selflessness, and the cause of death was unfortunately due to the sneak attack of the Black Death Followers! Therefore, the 2 children are the remnants of the Black Death Followers and cannot be spared!”
Clark’s fists trembled, “No! They are innocent victims who did nothing wrong! Why do you want to…”
“Do you want the glory of Light God to be humiliated because of these scums and let years of accumulation as well as hard work be ruined by this incident?” Murev asked back as he looked at the 2 frightened boys with disdain, “Their fault is that they are the weak. In this powerhouse-respected world, their destiny is destined to be slaughtered by others. Only power is everything.”
“It turns out that the glory of Light God is a fight of power? You do not have the courage to admit even the most basic mistakes. Then the doctrines of benevolence, faithfulness and salvation are all tricks to deceive and fool the world!” Chen Rui laughed, but his laughter was full of rage, “Power overwhelms everything; manipulating the life and death of the weaklings at will; slaughter and sacrifice the innocent ones who have no power to resist – This is the belief of a holy apprentice?”
“I don’t have time to play word tricks with you” Murev said nonchalantly, “So what if it is? The strong preys on the weak. The weak can only succumb to the powerhouse. I have a powerful strength, so naturally I must have a powerhouse mentality. Do I still need to explain just to kill a few ants?”
Chen Rui’s laughter gradually stopped, “The powerhouse mentality? Massacre and humiliate life at will? Although you have gained powerful strength on the outside, you are addicted to the feeling of being condescending and controlling life and death which distorts your most important original intent. In short, you are nothing but a weakling who succumbs to power!”
Chen Rui was not a saint. He was equally decisive, selfish, and would make mistakes. However, he had his own bottom line. No matter how strong he was, his principles would never change. This is the case now, and it will remain so in the future.
“I am the weakling?” As Murev yelled, he emanated a suffocating force. He waved the bronze metal arm to show off his prowess. The whistling wind pressure left a terrifying deep groove on the ground protected by enchantment power, “When I crush your head, then we’ll see who is the weakling!”
A hot and anxious breath appeared. The eyes of the 3 people seemed to be distorted by some strange force field. The oppressive force exuded by Murev became weaker in this breath. He actually had a stabbing pain when he looked directly at Chen Rui’s indifferent eyes. He couldn’t help taking half a step back.
Chen Rui’s thoughtful voice seemed to reach the soul, “Have you forgotten that before you had your current strength, aren’t you also 1 of the ‘ants’? In fact, you are still 1 of them, you, I, everyone, have always been.”
“No matter if we are a powerhouse or weakling, when our lives end one day, we will appear in front of God as equals.”-If there is a ‘God’ in this world. Chen Rui added another sentence in his mind. ‘God’ is actually just a powerful ‘man’ in my subconscious mind.
“Very eloquent…” A faraway sharp female voice approached, “Unfortunately, how can a Black Death Follower understand that holy apprentice will never really die. Even if our life and soul are annihilated, we will be in rebirth in the kingdom of God which is equivalent to an eternal life. Your cultist souls will only fall into the abyss of darkness and can never be liberated.”
Strands of criss-crossed light appeared in the field as if separating the entire plaza into countless individual spaces. The light quickly gathered to form a figure of a woman wearing a cloak. Chen Rui frowned slightly. He was secretly vigilant as he sensed that his activated [Summer Territory] was weakened by the weird power.
Race: Human.
Comprehensive Strength Assessment: S+
Physique: S-, Strength: S-, Spirit: S+, Speed: S-.
[Analysis]: Water attribute, magic talent, space power.
The fourth holy apprentice!
“Colina, you are late.” The beautiful woman holding the spear scoffed.
“It’s not too late, April. The show has just begun…” The cloaked woman, Colina, had a golden wand in her hand. “But what the Black Death Follower said is true. The 2 boys are innocent. They shouldn’t stay on this battlefield.”
Several vertical and horizontal rays of light that had disappeared appeared in front of the 2 boys instantly, wrapped them up, and moved outward. As the appearance of the light was very sudden, Chen Rui didn’t guard against it in advance. He was already a step late when he realized it. Just as he was about to stop her, he felt relieved when he heard Colina’s words.
Colina’s voice sounded again, “But… I don’t think I can trust a Black Death Follower. What Murev said makes sense, so…”
Clark suddenly realized it and shouted, “Stop! Colina!”
Chen Rui’s reaction was half a beat slower, but his movements were faster. His figure instantly appeared in front of the vertical and horizontal light surrounding the boys. However, it was too late. The light suddenly intertwined, and the 2 boys in it emitted strong light. In an instant, they turned into flying ash and annihilated, leaving his effort in vain.
“It’s a brilliant light of life, even if it’s just 2 tiny ants…” Colina’s laughter sounded from the cloak, “Clark, don’t forget our most important mission this time; don’t ever forget your own Identity! For the glory of God, any sacrifice is worth it, even our own life. If you want to start a duel before God, I can give you an opportunity to challenge me after taking this Black Death Follower back to the Holy Light Mountain.”
Clark gritted his teeth. After seeing April’s eye gesture, he said nothing in the end.
The plaza shook suddenly, and large cracks appeared on the ground. Under the terrifying power, the light-weight gravel was floating out of gravity. At the center of the crack was Chen Rui with red eyes burning with rage and murderous intent.
TL: These ‘holy’ apprentices are worse than the demons in terms of dignity 👿