Chapter 2461 – The Pursuers Are All Acquaintances
“Ah? Okay, okay.” The female sniper was a bit flustered by my sudden order to take Via’s mother away but still instinctively obeyed, trying to pull Via’s mother along.
“No! He can still be saved!” But she was uncooperative, shaking off the female sniper and still trying to gather the pieces of flesh on the ground, attempting to revive Lavias.
But that was impossible. A vampire’s body purified by Holy Light was completely dead. I couldn’t feel any trace of life aura within it, nor even any sign of death, which was why I judged Lavias to be truly dead.
With this delay, the pursuers had already caught up. Seeing these few people gave me a headache. The world was truly small. The ones pursuing in this direction were actually the Dawn Bringers from the Church of the Dawn Lord and the Monks from the Church of the God of Crying.
The Lord of Dawn was not one of the Three Saints of Justice, but they had a certain connection. They were mentioned in the holy scriptures of the Three Saints of Justice, and their status and achievements were described with great respect.
They belonged to the same pantheon. Although the Lord of Dawn was not a main god, their status was higher than the Three Saints of Justice. Therefore, in the churches on the mortal plane, members of the Dawn Church were primarily in charge.
Those priests and paladins, clad in shimmering silver armor and cloaked in rose and golden-red robes, held a higher status than the monks clad in rough cloth, who looked like old farmers. Although I was familiar with both groups and knew that neither of them was to be trifled with.
There were twelve people in this team. Five of them were from the Dawn Church, and seven were from the Church of the God of Crying. As soon as they saw people ahead, they immediately split up and surrounded us.
The two leaders were even more familiar. Leading the group from the Dawn Church was the Dawn Lord who had once conferred the title of Dawn Bringer upon Older Brother Jayad. Leading the group from the Church of the God of Crying was the Monk with whom I had spoken and who had just earnestly persuaded the Tyr Paladin not to kill innocent people.
“Two low-level vampires, and one dead on the ground… Who are you?” The Dawn Lord stopped, frowning as he looked at the three women in front of him. One woman was crying, and another was pulling her; both were vampires.
But the last girl, who stood blocking their way, was not a vampire, and the Dawn Lord couldn’t see through her, unsure of her background or depth.
“I’m just passing by. We have no quarrel with you, so could you pretend not to see us? If you do… I might have to kill fewer people.” There was a killing intent in my voice. I couldn’t show weakness at this moment, otherwise, they would definitely attack us.
“A passing girl? Heh, you’re protecting two vampires, how could you be just passing by? As for letting them go, that’s even more impossible. Evil must be eradicated completely.” A monk said indifferently, but his words left no room for negotiation.
As soon as he finished speaking, three monks attacked simultaneously, throwing punches at us. They only sent three people because we also only had three, as if they were showing fairness at this moment.
But it was impossible for them to think that a three-on-three fair match would be possible. Via’s mother was in a state of collapse and couldn’t fight at all. The female sniper’s skills were all in the gun in her hand; she was a novice in close combat. Therefore, it was actually me against three.
I directly raised my greatsword and swung it at one monk, while simultaneously lashing out with my iron chains at the other two, intending to force them back first.
“Hah!” The leading monk let out a roar, and an incredibly sacred aura burst forth from his body. He directly struck at the blade with his bare palm, deflecting the greatsword.
The other two monks, one ducking and the other leaping, dodged my swung chains and simultaneously slapped at me. A palm print formed by their energy pushed forward like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
Via’s mother was behind me, so I had no choice but to return my sword to block in front of me, taking the two palm strikes head-on. These two spirit palm strikes made me feel as if I had been hit by two heavy hammers.
However, I still blocked them, not taking a single step back. I had just devoured the Tyr Paladin, and his divine power was being continuously digested by Gluttony, turning into a large amount of magic power that filled me. Now, my entire body was filled with magic power, and I wasn’t afraid of a head-on confrontation at all.
“Hmm?” The leading monk was somewhat surprised to see me block the combined attack of the other two, but he didn’t hesitate and charged again, this time with both fists wrapped in incredibly sacred aura.
“Invisible Hand!” I directly summoned a large number of insect legs to grab the three of them. Who would be foolish enough to engage monks in close combat? I was a witch.
“Magic?” The three monks felt their bodies stiffen as they were forcibly grabbed. But they immediately unleashed their energy, their powerful sacred aura causing their rough cloth clothes to swell up like armor, preventing the sharp insect legs from piercing through the simple fabric.
Moreover, their auras continuously impacted the insect legs, forcefully breaking free from many of them. Feeling the pressure, I followed up with a Poison Mist Technique, directly enveloping them.
When I was in the North Sea, I sometimes practiced martial arts with Mr. Zhang and his companions. Because I knew I was not good at close combat, I wanted to improve my deficiency. In my free time, I often sparred with martial arts experts from the Great Qing Empire.
The fighting style of these monks was very similar to Eastern martial arts, focusing on powerful physiques as the primary means, supplemented by martial arts techniques, and using energy as an attack method. Their close-combat power was extremely strong. One must never let them get close.
Setting aside a pure martial arts comparison, but if all means were exhausted, I did know of one magic that could potentially counter martial artists: the Poison Mist Technique.
Through contact with the Qing people, I learned that their true qi, internal energy, immortal energy, primal essence, spiritual power, and many other strange energies were actually essentially magic power, magic power cultivated through different methods. Even divine power was essentially magic power.
Or, to put it more scientifically, all of these are actually energy. Any energy can be converted into another in essence, although there will be losses in the process. So-called Eastern cultivation methods are about converting energy into the type of magic power one needs and storing it within the body.
Therefore, the higher the conversion efficiency, the faster the cultivation speed, the higher the energy utilization rate, and the greater the power of a single move. The greater the energy reserve, the longer one can sustain combat. This is the difference between so-called top-tier cultivation methods and ordinary ones.
For a martial artist to convert spiritual energy into the required qi, they needed to go through breathing techniques. This process involved interaction and conversion of energy with the external environment. If I filled the area around them with poisonous mist, the poison would be inhaled into their bodies. At best, it would affect the circulation of their internal energy, and at worst, it would directly poison them.
I had originally thought that the monks also used energy, and this move would be effective. Unexpectedly, they directly unleashed a burst of energy, blowing away both the insect legs and the poisonous mist.
