Chapter 494 — The Monster of Holy Light
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 3
Inside the centuries-old Cathedral of Frostbalance, roars and the clash of metal shattered the sanctuary's calm. The acrid stench of magical flames searing the air filled every corridor and chamber. The volunteer mercenaries and common folk who had gathered together raised a wild tide through the cathedral's upper levels; again and again, hidden priests and Church knights were dragged from their hiding corners out onto the plaza, and the terrible commotion even pierced the thick floor and spread down into the cathedral's subterranean vaults.
Light led a dozen or so White Knights through the deep underground passages of the Cathedral of Frostbalance. The heavy, hurried clatter of iron boots echoed endlessly through the ancient stone corridors, and the sounds of battle above drifted down now and then, faint and distant, as though from another world.
Amber's figure flitted constantly through the shadows near the White Knights' column. She caught up to Light's pace, unable to contain her curiosity. "You've been here before? You seem awfully familiar with this place..."
"The underground layouts of large cathedrals are all much the same. Directly beneath the main hall, a rectangular vault extends toward the direction of the Tower of the Holy Spirit, with one or two cross-junction structures in the middle—that's the fixed regulation," Light said gravely as he walked. "Be careful. There may be enemies hiding down here..."
"So you say... but we haven't seen a soul the whole way," Amber said, glancing around. All her eyes could find were corridors and flagstone paths lit by mana-crystal lamps. "Still, this place feels... genuinely a bit strange..."
Light did not answer. Instead he silently reached through his inner sense for the Holy Light, and as a faint glow surfaced in the depths of his eyes, the facility beneath the cathedral took on a different form before his sight:
He saw countless translucent spirits drifting through the deep, long corridors; runes beyond mortal comprehension or reading flickered across the mottled ancient walls; the flagstones underfoot were steeped in a faint radiance, and a thin mist was rising from the seams between the stones, gradually filling the whole corridor.
The other White Knights activated their own tactical lenses one after another, keeping watch for any abnormal energy reactions.
"The spirits within the sanctuary have all been stirred..." Light's steps gradually slowed, his tone unusually grave. "The energy field here is very active."
Amber thought it over seriously and found she understood none of it. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"A cathedral gathers the psychic force of people—the older and larger the cathedral, the more so. Over centuries, countless devout believers and clergy have moved within and around the cathedral. They prayed piously in life and sleep here in death, and their souls form powerful echoes within the cathedral's vaults—echoes that are not the undead, but something closer to a mindless, hollow reverberation. They are harmless, and to a degree they serve to calm the mind, which is why people feel a faint sense of ease upon entering an old cathedral. The priests call it a miracle of the God of Holy Light, but in truth it is merely a natural phenomenon that can be fully explained by theory," Light explained to Amber as he frowned. "There are many echoes gathered here as well... but these spirits, which ought to lie dormant underground... they all seem restless and agitated."
Amber broke out in gooseflesh at once, and Emily's figure emerged from the air beside Light. The little girl opened her eyes wide at the corridor that appeared empty to ordinary eyes, and waved happily in greeting to the invisible spirits.
Light immediately ordered the girl back. "Emily, hide yourself. It may be dangerous here."
Amber swallowed hard, weighing the possibility of turning tail and running right then, and asked, "What's up ahead?"