BXBX NOVEL Chapter 173:
As a “Hidden Quest Expert”, Brother Meow unsurprisingly triggered another “Hidden Quest” after completing the Black Iron Trial.
What’s even more surprising is that this Hidden Quest does not come from Murphy or other familiar NPCs, but from…
【Special Hidden Quest – ‘Ancient Call’ triggered!
Quest Description: In the name of God, purify the evil! Delve into history and clear the shadows! The way of nature walks with thee!
Quest Objective: Assist Natalie Finochia Lawson and Sister Jules Belinda in rebuilding the Avalon Church under Lord Murphy’s administration, and spread the human race’s natural faith as much as possible.
Basic Quest Reward: Divine Inspiration – Special Spirit Magic Sequence – Weak Luck Spell/Standard Luck Spell/Advanced Luck Spell.
Advanced Quest Reward: Divine Inspiration – Learning designated low-level natural divine spell sequences, special title “Divinely Inspired One”.
Time Limit: Six months.Note!
This quest can be shared with other natural faith sequence testers, with a maximum share number of 10.
Note!
Before the quest time limit expires, for every additional 1,000 believers in the new Avalon Church, the quest taker’s advanced reward claim times +1.】
“Holy shit, holy shit!”
The Four Heavenly Kings, after Brother Meow shared the quest with them, all exclaimed in shock, not only because the reward is very generous, but also because of the nature of this quest!
Missionary work!
This is missionary work! The Renaissance has arrived, brothers! Although according to the plot progression, the rise of the new Avalon Church is already set in stone after the White Oak Battalion’s arrival in Transia, having players directly participate in the establishment of the new church and having players go around as guest missionaries to recruit people is still shocking enough.
At the very least, other games, no matter how chaotic they get, will try to avoid letting players get involved in religious gameplay.
One can only say, as expected of the 《Reality Realm》!
The degree of freedom is maxed out.
“You see, I told you, although we chose the Avalon Church’s power system and can no longer transform into cool vampires, the developers will definitely compensate us.”
Brother Meow is now very smug.
He strokes the Avalon Sacred Blade with an air of wisdom, instructing his Four Heavenly Kings:
“Now it seems our power faction’s unique gameplay is the ‘Church System’. In the future, we might even be able to become regional bishops. But now is not the time to talk about this. I have also found a shortcut to complete the Black Iron Trial.”
“As long as we convert to the nature faction and gain nature power bonuses in preferred terrains, we can learn from Brother Stick to make traps. As long as our skill level is up to par, soloing elites won’t be a dream!”
“Yep, convert! Once the Witch Hunters are settled, we’ll convert right away.”
The other four people had been hesitating to convert into the Witch Hunter power system, but now seeing how heroic Brother Meow is, winning 1v4, they instantly saw the beauty of strength.
Although having to choose a preferred terrain when fighting is indeed quite troublesome, on the flip side, you could say this is also a game feature based on realism. If you think about it carefully, vampires being buffed to an unbeatable level in the night, doesn’t that mean the vampire’s preferred terrain is the night?
Hey, feels like we discovered something incredible.
“Meow! What are you five doing? Stop slacking off and come out quickly!”
Joy Stick’s summons in the team frame soon arrived. He shouted:
“The fog of war has been dispelled by Lady Tris, and the wild dogs from Circle Tower have started to flee. Lord Murphy’s order is to not leave a single one alive! Come out and hunt down the fleeing soldiers! Dawn is almost here.”
“Okay, coming.”
Brother Meow responded and led the Four Heavenly Kings out of this “Forest of Luck”.
Under the increasingly clamorous night before their eyes, the fog of war that originally obscured their vision has rapidly dissipated under Lady Tris’ spellcasting, exposing the tragic situation of this entire area to the little players.
The besieged Witch Hunter escapees can be said to have corpses strewn everywhere. It’s clear that under the crafty encirclement and annihilation tactics of the spirit hunters, these remnants would have a hard time gaining the upper hand in direct confrontations.
However, conversely, because the little players and Lord Murphy’s reinforcements arrived in time, coupled with Witch Hunters continuously running over to provide support in both the front and back, the spirit hunter side also suffered heavy losses.
“At least several hundred people died here.”
Old Tune, shouldering his hunting rifle, looked around. The corpses of men and horses that had fallen before his eyes made it a bit unbearable to look at directly.
Although they had long known that the background of this game world was a chaotic and barbaric era, when do normal people in modern society have the chance to see such a tragic situation?
They are indeed the chaotic, silly, and frenzied Fourth Calamity, but that doesn’t mean little players won’t be moved by the scene.
Especially in a world with maxed out realism.
“Uh, I feel like I’m starting to understand those pacifists.”
Day One beside him sighed.
He squatted down and closed the eyes of the female Witch Hunter lying dead in front of him, her eyes filled with lingering anger and regret but already devoid of luster. He then muttered a few jumbled Buddhist scriptures to send her to the Western Paradise, before standing up and saying to his brothers:
“This war business is just too disturbing. Luckily our side won’t have this kind of thing happen. To be honest, I still don’t understand why Circle Tower has to drive the Witch Hunters to extinction. Haven’t the Witch Hunters been cannon fodder for the Spirit Mages and Goldflower Kingdom for a whole ten years?
Isn’t kicking away the stool after crossing the river too ruthless?”
“Who knows?”
Brother Meow squinted his eyes.
After pondering for a few seconds, he said:
“I reckon there’s more to the old church rebellion back then. Finding the truth behind that matter might just be our Avalon faction’s main job quest line. And you know what, I always feel there must be big benefits to reap from this quest.”
“Oh? How so?”
Black Stockings leaned over and asked. Three to Five Pecks also looked at Brother Meow curiously. The latter patted the Replica Avalon Sacred Blade at his waist and said:
“The item appraisal says the Elder Council of Glamo made a total of 150 replica sacred blades, and they’re all lost in the wars now. Other than the two in my and the gray-haired witch huntress Natalie’s hands that have confirmed whereabouts, who knows where the other 148 are?
Think about it, guys. Why did the devs make the legend of 150 sacred blades? Not to mention there are also super top-tier equipment like the Three Oak Sacred Blades!
Right now, among the Three Sacred Blades, only the Watcher is in the hands of battalion commander Natalie. The Punisher and Arbiter are both still missing.
Brothers, that might just be the surprise the devs left for us, the legend of peerless divine weapons and all that. Sounds badass and powerful.
Even if we can’t get the real sacred blades, having a few Replica sacred blades on us is prestigious enough. After all, there are only 150 of these things in the lore. The commemorative significance and collection value alone are maxed out. This cake has come full circle.”
“Makes sense.”
The Four Heavenly Kings were convinced. They had to admit Brother Meow’s speculation made a lot of sense.
So they merrily went to regroup with the little players still hunting down fleeing soldiers. Under the guidance of Lord Murphy’s Blood Vulture Spirit, they continuously pursued those already collapsed spirit hunters under this desolate night.
Their activeness in fighting against greater numbers with weaker strength, their tireless hunting, and even their fanaticism for war and slaughter made even the old Witch Hunters feel shocked.
“These are the ‘Murphy’s Warriors’ you’ve been mentioning?”
Old hunter Eugene asked the veteran Norman riding beside him:
“They’re the ones who went deep into the Blood Vulture Halls to participate in the operation against Salrokdar? Despite being weak in strength, they are so fearless and undaunted. Indeed worthy of being the legendarily savage but combative mountain folk. However, I remember the mountain folk I’ve seen before didn’t have such delicate appearances!
Also, why do these fellows’ black hair and eyes always seem to have traits of those oriental dragon descendants from the Ancient Calum Kingdom?
Are you sure they came from the ancient mountains of the Saxony region?”
“At least that’s what Lord Murphy said.”
Veteran Norman hesitated on whether to tell Old Hunter the truth about the little players being “otherworlders”. But every time the words reached his mouth, a strange emotion would surface in his heart. It seemed some power was preventing him from revealing the truth.
And he was very familiar with this emotion. Ten years ago, when the Avalon Church had not yet collapsed, he would have a similar feeling every time he entered the nature cathedral to pray.
That feeling of being watched.
Perhaps the gaze of the Avalon God had truly fallen back upon them, these last Witch Hunters. Perhaps it was because they had proven their loyalty to the divine with the pain of the Ten-Year War.
If the divine was demanding he keep this secret, then Norman would absolutely prevent any behavior that exposed the identities of these “mountain folk”.
And in any case, the grace of the Avalon God had already descended upon these otherworlders, proving they had become allies on the path of nature.
“Bang!”
A familiar gunshot rang out from ahead, making Old Eugene and Norman spur their horses forward immediately.
Very quickly, they saw Grandma Marianne executing a fleeing spirit hunter commander.
The latter knelt on the ground, helmet already taken off and tossed to the side. His aged face full of Circle Tower tattoos was filled with pleading as he screamed:
“Marianne! I once saved you in that ambush by the Caesar barbarian god warriors on us at Ice Bay! We are friends! Right? Don’t do this. Don’t end my life with a bullet.
Those nature-enchanted bullets of yours aren’t meant to attack fellow kin.”
“I know, Ponte. I know. I still remember how you carried me on your back as we crawled out from the ancient barbarians’ haunted cavern. We were covered in blood and you yelled at me not to fall asleep.
I’ve always remembered the debt of you saving my life.”
The old hunter sighed and lowered the double-barreled hunting rifle in her hands.
She took a step back, looking at the betrayer colleague before her. In a hoarse voice, she said:
“But when you decided to aid tyranny and hunt us old friends for your new master, what I owed you was already cleared! Ponte, remember! Everything tonight is not a personal grudge!
For the sake of your past service to Avalon, have some dignity!”
“Whoosh!”
The verdant hunting blade unsheathed. The traitor instinctively clenched his fists, but upon raising his head and seeing the tired and helpless eyes of Grandma Marianne, he sighed, loosened his fingers, and knelt on the ground in a past prayer posture, silently chanting something.
“May Avalon’s starlight illuminate that shadowed, twisted path.”
Grandma Marianne muttered softly, then coldly pressed down on her “old friend’s” shoulder, letting that sharp blade precisely pierce the latter’s heart. With a twist of her wrist, she shredded the heart, severing all life force from this spirit-enhanced person.
“Well done!”
Old Eugene praised from atop his horse:
“Indeed worthy of being ‘Iron-Blooded Marianne’. It seems time and suffering have not taken away your courage.”
“Oh, shut up!”
Grandma Marianne did not accept this praise.
She wiped the fresh blood on the hunting blade and glanced at the kneeling corpse before her. Sighing, she took out a small bottle of combustion oil, poured it over the traitor’s body, then invoked the name of the divine to set the corpse ablaze.
This was her final mercy to an old friend.
She did not know what that vampire lord would do to these corpses, but with the current enmity between the Blood Vulture Clan and Circle Tower, those creatures of the midnight would surely be capable of even the most outrageous acts.
However, she no longer had any reason to condemn Murphy, because from this night onward, that vampire would also be her lord and the protector of her faith.
Alas, for Witch Hunters, the turn of events could truly be called black humor.
As Grandma Marianne remounted her horse, Old Eugene leaned over and whispered:
“Confirmed! There are indeed believers of my god among those ‘warriors’. Baptized for no more than twenty days, yet already crossed the Black Iron Realm under my god’s blessings. Marianne, we’ve found it! That sought-after holy land and new hope…
It’s in Transia! That is the second chance my god has bestowed upon us lost souls! Tonight’s blood, tonight is the final passion before dawn!”
“Can you tone down this untimely fanaticism of yours?”
Grandma Marianne was impatient to discuss these matters with a zealot like Old Eugene. She pulled her hunter’s hat down a bit, saying tiredly in passing:
“It’s still uncertain what attitude that vampire has towards the way of nature. Although Natalie has assured he will accept us, can a vampire’s words be trusted?
Let’s just take it one step at a time.”
“I still firmly believe this is the guidance of my god!”
Old Eugene said in a low voice:
“Our sins have been atoned for in the ten-year arduous journey. The merciful Avalon has once again opened its embrace to us. Transia will be the next Glamo Island, and we shall reenact the great feat of the first generation Elder Council establishing the cathedral in the year 530 of the era.
This is what my god wishes to see!
I am certain of it!”
This time, Grandma Marianne did not refute.
Atop her horse, she looked back at the corpses under the night and shook her head.
She did not know if Transia was the new holy land, nor did she really want to know.
She only knew that she was very, very tired after fighting for ten years. Now, she just wanted to find a place where she would not be spat on and spend the rest of her life in peace and quiet. Alas, she was almost seventy years old. Although still spry under nature’s blessings, she only had less than a hundred years left to live. Time was no longer kind to her.
But she had learned to reconcile with time and even life itself amidst the suffering.
Perhaps after laying down arms and returning to the fields, being an ordinary missionary or church granny would be quite nice.
——
“So we only saved less than 300 people?”
Murphy soared in the night sky, with loyal Maxim flying beside him, always trailing by one body length.
The vampire lord looked down at the battlefield from high above. The vampiric life sensing allowed him to feel the fleeing soldiers being killed one by one.
He said softly:
“Including the three squads that broke through to Anderma Hills earlier, out of 1,400 Witch Hunters, 1,200 ultimately survived?”
“No, only 1,000, my lord.”
Maxim corrected:
“Another 200 people ultimately did not have the courage to follow battalion commander Natalie in leaving the Goldflower Kingdom. It’s said those were all cowards tired of fighting.”
“Wanting to live in peace is a beautiful expectation. That cannot be called ‘cowardice’, Max.”
As soon as Murphy heard 1,000 people, he immediately thought of gaining 10 more slots. Coupled with the accumulating population of villages and towns where Miriam was continuously sending envoys to declare sovereignty, this made the lord very satisfied.
He planned to find an opportunity to release all these trial slots in one go after some time, doubling the little player manpower under his command.
This way, his other plans could also proceed smoothly.
“Max! Have your veteran soldiers come over here and chop off the heads of the spirit hunters and Spirit Mages!”
Murphy looked at the night sky above. He said coldly:
“Pile them here! Give Circle Tower a response. We will tell them that everything tonight is by no means the end of some struggle! It doesn’t even count as the end of the beginning. They will pay the price for their misdeeds.
Not just them…
Wolfsbane, Goldflower, Dusk!
Anyone who participated in the destruction of Kadman City, not a single one will escape! Those were 150,000 people! They all should have been my subjects.
They need justice.”
“As you command, my lord.”
Maxim had no objection to this order. On the contrary, he felt Lord Murphy’s decision suited his taste perfectly.
Transians never submit under threats.
Although their land was rife with poor folk, savages, and boors, cowards were creatures that could not survive in their desolate mountains and treacherous waters!