Academic gathering with a lich

"Heroic Spirit Summoning? The Purifiers, because of their own Power of Holy Light, can summon the deceased Crusader Warriors as Heroic Spirits to assist in battle?"

Amidst the shadows torn open by Mr. Raymond, Lyle and Raymond had attempted to make Karen perceive this act as a special characteristic of the Purifiers. After being doubly brainwashed by a trusted Purifier and the heroic characters she had grown up reading about in stories, Karen had finally reluctantly accepted this setup.

"If the Purifiers can summon His Excellency Raymond, that would be incredibly powerful!" Karen’s eyes glittered with golden light as she looked at Lyle as if he were the savior from the stories.

"Yes, Karen, the Purifiers are indeed very strong, exactly as you think," Lyle couldn’t recall how many times he had deceived Karen, and this time, it was Mr. Raymond who had led the lie.

"Then, His Excellency Raymond must be able to easily deal with those monsters, right?" Karen pointed to a group of Shadow Beasts not far from the crowd. Pressured by their instincts, they dared not advance beyond thirty meters, as if Mr. Raymond’s awe was a high wall made solid in their eyes.

Dealing with these monsters should have been a trivial matter for Mr. Raymond with just a flick of his fingers.

"I’m sorry, Karen, I can’t do that right now. The Power of Holy Light that Lyle possesses now is still too weak, he cannot summon all my strength, so my actual combat power may not meet your expectations," Mr. Raymond wanted to minimize his own trace of existence as much as possible, now was not the time for him to face the people of the Holy Light again.

"But when His Excellency Raymond emerged, he had casually slaughtered some Shadow Beasts, hadn’t he?"

"That was just an entrance effect!"

"..." Karen was speechless with shock at this nonsensical reason, while Mr. Raymond diverted her attention.

"While I can’t act directly, the power I now control is sufficient to serve as a supporter, a supporting priest. Karen, would you like to punish evil just like the legendary Crusader Warriors?"

Karen stepped back half a step, shaking. A blessing from a weakened Crusader leader, even if it was just a fraction, could strengthen her to a very substantial level. It was a gift, an opportunity to access stronger Power of Holy Light, and when struck by such windfall, Karen maintained a commendable humility.

"His Excellency Raymond, can you enhance Sir Lyle? He is a Purifier and is bound to play a much bigger role than I will," Karen said, her eyes full of excitement yet humbly lowered her head, like a dear child offering her toys to others.

"The Purifier Lyle is not suited for charging into battle, Karen. He is more suited to be a priest, a bishop purifying the spirits of lambs. He is not a combatant, but you are!"

"Is that so? Well then, it can’t be helped, as long as Sir Lyle is safe," Karen, already clad in tens of pounds of armor, bounced up to Raymond’s side.

"Holy Blessing!"

As Mr. Raymond’s arm, flashing with light, descended upon Karen’s head, she erupted into even stronger light and heat, like a small sun.

She cried out happily, "Praise the Holy Light! Praise Lord Raymond! My body is filled with the righteousness of light."

Mr. Raymond laughed as he pointed down the hillside at the herd of beasts, his voice filled with fervor.

"Crusader Warrior Karen! That evil is worth a fight!"

"Oh oh oh! For justice! For His Excellency Raymond! Crusader Karen! To battle!" With an indomitable will, Karen charged down the hillside alone, barreling through the group of Shadow Beasts like a chariot.

Looking at the corpses ignited by the Holy Light dancing in the air and the agonized screams of the Shadow Beasts, Lyle glanced at Mr. Raymond.

"She’s been led away," Lyle’s voice contained a mix of helplessness and resignation.

"Indeed, it was so easy that it’s unbelievable. This girl, she really is fit to be a Paladin. While her aunt is cunning like a banshee, this girl... truly is a child of the Holy Light, isn’t she..."

Lyle savored Raymond’s reflection, "Mr. Raymond, do you have some sort of objective prejudice against Paladins, even though you yourself are one..."

"I had thought those were all prejudices, but it turns out they actually might be true." Raymond swung his arm, "Look, she’s ’evolved’ a phototaxis." A pillar of light appeared not far from where Karen was fighting. Like a moth, she moved towards the pillar of light while smashing the Shadow Beasts around her with her war hammer, oblivious to the situation on Raymond and Lyle’s side.

Such pillars of light appeared a total of five times, each causing Karen to shift a small distance, and she hadn’t even realized, lost in her enemy-slaying fervor.

Although it felt somewhat inappropriate for Mr. Raymond to treat Kallen as if he were teasing a moth, Kallen’s submissive nature also left Lyle somewhat speechless.

"Did you make her take a bit too long a detour, Mr. Raymond? And is Kallen going to be okay? There are fourth-order monsters everywhere."

"Don’t worry, Lyle, the blessing I gave her is strong enough to crush these pieces of trash for a few hours. We have plenty of time and space."

It felt like sending an annoying child off to daycare.

"Your Excellency Raymond, should we now look for a way to safely transfer Kallen?" After all, Mr. Raymond could take Lyle back to Andrey at any time.

"Of course, but first let’s take out the mastermind behind these active shadows. That way, you’ll have enough time to find an exit."

"..." It seemed like an acceptable plan, going straight to the source of the crisis was indeed in Mr. Raymond’s style.

"This time, Mr. Raymond, you wouldn’t give me some invalid reason or make me unable to fight, would you?"

"Of course not. Do you think you can defeat the opponent on your own? Or are you hoping my Power of Holy Light can bless your Necromancy?" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Is that possible?"

"...Holy Light is an idealistic thing. I don’t think it works."

Raymond interrupted Lyle’s question and walked with him toward the source of darkness he had sensed. Kallen, having been led off course, paid no attention to the two departing figures.

"We will take care of the source..."

"But first, let’s deal with the little bug lurking in the dark corner and spying on us." As Raymond finished speaking, his wings unfolded, and the golden chains wrapped around his wings revealed their fangs like a predatory snake.

Lyle watched as they enveloped a patch of void, and a muffled grunt appeared in his own mind.

"No, Mr. Raymond! He’s not a bad person! He has helped us!"

Under the pressure of Raymond’s power, the figure that had been invisible finally revealed its form.

The hunched figure stood at approximately 1.8 meters tall, with grayish-white skin, a texture mixed with chitin and a shell-like sensation. Its head was elongated, semi-oval, resembling the body of some large insect, with distinctive grooves at the back of its head, a natural wrinkled appearance. Its facial features were similar to humans, but it lacked lips. The shallow grey eyes shone with blue brilliance, signifying an intelligent soul.

It wore metal decorative armor with intricate patterns, contrasting sharply with its gaunt physique—large arms, reversed-jointed legs, adorned with exotic metal ornaments.

And direct mental communication linked to its brain.

Lyle saw the source of the blade, a special device attached to its arms; the power of shadows emitted black-purple light blades from the device, like hidden blades.

It was an unknown creature, an intelligent entity.

Raymond questioned the unknown being, with the Holy Light Spear gathering in his hands.

"Who are you? What are you?"

The trapped assassin didn’t show anger. Instead, it looked at the brilliance in Raymond’s grip with anticipation, adoration, and nostalgia, emotions not visible to the eye but directly manifesting in your mind.

"I come from beyond the heavens; I am a Star Spirit."

"Unknown bishop, my name is Loveday, Star Spirit Loveday."