When Yu Sheng's group entered the depths of the Spiritual Furnace, while the Hidden Monastery's Priest Group was still hiding in a secret bunker, orbital bombardments from the United Fleet continued to fall on this planet, and intense battles across the Holy Realm's surface were still ongoing.

Large landing pods with astonishing momentum descended from the sky, crashing into the ruins, as Deep Dive warriors clad in heavy Power Armor descended from orbit, beginning to suppress palaces and temples with remaining signal responses.

Along with the landing pods, shuttle transports carrying elite marine units and various atmospheric suppression bombers used for planetary suppression also breached the atmosphere.

On a plain somewhere in the northern hemisphere of the Holy Realm, smoke filled the air as war fires raged, and fierce winds carried blood-scented rain across the plain's skies.

A marine unit landed on the planet at the junction of the plains and mountains, and tactical shuttles deployed Shields after descending, serving as temporary bunkers. The unit Commander observed the battlefield from the Force Field cover, seeing more support units descending from orbit to the surface.

Three heavy landing pods had just landed nearby, with roars of heavy firepower echoing from the smoke, followed by a giant iron-black cube plowing through thick clouds—it began decelerating mid-air, and after brief ignition of reverse thrusters, the cube disassembled in the air. A deluge of Tactical Walking Machines and cooperative combat robots rained down near the landing pods, commencing assistance to the Deep Dive Team advancing towards the mountains.

In the distant sky, immense flashes occasionally swept across the heavens, lighting up the clouds as if igniting the sky. Those were planetary suppression troops firing from near-Earth orbit, relentlessly destroying cult spacecraft attempting to launch from planetary platforms, covering more landing troops breaching the atmosphere.

On the horizon, deep within the plain, fires and lightning storms induced by energy annihilation raged. A massive ring-like wreck leaned and collapsed on the plain, surrounded by large architectural structures fell from the sky, with the ground around it illuminated by flames in fiery red, and numerous ghostly blue Fox Fires danced through the smoke as if alive.

That was the destroyed Gate of Eden.

"Truly an astonishing thing..." The landing troops Commander muttered to himself as the tactical analysis module in his Power Armor reported astounding energy levels. The waveform graph jumping on the face armor display reminded him of the terrible forces still surging in the collapsed ruins, "Such a thing is simply torn down?"

"This is Advance Team 23," a friendly voice from a nearby unit said through the communicator, "Our task is to assist you in destroying the giant anti-aircraft cannon in the northern area. We have arrived at the surface and are moving towards the meeting point."

"Advance Team 22 received," the Commander immediately responded, "Assembly point secured, proceed according to the plan."

The communication ended, and the team Commander sighed with relief. However, just at that moment, a buzzing noise suddenly sounded in the Power Armor helmet, with a red light flashing on the edge of his vision.

Alarm bells blared in his mind, and he swiftly turned his head towards the direction indicated by the red light, simultaneously raising his rifle.

A tall and elegant figure stood amidst the smoke, accompanied by a dozen heavy Brass Knights standing beside the figure.

A chill ran from head to toe upon recognizing the figure. The team Commander instantly knew things were dire—without any time to think, he instinctively pulled the trigger.

A series of particle light orbs sprayed towards the tall and elegant killing machine, but human firing reactions stood no chance against the Artificial Saintess's speed. The opponent gracefully wove through the barrage as if strolling in the rain, and by the next blink, the blade was already at the Power Armor's throat.

The charge of other Brass Knights was only a step behind the Artificial Saintess.

But the expected death did not come.

Amidst heightened tension throughout muscles and nerves and the dense, drumbeat-like sound of his heartbeat, the team Commander broke into a cold sweat as he saw the beautiful killing machine halt right there.

She maintained the posture of thrusting the blade, and the Force Field Greatswords wielded by the surrounding Brass Knights were raised high in the air. Yet, the entire squad simply stopped, as if someone pressed a pause button on them.

For a moment, no one dared to move.

...

Blood soaked into crystal, staining the Holy Light with crimson hues, as wind chime-like Spiritual Resonance echoed throughout the hall. Within it, fleetingly, some dissonant sounds mixed, but in the next instant, all noises blended back into the gentle resonance.

Luna lifted her head, seeing radiance spreading from behind Yu Sheng, like a splash of dawn light, surpassing all illusions, shimmering in the Soul Wilderness.

As she gently blinked her eyes, opening them again, she found herself standing before the solemn Great Cathedral.

The canopy of the Crystal Giant Tree covered the cathedral, with its expanding branches and leaves forming an endless crystalline sky.

The cathedral stood under the giant tree, with black walls and spires as solemn as death.

Many figures were gathered under the Crystal Tree, and many more were emerging from the fog near the cathedral while others just arrived at the Soul Wilderness but would soon be guided to this assembly site.

The Knights conveyed messages that some wandering souls lingered near the grand bonfire on the wilderness.

Those were Saintesses and knights who served over two centuries—their personalities and memories entirely worn down during service, lingering by the bonfire, was their only remaining instinct yearning for warmth and light.

Luna stood on a temporarily generated platform before the cathedral, took a deep breath, yet her expression remained tense.

She was nervous, very, very nervous.

Her nature was lively and cheerful, talking endlessly with Yu Sheng in the Soul Wilderness, and chattering all night when catching Erin wandering by.

But she was never a big figure, never imagining she could be a major person.

Since leaving her village, she never spoke before so many people, let alone guided something or led someone.

This thing seemed more challenging than she imagined.

But everyone was waiting for her to speak.

These Minds suddenly awakened from cognitive shields now eagerly needed to know what was happening.

A brilliance suddenly emerged from the edge of her vision.

Surprised, Luna turned her head, seeing a blurry shadow floating beside her.

The "Living Saint" raised her hand and handed over a semi-transparent sugar candy illusion.

Luna was taken aback.

The other party still didn't speak, but Luna felt as if she could "hear" her meaning directly.

—If you're nervous, just eat a candy, once you eat the candy, you won't be nervous anymore.

A long, long time ago, when a naive country girl first got on the church's carriage, her brother handed her a candy and said this.

After a lengthy service, this was the only thing she remembered that was related to "people."

Luna blinked and, being a spiritual body as well, reached out to take the candy formed by the illusion.

A moment later, she gently took a breath.

"Listen to me, everyone," she turned around and looked at the figures gathered in front of the Great Cathedral, "I am just like you..."

...

In the depths of a certain underground bunker in the Holy Realm Polar Ring Belt, a tense and uneasy atmosphere was spreading through the air.

The bombardment from near-earth orbit continued, news of the fall of cities and factories came incessantly, reinforcements were slow to arrive, and the Defensive Army left on the surface to resist the heretics was dwindling.

Yet, at such a critical moment, communication from the Central Temple District bunker suddenly broke down again.

Without the orders from the Holy, the order was teetering.

"Still no news from the Central Temple District?"

A Great Sage responsible for commanding the Ring Diocese sat on a high-backed chair, his expression grave as he inquired of the junior priest who had just been summoned.

A distant rumbling penetrated through the strata, some surface facility seemed to have just exploded, the underground bunker shook amidst the tremors, the lights on the dome flickered, tiny debris fell on the floor.

"Still, still not," the junior priest lowered his head, his voice full of humility and tension, "maybe it's interference created by the heretics' orbital suppression troops in the atmosphere..."

"What about the physical communication network?"

"The Polar Continental Shelf was blasted by fortress torpedoes, all underground and submarine communication cables have been severed..."

The high-level priest couldn't help but curse.

Anxiety surged in his heart.

He instinctively glanced at the tall figure standing behind him, as well as the Brass Knights guarding at various entrances of the hall.

These loyal battle machines somewhat reassured him.

But in the next second, anxiety surged again like a shadow clinging to bones in his heart.

What really happened in the Central Temple District? Was communication just cut off due to interference?

Before the communication interruption, other underground bunkers had received a brief signal from the Central Temple District, in less than a second of the call where indistinctly there seemed to be screams and explosions.

Did the heretics breach the bunker there?

Many actually thought of this possibility but dared not think further.

How could the place where the Holy resides possibly fall?

There's also a Defensive Army there, along with the Artificial Saintesses and the Knight Order responsible for guarding the Church Group's assets, and surely the Saintesses and Knights there are stronger in combat, updated in models, and greater in numbers.

How could it possibly fall—how could it possibly fall so quickly?

The high-level priest anxiously glanced back again.

The Artificial Saintess still silently stood behind him.

But suddenly, she tilted her head.

Her inorganic mechanical eyeballs slightly turned, her gaze falling on the priest.

A fleeting doubt flashed through the high-level priest's mind—why did she suddenly move?

At that moment, he felt he saw a hint of liveliness like a living person on the face of this unthinking killing machine.

And then he had no chance to confirm if it was his illusion.

A chill flashed across his neck, his vision rapidly skewed, his thoughts slowed, the surroundings gradually darkened, the powerful spiritual energy power instinctively gathered hadn't formed, but with the disintegration of thought, quickly dissipated into the air.

The last scene the high-level priest saw at the edge of his vision was the Brass Knight guarding the hall entrance suddenly turning around, its decomposition force field greatsword sweeping like lightning, slicing a believer who was screaming trying to escape to report throat-caught at the waist.