I Became the Moon Goddess' Apostle in a Dark Fantasy-Chapter 54: The Hollow Church

Disclaimer: This Chapter may cost extra because it contains more words.

Author’s Note:

Hello, everyone.

While uploading this Chapter, I accidentally pasted the same Chapter twice and posted it.

And in accordance with Webnovel’s rules, I cannot erase more than 100 words at a time.

So, I will be writing yet another Chapter in this very Chapter.

So, anyone who saw the repeated Chapters, please read from the middle again.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

***

"There is something here," Carroll said, hearing a hollow thump.

They immediately stood up and rushed towards her.

What if something popped out?

Raven looked at the wall, seeing if there was something out of place that could act as a key.

Movies really helped a lot in these cases.

But alas, not here.

There wasn’t anything out of place.

Not a single brick out of place.

After that failed, he started pressing on each individual brick.

The rest of them were confused, wondering what he was doing.

But they trusted Raven with this.

He was already proven right once.

He could be proven right again.

Hence, they didn’t say anything.

"There’s no loose bricks either," Raven mumbled, wondering what was next.

Maybe the church had something out of place?

But then he realized.

Why would the church usually have this?

They did not need a hidden chamber.

And since this tax problem started not too long ago, he doubted the perpetrator would have time for such a complex system.

"Pevon," He had just one option left.

"Hmm?"

"Break this place," He pointed where the wall sounded hollow.

Pevon nodded and immediately clenched his fist.

Without even using his aura, he swung.

Boom!

The wooden splinters flew everywhere, but Raven’s pre-conjured crystal wall manifested immediately, protecting everyone.

Ugh!

Heuk!

HEUKKKK!

A rancid stench radiated from inside, immedaitely make Pevon, Carroll, and Janet fall on their knees.

Raven was also disgusted, but he could still hold back a bit.

Pevon and Carroll only heaved loudly, but Janet immediately threw up.

Raven pulled out his handkerchief and forced it against his nose.

Whatever it was, it was rotting for quite a while.

He gathered his courage and leaned forward to look inside.

Damn! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

It was brutal.

Dead bodies piled upon even more dead bodies.

And they were all half rotten.

He conjured yet another crystal wall, barring the rest of the team’s vision to this horrific sight.

He doubted they would be able to stay calm if they saw this.

Some of the bodies had armor on them, and some had a cleric’s robe donned.

He reckoned they were the bodies of the original workers of the Church, and the guards who came investigating later.

Hmm?

Suddenly, his eyes caught something.

The half-rotten goo of skin was black.

Not just dark purple or anything.

It was pitch black.

Hmmp!

His eyes widened, his yelp muffled by the handkerchief.

Charred black?

Wasn’t that...?

Then, his heart beat once again.

He suddenly remembered something.

Something was very strange the second he arrived in this village.

And now, he finally realized what this feeling was.

"Everyone," He took out the handkerchief for a second, "We are going back immediately."

His voice was grave.

The others looked up, wondering what he was going on now?

"I think Zuri might be in trouble."

...

In the streets of the village, four people were speeding past everyone, their expressions grave.

The village folks sighed seeing this sight, as they realized the Church incident was going to repeat all over again.

It really wasn’t safe, huh?

Pevon was running in the front, and Raven was handling the back.

He looked towards everyone’s face.

And he sighed in relief.

’Thank God, I erected that crystal wall,’ He thought in solace.

Had any of them seen what was inside that hollow wall, they would most likely not have been in their best states.

Especially Janet.

"Raven," Carroll called him, while they were running.

"Hmm?"

"Be honest with us," He asked, his voice somber, "What was inside that wall?"

"..."

Raven blinked, wondering what he should do.

He wondered if this was the right time to say.

But looking at how Janet trembled at this question, he sighed.

"We have more important tasks in our hands right now."

This answer alone reassured their individual suspicions.

But they knew saying it out loud wasn’t the move here.

"Yeah," Carroll replied, "Let’s go back for now."

...

Bang!

The door of the monastery swung open with a loud bang.

The team was extremely wary after hearing what Raven had just revealed.

Raven immediately activated his [Trace Eyes] once again and took a look around.

’As I thought,’ He pondered as he counted the horses behind the wooden wall of the monastery.

It was still five.

He looked around again and noticed a human’s presence inside.

But this time, the color of the marks all over the body wasn’t dark blue as it was with the granny they had met earlier.

It was a pulsating light blue.

It wasn’t the same.

"Follow me," He whispered, a sense of urgency lacing his voice.

They tiptoed in the direction where Raven was leading them.

Raven’s pace slowed in front of the hall’s door and halted.

"Get ready."

He had already prepared as many spells as he could, returning here.

Including many defensive walls.

"Janet, back down a bit."

He whispered again, as he also backed down with her.

The vanguard was with the warriors.

"On my count to three, Pevon," He looked at him, "Open that door gradually, and immediately back down at your full speed."

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Everyone’s heart was pounding, but they knew it was their duty.

"3... 2... 1... Go!"

As he said ’Go’, Pevon opened the door in a flash and backed down.

Grraaaa!

A guttural voice resounded from inside.

As Pevon backed down with a dash, Raven erected a crystal wall.

Clatter!

The crystal wall immediately formed cracks, and a creature showed up on the other side.

"Get ready, everyone," He shouted, throwing up a spinning crystal spearhead at it, "It’s a high-level accursed."

The scene in front of them was revolting.

It was the granny they had met earlier, except for the fact that her skin was completely charred and was melting off her muscles.

Her skin had a armor like fragments over her, which looked to be made up of a tree’s bark.

And the sheer force she had used to tackle the crystal wall shook them.

So, this was an accursed?

Fuck!

"Don’t daze out," Raven shouted, as the high-level accursed planned to charge at his wall once again.

He peeked inside and noticed Zuri, lying down, unconscious.

Being a mage without the presence of a warrior was a fatal flaw.

Raven imagined how it might have played out.

She must have gone inside to fetch her belongings and then noticed this accursed.

But before she could conjure a spell, she must have been knocked out cold.

Pevon and Carroll immediately got into their battle stance.

"Janet," Raven called her out, "Immediately debuff that creature when it breaks through."

In their journey here, they had conversed a lot.

About their hobbies, strengths, weaknesses, pet peeves, and so on.

And they also shared their combat prowess.

Zuri was a mage, just like Raven.

Pevon and Carroll were warriors.

And Janet had an ability.

An ability to debuff enemies.

Stuns, slows, weakens, and the most helpful in this battle, which was also her signature.

Armor shred.

Raven had no idea how powerful this

The accursed backed down and charged again.

Raven was also ready with all his attacks.

Crash!

Shatter!

The accursed shattered his wall, and finally, the battle was on.

Janet, taking the lead, immediately cast all her debuffs at once.

This was also an advantage of people holding abilities.

They could instantly use their abilities without any of the processes.

Crackle! Crackle!

It roared as it froze in its place for a moment.

The tree-bark-like armor chipped out.

But it wasn’t completely shed.

As expected, a low-level mage would only do so much.

But the stun was a boon for them.

"Focus on chopping off its head." Raven gave them the same advice he knew.

Pevon and Carroll charged with their sword aiming to decapitate it.

And Raven rained it down with a barrage of spells.

Nearly 7 of his spells.

Since it was at the door, he held back from shooting out most, as it could very well dodge, which would harm Zuri.

Bang! Bang!

Clank!

The spells hit it one after another, and both swords fell on its neck.

Their arms shook from the recoil.

But it barely damaged its chitin-like armor.

Fuck!

As expected, it wasn’t easy fighting a high-level accursed.

The bunch immediately backed down as the accursed moved.

"Fuck," Carroll cursed it out, looking at its monstrous speed.

And it was after the slow debuff?

A chill ran down her spine.

Was this how it was with all the high-level accurseds?

"Lure it outside," Raven immediately barked more orders, "This thing would collapse this monastery."

The others understood, since Zuri was still inside.

The accursed charged at Janet, as it judged her to be the weakest.

And the most annoying.

But Raven immediately erected a wall in front of her.

His brain was racing as fast as it could.

The accursed seemed to have a minimal level of intelligence, since it immediately ditched her as the target.

It remembered how the wall can tank two of its attacks.

Raven looked equally as annoying, since he was the one erecting those walls.

Which meant the next target should be,

"Carroll, run outside," Raven screamed, "Pevon, help her."

They complied earnestly, tanking the creature’s shot, which was enough to shake them to the core.

And they were also barely dodging its attacks.

Boom!

Instead of using the door, the accursed chose to break through the rotting frame, since it was the shortest path to the warrior duo.

"Looks like I gave its intelligence more credit than I should have," Raven chuckled dryly as he patted his pouch and took out a pill.

"Janet," He called her out, "Feed this to Zuri, while I go and support them."

Janet’s role in the fight was mostly debuffs, which she still needed to cool down.

So, she had time.

"Alright," She was slowly strengthening her resolve, seeing death up so close.

"I will join you guys in a moment."

Raven hurriedly dashed outside as he gave her a thumbs up, "I am counting on you."

...

’I will run out of pre-fired spells pretty soon,’ He mumbled, while still chasing the accursed. ’I should try the other skill I inherited from ’her’.’

As he reached outside, he noticed that the duo was holding out pretty nicely.

Especially Pevon, who was using his aura to fight.

It was his turn now.