Chapter 153 I Am Not the Blasphemer, He Is

Bondi did not tell anyone about the nightmare he had experienced. An inevitable trace of fear had already taken root in his heart. Although the probability seemed low, and it felt far away, Bondi was terrified that he would follow in Taylor's footsteps.

Another day of leading prayers came to an end. Taylor stood beneath the statue of the Holy Light, watching the believers depart. Yet he did not leave, remaining rooted to the spot for a long time, looking down at the Gospel. On the flyleaf was written:

*The devout of the Holy Light harbor no fear in their hearts.*

"Could it be that I am not devout enough toward the Holy Light? No, that cannot be. Am I suffering from mental corrosion?"

Bondi touched his forehead and turned to look at the statue of the Holy Light. It must be that heretical object influencing me. That damned heretic—as long as I catch him, as long as I purify him, I will be fine!

"The Holy Light will protect me!"

Setting out in the afternoon, Bondi walked in the company of another, more senior cleric. Within the seemingly normal confines of the city of Dige, the clerics of the Holy Temple were quite active.

The route the two men took had been pre-planned, with a scheduled stop midway to help preside over a blessing ceremony at the home of a noble viscount.

Dige was bustling and hurried. Some streets were deserted, while others teemed with crowds, everything seeming entirely ordinary.

Though heavy-hearted, Bondi tried his best to maintain a normal facade, while the senior cleric kept a watchful eye on their surroundings.

"Perhaps that fellow has already fled. What do you think, Cleric Bondi?"

"Ah?"

Bondi snapped out of his trance and hurried to reply.

"Um, perhaps. I was just wondering what his true objective could be."

"Heretics are nothing more than madmen at times."

As the senior cleric spoke, he suddenly noticed that Bondi had stopped moving, so he halted his steps as well and looked at his companion.

"What is the matter?"

"Shall we go and take a look over there?"

"Over there? You mean the direction leading out of the city? Did you notice something?"

The direction of Bondi's gaze was precisely the path he had followed Taylor down in his dream. Suddenly realizing that this place was an exact match, a subconscious urge compelled him to check it out.

"I have a strange intuition."

"Intuition?"

The senior cleric frowned and thought for a moment.

"Very well, let us go take a look. Perhaps the Holy Light is guiding you."

"Let us take this; I suspect it is rather far."

The roar of a steam whistle sounded nearby. A steam tram stopped at the adjacent platform, and the two clerics boarded it directly.

The driver and several passengers bowed to the temple clerics, as temple clergy were permitted to ride for free.

The whistle blew once more, and the steam tram slowly accelerated. Because stopping and starting were cumbersome, the distance between stations was quite long.

Jolting and swaying, the steam tram passed by rows of buildings, transitioning from dense to sparse and back to dense, from ornate and towering to ancient and dilapidated. Aside from the steam billowing from the engine, winter in Dige appeared full of rising warmth even when viewed from a carriage.

"Clack-clack, clack-clack, clack-clack... hiss——"

"Respected clerics, this is the final stop. If you do not disembark here, we will be turning back."

The engine driver inquired of the last two passengers on board. Bondi exchanged glances with the senior cleric, and they chose to get off here.

Stepping down from the tram, the wind mixed with fine snowflakes brought a fierce chill. The tram was already starting to pull away, while the density of the surrounding houses was noticeably much lower. In some places, wide gaps separated buildings without a single structure in sight, making it feel like the countryside compared to downtown Dige.

***

"Well? Is this the place?"

"We still need to search."

The scenery here was also strikingly similar to the one in his dream. Bondi's heart began to tense up. Though he said they still needed to search, he simply strode forward in a straight line.

A small lake, a patch of withered yellow reeds, and a few dilapidated old houses surrounding them. After walking for over ten minutes, Bondi came to a halt, goosebumps breaking out all over his body.

The accompanying senior cleric uttered a surprised exclamation.

"This is... an abandoned temple?"

Ahead stood a damaged structure unlike the low-lying houses in the surrounding suburbs. Although it was ruined beyond recognition, judging by the remaining traces of sculptures on the rooftop, it was very likely to have once been a holy temple.

The closer the two men drew to the building, the more certain they became that this was undoubtedly a temple. Bondi's heartbeat quickened. Could that heretic be inside?

Filled with tension, apprehension, unease, and regret, Bondi nevertheless stepped inside with his companion. Once they were inside, Bondi let out a long breath—the heretic was not here.

The roof of the building had collapsed, and the falling debris might have struck the statue of the Holy Light. At that moment, light poured in through the shattered roof, spilling over the broken divine statue without a shred of holiness. In this lighting, the wind and snow periodically blowing in fell like drifting ash, appearing somewhat eerie.

Yet just as Bondi let out a sigh of relief, the cleric beside him grew tense.

"Cleric Bondi, something is amiss. Prepare the holy water."

A jolt ran through Bondi's heart, and he reached into his bosom for the vial of holy water.

"Meow~"

A soft cat meow rang out.

"Meow~"

"Meow~"

Cat calls echoed from several other directions as well. These sounds lacked the cuteness of ordinary cats; instead, they sounded thoroughly spine-chilling.

Something seemed to flash rapidly through the shadows all around.

"The aura is shifting."

"Evil, manifest before the Holy Light!"

Amidst the cleric's low roar, a black cat stepped out step by step from the shadows, followed by a second and a third. Their bodies were wreathed in a shroud of black mist, and their fangs and claws were far more exaggerated than those of normal cats.

"Familiars?"

Familiars, also known as spirit demons or demonic spirits, frequently possessed extraordinary abilities.

"We are in deep trouble!"

Although Taylor was recorded in the temple's archives as an evil heretic, the description of his strength was not formidable. Yet one capable of manipulating familiars must at least be a truly genuine entity who had formed a complete domain.

"Temple clerics?"

"Hehehe, pathetic existences."

"Are you going to use holy water to deal with me?"

One of the "black cats" suddenly spoke aloud, and the other two "black cats" also parted their mouths to voice words, the three of them seemingly whispering and mocking.

The demonic spirits that Mulan had devoured while in a state of dark, raving resonance had actually been regurgitated and restored by him here. Although theoretically they only resembled them in form, ordinary people would never be able to tell the difference.

"Evil blasphemer, what is your aim?"

Bondi shouted, having already uncorked the vial of holy water, from which wisps of faint radiance overflowed.

***

"I did not! I have not blasphemed the Holy Light, I did not!"

The black cats grew agitated, their fur standing on end as black mist continuously billowed from their bodies. Their forms began to swell, transforming from cats into the likeness of tigers.

"Bondi, do not provoke him. Look for a chance to escape. Our intelligence was wrong; this is a true transcendent, not something we can handle—"

From the three giant black cats, an increasingly dense darkness poured forth, and boundless negative emotions continuously expanded.

"I was utterly devout toward the Holy Light! I was granted the baptism upon the holy mountain! I was once so close to God!"

"I was more devout than anyone! It was he, it was he, it was he who turned away from God's guidance, it was he who made us witness terror! That I became like this is entirely his fault—"

"Roar——"

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"...

The dilapidated statue of the Holy Light shattered violently. The remaining glass and walls in the vicinity exploded in succession, and the three monsters charged toward the two clerics.

"Use the holy water! Run!"

"Dispersion——"

Boom...

A fierce burst of holy water erupted around the two clerics, repelling the three monsters as the pair fled wildly outward.

"It was him... It is all his fault... I will find him, Awen—"

Howls and roars mingled with the wind and snow. The two clerics were sent flying by a wave of negative impact; one plummeted into the lake, while the other crashed into an old building.

The black shadows relentlessly closed in, forcing the two clerics to face the enemy separately.

"Dispersion——"

Holy light flared, but the monsters moved even faster. Leaping back, they circled around and lunged again, two of them directly sinking their teeth into the senior cleric's arms.

"No, ah——"

Blood splattered as the arms of the cleric in the lake were directly torn apart.

Bondi burst out of the ruined building in a frenzy, rushing toward the lake while unsealing the remaining three test tubes on his body and scattering holy water forward.

"Transform sacred light into blades to mark the evil."

Three beams of light ignited. The holy light transformed into three spinning blades that hurtled separately toward the two monsters biting the cleric and the third approaching monster.

Cat-like in form, they seemed to share feline traits as well. When the radiant blades approached, the monsters instinctively leaped away, but the blades pursued them, forcing them into continuous bounds.

"Hurry and leave!"

Bondi hoisted the armless cleric onto his back, continuously stoking his holy power and unleashing the full physical strength of his body as he ran frantically back toward the interior of Dige.

This was Dige; as long as they could escape for a stretch of the road, they would find a path to survival. The experts of the temple and Dierge would surely notice this.

"Awen, where are you—"

Roars echoed from behind, yet the creature did not seem to pursue them indefinitely.

Carrying the person on his back, Bondi ran for over ten minutes. Panting heavily, he dared not stop, while the man on his back had already lost consciousness.