474 Blood Power (1/2)
Solna River had become much fiercer after the rainy season. Roaring and rolling, the river currents marched forward.
In front of the temple that stood up high beside the river, Nob was waiting for Francis with a fine laurel wood staff in his hand and this very gloomy look on his face. He had never expected that the priest of the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption would challenge him to a duel. He wished it so bad that the duel could come one day later. After tonight, he would bear no more risk fighting against an enemy he knew pretty much nothing about, because all of them from that side would be dead by tomorrow.
Soon after the debate held in the morning ended, Nob received a secret command from Nena — The Lord of War needed the God of Moon and the Lord of Underworld to kill Leviathan and Francis tonight, in order to lure Ell out.
Therefore, he had spent the entire noon as well as afternoon sending secret messages to the God of Moon hiding in the nearby forest, and they had together worked out an almost perfect plan, including how to coordinate the priests to launch a sudden strike, how to rope in the other churches using the name of the Lord of War, and how to infuriate the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption by torturing and killing Leviathan and Francis in the most brutal manner.
However, when they were still celebrating their perfect plan and the near victory, a formal challenge letter was sent to Nob.
Nob was confused, but even more, intimidated.
And what horrified him the most was the look on the face of the God of Moon. Nob saw fear on the almighty God of Moon's face as well, fear towards the boldness of the priests of god Ell and the one behind them. In the past, no one had ever heard about Ell the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption; no one knew how strong he was, and they could only draw guesses based on the description beyond imagination given during the debate.
Nob tried his very best to postpone the duel to the second day, but he failed. In a theocratic society, it was impossible to turn down a duel challenged in the name of profanity, as it was directly associated with the fame and reputation of one's Lord. Nob had no choice.
”… It's okay. Very possibly, they are just liars.” Nob murmured to himself as he watched the crowd gather.
In the Solna Valley, before the Lord of War came into power, fights between chief priests were quite common. Therefore, people in the city of Husum were already very experienced. They would like to see the fight but were also aware that they had to stay far away from the site, say, the other side of Solna river. After all, the fights between priests weren't as plain as those between commoners, as the sound and light could be heard and seen from far away.
”I'll say that Nob will return to the embrace of moonlight today. The God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption is so powerful, and, of course, so is his chief priest,” said a young man aloud beside the river. He was a new follower of the Lord of Underworld, but now he was on the edge of switching belief.
”It's hard to say. A debate isn't a fight.” Refuted a devoted follower of the God of Moon.
Standing behind, Ramiro folded his arms and listened to the discussion quietly. He was quite confused as before he had never heard of the title ”the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption”, although he had done quite a bit of research prior to arriving in Erdo. Since the target was the God of Moon, Ramiro wondered if this new god was a role played by Alterna, or that it was a guise of the other forces.
Ramiro had turned himself into an ordinary Barril man. Standing in the crowd, he was like a drop of water in the vast ocean.
At this time, two young men wearing a simple white robe stepped onto the stairs in front of the God of Moon's temple. And the crowd instantly quieted down.
Carrying a heavy sword, Lucien stopped when he was about ten meters away from Nob. Standing on the closer side to the river, he said seriously, ”today, we fight for the glory of our Lord, and we shall fight until the last breath. Are you ready?”
Until the last breath… Anger rose beside fear in Nob's heart. He asked, ”Leviathan, is it you, or Francis?”
”I am the blessed one of the great God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption. I'm my Lord's spokesperson and initiator. You, the priest of a false god, are far from being qualified to fight with me. Francis, send him to the underworld, and a just trial of my Lord awaits him!” Lucien tried his best to infuriate Nob.
”False god?! I'll let you see who is the false one!” Nob, who had become infuriated, yelled furiously. He could feel the anger of his Lord in the temple behind him.
”After I kill Francis, I'll challenge you! You can't say no!”
Lucien smiled. ”I have to remind you, priest Nob. A dead man cannot challenge anyone.”
”You'll see!” Nob took a deep breath and tried to calm down at the moment. He had to focus on the fight against Francis, instead of losing his mind because of Leviathan's evil words.
Francis drew the heavy sword from his back with both his hands and took a step forward. Gazing at Nob, he said, ”on behalf of my Lord, I shall sentence you!”
”On behalf of the God of Moon, I will punish you!” roared Nob. Hearing this sentence, Lucien almost failed to hold back his laugh.
The priest from the Temple of War announced. ”Let the fight begin!”
Holding the heavy sword, Francis thrust at Nob like a fierce blow. The heavy sword swept fiercely, its power could even cut off the wind.
A silver-white moon lit up in Nob's eyes, and layers of illusions covered him, like the shadows cast by moonlight in the night.
The heavy sword hit the shadows and disappeared briefly as if it was lost in a haze.
Seizing the chance, Nob quickly pointed his laurel staff at Francis. The temperature within the range dropped significantly and a dense patch sharp icicles formed. The icicles formed a ball that trapped Francis within.