Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest

January 1, 768 of the Apocalypse, the first day of the New Year.

Nolan Empire, the imperial capital.

On this day when the New Year celebrations should have been held, the largest and most prosperous city in the empire seemed extremely lonely.

The doors of every household were locked tightly, and the crowds of people who usually lived like the sea were now all huddled at home and avoided going out.

In the townhouses on both sides of the road, children sometimes looked out from the windows of the second and third floors, looking at the armies that were passing neatly and hurriedly on the street.

Not long ago, under the influence of the "Black Knife Incident", "Rolling Stone City Sacrifice" and "The Night of Sorrow", the society of the empire was shaken. From officials and nobles to ordinary people, everyone was in danger, fearing that they would be involved in such a disaster in the next moment.

The war came too unexpectedly, making everyone in the empire a little confused. This has seriously affected the economy and governance of the empire, and as such insecurity intensified, the imperial court was forced to make a forced decision.

The day before, the ruler of the imperial court, the "Supreme Emperor" Augustusville Nolan, issued two emergency decrees to the whole country: All major cities in the Nolan Empire will be under the highest level of martial law for three days, and the main streets of the city will be kept completely clear, with the priority of material and military traffic; the empire will subsidize the losses of all citizens for three days of suspension of business, and give additional rewards to those who support war preparations.

Although the people who were forced to stay at home had complaints, under the deterrence of the "highest level of martial law" and the teams of imperial guards patrolling along the streets, no one dared to violate it openly.

In addition, the officials of the imperial court did give the people compensation for their losses in accordance with the law, so no one took the risk again, and chose to obey the will of the empire, and the society was somewhat stable.

But this stability is only temporary, and the imperial court is very clear about this.

At the moment of the outbreak of the war, they urgently need a great victory to dispel social concerns and get the country back on track.

…

In the Supreme Palace of the Nolan Imperial Court.

In this towering and magnificent palace, in the residence of Emperor Augustusville Nolan, all the "highest powers" of the empire are gathered together as never before.

The "Holy Court" that controls the authority of the "faith" of the empire, its ruler - "Holy Crown" Pope Lorende Mayerling, sits on the first seat of [Glorious] on the left.

Behind the Holy Crown Pope, "Saint" Freya, "Dragon Blood Knight" Demoster and a group of "Sun Knights" who protect the saints are on the side, without saying a word.

The "Tower of Sages" that controls the "knowledge" authority of the empire, its ruler, "First Great Sage" Thorin Horn, and ten sages and great sages of the "Tower of Sages", are also nodding their heads and sitting quietly on their seats, waiting for the "Supreme Emperor" Augustusville Nolan on the throne to speak.

On the throne.

Wearing a red gold crown and solemn and gorgeous imperial robes, the "Supreme Emperor" Augustusville Nolan, his daunting and solemn face, his eyes with slightly red pupils slowly swept from left to right over the people under his seat.

"Three days ago, the border envoy sent me back the news."

The emperor slowly said: "The army of the Dark Principality has entered the border and occupied seven major cities and thirteen acropolises on the border."

Although he was talking about very urgent military information, the emperor's voice seemed calm and composed.

"The rebels in Kuma Territory have also joined forces with the army of the Principality and completely taken control of all the major cities in Kuma Territory."

"Now, the situation on the border is already quite dangerous."

"Kuma Territory has completely fallen, and Songyuan Territory and Norse Territory have also lost several fortress towns. And this is only the enemy's first round of attack. Their real troops are still on the way to the border."

"Just the day before, after the Dark Principality launched a surprise war against us, the Dark Grand Duke officially declared war on us."

"——'War of Revenge', that is the name of the Dark Grand Duke's declaration of war. I can already foresee that the border of the empire will shrink by hundreds of kilometers."

"And I summoned you all here to listen to your opinions and voices."

"..."

After saying this, Emperor Augustwell stopped talking. His deep eyes, like the fire in the cave, then fell equally on the faces of "The First Great Sage" Thorin and "The Holy Crown" Pope Lorent.

The three most powerful men of the empire remained surprisingly silent at this moment. After a long time, the old voice of Pope Lorente broke the silence and said:

"The Holy See has already made all preparations for the war."

"The cardinals are ready to start the ceremony of the "God's Glory Barrier", and the sacrifices to summon the "Ten-Winged Archangel" are also ready... but these are the final means."

"At present, all the border fortresses that have set up the "Wartime Church" in advance have not been lost, and this is our current answer."

"Very good." Emperor Augustwell nodded, and his eyes immediately turned to the "Great Sage" Thorin, and asked in a steady voice:

"What about you, Lord Thorin?"

"In order to deal with the war, I should give you the most support for the "Tower of Sages". I hope to get a good result."

Hearing this, the "Great Sage" Thorin still half-closed his eyes and responded in a calm voice:

"The 'Mysterious Rune Resonance Matrix' has been initially built. Although it cannot reach the energy efficiency of the 'Golden Window' of the Golden Kingdom for the time being, it should be sufficient for communication on the battlefield front."

"I plan to name it the 'Eye of the Empire'."

"The cores of the three 'Floating Cities' have also been loaded, but the stability still needs to be tested."

"However, if the war situation is extremely severe, they can also be immediately launched and put into the battlefield."

"Very good." Emperor Augustwell nodded again, satisfied with the answers of the two masters of the 'Holy Court' and the 'Tower of Sages'.

"Since the principality has declared in the name of 'revenge', we will give them a fair trial."

"Then, since the 'Holy Court' of His Holiness the Pope and the 'Tower of Sages' of Lord Thorin are ready."

Emperor Augustwell slowly stood up, and at the same time he drew his sword from the wide red scabbard at his waist, pointing the blade directly in the direction of the dark principality, and slowly said:

"Auguswell swears here - I will formally declare war on the Kingdom of Sin in the name of 'Auguswell II'. Their flesh and blood will sharpen the blades of my warriors, and the land they have long occupied will be included in the territory of my empire. "

"This is a war of 'protecting the country', and it is also a war of 'judgment'. My [Supreme] Divine Seal Knights have set out for the border, and I look forward to their news of victory. "

"May the expedition be victorious. "

"May the empire live forever. "

...

On January 2, 768 of the Apocalypse, the Imperial Court of the Nolan Empire, Emperor Augustusville, officially declared war on the Dark Principality, and the name of the war was "judgment".

At the same time that Emperor Augustusville officially declared war on the Dark Principality, the imperial army also flowed from the country to the border like a stream. The "Judgment War" officially broke out, and the empire truly entered a state of war from then on.

...

The border of the empire, Songyuan Territory.

Outside the Red Maple City Fortress, thousands of black cavalry from the Dark Principality were rushing to the city wall like a tide.

Rows of three-bow crossbows on the battlements fired in volleys, and the enchanted arrows formed a fine gray curtain in the air like rain, covering the dark cavalry formation below the city.

The sound of the wind tearing through the air resounded, and the arrows shot through the heavy armor of dozens of black cavalry in an instant. The black cavalrymen who were shot fell off their horses, while the other cavalrymen rode their horses and trampled on the bodies of their companions and continued to charge towards the city wall.

At this time, the narrow plain in front of the city wall was full of corpses.

The defenders who came to fight and the first wave of the Black Principality's vanguards had a melee at dawn. Both sides suffered countless casualties, and blood had accumulated in front of the city. Looking down from the city wall, it was like a broken blood vessel in the earth.

Originally, relying on the fortifications in front of the city wall and the excellent equipment of the imperial soldiers, the defenders of Red Maple City should have more advantages in fighting against the enemy's vanguard. However, just when the defenders were about to annihilate the enemy's vanguard, the enemy's Black Cavalry launched a surprise attack and completely dispersed the defenders' formation.

Although there was heavy firepower cover on the city wall, it still could not stop the Black Cavalry's scimitars and iron cavalry from quickly harvesting the lives of the scattered imperial soldiers.

At the same time, the Principality's siege weapons such as battering rams and reapers were also steadily advancing forward, forcing the Red Maple City defenders to go out of the city to fight, otherwise when the siege weapons reached the city wall, the solid city wall would be broken in an instant.

And behind the two armies, the assembled catapults were throwing streams of fire at each other's army.

Violent explosions, one after another, exploded on the Red Maple City wall and in the Principality's army camp, burning the surrounding area of ​​more than ten meters into a sea of ​​fire and harvesting all the fragile lives within the range.

On the wall of Red Maple City, Lord Nelson was looking at the battle from a lookout engraved with hidden runes and protective runes.

Although his side had the advantage in terrain and numbers, the sea of ​​enemies was simply too numerous to kill, and a war of attrition was a dead end... Lord Nelson, who was supervising the battle, looked anxious. He watched the number of defenders decrease at a terrifying rate, and was thinking quickly about how to deal with the enemy.

At this time, the battlefield was still a war between ordinary people. Except that the weapons and equipment of the soldiers were modified by the [Intellectual] Transcendents of Fangbeiyuan, there were no real Transcendents of the third level or above who intervened in the battlefield.

In the current Red Maple City, if the newly recruited militia is included, there are nearly 100,000 ordinary defenders. However, there are only more than 300 Transcendents who can participate in the war.

Among them, there are only about 40 high-end combat forces of the real "Triple Destiny", and the top combat forces of the "Quadruple Destiny" are even more rare.

From the perspective of war, ordinary soldiers can be easily recruited in a short period of time, but "superhumans" are scarce and non-renewable combat power and must not be used easily.

If superhumans are sacrificed on a large scale, it will cause an irreversible blow to the defense of Red Maple City.

From this point of view, the basic principle of dispatching "superhumans" is "decapitation", beheading the enemy's superhumans, or beheading the enemy's commander, and destroying the enemy's attack from the root.

This is the iron law of war that Lord Nelson is familiar with. However, even if he wanted to dispatch superhumans to rescue, he didn't even see the shadow of the enemy's superhumans.

Not only the superhumans of Red Maple City are trying to keep their trump cards as much as possible, but the superhumans of the Black Principality Vanguard are also hiding and testing each other's strength.

The other party may have prepared a trap, waiting for their extraordinary people to jump into it. But the situation is urgent now, it is no longer the time to test... Lord Nelson thought.

He then walked down the observation tower quickly, found the Royal Guard Knight patrolling inside and said: "Please contact Lord Baines or Lord Frosa, and tell them that the military situation on the front line is urgent. I hope the border court will dispatch the Royal Guard Knight..."

"What a coincidence, Lord Nelson."

When Lord Nelson was talking to the Royal Guard Knight, a young voice came from behind him and interrupted him.

Nelson turned around, and when he saw who was coming, his eyes suddenly flashed with excitement, as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw.

"Why are you here? Lord Luo Xiu, the 'high priest'!" Nelson shouted excitedly, "You are here just in time, I beg for your help!"

The person who stopped Nelson was the "high priest" of the Red Maple City Wartime Church-Roxiu Carlos. Behind him were the two chief lieutenants of the Church's Holy Inquisition, "Grand Priest of Purification" Anthony and "Grand Knight of Judgment" Pamier, both of whom looked eager to try.

After learning that the vanguard of the Dark Principality had once again launched an attack on Red Maple City, Luo Xiu rushed from the church to the city wall to meet with Lord Nelson.

"This is exactly why I came here." Luo Xiu smiled and responded.

He looked at the battlefield below the city and asked Lord Nelson, "What is the current situation?"

"We can't stop the enemy's black cavalry."

Lord Nelson had a distressed expression on his face, "Their scimitars are sharp, their heavy armor is hard, and even their riding horses are abnormally fast. Our soldiers were dispersed by them as soon as they left the city, and they had no time to approach their siege weapons."

"And the enemy's extraordinary people have not yet been dispatched, I always have a bad premonition."

"I understand." Luo Xiu nodded.

He then stopped talking to Nelson and took Anthony and Pamier to the top of the city wall to personally observe the situation on the battlefield.

Through the panel detection, Luo Xiu soon understood that the black cavalry galloping on the battlefield was actually an orc army in heavy armor.

The "iron cavalry" they rode was also a monster, that is, the "magic pattern black horse", a carnivorous monster horse, and the threat level was "dangerous". They are much more difficult to tame than ordinary war horses, and their speed is nearly twice as fast.

The enemy's extraordinary people did not show up, but they had already taken action... Luo Xiu thought.

As a monster "magic pattern black horse", only the "beast tamer" profession of [Red Lotus] destiny can completely tame it, and such a large number of black cavalry must be supported by at least four "beast tamers" of destiny.

Maybe it is the extraordinary people of the "Beast Temple"? Luo Xiu made a guess in his heart. At the same time, he whispered a prayer, and a deep scarlet dragon thunder gradually condensed in his palm.

When the scarlet dragon thunder was completely condensed, Luo Xiu threw the dragon thunder in his hand into the air.

Suddenly, dark red thunderclouds floated in the sky above the battlefield. Low roars rolled in the clouds, and terrifying power was rapidly accumulating.

The next moment, countless scarlet thunders struck from the sky, accurately hitting the bodies of dozens of black cavalry soldiers!

——Boom! Boom boom boom boom! Groups of scarlet fog suddenly burst out on the battlefield, and the thunder and fire from the sky instantly penetrated the cavalry and the magic horse. The people and horses immediately fell sideways in the trenches on the battlefield and were soaked in the overflowing blood.

Dozens of black cavalry soldiers were killed instantly, and the rest of the black cavalry soldiers quickly dispersed and retreated to their own camp.

Luo Xiu continued to pray, and the red thunder in his hand gradually dissipated, replaced by a rapidly condensed pale glow.

The glow contained a frenzy of power, and in the next moment it flew out of his hand and flew towards the center of the battlefield.

When the light ball of the "frenzy glow" touched the ground, the solid light ball quickly turned into smoke and dissipated. A series of white lights like silk danced and circled in the air, and quickly covered the heads of the black cavalry shrouded in it.

The black cavalry, who had originally retreated to their own army formation, turned sides immediately after the "glow" entered their bodies. They rode on the magic horses under their crotches, wielded scimitars and slashed at other black cavalry.

Soon, dozens of black cavalry were chopped to the ground by their companions' scimitars. The enemies on the battlefield were suddenly in chaos, and it was no longer possible to tell who was the enemy and who was the friendly army.

"This is the power of 'repentance'... It's so sacred..." City Lord Nelson, who was watching the battle, exclaimed in amazement.

This was the third time that Luo Xiu had displayed the "Frenzy Glow" in public. He explained to City Lord Nelson that it was "the power that can make the enemy repent from the bottom of their hearts and submit to [Glory]". Although City Lord Nelson always felt that something was wrong at first, under the pure white light effect and the sacred aura, Nelson now completely believed what Luo Xiu said.

After all, under the special effect of "Holy Light Shadow" and Luo Xiu's almost overflowing spirituality, even the priests Anthony and Pamier, who were also destined to [Glory], could not see any clues. They also unanimously agreed with Luo Xiu's explanation, and no one doubted anything.

——That is the sacred, sacred "holy art" that cannot be more sacred, City Lord Nelson firmly believed it. And every time he saw the scene of enemies on the battlefield turning against Luo Xiu after he used this "repentance glow", Nelson couldn't help but feel secretly happy.

He would like to call it "efficient".

After Luo Xiu released the "Crazy Glow", the situation on the battlefield suddenly reversed.

The number of people is steadily decreasing, and it has become the vanguard of the Dark Principality. The Red Maple City defenders who were scattered throughout the battlefield also took this opportunity to regroup and launch an attack on the enemy's siege weapons.

At the same time, Lord Nelson opened the city gate and sent out 5,000 elite soldiers to respond. The siege weapons of the weakly defended Principality's vanguard army were instantly dismantled, and they lost their last resort in breaking through the city wall.

Soon, all the soldiers who came out of the city to fight gathered their forces and launched a counterattack against the enemy.

The Black Cavalry Army, which was still fighting among themselves, was severely slowed down by friendly forces affected by the "Frenzy Glow". They were quickly overtaken and surrounded by the Red Maple City army, and then were submerged in the light of swords and turned into cold corpses.

Seeing the victory in the battle below the city, and the enemy's camp faintly showing signs of retreating, Luo Xiu walked down the city wall and said to Lord Nelson:

"The enemy is defeated, Lord Nelson. We have won another victory."

"Yes, yes." City Lord Nelson nodded with a smile on his face, "This all depends on your assistance. Without your strength, we will never be able to easily neutralize the enemy's offensive."

"No, there is no need to thank me." Luo Xiu shook his head.

"Your Excellency Nelson, what you should do now is to send additional troops to meet the pursuing soldiers. Don't forget, the enemy's extraordinary person has not appeared yet."

"After you have truly defeated the enemy in front of you, you also need to clean up the battlefield as soon as possible, recover useful materials from our army and the enemy's hands, and clean up the battlefield environment. This is the plan for a protracted war."

"Yes." City Lord Nelson nodded and said respectfully, "I will follow your instructions."

After receiving a positive answer, Luo Xiu said nothing and just nodded in response.

Afterwards, he took Anthony and Pamier back to the city from the city and returned to the church along the main road.

…

This is the fourth day when the trumpets of the "War of Revenge" and the "War of Judgment" really sound.

In the past four days, since the vanguard army of the Dark Principality appeared at the edge of the field of vision, they have launched three attacks on Red Maple City.

And Luo Xiu has also "come without warning" and assisted Nelson City Lord to defend the city three times. As a subordinate of the [Supreme] person in the side court, Nelson could not directly ask the church's clergy for help, so Nelson was very grateful to Luo Xiu for taking the initiative to help him defend the city.

But what he didn't know was.

In the Red Maple City Church, Luo Xiu, who "hosted the grand ceremony", climbed to the top of the city one after another, and his original intention of using holy magic to annihilate the enemy was actually very simple——

——In order to complete the "main mission"!

"Judgment War" started, and the corresponding version 1.0 main mission was officially unlocked. At this time, he was lying quietly in Luo Xiu's panel.

Red Maple City Church, Glory Church, the High Priest’s Residence.

In the living room of "Hosting the Grand Ceremony", Luo Xiu was lying on the bed, looking up at the contents of the panel in front of him.

[Main Mission: Judgment War (?? Difficulty)]

[Recommended level: lv.1~lv.100, first life path and above]

[Task Type: Main Mission]

[Task description: At the end of the Apocalypse Calendar 767, the cavalry of the "Dark Principality" broke through the border of the Nolan Empire, and the Dark Duke officially declared war on the Nolan Empire.

You came to the continent of Fanor in troubled times, and the Ring of Apocalypse gave you the power to choose your camp.

Join the "Nolan Empire" and cooperate with the Supreme to launch justice against the thieves of the "Dark Principality"? Or join the "Dark Principality" to overthrow the empire's dominance and achieve revenge?

Or become a witness of this war and join the "Holy Tower Theocracy", "El Dorado Federation" or "Kasyapa Pure Land"... Of course, you can also become a lone wanderer.

All roads are opening before your eyes, and you only have to step on one of them.

Now, make your choice and wait to witness the results of your choice. 】

[Main mission guidance: Choose your camp (Completed. Current camp: Nolan Empire)]

[Automatically generate mission goals based on the current camp. The current camp is "Nolan Empire\