Chapter 70

Renas' sword emitted a brilliant light, making her stand out in the dimly lit hall and naturally becoming the target of all enemies.

Having such a teammate who could fully attract enmity, Gorden was naturally pleased. He even thought that in the future, if he were to team up with others for adventures, he should proactively give some magical equipment to the tank-type teammates in the group—items enchanted with spells like Light, Continual Flame, Unshakable Flame, Glory, and Daylight. This way, with a teammate like a walking neon sign attracting enemy attention, the mage would have a very comfortable casting environment.

Renas charged at the enemies, and even under the suppression of the alignment protection array, she still possessed astonishing speed. Gorden took advantage of the enemies' lack of reaction, with all their attention drawn to the paladin, and drew out his magic wand, firing all the remaining acid arrows stored inside.

The emerald green acid hit the ground, splashing and spreading across the floor, emitting a hissing sound of corrosion, and several white fumes rose up.

The floor was damaged by the acid, and the blood arcane runes painted on it were also destroyed. A chaotic and disorderly magical fluctuation suddenly exploded, and the alignment protection array disappeared.

Feeling the oppressive force on his body vanish, Gorden also breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately cast Enlarge, Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, and Cat's Grace on Renas.

After buffing Renas, Gorden suddenly heard a whistling sound from the side. He quickly summoned his animated shield.

Ding!

The animated shield trembled slightly, blocking the arrow aimed at Gorden.

Taking the opportunity, Gorden cast "Protection from Arrows" on himself. The melee enemies were all blocked by the paladin, and what he was most concerned about were the serpentine archers.

Then, Gorden hurriedly summoned the blade golem to charge at the surging enemies and stabilize the situation.

After setting up a solid defense, he took advantage of the gap before the enemies could surround him, casting Cat's Grace on himself and drinking a speed potion from Dorn. With 18 Dexterity and the speed effect, Gorden moved like lightning, rushing towards the main passage.

"Stop them, protect the altar!" Amavre's eyes flashed with the ferocity of a she-wolf. She hadn't expected that at the last moment of the ritual, two unexpected visitors would suddenly appear.

The blonde, silver-armored warrior, whose sword radiated a hateful positive energy, filled her with deep loathing. Amavre immediately ordered her scourge warriors to block her.

As for Amavre herself, she decided to personally deal with the mage.

"Gorden Freeman!" Upon seeing Gorden's face, she immediately called out the name of the murderer of her brother with a voice full of murderous intent. The loyal servant of the goddess of torture raised her hand and grabbed a long whip made of pure energy from the air. Then, her blood-red lips opened, chanting several complex runes to buff herself with various divine spells.

"Champion of the Faith." Gorden immediately recognized her class.

Like clerics, Champions of the Faith primarily relied on divine spells in combat. However, unlike clerics, Champions of the Faith could learn fewer divine spells, but the spells in their spell slots could be freely switched without prior preparation. Moreover, they could automatically master the deity's exclusive weapon and summon an energy weapon every day, making them stronger in melee combat.

In a sense, Champions of the Faith to clerics were like sorcerers to wizards.

The goddess of torture, Lovita, was skilled in using whips. Amavre, blessed by the goddess, wielded an energy whip with immense destructive power. The tip of the whip, like a rearing cobra, hissed and lunged at Gorden. Fortunately, the mage had buffed himself, and with his agile movements, he rolled to the side, dodging the whip strike that caused a sonic boom.

The stone wall behind him took the brunt of Amavre's anger, leaving a rough indentation, and the flying debris rained down on Gorden, making a rustling sound.

Gorden didn't know that Amavre was Mendoza's sister. Seeing her determined to kill, he didn't want to tangle with her and used his spontaneous casting ability to cast "Feather Step" on himself, then quickly ran towards the passage.

Feeling the opponent's strength, he had to order the blade golem to return and help defend against the enemy's attacks.

Snap!

Another whip strike. This time, Gorden didn't have time to dodge and could only order the animated shield to block the attack. The heavy whip struck the animated shield, instantly sending it flying.

This was a disadvantage of the animated shield. Since it floated in the air with no place to brace, it could effectively defend against ranged attacks like arrows and darts but was powerless against powerful strikes.

The animated shield, struck by the whip, was embedded in the solid wall, unable to move. Gorden couldn't immediately command the shield to detach, leaving him one less defensive tool.

Fortunately, Renas had already engaged a large number of enemies, allowing the blade golem to break free and block between Gorden and Amavre.

Seeing that she couldn't catch up, the Champion of Lovita immediately ordered, "Quick, everyone, stop him!"

Facing the blade golem blocking her, Lovita sneered and shot a black energy ring. The black energy ring struck the blade golem and immediately transformed into a binding prison, trapping it tightly.

At this moment, the design flaw of the blade golem, which emphasized agility and mobility, became apparent. Unlike ordinary golems with formidable strength, it couldn't break free from the prison and lost its combat ability.

"Hmph, to think you'd dare bring such a broken toy in front of me." Lovita sneered, her gaze returning to Gorden.

Unfortunately, her subordinates were all engaged by Renas, and she had wasted time dealing with the blade golem. It was too late to stop Gorden.

Seeing that the stairs were close enough, the mage immediately cast a 0-level spell, "Flash."

Blinding light exploded at the stairs, signaling that the alignment protection array had been destroyed and that an attack could be initiated.

Soon, Lady Dina, leading a dozen clerics of the Church of Liria, rushed into the hall. Dorn and Shalaya followed closely behind.

The half-elf ranger, wearing an ill-fitting leather armor, held a shortbow and a quiver. Though not her preferred weapon, she had to make do. She seemed to be venting her frustration from being weaponless earlier, firing a double arrow that pierced the heart of a scourge warrior.

The clerics of the Church of Liria fought normally, not wearing overly revealing "priestly robes." These well-endowed and beautiful female clerics, clad in fine steel chainmail, held shields in one hand and maces in the other, engaging in battle with Lovita's clerics.

Various complex runes echoed in the hall, and the light of divine spells shone continuously.

"Damn it! Liria actually dares to resist the masters!" Amavre was furious. Since the clerics of Liria could still use divine spells to resist, it meant that the goddess of joy had not surrendered and reclaimed her followers' divine spells. Liria was still thinking about how to resist, which made Amavre feel uneasy.

From the highest deities she served to the believers who carried out the plan, it seemed they had all made some mistakes.

However, Amavre couldn't afford to worry about these things now. She saw Gorden Freeman rushing towards the demon altar.

"What is he doing? Does he want to destroy the altar?" Amavre was enraged. This was absolutely not allowed!

She darted forward, her speed not much slower than Gorden, who was buffed with several spells. She quickly approached him, as if she could touch him with just an outstretched hand.

Gorden was puzzled when he saw Amavre abandon the long-range advantage of her whip and close in on him. But as the demon altar drew closer, he couldn't afford to ignore the opportunity and paid no attention to her.

Closer!

Even closer!

Gorden saw Amavre holding a small, bright red disc—the holy symbol of the goddess of torture—chanting cruel and vicious runes, with a purple-black light growing stronger on her hand.

He felt a chill run down his spine, and a strong sense of danger suddenly arose.

With extensive gaming experience in "Ancient Era" and a spellcraft skill of 15, Gorden recognized that Amavre was preparing a 5th-level divine spell, "Slay Living." This spell, similar to the 7th-level necromancy spell "Finger of Death," could instantly kill a living creature. Even if the creature passed a Fortitude save and didn't die, it would still suffer significant damage.

Seeing Amavre's hand, enveloped in purple-black energy, about to touch him, Gorden gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and took out the scale of the Balance Dragon, throwing it towards the altar that was absorbing evil energy.

At the same time, he used his spontaneous casting ability to cast Bear's Endurance on himself.

A purple-green magical light shone on his body. Almost simultaneously, as Gorden completed the spell, Amavre's hand touched his back, and the energy of Slay Living instantly released, penetrating Gorden's body.

Gorden felt a cold, evil energy seep into his body and then suddenly explode. It felt as if all his internal organs were thrown into a blender and ground into pulp, an unbearable pain.

Gorden spat out a mouthful of blood, his brain almost shutting down from the intense pain. However, as he had calculated, with Bear's Endurance, his Constitution reached an astonishing 19, and his Fortitude save was greatly enhanced. He passed the save, though injured, he resisted the instant death effect.

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