When A Mage Revolts

"Ignorant cultists, resistance is futile, the Holy Light shall fall upon all of you."

In the islands’ biggest village, all of the residents had been gathered in one open space. They cowered together, as they listened to the voice echoing from outside, couldn’t help but dip their heads, in fear of what’s to come.

Everyone was trembling... except for the sole remaining elder amongst the people.

From the three elders who attacked the Church together, now only one was left standing, there was no need to say what happened to the other two. The elder wore his black mask as usual, so no one was able to read his expressions, but from the looks of the few shamans at the side, a feeling of despair grew upon them.

As one would imagine, nothing good can be found on his expression beneath the mask.

His hand gripped a wooden cane which signified his status, at the end of the cane, a mold in a similar shape to a skull can be found, a symbol of sorts. In the pair of the empty holes of the skull, gleamed a bizarre red shade at that moment.

Unseen powers spread out, forming a half spherical red barrier. The massive barrier enveloped them all, the barrage of Holy Cannons battered above, yet repelled by a bizarre power, which was why no harm came to the villagers under its protection.

However, the few shamans who stood with the elder looked on with frightened eyes.

After all... to be surrounded by an enemy that overwhelmed them in power, none could ever remain calm and collected in this situation.

Outside the open field, the priests that were previously surrounded by the shamans, reversed the situation around at this moment, now surrounding the cultists instead. The Holy Cannons fired one shot after another, like a vast hailstorm, each impacted upon the barrier, and jolted their hearts in terror.

"Great elder, this can’t go on any longer, we should bring the fight to them!"

A guard could stand it no longer, clutched his hands into a fist, and advised in mutters.

"... What do we use to fight against them?" Before the elder could reply, a shaman immediately slapped the guard’s face, "Not sure what evil sorcery those non-believers used, they destroyed the ancestral spirit’s illusion, now we can’t even communicate with the ancestral spirit, how could we charge into our deaths?"

The guard shuddered, covered his face with his hand, not daring to speak another word.

The few other shamans wore doubtful and frustrated expressions, someone pointed out, "But... why did the ancestral spirit lose its connection with us all of a sudden? What kind of trickery did they use?"

"No idea, perhaps this is a test bestowed upon us by the Goddess."

"Why is the test this time around so brutal? The cross in their hands could nullify all psychic powers, plus their reliance on highly damaging tainted light, this is not a possible test to pass!"

"Don’t... don’t say that, we can’t decipher what the Goddess wishes for us. Perhaps, she had already given up this world, preparing to take us with her..."

Although only a few shamans remained, they chose to bicker at this moment, their tongues sharpened greatly. One by one a surge of emotions surfaced within their eyes, it seemed only through this way, that they could suppress the fear of death itself.

— How could they not be cowering in fear?

More than ten priests were pressured down at first, their eyes gleamed all of a sudden, shifting from defending to attacking in an instant. Under the barrage of the Holy Cannons, not a single shaman was a formidable foe in their eyes. Like reeds in the falls, once knocked down, they were powerless to retaliate.

Plus that huge Holy Cross... such destructive power, it left a devastating mark within their minds.

The three elders sent out the holy beast of their tribe, even tried to contact the ancestral spirit, hoping to obtain any sort of power to turn the tide of battle. Yet their holy beast only bought them a few minutes of time in the face of their enemy, while nothing can be heard from the ancestral spirit, it forced them down into a dire corner.

In the end, they could only hastily retreat. Two elders turned to ash by Holy Cannons as they retreated, the last surviving one, could only lead their wounded troops back the village, and relied on the Holy Beast and the powers of the barrier, temporarily holding the enemy’s assault at bay.

How much longer could they last?

No one had the answer, most of the villagers had already went down to their knees to pray, hoping the Goddess could save them. The discussion between the few shamans died down, suddenly turned around, and looked upon their last elder.

"E… elder..."

That few shamans stood appalled.

The elder continued to hold his staff high up, without uttering a single word, they didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary early on. At this moment however, they realized, droplets of blood suddenly began to drip below the mask.

One drop, two drops... judging from position alone, the blood may have came from the nose or the eyes, flowed down from the face, accumulated at the jaw, then slowly found its way into the muddy sands below his feet.

— When the shamans realized this, a small puddle of blood had already formed on the ground.

"Elder, what’s wrong!?"

The few shamans panicked, wanting to reach out to support yet not dared to touch him, only shouting endlessly at the side with their shaking voices. Unfortunately, after the elder’s face was fully covered by the mask, with not a single movement, nor words spoken, none was aware of his condition at this moment.

The thin red barrier holding back the Church remained, meaning that the elder was still alive, aside from this, there was nothing else the shamans could confirm.

"Your existence had tarnished this world, only the Holy Light, can cleanse you all from your sins! Struggle no more, and embrace your final judgement!"

The priests outside still did as he had, pummeling the barrier with Holy Cannon barrage, while pummeling the ears of everyone with words from his mouth.

At last, the pressure upon the few shamans was too great to bear, their emotions reached their breaking point, charged out and argued with them.

"The Goddess had witnessed your sins, no matter how many of our brothers and sisters you kill. In the end, we will be the ones to receive salvation in the realm of God, while the rest of you shall descend into hell, bearing eternal torture!"

"All of you are now beyond saving! The deep sea banshee had manipulated your minds, only cleansing through the Holy Cannons, can purge all of your sins completely!"

"Enough! You non-believers..."

Both sides broke into a heated argument, but soon enough the Church utilized a sound amplifying divine art, suppressing the voices of the few shamans in an instant. The few shamans hollered till their faces grew red, yet no one could make out what they were shouting anymore.

But they must keep shouting, it’s almost as if silence fell amongst them for even just a moment, their inner demons would rise up, devouring them whole.

The elder… the elder continued his role still, they will not surrender to the evil cultists either!

The few shamans bore this belief in mind, and hollered with all their might. However, in the next instant, the thin red barrier before their eyes suddenly began to shake vigorously, under the Holy Cannon barrage, twisted and distorted... like leaves of trees in a violent storm.

Color drained from the shamans’ faces, quickly turned their attention around.

Only to see, the unmoving elder with his cane raised high up in the air, suddenly trembled vigorously, and then collapsed towards the enemy’s direction.

In one thud, the large pool of blood pooled on the ground, was splashed everywhere by his fall.

The praying villagers were stunned, the shamans’ jaws dropped without a word in that instant, undeniable despair crept into their visions.

The elder….. perished.

The few shamans didn’t turn around again, perhaps in their minds, they could already imagine what sort of sight they would perceive, not even faith could give them the courage needed to face the reality of it themselves.

As such, they could only remain frozen at where they were, against countless priests. In the pitch black night, Holy Light glared behind them, a few frightened silhouettes can be seen under the shining light.

In the next second, intense rays of light utterly annihilated all of them.

"Hahahaha! Foolish cultists, now do you know the meaning behind betraying God, and the punishment that comes with? This is what all of you deserve!"

Upon witnessing this scene for himself, the long suppressed thoughts of the bishop amongst the priests had finally been unleased. At that moment, he could be considered to have lost it as he spoke, emitting a cackling, satisfied laughter.

Finally.... Finally....

The bishop felt, that he had been waiting for this moment for the longest time!

After paying a hefty price, and sacrificed many priests and paladins, even pressured by these cultists that practiced sinister arts, his emotional state had always been grievous. Right now however, after having finally purified all of these sinners, he believed God will forgive him for his loss of composure.

How long had he waited for revenge?

Those dared to go against the Church, none can escape from the wrath of the Holy Cannons!

As glee filled the bishop’s thoughts, he watched as the last few shamans disappeared from the face of the Earth, he waved his hand, prepared to give the order, to annihilate the remaining villagers in Holy Light.

However, at this moment...

"You there, all of you seemed to be in great spirits from the battle?" A familiar voice reached his ears, nonchalantly came from behind him, "With just the lot of you, there’s no fun in it at all, let me join in as well, eh!"