Upon receiving Audrey’s command, the twelve new clergy did not choose to take action immediately.
Maintaining their positions, they fully encircled the area shrouded in black mist before the priest, who had just spoken with Audrey, loudly proclaimed to the inside:
"Evil spirit, now I give you your final ultimatum!"
"If you surrender and come out to face judgment obediently within a minute, then you may still have a chance to flee with your life!"
"In the name of the Church, I will not repeat myself a second time!"
Hearing the priest’s words, Audrey, standing to the side, immediately sharpened her gaze and almost right away said:
"Dentron, is this the time for your exhortations for others to convert!"
"He is the primary culprit behind the incident two months ago."
"Based on our necessary duties, we cannot let this fellow go!"
Hearing the stern chastisement from the Inspector nun, the priest named Dentron did not retort directly but gazed calmly at his fellow believers and replied, his tone almost devoid of any fluctuation:
"Audrey, I of course respect your command."
"However, this is a matter of dealing with a Codex Holder, and I must adhere to proper procedures."
"I hope you can maintain order as well."
Confronted with Dentron’s attitude of handling the matter strictly by the book, Audrey’s eyes widened. She truly hadn’t expected this man to be so foolish in actual combat.
And due to the problem of their respective statuses,
she, aside from issuing commands, could not forcibly intervene in the actions of this judge.
With a complex look, Audrey glanced at him and said no more.
However, the iron rod she gripped in her hand showed no sign of relaxing, instead, it began to tighten.
Having broken free from the bounds of Malcolm’s suppression barrier, her strength was gradually returning.
If anything unexpected happened later on, Audrey dared not place her trust on such a fellow believer.
What followed was a long minute of silence.
The priests surrounding the black mist did not move again, and Malcolm, trapped within, made not a single peep.
Both sides tacitly maintained this deadly quiet, no one spoke.
However, after the designated minute had passed, it was the priests who acted first.
Seeing Malcolm exceed the time limit he had given.
The cleric named Dentron had no intention to further waste words attempting to persuade the enemy.
Exchanging glances with his brethren, he immediately spoke:
"Obstinate wielders of evil, relentlessly defiant."
"Brethren, we shall annihilate him with the divine power of our holy authority!"
With this command, the priests, like a switch being flipped, moved in unison.
Each took out a cross pendant from their chests, held it before them, and with both hands clenched tightly, chanted in loud unison:
"O Saints, may your authority be manifested before the people.
Heaven has never shown mercy to the kind;
Earth has not judged the wicked.
For this reason, we pray.
All of you saints, please pray for us!
Grant me the strength to destroy this filthy evil spirit!
Those without fire seek to rob my soul.
They will eventually wipe out everything.
They are ultimately Your great foes.
With overwhelming power, purge this filthiness;
such is the law since the beginning of the world.
O Saints, please hear my prayer,
and let us who fight against evil spirits stand with You.
In the name of the walkers upon the earth, with the authority that is freed in the realm!
The blessed sign of the cross!
Strike sin with an iron fist!"
With the start of the chant, the sound grew louder, and in the end, it even became deafening.
The language, movements, postures, and aura of the twelve priests...
seemed to merge into one at this moment!
In a display of their absolute power, a great Magic Power surged upon the winter night’s land.
And when the chanting finally ended,
Ronald immediately felt a colossal entity, gathering in the sky, as if a ten-thousand-ton fist was about to come crashing down!
—Although it was invisible to the naked eye.
But the black mist formed by the "Violent" force was directly suppressed underneath by this entity, so Ronald could gradually perceive this phenomenon.
Considering the possibility of magical interference, Ronald proactively withdrew the black mist formed by the "Violent" force back to his side before the attack fully descended, and even pulled the two specters that were lurking underground out of the range of this attack.
In the pitch-black night.
Malcolm’s figure reappeared before everyone’s eyes.
Facing the attack that was about to claim his life, this man showed a very composed demeanor.
He glanced at the surrounding priests, then at the invisible iron fist about to smash down above his head.
He suddenly smiled with a look of disdain in his eyes.
"Do the clergy really think their spells are invincible?"
"Don’t underestimate others too much!"
As he finished speaking, Malcolm swiftly took out a two-centimeter long wooden stake from his jacket pocket and slapped it towards his own face.
In an instant, the stake pierced into his eyeball!
Malcolm’s painful incantation, filled with agony, also rose from the ground at the same moment:
"Great celestial body that lights up the entire world,
Sink down from our hemisphere,
Daylight vanishes from all corners of the earth.
And just before this light disappears,
The sky is wholly ignited by that celestial body!
At this moment, Ronald understood everything.
He grabbed Audrey next to him and hurriedly fled into the distance!
Meanwhile, close to Malcolm.
In a flash, everything was drastically different from before.
The invisible iron fist that had solidified in the sky, initially about to fall mercilessly crushing the enemy into pieces.
Yet at that moment, a fierce and scorching white light suddenly descended.
Containing the power to obliterate everything, it completely tore apart the punitive force called forth by the priests.
The next second, this formless force spread along Malcolm’s body to the surroundings, instantly turning the twelve priests into ashes without delay.
This powerful force also reached Ronald and Audrey, who had distanced themselves early on.
—An utterly irresistible force.
Realizing this, before they could mount any resistance, the two were blasted away by the terrifying surge of energy.
His clothes burnt as he flew through the air, Ronald immediately tasted blood in his throat.
He knew he was bleeding internally.
If he didn’t receive Healing soon, he feared today might be his end.
With a mighty effort, he controlled the black mist to slow his fall, and just before hitting the ground, he managed to lessen the impact of the force.
Struggling to maintain his stance, Ronald also saw Audrey beside him.
The Inspector nun, after regaining her strength, still maintained her superior combat skills.
Although she was also badly hurt in the impact.
But like Ronald, at least she could stand on the ground.
Realizing there could be no further delay and having figured everything out, Ronald immediately said:
"Audrey, follow my lead from now on."
"We must fight back."
The nun quietly straightened the iron staff in her hand, with a pale blue arc of light still wrapped around the weapon’s tip.
—She was also ready for battle.