Chapter 015: Choice

As soon as Alfred finished speaking, he stepped forward at the head of the group, with several Temple Knights quickly following behind.
The remaining three exchanged glances, unsure of what each other was thinking. Du Fan simply smiled lightly and said, “You two go ahead. I’m too timid—seeing these terrifying statues, I’m not sure if I’ll be too scared to sleep tonight. It’s safer for me to stay at the back.”
Nicholas glanced at Du Fan and smiled in such a way that it made Du Fan’s skin prickle. Only then did he slowly step forward.
Tasia, on the other hand, had reverted to her usual cold demeanor. Without even looking at Du Fan, she began walking up the slope.
Du Fan shook his head helplessly at the back, but there was no choice but to follow. He quickened his pace to join Tasia, his nerves slightly eased only then.
As they continued upward, the statues on the slope became increasingly bizarre. Though Du Fan didn’t want to look, under these circumstances, it was impossible to avoid seeing them—either by closing one’s eyes or not.
The shapes of these statues grew more and more grotesque and cruel. As they walked from the entrance, Du Fan couldn’t help but feel a growing sense of dread at the increasingly strange statues.
Eventually, he thought to himself that if these things were alive, it would be an unimaginable sight.
After walking for some time longer, although they had covered about half of the slope and were getting closer to the ancient city at the bottom, the atmosphere in the group grew increasingly tense. No one spoke, as if even casual conversation might break the silence and awaken those statues.
Even Alfred, who was at the front, claimed to be unfazed, but Du Fan noticed that his hand gripping the sword hilt was slightly sweaty.
The slowly moving group suddenly stopped. A faint smell of blood came from ahead. Those in front had already halted, and Du Fan and Tasia, who were behind, exchanged a glance before rushing forward.
Through the crowd, under the light above, Du Fan saw a bloody corpse lying on the slope. The blood from the corpse had turned the originally grayish ground red, making the expression on the corpse’s face even more eerie.

Around the corpses, there were also traces of a struggle, with several shattered statues lying on the ground—no one knew what had happened. Alfred’s expression changed slightly. After staring at the corpses for a moment, he suddenly snorted and said, “They’re from Roland Academy.” Du Fan also glanced at the corpses on the ground and immediately recognized one of them as one of the two Roland Academy students who had narrowly escaped death at the hands of the octopus monster not long ago. As for Aldas and the other two, they were nowhere to be seen—neither alive nor dead, and it was unclear where they had gone. After examining the corpses for a while longer, Alfred said, “This person died not long ago. The blood on the ground hasn’t dried yet, so it must be less than an hour ago. And looking at the signs of struggle around… Could it be that someone from Roland Academy caused a rebellion?” Du Fan stepped forward and shook his head, saying, “This place isn’t the destination of our journey, nor is it any key location. Even if they wanted to cause trouble, they probably wouldn’t do it here. It seems they encountered some accident.” Alfred looked at Du Fan doubtfully and asked, “An accident? What kind of accident?” Du Fan’s gaze swept over the piles of broken statues on the ground. Though he had some ideas, he wasn’t sure yet. His eyes involuntarily drifted to the statue closest to him. Alfred followed Du Fan’s gaze and his expression changed drastically. He whispered, “This… this can’t be…” Du Fan took a breath and said, “What can’t happen here? Sir Alfred, don’t deceive yourself. All I hope now is that Aldas ahead of us has already dealt with all the trouble in the area. Otherwise, we’re in great danger this time.” Alfred’s face changed again. He turned to glare at Du Fan, fear flashing in his eyes for a moment, but he quickly concealed his expression. Taking a deep breath, he said, “We must speed up. The people from Roland Academy are right ahead of us. If they take all the advantages, even if we return, we won’t have the face to see Lord Anthony.” Du Fan nodded slightly. But at that moment, Nicholas, who had remained silent until then, suddenly sighed and said, “It’s already too late. I’m afraid we can’t escape now!”

When Du Fan and the others heard the words of Saint Nicholas, they were initially puzzled, but moments later, everyone’s expression changed. A faint vibration was heard from very close by, and a flash of surprise appeared in Du Fan’s eyes as his gaze quickly fixed on a statue beside him. The statue depicted a person torn in half, with most of their glowing head seemingly filled with a huge, swollen ball. When Du Fan first saw it, he instinctively felt disgust, but now the statue began to move slightly. In an instant, he recalled a description he had read in the scriptures of the Holy Church, and his expression darkened as he whispered, “A necrotic calamity! It’s a necrotic calamity!” Nicholas turned to look at Du Fan and said, “Lord Du Fan truly has sharp eyesight—being able to recognize the nature of this necrotic calamity at a glance. But since you know what it is, you must also know how to counter it, right?” Du Fan nodded slightly. Though the name “necrotic calamity” sounded fearsome, it was actually just an advanced magic array created by a necromancer. Within this array, undead creatures multiplied endlessly, and those who touched it had no choice but to flee. But given the situation, fleeing was impossible… Du Fan glanced at the cliff, which was at least hundreds of meters high, and had no intention of jumping. Then he looked at the steep slope ahead, feeling his heart sink. As they spoke, the statues, which had only been moving slightly, began to shed thin layers of their outer shells, revealing the undead creatures hidden beneath, slowly struggling to emerge. Although everyone present was from the Holy Church and had some skills in dealing with undead, facing such a large number of them, they didn’t know what to do. Various undead creatures approached Du Fan and the others, either walking or flying, but perhaps because they had just awakened, they did not attack right away. Seeing this, Du Fan smiled bitterly and said, “I now roughly understand what Aldas and the others have encountered.” The others also smiled bitterly. Encountering undead in what was supposed to be a sacred palace—was it bad luck or irony?

Nicholas took a slow step forward. With a gentle wave of his hand, a beam of holy light emanated from his palm, instantly illuminating the small slope brightly. Several undead creatures nearby were struck by the holy light and let out shrill screams; in an instant, their newly formed bodies melted like candles in heat.

The remaining undead seemed to sense the threat of the holy light and quickly retreated. Yet, being inherently vicious, they didn’t leave entirely but continued to circle Du Fan and the others.

After a short while, the holy light in Nicholas’s hand gradually faded. As it disappeared, the undead creatures surged forward again, seemingly ready to pounce on Du Fan and the others and tear them to pieces at any moment.

A look of helplessness appeared on Nicholas’s face. He waved his hand once more, this time releasing a circular beam of holy light that hovered above everyone’s heads. This was the Divine Mage’s Holy Light spell. However, its power was clearly inferior to the purest holy light Nicholas had unleashed earlier. Although the undead still feared this light, their fear was not as intense as before.

Watching the scene before him, Nicholas let out a low sigh and said, “Everyone… it seems we’ve reached a point where we must make a choice.”

Alfred snorted and said, “A choice? What choice do we have? If we don’t deal with these guys, we’re all dead. What other choice is there?”

Nicholas replied softly, “There is… Even before coming here, I had made various preparations. Even in a situation like this, I can manage somehow. But to handle such a scenario… we’ll have to make some sacrifices.”

At these words, an odd expression appeared on Nicholas’s face.

Du Fan’s heart skipped a beat. He instinctively stepped back a few steps, almost reaching the edge of the cliff, before staring again at Nicholas’s holy-faced expression. He suddenly couldn’t understand what method this enigmatic Nicholas might still have in such a situation.