The seven figures continued descending from the opening above the cathedral, but they did not scatter randomly across the city.
Six spread apart until they formed a wide circle above the surrounding streets, while the seventh remained several metres higher at the centre with a thick black tome resting inside his hands.
Karl immediately activated Perception.
[Bell Priest — Level 30]
[Censer Priest — Level 30]
[Scripture Priest — Level 30]
[Confessor — Level 30]
[Grave Priest — Level 30]
[Execution Priest — Level 30]
[Choir Master — Level 30]
Karl’s gaze moved across the formation again, the six outer priests carried different relics, but faint streams of dark energy connected every one of them to the Choir Master floating at the centre.
Another notification appeared.
[Special Encounter triggered.]
[The Sevenfold Choir]
[Seven voices sing one lament.]
The six priests landed almost simultaneously, Karl barely had time to examine their positions before the Bell Priest raised the black handbell above his head.
"THE HERETICS HAVE ENTERED THE HOLY CITY!"
His voice echoed between the empty buildings.
Leon stared at him. "Why is he yelling?"
The handbell rang and a violent shockwave swept through the entire street, throwing several weaker undead backwards while Leon and Mira were forced to brace themselves against the impact.
Karl raised one hand immediately.
Hellfire.
Mana had barely begun gathering when the bell rang again and the forming flames broke apart before they could fully manifest.
Karl’s expression changed slightly.
It interrupted the activation.
"Annoying bastard," Leon muttered before rushing forward with Qi spreading across his sword.
Mira disappeared into the shadow of a nearby building at almost the same moment, while the Fortress Commander lowered his spear and charged from the opposite side.
The three attacks approached different priests, but none reached them.
Black pages suddenly spread through the formation, joining together into several barriers at once.
Leon’s sword struck one directly ahead of him, while the Fortress Commander’s spear crashed against another hard enough to send cracks across its surface.
Mira emerged behind the Bell Priest with both daggers moving toward his neck, only for a third barrier to appear between them.
She immediately twisted away rather than wasting another attack.
Karl’s eyes moved toward the Scripture Priest standing farther back.
So he’s handling their defence.
Leon struck the cracked barrier again and his Qi-covered sword broke through several pages, but chains burst from the stone beneath him before he could continue and wrapped around his arm, waist and legs.
"What the—"
The chains tightened and dragged him backwards, the Confessor slowly turned his prayer beads between his fingers.
"There is still time, child."
Leon pulled against the restraints.
"Kneel and confess."
"How about you kneel first?"
The Confessor closed his hand and a dark symbol appeared across Leon’s chest.
[Skill suppression detected.]
[Stone Guard temporarily sealed.]
"You bastard."
Leon had barely finished speaking when the Execution Priest moved, the silent priest crossed the distance with his ceremonial blade already drawn, aiming directly towards Leon.
"Leon!"
Leon forced his body sideways and the blade barely missed his neck but cut deeply across his shoulder before the Execution Priest continued several steps past him.
Blood immediately spread down Leon’s arm, the Fortress Commander changed direction without waiting for Karl’s order, his warhorse charging between Leon and the approaching priest before their weapons collided.
The Execution Priest was pushed backwards but then the dark halo behind the Choir Master disappeared.
Karl saw it reform behind the Execution Priest and the priest attacked again.
This time, his ceremonial blade struck the Commander’s spear hard enough to drive both rider and warhorse several metres backwards.
Karl’s eyes narrowed.
The Choir Master strengthened him.
The skeletal wolf rushed from the side and snapped toward the Execution Priest’s leg, forcing him to retreat long enough for Mira to cut through one of Leon’s restraints.
Karl released Hellfire again and dark flames rushed across the street.
The Bell Priest rang his handbell and another shockwave broke through the forming attack before it could reach its target.
"YOUR FILTH SHALL NOT TOUCH THE CHOSEN!"
Karl clicked his tongue.
"Can somebody shut him up?" Leon shouted.
"I was already planning to."
Mira disappeared again but the halo behind the Execution Priest vanished as the Choir Master calmly turned another page, reappearing behind the Bell Priest just before Mira reached him.
The handbell rang at point-blank range, Mira crossed both arms before herself but the reinforced shockwave still threw her backwards through the air.
Karl moved beneath her and caught her before she struck the ground.
"You alright?"
"Fine."
She immediately pushed herself upright but before either could move again, grey mist began spreading through the street.
It flowed around the fighting undead, gradually covering the road while the Censer Priest continued swinging the black vessel hanging from his hand.
At the same time, low prayers began mixing with the fighting, the Grave Priest had placed the bottom of his funeral staff against the stone.
Several corpses scattered across the street twitched and dozens of dead corrupted guards and civilians slowly began forcing themselves upright again.
Leon finally tore through the remaining chains and looked around.
"Oh, come on."
The ruined street quickly became crowded again.
Karl’s undead met the revived guards while the Fortress Commander forced the Execution Priest away from Leon, but the mist continued growing thicker around all of them.
Karl released Hellfire into a group of resurrected enemies. However, he immediately noticed that the Mana he had spent was recovering considerably slower than before.
His gaze moved toward the Censer Priest.
So that’s what the mist does.
Leon coughed while cutting down another corrupted guard.
"This stuff feels disgusting."
"Don’t stay inside it longer than necessary."
"As if I want to."
Mira slipped beneath another attack and drove one dagger into a corrupted believer’s neck.
The battle had already become considerably more chaotic than their fight with the Fortress Commander.
Every time Karl’s group pushed one section backwards, something else interfered.
The skeletal wolf rushed toward the Censer Priest, but black pages formed before him and stopped its charge.
The Fortress Commander tried breaking through from another direction and the Bell Priest’s shockwave disrupted his warhorse long enough for several revived guards to surround him.
Mira attempted to move behind the Scripture Priest, only for chains to tear from the ground and force her to abandon the attack.
None of them were fighting alone, Karl looked upward again. The Choir Master remained exactly where he had been since the encounter began.
He had barely moved, the black tome remained open inside his hands while the halo continuously shifted between the six priests below.
Bell.
Execution.
Scripture.
Then Grave.
Whichever priest needed additional strength received it almost immediately.
He’s controlling the entire pace of the fight.
The Execution Priest suddenly disappeared from Karl’s sight and Karl turned sharply.
Leon had received another shallow wound while fighting the resurrected guards and the silent priest had immediately changed targets again.
His ceremonial blade descended toward Leon’s injured side but the skeletal wolf slammed into him before the attack landed.
The Execution Priest stumbled sideways and twisted away from the wolf’s jaws, but Karl had already closed the distance.
Death Energy gathered beside the Death Stick and condensed into the curved blade of Death Severance.
Karl swung and the Execution Priest raised his ceremonial blade and blocked, but the impact still forced him several steps backwards.
[Death Mark applied.]
Leon grinned despite the blood covering his shoulder.
"Finally caught one."
He rushed forward with Qi spreading across his sword and the Execution Priest raised his weapon.
Before the two could collide, black pages appeared between them and Leon’s sword crashed directly into the barrier.
"Oh, fuck off!"
Cracks spread across the pages and the Fortress Commander charged from the other side and drove his spear against the same barrier, widening them even further.
Mira appeared behind the Scripture Priest but another barrier immediately formed around him and her daggers struck it instead.
Karl stared at the overlapping formations, every genuine opening they created was being closed by the same person.
The Scripture Priest did not need to defeat any of them himself, he only needed to keep the other six alive.
Mira landed beside Karl.
"This isn’t working."
"It is."
She looked toward him, Karl raised the Death Stick toward the Scripture Priest.
"The problem isn’t damaging them."
Another barrier formed across the street just as the Fortress Commander’s spear approached the Bell Priest.
The attack stopped.
"It’s finishing them."
Leon followed his gaze.
"The book guy?"
Karl nodded.
"If he stays alive, every opening we create gets blocked."
The halo above the battlefield moved once more and it settled behind the Scripture Priest, the cracked barriers surrounding the formation immediately began repairing themselves.
Karl watched them close.
"Yeah."
Death Energy gathered around him again.
"We kill him first."
Mira tightened her grip around both daggers while Leon rolled his injured shoulder and raised his sword.
The Fortress Commander turned his warhorse toward the Scripture Priest, while the skeletal wolf lowered its body beside him.
Above the formation, the Choir Master calmly turned another page.