I upgraded and added points in the Holy Inquisition

"Nice to meet you, Sir Knight. I wonder if I can meet with the Lord Steward after the ceremony tonight? I have something very important to discuss with him..."

"Well... that depends on the butler's mood, but if it's really important, I can report it for you."

"Haha... I can't really say that. I just finally convinced my father, and he has decided to join our sect. Sir Knight should have heard about it. My father has a few friends in the parliament."

"It's not important. You should remember that the deacon has repeatedly emphasized that he doesn't care about the wealth, power and status of the masters. He only cares about whether they are loyal enough to the sect and whether they are ready to sacrifice everything for it."

In an auditorium in the center of the ruins, believers are gathering through various secret passages, tunnels and sewers to prepare for tonight's ceremony.

At the deepest part of the auditorium there is a heavy metal gate. When it is opened, there is an altar filled with gold, jewels, ornaments, even bills of exchange and bonds.

At that time, all members except the Knights of the Church will gather around the indescribable sculpture in the middle, and the missionaries present will organize everyone to worship and pray in order to please the supreme messenger of God.

Afterwards, believers will throw some valuables, more or less, on the ground to express their loyalty to their faith.

Unlike other common cults or illegal organizations, these properties would be left on the ground without anyone touching them or looting them. Even many bills of exchange and bonds had expired, but they were left to be buried under various properties.

It is this relatively open and transparent design that makes many believers behave more generously. Some people even regard it as a kind of public fund and leave various properties with an investment mindset.

During the entire ceremony, the deacon would watch silently from a high place nearby. If there were believers who behaved exceptionally devoutly, they would be noted by him and would likely have the opportunity to receive a gift later. This was a precious opportunity that even the knights of the religion would envy, and was considered a great honor.

Some believers with special status or young and beautiful appearance may have the opportunity to be summoned by the deacon alone, go to his private room to be instructed and entrusted with important tasks.

This is undoubtedly an even rarer opportunity. The status of believers who have been summoned individually will rise in the sect. It is said that they will have the opportunity to meet with the priest in the future, which is absolutely a rare opportunity.

In short, all the believers who came here were eager to receive gifts or be summoned individually, so the male believers spared no effort to show off their financial resources, and the female believers tried their best to dress themselves up beautifully.

In addition, we must find ways to maintain close relationships with clergy such as the Knights of the Church and missionaries, and ask them to say a few good words about us in front of the deacon.

However, before tonight's ceremony officially began, a small commotion broke out in the small auditorium where everyone was waiting.

"Asshole! Get out of the way! You liar! You are basically a cult, right? I will report you to the Holy Grace Court right now!"

A young man with an unfamiliar face suddenly shouted loudly, and pushed hard against a believer who was blocking his way, preparing to leave.

But the believer was still trying to stop him and even wanted to cover his mouth with his hand to stop him from talking nonsense.

But this young man was actually a transcendent. He immediately released some spiritual power, pushed the believers who were blocking his way aside, and continued to curse without restraint:

"I have always considered you my best friend, from kindergarten to middle school to college, so I was willing to serve as your bodyguard and work with you to do something for society... And this is how you trample on my trust? You shameless liar, bastard, pig!"

After cursing viciously, he went into a nearby corridor without looking back.

The atmosphere in the auditorium was slightly awkward for two or three seconds, and then everyone present continued to whisper to each other as if nothing had happened.

It seemed as if they had seen this situation before and were not surprised by it.

Obviously, the people who are introduced here are of mixed quality. Brainless young men like this are not rare creatures and are nothing new.

Only one knight of the religion silently left the crowd and walked towards the corridor where the young extraordinary person left.

The young believer who introduced him here immediately threw himself in front of the Knight of the Church, hugged the Knight's thighs tightly with both hands, and begged bitterly with tears and snot.

However, the knight who was protecting the religion was completely indifferent, his face turned ashen, and he kicked the believer aside without any hesitation, then walked into the corridor.

There is no need to describe in detail what will happen next, it is not difficult to guess.

In fact, this kind of people and this kind of things have happened here more than once, but they did not cause any consequences. I am afraid that none of those who turned around and left could leave alive.

The Knight of the Church is specialized in dealing with people like this. He should be able to find and catch up with the young extraordinary person quickly, and then return before the ceremony begins...

However, today's situation seemed to be a bit unexpected. Not only did the Knight of the Church not come back yet, but even the Deacon had not shown up.

The missionaries, who were wearing ceremonial robes and various jewels, could not help but become anxious. They kept taking out their pocket watches to check the time and gathered together to discuss quietly:

"Why hasn't the steward arrived yet? He always arrives very early and uses this time to communicate with everyone."

"Maybe something delayed it? After all, the situation these days is a bit special, and the frequency of ceremonies is much higher than before."

"What should we do then? Wait? Or..."

"Wait a little longer. Although the ceremony does not require the deacon to preside over it personally, without him present, I'm afraid we won't be able to communicate with the envoy of God."

"Hmm... But why didn't the knight come back? Did he go to see the butler on the way?"

"That should be the case, right? Could it be possible that he will be entangled by that stupid young man again?"

"How is it possible? This young man who knows nothing has no idea how terrifying the strength of the Knights of the Church is. That once left me with an unforgettable impression!"

"Oh? Are you talking about the time you were imprisoned by the City of Tranquility? It seems like you were rescued by the Knights of the Church at that time?"

"Yes, just one knight defeated the Tranquility Cult and finally led us away in a swagger... Since then, my faith has become more firm and indestructible!"

"But then again, the knight who saved you at that time doesn't seem to have arrived yet, huh?"

"Hush! Keep your voice down. After I got to know him, I found that he was actually a lazy person... or a casual person. He preferred the romantic places outside to the church, so being late was a common occurrence for him. He would often sneak in after the ceremony had already started, pretending that he was not late...

Don't let the deacon know about this, or he will be punished."

"Haha, I didn't expect these stern knights to have a cute side. Don't worry, I won't say anything."

They were whispering to each other when someone suddenly shouted:

"Silence! The deacon has arrived!"

So everyone present fell silent in unison, some even holding their breath slightly, to express their respect for the deacon.

However, the deacon did not show up in person, but a sound of footsteps was heard from the passage he often walked.

In this organization that follows a strict hierarchy and has clear superiors and subordinates, no one else is allowed to walk through the passage leading to the deacon's residence unless they are summoned by him in private. If there is something important that requires seeing the deacon, one must take a detour through a longer and narrower corridor.

Other people also have passages corresponding to their identities. For example, missionaries have an exclusive passage to come in and leave, while those newcomers who have just joined can only go through the dark, narrow and smelly sewers.

No one had any complaints about this inhumane regulation. Instead, they thought it was very reasonable and could clearly distinguish their own class status, and they accepted it with pleasure.

So when a strange figure finally emerged in that exclusive passage, the auditorium suddenly exploded.

"You... who are you? How dare you walk down this passage? And why are you wearing a mask? Don't you know that wearing a mask is prohibited during the ceremony?"

"Are you trying to kill yourself? How dare you walk through the deacon's passage? Come down quickly!"

"Eh? He doesn't even know the doctrine that forbids concealing one's identity... Could he be the young man who escaped earlier?"

"No, this guy is much taller than that boy, and his temperament is much more mature."

"So what's going on? Is he a clergyman recently promoted by the Deacon? Or... the Deacon suddenly wants to change his taste and try a man?"

The group of people below were talking about this, all guessing who this young man who suddenly appeared was. However, after talking so much, no one thought of the "invader" aspect.

Perhaps they were just like the deacon. They had never imagined that this place might be invaded, let alone that the high-ranking deacon and the invincible knights of the religion would have enemies that they could not defeat.

It was not until the young man took two steps forward and was exposed to the lights of the auditorium that someone recognized his iconic gray uniform.

"This... this is the uniform of the Holy Inquisition. He is an executioner responsible for executing monsters? But why does he have to wear a mask like the people of the Holy Grace Court?"

"Will the people from the Holy Inquisition join us? It seems that our big family is becoming more and more lively."

"In fact, there have always been people from the Order among us, and even hunters from the Court of Holy Grace, but they just keep a low profile and rarely attend such occasions."

"But even if you are a member of the cult, you can't use the deacon's exclusive passage! This young man is really too unruly. I don't know how he will be punished later..."

"That was his own fault. Do you still want to plead for him?"

"Forget it then... I still remember the strictness of the deacon..."

Standing at the end of the passage, Lloyd looked at the inexplicable, weird "sense of relaxation" on the people below, and for a moment he didn't know whether to be angry or laugh.

He could only shake his head helplessly, then looked up at the knights of the religion who were approaching him.

They naturally would not relax like these believers and remained vigilant. Two of them even whispered, "What are you doing?"

"Who are you exactly?"

"You have three seconds to take off your mask and identify yourself!"

Lloyd ignored him directly, but cleared his throat, raised his voice, and said loudly:

"Everyone listen up, you are surrounded!"

As he spoke, Old York and four other teammates gradually emerged from several other relatively high passages.

The position of the entire temporary team just formed a high-altitude encirclement.

Each of them was holding a thick black tube in their hands, and there was a translucent protective barrier on their bodies.

It was not until this time that the relaxation of these believers finally faded away, and they began to realize that something was wrong.

"These people...are they invaders? Are the cult members attacking us?"

"Damn it! What should we do now? They really have us surrounded!"

"Why are you panicking? There are only five of them. Can you count how many of us there are? What's more, we have the invincible Lord Deacon and the Knights of the Church. I don't know what you are afraid of!"

"That's right. We have more than a thousand people gathered here, and they only have five. Moreover, we still have five demons to command and the Lord of God to rely on. So what if they are from the cult? Just kill them all."

"But why is our Knight of the Church standing still?"

These people were talking, but Lloyd seemed not to hear them and continued to talk:

"I repeat, you are surrounded. You have ten seconds to commit suicide, otherwise you will all die!"

After that, he began to count down quickly:

“10、9、8，4、3、2……时间差不多咯！”

Then, without any intention of listening to the people below's explanations or questions, he waved his hand coldly.

Bang~bang~bang~bang~bang~

A series of muffled sounds came from all directions. They were the sounds coming from the thick black tube in the temporary teammate's hand. Several egg-shaped ellipsoids spurted out from it, drew a few parabolas, and fell into the auditorium. They bounced twice on the ground elastically and rolled a few times.

Then, the next second, the surfaces of these ellipsoids lit up with a faint white light, and violent spiritual power fluctuations were released from within...

Then, there was a series of dull explosions.

Dong~dong~dong~dong~dong~

There was no violent explosion, blazing flames, or flying shrapnel.

It's just that the air at the scene was fluctuating and distorted, just like a road under the scorching sun.

The cultists didn't even have time to scream before they saw their limbs rapidly melting like candles thrown into fire, and then turned into wisps of green smoke.

The gorgeous chandelier on the ceiling of the auditorium, the metal decorations all around, the walls that were stronger than concrete, and even the large metal gate at the deepest part, all began to melt slowly like candles, leaving behind wavy 'wax marks'.

Even Lloyd and the others could feel a surge of heat coming towards them, causing the translucent barrier in front of them to make a slight crackling sound.

But even with the protection of this barrier, some sweat still inevitably seeped out of his forehead and back, causing Lloyd to curse in his heart:

What's wrong with those guys in the engineering department? Didn't the product manual say that this barrier is enough to deal with this kind of incendiary bomb? And it even recommended using it with other bombs, but why did it still make me sweat?

What an unreliable bunch of guys... You can't trust everything they say!

After he cursed for a few words, the invisible heat in the auditorium almost dissipated in an instant.

Looking around, there was no living person in the entire auditorium.

There were no corpses or debris to be seen, and even their personal belongings had all disappeared, having been vaporized by the terrifying high temperature before.

The surroundings were naturally pitch black, and one had to use psychic vision to see clearly. The gorgeous chandelier on the ceiling had long since turned into a metal pillar, hanging down like an icicle. Its surface was still red, and drops of boiling molten iron were still dripping from it.