Battle in God's Ruins

It all happened far too suddenly. The group had only just sensed the danger when it was already upon them, launching its attack.

The dense mist didn't seem like mist at all; it was more like a monster baring its fangs and claws.

The mist surged forward, enveloping everyone and bringing with it a powerful sense of crisis that sent sharp pangs of pain through their brows.

This was their spirituality sounding the alarm, warning them that the scene before them had to be handled with extreme caution.

“Watch out!”

Rosalind called out as she stepped forward, raising her emerald longbow and aiming it directly at the approaching mist.

She drew back the string, and elemental energy converged upon the arrow, instantly transforming into a volley of azure-green shafts.

Then, she released them. The arrows streaked forward, plunging into the vast mist and exploding within. The clouds of vapor churned violently, appearing to thin out slightly.

However, more mist surged in from the distance immediately after, still heavy with a sense of overwhelming pressure.

At that moment, the others didn't just stand there either. They all unleashed their own attacks against the surrounding mist.

“Anything within God's Ruins can suddenly come to life and attack us, even something like mist.”

Rosalind didn't forget to offer a reminder to the group while she fought.

Although this was Olivia's first time in God's Ruins, she had heard about such things from the magic mirror before, so she wasn't particularly surprised.

Naturally, she couldn't just stand by and watch, so she chose to take action as well.

She drew her Cross Grace and approached the mist, swinging the spiritual weapon as she slashed into the vapor.

As the weapon cut into the mist, she immediately felt something different. She felt as though she hadn't struck mist at all, as a powerful sense of sluggishness was transmitted through the blade.

In the next instant, the mist before her suddenly erupted, billowing out to swallow her whole.

Within the blurry haze, Olivia could even see the mist forming a giant mouth that snapped down toward her, as if trying to devour her in a single bite.

Seeing this, Olivia switched her Cross Grace to her left hand and raised her right, grabbing the biting misty mouth. With a surge of strength, she tore the misty maw apart on the spot.

Faint, rock-like patterns emerged on her palm, granting her hand immense strength and protection.

When the giant misty mouth was torn away, the surrounding mist began to churn uncontrollably, as if someone had suffered a heavy blow and was rolling around in agony.

Olivia continued deeper into the mist, her eyes shining as she activated her Eye of Discernment.

This ability allowed her to see many things that were otherwise invisible.

What she saw within this mist was quite different from what one would see with normal vision.

Though everything here was mist, she noticed that certain parts were different from the rest.

To put it simply, this expanse of mist had several core points, and she could see them.

Attacking the ordinary mist was useless no matter how much effort was spent; one had to attack these core points to affect the mist itself.

Olivia had just torn apart one such core point, and now she moved before another. With a single punch, she shattered that cluster of mist, causing the surrounding vapor to churn once more.

Again!

Olivia darted through the mist, seeking out the core points one by one and smashing them apart.

At the same time, she tried to study what exactly these core points were, but unfortunately, she couldn't quite figure them out.

Regardless, as Olivia smashed more and more core points, the surrounding mist grew thinner and thinner.

In an instant, the mist began to recede, and the figures of everyone on the battlefield were revealed once more.

“Is the mist retreating? Did it give up because it couldn't take us down?”

“That gave me quite a fright. This mist monster was much stronger than the ones we've encountered before.”

“A close call, but at least we're safe.”

Seeing the mist recede, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, their faces still showing lingering fear.

Even though they were all mid-level class rank transcendents, they still felt quite helpless when facing such a situation.

But regardless of how it happened, no one in the group had been injured in the end.

When Olivia returned, Rosalind approached her curiously and asked, “Lady Stella, what happened just now?”

“Just now? Didn't the mist attack us and then retreat on its own?”

“But that's not right. Attacks within God's Ruins usually don't just retreat for no reason. Something must have happened to force them back; otherwise, they would have hounded us endlessly.”

Rosalind clearly possessed a sufficient understanding of the conditions in God's Ruins to make such a judgment.

“Perhaps it realized it couldn't defeat us and chose to retreat?” Olivia said with a smile.

“I hope so.”

Rosalind didn't say anything more.

In truth, she wasn't stupid. She could see that the initial changes had started right where Olivia was.

This was enough to indicate that the mist's retreat was actually related to Olivia, which was why she had come over to ask her in the first place.

However, since Olivia didn't want to elaborate, she couldn't push the matter.

Still, she could see that this nun's strength was quite extraordinary. Though they were all Skywalkers, there were still gaps in power between them.

Thinking of Skywalkers, Rosalind couldn't help but recall the news she had heard about Kaliron before entering God's Ruins.

It was said that many Protagonists of the Era were gathering in Kaliron, and among those who had recently gained more fame, there happened to be a Protagonist of the Era of the Skywalker class rank.

And wasn't the most famous person among them a member of the Radiant Light Church?

Thinking of this, Rosalind couldn't help but ask, “Lady Stella, have you ever met Sister Olivia from your Radiant Light Church? The one who is a Protagonist of the Era.”

Hearing Rosalind ask this question, Olivia's eyelid twitched. She almost thought her identity had been exposed.

“As a nun of the Church, of course I have met her. Why do you ask?” Olivia glanced at Rosalind and asked in return.