Chapter 39: Holy Light

One of the traits of Vampires was that they cast no shadows in light and left no reflections on calm water surfaces or smooth objects. There was an explanation for this phenomenon: their bodies were no longer true physical entities, but an effect maintained by Magic Power, and therefore, shadows could not be produced. This claim had no real basis.

However, Vampires were indeed very afraid of things that could cast reflections, such as sunlight—if they were not particularly high-ranking types, they would suffer severe injuries under sunlight, leading to death. Their inability to cross rivers directly was probably also related to this reason.

As for mirrors, while they caused no harm to them, Vampires still did not wish to approach them, and they could even be stunned when facing one directly! This was common knowledge in Constantine’s world. However, in this world, the technique for producing clear glass had not yet been developed. Therefore, fully reflective mirrors could only be made of metal. But perhaps because metal mirrors had relatively low reflectivity and the effect was not ideal, few people on this Plane had noticed this connection between Vampires and mirrors.

However, the silver mirror in Constantine’s bedroom was different. He had specifically requested it, and two craftsmen had hurriedly produced it using the best casting techniques and meticulous manual polishing. Although a dent had been made by an Adamantine Scimitar during the battle with a Blood Elf a few days ago, this did not affect the mirroring effect of the other parts. In fact, Constantine was taking a risky gamble. If the Vampires in this world were completely unafraid of such things, Constantine would have to try using a Battering Ram to break through the floor and see if he could escape.

But luckily, the boy succeeded.

The Vampire’s body now trembled uncontrollably as if struck by electricity, and waves of Black Mist spread out from him in circles! Against this black backdrop, a green, insubstantial humanoid figure was slowly pulled out from the trembling body. It emitted a high-frequency roar that almost shattered eardrums, but it could not stop itself from slowly and gradually seeping into the Soul Amulet… Constantine gritted his teeth, using all his strength to keep his arm steady, which had been numbed by the opponent’s Negative Energy spell. At the same time, he prayed that this effect would succeed—he had no way out now. If this failed, given the distance between them, the opponent could grab him with a backhand motion and then bite through his throat!

However, the power of the Soul Amulet, which was said to have been poured with all of Hartdiel’s efforts, was clearly quite strong. Even though the Vampire roared and struggled incessantly, it still could not break free from this fatal attraction—though the underlying theory was unclear, Constantine knew that it was a contest between the Lich’s Soul and the Vampire’s Soul. Even though pulling a Soul away from a body required exceptionally strong power, the difference in strength between the two still determined the Lich’s victory.

“Damn it! How much longer will this take?! Didn’t you say it would be over in an instant?!” Constantine roared, though only the Lich could hear this voice.

“Uh… this guy’s… ability is also very…” The Lich’s voice sounded like an ancient, crackling radio, intermittent and hoarse. Clearly, he was also giving it his all!

The boy felt that even the last bit of sensation in the arm holding the Amulet had completely vanished… and that icy, stinging pain continued to crawl upward along his nerves! The situation was now more perilous than being surrounded by ghosts. If the boy’s arm went limp and dropped, the spell effect might be interrupted. Moreover, Constantine was now in a completely defenseless state. Even if someone lightly touched him at this moment, the result would be unthinkable!

Fortunately, perhaps the collision of Soul energies made the ghosts completely afraid to approach, or maybe they only obeyed some command from the Vampire… even though their former loved one was now trembling like an electrocuted pheasant, the dozen or so ghosts still maintained their encircling posture, unmoving.

But this was not reassuring—so-called Necromancy, to put it plainly, was Magic that dealt with Souls. A Necromancer could not directly control the Undead he summoned; additional spells were needed later for control. But once the controlling spell failed, those unrestrained Undead would only attack nearby living beings based on instinct.

“Almost there, halfway, two-fifths to go…” The Lich continuously reported the progress in his hoarse, broken voice. Constantine seemed to hear joy in it—he had heard before that Liches possessed the power to absorb Souls, treating them as supplements. As long as the Soul did not exceed their ability, the more powerful it was, the more nourishing.

If the Lich’s power was truly overwhelming, would he himself be in danger?

A thought flashed through his mind, but it was quickly overwhelmed by immense pain. Constantine closed his eyes, using all his strength to resist the icy sting, not even having the chance to utter a curse.

Did a second pass, or was it several hours?

The boy suddenly felt that the Darkness brought by closing his eyes seemed to be stirred, and then an indescribable sensation surged through his body… the cold in his arm gradually receded, and the substantial feeling in his limbs returned. It felt like a very comfortable… warmth?

But immediately, the Lich’s loud curse in Telepathy made the boy open his eyes!

The second sensation was brightness. A bright light appeared at the doorway of the boy’s bedroom. Its intensity far exceeded that of the common lighting tools in this world, almost reaching the level of high-wattage incandescent light bulbs! Even though Constantine’s eyesight was beyond ordinary, this light still made him feel dizzy! The next sensation was pain! The brief comfort from that bit of warmth lasted only a fraction of a second before turning into a scorching, intense pain. The boy couldn’t help but scream, feeling as if he had just stepped out of a freezer only to be pushed alive into a microwave oven!

For a moment, he no longer cared about any spell or Vampire. At that moment, he suddenly felt his hand loosen, and an impact force came. He was thrown backward, rolling across the floor! Then he crashed into the bedroom wall with a boom!

“Truly despicable, scum, cowardly Goblin, damnable vermin! Brainwashed fool! I swear, I will throw that bastard’s Soul into the hellfire of the The Nine Hells and roast it for a hundred years!” The Lich’s voice lingered in Constantine’s mind, filled with malicious Curses. The boy shook his head, slightly opening his eyelids. Amidst the still-dissipating golden spots, he saw that the Vampire was also sitting by the wall on the other side of the room, just like him. Wood chips and dust flew from the wall, indicating he had also been thrown against it.

However, his impact was clearly much heavier than the boy’s… a deep dent had formed in the thick load-bearing wall there. If it were an ordinary person, such an impact would be enough to increase the number of their bones tenfold!

“What just happened?” Constantine struggled to push himself up. The coldness throughout his body had faded, replaced by a feeling of strength. However, the accompanying scorching heat was even more unbearable. Even with this simple question, the boy felt his throat was on fire!

“Healing spell! That damnable guy interrupted my spellcasting! The Vampire’s Soul took the chance to escape back! My Soul Amulet is also destroyed! This scum!” The Lich roared within the boy’s body. Even his usually calm tone could not conceal his fury!

Constantine squinted his eyes, noticing the “bastard” he mentioned—a short figure in a simple white robe stood at the doorway. A large Sun Holy Symbol was embroidered on the robe, and sunlight-like, shimmering red and white light surrounded him, making his figure appear momentarily majestic.

A Priest from the Sun Temple? The boy’s heart eased a little. Proper reinforcements had finally arrived. For the task of driving away Undead, clearly no one was more qualified than Clerics. Their Divine Magic was the natural bane of Undead… but then the boy frowned again—the number of reinforcements seemed too few, only one person. They probably couldn’t defeat this Vampire Necromancer!

“Foolish zealot! To choose to appear here alone… your foolishness is unbelievable to me.” After a few seconds of silence, the Vampire broke the silence first. Black smoke billowed from his entire body; clearly, he had suffered the worst injuries from that last blow. Yet he seemed like a victor, elegant, and the reason that had been startled away by Constantine had returned to him: “But I still thank you… thank you for your foolish action just now, which saved me. And this thank-you gift is to make your Soul my collection!”

His voice suddenly rose sharply, and the previously motionless ghosts let out a collective screech! Then they pounced toward the figure in the white robe!

“Undead, begone!” Seeing that he was about to be surrounded by ghosts, the Cleric leaped back half a step, raising a light Warhammer high. Countless sparkling white lights surged out brilliantly like the sun, then the light burst forth violently from his body like a tidal wave, expanding in all directions with a roar.

Golden Holy Light bloomed explosively from that Warhammer. Surging, swelling beams of light rushed forth like a tide, instantly engulfing all the Undead. The four nearest ghosts bore the brunt; with a piercing screech, their magically bound forms instantly disintegrated into countless streams of light. The remaining ghosts immediately fled in all directions—even though they were already dead ghosts, fearing Holy Light was their instinct. It was the wrath from heaven, the majesty of the divine, and the end of all Undead!

“Damn it, a sixth-level Divine Magic!” The Lich’s voice suddenly became low. Even though he was now within the boy’s body, the fear of Holy Light was still deeply ingrained.

Constantine’s pupils contracted… sixth level. If he remembered correctly, even in a major city like Hayton, a formal high priest of the Pelo Temple could only use up to fifth-level Divine Magic. Such a powerful Divine Magic should require at least a high priest level… The long hood of the other party covered his face completely, and his age was unknown. However, judging from the fact that he could unleash such Divine Magic effects without carrying any commonly used church accessories like a staff, Constantine guessed he was at least in his forties or fifties.

But the next moment, the boy realized he was wrong again.

Perhaps as the saying goes: ‘The world is never as you think.’… The other party lifted his head at that moment, pushing the hood behind him. Constantine then noticed the face revealed under the hood was surprisingly young!… and beautiful.

Under the Shadow of the hood, a pair of bright, expressive large eyes flickered with a faint light in the semi-light of the room. An extremely fair face bore exquisite features—whether the delicate curve of the nose or the tightly pursed cherry lips… from every aspect, she was a rare beauty. Only the two remarkably dark and bright eyebrows were slightly thicker, lacking a bit of delicate charm but adding a touch of heroic grace.

However, the expression on this face was icy… if the blue-robed Mage Christine did not show her expressions, then this face was like eternal, unyielding ice… even when her gaze swept over the scene before her, it carried a chilling calmness—or perhaps in her eyes, everything was the same… whether it was writhing Undead, leaping flames, or Constantine kneeling on the ground, they were no different from inanimate objects?

“You… bastard! My love, how dare you!”

The Vampire screamed, his voice shrill like a ghost’s wail… or rather, it was a ghost’s wail—Constantine noticed that at that moment, two bright red streaks had appeared on his face, tears of blood flowing from his eyes!

“Kill you! Kill you all! You must die, you absolutely must die!”

His voice instantly turned into a howl! Under the gray cloak, his slender body visibly swelled at a speed discernible to the naked eye! Gradually deforming bones made cracking sounds, and the dark death energy around him surged into his mouth like a torrent along with a fierce wind! He threw away the Wand in his hand, supporting himself on the ground with both hands! In the next moment, he had transformed into a wolf!

Or rather… something wolf-like! Because this creature occupied nearly half of Constantine’s spacious bedroom, and its body bore two heads the size of dining tables! Razor-sharp teeth several inches long protruded unevenly from its monstrous mouth, and its foul Breath Weapon made one want to vomit! This monster crouched low, as if ready to pounce at any moment!

“Stay where you are, if you don’t want to die…” The terrifying, deep growl made Constantine freeze, but then a voice made him turn his head!

Countless Holy Lights wrapped around the figure in the white robe. She raised the Warhammer in her hand, slowly stepping forward, chanting a series of prayers loudly! And as she prayed, the arcs of light continuously intensified.

“Take up the rod of black iron, and shatter them, break them like pottery… Call unto me, and I shall give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Therefore, O kings, bow down, receive instruction from the Judge of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son… for in but a little while his wrath will burn and consume in the way, and they shall have none to rely on…”

The voice gradually rose, eventually becoming like the sound of a great bell! With this resounding prayer, blazing white holy fire illuminated all the surrounding Darkness. Sun-flame-like Holy Light continuously shot out from the Priestess’s body. A white light screen that seemed to cover the entire sky and earth suddenly struck Constantine’s eyes. The needle-like brightness made him see nothing for a moment, only the prayer echoing in layers, filling the surrounding space.

Well, Constantine did not actually understand what she was chanting, but that solemn, echoing, grand voice suddenly reminded him of these words in his memory…

The stinging, scorching heat struck him the next moment. Constantine let out a strange cry, covering his eyes immediately and flipping his collar over his face… With the buffer of the black fabric, he could vaguely see that under the illumination of the Holy Light, the huge wolf almost instantly turned into a burning torch! But the Necromancer also let out a strange cry in this Holy Light! Masses of dark red mist rolled out from his tattered Robe of Magic! The brightness in the surrounding space suddenly dimmed as the smoke spread!

“No, this damned Holy Light, accursed zealot! I won’t let you go! I swear in the name of blood!” The Necromancer’s body burned up like a log with a roar! The billowing red mist gradually dissipated, and amidst the continuously strengthening Holy Light and chanting, the wolf body gradually lost its color—the body enveloped in red mist gradually turned grayish-white, slowly merging into a state like a stone surface! But his voice became even sharper! Directly piercing through the grand prayers, it reached Constantine’s ears!

“I won’t let you go, you bastard… I Curse you!” The spine-chilling voice screeched, angrily cursing. Then, a black light suddenly burst from the flames of its body! It directly shone onto Constantine’s body.

“Ah!” Constantine clearly did not expect the opponent to have a last-ditch resistance move like this. He only felt a burning pain instantly spread from his forehead throughout his entire body. At the same time, a voice suddenly sounded in Constantine’s ear, without any urgency, as if stating an already occurred fact. It did not at all resemble the attitude a dark creature bathed in Holy Light should have…

“You are lucky, but this is far from over!”

There seemed to be more after that sentence, but unfortunately, Constantine could no longer hear it. The scorching sensation from the Holy Light suddenly increased tenfold at that moment! Without even a groan, the boy fell into unconsciousness!

The battle was over; next, it was time to develop his strength…