Soul Deliverance

Pretending he hadn't seen anything, Veyl began to take stock of his own situation again. He noticed that something had changed in the Sacred Hymn "Divine Retribution in the Lord's Name." It was no longer marked as "not yet memorized" but now read "not yet fully understood." The explanation had changed as well:

"But when you hold a Bible or a sacred relic and recite it, the effect becomes even better—you're starting to look more and more like a fake believer."

Veyl's face twisted into a look of disbelief as he continued reading. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he noticed an extra notation at the end of the hymn: "0/10." And, surprisingly, his subordinates now had an additional "Wishing" stat—an "8!"Wishing: A measure of the power of faith—the final blessing left behind by tortured souls who, once delivered to heaven, grant a parting benediction to the one who ferries them across.

Muttering to himself, Veyl repeated, "Wishing… blessing… deliverance…" in a low, almost reverent tone. In that moment, he suddenly sprang to his feet, gripping his spiked hammer tightly. He stalked over to two zombies whose eyes still managed to swivel weakly, and with a few savage blows, knocked their heads off. Immediately after, two points of green starlight shot out from the zombies' bodies and darted into his sacred tome.

For a long moment, Veyl just stood there, eyes wide in stunned silence. Then, following the tiny glimmers, he flipped open a page in the tome—and on that very page, the sacred words were inscribed: "Deliver the Souls."

"Deliver them to heaven…" he murmured, lifting his gaze to the rainwater dripping from the mill's ceiling. Suddenly, his expression turned pious as he strode to the center of the mill. With an air of solemn compassion and heavy sorrow, he began to recite the sacred verses. As his voice grew more devout, the entire mill seemed to undergo a strange transformation.

Sunlight suddenly broke through the clouds, dispelling the nearby mist and casting its rays into the mill. The beams of light filtered through the broken patches of the shed roof, creating streaks that looked like the delicate strings of a harp amid the swirling dust. And as the priestly chant grew ever more heartfelt, spectral images of angels began to caress those ethereal "harp" beams.

Little points of light—like fireflies—started emerging from the bodies of the unwilling "living dead," drifting slowly upward until they settled onto the pages of his sacred tome. With each tiny flicker of light, the tortured souls finally found rest.

When his sacred chant finished, the "Wishing" value on his stat changed to 23. (For reasons unknown, Veyl felt that some souls could not be hoisted by his power; instead, they simply sank into the earth as soon as they were recited by the hymn.)

Closing his tome, Veyl's expression turned ashen and he muttered flatly, "I'm sticking with you from now on, God of Sanctuary."

Tucking the tome back into his belt, Veyl began to ponder. It wasn't the sacred book itself that was special—it was him. Or rather, his "position."

"As a priest, the source of my power comes from the Lord. And these 'Wishing' points… they're basically my achievements. No wonder those high priests and clerics are so obsessed with driving out evil and delivering souls…" he mused quietly. "And as one favored by the gods, with a high probability of successful soul deliverance, the scroll lets me clearly allocate this power of faith."

Murmuring his thoughts to himself, Veyl then turned to his stocky, wide-eyed bodyguard—who was standing frozen, staring blankly—and said, "Gather all the corpses together. When we have time, we'll bury them all in the cemetery. Otherwise, if they're left too long, they'll cause a plague."

"Uh…" Alexander mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he tried to shake off his bewilderment. He couldn't figure out why, all of a sudden, there was light in the sky—and why those bird-like creatures were flying about. He even wondered, half-jokingly, if maybe they could be roasted and eaten…

He heaved a sigh and tossed the corpses onto the pile, then continued hauling them away. Each time he moved one, he'd sneak a glance at his lord—but he never bothered to search the pockets of the dead. Their tattered clothes were long since rotted away; there wasn't any edible food to be found. There were, however, a few copper coins and small knives scattered about.

Not paying any heed to Alexander's curious glances, Veyl recalled that many high priests, when reciting their sacred hymns, would evoke bizarre phenomena—often even more extravagant than what he was experiencing. But it was rare for lowly mercenaries like Alexander to witness such miracles. After all, the ones who could trigger these events were usually the most devout clerics with some standing in the church.

"Out in this life, most folks are just con men…" Veyl muttered bitterly.

He unrolled his scroll once more and noticed that his status had changed. His previous position, listed as "Cleric (Apprentice Priest in the Choir)" was now updated to "Cleric (Priest of the God of Sanctuary)." Additionally, he'd learned a new ability:

Sacred Hymn "Deliverance": Dust to dust, earth to earth.(This is a ferrying power—it doesn't directly grant you strength from the gods. As the medium, only the stronger you become will this hymn grow in power. When you gradually master this divine power and truly understand its meaning, the ever-growing you will be able to send those unwilling souls directly to where they belong.)

The explanation was simple and straightforward—no additional upgrade points could be applied through "Wishing," but it was undeniably powerful. Veyl could roughly grasp the meaning: once his "Wisdom" reached a certain level, even the weakest of evil creatures would, upon hearing him sing, be sent to meet God!

It also required a measure of insight—perhaps increasing the success rate or triggering a critical hit!"Pretty much a one-hit kill skill for a group attack, and it doesn't even use up mana. This is way cooler than 'Judgment'," Veyl thought, swallowing hard as he realized he should study the Bible more often.

Shaking off these thoughts, Veyl shifted his weight to sit more comfortably and began to consider how to use those "Wishing" points. It seemed that "Inspiration" could also be increased, but the other two sacred hymns appeared even more interesting. Without hesitation, he expended 20 Wishing points, and the two sacred hymns underwent further transformation.

Sacred Hymn Level 1 (Part I) "Hymn of Divine Praise": Purifies, cures illness, and slowly heals wounds (restores 2 HP within 6 seconds) — Praise your God of Sanctuary!(You've finally caught a glimpse of the way. Try it out; not only does reciting it have a cleansing effect, but it might also stop bleeding and reduce swelling.)Explanation: 1. A healing-type sacred hymn. 2. When a favored one praises the God, they receive a higher priority effect (ignoring stubborn corruption, forcibly healing wounds).

Sacred Hymn Level 1 (Part II) "Divine Retribution in the Lord's Name": In the name of the God of Sanctuary, defend the weak and punish your enemies! (Deals 5 damage)Explanation: 1. A retribution-type sacred hymn. 2. When a favored one belts out the Lord's might, all evil creatures nearby tremble. There's a chance to trigger a "Retribution" effect (consumes mana)—a small chance to deal a fatal double strike with an area effect (1 damage in a small radius). If you hold a sacred relic or tome, the trembling effect is stronger and the trigger chance increases slightly.

Veyl's eyes widened as he looked at his combat power on the scroll:Overall Combat Power: 6Bonus vs. Evil Creatures: +5

"Damn, these two sacred hymns boosted my combat power by so much?!" Veyl couldn't believe it—these hymns' effects were equivalent to adding two hammers and an armor bonus. Now, when dealing with evil creatures, his fighting strength had nearly doubled!

"Holy shit, I'm unstoppable now! Quick, Alexander—did you get hurt just now? Huh?" Veyl leaped to the ground, sprinting over to check on Alexander. He couldn't help but test out the healing effect. In his memory, some high priests could heal a follower's wounds with just a gentle touch, no hymn needed!

And the miraculous ability he once saw as divine now, at least in its basic form, was something he could partly wield—a "favored" version of it!

But the bodyguard just shook his head, fearfully avoiding his lord's outstretched hand, and said, "Boss, I know a place where you can get some decent 'Liu Ying'.""…" Veyl felt a pang of sadness."Tell me—where is it?"