Saintess Summons Skeletons

Chapter 109: Mixed feelings

[Izukas helper n8] : Handcrafted bauble meant to be a good luck charm that attracts wealth. Theyre enchanted to crumble if handled by those not meant to have them. Dont let anyone touch it!

Thats a different description than the usual kind. I guess the [Identify] function has been relegated to my Scribe because of the disconnection. I kind of like it like that, its a lot less cold.

Its a cute statuette too. Ill keep that preciously. Who would have known my first interaction with a Hero of the Church would go like this. It would be nice if theyre all so tame. I could have asked a lot of questions but she looked so distressed with me around, its a wonder she didnt just chase me out. I wonder though, is it because of me? Or is she like this with everyone?

Maybe its the skeleton that freaked her out, or she dislikes Saints, I could see that too.

Alright, the temple should be somewhere further up north

Sofia choosing to venture in the volcanic jungles wasnt just a coincidence, supposedly one of the three Churchs temples was hidden in there, far up north, outside of the kingdoms borders.

This was the temple most often featured in the Churchs books, mostly because this was a region where monsters were striving, so there were many opportunities for outings. I need to find the thing with no map This might take a while.

She ascended as high as she could and observed the land as she flew at her top speed. They have to be making some light, right? Searching for the temple in the mountainous jungles during the day was a lost cause, but at night, there was a chance. The Templars guarded the temple day and night, certainly they werent doing that in the dark. In the uninhabited jungle and seen from the sky, any source of light would stand out like a sore thumb.

Her own wings were very visible too, but she flew high enough that the flying monsters and insects from the region didnt come to bother her. Of course the Templars might see her coming, but would they know it was her before it was too late?

It was almost morning when she spotted something at the edge of her vision.

Got you.

Not only had she seen light, she could see the vague outline of the huge temples roof poking out of the jungles canopy in the distance. She folded her wings and fell, only reopening them to slow her landing when she was about to hit the trees.

Ill go on foot from now on. They might have not seen me yet, no reason to announce my arrival like this.

Wearing her armor and using the mithril dagger, she carved a path through the thick vines in the direction of the temple.

So many insects

Now the question is, am I strong enough for this?

Im pretty sure if I throw the books three Templar skeletons to go with Pareth theyll have no trouble cleaning the place if there isnt anyone above level 249. But it's another story if there is, the gap between 249 and 250 is huge.

She had never killed someone over level 249 except for Orvod during the trial and those between 200 and 250 had also all been a headache before she got Pareth an Ogre's skeleton. She still couldnt go against Orvod with Pareth as he was now. Of course while in [Sanctified grounds] he was technically sturdier than she had been as a demon, and maybe about as strong. The issue was that his skills werent what hers had been, which made a major difference.

Considering what she knew of the power level of those at the fourth filter like Orvod and Kuli, it was easy to come to the conclusion that the higher you got, the harder beating those of the filters above got. Thats also what Kuli said if I remember correctly. What do I do about this then And should I even kill them?

She was conflicted, the church was definitely the perpetrators behind Verenhas massacre and ambush, and the Templars were also involved, but did that make all Templars guilty?

...

The Church is actively searching for me. Izuka said I would be on the bounty hitlist. Im going against the Churchs God. The Templars are already involved. They will definitely get in my way when I go after the High-Priests and the Oracle

Yeah I dont even know why I was hesitating. Our beliefs will inevitably pit us against each other. I can still afford doing charity to the Paladins who are straight in their boots, but all Templars have to go.

Stopping in the jungle, she did something that she actually rarely did anymore, looking at her whole status sheet at once.

Name : Sofia Aphenoreth

Age : 20

Class : [Saintomancer]

Level : 131

Health : 5655 / 5655 (5*level, 5000 filter2)

Stamina : 1655 / 1655 (5*level, 1000 filter2)

Mana : 55000 / 55000 (-10000 Alith) (-5000 Scribe Link) (5000 base, (500*level-1))

Specialization : [Eclipse Skeleton]

Alteration chance : 73%

Active Skills (6 / 6)

[Spine of the Black Sun] - Level 104

[Heal Undead] - Level 57

[Summon Blood] - Level 79

[Angels bolt] - Level 100

[Maiden Banshee] - Level 131 (Lv.131)

[Graveyard of the righteous] - Level 104

Passive Skills (5 / 6)

[Blessing of the Deep] - (2/4)

[Armor of Bones] - Level 100

[Pristine essence]

[Vakariazrehafin of Sorrow]

[Holy Wings of undeath]

Classless Skills (6 / 6)

[Fast reading] - Level 52

[Way of the Fool] - Level 6

[Poker Face] - Level 29

[Identify] - Level 1

[Sanctity] - Level 39

[Mana manipulation]

Special Skills (1)

[The Book of Skeletons]

Summoned heroes (3 / 4)

• Lv.131 Pareth (Holy Ogre Eclipse Skeleton)
• Lv.131 Alith (Maiden Banshee)
• Lv.131 Book of Skeletons (Book)

[Mark of Aphenoreth]

Available Active Skills :

• [Dispel ]: Dispels

Available Passive Skills :

• [Blessed hands ] : Shape mana directly through the hands
• [ with suffering] : all those who touch it except the necromancer with long lasting [Agony].

This is getting cluttered

Ah, I might as well sit down for now, how can I do this

Sofia spent a while thinking of the best approach to take down the Temple. She summoned the book, its mist had fully recovered for a while already. She had been checking every hour until the amount of mist stopped increasing sometime around the middle of the night. Paladins again then. She could have used the stronger and more expensive Templars, but for her plan, the larger paladin squad would be best suited at the job.

First, she traced her steps back, going away from the Temple. Then she ripped off the Paladins page.

The twenty five skeletons appeared and disappeared as she essentially transferred them from the book to her ring. Then she took flight again. The sun was very close to its zenith already, right above her head, she waited a few minutes for the perfect time, the skeletons had two hours of lifetime which was more than enough.

Now should be fine. At full speed from where she was, she could reach the temple in about four seconds.

Not losing the temples direction from sight, and flying about a hundred meters above the trees, Sofia counted the seconds as she took her distances.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

She stopped.

Alright, here goes nothing. Armor good, mana almost full, Saint set equipped, Skeletons ready. Mana currents stable, sun almost at the top. This is gonna be just fine.

Sofia was shaking ever so slightly, depending on the level of the strongest Templar, this could be very dangerous.

The rug is ready too. Her ultimate lifeline was a rug carved with the teleportation circle to warp to Zangdar with the ring. Like this she could have the teleportation ready in a matter of seconds from anywhere without having to draw the circle in a rush and risk messing it up. Ah, I need to turn off the spatial anchor bracelet for that to work, good that I didnt forget.

That should be it. Last detail now.

A small health potion vial appeared in Sofias hand, she opened it, throwing away the glass stopper. Then she put the whole thing in her mouth, doing her best to nudge it in her cheek where it wouldnt spill too much. Dont wanna eat glass again.

Taking a last deep breath, she raised both hands and launched herself forward.

[Angels bolt]

[Angels bolt]

Behold, Templars, this is how you properly use holy power to attack.

Five seconds later, she drank the potion and spat out the vial. The healing counteracted the damage the two growing lightning bolts were inflicting to her body.

She flew much lower than she had when she first spotted the temple. The two lightning bolts were drowning her already limited vision through the closed helmet in blue light. She couldnt see much so she just had to trust her calculations.

At ten seconds, she stopped and released the two monsters of pulsating energy straight down.

She had been flying about a hundred meters above the point of impact, but the shockwave from the compounded explosion still reached her, pushing her higher in the sky.

You have murdered [Kayan Fell - Templar lv. 32]

You have murdered [Emma - Cook lv. 8]

You have murdered [Irvin - Handiman lv. 1]

You have murdered [Samantha - Handiman lv. 2]

You have murdered [Julius - Priest lv. 23]

You have murdered [Aaron Redsand - Templar lv. 179]

You have murdered [Christelle - Paladin lv. 98]

You have murdered [Amanda Everbright - Priest lv. 99]

You have murdered [Cristobal - Confessor lv. 112]

You have murdered [Mint - Paladin lv. 133]

You have murdered [Albert Miller - Templar lv. 199]

You gained a level!

You have murdered [Friederich - Priest lv. 99]

You have murdered [Xu Li - Priest lv. 2]

You have murdered [Vernon Black - Priest lv. 42]

Fuck! Theres more than the templars?! It wasnt like this in the books! SHIT!

Sofia felt like absolute shit. Looking at the notifications made her sick to her core. Accidentally killing the pirate sailors while fighting for her life was one thing, accidentally killing civilians while on a personal vendetta was another entirely.

The Churchs books had always painted the Temples as very exclusive places, which only the reclusive group of Templars could enter. She never thought for a second other people could be inside.

Nevertheless, what was done had been done, she still proceeded with the plan. Roofs gone. Once the smoke and dust from the explosion recessed, revealing the damaged temple below, twenty six armored skeletons fell from the sky.

Only kill the Templars. You can incapacitate any Paladin or Priest who attacks. Dont touch the workers.

The skeletons had a simple job, the invincible paladins would stay in the light and swarm the Templars, making it easier for Pareth to move around and pick them off one by one. The goal was to dispose of as many of them as possible. Sofia had initially planned to go for another round of bolting, but seeing as that would hurt more unrelated people, she instead opted to directly go to the next part of the plan: fleeing.

She needed to take her distance in case a Templar above level 250 could fly and come after her. She could follow the fight through Pareth anyway.

Ill need to find another way for the other temples

You have murdered [Briana Stormwind - Templar lv. 100]

Sofia was flying away as fast as she could, and yet, something didnt feel right.

She felt a mana disturbance closing on her from behind.