The assessment is over?
Eros wasn’t particularly surprised that the Church would terminate the trial early. As he had noted before, the Church certainly didn't want the students they had spent so much effort cultivating to be wiped out in a Sin Realm. The moment a fundamental issue was detected, ending the assessment was the logical move.
However, the timing felt a bit late. It had been days; the students were nearly decimated by the time they sent someone in to announce the end. Theoretically, the Church should have been monitoring the realm’s stability constantly. Why did it take so long to notice the shift? Was the anomaly caused by "that gaze" far more complex than it appeared on the surface?
I can't figure it out now. Forget it. He decided to see if he could use his authority as a "God-Son" to pry into the details of the incident once they were out.
Eros pulled his thoughts back and looked at the elderly man claiming to be a Senior Deacon of the Night Watch. "How do we leave?" he asked curiously.
They had entered this realm via random deployment from a sealed artifact, not through a fixed entrance. Consequently, he had no idea where the exit was located. He suspected the Church had a much more efficient method of extraction than trekking back to a rift. After all, traveling through the contaminated fog for several days would be a logistical nightmare, requiring constant pauses for purification.
The Senior Deacon smiled, his tone softening. "The Gate of the Infinite (无终之门) will receive us."
As he spoke, an illusory, ethereal gate manifested before Eros. As expected, a shortcut. This was likely a sealed artifact similar to his own family’s Spirit Gate, though undoubtedly more powerful. Eros wondered if it was a Grade 2, a Grade 1, or perhaps even a Holy Relic.
Gazing at the gate, Eros hesitated. "The other students are gathered not far from here. Do you need me to lead you to them?"
"Your Highness may depart first. I noted their coordinates on my way here," Bartos replied, maintaining that stiff, "gentle" smile.
So, he saw the other students first?
And yet, he hadn't stopped to help them. Instead, he had rushed straight here to ensure the "God-Son" was safely evacuated first. The perks of divine status... I could get used to this, Eros thought wryly.
It was a shame, though. He had hoped to head back and have Barbara scan the crowd for the "Angel-blood" descendant the meat-mountain had mentioned. It looked like that investigation would have to wait.
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Eros glanced at the small pile of Spirit Essence on the ground that they hadn't finished packing. Bartos waved a hand dismissively and laughed. "Do not worry, Your Highness. The Church will see to it that these essences are delivered directly to the Duke’s manor in Intiles."
With such thorough service provided, there was no reason to linger. Eros took Undine’s hand and stepped through the illusory gate. As their figures blurred and vanished, the gate shrank until it blinked out of existence.
Inside the Sin Realm, the Senior Deacon’s expression returned to a cold, flat calm. He cast a lingering look at the dozens of giant trees remaining in the distance, then turned and headed toward the students he had passed earlier.
Soon, he appeared before the exhausted survivors. He stood there, looking indifferently at the swarming spirits still lunging forward.
The next second, a series of muffled explosions erupted. The bodies of the spirits began to detonate without warning or visible cause. Within moments, every spirit within sight had been cleared. Even those emerging from the fog exploded the instant they crossed the threshold.
Bartos looked at the stunned students, who were still processing the sudden carnage. He introduced himself in a detached voice: "I am Bartos Vatuta, Senior Deacon of the Night Watch, Church of Reincarnation."
"The Church has detected a spike in risk due to unknown mutations. The assessment is terminated. Please enter the Gate of the Infinite in an orderly fashion to leave this realm."
"As for the Spirit Essence from these corpses, Church personnel will collect them and distribute them to you once we are outside."
With a final word, a massive gateway of light appeared. The students stood frozen for a long moment before reality set in. The trial is over. They were alive. Joy broke out across the field; some cheered, while others collapsed into hysterical sobbing.
Bartos watched the scene with a stony face, waiting silently without urging them.
In the crowd, Saliba looked at the shattered remains of his Friendly Copper Bell with a mix of confusion and a strange blankness. Why did this thing break? I have no memory of it. He reasoned it must have been struck by a spirit during the chaotic fighting. It was the only logical explanation.
Sifraya and Joni shared a look, then gathered their courage to approach the Senior Deacon. Bartos glanced at them, his voice devoid of emotion. "Is there something else?"
Sifraya took a deep breath. "Deacon, sir! Eros Lunca North, the successor of the Elf bloodline, entered the deep fog hours ago to lure away the majority of the horde. He hasn't returned! And his sister, Undine, has gone missing as well. I beg you to help find them—they must still be alive!"
Hearing Eros’s name, Bartos’s expression softened slightly. "They are fine. I found them on my way in and have already sent them out of the realm."
Sifraya and Joni slumped in relief. Nearby, the other girls who had been listening felt the weight lift from their hearts. However, Baron Larryvatte, who had narrowly survived, felt his face twist with jealousy seeing his "fiancée" so concerned for another man.
Outside.
Eros’s vision blurred and cleared to find himself standing on a massive plaza. Not far ahead was the jagged, several-meters-wide rift of the Sin Realm entrance. They were back at the base camp.
"That Senior Deacon... he is a Sequence 3 Ferryman ," Barbara, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly spoke in his mind.
Eros was genuinely shocked. A Sequence 3 Beyonder? A Saint-level powerhouse sent just to fetch him?
Just then, a confused voice called out from the side: "Why are there only two of you? Where are the other students?"