“We found this while investigating the camp,” Verol said, noticing Hao Ren and the others’ astonishment and confusion. He took a tattered black-covered book from his robes and handed it over. “It unlocks the legion’s secrets.”

Hao Ren took the battered, almost unrecognizable, thick book. “This is…”

“An ancient notebook. It was originally a powerful holy relic, once belonging to a high-ranking bishop or ascetic. It’s probably a prayer book. The initial scriptures recorded on it allowed it to survive the erosion of the Nightmare World. Perhaps that’s why its original owner chose to record something crucial on it… Ignore the scriptures at the beginning; they’re mostly illegible. About a third of the notes at the end are still readable.”

Hao Ren carefully opened the prayer book and found the handwritten notes in the latter part.

“…the power is fading, the twilight storm… severed contact with… Bishop Aaron tried to call out to (unidentifiable place name or person name), but there was no response. We may already be… I fear the secular supplies will soon be… corrupted by the power. Valuable events will be recorded in this prayer book from now on…”

“…Seventy-sixth day. We’ve been trapped here for over two months. Only two scouts returned. They said… confirmed the Warden Legion was destroyed. Those powerful war colossi and arcane weapons seem to have lost control. Where they were destroyed, one can see… Twilight Fortress and Mithril Bastion are dark, devoid of divine grace. As things stand, it's almost certain the Wardens had an accident. Perhaps…”

“…Various supplies are running out, and there’s still no hope for improvement… The passage to the real world is locked. The Heroic Soul Legion doesn't need food or water, but the consumption of holy water and incense cannot be replenished. Without these, even the Heroic Souls will… corrupt and twist. At the bishop's conference, we discussed the possibility of finding replacements, but in this Nightmare World, I’m afraid nothing can resist the… of Lockmarton.”

“The passage of time is becoming bizarre. We seem unable to feel the alternation of day and night, but it may also be that the alternation of day and night in this world has really stopped. After the Wardens left… But the position is still there, and we should be able to hold it. But how long should we hold it for? The demigod guards have left, and the demigod guard legions have also collapsed. Only us, the Heroic Soul Legion transformed from mortals, continue to hold this empty Nightmare space seems meaningless…”

“…engaged in a battle, very fierce, many died, but in the end, the claws of Lockmarton were successfully repelled, and the position is still firmly controlled by the Knights. Perhaps our perseverance is indeed meaningless to Lockmarton, but so what—at least it is meaningful to us. In addition, I was slightly injured in the battle, but the effect of healing magic on the wound is unusually weak. This situation is very abnormal and needs…”

“…two months, the wound finally began to heal, but it looks a little strange. There seems to be some proliferation around the wound… Found other injured soldiers and found that half of them had similar conditions, with proliferative tissue near the wound. Later, the bishopric investigated and found… more abnormal changes. The limbs of some soldiers have atrophied or deformed, although slightly, but this doesn’t seem like a good sign…”

“…more and more mutations are occurring, and the situation is becoming more and more bizarre. After the last battle, it was discovered that all healing magic no longer works, but everyone’s self-healing ability has become unprecedentedly powerful, which is almost as good as losing the effect of healing magic, but the healed wounds always have various incomprehensible growths. Cutting them off will lead to more…”

“Depressed, a little dazed, vaguely remember forgetting something, but life is still busy, today is the day of pray…er?”

“…saw my appearance from the reflective shield, I don’t know when I grew a new tentacle… Bishop Aaron has completely turned into an unrecognizable appearance, but the smell is still his… My two attendants have also become very strange. I can’t tell who is who, because they are now too similar. I have to put different colored cloth strips on them…”

“Writing is becoming very difficult… I don’t know what to write, I feel my thinking is getting more and more chaotic, it’s difficult to recall many… The bishops seem to have long forgotten a crucial ritual. I vaguely have a little impression of that ritual, but what exactly was it…”

“…the battle is over, injured, many people, are waiting to heal, vaguely remember that there used to be something to speed up wound healing… what was it?”

“Writing these things… recording… can’t understand… I am… am…”

The records that followed all turned into unrecognizable chaotic symbols and abstract terrifying graffiti, which could no longer be read.

“He should be the one who persisted the longest,” Verol said slowly. “The diary he left us gave us valuable information, allowing us to roughly guess what happened here after the Wardens left. The power of Lockmarton will continue to corrupt the creatures that enter the Nightmare World, whether they are ordinary people or powerful clerics and holy spirits. As long as they lose the continuous support of holy objects, they will gradually be transformed into a part of the Nightmare.”

Hao Ren returned the precious notebook to Bishop Verol: “They don’t seem to have completely transformed yet.”

“But they have lost their human minds,” the old bishop sighed. “They still retain the instinct to fight against the chaotic demons, and they seem to be resisting Lockmarton’s erosion, but they can’t communicate or think. After contacting them, we tried many negotiation methods, but to no avail. The only achievement so far is… they won’t attack us.”

Gorton, the King of Mountains, lowered his head and remained silent for a long time, wondering what he was thinking.

“We can consider this matter slowly,” Hao Ren still remembered the purpose of his coming to this space. The appearance of the "Doomsday Legion" was just an accident. Although it needs to be concerned about, the root cause of all this must be solved first—Lockmarton. "I want to know, how did you transfer the entire City of God's Grace here? What exactly happened at that time? What happened in the City of God’s Grace? Those popes…”

“We also have many questions,” Verol looked at Hao Ren and the rock giants behind Hao Ren. “I think both of us need an in-depth conversation. Come back to the City of God’s Grace with us. His Holiness the Pope will tell you everything.”

“Pope?!” Hao Ren was stunned when he heard this. “Are you talking about Augustus VII? Wasn’t he already…”

“Please remember one sentence—the people of the Holy Domain will never give in, not even in front of Lockmarton,” the old bishop said lightly. “I know your doubts, come on, in the City of God’s Grace, you will get all the answers.”

The City of God’s Grace on the scorched earth plain—even if it fell into this Nightmare World dominated by Lockmarton, it still stood proudly. The scarred city walls and mottled scorched towers seemed to tell the hard price it paid for rushing into this battlefield, and also symbolized the indomitable spirit of the people of the Holy Domain. After entering the city, one could see various severely damaged buildings and almost unrecognizable streets of various sizes. Many tall churches and towers were actually on the verge of collapse. Due to the loss of their foundations, they are now completely supported by magical power. A faint halo flows between the cracked stone slabs and metal, keeping them from disintegrating immediately.

Many workers were busy among these damaged buildings. They tried to repair those less damaged buildings that could last longer, and demolished those temples and towers that were completely unable to stand and completely relied on divine magic to maintain them. In those completely collapsed ruins, there were many metal magic constructs whose entire bodies were covered with magic runes busily working—they seemed to be collecting useful materials from the ruins.

The entire city looked severely damaged, but everything seemed orderly. The first thought that came to Hao Ren’s mind when he saw this scene was: the transfer of the City of God’s Grace was by no means a sudden situation, but a plan prepared long ago!

There is only one person who has the ability to arrange this kind of thing, and that is the Pope who can control everything in the Holy City, Augustus VII.

Then in the outside real world, who is the Pope who was eroded and corrupted by the Rift Blade, blocking everyone? !

With these questions, Hao Ren and his group passed through the dilapidated streets of the Holy City. Under the leadership of High Priest Verol, they passed through the outer ring of the city, the Ring of Mortals and the Path of the Sages, and finally arrived at the core of the Holy City, the circular district called the Side of Divine Will.

This used to be the central hub of the Goddess Cult. All the grand cathedrals and secret archives at the top were concentrated in this smallest circular district, and the largest building among them was the Holy Image Palace where the Pope was located—the "human symbols" of the twenty-one Wardens were also located in it. But now, the damage suffered by the Side of Divine Will is far greater than the other two ring districts. Eighty percent of its buildings have suffered devastating blows, and the area where the Holy Image Palace is located is even more blank—obviously, that palace remained in the outside real world.

Karasu looked at the city where he had lived for most of his life and couldn't help but feel a lot of emotions. In the first half of his life, he had never thought that his hometown, the unfallen Holy City, would be baptized by war. However, in these short months, Asu Man gradually extinguished, the Holy Domain fell, and the Holy City was attacked. This glorious city has actually become like this. When he set off, it was still bright and splendid, but on the day of his return…

But he saw the broken Holy City that survived the disaster in this Nightmare Realm.

Since the Holy Image Palace has remained in the real world, the temporary center of the Holy City is now a cathedral located on the Side of Divine Will—in fact, it is also the only intact building in the Side of Divine Will area. In this cathedral, which was illuminated by a faint holy light, Hao Ren and his group saw the "His Holiness the Pope" that Verol spoke of.

An old man was sitting in a chair. He was barefoot, wearing a thick robe that was no longer visible in color, and holding a simple cane made of curved briar wood in his hand. The old man was extremely thin, almost skin and bones, and his limbs could even be said to be skinny. He sat there like a hard, craggy thorn, with a head of messy white hair scattered behind his head.