Through the gates, Rein peered inside to assess the situation and quickly took in everything within the hall.
At the same time, he realized that it must have been his earlier roar that had alerted the enemies within the church!
Though his initial move had the setback of alarming the enemies, it also had the advantage of letting him know the situation within the church beforehand.
The strange ritual and the tendrils of dark mist made Rein highly wary.
Moreover, he noticed that the dense crowd of townsfolk inside the church hall couldn't hold out much longer.
Because Rein saw very clearly that those townspeople near the prayer altar had all collapsed, their condition unknown.
And as wisps of dark mist, alive like creatures, continued to spread around, even more townspeople began to fall.
After carefully counting the number of enemies in the hall, Rein was shocked.
"Two Black Flame monks and seven or eight Squires?"
This was a strong force indeed...
He hadn't expected the Black Flame Church to dispatch so many elites all at once.
However, he suddenly remembered the peculiar sensation he felt after the Giant Bear Sword Technique had improved.
It seemed as though once the Giant Bear Sword Technique reached level 6, it had entered a new realm—as if previously he'd been occupied with familiarizing himself with the moves, but now, he had entered a mastery phase, where everything felt instinctive.
"In that case, it seems I might be up for a fight after all..."
While Rein was gauging the strength of his opponents, they were also observing the situation in the church square.
Especially the robed figure conducting the ritual, who, upon seeing Otis laying in a pool of blood, was visibly shaken, the person wobbled, and the mass of dark mist, as vast as an octopus, also became unstable.
"What the hell is going on?" Metry roared inwardly.
"Metry, focus on the ritual. Leave the outside matters to me!" said the robed figure with hands tucked in the sleeves, slowly emerging from the corner and speaking to the Black Flame monk conducting the ritual.
"At once, Angel Envoy!" The Black Flame monk conducting the ritual responded respectfully.
Watching the person addressed as Angel Envoy slowly approach the gates, Metry felt a wave of relief.
"Heh heh! No matter how you've done it, meeting the Angel Envoy means you can only pray for your misfortune!"
"Soon, you will witness the terrifying power of the Angel Envoy!"
A smirk with a touch of schadenfreude crept onto Metry's lips.
At that moment, Rein was already charging towards the entrance of the church hall, followed by several officers, while the Night Watchmen took up their bows and aimed at the entrance.
The seven fully-armed burly men from within the hall were now rapidly coming to assist, eight in total, arrayed in two rows, firmly blocking the church hall entrance.
Rein scanned these men, and his enhanced perception as a 'Wizard Apprentice' told him that among them, only two had the strength of a Knight, while the rest were mere Squires!
Needing to hurry and rescue the townsfolk, Rein swiftly decided on a strategy of swift and decisive combat!
As the burly men pulled out their hand crossbows and aimed at Rein,
suddenly, a roar erupted!
Following it, a silver sword light surged at the entrance of the church!
When the sword light passed, the four men in the front were immediately taken out.
But it didn't end there. With a stride, Rein's greatsword swept up, slicing through the armpit of a man in plate armor, a forearm still in its armor lofting through the air.
Immediately after, Rein performed a Smooth Cleaving Slash, splitting the man diagonally from his shoulder down at a forty-five degree angle!
At this time, the other three burly men finally snapped out of their shock from Rein's roaring strike, but the scene before them filled them with utter horror.
Five of their brothers had fallen in less than two seconds!
How the hell were they supposed to fight back!
With the sword light flashing again, Rein executed a Furious Slash, instantly killing the last Squire-strength bandit!
Now, the only ones still standing were two Knights, both already gravely injured.
Just as Rein was about to finish off these two as well, suddenly, a swift dark wave appeared before his eyes.
His level 3 'danger perception' went crazy with warnings, prompting Rein to instinctively guard himself with his greatsword.
In an instant, he felt a hot black current, carrying a tremendous force, slamming into him and sending him flying.
Because he had blocked the attack in advance, Rein felt the huge strength cause no real damage as he flew through the air.
However, the hot black current was rather peculiar!
Rein felt a sting on his exposed skin and saw that he had become wrapped in fine strands of Black Flame, clinging like a pernicious disease.
At this moment, these strands of Black Flame were trying to break through his skin to attack his insides; even with the protection of his Transcendent trait 'Iron Skin lv2', it felt incredibly difficult to resist!
Rein hit the ground hard!
At the same time, Rein heard screams nearby!
It turned out the attack hadn't only sent him flying but also several officers who had been charging in with him; they were also blown away. Since they hadn't had time to react, their bodies bore deeper, bone-visible wounds compared to Rein's.