Chapter 1982: Chapter 1982: The Tribunal
No one knows how much time passed before Charles’ aura slowly subsided.
He then sat powerlessly among the ruins of the Temple, looking desolate.
Charles felt his mind go blank; he couldn’t imagine that Thomas and the others would be so easily slain by Evil God Xiao Zheng and Hades joining forces. Nor could he have foreseen that the remaining 130,000 elite soldiers outside would also fall together.
This directly led to a severe depletion in the Bright Church’s combat strength.
It could be described as a major setback.
Even if Charles ultimately leads the Bright Church to victory, it would take at least a hundred years to return to its peak, and that’s only if they win.
If they are ultimately defeated, the Bright Church will be erased from existence!
Thinking about the potential demise of the Bright Church, Charles’ expression became exceptionally fierce: "No! Absolutely not! I definitely cannot let the Church perish under my leadership!"
"I must win this final battle!"
However, as the figures of Xiao Zheng and Hades slowly surfaced in his mind, his blazing fury was rapidly quenched.
Xiao Zheng and Hades now felt like two mountains weighing heavily on Charles’ heart.
If there’s no way to deal with these two, all efforts will be in vain.
"Evil God Xiao Zheng!"
"It’s all his fault! If it weren’t for him, none of this trouble would have happened!"
"Who knows what’s gotten into that kid; his cultivation realm has advanced so rapidly in such a short time!"
Thinking of this, Charles’ eyes showed deep helplessness.
If he only had to face one of them, Xiao Zheng or Hades, he was confident he could kill them. But once the two joined forces, he was feeling helpless.
After all, reaching the Supreme Realm, their combined efforts aren’t as simple as one plus one in math.
Thinking of this, Charles couldn’t help but feel utterly vexed.
Ratz, kneeling on the ground, glanced up at him and then cautiously asked: "His Holiness, what should we do next? Our troops outside have been wiped out now; the Netherworld King and the Evil God will surely attack our Holy Land of the Church soon!"
"We must find a way to stop them before they arrive."
"You don’t need to remind me of this!" Charles snorted coldly, glared at him, and then said, "Don’t we still have 200,000 elite soldiers in total? Though 130,000 were killed, 70,000 remain."
"Gather the remaining soldiers and station them near the Holy Land of the Church."
"Besides these 70,000 elite soldiers, let all with fighting capabilities join the battle. This war is the greatest crisis faced by our Bright Church since its foundation!"
"We must unite everyone to have any opportunity to overcome this challenge!"
After hearing his words, Ratz finally stopped hesitating.
After nodding, Ratz quickly got up and left, ready to pass on Charles’ orders.
Following Ratz’s departure, Charles also made a significant decision. As he previously told Ratz, if they want to win this war, they must unite everyone with combat ability.
To eliminate Xiao Zheng and Hades, he decided to find himself a few allies.
Charles left the Temple and arrived at the Sky Tower located to the right of the Judgement Temple.
This Sky Tower is the tallest structure in the entire Holy Land of the Church.
Completely black, it looked from the outside like a giant chimney.
However, everyone knew, this tower named "Judgement" was not simply a chimney. Its real purpose was to imprison heretics.
Over the years.
Anyone defying the Bright Church’s orders or trying to resist the Church would be locked inside this tower named "Judgement."
Charles wanted to find three individuals inside; these three might become key to his victory.
When he walked into Judgement, the temperature inside was very low, like entering an ice cellar.
Even the air was filled with a scent of decay. Occasionally, cries and pleas for mercy could be heard; however, most of the sounds were curses.
Charles furrowed his brows and then released his aura unabashedly.
When his aura enveloped the entire Judgement, all sounds instantly vanished.
Only then did Charles show a hint of satisfaction, then followed the stone steps, step by step, towards the top of Judgement. At the end of the steps, the highest point of Judgement, lay three exceptionally powerful presences.
Among them, the aura of one was not much inferior to Charles’ own.
"Austin, Frank, Felix."
"An old friend has come to visit; aren’t you going to come out and welcome me?"
Charles finally reached the top of the tower and spoke to an iron door before him.
Upon hearing this, mocking laughter came from inside the door.
A coarse voice then sounded, saying, "Charles, stop pretending! Your purpose here is nothing but to humiliate us."
A raspy voice then followed: "Charles, don’t let me out, or I’ll personally snap your neck!"
"None of you are allowed to take him from me! Charles must die by my hand!" The third voice finally sounded, filled with rage.
Upon hearing their words, Charles was not angry; instead, he smiled and said, "Five years have passed, hearing your voices again truly makes me delighted."
"Seems you’ve been doing quite well here, especially you, Austin, still speaking with such vigor."
Boom!
Charles’ words fell, and suddenly the iron door before him let out a loud bang!
It seemed the person inside had punched the door hard, venting their internal dissatisfaction!
Shortly after, the coarse voice sounded again, somewhat impatiently said: "Charles, stop pretending! Get out of here quickly! Or I’ll come out now and smash your head with one punch!"
Upon hearing this, Charles couldn’t help but laugh again: "Austin, it seems you’re still joking like before. Do you think if I don’t let you out, you can walk through this door on your own?"
Upon hearing his words, the voices inside suddenly vanished...
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