The Three Poles of D45 World

Crimson Hymn

Mission Description: Crimson Saintess Seraphina, who walked the earth in the name of benevolence, roamed the wilderness outside Holy City Latina, healing humans lost to beastification. This angered His Excellency Lawrence, the Crimson Pope, and the Hymn Choir had begun their pursuit. Etoris requested your aid in the name of a holy knight.

Mission Requirement: Ensure the survival of Crimson Saintess Seraphina within seven days.

Mission Reward: Blood Medicine (High Purity) x1; Crimson Blood x1

Although forcefully entering this world through the Hearthstone would not generate a Main Mission, special events that were triggered could still receive the Space’s recognition.

Seeing the special mission appear before him, the Professor instinctively wanted to accept it, but quickly came to his senses and looked at Mercenary Tao.

Mercenary Tao was an anomaly who could not be judged by common sense, so he did not dare make a rash decision. However, the Space’s prompt soon put him at ease.

Temporary Squad 98715 has accepted the Special Mission: Crimson Hymn

Crimson Saintess Seraphina Survival: 1/7

"This mission is probably hinting that His Excellency Lawrence, the Crimson Pope, will begin some special plan seven days from now. That’s why he’s launched such an intense pursuit over these next few days."

The Professor was well aware of the clues hidden behind the Space’s various missions. He himself excelled at uncovering Hidden Missions and faction-related content.

Seeing Mercenary Tao accept the mission, he took the initiative to speak.

Bai Cangshu did not respond. He merely looked at Etoris, the first holy knight to accept the power he had bestowed, and smiled pleasantly.

"Remember, Etoris. As long as that heart of yours can still burn, she will not die."

Etoris rose to his feet. Due to his beastification, he now stood nearly two and a half meters tall. His back was slightly hunched, covered in a layer of white bone spurs like armor, while a white tailbone more than a meter long trailed behind him.

Listening to this mysterious and powerful man speak so casually, as though he had made some extraordinary promise, Etoris did not know how to react. Instead, the Professor stepped forward and cleared his throat before explaining.

"His Excellency Mercenary Tao takes promises very seriously. Since he has agreed to help you, we naturally will not let Seraphina die."

At least not within these seven days… the Professor silently added. Looking at the beast Duncan, whose limbs had been severed by Black Saber, he could not be sure how Mercenary Tao would ultimately treat the Saintess.

After only a brief time together, he had already noticed that Mercenary Tao lacked the moral framework of most Reincarnators. He had neither shown great kindness by saving those routed soldiers, nor had he been evil enough to kill for pleasure.

By traditional standards of good and evil, the Professor felt that Mercenary Tao probably belonged to an "unorthodox" faction. Not quite a villain, but nowhere near righteous either. Mercenary Tao was someone who acted solely for his own special objectives.

Etoris relaxed slightly at those words. As a former holy knight and a keen-sensed mixed-blood, he had a sharp instinct for the good and evil in others. Among the three before him, the black-haired woman was the most upright and kind-hearted.

As for the terrifying knight lady in dark armor with a black sword, although she radiated a violent aura, she was not evil. She was simply savage.

Only this man with loose black hair gave off an evil aura that made one’s entire body uncomfortable. It was a peculiar presence formed from bloodthirsty killing intent mixed with a cold, arrogant indifference that regarded no living being as worthy of notice.

Etoris nodded, then rummaged through his Backpack and pulled out a map, muttering, "Saintess Seraphina should currently be in Gray Valley Town, roughly three hundred kilometers from Holy City Latina, purifying the townspeople affected by the Bloodline Curse. We now…"

"If the Saintess Seraphina you mean is that beautiful girl in white robes with long red hair, then she is probably on the grasslands seven hundred kilometers beyond this direction."

"At this very moment, she is being intercepted in the wastelands by several hundred members of the Hymn Choir. The townspeople you spoke of needing purification have all been killed."

The Professor held a gemstone in his hand, but when he spoke, he was looking at Mercenary Tao.

Etoris’s expression changed drastically. The Hymn Choir was the Church of Healing’s most elite fighting force. Every one of them had undergone deep Blood Therapy, gaining combat power that surpassed ordinary mixed-bloods.

The Hymn Choir was a powerful force capable of hunting Second Generation mixed-bloods in groups. It had always been the Church of Healing’s signature force, publicly devoted to protecting humanity and exterminating dragons.

Yet they had now been dispatched directly to capture Saintess Seraphina.

Such an act practically meant that the Pope had completely torn away all pretense. His terrifying plan had reached its final stage!

The corners of Bai Cangshu’s mouth curled upward. Etoris’s boiling heart’s blood and urgent emotions gave him a warm sense of pleasure, and he had also read more interesting information from Etoris’s mind.

His Excellency Lawrence, the Crimson Pope; Knowledge of the Stars; the bloodline of ancient gods; the ladder of Flesh Evolution… and a Holy soul!

For once, he revealed a "kind and benevolent" smile and patted the Professor on the shoulder as though offering praise.

"Very good. To reward you for reminding me to enter this world at the right moment, I can now let you be a hero for once."

The Professor looked at Mercenary Tao, who was displaying such a smile for the first time, and a chill swept over his back. His hairs stood on end one by one again, and the intense discomfort nearly froze his expression completely, leaving him unable to respond.

Fortunately, Mercenary Tao did not seem to care. He simply floated up from the ground, while Artoria naturally came to his side and was lifted into the air by the armor at the back of her neck.

This savage black king and the equally savage, sinister Mercenary Tao moving together gave off an oddly harmonious feeling.

The Professor coughed and did not dare let his thoughts wander further. With a flash of light in his hand, a silver surfboard appeared beneath his feet.

Seeing Bai Cangshu look his way, he immediately explained, "This isn’t Silver Surfer’s. It’s just a technological creation…"

After Bai Cangshu looked away, the Professor had Etoris step onto the board as well. Then a powerful vortex erupted from behind it, sending the two soaring into the sky.

Artoria, held by the neck armor, also raised her head. Her pale golden eyes, like amber, watched Bai Cangshu.

Seeing that even after being tainted by Black Mud, some of her innate traits still seemed to remain, Bai Cangshu had a thought and tossed her upward. Ace’s Skiff – Modified appeared.

Crack!

Lightning flashed. Ace’s Skiff – Modified roared, tore through the air, and swiftly carried the two away through the sky.

Only the beast Duncan, his limbs severed, remained behind on the wasteland, struggling and roaring without end. But whether Bai Cangshu, Artoria, the Professor, or Etoris, no one cared about this beast who was far too weak.

Whoosh~

On the grasslands, Wildfire appeared once more for no reason, as though reflecting the increasingly obvious distortion in the sky. Bronze-colored currents could already vaguely be seen in the heavens.

The flames swept across the wasteland, completely swallowing the corpses before finally gathering around the beast Duncan. His agonized howls carried an immense distance.

The flames coiled around his body, peeling back flesh and skin. The stench of scorched meat seemed to restore a trace of human reason to Duncan.

It hurts so much. His Excellency Lawrence, I was so devout. Why did I end up like this…

Why did that knight lady kill me…

Why did those nobles insist on forcing me onto the battlefield to die…

Duncan had no great ambitions, nor did he know much of the world. He simply could not understand why, when all he wanted was to live properly in his village, everyone had to tear his world apart!

Resentment, distortion, unwillingness.

A faint trace of black aura fell into the flames. The fire swiftly turned pitch-black, and the limbless beast suddenly let out a human roar.

"You… will all die!"

"You’re smiling?"

Artoria stood at the rear of the skiff. Perhaps her Riding skill also worked on this kind of vehicle, for she showed no discomfort at all as she asked calmly.

Bai Cangshu nodded, undisguised amusement in his eyes.

"Yes. I casually threw down some bait, and a big fish took it. Things are going so smoothly that I feel like laughing."

His Excellency Lawrence, the Crimson Pope; the King of Bronze and Fire; and that force hiding behind them, guiding the world toward distortion…

"Interesting."