Eren closed his eyes and tried to sense the entrance of the maze, which was quite lively at the moment. There was a large group of people, and all of them had a holy aura around their bodies.
Three of them stood out from the rest, their auras being stronger than the rest by a lot.
“Seventeen Bishops and three Cardinals? That’s a lot of firepower.”
Eren had already expected the Holy Church to send someone after they received a signal that the Dungeon was attacked, but the force they sent was quite strong.
“Should I go welcome them? I do need some experience of fighting in this form.” Eren had tested a few of his skills in the form of Dragon of the Beginning, but he was still not proficient.
If it was in the past, he would’ve thought about avoiding a confrontation if he wasn’t absolutely certain, especially since these people were under the protection of the goddess in the Western Continent.
On the contrary, he was quite excited about facing these Cardinals who used the holy power. If they were under the protection of the goddess, then he was also a stronger life form as the Dragon of the Beginning.
He also couldn’t disturb the Sea Dragon Empress right now, who was going through the evolution.
“I suppose it is decided then.” He walked towards the nearby wall and stabbed his claws in the Celestial Dragon’s scale. With a single hand, he raised the heavy dragon’s scale from the ground as if it was nothing but a block made for children to play with.
….
“Everyone needs to be alert. This place is dangerous. The last team that entered hasn’t returned yet. And even more enemies might be inside. Don’t lower your guard!”
A cardinal warned the others, his words especially being directed towards the bishops.
As Cardinals with stronger blessings, they were better protected. However, this was not the same for the Bishops, many of them were in line to become Cardinals in the future. They were the future pillars of the Holy Church.
“Hmph, it would’ve been better if we hadn’t brought these burdens along. The three of us could’ve handled it much easier.” Another Cardinal felt annoyed that they had to act like a babysitter.
He thought that they would have a much easier time if it were just the three Cardinals alone. However, he couldn’t do anything since the other Cardinals had agreed to send the Bishops, treating this as a training for the future Cardinals.
“If you start dragging us down, then I might actually kill you myself. So stay out of our way and follow instructions!” he told the Bishops who nodded repeatedly like children that were being scolded.
The lead Cardinal, a figure with silver hair and eyes like molten gold, glanced back at his companions and the entourage of Bishops.
“That’s enough bickering.” His voice, calm but firm, sliced through the tense atmosphere. “Remember, our mission is to explore the dungeon and catch the Sea Dragon Empress.”
He gestured for everyone to follow him as he entered the Maze. Along the way, he observed the walls of the maze, which appeared quite strange. Even the holy aura felt useless on the walls.
The walls simply reflected the holy aura back towards the source with just as much intensity. Attacking the walls with the holy aura was no different than attacking themselves.
“On the way back, I should take a sample of these stones with me,” he mumbled under his breath, his voice barely audible to the others.
“Watch out!” While the Lead Cardinal of the group was distracted by the walls of the maze, another Cardinal shouted out of nowhere.
He grabbed the lead cardinal by the shoulder and pulled him back. The Lead Cardinal came to his senses. He noticed the Cardinal, who had been rude to the bishops previously, take the lead.
The rude cardinal was looking towards the sky. He also raised his head and saw a giant stone slab falling straight towards them.
The rude cardinal grabbed his holy aura in his fists.
“Wait, don’t attack with that!” The lead cardinal exclaimed, but it was too late already.
The other cardinal shot out the holy aura straight towards the block of stone that was falling towards them.
“Everyone watch out!” The Lead Cardinal reaction fast and cast his strongest shield around them. A done shaped semi transparent golden barrier surrounded all of them.
“It’s just a stone. Why are you so scared? Watch it be destroyed to pieces with my attack.” The arrogant cardinal felt like laughing as the cowardice of the others.
“Hmm?” His laughter didn’t last long as he saw a bright light flash in the sky.
His expressions turned grim as he watched his attack being reflected by the stone, being fired back at them in a similar manner.
The attack was strong enough to kill many Bishops, if not all of them. Fortunately, the Lead Cardinal expected this, and cast a shield that was stronger than the other Cardinal’s attack.
The attack landed on the shield but failed to break through. The Bishops were protected, but it wasn’t the end of it.
Behind the stone slab in the sky, a man was standing, his claws still stabbed inside the stone.
“He’s thinking from his head. It’s fine. Let me give you a better gift then.” Eren softly said as he tossed the stone slab towards the Cardinals.
The stone block which looked like it was flying towards them, was previously being carried by Eren. However, now that it was tossed with all his might, it fell even faster.
The lead cardinal didn’t even have time to tell everyone to fall back when the stone slab struck the shield, making it shatter on impact.
The impact sent debris flying in all directions. The Cardinals were momentarily stunned by the force of the blow.
Even the Lead Cardinal was pushed back a few steps as the dragon scale fell on them, his expressions turning darker.
