Chapter 13: Descent of the Divine Incarnation, Temporary Camp Falls

“Yes!”

Lynn chose to upgrade without hesitation.

The next instant—

【Divine Promotion: First-tier Sanctuary → Second-tier Sanctuary!】

【Divine Sense Range Enhanced: Radius of 100 meters → Radius of 1,000 meters!】

【New Divine Art Acquired: Descent of the Divine Incarnation!】

A vast and boundless sense of power, far greater than before, surged through Lynn’s body.

His divine perception spread out like a tidal wave.

In an instant, it covered the dense forest within a thousand meters.

Every vein on every leaf—

Every flap of a night owl’s wings—

Even the squirming of insects underground—

As long as he willed it, all of it could be clearly reflected in his divine sense.

Within a thousand meters, all were under the gaze of the Holy Light!

What delighted Lynn the most, however, was the new ability—Descent of the Divine Incarnation!

With a thought—

The method of constructing an incarnation instantly became clear in his mind.

Lynn tried channeling his Holy Radiance.

In the forest roughly eight hundred meters from the church, a vague humanoid silhouette, condensed entirely from pure Holy Light and faintly resembling his pre-transmigration self, slowly emerged.

Lynn then attempted to infuse a thread of his divine sense into it.

“It moved!” he exclaimed inwardly in excitement.

That incarnation of light raised its arm and then struck a pose as if responding to the call of a new era…

“Not bad, not bad~”

“Almost no different from a real body.”

Lynn tested the smoothness of his incarnation’s movements and was very satisfied.

Without alerting anyone, he proceeded to test the other abilities of this incarnation.

First—

As long as the incarnation remained within the coverage of his divine sense, it could exist indefinitely, requiring only a small amount of Holy Radiance.

However, once it strayed too far from the church, beyond the range of his divine sense, it would gradually weaken until its energy was completely depleted and it vanished, unable to be replenished.

The advantage, however, was obvious.

Lynn’s range of activity was no longer confined to the one-kilometer area of his divine perception!

He could now send this incarnation as another “mini divine sense” to explore distant places in this world.

And the best part—he could be as reckless as he wanted! Even if it died, it didn’t matter!

Secondly—

The incarnation inherently possessed the equivalent power of his own second-tier strength.

By infusing more Holy Radiance, its power could even be elevated in quality—

to third-tier, fourth-tier, or even fifth-tier strength without issue!

Likewise, the more energy invested, the longer it could last outside his divine sense range.

Simply put—the more “wealth” one had, the stronger the incarnation became.

A truly pay-to-win extravagance!

However, if he had that much Holy Radiance to spare, he would rather use it to upgrade the Sanctuary itself, or bestow the 【Holy Protection Sigil】 upon the residents of Holy Light Town, enhancing their aptitude and potential.

When they grew stronger, they could protect the church and even venture out to recruit new believers—a far better investment.

Hence, this ability was somewhat of a chicken-rib function—useful but not essential, best reserved for emergencies.

“I’ll have to slowly explore if this incarnation has any special uses, but for now, this new skill solves my biggest weakness—my body’s lack of mobility.”

Lynn smiled.

Just as he prepared to control the incarnation to step out of the forest—a panicked figure suddenly burst into his divine perception.

The man was running desperately forward for his life.

Behind him surged a heavy stench of rot and blood, clinging to him like maggots on bone!

It was the evolved form of a ghoul—a Licker!

This grotesque monster resembled a skinned, muscular human, moving swiftly on all fours.

Its long, powerful, and elastic tongue could easily pierce through a fleeing person’s skull—to lick up the delicious brain matter within!

From a group of over a dozen, only one survivor remained under the Licker’s pursuit.

It was easy to imagine the terror!

If Liz were here, she would have recognized this middle-aged man, covered in blood and with greenish-black wounds,as the same man who had parted ways with Colin three days ago—the one who insisted on heading to the Williams Camp!

Now, his face was twisted in utter terror.

With the last of his strength, he cried out hoarsely in the direction Liz had once pointed him:

“Help! Help me!”

“The church—I have to reach the church!”

“They’re all monsters… the entire Williams Camp is full of monsters! It’s a trap!”

“They deceived us! They fed us to the monsters!!!”

The crazed, despairing wails echoed through the night.

Lynn frowned slightly and pointed his fingertip forward.

“Purify.”

A pure pillar of light descended from the heavens.

In an instant, the Licker was nailed to the ground, its screeching abruptly silenced.

The danger was gone.

The man collapsed weakly to the ground.

Blood gushed from the wound on his chest, his pupils dilated from the searing pain.

“If he isn’t treated immediately, the poison will reach his heart soon.”

Making that judgment,

Lynn immediately crouched down and pressed his palm to the man’s chest.

A gentle golden glow surged forth, the rotted flesh melted away like snow, and new flesh quickly wriggled and grew.

The man gasped sharply.

His unfocused eyes refocused on the handsome face of Lynn’s incarnation. “Th-thank you.”

“You’re fine for now. Your life isn’t in danger.”

“Now tell me—what exactly happened at Williams Camp?”

Lynn’s voice was calm, though curiosity stirred in his heart.

He was aware that several people had parted ways with Colin to head toward the Williams Camp.

But as soon as the man heard the question, his emotions grew wild once again.

Grasping at Lynn’s robe as though clinging to his last hope, he cried, “It was a trap! All of it was a trap!”

His teeth chattered. “The guards all vanished in the middle of the night, and the main gate was completely locked from the outside!”

“Then—a Lich appeared!”

“A terrifying Lich, leading a horde of ghouls, swarmed in and devoured everyone in sight!”

“Over a thousand people… a thousand! Their screams lasted all night…”

“About a dozen of us crawled out through a dog hole and fled back to this Mistwood, but that monster chased us the entire way.”

“Now… I’m the only one left…”

After finishing, the man curled up, trembling all over.

He was clearly left with severe psychological trauma.

Lynn’s entire body shuddered. “Something like that actually happened?”

Could it be—that the fall of Florence was somehow connected to Lord Williams?

Was he involved with the Undead Scourge?

A chill spread through him.

Lynn felt he had to investigate.

According to the bits of information he had overheard at the camp,the Williams Territory wasn’t far from the church only about twenty li away.

If something was wrong with Williams, he needed to prepare in advance!

“Stay here. Someone from Lynn Church will be here soon.”

Lynn stood up, his gaze turning toward the distance.

There, a faint figure appeared—

it was Liz, who had sensed the commotion and hurried over.

But he didn’t want this incarnation exposed before a believer just yet. It would make future movements inconvenient.

“Benefactor! Where are you going?” the man called out anxiously.

“To verify something.”

Lynn took a step forward—and in the next instant, his figure was already more than ten meters away.

“Wait!”

Liz’s sharp voice soon echoed through the forest.

She dashed out of the bushes like a leopard, Durandal humming in her grasp, the sword’s tip pointed directly at Lynn’s back.

She glanced at the charred ashes on the ground, then at the man whose wounds had miraculously healed.

Liz’s pupils contracted sharply.

He had slain a second-tier Licker in an instant?

And cured lethal corpse poison?

And that Light… it was so pure!

How was that possible?!

“May I ask who you are?”

“And why you appear near our Holy Light Town?”

She stared fixedly at Lynn’s back, uncertain whether he was friend or foe.

Third-tier?

No… this oppressive aura…

Could he be a fourth-tier Sky Knight?

Since when did the Empire have such a person wandering the wilderness?

If ranked by title, he would at least be a Count!

Lynn did not stop at her words, nor did he respond.

Soon, his figure vanished into the depths of the forest.

Liz froze where she stood, not daring to pursue.

Even with the Holy Sword’s blessing, she felt she was nowhere near his level.

Moreover, because of the Holy Light’s aura, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with him—she could not bring herself to treat him as an enemy.

So Liz turned back toward the still-shaken man. “Didn’t you go to Williams Camp? Why are you here now?”

“And that man—he saved you, right? What did he tell you?”

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