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“It’s bigger than I expected.”

The interior of the cave was surprisingly large.

In stark contrast to the modest cave entrance, the passage widened significantly as soon as they entered.

The small entrance seemed designed to conceal it from outside view.

Van Crow frowned.

This is why they were bound to be deceived.

Judging by the entrance alone, it looked like a small cave, so they must have entered thinking there wouldn’t be many Followers of the Moon inside, only to be captured immediately.

Unable to confirm their fate, Van Crow stepped into the cave with an uneasy heart.

The inside was decorated as lavishly as a castle. The walls were studded with luminous emeralds that glowed in the darkness, and the floor was perfectly smoothed, suitable for walking barefoot.

‘With this scale, there must be hundreds of people. Quite a few First Order members too, I’d imagine.’

It might even be a place directly operated by an Apostle. No wonder they didn’t return when they tried to clear such a place with only about 30 holy knights.

‘This place seems to have been built for a different purpose. I’ll need to see more, but it’s certain that someone with significant influence in the Dawn Council is running it.’

Gulp.

Unlike his appearance at the entrance, Van Crow now looked quite tense.

“This might lead to me carelessly swinging my mace for practice quite often.”

“So that’s what you were worried about.”

Ethan chuckled as he looked at Van Crow.

‘What an interesting person.’

He knew the Holylight Order had many strange people, but he didn’t expect to find someone this interesting.

As the two continued deeper inside, they heard sounds.

Ethan used the Eye of Horus to survey the interior.

‘There are about 100 people for now.’

About 100 Followers of the Moon were gathered in a large space inside the cave.

But that couldn’t be all of them.

Ethan continued to scan other areas with the Eye of Horus.

‘As expected, there are more.’

Indeed, there were as many Followers of the Moon gathered in other areas as in the main space.

Judging by their different equipment, they seemed to be groups assigned to various operations.

After confirming this, there were over 500 Followers of the Moon gathered just within this cave.

‘This confirms it. It’s a place managed by several First Order members under an Apostle’s direction.’

This was no ordinary organization. Given the scale, it was certainly managed directly by an Apostle.

“Sir Ethan?”

Van Crow asked, wondering why Ethan had suddenly stopped. Ethan raised his hand to stop Van Crow’s words.

“Please wait a moment.”

Ethan used the Eye of Horus again.

Applying more force than usual made his eyes feel a bit strained, but he could see deeper into the cave.

He had grasped their numbers, but something still felt off.

‘If this is a place operated by an Apostle, there must be some distinctive features.’

Each Apostle had different practices and assigned duties.

A closer look might reveal traces of which Apostle was managing this cave.

As Ethan continued to survey the cave’s interior with the Eye of Horus, he spotted another group of people.

But they were different from the Followers of the Moon he had seen earlier.

With cloudy eyes and injuries all over, they stood completely motionless.

These weren’t ordinary Followers of the Moon.

‘Uneducated believers.’

As soon as he confirmed their appearance, Ethan realized the true nature of this place.

‘The 11th Apostle. This is one of his playgrounds.’

Ethan frowned deeply.

The uneducated believers were different from the ordinary Followers of the Moon.

They were utterly pitiful and powerless individuals.

People who had no choice but to join the Followers of the Moon under threat of death.

‘So there was a base here too. Just how many of these places have they set up?’

Ethan knew of several such locations already.

But this was a place even Ethan hadn’t known about.

“I’ll take the lead.”

“No, I should—”

Before he could finish, Ethan drew his Frost Sword. Then he summoned Lyuka.

-Summoning Lyuka the Master of Mana.

“Kyung!”

The summoned Lyuka immediately perched on Ethan’s shoulder, then vanished into smoke.

Shaaaa-.

Ethan instantly received Lyuka’s mana.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of elation, Ethan’s pupils dilated.

“Who are you!”

“Reinforcements from Holylight?”

The Followers of the Moon who suddenly spotted Ethan grabbed their weapons and charged.

Ethan lightly swung his sword.

Shaaaa-.

A white frost spread within the range of Ethan’s sword slash, and the charging Followers of the Moon froze in place.

Crack-. Crackcrackcrack-.

As those who had charged ahead froze solid, the Followers of the Moon behind them stared at Ethan with shocked eyes.

Ethan himself was equally surprised.

‘What the hell, what is this?’

He had simply swung the Frost Sword using Lyuka’s mana. It wasn’t even his full power. He had just used Ethan Swordsmanship centered on Lyuka’s mana.

Yet the power was this immense.

‘The sword didn’t even touch them.’

Of course, he had used more mana than usual. Lyuka’s mana was efficient and didn’t strain his body, so he had intended to test its power in actual combat.

As a result, the frost’s power spread out on a completely different level than before.

This had never happened before.

“Kyung-!”

Lyuka barked as if asking how its mana felt.

Of course, due to Extinction, the amount of Lyuka’s mana Ethan could absorb was very limited.

‘Just that limited amount of mana produced this much power.’

Ethan took a short breath.

It was worth choosing Lyuka after filtering through numerous options.

Ethan received Lyuka’s mana once more.

‘While it’s not as efficient as my own mana, this is good enough. At this level…!’

He put away the Frost Sword and drew out the Thunder Sword this time.

Crackle-!

As he thrust the Heavenly Thunder Sword in a straight line, a bright yellow lightning bolt stretched out, scorching the air.

Crack-!

“Kuhak…”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

A Follower of the Moon pierced by that lightning collapsed on the spot.

“This is no joke.”

Ethan couldn’t help but marvel at the different level of power.

He had some idea, but experiencing it directly made him truly realize it.

Due to Extinction, Ethan had never been able to fully draw out the power of his techniques until now.

But right now, those techniques were demonstrating their true power through Lyuka’s mana.

‘If I could accommodate more of Lyuka’s mana, I could further enhance the power of my techniques.’

“Good.”

If so, the fastest way would be to increase his spirit power through communion with Lyuka.

At the same time, he needed to get accustomed to the mana Lyuka was transmitting.

‘I should also test how much I can receive during this opportunity.’

Ethan continued to wield his sword while receiving and using Lyuka’s mana.

***

“Wow…”

Van Crow, watching Ethan from behind, couldn’t close his gaping mouth.

“When the Archbishop told me not to worry and just go, I was a bit skeptical, wondering if I had become unnecessary.”

The Archbishop’s judgment was correct. He wondered if there had been any need for him to come along in the first place. Ethan’s divine rank was that extraordinary.

With each swing of his sword, frost swirled and lightning struck.

The Followers of the Moon couldn’t put up any proper resistance against such an Ethan.

“We can save them.”

With this person, they could rescue his comrades and completely destroy this stronghold.

As Ethan finished dealing with about 100 Followers of the Moon, Van Crow joined the fight.

“I’ll participate too. Somehow, I feel like the Followers of the Moon might accidentally run into my swinging mace!”

At that moment, heavily armed Followers of the Moon burst out from deep inside the cave. They looked much stronger than the ones Ethan had just dealt with.

Especially the follower in the center had a completely different attire.

Moreover, the weapon he was holding was no ordinary one; it was a magic sword thickly coated with artifacts’ magic.

The Followers of the Moon wielding curved swords who came out behind him quickly surrounded the two.

Thud-.

The central follower took a strong step forward, pressuring Ethan and Van Crow.

“Don’t worry, Sir Ethan. This time, I’ll take the lead… Ugh.”

However, Van Crow’s words were cut short.

Ethan, who had stepped forward, struck Van Crow’s nape.

The unconscious Van Crow went limp. Ethan gently laid Van Crow on the ground.

“…What are you doing?”

“No way!”

“Hahaha!”

“Are you going to surrender that holy knight and give up?”

“Interesting. Fine, hand him over and get lost! Now!”

Ethan’s eyes turned towards the follower who spoke last.

“…!”

In that moment, his gaze completely changed. It was a cold look, like someone from a high place looking down on those beneath.

“Kneel.”

“What nonsense… Huk!”

Ethan naturally pulled out a green pearl from his chest. This was a divine item he had taken after killing the Twelve Apostles Luna Spirit.

No one here knew whose green pearl this was.

But everyone knew well that the possessor of a divine item was an Apostle.

“S-Sir Apostle!”

As soon as they saw the divine item, the followers trembled. Yet they carefully examined Ethan with disbelieving eyes.

What on earth was going on?

The follower with the magic sword closely observed Ethan’s green pearl. He was trying to confirm if that green pearl was real in this sudden situation.

Shaaaa-!

Suddenly, an intense light burst forth from the green pearl.

This light was identical to the source of power used by the Followers of the Moon.

Which meant that the man before them was truly an Apostle.

They didn’t know which number Apostle he was, but he was someone they had to serve.

“Children of the assembly.”

At Ethan’s words, everyone prostrated themselves.

The sight of hundreds of followers simultaneously prostrating was truly magnificent.

Seeing this, Ethan smiled contentedly.

‘It reminds me of old times.’

In fact, just having a divine item could have raised suspicion. As they often send spies to numerous factions, they are quite proficient in distinguishing spies.

With just a divine item, there was a chance of being caught for unnaturalness.

But who was Ethan?

‘This is why experienced workers are preferred.’

He was an experienced worker who had lived as a Follower of the Moon in MePan and had even reached First Order, just below the Apostles.

Thanks to this, he knew very well what kind of personalities the Apostles, except for the highest-ranking ones, had.

Ethan first approached the follower who had spoken rudely and swung his fist.

Thwack-! Thwack-! Thwack-!

Under the mercilessly swinging fists, the Follower of the Moon was beaten severely without even being able to make an excuse.

As the beating intensified, trust grew in the eyes of the Followers of the Moon.

The person before them was definitely an Apostle.

Only an Apostle would beat someone so mercilessly.

“Drink this.”

Ethan took out a potion from his chest and made him drink it. Immediately, the wounds all over the Follower of the Moon’s body healed.

“…?”

The followers all wore puzzled expressions. But when Ethan started beating the healed follower again, they sent respectful gazes, thinking, “As expected of Sir Apostle.”

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