Nightmare’s Call

Amid the sound of water dripping from the eaves, Lin Sheng moved forward with haste in the falling rain.

He quickly determined that he was likely in the aristocratic residence area in Blackfeather City. It was less than two hundred meters from the Valent Sanctum, which was his destination.

“Lucky me!”

He was delighted. After he confirmed that there was no one around, he ran toward the Valent Sanctum.

*Tap… Tap… Tap…*

The echo of footsteps seemed to alarm something in the town. He could vaguely sense a rapid movement through the dark buildings on either side.

Lin Sheng did not care. The worst thing that could happen was him dying in the dream.

He had been too cautious previously, so now, even if he was going to die in the city, he wanted to take his chances and find the Valent Sanctum.

Lin Sheng made a sharp turn in the rain and soon stopped in front of a gray and white church.

The church was no different from that of an ordinary Catholic church, except that there was an extra ring of dark yellow metal around the top of the building.

The huge ring encircled the entire building as if the building was wearing a collar.

Lin Sheng also noticed that a large number of mysterious and complicated symbols were engraved on the huge ring.

While he was standing near the church door, he felt the inexplicable mass of activity fading away behind him.

Not long after, peace was restored again.

“It’s like everything is in awe of the church.” An idea flashed through Lin Sheng’s mind.

But he was fearless. He was not afraid to die.

He had no intention of going back alive when he rushed in. He just wanted to find out the truth.

Thinking no more, he strode toward the church with sword in hand…

From the open door to the rusty iron fence, until he was standing in the courtyard. Lin Sheng slowed down and looked around.

To his surprise, when he entered the courtyard, he felt slightly at ease.

Under the silvery moonlight, the church—more than ten meters high—was faintly filled with a holy and soft atmosphere.

Dozens of meters around the church, all areas within the dark yellow ring gave him a mysterious sense of peace.

Lin Sheng walked slowly toward the church and looked up at the two-meter-high door.

The door, made of black metal, depicted a sad and helpless human face. It was drawn in the form of a stick figure without much detail, but the person’s sad emotion was extremely realistic.

On the right side of the door stood a small stone pillar. Some words were carved on it.

“Believe in the light, annihilate darkness!”

Atop the round surface of the stone pillar, the text was carved into the stone in a ring. The words were unusually neat as if they had been printed on.

Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly before he put his hands on the door and pushed it.

The door swung open with a slight noise.

A neat and quiet church hall appeared in front of Lin Sheng.

Standing at the entrance, he glanced across the rows of seats all the way to the altar at the end of the hall.

A thick gilt-edged tome was lying on the white altar. The cover of the book was inlaid with a blue crystal the shape of a diamond, and its edge was covered with mysterious runes similar to the ones on the outer ring.

Lin Sheng’s eyes fell on the crystal, drawn to its shine.

He stepped gingerly into the hall.

Just as he entered the hall, an invisible wave flashed past him and vanished.

“Who’s there!?” Lin Sheng was startled. The wave was so clear that it felt like some kind of inspection.

For a moment he froze there.

After a good few minutes, once there was no more movement, he moved again, striding in the altar’s direction.

His shoes landed on the dark red carpet floor, leaving black stains on it.

Soon, Lin Sheng was standing in front of the altar, looking at the heavy gilt-edged book.

“It must be… something unusual. It could be the cause of the anomaly here.” Lin Sheng stared at the golden book in front of him, slowly reaching out and touching the cover.

The book’s cover was warm and soft. It felt like he was touching human skin.

Lin Sheng hesitated for a moment, then slowly opened the first page.

“The city is getting more and more chaotic. I cannot waste my time here. Whoever you are, stranger, your ability to pass through the ring means you are not infected. Here I leave a gray seal as the foundation of the church’s future teaching. If you can, I ask that you leave a little seed for Blackfeather City.”

The Ancient Rehn script was neat and beautiful. It was probably written by a woman.

Lin Sheng saw the red seal at the back, which was engraved with the words, “The Light of Hope, Ancellia”.

“Ancellia? The Light of Hope?”

Lin Sheng frowned as he stood on the altar and continued to read the book.

He quickly realized that the book was completely different from what he had expected.

The Dawn Scripture—the title of the book—was a prop used by the temple to train knights. Apart from imparting knowledge, it served no other purpose.

Page after page, Lin Sheng was filled with surprise.

The book recorded the Ashen Seal Dharma, a system of spiritual practice that was unique to the temple.

The Ashen Seal was a special mysterious symbol. If one just remembered it in one’s heart and meditated all the time, one could have wonderful power feedback and strengthen one’s self.

The Ashen Seal Dharma was the Limit Breaker used by the temple to train the knights of the temple.

According to the book, the method could be used even by individuals with ordinary physical fitness. Meditating on the Ashen Seal could quickly increase one’s physical strength, depending on which Ashen Seal the person was using.

The book also stated that there were many kinds of Ashen Seals. Different runes had different special functions, and meditating on different Ashen Seals produced different outcomes, strengthening a person in different ways.

Therefore, the Ashen Seals appeared to be a shortcut to strengthening one’s physical strength.

However, as Lin Sheng continued to read, he soon discovered that Ancellia had written down many notes on the margin of the page. Among them were preconditions for meditating on the Ashen Seal.

“The most important prerequisite for the seed selection of a knight is the spirit. Only those who are strong in spirit will succeed in their meditation.”

Another note showed Ancellia’s concern.

“The inheritor of the Ashen Seal must face the first edition of Ashen Seal runes directly, but the Ashen Seal in Blackfeather City is unable to last very long. Liz, has your trip to the holy city not been approved yet?”

“Liz?” Lin Sheng was growing increasingly curious.

Before long, he saw another note.

“My third application was still rejected. Ancellia, I have a bad feeling.”

Lin Sheng paused for a moment and continued to turn the pages. Soon, he found the page on which the Ashen Seal was.

It was a very special page. A strangely complicated and exquisite symbol was carved in the middle of the white paper.

The symbol resembled a huge bird flapping its wings or a giant snake wriggling on the ground. But at first glance, it looked like a church.

The entire symbol was dark red in color and eye-catching.