35 Encounter with the Church

Between choosing to check on Blaze and the players or Sir Bearington and the Church, Astur decides to see the situation with the Church first since their location is closer and in the path towards Blaze and the other players. Swiftly moving through the forest, Astur soon comes up to the area where Sir Bearington is confronting the group led by the Church of Light.

Although Astur can't figure out the exact ranks of the Church Officials, making assumptions based on their apparel, there seems to be only a single person of note, wearing a highly decorated white robe. Additionally, Astur also notices a handful of players, but after inspecting them, she doesn't see any famous names.

"It's pointless to speak with a mere monster," the supposed leader of the group says as the other Church Officials along with the players raise their weapons towards Sir Bearington.

Raising his hand, it becomes enveloped in a pale blue light as the leader sends out a blast of psychic energy, catching the bear off guard and causing him to stumble back.

"Follow the Archbishop's lead! All forces charge!" one of the priests yell out.

But before any movements can be made, Astur reveals herself from the nearby trees and throws out one of her Explosive Swords, one of the items Astur made early on. As the sword makes contact with the ground in front of the Church group, the blade begins to glow a bright yellowish-red before exploding, sending shrapnel shards towards everything in its immediate surroundings.

The blast nearly one shot a couple of the squishier players that were near the epicentre and most of the nearby priests.

"I suppose peaceful negotiations isn't an option," Astur says, stepping between Sir Bearington and the priests.

"How dare you interfere with the official business of the Church!"

"I should be the one calling you people out, trespassing on my territory and causing trouble with my subordinates," Astur says.

"I apologise for the unsightly display, Lady Astur. I was merely caught off guard, such a blunder won't happen again," Sir Bearington says.

Taking a look at the leader's status, Astur sees that he is only a couple of levels higher than Astur, level 32, and his overall stats are significantly lower than hers while the other priests are between level 20 and 25. Seeing this, Astur relaxes a bit, knowing that she probably won't need to reveal any of her hidden trump cards so soon to fend these people off.

Feeling a wave of energy, Astur looks towards the Archbishop as he spits onto the soil and says, "you look like a Beastfolk at first glance, but I know you're just another one of those filthy Mystics. Repent before the Lord of Light and I'll give you a swift death as a reward for your previous actions."

"The followers of a Lesser God want to demand such things from my great self, this is the silliest thing I've heard all day," Astur says, as she lights a cigarette.

His face flushed red with anger, the Archbishop immediately raises his hand as a pale blue light surrounds it once more and sends out another blast of psychic energy.

"Not the best option for the situation but it'll do," Astur says as she places her hand on Sir Bearington.

Right before the pale blue energy wave hits them, Astur and Sir Bearington appear to be translucent as the wave of energy simply passes through them. As the attack makes contact with the trees behind Astur, she and Sir Bearington both appear to be normal again as Astur removes her hand and readies the various explosives in her storage ring.

"What! Impossible!" the Archbishop yells.

"No it's very possible, I just did it," Astur says.

Angered, the Archbishop throws several more blasts of psychic energy towards Astur, yelling, "what are you all waiting for!? Attack!" causing the priest behind him to follow up with their magic.

The players that are with the Church here are ones that had gone to the Catherdral in Dawn to receive the Priest and Priestess Classes. Although they don't have much, they still use the basic spells they learned.

But Astur grabs hold of Sir Bearington again and the two become translucent once more. Dust goes flying into the air as all the attacks collide on Astur's position, but as it all settles everyone else just sees both Astur and Sir Bearington completely undisturbed.

"How!?" the Archbishop yells.

"How indeed, quite the mystery, wouldn't you say," Astur says, taunting her assailants.

"Lady Astur, allow me to deal with these invaders. I shall punish them for their rudeness," Sir Bearington says.

Scanning the people before her, Astur notices the camera icon next to the name of one of the players. Although she doesn't recognise the player name, she knows this might be a good chance to show off some of her capabilities to the players.

"It's been a while, so let me stretch my limbs for a bit," Astur says as she tosses several more Exploding Swords and even a couple of Big Blast Balls towards the Church group.

With the sheer amount of explosives combined with her bonus effectiveness when using items, Astur has more than enough damage to obliterate most of the enemies around her. Clouds of dust and smoke fill the air, several trees get tossed aside from the blasts, and crater full of broken metal shards fill the ground. As the air clears, several figures can be seen limping away and crawling away, while only a single player remains left on the field, but there aren't any traces of the Archbishop.

"The more I do this, the more I find it enjoy it. It's surprisingly fun to just throw a bunch of random bullshit at people," Astur thinks. Turing to Sir Bearington, she says, "you can deal with the stragglers as you see fit. It's about time I go and see if my new disciple has accomplished what I wanted from her."

Seeing the bear nod, Astur runs off towards the reported location of the players. Although their position should be different right now, Astur doesn't think they've left the general area.