All the residents of the Imperial Capital knelt in terror, including those clergy and nuns battling the Undead on the front line, who began to recite doctrines and draw the symbol of the sun on their chests.
The main god of the Church Court's faith is precisely the god of this Holy Mountain.
And now, the Holy Mountain emitting black smoke seemed to be venting the wrath of God at them!
The earth trembled, and the chickens and dogs barked uneasily.
Even the Undead Army could not stand firm.
"Everyone, the Divine King has heard our wishes, awakened by us, to disperse the Holy Judgment on the Undead!" The voice of the Female Pope instantly dispelled the gloom in everyone's hearts and even burst forth with more power, shattering the heads of the Undead.
After all, in religion, whether something is good or bad depends entirely on interpretation. As long as it is interpreted in their favor, a world-ending catastrophe can become a divine blessing.
Strong seismic waves, like invisible giant hands, caused considerable damage to the surrounding houses. Many walls developed noticeable cracks, from the roof to the corners, the fissures winding and twisting as if they were the marks of an angry earth.
The Undead started to stir instinctively, beginning to tremble and flee.
Xue Dili bet correctly; the Undead feared volcanoes, a fear etched into their instincts and souls.
This fear might be due to the Undead's fear of high temperatures, or more likely, on a level of faith, they inherently dreaded the main god representing the "Holy Light," the god of the Holy Mountain!
Upon seeing that the Undead Army, even under the control of the Witch Demon King, refused to set foot on the Holy Mountain, preferring to take a lengthy detour around it, he had a similar idea.
Just as in some stories, ghosts are purified by sunlight yet remain unafraid of fire or ultraviolet lights, because the ghosts' weakness lies in the mystical property of "sunlight," not ultraviolet rays.
Therefore, Xue Dili surmised, the Undead likely feared the mystery of the Holy Mountain, symbolizing the "Divine King" of the Empire's mythology!
Sure enough, Xue Dili bet correctly, the Holy Mountain erupted with thick smoke, and volcanic ash began drifting over the battlefield, drifting over the Holy City.
Undead who came into contact with the ash began to stir, driven by instinctive fear, they threw down their weapons and fled.
The Holy Knights charged and attacked, while the Undead Army began to scatter, fleeing in the direction away from the Holy Mountain.
Countless weak Undead were trampled into bone dust, some ignited as if touched by powerful Holy Light when they encountered the volcanic ash.
This made the Undead Army flee even more frantically, like a herd of sheep being driven away, their instinct overpowering the Witch Demon King's control, causing the vast army to scatter and countless Undead to trample one another.
The earth continued to tremble, black smoke continuously poured from the volcano's mouth.
Hovering in mid-air, Xue Dili made eye contact with the Witch Demon King through the fleeing Undead Army and raised a middle finger as a friendly gesture.
"Buzz!"
The Bone Dragon turned and fled from the soon-to-erupt volcano, the Witch Demon King seemed uninterested in the Imperial Capital, perhaps fearing that the Holy Mountain might truly erupt, or thinking that the Imperial Capital would eventually be consumed by lava, thus preparing to retreat.
Two Holy Light Balls made the millions of Undead Army retreat.
The framework began to disappear slowly, the old Undead's power fading, Xue Dili reverted to his original form, struggling to lean against a tree.
"See, I told you it would work..." Even now, Xue Dili was still bantering with the old Undead.
At this moment, he felt dizzy, like standing up suddenly after squatting for too long, his entire vision filled with flickering squares, like a screen with lost signal.
"But the volcanic eruption, the Imperial Capital can't be saved..." The old Undead was a pessimist, he said directly.
"So, didn't you notice the Holy Mountain only puffed smoke, without any lava appearing?" Xue Dili showed a happy smile.
The Holy Light Ball exploded the instant it came into contact with the lava rather than at the lava's base, allowing the expanding airflow to only pressurize the volcanic ash and smoke above the lava and not cause an eruption.
Therefore, the Holy Mountain looked terrifying, ready to erupt and destroy everything, but in fact, it was all sound and no fury, merely venting a bit of volcanic ash.
This was his plan to save the world!
The old Undead was stunned as he listened, having understood his knowledge of volcanoes entirely from Gorzan, inferior even to elementary school students on Earth.
Terms like volcanic ash were completely alien to him.
The native Witch Demon King of this world was equally illiterate.
They believed that when a volcano emitted smoke, it was about to erupt, and the god of the Holy Mountain was about to be enraged, when in reality, Xue Dili had merely vented the volcanic gases once.
The dust and waste gases indeed would affect the entire environment of the Imperial Capital, producing large amounts of carbon dioxide and sulfur compounds, and the volcanic ash would also affect long-term health.
But with the Undead Army breaching the city walls, the cost was only inhaling some waste gases, which was better than becoming Undead.
Moreover, areas covered by volcanic ash were places the Undead dared not tread, granting the people of the Imperial Capital more time.
Having said all his thoughts and concepts, Xue Dili left the old Undead completely dumbfounded.
He never imagined that Xue Dili, upon seeing the Holy Mountain, had devised such an intricate plan.
This calculation filled the illiterate old man of the Otherworld with an unparalleled shock, and then he thought of the "Ultraman Tiga" he had watched...
Indeed, that world was the true paradise, where any child in that world attending school normally, placed in the Empire, would be a genius among geniuses, and this Empire was nothing but a cesspit, the worst of the worst!
"Old thing, this is my final ripple!" Xue Dili smiled and gave a thumbs up.
In his vision, clusters of dizziness-induced flickering and double images grew more frequent, making it hard to discern anything.
Yet, at that moment, a warm hand grabbed him and slung him over a shoulder.
It was Pope Alola...
Her mouth kept opening and closing, as if she was urgently saying something.
But Xue Dili couldn't hear any sound, like watching a silent film performance.
"What are you... saying?"
Xue Dili completely fainted.
...
The Knight Commander quickly crushed the last Undead and rushed over, hurriedly lifting Xue Dili from the other side, asking, "What exactly happened to him?"
In fact, in the eyes of these clergy, Xue Dili at this moment was practically indistinguishable from the Undead.
His life force was rapidly draining, his organs were failing, deathly aura overwhelmed life energy, akin to humans gradually transforming into Undead after being attacked by them.
However, they were not those Empire's wastrels, capable of such cowardly acts of fleeing despite the General Barak's benevolence.
Upon lifting Xue Dili, the Knight Commander felt the searing heat.
Xue Dili had developed a high fever, as if his body was unleashing an immune factor storm to resist the corruption of the Undead Power.
"We have to do something, Pope, think of a way!" The Knight Commander's words brought all the clergy here, surrounding the area tightly.
"Holy Light can dispel the corruption of the Undead..." Alola gazed at the young man who housed her grandfather.
A dark thought occurred, perhaps if he died, his grandfather General Barak would break the seal left by the former Pope, so at least they would have a Legendary Level combat power ready to use.
But... she couldn't do it...
The Pope extended her hand, and a powerful Holy Light surged into Xue Dili's body, beginning to dispel the corruption of the Undead.
But it wasn't enough; this was Xue Dili's third transformation, with lingering Undead corruption pervading every organ, and the Pope's power was insufficient, losing ground.
"I have Holy Light too!" The Knight Commander laid Xue Dili flat, infusing the power of Holy Light into his body as well.
"And my Holy Light." A Cardinal stood up, a soft glow emanating from his hands.
"This is my Holy Light..." A nun's hands glowed faintly.
"I have Holy Light too..."
"This is my Holy Light..."
Countless clergy, whether Holy Knights, priests, or nuns, all lit up their small lights, transferring them to the unconscious Xue Dili.
From a distance, it appeared as thousands of small light orbs surrounded the comatose boy in the center, dispelling the corruption of the Undead on him.
Even though each light was weak, when gathered together, they were enough to slowly erode and dispel the Legendary Level Undead corruption.
And Xue Dili, in the brilliance of the multitude, seemed to sleep peacefully.