"Excellent. To cast divine arts of this level without chanting, Isabella, you are truly outstanding." Seeing this, the old priest couldn't help but feel a desire to nurture talent.

"Truly become my student and assist me in completing the experiment."

"By then, you will become a key cultivation target of the church because of this achievement."

"On the contrary, if you disrupt my experiment, you will obstruct some people's affairs, and you may not necessarily gain any benefits then?!"

"So... has your mind become solely focused on benefits?" Isabella looked at the old priest with profound grief, the disappointment in her eyes almost tangible.

The next moment, she controlled large amounts of Sacred Flame to shoot toward the old priest while simultaneously multitasking - maintaining the Sacred Flame while casting a new divine art.

"Where is your adherence to truth? Where is the conscience and justice in your heart?" Isabella questioned.

The old priest waved his arm, and a mass of white energy formed around him, blocking the Sacred Flame.

Force Field Spell · Isolating Breath.

"You're still young, it's right to have ideals, but when you reach my age, you'll understand."

"Ideals are the most useless things!" The old priest insisted on his own reasoning.

"When you actively contaminated yourself with the blood curse to punish the Blood Demon and save an entire village afflicted with curses, when you searched for the Blood Demon's true form - were your ideals useless things back then?" Isabella shouted loudly.

She had held certain admiration for the old priest.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have thought of him when seeking to solve her family's bloodline problem.

And then come to this small village as an intern priest.

Upon hearing Isabella's words, the old priest's expression momentarily became dazed.

That kind of pursuit without personal gain or loss, that persistence for justice and truth, that chasing of ideals - it all seemed so distant from him now.

So distant that even glimpsing it through Isabella and her words made him feel like crying.

However, the old priest raised his hands.

In his eyes, his hands were currently dripping with blood, a thick stench that penetrated deep into the soul swirling around them.

That young him, that fearless him, that ideal-filled him - was no longer the person he was now.

"Now I only want to atone for my sins!!" A flush of excitement appeared on the old priest's aged face.

At this moment, the old priest began to get serious.

Materialized mental fluctuations started to spread, covering the surrounding area.

The slightly blood-tinged mental energy pried into the perceptual level around them, rapidly forming a spell.

Perceptual Spell · Illusion Manipulation!

The old priest's greatest expertise lay in two areas: bloodline research and perceptual spells.

Many priests, upon reaching Steel Seed level, besides holy spells and their deity's inherent spells, mostly practice perceptual spells.

The fundamental reason lies in the essence of priestly cultivation - starting from Black Stone grade, it involves using mental energy to enhance one's senses.

Upon reaching Steel Seed level, the senses become unified, forming preliminary supernatural perception.

Because perception becomes powerful, practicing perceptual spells receives significant bonuses.

The old priest's figure disappeared again, and the church environment began to change bit by bit.

Isabella knew this was illusion replacing reality to mislead her senses.

This was also why low-level priests found it difficult to fight high-level priests - their senses were too easily suppressed.

This also explained why she previously mistook the cemetery movements for an illusion - her perception and judgment had been interfered with by the old priest, most likely through suggestion-type perceptual spells.

"Perceptual spells of this intensity - ordinary Divine Manifestation would already be ineffective against them." Isabella quickly made her judgment.

Meanwhile, the divine art she had prepared earlier was now ready.

Mental energy mixed with faith power rapidly completed the divine art structure.

Divine Art · Sacred Interference.

(Image from game: The Binding of Isaac)

At critical moments, it can form holy attribute magic arrays. When suffering energy attacks, it can be actively summoned. The array appears to block energy attacks and reflects them as holy attribute damage.

Without knowing what attack methods the old priest might use, she still needed to protect herself.

Isabella knew her margin for error was very small.

After all, she was just a Black Stone grade priest.

In every aspect, she was no match for the old priest.

Most likely, she would sacrifice herself here.

But at this moment, Isabella felt no fear in her heart - only pure desire for victory.

"The protective layer of Sacred Flame around my body makes it difficult for those black threads to approach."

"But Sacred Flame only protects against physical attacks."

"Other energies, as long as they're not evil-type spell energy, generally won't trigger its burning."

"The old priest certainly knows this. What I need most now is to guard against the old priest's spells."

"Use this to detect the opponent's true position, then achieve victory with a single strike."

Fighting above one's level wasn't impossible to win. Isabella wasn't an ordinary priest to begin with.

She belonged to the elite among elites.

Plus, she temporarily monopolized divine arts using Blood Prayer Script.

Additionally, the old priest was aged - his body's decay made his mental energy less active, something evident from many aspects.

For example, the spells he cast had much slower extension efficiency.

Normally, when the old priest cast Illusion Manipulation, the surrounding environment should change instantly.

Yet in reality, that illusion coverage was happening bit by bit.

This was due to insufficient mental energy activity.

Analyzing her own advantages and disadvantages internally, Isabella began her chant.

"Witnessed by the Faceless God—"

"Gaze upon the chaotic fluctuations, this is redundant light;

"

"In the name of Commandment, judge your soul!"

As the chant ended, a pressure erupted from the deity statue behind Isabella.

Divine Art · Judgment's Might!

The main function of this divine art was to judge chaotic energy.

The Oath God's doctrine advocates energy conservation, having extremely strong restraining effects against redundant and chaotic consumption.

Isabella used it now simply to treat the illusion as a form of chaotic energy through the Oath God's pressure, thereby breaking the energy illusion.

Most importantly, she used this to transmit the pressure through the energy connection to damage the old priest's mind.

"Still too young." The old priest's voice came from an uncertain direction, followed by a wave of fluctuations. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs N0veI.Fiɾe.net

Isabella heard movement behind her. Turning around, she saw the previously stationary deity statue now moving, as if the Oath God had descended.

"Disrespecting divine guidance is a sin!"

The judgment from the 'Oath God' transformed into pressure that rushed into Isabella's heart.