Chapter 16 – The Bloodstained Cathedral (Part 1)

Soon, the five of them gathered, and Cheng Yang prepared to enter the dungeon. It wasn’t that Cheng Yang didn’t want to bring more people, but the Bloodstained Cathedral dungeon could only accommodate a five-person team.

Entering a dungeon required forming a party. If people weren’t together, they wouldn’t enter the same dungeon instance. After a village reached level three, a mercenary guild would appear, where mercenary teams could be formed. Within a ten-meter radius around a dungeon, the rules would automatically recognize members of the same mercenary team as part of the same party and teleport them into the same dungeon instance.

Currently, not even major cities had mercenary guilds, let alone remote outposts like Luofeng Village. Based on Cheng Yang’s previous life experience, mercenary guilds and trial halls would only appear in major cities ten days after the apocalypse began.

However, Cheng Yang had a solution, one discovered by countless people in his previous life. When people entering the same dungeon weren’t from the same guild, what could they do? The answer was simple: just hold hands.

The five of them stood in a circle. As Cheng Yang focused his mind, they felt a sudden shift, and their surroundings changed dramatically.

Before them stood a vast Western-style building that resembled a cathedral. However, this cathedral was anything but peaceful and holy; it was filled with chaos and filth.

Cheng Yang and his team stood outside the cathedral, where two strange creatures loitered near the entrance.

These creatures had dark brown skin, pointed heads, stood on two legs with hunched backs, and wielded short spears.

Lesser Imps – that was the name of these creatures. Like the Green-Skinned Monkeys, they were among the lowest tier of demonic creatures. While their individual strength was slightly weaker than other demonic creatures of the same tier, they were more intelligent. For humans, such monsters were easier to kill.

While the others were unaware of the cathedral’s layout, Cheng Yang knew it well. The cathedral covered about one square kilometer and had three sections, all occupied by these Lesser Imps. The first two sections were guarded by mid-tier first-stage monsters, while the innermost section housed a late-tier first-stage monster.

“Yang, where is this place?” Liu Hao looked around in astonishment. He knew there were no Western-style buildings like this near Xiangcheng City.

Cheng Yang explained, “This isn’t Earth’s space. I can’t explain exactly what’s going on. Just think of it as a game dungeon. Once we clear it, we’ll definitely gain significant benefits.”

Liu Hao and the others had no reason to doubt this. After all, whether in games or reality, the first to venture into the unknown always reaped unexpected rewards.

This time, Cheng Yang didn’t take the lead. Instead, he had Yu Hao and Li Wanshan, the two warriors, take the front. He and Yu Kai, the archer, stayed in the middle, while Niu Bing, the summoner, stayed at the back. His summoned Shadow Wolf charged ahead. Currently, summoners had little combat ability beyond their summoned creatures.

As the two monsters charged, the Shadow Wolf rushed forward to draw their aggro. In the early stages, summoners were better tanks than warriors, especially since Luofeng Village had no potions available. Warriors’ health recovery was much slower than mages’ mana recovery, making summoners more effective at tanking demonic beast attacks. While warriors’ shields could block attacks, they couldn’t do so consistently, and demonic beasts attacked too quickly for warriors to keep up. Otherwise, a line of warriors would be an impenetrable wall, but that was impossible.

The two Lesser Imps charged at the Shadow Wolf, and a fierce battle ensued. Due to the rules of this world, demonic beasts had an innate hatred for summoned creatures and future pets. Without specific skills to interfere, demonic beasts would always prioritize attacking summoned creatures or pets.

At this stage, neither summoned creatures nor demonic beasts had powerful skills, so the battle relied heavily on physical strength, with teeth and claws being their only weapons.

A single Shadow Wolf couldn’t defeat two Lesser Imps, but Cheng Yang and the others were there to help. Magic missiles and arrows flew, followed by attacks from Liu Hao and Li Wanshan. Within seconds, the two Lesser Imps were dead.

“Let’s move in!” Cheng Yang ordered after dealing with the gatekeepers. “But don’t rush. We need to advance steadily.”

The other four nodded, and the group entered the cathedral in an orderly manner.

Inside was a circular corridor with rows of rooms on either side, numbering over a hundred. The corridor surrounded a spacious courtyard, roughly seven to eight hundred square meters in size, where a dozen Lesser Imps were scattered.

“This is trouble. There are at least ten monsters in there. We can’t handle that many!” Liu Hao peeked inside and quickly pulled his head back. Although the Lesser Imps were scattered, he knew they would swarm as soon as the group revealed themselves. While this world had been gamified, many aspects still followed real-world logic, such as monsters having no aggro range limit. Once spotted, they would attack relentlessly.

Cheng Yang smiled calmly. “Don’t worry. These are just ordinary monsters. They’re slightly smarter than beasts, but far from matching us. Look at the buildings inside. There are plenty of rooms. If we can get into one and hold our ground, we can take them down quickly.”

Liu Hao’s eyes lit up. “That’s a good idea. Let me check which room is best.” He peeked inside again and quickly pulled back. “There’s a room about ten meters to the left of the entrance, but the door’s closed. I’m not sure if we can get in.”

Cheng Yang remained calm. “Even if it’s locked, you and Old Li should have no trouble breaking it down.”

Liu Hao clenched his fist, his round face breaking into a smile. “True. I’m practically a superhuman now.”

After quickly explaining the monsters’ positions, Liu Hao laid out a simple plan: Niu Bing’s Shadow Wolf would charge in and lure away the two Lesser Imps closest to the entrance, while the rest of the group rushed to the chosen room.

The plan went smoothly. As Niu Bing’s Shadow Wolf charged in, Liu Hao led the charge, heading straight for the room. Li Wanshan and Cheng Yang followed closely. Once Liu Hao smashed the door open, everyone rushed inside.

By then, the brave Shadow Wolf had been killed by the Lesser Imps, dissipating into primal energy—the unique way summoned creatures died.

With their target gone, the Lesser Imps quickly turned their attention to Cheng Yang’s group, swarming toward the room. Within seconds, they had surrounded the entrance.

“Hold them back!” Cheng Yang shouted. Without hesitation, Liu Hao and Li Wanshan stepped forward, shields raised.

The intense battle began. Liu Hao and Li Wanshan bore the brunt of the assault, unable to counterattack as they focused on holding their shields. Meanwhile, Cheng Yang and the others unleashed their attacks from inside the room.

Cheng Yang couldn’t help but admire the warriors’ early-game advantage. Their shields were incredibly powerful. Though they had no additional attributes, they had one unparalleled advantage: they never broke. Unlike future equipment, these shields had no durability limit.

This feature made shields exceptionally strong. As long as the shield held, those behind it remained safe. Future shields, however, wouldn’t last forever. Their durability would drop quickly under heavy attacks, requiring warriors to rely on skill and technique.

The doorway wasn’t wide, allowing only two Lesser Imps to attack at a time. After a fierce battle, all the Lesser Imps were dead. Liu Hao and Li Wanshan, however, looked pale, not from anger but from the pain of holding their ground. Though the Lesser Imps’ attacks didn’t harm them directly, the repeated impacts left their arms numb and aching, as if they were on the verge of breaking.

Exhausted, the group sat down to recover. Liu Hao and Li Wanshan practiced their Spirit Nurturing Technique a few times, gradually easing the pain in their arms.

This was only the first courtyard of the first section. Next, they moved through a side door into the next courtyard, repeating the same process.

After about ten minutes, they cleared all eight courtyards in the section and finally reached a large gate.

This gate led to the cathedral’s second section, where a mid-tier first-stage Imp awaited.

Cheng Yang wasn’t overly concerned. Even alone, he was confident he could defeat this Imp.

Cheng Yang slipped through the gate, where an Imp similar in size to the Lesser Imps but with darker skin patrolled nearby.

The creature immediately noticed Cheng Yang and charged with a roar. Cheng Yang didn’t stay to fight. He hurled a magic missile and turned to run.