Chapter 58

Chapter 58

In a lounge within the Mercenary Guild.

Half an hour ago, Isadel had split up with her teammates and come alone to an empty room to contact her mother, Duchess Melora.

She learned that the God of Light had recently issued a divine oracle within a church in the royal capital.

Duchess Melora didn't elaborate on the oracle's contents, only telling her that heretics were involved in this war, likely concerning matters of deities. Caution was warranted, and the Church along with several other major powers had decided to intervene.

So that's it! These heretics, Pelan had told her they were probably members of the Secret Cult. The leader of this organization claimed to be a God's Chosen, obsessed with resurrecting ancient gods to obtain supreme power... Hmm, I must remind everyone to be careful of the Secret Cult members... Isadel thought worriedly.

She pocketed her communication crystal and was about to stand up when she suddenly staggered—no, the entire building shook violently.

What's happening?

"It's bad! The Golem Legion has entered the inner city!"

What! The Golem Legion wouldn't just target soldiers and adventurers. If Kaiwa City is destroyed, out of the tens of thousands living here—nobles, middle-class, and commoners alike—only a few would survive.

Isadel pursed her lips tightly, her lake-blue eyes unable to hide her worry.

A squad of knights in silver armor quickly burst through the door and surrounded Isadel protectively.

"Miss Isadel, the Guild Master sent us to protect you."

"Don't worry about me, go save people in the city first!" Isadel calmly made her decision.

"But the Guild Master ordered us to protect you without leaving your side. The entire area around Kaiwa City is now covered by a barrier; Teleportation Magic can't be used to leave..." the lead knight said hesitantly.

"I'll go too."

She immediately stood up, summoned a shield around herself, and left the room for the main hall.

The reception hall on the first floor of the Mercenary Guild was now in complete chaos. Isadel found Sophia and the other two, but didn't see Pelan and the others.

"Where are they?" Isadel asked worriedly.

Sophia said, "Sipo only said they went to rescue people and told us to wait here for you."

She guessed her friend's thoughts and chuckled lightly, "We've discussed it. Let's go together. Hiding here isn't a solution either."

Carlos and Malo also nodded in agreement.

Taking a light breath, Isadel felt an unusual weight on her shoulders. She pressed her lips together briefly, then answered in a relaxed tone, "Alright! We can't let Pelan and the others look down on us!"

*

"Those undead were summoned by you? A good method, better than those timid adventurers," Izavel said.

Not long ago, they had bumped into each other on the way to the church.

Indeed, to everyone's surprise, the vortex had appeared right above the Church of Light's cathedral.

Before surprise could even register, Pelan's intuition told him he must immediately stop them from collecting these souls again.

After a moment's thought, he extended his left hand. The wand made from the saint's finger bone traced complex runes in the air. The spell was instantly complete, and a dark rift appeared above Pelan's head, competing with the vortex not far away for the souls within Kaiwa City.

He was, after all, a necromancer. Mastering a few Dark Magic spells for collecting souls was perfectly normal. The Secret Cult's move had just happened to run right into his expertise.

People inside the church noticed the disturbance here, and several figures appeared on the rooftop.

Without exception, they wore white magic robes, wrapping themselves up tightly.

"Did the Secret Cult only send these few people to deal with us?" Sipo sighed and shook his head, "We don't even need Izavel; I can handle this myself..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Izavel grabbed his arm and pulled him away from their original position.

The building beside Sipo was instantly destroyed. The ground shook noticeably several times, and black smoke mixed with fiery light billowed upwards, forming a strange mushroom cloud.

An entire block was blown apart in an instant. Pelan and Lou Guanyue dodged in time. Such an impact couldn't penetrate the extradimensional space. When they emerged from the space, they saw a man in red robes appear in the air above the church.

"Those who hinder the ritual must die!" the red-robed man said coldly.

He was the mysterious man who killed Horace in the dense forest!

"Fortunately, only one Magic Saint came..." Sipo let out a breath, patting his chest with lingering fear.

Thankfully, Izavel had pulled him away in time. If he had been swallowed by that "mushroom cloud," he could already envision himself torn apart, his body surface ablaze.

"Only one?" The red-robed man curled his lips slightly. His eyes, not covered by the mask, swept over Izavel and Pelan, and he lightly clapped his hands.

The next moment, densely packed flesh golems appeared around the church, blocking all possible paths of movement.

Instead of immediately ordering the golems to attack, the red-robed man looked towards Sipo's direction. His hoarse voice echoed in the wind, "Elves, you're meddling in the Secret Cult's affairs too?... Interesting, and a Dark Elf at that. Wasn't the lesson Qing brought you enough?"

Sipo and Izavel's expressions changed drastically. During the Millennium Holy War, a Dark Elf was born in the Elven Forest. Dissatisfied with the Elven King of that time, he left Ithilien. Unexpectedly, centuries later, he returned with members of the Secret Cult, forcibly seized the Mother Tree's fruits, and brought a terrifying disaster upon Ithilien and the Elven Mother Tree!

"That traitor is here too?" Sipo gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. His eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. Elves were very united, harboring immense and unanimous hostility towards notorious traitors.

"Unfortunately, he is not here at the moment," the red-robed man feigned regret with a sigh, then continued in an excited tone, "But I have already informed him that a little elf he has yearned for for many years has appeared in Kaiwa City. I'm sure he will be very interested and will rush over, putting aside whatever he's doing."

Pelan was momentarily stunned, not yet grasping the meaning of these words, when he saw a flash of light from the side, instantly outlining a pair of illusory double doors.

The doors seemed to be made of bronze, not entirely real, floating faintly in mid-air. Their surfaces were covered with countless strange patterns and runic symbols of unknown meaning.

With a creak, the heavy doors cracked open a gap. From within, pale, blood-stained arms stretched out frantically, one after another.

It resembled a dimensional gate, but capable of much longer-distance teleportation. It should be a dark-aligned summoning gate. It likely relied on the positioning provided by the red-robed man to traverse here from the spirit realm.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the gap in the illusory doors widened further. The arms inside quieted down, pressing tightly against the ground.

A figure flew out. The figure wore a well-fitted, luxurious suit, with black wings spreading from its back. It landed beside the red-robed man.

A head of dazzling platinum-blond hair fell softly over his shoulders. On his impeccably handsome face, a pair of ink-blue eyes were deep and captivating, like the blue waves of the sea under sunlight.

Anyone who saw him would praise him as a handsome, refined gentleman. Based on appearance alone, it was hard to believe this was actually a wicked Dark Elf.

Looking at the other, Pelan's mind spontaneously conjured the newcomer's name:

Xi Erhuai!

The Dark Elf who masterminded the Tree Court assault a thousand years ago, colluded with the Secret Cult to steal over a dozen fruits and branches of the Mother Tree, and severely wounded the previous Elven King!

He had indeed joined the Secret Cult and become a high-ranking member.

Almost simultaneously, Xi Erhuai half-turned, his gaze accurately locking onto Sipo on the opposite rooftop.

His eyes momentarily seemed dazed, involuntarily fixed on Sipo's eyes. He murmured in a low voice, "...So similar."

He took a step forward and abruptly appeared right in front of Sipo. Without even glancing at Izavel blocking the way, he carefully examined Sipo's features. His low voice carried a hint of hoarseness, "Are you Antinoia's child?"

Antinoya is the revered name of the Elven Queen.

Sipo was stunned for a moment, then furrowed his brows as he shot back, "Traitor! You don't deserve to speak her name!"

Xi Erhuai paid no mind to the hostility in his tone, letting out a low chuckle. "You're nothing like her in temperament. If it were her, she wouldn't waste words on me—she'd simply have her longbow aimed at me."

He tilted his head, narrowly dodging Izavel's sweeping sword strike, and clicked his tongue in annoyance, his brow slightly furrowed. "I hate it when someone interrupts me."

"Interesting... time stagnation?" Xi Erhuai shifted his gaze back to Sipo, his voice taking on a coaxing tone. "Join us. We're the same kind."

Sipo refused without hesitation. At that moment, the vortex above the church suddenly underwent a strange change.

Hong, who had been watching the scene leisurely from the side, abruptly changed expression. Not only had the vortex stopped absorbing souls, but it was now spitting out the spirits it had previously drawn in!

What was happening?

Hong quickly realized what was going on and fixed his glare on Pelan—the only necromancer present.

"What have you done?!"

Before the words fully left his mouth, his attack was already upon Pelan.

For a Magic Saint, aside from certain special spells, most magic could be cast instantly, bypassing the need for incantations.

Pelan raised his staff, and a barrier materialized before him, blocking the corrosive arrow rain aimed his way.

After activating his spiritual sight, Hong swiftly noticed something unusual.

All the souls here were actually being absorbed by a pitch-black banner!

It had been hidden within the spatial rift meant to deceive them, concealed by an invisibility spell, and was now draining souls from the vortex instead!

"Heh..."

He lifted his staff and decisively hurled several sinister, cold-glowing curses.

The destruction magic didn't strike the banner. Seeing that he had been discovered, Pelan had a skeletal claw shoot out from the spatial rift, which swiftly seized the soul banner.

Lou Guanyue's longsword was already closing in on Hong. Startled—he hadn't sensed any magical or aura fluctuations—Hong relied on combat instinct, leaping back several times to evade the eerie sword energy.

"I'll handle him. Leave these golems to me, Teacher."

Pelan nodded. Under Hong's control, the flesh golems had already raised their hands, and multicolored Magic Runes shimmered in the air. A dense barrage of magical attacks was about to rain down.

He softly called out a name:

"Astamis—"

A shadow silently unfurled before him, filling the air with an ancient, deathly aura.

From the expanding shadow, a massive claw made of pure white bone emerged, effortlessly blocking the magical beams.

The enormous skull of a Bone Dragon extended from within, hollow eye sockets burning with crimson soul-fire. Astamis the Bone Dragon spread its sky-blotting skeletal wings, fully shielding its contractor behind it.

The magical assaults crashed against the dragon's bones like raindrops striking rock, leaving only fleeting traces of light.

With its sheer physical resilience, the dragon could nullify the vast majority of magical damage.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Mini Theater:

Sipo: Is that all? Not even worth a glance!

Pelan: Alright, no more jinxing it!

The dragon makes its appearance~ Yes, this is the mount Pelan prepared for Yue back then [Let me see]

I've saved up some coins again, next chapter I'll give out red envelopes—looking forward to it~~