Awareness

After Karlra discovered that the soul beside him had vanished, his vigilance rose to its limit.

He knew full well that the few fellows before him did not possess the ability to steal his things right under his nose.

Something had to be hiding nearby.

Watching Karlra glance around, Jem Woz asked in confusion, "What is he doing? Casting a spell?"

"I think he might be using some kind of ritual?"

Safi touched the perfectly normal emblem in his hand and answered with some uncertainty.

He glanced at the subordinates still pouring in behind him and made a stern gesture.

The many priests immediately pulled out large quantities of Holy Water, prayer Scriptures, and similar items they carried with them.

They prepared to fight to the death.

Safi said earnestly to Jem Woz, "He is at his weakest right now. We must drive him out of this world while we can. If he escapes and finds a source to replenish his strength, his power will recover at an extremely rapid rate. Then he will become a tremendous problem. The Magic Disasters of old emerged for precisely that reason."

"I have no objection. In that case, let's do it!"

At that moment, the Soldiers under Jem had already formed up. He ordered, "Heavy crossbow unit, begin the attack!"

The several Magic Disasters throughout history had already proven that ordinary bows and arrows were useless against Demons.

Unless they were Great Knight-level powerhouses, ordinary archers could not even pierce their hides. Thus, before coming here, he had specifically transferred a batch of heavy crossbows capable of piercing heavily armored cavalry. He had also ordered their bolts soaked in Holy Water beforehand and sent to the church for blessing, allowing them to become imbued with the Church's demon-banishing power.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Sensing that the bolts were coated in a power capable of harming him, Karlra lightly swept two fingers to the right. A fierce wind immediately surged through the basement, forming a translucent Flowing Wall of Wind that effortlessly deflected the incoming bolts.

Perhaps this move was not especially useful against melee weapons, but against projectile weapons, wind-element defensive spells were particularly effective.

Yet as its caster, Karlra looked at the spell's effect and disdainfully flicked his hand.

If the world's magic density had not been so low, and if his strength had not been so severely suppressed, that Flowing Wall of Wind could have formed a vortex and wrapped him within it, rather than merely becoming a wall.

Though Karlra had not deeply devoted himself to studying spells over the centuries, spending most of his time in slaughter, he had nonetheless mastered his awakened Bloodline Spells to the point of perfection, allowing them to produce many effects they ordinarily did not possess.

After confirming that no one was hiding nearby, yet still failing to find his sacrificial offering no matter what he did, Karlra finally turned his gaze toward the troops behind Jem and the others. With a disgusted expression, he said, "Several centuries have passed, and the Supernatural Power of your world has grown ever weaker. I still remember that when you came to suppress me in the past, your so-called Great Knights arrived squad after squad."

In low-level worlds like this one, with low energy density and an extreme rejection of outsiders, the reason Demons from the Bottomless Abyss usually returned in failure was that the natives used all kinds of methods to drag the Demons' strength down to their own level. Then, relying on their abundant experience and sheer numbers, they used human-wave tactics to forcibly kick the Demons out.

It had to be said, it was truly disgusting—being defeated by a pack of opponents the Demons did not even regard.

It was especially so in a situation like this, where he had been blocked the moment he descended!

If he were at full strength, Karlra could slaughter all the trash before him with one hand, and he would not even want to spare them a second glance.

But now, with his strength suppressed to the limit and less than one-tenth of his power remaining, he had to admit that he needed to take the trash before him seriously. Otherwise, there was a considerable chance that his boat would capsize in the gutter.

This undoubtedly filled the already ill-tempered Karlra with surging fury, especially when he saw Richard Woz.

When he descended, because of the Summoning Ritual, he and Richard Woz had formed a contract. As the price for receiving the offering and descending into this world, he had to serve Richard Woz for a certain period of time.

There had originally been nothing wrong with that. As a condition of forming the contract, it was perfectly normal, and Karlra did not think anything of it.

But now, someone had stolen the offering that should have belonged to him, Jem Woz had blocked his path with a huge crowd, and he still had to fulfill his obligation and serve the other party for a time. This made Karlra feel utterly stifled!

It made him want to turn around at once and twist Richard Woz's head off.

However, seeing the shield-bearing Soldiers advancing toward him and the priests holding Sacred Texts while chanting irritating Scriptures, Karlra wisely set aside his hostility for the moment and asked Richard Woz beside him, "Is there a way out? My power has been restricted too much. I need to recover some before I can deal with them."

Hearing this question, Richard Woz—unaware that the Demon before him wanted very much to strangle him—froze slightly. Based on what he knew about Demons, should this not have been the time to charge in and fight?

Why was he thinking about running away?

But on second thought, the royal secret records seemed to state that Demons were indeed at their weakest right after being summoned.

Thus, he did not hesitate and nodded. "There is a secret passage in the back that leads directly to the surface!"

Hearing this, Karlra nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. You go first. I'll follow shortly."

It was not that he had eaten too much and wanted to stay behind as rearguard. Rather, aside from Richard Woz, the remaining people were all his loyal followers. If he could save them, he did not mind lending a hand. After all, there would be plenty of chances to use them in the future.

Watching their retreating figures, Karlra casually waved his hand. The highly compressed airflow instantly turned into an invisible Wind Blade and flew from his hand.

Accompanied by a sound like an electric saw cutting through iron.

The Wind Blade struck the Soldiers in the front row holding shields, carving dazzling sparks across the shields.

The tremendous impact immediately sent the Soldiers' bodies flying.

As for the Wind Blade, it did not lose momentum, instead slashing into the crowd behind them and sending sprays of blood scattering across the ground.

Before a force capable of slicing metal apart, human bodies were as thin as paper.

Even Great Knight-level powerhouses capable of tearing tigers and leopards apart with their bare hands could not withstand it with their bodies.

Karlra commented disdainfully, "How feeble. You cannot even take an attack like this."

He had always regarded the humans of this world, who could only use magic in the crudest of ways, as primitives.

If not for harvesting souls, he would never have considered coming here. The energy he absorbed from casually breathing in the Bottomless Abyss was worth half a day of meditation here.

However, before he could reach out and seize the souls of the dead, he noticed something he had previously overlooked.

The Magic Circle on the ground was quietly absorbing the souls and transmitting them elsewhere!

His teeth clenched as he instantly understood where his offering had gone. A bunch of fools. They didn't even realize the Magic Circle had been altered...

Driven by rage, magic power erupted outward from him!

It tore up every nearby floor tile and completely destroyed the Magic Circle etched upon them.

Yet as he watched the dust and fragments fly, his mood did not improve. Instead, it worsened.

Because he knew that the natives of this world did not possess the ability to alter his Summoning Ritual without him sensing it. Therefore, some outside being had definitely interfered in this matter!

And clearly, the other party bore him no goodwill.

In his weakened state, being maliciously targeted by one or more unknown outside beings was no good news.

Even if the other party had not yet entered the fray directly, the danger they represented far surpassed the Native Faction before him!

Under such circumstances, would they easily allow him to leave?

Karlra thought it impossible.

And events unfolded exactly as he expected.

Without even turning around, he guessed the result from the footsteps behind him—the footsteps that had originally been moving away but were now rapidly returning.

"The secret passage has been blocked, and blocked extremely solidly. It is a kind of rock that looks like mud but is exceptionally hard. Even weapons cannot damage it!"

Turn Mud into Stone? Or some similar spell?

Karlra paid little attention to Richard Woz's panicked words. He merely silently glanced at the ceiling above.

If he had guessed correctly, the soil above the stone slabs had likely been hardened as well, to prevent him from simply burrowing out.

He stepped back, dodging several weapons that swung toward him.

Steadying himself, he ordered the Cultists and Richard Woz behind him, "In that case, we'll kill our way out!"

Hearing his command, the Cultists immediately let out excited, strange cries, utterly unconcerned that their enemies outnumbered them by dozens of times. In their doctrine, offering their lives for Karlra was the highest honor; everything else was secondary.

Only Richard Woz's face showed a brief flicker of hesitation as he deliberately hid himself behind Karlra.

To him, if risking his life were to save his daughter, then he would naturally do so without hesitation.

But at this moment, he had only just summoned Karlra. The matter had barely begun, and the illness had not even been treated yet. Clearly, getting Karlra out of this place was the priority; it was not yet the time for him to risk his life.

Besides, with his little bit of strength, he did not think he could be of any help to Karlra.

As the summoner, he merely needed to avoid becoming a burden.

Thus, the chaotic battle began in earnest within the basement!

And the Cultists were the first to fall.

Though the frenzied Cultists were not weak, when facing Soldiers and priests who had already formed ranks, they still appeared especially powerless. Like small splashes kicked up by stones, they were instantly swallowed by swords and blades.

Thanks to reader 20190218180425390 for the 500 Qidian coins!