Gathered Together

The Church's ascetics were known to outsiders as "saints" removed from the "mortal world."

The Church had its own corps of mages, and many among them were incomparably devout believers. Once these mages could no longer break through to a higher rank, they would enter the Church's Hall of Valor and become ascetics.

The Hall of Valor was not a building, but a town in the back mountains behind the Church headquarters.

This town seemed cut off from the noise of the outside world, as well as from all civilization.

Only two kinds of people lived there: ascetics and Templar Knights.

Those who entered the Hall of Valor would never appear before the public except to take part in battle. Without an order from the Great Pope, they would not show themselves before others until the moment they died.

In exchange for their freedom, they gained Holy Light Divine Arts of the same tier.

The ascetics and Templar Knights in the Hall of Valor had only two things to do: pray to the Holy Father every day, and torture themselves to the brink of death without end.

As for exactly how they tortured themselves and prayed, no one knew. In any case, those religious lunatics were all abnormal people.

Ascetics held an extraordinary status. They never participated in struggles for power, nor did they covet pleasure. Their only purpose was to serve the Church's wars and wait for death.

Xiulunte had truly spared no expense today, actually bringing two ascetics with him.

Other than Allen, everyone understood how terrifying ascetics were, especially Sakre and Diao Ling.

These people were no longer mages in the ordinary sense. Holy Light Divine Arts had many uses. Besides healing wounds, they could accelerate spellcasting, allow instant and silent casting, increase magical power and casting range, and more. Whether one cultivated magic or Battle Aura, adding Holy Light Divine Arts was far more than a simple one-plus-one—it increased one's strength geometrically.

Especially ascetics who were heavily protected and suddenly struck from the shadows. They were even more troublesome than all of Xiulunte's soldiers combined, so Diao Ling attacked again.

Two Haftless Broken Blades flew from behind Allen toward the two ascetics.

The two Haftless Broken Blades, coated in deadly poison, failed to achieve anything. Xiulunte casually swung his sword, knocking both blades away.

The two ascetics gathered the fire elements in the air once more, but before they could unleash Flame Sawtooth Blades, countless basin-sized fireballs rained down from the sky.

Xiulunte's expression changed dramatically. He grabbed an ascetic in each hand and retreated at top speed.

Allen was overjoyed and turned to look at the Old Butler, thinking that this old coffin had finally made his move.

The Old Butler still wore that ferocious, constipated expression. One look made it obvious that he had not finished chanting, and that barrage of Fire Rain clearly had not been summoned by Old Laixi.

"Damn it, what the hell are you summoning? Why is it taking so long?" Allen cursed unhappily. "Don't tell me you're summoning a portal to run away?"

Allen knew that Guide Tier mages, regardless of their school, could summon portals of varying sizes based on the strength of their magic power. They were mainly used to escape the battlefield, and such spells required the longest chants.

The Old Butler, still chanting, was so furious that he nearly coughed up blood. He almost suffered a backlash from having his magic interrupted.

Looking outside the Old Castle, Xiulunte and the two ascetics had quickly withdrawn into the distance after evading the rain of fire. Unfortunately, several crossbowmen outside the Old Castle and the infantrymen preparing to rush in and die suffered instead.

In an instant, the Fire Rain that struck the ground created a fissure several meters long, and massive amounts of lava surged from it.

Lava erupted from the fissure as countless head-sized meteors fell from the sky again. Above and below, the area outside the Old Castle became a scene resembling hell itself. In just a few seconds, the Guide Tier fire spell Sea of Flames harvested hundreds of lives. This was exactly what Xiulunte wanted—the old, weak, sick, and disabled soldiers carefully selected from the Earth Dragon Legion's infantry were almost entirely wiped out.

The legion infantry lay on the ground engulfed in flames, rolling about and wailing. In the end, the flames burned away their vocal cords, leaving only meaningless hoarse cries on the battlefield, along with dried corpses giving off the stench of charred flesh.

"What an overbearing fire spell!" Allen covered his nose in stunned disbelief. Outside the Old Castle, calm finally returned. The fissure in the ground stopped spewing lava and slowly closed, while the falling Fire Rain and meteors gradually died out. Their mission had been accomplished, and the hundreds of blackened corpses were their handiwork.

Sakre looked at Allen with silent disdain. This guy was really ignorant.

Allen had just swung the Dragon Slaying Halberd alongside a bunch of companions and outside help, yet they had failed to even break through the Old Castle gates.

Then another mage ally appeared, and a single Guide Tier Sea of Flames burned every crossbowman and infantryman outside the Old Castle to death. Not a single survivor remained within the spell's range.

That was why most mages maintained by the major legions were fire-element mages. Fire Element Mages existed almost solely for slaughter and destruction.

Although large-scale spells were slow to cast, they had two outstanding traits: high destructive power and wide coverage. They could completely determine the course of a local battle.

The scene outside the Old Castle resembled hell, and a foul stench rushed toward them. One tall figure and one short figure appeared in the distance, stepping over the charred corpses and into the Old Castle as though they were entering their own backyard.

"Royal Guard, Sali, greets Lord Allen."

"Kingdom of Locke court mage, Karmet, greets Lord Allen."

The squat Sali, carrying a large bundle on his back, and the thin, tall Karmet, dressed as a mage, knelt on one knee before Allen. Behind them lay hundreds of burned corpses.

Dina ran over to them excitedly and called out in confusion, "Brother Sali and Uncle Karmet? So you were also sent by the Duke to protect the Second Young Master?"

The two rose and nodded with smiles.

Allen pointed at the two of them and looked at Dina. "You know them too?"

"Yeah. Brother Sali catches fish at the Mermaid Restaurant in the market, while Uncle Karmet works in the Mermaid Restaurant's kitchen."

Allen slapped his forehead, once again marveling at how much painstaking effort his cheap father had put in.

Every one of these people was stranger than the last.

Diao Ling, the little nanny who took care of the young lady, was actually a female assassin.

Rockhammer, the blacksmith, was actually a Third Tier Battle Aura Martial King.

The man who caught fish by the river was a thief skilled at casting nets.

And the restaurant cook was actually a fire-element Magus.

With just these four people, they could practically support Outpost County's entire industrial chain: entertainment, dining, and military industry—they had it all.

Now they were all here. The real culprits who had killed nearly a hundred of Xiulunte's personal guards had gathered together.

And Xiulunte, already mounted on his warhorse in the distance, no longer wore that leisurely expression. His face was so dark it seemed ready to drip water. "A fire-element Magus, a female assassin, a Third Tier Qi Warrior, and a thief! Duke Locke, it seems you care deeply about your useless younger son."

One of the ascetics stepped forward and advised, "Legion Commander, ordinary soldiers can no longer threaten them."

Xiulunte nodded and said with a cold smile, "Summon the Templar Knights!"

After speaking, Xiulunte's icy gaze swept over Wood, who had remained uninvolved at the edge of the area.

Wood gave a bitter smile and sighed. How had a perfectly good follower of the Supreme God become a Child of Chaos?