Gathered Together

The Ascetics of the Holy See, known to the outside world as "Saints" who have distanced themselves from "mortals."

The Holy See has its own magic team, and among its mages are countless devout believers. When these mages can no longer break through their own advancements, they enter the Hall of Valor of the Holy See to become Ascetics.

The Hall of Valor is not a house, but rather located in a town in the back mountains of the Holy See's headquarters.

This town seems detached from the clamor of the outside world and all civilization.

Only two types of people live within: Ascetics and Templar Knights.

Those who enter the Hall of Valor, except to participate in combat, will never appear before the world. Without the Great Pope's command, they will not show themselves to the public until the moment of their death.

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

Ascetics and Templar Knights in the Hall of Valor have only two things to do: one is to pray to the Holy Father daily, and the other is to suffer to the point of death and constantly torment themselves.

As for the specific ways they torment and pray, no one knows. Regardless, these religious fanatics are all abnormal individuals.

Ascetics hold an extraordinary status; they never participate in power struggles or crave enjoyment. Their only duty is to serve the Holy See's wars and await death.

Xiulunte had truly gone all out today, bringing two Ascetics with him.

Apart from Allen, everyone else understood the terror of the Ascetics, especially Sakre and Diao Ling.

These individuals are no longer mages in the conventional sense. The Holy Light Divine Arts have various applications, not only for healing but also for accelerating magic release, even enabling instant casting, increasing spell power and range, and more. Combining their own practiced magic or Battle Qi with the Holy Light Divine Arts makes their strength not simply additive, but exponentially increased.

Especially the Ascetics, who are heavily protected and strike unexpectedly, are far more troublesome than all of Xiulunte's soldiers combined. Therefore, Diao Ling attacked again.

Two Haftless Broken Blades flew towards the two Ascetics from behind Allen.

The two Haftless Broken Blades, coated with potent poison, failed to achieve their objective because Xiulunte casually swung his sword, deflecting them.

The two Ascetics gathered fire elements from the air again. Unfortunately, before they could unleash the Flame Sawtooth Blade, countless basin-sized fireballs rained down from the sky.

Xiulunte's expression changed drastically. He grabbed one Ascetic with one hand and retreated rapidly.

Allen was overjoyed and glanced back at the Old Butler, thinking the old coffin had finally made a move.

The Old Butler still wore that grim, constipated expression. It was clear the incantation wasn't finished. The rain of fire that had just occurred was obviously not summoned by Old Laixi.

"Damn it, what are you summoning? Why is it taking so long?" Allen cursed indignantly. "Are you trying to run by summoning a portal?"

Allen knew very well that Magus-level mages, regardless of the school, could summon a portal of varying size based on the strength of their own magic power, primarily used for escaping the battlefield. Such spells had the longest casting times.

The Old Butler, still chanting the incantation, was so furious he almost spat out a mouthful of blood, nearly suffering a backlash from the interruption of his magic power.

Looking outside the Old Castle, Xiulunte, after dodging the sky-high fire rain with the two Ascetics, quickly retreated to a distance. Unfortunately, the crossbowmen outside the Old Castle and the infantry preparing to rush into the Old Castle to their deaths were caught in the crossfire.

Instantly, the rain of fire that landed on the ground caused a crack several meters long, from which a large amount of lava surged.

As lava erupted from the crack, countless meteorite-sized objects the size of heads rained down again. Between the upper and lower onslaught, the area outside the Old Castle was painted with a scene resembling a Shura's Purgatory. In just a few seconds, the Magus-level fire magic "Sea of Flames" had reaped hundreds of lives. This also fulfilled Xiulunte's wish, as the elderly and infirm, carefully selected from the ground dragon army's infantry, were almost completely annihilated.

The legion infantry, lying on the ground engulfed in flames, rolled around and wailed. Eventually, the flames scorched their vocal cords, leaving only meaningless screams and charred corpses emitting a burnt odor on the battlefield.

"What a powerful fire magic!" Allen exclaimed, covering his nose in shock. The area outside the Old Castle finally returned to calm. The cracks on the ground stopped spewing lava and slowly closed. The rain of fire and meteorites descending from the sky gradually extinguished as they had fulfilled their mission. Hundreds of charred corpses were their masterpiece.

Sakre looked at Allen, secretly disdainful. This guy was truly amazed by the commonplace.

Allen, wielding the Dragon Slaying Halberd and with the help of his companions and reinforcements, couldn't even break through the main gate of the Old Castle.

Unexpectedly, another mage reinforcement appeared. A Magus-level Sea of Flames incinerated all the crossbowmen and infantry outside the Old Castle. Within the spell's range, not a single soul was left alive.

This was also why most of the enshrined mages in the major legions were fire-elemental. Fire Element Mages existed almost solely for slaughter and destruction.

Although large-scale magic had slow casting speeds, it possessed two significant characteristics: high lethality and wide coverage, capable of influencing the direction of a local battle.

The scene outside the Old Castle was like Shura's Purgatory, with a foul stench assailing the nostrils. Two figures, one tall and one short, appeared from a distance. As if walking into their own backyard, they strode past the burnt corpses and entered the Old Castle.

"Royal Guard, Sali is here to greet Lord Allen."

"Kingdom of Locke Court Mage, Karmet is here to greet Lord Allen."

Sali, a short, stout figure carrying a large pack, and Karmet, a tall, thin figure dressed as a mage, knelt before Allen. Behind them were hundreds of scorched corpses.

Dina excitedly ran up to the two, calling out in confusion, "Brother Sali and Uncle Karmet? So, you were also sent by Lord Duke to protect the Second Young Master?"

The two stood up, smiled, and nodded.

Allen pointed at them and looked at Dina, "You know them too?"

"Yes, Brother Sali fishes at the Mermaid Restaurant in the market, and Uncle Karmet works in the Mermaid Restaurant's kitchen."

Allen smacked his forehead, once again marveling at his cheap father's meticulous planning.

These guys were all more bizarre than the last.

Diao Ling, who accompanied the young lady, was actually a female assassin.

The blacksmith, wielding the Rock Hammer, was actually a third-tier Battle Qi Martial King.

The one who fished by the river was a flying thief skilled in net throwing.

The restaurant cook was, damn it all, a fire-element Magus.

These four individuals alone could essentially support the entire industrial chain of Outpost County, covering entertainment, catering, and military industry.

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

Meanwhile, Xiulunte, already mounted on his warhorse in the distance, no longer wore his relaxed expression. His face was as dark as if it were about to rain: "Fire-element Magus, female assassin, third-tier Battle Qi Warrior, and a flying thief! Duke of Locke, it seems you care a great deal about your useless youngest son."

One of the Ascetics stepped forward and suggested, "Your Excellency Legion Commander, ordinary soldiers can no longer pose a threat to them."

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

After speaking, Xiulunte's chilling gaze swept over Wood, who had remained uninvolved on the periphery.

Wood sighed with a wry smile. How did a devout follower of the Overgod turn into a Child of Chaos?