"They're from the Darkness Church?" Ram's expression changed.
Although he had lived in the Dark Forest for a long time, he still knew what was happening in the outside world. The Radiant Church, once the strongest force on the Zhongyuan Continent, had been defeated by the Darkness Church and forced to retreat to the southeastern corner of the continent. Such a major event was known to nearly every Saint-level expert in the Dark Forest. They'd even worried that their own territory might come under attack.
It was deeply ironic. The Dark Forest was suited to practicing dark magic, and its miasma was thick, so the Radiant Church had little interest in the place. Admittedly, some people within the Radiant Church practiced dark magic, but there were too few of them to bring about any major change in the church's policies.
But things were different now that the Darkness Church had arrived. Most of its members practiced the Darkness Laws. As for the miasma, it might have a great effect on ordinary people, but Saint-level experts and even those above level seven paid it little heed. The Darkness Church might well want to seize such an ideal place to cultivate.
"Of course. It was only to be expected. I just didn't think they'd show up so soon—I was just about to leave," Sean said with a faint smile.
With the Darkness Church on the rise, the entire Zhongyuan Continent was practically theirs for the taking. Even the Radiant Church, having retreated to the southeastern corner, might still come under attack. That was how things went: you struck when your enemy was down.
God-level experts would never give up the fight for the Power of Faith. In the past, the Radiant Church had controlled half the continent without wiping out the other factions, not because it was merciful, but because a god-level war between Lowgods—even with an advantage in numbers—couldn't guarantee that their own experts would come through unscathed. That was how the balance had been maintained.
But now that the Darkness Church had produced a midgod, it would certainly try to seize all the Power of Faith. It would either kill its god-level enemies or drive them to the Higher Planes, uniting the faith of the entire continent under its rule. Perhaps that was why so many experts had gone to the Higher Planes: they'd been forced to.
The Radiant Church or any other religious faction would have done the same if it had gained a midgod.
In an era when the Overgods paid no heed to the Power of Faith, the faith of the Material Plane had essentially been claimed by its native gods.
The Radiant Church's territory might not be safe, which meant that nowhere on the Zhongyuan Continent was safe either. And as for the boundless East Sea and South Sea, Sean was even less willing to go there.
Though the other side had six Saint-level experts, Sean wasn't worried. With his Mysteries, his weapon, and the God-Eater Rat's talent, he feared no one below god-level.
A short while later, the six members of the Darkness Church—five men and one woman—arrived in front of Sean.
"What dense dark elements!" The man at the front looked about thirty. As soon as he arrived, his expression changed, and delight filled his eyes.
They'd heard long ago that the Dark Forest was rich in dark elements, but the church hadn't paid much attention. It already had Magic Arrays that gathered various elements, though they came at a steep price and were generally reserved for exceptional talents and top experts.
For the past several years, the Darkness Church had been fighting the Radiant Church on many fronts, so it hadn't had time to pay attention to the Dark Forest, which was already within its sphere of influence. The place wasn't going anywhere. Now, though there was still some fighting on the front lines, things had mostly stabilized. So the six of them had been sent to investigate the Dark Forest.
When they'd first ventured deep into the forest, they'd noticed that the dark elements were a little denser, but the concentration was still nowhere near what their own Magic Arrays could provide. Still, this place was free and vast. It wasn't much use to Saint-level experts, but it offered decent cultivation conditions to anyone below level nine. The only problem was dealing with the miasma.
They hadn't expected to happen upon two Saint-level experts, one of them human. They'd come over to ask a few questions, only to discover an unbelievably high concentration of dark elements. A place like this would greatly aid even Saint-level cultivation. If the Darkness Church took control of it, the number of experts would surely soar over the coming millennia. It could even solve the church's current shortage of skilled fighters.
"Who are you?" one of the men beside the leader asked Sean.
"It wouldn't matter if you knew," Sean replied coolly. Then he flashed forward, appearing before them in a streak of lightning. He aimed the Purple Divine Sword at their leader and brought it down in a single strike, using his strongest physical attack.
He hadn't fled earlier because he wanted to get useful information from them. But he only needed to keep one alive to get answers. Once he'd picked out their leader, he struck at once.
The leader's expression changed. A mass of dark elements formed into a spear and shot toward Sean. At the same time, a long spear appeared in his hand, radiating a terrifying aura. It was a Lowgod Artifact, a weapon of attack forged from the Darkness Laws.
The spear of dark elements was an attack formed from the Darkness Element Profound Mystery. Sean probed it with his soul power and found it extremely powerful, far stronger than when he used the same move himself. And the man had unleashed it in a short time. Clearly, his Darkness Element Profound Mystery had reached an exceptionally high level.
But physical attacks depended on too many factors, such as bodily strength and the weapon used. Sean's understanding of the laws was indeed inferior to his opponent's, but the Purple Blood God Sword, combined with the attack power granted by the God-Eater Rat's formidable body, had brought him almost to the limit of what a Saint-level expert could achieve.
Before the dark-element spear could reach him, the battle aura on the Purple Blood God Sword scattered it. The sword's speed didn't falter in the slightest. The leader of the Darkness Church paled and hurriedly abandoned his previous attack, directing all his strength toward Sean's sword. With his soul power, he too confirmed that it was an artifact.
"Clang!" Their weapons collided. The leader of the Darkness Church had realized how powerful Sean was as soon as his spear of elements was shattered. He hadn't expected to win this exchange; he'd even thought he might be knocked back.
What he hadn't expected was that the instant Sean's Purple Divine Sword struck the spear forged by his father, immense force slammed into him. His wrist throbbed with pain, and the divine spear was knocked flying by a single blow. Sean's sword didn't pause for an instant as it continued toward his head.
At such close range, he couldn't dodge. He didn't even have time to beg for mercy. His head was shattered outright.
Before you continue