Search Mission

It was unexpected that even for the Ice Blade Squad, accepting a mission required the God-level members to complete it alone—the Sanctuary members couldn't even touch the door of the mission hall, let alone have a say in the matter.

Barn stood in the corner of the camp, gazing at the ice-blue city wall in the distance, his longing for the God-level growing heavier. In Gobada, even the most basic right to participate in missions had to be earned through one's cultivation realm.

Fortunately, Fukaloss was quite prudent; she didn't jump straight into a life-or-death mission, choosing a relatively mild opening task instead.

"Our first mission is to search for the Soul-Hunting Squads behind our territory," Fukaloss said, clutching a piece of yellowed beast hide. "Over at the Evil Royal City, many specialize in the Death Law. They love using undead to create chaos at the border, then seizing the chance to cross the defense line and infiltrate our rear to harass us. According to frontline reports, about ten squads have infiltrated recently, and only two have been cleared so far."

Julia raised her eyes, her tone calm: "What is the mission reward?"

"As long as you kill a God-level member of the enemy's Soul-Hunting Squad, you will receive a Blood Sword nurtured by an Abyssal Sword Demon."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes lit up.

Julia clearly had heard of this before and spoke indifferently: "A million years ago, the Yulan Plane suffered an invasion by Abyssal Demons. In the end, the God-level and Sanctuary experts of the entire plane joined forces to suppress them, forcibly imprisoning most of the demons in Gobada. Of course, these demons couldn't stir up much trouble in Gobada, but many possessed unique talents—Blade Demons, Spear Spirits, Sword Ghosts, and the like—capable of nurturing weapons with their own essence, with strength approaching that of a Divine Artifact. Our Ice Prison Royal City once captured a batch of Sword Ghosts and used the Blood Swords they nurtured to reward meritorious soldiers."

Barn felt a stir in his heart.

He had a deep impression of the Abyssal Blade Demons from the original work. No wonder Dylin's three sons could recognize them at a glance; it turned out they had seen their kind back in Gobada.

Declan immediately pressed: "One more question, how do we confirm that the God-level we kill is actually from the Soul-Hunting Squad?"

"All Royal City soldiers wear identity badges to avoid friendly fire," Fukaloss said. "The badge is the best proof."

Barn raised his hand, his tone very practical: "The mission only mentions rewards for killing God-level experts, so what about the Sanctuary ones?"

"The reward for killing enemy Sanctuary members will be compensated by me privately," Fukaloss smiled. "Besides, the supplies, magic cores, and equipment on the enemies are already your spoils of war—isn't that enough?"

Barn, Declan, and Gideon immediately replied in unison: "No more questions!"

Julia and Blair merely nodded faintly, their expressions still carrying the arrogance of those born in the Royal City.

The Gobada plane was circular in its entirety, with the five great Royal Cities each occupying a side. The Ice Prison Royal City was located in a narrow strip in the north, and its territory was not particularly large.

The mission area for their Ice Blade 123 Squad was a vast wasteland to the northwest of the Ice Prison Royal City.

Fukaloss explained in advance: "Search missions are extremely time-consuming; it's normal for one to take twenty or thirty years. There are five Sanctuary members in the team now, and I have been constantly emitting divine power to sustain your consumption, which is a huge burden. Therefore, I will not spread my spiritual sense to scout at will; only when the enemy's location is confirmed and we are ready to act will I perceive with full force. Most of the searching must rely on you."

"In such a large area, searching blindly is too difficult." Declan's dark golden pupils scanned the surroundings. As the one with the best stealth and scouting abilities in the team, this burden naturally fell on him.

Julia spoke, her tone carrying the weight of experience: "My father has taken on similar missions. Sanctuary experts in the wild are generally distributed evenly. As long as you find an area where the number of Sanctuary experts is abnormally sparse, it is most likely an area where the enemy has been active."

Declan's eyes lit up: "Senior is indeed experienced."

As the words fell, Declan's body lowered, and he dived directly into the ground, his aura vanishing instantly.

Barn, Gideon, Julia, and Blair all restrained their auras, moving slowly along the ground, trying their best not to attract any attention.

Fukaloss's divine avatar mastered both the Water element and the Death Law. To Barn, the divine power she emitted was simply the most compatible environment for cultivation. Although the others had mismatched attributes, they could still use this divine power to compensate for their physical consumption, saving the energy they would otherwise spend absorbing elements from the outside world to focus on their cultivation.

Their luck was not bad.

In the third month of the mission, Declan suddenly burst out from the ground, his expression grave.

"My Lady, there is a problem ahead."

"What kind of problem?"

"There is a place that intermittently releases energy fluctuations. It looks like a Sanctuary expert accidentally leaking their aura, but it is far too regular." Declan spoke very quickly. "Barn and I encountered a similar situation before; nine times out of ten, it's a trap set by an Undead Holy Magus using undead to lure us in."

Fukaloss was just about to spread her spiritual sense when Gideon immediately spoke: "My Lady, absolutely not! If the enemy God-level is nearby, they will definitely detect your spiritual sense and alert the enemy."

Fukaloss was stunned, then nodded: "You're right. Then what should we do?"

Julia stepped forward, her fighting spirit faintly emerging: "Let two of us go ahead to scout. As long as we defeat the enemy's Sanctuary members, the God-level hiding in the shadows will likely reveal themselves to capture us. When that happens, My Lady can strike in time, and we can kill two birds with one stone."

She was eager to try, clearly wanting to show off.

Fukaloss, however, shook her head: "Your fighting style is too flashy and not suitable for infiltrating and luring the enemy. Let Gideon and Barn go."

Barn's eyes narrowed slightly, but he did not refuse.

He certainly didn't want to take risks easily, but under someone else's roof, if he didn't show his value, he would sooner or later be marginalized by the squad.

"Go ahead," Fukaloss said with certainty. "With my strength, I will definitely be able to save you at the critical moment."

Watching the figures of the man and the bear disappear behind the jagged rocks, Blair couldn't help but look at Fukaloss, his tone carrying a hint of disdain: "My Lady, those two... are they really going to be okay?"

Sanctuary experts raised in the Royal City, whose fathers were all powerful God-level beings, naturally had extremely high standards and were already displeased with the sycophantic behavior of Barn, Gideon, and Declan.

Fukaloss, however, smiled. Her tone was casual, yet carried absolute confidence: "You had better be humble. In my opinion, even if the two of you joined forces, you might not be able to take down either one of them."

Blair and Julia exchanged a look, their faces full of disbelief.

But the next moment, a violent and cold wave of energy erupted from the wasteland ahead, and the roar of the undead and the shaking of the earth exploded simultaneously.

The expressions of the two changed abruptly.