A Victorious First Battle

Several miles away, the underground cavern was indeed a carefully laid trap, just as Declan had predicted.

The Level Nine undead that had deliberately leaked its energy fluctuations was blasted apart by Gideon's furious bear roar. At once, more than a dozen Sanctuary-level undead surged from the shadows, surrounding the two of them.

"That Undead Holy Magus is certainly patient. The undead are almost wiped out, and he still hasn't shown himself." Gideon tore through a Bone Dragon with one claw while speaking to Barn through spiritual power.

As they had agreed beforehand, they couldn't appear too strong—lest they scare off the person behind this; nor could they seem too weak, or the enemy would keep sending undead without drawing out the Undead Holy Magus.

So Gideon was responsible for attacking head-on and applying pressure, while Barn posed as an agile but relatively weak assassin, fighting "with difficulty, but stubbornly."

Barn struggled to fight a Black Knight undead as he sent a message: "Could we be putting too much pressure on him?"

Gideon smashed another Sanctuary-level undead with one claw. "Then should I pretend I'm out of magic and enter a weakened state?"

At that moment, a terrifying magical force unlike any other erupted from a shadowy corner deep in the cavern.

"Finally showing himself?" Gideon's eyes lit up.

But Barn frowned sharply. "No—it's Wind Element magic!"

In the next instant, a violent surge of energy took shape. A four-meter-long, emerald-green spatial blade tore through the air, hurtling toward them with an unstoppable edge.

Both of them felt a chill and blurted out:

"Damn—Dimension Blade!"

Almost on instinct, they split up and ran, not looking back.

Only then did they remember: it was normal for an Undead Holy Magus to have a contracted magic beast! Clearly, their opponent's contracted beast was skilled in Wind Element magic!

Declan's voice immediately rang in Barn's mind. "What's wrong? Are you in danger?"

"Big trouble. Tell Fukaloss to get ready to back us up."

Since crossing over, this was the first time Barn had faced the Dimension Blade head-on—the single-target forbidden spell known as the strongest in Sanctuary. Even with the extreme speed of a Tiger-pattern Warrior, he couldn't be sure he could dodge it completely.

The Dimension Blade was considered the strongest single-target attack forbidden spell not only because it was nearly impossible to defend against at the Sanctuary level, but also because of its terrifying speed and the caster's ability to control its flight path after releasing it.

But the next second, Barn realized he had judged the situation wrong.

The Dimension Blade wasn't aimed at him. It was aimed at Gideon.

Barn had probably seemed too "ordinary" earlier, only daring to circle around instead of fight head-on. Their opponent didn't consider him a threat at all, concentrating every lethal attack on Gideon, whose assault was the fiercest.

Watching Gideon flee desperately from the pursuing Dimension Blade, Barn judged that Gideon would be unable to dodge it in two more breaths.

Barn abruptly stopped, a flash of anger in his eyes.

"You think so little of me?"

Before the words had even left his mouth, he sprang forward with his spear in hand. His figure became an almost invisible white streak as he charged straight toward the source of the Dimension Blade.

A Tiger-pattern Warrior moving at full speed was only slightly slower than the Dimension Blade.

Gideon had nowhere left to dodge. He let out a despairing roar, preparing to withstand the deadly blow head-on.

And in that instant, Barn reached the caster.

Deep inside the cavern stood a seductive female Undead Holy Magus, with a sleek, black-spotted Wind Leopard Beast crouching beside her.

Neither of them took Barn seriously. In their judgment, he was merely an ordinary Saint Warrior with slightly above-average speed and mediocre attack power.

The female Holy Magus swept her staff, gathering dark green death magic that was about to strike Barn in the face.

But to her horror, the white streak before her blurred and vanished from sight.

"Rip!"

The sound of tearing flesh rang out.

The Wind Leopard Beast threw itself in front of its master, giving everything it had. Barn's spear sliced through both its forepaws, and blood gushed out.

That split-second obstruction caused the Dimension Blade, which had been locked onto Gideon, to veer slightly off course.

"Roar!" Gideon let out a shrill howl.

Barn glanced back, relieved to see that Gideon had survived. But the Dimension Blade had severed his entire hind leg along with half his flank, leaving a wound as smooth as a mirror, with blood pouring out.

"You bastard! How dare you get distracted!"

The Undead Holy Magus raged. Death magic surged along her staff as she struck at Barn again.

After confirming Gideon wasn't in immediate danger of dying, Barn was suddenly enveloped in a platinum-white glow—Town Evil Gale covered his entire body.

The moment the strange death magic touched the area around the gale, half of it vanished. The remaining power invaded Barn's soul, but he forcefully ignored it.

He became an invisible streak once more and charged straight at the master and her beast.

Despite having lost both forepaws, the Wind Leopard Beast still stood fearlessly in front of its master. But Barn was no longer the sort of person who could be moved by so-called "loyalty."

Just as he prepared to pierce both of them through with one thrust, an immense force of restraint abruptly descended, as though he had fallen into a swamp.

"Hmph!"

A cold snort rang out from the void. Barn was struck as if by a heavy blow, hurled backward, and slammed into the rock wall as rubble rained down.

The Undead Holy Magus had only just begun to look pleased when an even more terrifying, bone-chilling energy erupted.

"Rumble—!!"

The entire underground cavern shook violently. Huge chunks of rock collapsed from the ceiling, and dust filled the air.

Fukaloss had made her move.

Her Soul Transmission rang directly in Barn's mind. "Barn, save Gideon first. The others will deal with those two Sanctuary-level fighters. As for the woman—take her alive."

Barn looked up. Declan, Julia, and Blair had already closed in to surround their enemies. The cavern had collapsed, but the battle was completely under control. He didn't press his advantage, instead turning and heading straight for Gideon.

Gideon was gravely wounded. His severed leg was a bloody mess, and he was using one remaining forepaw to clutch the half of his body that had been cut off, struggling to fly upward as blood gushed down like a spring.

Though they had once been enemies, Gideon had also been the reason Barn had crossed over. Without hesitation, Barn went to support him and quickly began reciting an incantation.

Light Element magic had the strongest healing effects, but Barn wasn't skilled in it. Water Element healing magic, Water Healing, required a Level Seven Mage to cast. On top of that, water elements were scarce in Gobada. Even with Barn's strength as a Holy Magus, it took him a full minute to complete the spell.

A gentle, water-blue light enveloped Gideon. The wounds that had been gushing blood gradually clotted and healed.

The two finally made it out of the collapsed cavern and back to the surface.

In the distance, the energy storm from the Godlevel battle nearly obscured the sky, drawing everyone's eyes.

This was the first time Barn had seen Fukaloss fighting at full strength.

In her hands, she held two thumb-thick chains that were utterly unbreakable. They coiled and lashed about as if alive, trapping her opponent layer by layer. Water Element Divine Power flowed along the chains, and everywhere it passed, even space seemed to freeze. Though her opponent fought desperately, he still couldn't break through Fukaloss's deadly array.

"I didn't know the young lady was this strong," Barn murmured.

Gideon's wound had stopped bleeding, and he was temporarily out of danger. He panted heavily. "But she won't be able to take him down anytime soon. Her opponent is a Godlevel expert who specializes in the Earth Element—the best at taking a beating."

The Evil Royal City simply had a high proportion of people who cultivated the Law of Death. That didn't mean everyone cultivated it.

Yet even this Godlevel Earth Element expert, famous for both attack and defense, couldn't break through that icy net of chains, no matter how fiercely he charged or how explosively his Earth Element Divine Power surged.

Barn teased, "Once the young lady kills him, she might reward you with his Godhead."

Gideon shook his massive bear head firmly. "I know the drawbacks of refining a Godhead. I'm only one step away from godhood, and I don't want to cut off my future path. Lowgods who refine Godheads aren't even allowed into the Royal City, much less permitted to leave this godforsaken place."

Barn smiled faintly. "I feel the same way."

Just then, Blair and Julia flew out of the dust, carrying between them a figure frozen into a block of ice—it was the Undead Holy Magus. Declan followed close behind, emerging from underground with the corpse of the Wind Leopard Beast in his hands.

Seeing that everyone was safe and Gideon's injuries were temporarily under control, Barn immediately took out a crystal ball and pointed it at the distant Godlevel battlefield to record the fight.

These were some of the Floating Shadow Crystals Barn had bought in the Yulan Continent before reaching the Sanctuary level. He had stocked up on over a hundred of them to record battles between the powerful, and now they had come in handy.

Gideon grumbled unhappily, "Hey, half my body still hasn't grown back."

"Healing an injury like yours with Water Element magic will take at least a day." Barn kept his eyes on the sky. "Once the young lady finishes fighting, she can use Divine Power to heal you. That'll be much faster than my magic."

He paused to explain, "It's rare to witness a Godlevel battle in person. Of course I'm going to record the whole thing."

Gideon snorted but didn't press him further.

His opponent was a Godlevel expert who cultivated the same Earth Element. If Gideon could learn something from the fight, this injury would be nothing.

Fukaloss was far stronger than Barn and the others had initially expected.

They had assumed she dared to lead a team around recruiting people on her own only because she had powerful elders backing her and several powerful Divine Artifacts in her possession.

But now, they could see with their own eyes that she had completely suppressed a Godlevel Earth Element expert—renowned for his high attack power, strong defense, and exceptional endurance—with nothing but the power of her Water Element Divine Clone. Her chains moved like flowing water, her ice struck with the merciless force of a prison, and she had kept the rhythm of the battle firmly in her hands from beginning to end.

The fierce battle continued for nearly half an hour.

The Earth Element Godlevel expert's spiritual power ran dry, his Divine Power was exhausted, and at last, his defenses showed a flaw.

Fukaloss's eyes turned cold. A wisp of pure white flame rose from her palm, and she gently pressed it into his head.

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

Only a faint cry from his soul.

The battle was over.