Ambushed

Fukaloss's chains danced like wild serpents, extending along the black hook in an attempt to lock onto the assailant's true form. The dark-element deity was incredibly decisive; he abandoned his Divine Artifact without hesitation, his figure dissolving into a wisp of void shadow to vanish in an instant.

Fukaloss casually collected the dark-element Divine Artifact, but before she could turn around, a piercing cyan light tore through the air from afar, reaching her in the blink of an eye.

The chains swirled to block once more, and with a thunderous "clang," the shockwave from the collision of divine power exploded outward.

Only then did Barn see the newcomer clearly—a man wielding a blood-red spear, his entire body wreathed in a cyan storm.

An ambush by two deities!

Clearly, the dark-element deity was responsible for the stealthy surprise attack, while this cyan-fire deity had deliberately delayed his arrival to avoid premature exposure, creating a perfect pincer maneuver.

But Barn and his companions had no time to focus on the battle of the deities.

Seven formidable Sanctuary auras locked onto them simultaneously, closing in rapidly.

Four Undead Black Knights and three Sanctuary magical beasts—evidently the direct subordinates of the two hostile deities.

Blair narrowed her vertical pupils, her voice icy: "Be careful, there is a high probability that an Undead Holy Magus is still hiding in the shadows."

The four Undead Black Knights before them possessed intelligent, lively eyes; their intellect was far beyond the mindless undead summoned by ordinary necromancers. It was said that the Evil Royal City forcibly performed necromantic conversion on any living beings who joined their ranks.

This resulted in the vast majority of Sanctuary-level members in the Evil Royal City being undead, save for those who were already necromancers or magical beasts with special talents.

Naturally, there were benefits to this; the undead were freed from the burden of hunger. While they still needed to plunder souls to sustain themselves, their consumption was far lower than that of flesh-and-blood bodies.

However, most members of the Evil Royal City would restore their flesh-and-blood bodies once they broke through to the deity level.

Declan's voice echoed directly in Barn's mind: "If the situation turns against us, we retreat immediately."

Barn did not respond, for the enemy had already charged in.

Gideon the Earth Violent Bear took the lead, his body wreathed in earthy-yellow Earth Pulse. With the addition of his newly acquired defensive Divine Artifact, he was like a moving fortress, ignoring the enemy's probing attacks and charging head-on. At the first clash, he tore one Sanctuary Black Knight to pieces and swept his giant claws, severely wounding and sending another flying.

That overwhelming strength left the remaining enemies momentarily stunned.

In that brief moment of distraction, Julia had already drawn her bow and nocked an arrow; an arrow wreathed in purple-gold lightning tore through the air. Barn's speed was only a fraction slower than the arrow; he charged forward, his spear transforming into a streak of white light as he followed closely behind.

"Water Pool Spell!"

Within the enemy ranks, a Frost Dragon spoke in human tongue, suddenly casting a water-element control spell.

An invisible force of water permeated the area, the surrounding space seemingly turning into a muddy swamp, causing everyone's movements to lag abruptly.

Although the Water Pool Spell was a low-level spell, it remained an extremely practical preemptive control spell even at the Sanctuary level.

The speed of Julia's lightning arrow plummeted, and a sword-wielding Black Knight in the enemy ranks seized the opportunity to strike. However, the violent lightning magic on the arrow exploded instantly, arcs of electricity wrapping around him, leaving him paralyzed and unable to move.

Having spent these days together, the group had grown familiar with one another. Blair had also been open about her background—her father was a lightning dragon who had broken through to the deity level, and her mother was human. She had inherited the lightning dragon bloodline and practiced both magic and martial arts. Unlike Dragonblood Warriors, she did not require bloodline awakening, and her comprehension of lightning mysteries had already reached a significant level.

On the other side, Barn was also enveloped by the Water Pool Spell, yet a brilliant white-gold halo suddenly erupted around his body.

Town Evil Gale!

The violent gale instantly dispersed the surrounding water-element magic, and his speed did not diminish; instead, it increased even further.

Before the eyes of the human Sword Saint, who was paralyzed by the lightning and filled with terror, Barn's spear pierced straight through his chest.

One clash!

Of the four human Sanctuary-turned-Undead Black Knights, two were dead and one was severely wounded!

Seeing this, the three remaining Sanctuary magical beasts on the left and right flanks did not dare to rush forward rashly.

At that moment, three eerie, emerald-green rays of light shot out from the pile of rubble behind them, heading straight for their vitals.

It was the ninth-level spell of an Undead Holy Magus—Wither Ray!

Barn relied on his extreme speed to dodge by a hair's breadth; Blair had been prepared and blocked directly in front of Julia; Gideon, however, could not dodge in time and took the hit head-on.

"Awoo—!"

Gideon let out a painful howl, his soul clearly suffering a heavy blow. Fortunately, both his physical body and soul had reached the limit of the Sanctuary level; although he temporarily lost his combat effectiveness, his life was not in danger.

In contrast, Blair was unscathed by the Wither Ray. Instead, she fired a blue soul-ray from her vertical pupil, striking the human Sanctuary knight who had been severely wounded by Gideon and was attempting to flee. The opponent's body was instantly covered in ice, frozen solid into a sculpture.

Every member chosen by Fukaloss was a top-tier expert among the Sanctuary.

Barn's speed was acknowledged even by Gideon as the fastest he had ever seen in the Sanctuary;

Gideon himself possessed a physical strength only slightly weaker than a Sanctuary Dragonblood Warrior, his Earth Pulse had touched the threshold of the deity level, his offense and defense were both high, and his soul was at the peak of the Sanctuary, even more formidable than Linley before he entered the Necropolis of the Gods in the original records;

Julia's arrows, when undisturbed, possessed a speed comparable to a Dimensional Edge; while their raw lethality was slightly inferior, they excelled in precision, swiftness, and rapid-fire continuity;

And as for Blair, one could see from that soul-freezing light just now that the talent of the Beholder race was terrifyingly extreme.

Seeing the overwhelming combat power of the group, the remaining four Sanctuary members subconsciously retreated.

But the next moment, the ground cracked open with a roar, and dozens of Sanctuary undead burst forth from the soil; behind them, three pitch-black portals connecting to the Underworld opened, and endless high-level undead surged out like a tide, blotting out the sky.

Declan the Spine-backed Iron-armored Dragon looked at the ocean of undead before him, a hint of self-mockery appearing in his dark-gold pupils: "It seems I am the weakest in terms of combat power in this team."

As his words fell, his body swayed, and the ferocious dragon shadow split into two.

Two identical Spine-backed Iron-armored Dragons appeared simultaneously.

At this moment, he had truly mastered the Shadow Clone mystery.

High above in the sky, the god-level battle remained ferocious. Fukaloss was fighting two opponents at once; she was clearly pinned down and had no energy left to spare for the Sanctuary-level battle below.

However, Barn and his party showed no signs of flagging.

Though the enemy had a vast number of undead, their own combat power was equally terrifying.

Blair's body surged in size as ice crystals and jagged rocks coalesced into a massive, dragon-like form. He swung his Divine Artifact battle-axe, and his vertical eye continuously fired blue soul beams. With every strike, a Sanctuary-level undead's soul was frozen, causing it to collapse with a thunderous crash.

Julia the Dragonkin drew her bow into a full moon. Her arrows moved with the speed of a Dimensional Blade, specifically targeting distant undead archers and spellcasters; every shot found its mark.

Declan unleashed his twin shadows, vanishing into the earth without a sound. From time to time, he would suddenly erupt from the ground, dragging a Sanctuary-level undead down to be instantly killed. With the aid of his Shadow Clone, the enemies couldn't land a single blow on him.

At this moment, Gideon finally recovered from the soul shock. The giant bear's roar shook the wilderness: "Barn! I'll draw their fire, you go and slaughter those three Undead Holy Magi!"

Before the words had even faded, his body erupted with a brilliant earth-yellow light. He charged into the sea of undead like a meteor, forcibly tearing open a bloody path—compared to the undead converted from human Sanctuary powerhouses, these mindless creatures, which required the command of Undead Holy Magi, were far weaker.

Barn did not hesitate. His figure transformed into a streak of extreme white light, rushing straight toward the pile of jagged rocks in the rear. Several Sanctuary-level undead attempted to intercept him, but Julia's thunderous arrows arrived in time, blasting them apart in mid-air.

The enemy clearly had not expected that an encirclement of seven Sanctuary powerhouses and dozens of Sanctuary-level undead would be torn open by a mere few individuals. There were not even any Sanctuary-level guards left beside the Undead Holy Magi.

But in Gobada, no Sanctuary powerhouse who had survived was afraid of death. Seeing Barn charging toward them, the three Undead Holy Magi disregarded their depleted mental energy and forcibly summoned their three trump-card undead:

A Sanctuary Bone Dragon, a Vampire King, and a Sanctuary Corpse Demon.

The Town Evil Gale surrounding Barn was brighter and more violent than it had ever been.

He had already quietly consumed that Soul Gold Bead.

Just as he had expected, the capacity of a Soul Mutator far exceeded that of an ordinary Sanctuary powerhouse. Absorbing the entire Soul Gold Bead not only caused no overflow, but he still had a vast margin before reaching his soul's limit.

The Town Evil Gale was, as a result, massively amplified.

With the tip of the Divine Artifact Mist Hidden Spear as the core, the white-gold light traced a meteoric arc. A single thrust pierced the Sanctuary Bone Dragon from head to tail, instantly extinguishing its soul fire.

The Vampire King following close behind spread its wings, and countless blood-colored bats turned into a dark cloud to swarm him. But the moment they touched Barn's Town Evil Gale, they melted away like snow meeting fire. Barn didn't even pause; with a flick of his spear tip, he pierced directly through its throat.

Facing the final Sanctuary Corpse Demon, Barn appeared slightly weary, yet his eyes remained sharp.

Under the shocked gazes of the three Undead Holy Magi, his figure suddenly twisted and shifted, moving with a bizarre, reality-defying lateral slide. He easily bypassed the Corpse Demon's blockade and appeared directly before them.

Law of Fate—Destined Hit!

The physical strength of an Undead Holy Magus was, at most, that of an eighth-rank warrior.

Even though Barn was at the end of his rope, slaughtering them was as easy as chopping vegetables.

A horizontal sweep of his spear struck the neck of the lead Undead Holy Magus, sending his head flying high into the air.

In his spinning, falling perspective, he only saw the tiger-kin erupt with an ice-blue frost shock, completely freezing the remaining two Undead Holy Magi. Before his two companions died, they released their final two "Wither Rays."

The call of the Underworld emerged within his soul. This Undead Holy Magus, who had suffered endless torment in Gobada, had only one calm thought left in his mind: Finally, release—at least he didn't destroy my soul.