Kill!

On the western side of the Magical Beast Forest, in a small mountain range branching off from the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Sesler eyed the three Special Deacons of the Inquisition surrounding him coldly.

He gave a sinister smile. "Special Deacons of the Inquisition—you do have some skill at tracking. You actually managed to keep me in the dark for so long."

"Sesler, we mean you no harm. If you're willing to pledge your allegiance to the Radiant Church, His Holiness will give you a position as a Special Deacon of the Inquisition."

One of the three spoke while warily surveying Sesler's surroundings. Behind the three Special Deacons stood an eighth-level magical beast.

This eighth-level magical beast belonged to an Ascetic. It had been left here to facilitate communication, since one of the three Special Deacons had learned the common language of magical beasts and could communicate with high-level ones.

"A Special Deacon of the Inquisition? Give me the pope's seat, and then we can talk!"

Sesler laughed heartily. "Come forth, Golden Skeleton Warriors!"

He suddenly barked the command, and three skeletons appeared out of thin air before him! Each stood over two meters tall, wielded a golden saber, and had bones of pure gold!

These were three ninth-level Golden Skeleton Warriors. Whatever their actual combat strength, their appearance alone was intimidating, their presence more oppressive than that of ordinary Ninth-Level Warriors.

"Kill them!" Sesler ordered in a low voice, then began secretly reciting an incantation. He intended to summon a more powerful creature.

"Stop him! Don't let him summon the Corpse Dragon!" All three Special Deacons' expressions changed, and they charged toward Sesler almost simultaneously.

Having dealt with Sesler many times, they naturally knew that he possessed a Corpse Dragon at the Ninth-Level Peak, whose combat strength far surpassed theirs.

But they were only ninth-level, and so were the three Golden Skeleton Warriors. All six moved swiftly, clashing in an instant.

"Sesler!"

Just then, five figures raced toward them from the distance. It was Balan and his four companions.

"Five more? No wonder you dared to keep me occupied." Sesler's gaze grew even colder, but his incantation suddenly stopped.

"Roar!"

As Sesler stopped chanting, an enormous dragon's head thrust out of the space before him!

Its body followed, then its tail, until a massive Corpse Dragon appeared before everyone's eyes. The sight made the hearts of Balan and his companions, still rushing over, lurch violently.

"A Corpse Dragon at the Ninth-Level Peak?!" Balan drew the enormous sword from his back and growled, "I'll keep the Corpse Dragon busy. Finish off the Golden Skeleton Warriors quickly, then we'll deal with this dragon together!"

As Fallen Leaf's disciple and a Ninth-Level Peak expert, Balan had some confidence in himself.

Even if he was no match for the Corpse Dragon, he could keep it occupied for a while.

"Attack!"

The five Ascetics, Balan included, joined the battle in an instant!

The other four Ascetics went after the Golden Skeleton Warriors, while Balan charged at the Corpse Dragon with his enormous sword. As he reached its side, he leaped high into the air. The power of light blazed brilliantly from his sword as he slashed down!

"Roar!" The Corpse Dragon was as large as an ordinary giant dragon. Faced with the power of light unleashed by the tiny figure before it, it roared and swung a foreclaw.

The foreclaw had rotted away until almost nothing but bone remained. Though seemingly cumbersome, it moved with astonishing speed, slamming into Balan's descending sword.

With a splutter, Balan, a Ninth-Level Peak warrior, was sent flying backward. The web of his hand tore open instantly, and he nearly lost his grip on his enormous sword.

Such strength! I can't clash with it head-on! The blood churned inside Balan's body.

He changed tactics, taking advantage of his smaller, more agile body to dart and weave around the Corpse Dragon. The Laws of Light also gave Balan great speed, leaving the dragon unable to do anything to him for the moment.

"This lumbering fool's weakness is small, fast opponents."

Sester shook his head in exasperation. He, too, knew the Corpse Dragon's weakness.

But even after summoning the Corpse Dragon, Sester continued chanting incantations.

Soon, three ninth-level Black Knights appeared, clad in armor and mounted on Undead Warhorses. They immediately charged at the Ascetics.

The appearance of the three ninth-level Black Knights made Balan's eyelids twitch. Just how many ninth-level undead has this old fellow subdued?

Together with the four Golden Skeleton Warriors, the three ninth-level Black Knights brought the total to seven ninth-level undead, matching the number of Ascetics and Special Deacons. The two sides immediately fell into a stalemate.

Undead creatures generally had greater combat strength, however. Even these Golden Skeleton Warriors and ordinary Black Knights could overpower the Ascetics and Special Deacons in single combat.

"Terry, have your magical beast call for reinforcements!" a Special Deacon roared.

Sesler's strength had still exceeded their expectations.

And the old fellow's lips were moving slightly. He was clearly still summoning more undead creatures.

"Damn it! No wonder we failed to catch this old bastard so many times!"

"He seems to be getting stronger and stronger. He's acquired quite a few more high-level undead!"

The Ascetics and Special Deacons felt bitter dismay.

"The Church has responded! They've already sent a Saint Realm Angel!"

After communicating with the magical beast he had left at the Radiant Church, Terry quickly grew excited.

"Good!"

Balan also gave an excited roar. The power of light shone dazzlingly from his enormous sword, and he actually slashed a wound across the Corpse Dragon's palm. The light lingering from his sword continued to burn it, preventing the wound from healing for the moment.

Once the Saint Realm Angel arrived, Sesler would have no chance of escape!

"A Saint Realm Angel?" Sesler chanted faster and faster.

He, too, was growing anxious.

"Boss! Boss, are you here yet? They're really going at it!"

"I can't hold back anymore! I'm going in!"

Fu Gui's urgent voice rang out in Moke's mind, one message after another.

Even the ninth-level grand necromancer had failed to notice the snow-white White Tiger cub lying in the dense woods, secretly watching the battle.

"I'm here!"

Moke charged into the woods, arriving in an instant like a streak of golden light. He held the Thunder-Rushing Staff, his face at once holy and terrifyingly savage.

"What is that? Another undead creature summoned by Sesler?"

The Ninth-Level Ascetic of the Radiant Church closest to Moke was startled.

He could hardly be blamed for thinking that. Moke's current form really did bear some resemblance to the strange creatures around them—the Golden Skeleton Warriors, the Corpse Dragon, and the Black Knights.

They were all bizarre!

"Hmph!"

Moke's pale-gold slit pupils were icy. The Thunder-Rushing Staff seemed to drift lightly through the air, but in truth, it hurtled toward the Ninth-Level Ascetic at astonishing speed.

"Get away!" The Ascetic drove back the Black Knight, then turned his hand and slashed his sword toward Moke.

But as the staff drew closer, he discovered in horror that the space around him seemed to have solidified. He could not move at all!

Splat!

The Thunder-Rushing Staff descended with tremendous force, smashing the Ninth-Level Ascetic into a pulp.

"Is he Sesler's ally? Why does he seem even stronger than the Corpse Dragon?!" The other Ninth-Level Ascetics and Special Deacons were horrified.

"My ally?"

Sesler himself was bewildered. "I didn't summon an Undead Dragonman!"