One Sword

A Ninth-Level Ascetic had been smashed into pulp in a single exchange!

The shock was even greater than when the Corpse Dragon had appeared.

"Was that the Saint Realm?"

"No, not the Saint Realm. A Ninth-Level expert with an incredibly deep grasp of combat!"

Balan, watching from a distance, felt a jolt of alarm.

He was talented enough to have been accepted as Fallen Leaf's disciple, but he had only just grasped the third level of the Light Element and was still far from proficient with it.

Yet Balan was certain the monster had just used "force"!

"A human covered in scales?" Balan's thoughts raced.

Moke had no intention of wasting time.

After killing the Ninth-Level Ascetic, he appeared before a Ninth-Level Deacon in an instant. One strike of his Thunder-Rushing Staff crushed the deacon's head.

"That was definitely force. And from the looks of it, his command of it is already masterful. He might even have grasped a higher level. Otherwise, he couldn't possibly use force so effortlessly!"

A chill ran down Balan's spine.

He could barely handle one Corpse Dragon. Now a Dragonman no weaker than it had appeared. Balan knew he could not hold out for long.

"Terry?"

Moke's gaze swept toward the thief, who was fighting a Ninth-Level Golden Skeleton.

Is he coming to kill me? Terry had been watching Moke all along.

When those pale-gold eyes turned toward him, his heart lurched. No. I've contracted a Saint Realm Magical Beast Cub. One day, I'll reach the Saint Realm too. I can't die here!

Terry roared inwardly. Then he abandoned his opponent, turned, and fled!

There are so many Ninth-Level experts here. If I run, he shouldn't come after me, right?

Terry clung to that hope.

"Terry!"

Several Ninth-Level Warriors roared in unison when they saw him flee.

Even the Radiant Church's Special Deacon, a man with no scruples, had not run. Yet an Ascetic had fled. It was a disgrace to them all.

Whoosh!

Terry had guessed wrong. Moke had come for him.

As a Ninth-Level Peak Holy Dragon Warrior, Moke was far faster than Terry. Within a few breaths, he cut off Terry's escape, leaving him wild-eyed with fury.

"With so many Ninth-Level Warriors here, you're chasing me?" Terry roared. Light flared along his broad greatsword as he slashed through the air.

Clang!

To Terry's delight, his opponent neither dodged nor blocked the blow. Then delight gave way to abject terror.

His sword had left only a faint white mark on those scales!

"What kind of monster is he?!" The Ninth-Level Warriors who witnessed it were shaken to the core.

Just as I thought. An ordinary Ninth-Level Warrior can't damage my scales at all. Even Balan could probably only crack them, at best.

Satisfied with the test, Moke swung his Thunder-Rushing Staff. It became a blur as it fell toward Terry's head.

Dodge! Dodge! Terry screamed inwardly.

But the space around him seemed to compress. Not only could he not move, he could not even make a sound. He could only watch the heavy staff descend.

I'm Terry! I contracted a Saint Realm Magical Beast Cub! I'll reach the Saint Realm one day. I'll become one of the Radiant Church's greatest experts!

Am I really going to die here...?

With a muffled thud, the Thunder-Rushing Staff fell. Terry's eyes were filled with despair and unwillingness as it smashed his head apart.

At the same time, inside the Radiant Church in the Holy Capital, a Seventh-Level Blood-Eyed Mane Lion widened its eyes. The Master-Servant Contract is gone?

Joy surged through the young Blood-Eyed Mane Lion. That bastard Terry is dead?

The Blood-Eyed Mane Lion, which had just delivered intelligence, glanced around.

It was Terry's Magical Beast and could come and go freely within the Radiant Church.

But because it had not yet fully grown, Terry rarely took it along.

Excited yet nervous, the Blood-Eyed Mane Lion slipped out of the Radiant Church, stole through the residential district, and raced toward the Magical Beast Forest.

"Terry's dead too..." The surviving Ascetics and Special Deacon trembled.

They understood now. The scaled monster did not intend to spare a single one of them. He had even pursued Terry after he fled and killed him.

"That Golden Scaled Monster!" Sesler's eyes widened in the distance.

He knew the Golden Scaled Monster was far stronger than his Corpse Dragon!

Ninth-Level Warriors were toys in his hands!

"Sesler!"

After killing Terry, Moke turned toward Sesler and grinned.

In his current form, though, his grin was terrifying.

Sester's heart skipped a beat. "Who are you? Why are you helping me?"

"Helping you? You can think of it that way. But I enjoy killing people from the Radiant Church." As Moke spoke, he darted toward another Ninth-Level Ascetic.

He was blindingly fast, and the Ninth-Level Ascetic was entangled with a Golden Skeleton. Escape was all but impossible!

The Thunder-Rushing Staff fell like death's scythe, pulping the Ninth-Level Ascetic with a single blow.

Bloody. Brutal. Overwhelming!

Moke had terrified the surviving Ninth-Level Ascetics and Special Deacon. Each feared becoming his next target.

They might survive a while against the Corpse Dragon. Against him, they would not last a moment. Their bodies would be ground to pulp.

The surviving Ascetics and Special Deacon moved closer to Balan.

Damn it! Balan cursed inwardly.

The Corpse Dragon had already pushed him to his limit. If that scaled monster charged over, Balan could not stop him!

Whoosh!

As the Ninth-Level Warriors looked on in dread, a glowing figure descended from the sky. It was a bald man with two wings on his back.

"An angel! A Saint Realm Angel is here!"

The Ascetics and Special Deacon cried out in delight.

Balan relaxed as well. A Two-Winged Angel might only be at the Saint Realm Initial Stage, but that's more than enough to deal with a Ninth-Level Warrior.

The gulf between the Ninth Level and the Saint Realm was immense.

"A Saint Realm Angel?"

Sesler's heart sank. He had not expected one to arrive so quickly!

A Two-Winged Angel at the Saint Realm Initial Stage... Moke's eyes lit up.

Without drawing attention, he exchanged his Thunder-Rushing Staff for the Iron Leaf Sword.

"Balan, what is that scaled monster?" the Two-Winged Angel asked coldly.

"He's the enemy! He killed the Ascetics and Special Deacon who died!"

Balan shouted his answer at once.

"An enemy?"

The Two-Winged Angel's wings beat, and he streaked toward Moke.

The Saint Realm Angel was fast indeed. In the blink of an eye, he crossed the sky and reached Moke. His gaze was cold as he thrust his sword forward, intent on running Moke through.

Woooo...

But Moke swung his sword too. An eerie sound arose around them. The Saint Realm Angel and the Ninth-Level Ascetics and Special Deacon nearby were horrified to find it burrowing straight into their minds!

They immediately tried to block it with Battle Qi and Spiritual Power, but to little effect. The strange sound slipped through every defense and drilled into their heads!

The Saint Realm Angel had charged in with a cold expression, but waves of force now battered his soul. His eyes went blank, and he froze in place.

Moke's sword cleaved him in two with effortless ease.

Crack! Crack!

The eerie sound also struck the souls of the Radiant Church's other Ninth-Level experts. They stood motionless as their opponents smashed their heads apart.

Even Balan, who stood at the Ninth-Level Peak, was no exception. He died in a daze.

"This..."

Sesler had been tense when the Saint Realm Angel appeared. Now he could only stare, at a loss for words.

"Incredible!"

At last, he opened his mouth and gave Moke a thumbs-up.