The aftermath

When Tobias regained consciousness, he felt a sharp pain in his back, as if hundreds of needles were being pierced through it.

He opened his eyes instantly, his arms were numb and unresponsive, and he could barely feel something like needles on the ground with all his might.

He was puzzled. Why would he, a Third Order Professional, suffer such pain? Even a Third Order Mage shouldn't feel pain from being pricked by needles, right?

Despite the pain from the needles pricking his arm, he lifted himself up abruptly, only then realizing where he was.

"Grateful for the Lord's mercy and protection of those defeated but fortunate enough to survive, I will repay him with the next victory..."

He sat on the ground, feeling the sharp pain in his lower body, and prayed for a full ten minutes before slowly standing up.

He stood on a patch of black, scorched earth, the ground as if it had been ravaged by fire and weapons, with not a single patch of clean soil to be found.

There were no needles made of special materials on the ground. The God of War Sect wouldn't be so extravagant as to bury so many needles made of special materials on the ground.

He was standing on a flat piece of land, but the followers of the God of War Sect and their enemies had fought a fierce battle on this land, turning it black with blood and other things.

To commemorate that fierce battle, the God of War Sect launched another war and reclaimed the land.

Here, the Divine Grace of the God of War is everywhere, for He rewards those who do not fear death in battle, even if they all perish.

This is why when other followers of the God of War enter, they feel a sharp, pricking pain. This is Trial given by the God of War to all his followers, a chance for those who have made mistakes to have another chance.

Tobias's failure in the Spirit Realm, especially given that he had been given a Divine Oracle directly from the God of War, was a defeat that even Tobias himself found humiliating.

He endured the pain, feeling that only by suffering here could he offset some of his failure, even if it seemed meaningless to ordinary people. But this was the belief of the God of War.

Finally, he stayed there for a full day and night, until a believer stepped barefoot onto the ground, at which point he opened his eyes.

"Tobias, the Lord's Proxy needs you; you don't need to be here."

This was exactly what Tobias had expected; what he was waiting for was for the Lord's Proxy to send someone to call him back, because he knew that this Proxy was not a patient Lord.

His affairs in the Spirit Realm are equally important. When the God of War speaks with his Proxy outside the Divine Temple, it consumes far less divine Divine Power, so there is generally no need for the God of War to have his Proxy do things on his behalf.

His affairs in the Spirit Realm are also very important, and he will surely entrust them to that Proxy.

It's clear that this isn't a good place to talk, so the Proxy will definitely call him out.

This means nothing to others, but it means a great deal to a religious priest.

In Tobias's eyes, this was the Lord's Proxy allowing him to leave this land of punishment, which meant that he had received the forgiveness of the God of War.

Even if the God of War and his Proxy did not express this intention, Tobias and the other believers would keep this behavior in mind.

Even later, when he encountered some people from opposing factions within the Sect who wanted to refute him by citing Tobias's experience of defeat, he could use this incident to refute them.

"I have received forgiveness from the Proxy and the Lord, and I am needed to devote myself to the next undertaking. How can you see failure?"

If the other party is a follower of the God of War, then you probably can't refute their statement, since it's a fact.

"Tobias has arrived, Your Proxy..." The barefoot believer led Tobias to a hidden room inside the Divine Temple, opened the door, and let him in.

Tobias bowed slightly at the door before slowly walking inside. As he entered, he looked down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with the Proxy's face.

He believed this was a sign of respect for the Proxy and for the Deity, but to his surprise, what he saw first were two ankles covered in wounds, shrouded in Magic Glow, and slightly charred.

"Proxy, what is this?"

Tobias looked at the Magic Glow emanating from his wound and wondered if the Proxy and the Alliance mages had been fighting for three days and three nights. How come the Magic Glow was almost covering his entire foot?

"Sigh..." the Proxy sighed, then said directly:

"Lift your head up."

Tobias followed his gaze upwards and saw that the Proxy's arms and neck were wrapped in bandages, bearing the Divine Grace bestowed by the God of War.

The Proxy's face was largely undamaged; his beautiful features remained, and a hint of helplessness flickered in his purple eyes.

Amelia seemed to notice Tobias's gaze. She pointed to her short, dark purple hair, her thin arm wrapped in bandages, and slowly said:

"To prevent my face from being disfigured, I specifically requested Glorious Shield Helm from the Sect before the operation, and that's what you see now."

"To be honest, Legendary truly lives up to his reputation as a Legendary. I didn't underestimate him, but considering he's one of the few Tier 3 Proxy, I decided to leave him for last."

"I was almost caught by those the Alliance mages, but thanks to my lord's Divine Descent, I managed to return."

Tobias, seeing this, was about to recite the greatness of the God of War when Amelia, recognizing the opening gesture, stopped him.

"Alright, if you want to express your reverence for the Deity, you can do so anytime. Now you should focus your energy on practical matters."

Amelia paused, then continued:

"What exactly happened to you in the Spirit Realm? Didn't my Lord send you to stop the Sun Block from returning to the realm? Why did you come back dead?"

Even knowing that encountering a powerful and invincible opponent was not his fault, Tobias still lowered his head in shame.

"I had some misjudgment of that Sunflame Knight's power; he was far too strong, and even Deity judgment has its limitations..."

"Did my lord convey you false information?"

"No, it's my fault for not thinking carefully about the message the Lord gave me and not daring to verify it..."

Seeing Tobias's genuine emotion, Amelia curled her lip and could only slowly say:

"Go on, tell me what you encountered in the Spirit Realm, and how it differed from the information my Lord gave you?"

"Yes, I took two Mercenary hired with Gold Coin and headed straight for the Sun Domain, intending to crush our opponents there."

Amelia nodded. If she were to follow the information given by the Deity, she would do the same. After all, at most she would be facing the Proxy of the Lord of Radiance, who was only a third-tier being.

Tobias brought two Tier 3s with him, which can be considered as being fully prepared, and Amelia has no fault to speak of in this matter.

"When I got there, I didn't see the Lord of Radiance's Proxy, whom I had seen before."

"I only saw a somewhat unfamiliar Sunflame Knight; at first, I thought it was the Sunflame Knight who had been promoted before."

A second-tier Sunflame Knight? Isn't this just suicide? Could it be a trap set by the Lord of Radiance's Proxy? Amelia thought that the Sunflame Knight would burn himself to withstand the pressure, and then the Lord of Radiance's Proxy would ambush and kill Tobias.

"But as soon as I made contact with them, I was shocked by the Sunflame Knight's methods. He single-handedly defeated us..."

After Tobias recounted the events in detail, Amelia could hardly contain her emotions.

"Are you sure this is the truth? The Proxy of the Lord of Radiance didn't appear?"

"I'm certain that when I died, I didn't sense any divine magic from the Lord of Radiance; I only felt a faint fluctuation of Radiance emanating from that Sunflame Knight."

Amelia was silent for a moment, then finally asked:

"You mean, the Proxy of the Lord of Radiance didn't even show up to buff this Sunflame Knight, and then this Sunflame Knight just killed all three of you by himself?"

Tobias felt genuinely guilty this time, and lowered his head, not even daring to look at Amelia's battered ankles.

"Yes."

Amelia slammed her hand on the table, causing the wound on her hand to reopen. The pain made her hand tremble uncontrollably, and her face was filled with shock.

In fact, she had heard about the events in the Sun Domain long ago, because the Brilliant Domain had discovered the Lord of Radiance's actions a long time ago. At that time, the God of War was on high alert because the Lord of Radiance's Proxy was also present during the last Sun Trial.

However, this Proxy of the Lord of Radiance had never shared his experience of death, giving the God of War reason to suspect that he might be colluding with the Sun Messenger.

Therefore, the Proxy of the Lord of Radiance had a strong incentive to send the Sun Block back to the Sun Domain. At that time, Amelia thought she could loosen up her muscles and fight a newly promoted third-tier Proxy.

Since the Radiant Sect already has third-tier believers, the Lord of Radiance should also elevate the Proxy to third tier in order to maximize their combat power.

Although this will diminish the potential of the Proxy and make it more difficult for them to advance to the Fourth Order, it is the optimal solution for a newly established Sect.

Amelia even considered persuading the other party not to use Divine Descent, suggesting they fight a Real Blades and Live Guns where the opponent might have a higher chance of winning.

However, since Amelia already had a commitment in the Alliance, Tobias was left to handle the task, a result that left her somewhat bewildered.

What do you mean, that Proxy of the Lord of Radiance was defeated by an unknown Sunflame Knight without even seeing his face?!

"My Proxy, I'm actually wondering if that Sunflame Knight might be a remnant from the purge; he's just too powerful..."

"Perhaps, but I wasn't even born then... That's not important anymore. Are you sure the Lord of Radiance's Proxy isn't here?"

"I'm certain that I only saw that one Sunflame Knight on the Battlefield, and then I didn't see anyone else... That Sunflame Knight couldn't possibly be the Proxy of the Lord of Radiance."

Amelia scratched her head and said slowly:

"That's true, but your explanation makes things too complicated. We still don't know what role the Lord of Radiance is playing in this matter..."

"Never mind, I'll just report all the information later... By the way, are those two Mercenary you hired dead yet...?"

They're probably all dead.

"If they're still alive, give them the reward; if they're not even breathing anymore, then forget it."

"I see."