The man was the leader of the Saints Organization, the renowned Holy Lord, who had the terrifying feat of slaying a ninth-step Weird Object king to his name.
He slowly raised the Sacred Artifact in his hand. It was a silver cross that looked nothing out of the ordinary, but when its Sacred Runes lit up, an astonishing sight appeared: nine beams of white light shot out and manifested as nine different weapons.
A holy knight's sword, the Temple Hammer, a holy axe, a spear of holy judgment...
The nine weapons surrounded the Holy Lord in a semicircle, radiating an unimaginable might that made them almost impossible to look at directly.
This Nine-Step King of the Saints Organization spoke.
"A god's Cast-off Husk should never have existed in this world. Sin and punishment shall both descend upon you!"
As he finished speaking, all nine holy weapons erupted with incomparably brilliant light and smashed into the blood-colored barrier one after another. Amid the terrifying crashes, cracks finally appeared in the barrier. When the final holy axe fell, it shattered completely.
At that moment, another of the five figures moved.
It was a boy who looked eleven or twelve, with a mass of talismans floating around him. He carried a large jar in one hand, filled with something red that looked rather like cinnabar. A small pouch full of blank yellow paper hung at his waist.
As soon as he appeared, Zhang Jiu, the First Disciple of the Talisman Gate, cried out excitedly.
"Greetings, Second Master!"
Clearly, this was an expert from the Talisman Gate, and someone of extremely high standing within it, probably second only to its leader.
"Heh, you dared hurt a member of my Talisman Gate? You're courting death!"
The boy had none of the lofty causes espoused by