The others did not know what the city lord meant. They only knew that he seemed to place great importance on Ling'er, but Andrew was an exception.
Sacrificing people with pure souls... could the one he worships really be a Sovereign?
Familiar with the original story, Andrew knew more about pure souls than most people. In the original story, Linley's mother had been captured by the Radiant Church because her soul was pure, then ultimately sacrificed to the Radiant Sovereign. In the end, the Radiant Sovereign had transformed her into a twelve-winged angel comparable to a Seven-Star Fiend.
Afterward, the Radiant Church had continued gathering people with pure souls to sacrifice to the Radiant Sovereign. This happened not only on the Yulan Continent, but also among the Radiant Church's branches on other planes.
Like the Radiant Church, the Church of Darkness was doing the same thing. The Radiant Sovereign had twelve-winged angels, while the Darkness Sovereign had twelve-winged fallen angels. Like angels, these fallen angels were created in an Angel Rebirth Pool after their souls were sacrificed.
Andrew knew all of this. Precisely because he knew, he suspected that the one receiving the city lord's sacrifices might very well be a Darkness Sovereign!
Aside from Sovereigns, other gods could also receive sacrifices, just as they could collect the power of faith. However, they had to descend in their true bodies to do so, whereas Sovereigns could easily receive their followers' sacrifices and obtain endless power of faith even across countless planes.
That was the difference between gods and Sovereigns.
There could not possibly be a god in Lefen City. Otherwise, he would have acted in person long ago. Since it was not a god, it had to be a Sovereign...
At the thought of a Sovereign, even someone as ambitious as Andrew could not help trembling! What sort of existence was a Sovereign? Across countless cycles and countless planes, there had only ever been seventy-seven Sovereigns at most. Leaving aside those Sovereigns born alongside the Higher Planes, any one of them, even the weakest, could destroy a plane with a wave of their hand!
What terrifying power that was!
The city lord was still gazing up at the sky, praying silently. After a long while, he lowered his hands, seemingly having completed a ritual.
"Young man, come. Give that little girl to me!"
The city lord looked at Andrew with hollow eyes and spoke softly.
Under his gaze, every muscle in Andrew's body tightened and went rigid. Suddenly, he picked Ling'er up and involuntarily stepped toward the city lord.
"Andrew!" Howard noticed something was wrong and hurriedly shouted. At his voice, Andrew seemed to react, his movements pausing briefly.
"What a hateful blasphemer!" the city lord muttered. He pointed a finger, and Howard collapsed to the ground.
Andrew saw Janice holding Howard and shouting loudly. Rage burned within him, but there was nothing he could do. He could not control his own body at all.
What do I do? What do I do? Frantic with anxiety, Andrew tried to control his body, but every attempt failed.
Bandeni also snapped out of it. He blocked Andrew's path and began chanting an incantation. Soon, a large quantity of earth elements gathered before him. With a furious roar, an enormous, earthen-yellow wolf more than three meters tall appeared. The moment it took shape, it threw back its head and howled, then turned and snarled at the city lord.
This was eighth-rank Earth Element magic, the Earth Howling Wolf form of Earth Golem!
"You dare offend the divine? You deserve death!"
The city lord shouted without any change in his expression. After a rapid incantation, Andrew saw a long black arrow shoot from his mouth. The black arrow split in two in midair, and in an instant, one struck Bandeni while the other sank into Polite. As the black arrows entered their bodies, both men became rigid like Andrew, their bodies no longer responding to their thoughts. The golem wolf Bandeni had summoned quickly dissipated as well, leaving only a pile of yellow earth.
Darkness Magic!
Although Andrew could not control his body, his soul had not been completely frozen. The instant the black arrows appeared, he recognized that the city lord was using Darkness Magic! Moreover, those two black arrows clearly attacked the soul. Caught completely unprepared, Bandeni and Polite had both been struck!
This is bad. Andrew knew things had gone wrong. At this point, their entire group could be considered wiped out, with only Janice still able to move. However, Janice was too weak to be of any use. As for Golden Tiger, Andrew glanced over out of the corner of his eye and was furious. That fellow was lying on the ground fast asleep, having fallen victim long ago.
The city lord's sinister voice rang out again. "Stop struggling. It is your honor to sacrifice yourselves for the divine! Come here, come here!"
Andrew's right leg took a difficult step, followed by his left. Under the city lord's gaze, he slowly approached...
"Very good!" The lord of Lefen City took the already half-conscious Ling'er from Andrew's arms, a strange smile twisting his face. Immediately afterward, he shot a black arrow at Andrew. Once it entered his body, Andrew felt as though his soul had been frozen. Even his thoughts slowed, and he gradually lost awareness of the outside world.
No, absolutely not! I have to wake up right now!
Andrew roared inwardly. In this desperate moment, he was calmer than ever before. This was his defining trait: the more dangerous the situation, the calmer he became!
With his mind utterly blank, Andrew tried to regain control of his body. He focused all his mental strength on his sea of consciousness, trying to drive out the icy sensation. In an instant-or perhaps after ages had passed-he seemed to hear glass shattering. Immediately afterward, the cold sensation quickly disappeared as well.
Andrew was thrilled. He knew he had succeeded. Slowly opening his eyes, he regained control of his body.
Although he did not know what had happened, Andrew pushed everything else aside. Upon waking, he discovered that he, Bandeni, Polite, Howard, and Janice had been tied to a pillar. It was so thick that it would take eight people linking arms to encircle it, and it towered exceptionally high. Opposite it stood another identical pillar.
Stealthily surveying his surroundings, Andrew saw that this was clearly not the garden they had just been in. Evidently, quite a few things had happened before he regained consciousness.
Where's Ling'er?
Andrew was scared out of his wits, terrified that Ling'er had already met with disaster. Just then, chanting came from ahead and to his left. He looked toward the sound, and the weight lifted from his heart.
Fifty meters from the pillar, several fires flickered around a black stone altar. The altar was oval, with a large cross in the center and a smaller cross on either side. At that moment, someone was tied to each of the three crosses.
Ling'er, Milly, and Milly's mother! By the firelight, Andrew saw them clearly. Ling'er was tied to the cross in the middle, while Milly and her mother were tied on either side.
The lord of Lefen City was still chanting. Only after a while did he stop and have his black-robed subordinates on either side lower the crosses flat. He then dismissed the two subordinates, leaving himself alone near the stone altar.
"The glory of the divine shall spread across the land. Go, sacrifice yourselves for the descent of the divine. This is the honor of you mortals!" the lord of Lefen City said devoutly. With that, he drew a short sword resembling black crystal from his black robes. Its tip pointed directly at Ling'er's heart! The short sword slowly descended, about to draw blood in the next second!
Bam!
At the critical moment, Andrew appeared beside the lord of Lefen City. Unable to suppress his killing intent, he unleashed his full strength and sent the city lord flying with a punch, tracing an arc through the air. At the same time, he snatched away the black short sword.
The lord of Lefen City landed. Before he could understand what had happened, Andrew flashed behind him again. This time, his fist, coated in Fusion Battle-qi, punched straight through the man's heart.
The lord of Lefen City lowered his head and looked at the fist protruding from his chest, his eyes filled with shock and a hint of madness!
"Who is it?"
Still unsatisfied, Andrew chopped off the lord of Lefen City's head with the edge of his hand.
"It's me!" He looked at that gaunt head. "Since you miss your god so much, I'll send you to meet him!"
Strangely, even with only his head remaining, the lord of Lefen City was not dead.
"You? Impossible! How could you break free of the divine restraints?"
Andrew was deeply impressed by his vitality. When he had cut off the lord of Lefen City's head just now, the man had not shed a single drop of blood. Seeing this, Andrew knew he absolutely could not treat him like an ordinary person.
"Go ask your god!"
To avoid further complications, Andrew did not dare waste any time. He crushed the talking head beneath his foot. Only then did the lord of Lefen City's body fall.
He should be dead now... right?
Andrew was still somewhat uncertain. In his view, the one the man worshipped was very likely a Darkness Element Sovereign, and the man himself had become a Darkness Element mage. Darkness Magic was inherently strange, particularly its research into souls, which went far beyond an ordinary person's imagination. Even after completely destroying the man's physical body, Andrew did not dare let down his guard.
After some thought, Andrew leaped onto the stone altar and freed Ling'er, Milly, and Milly's mother from the crosses. At last, he felt relieved. Just then, Bandeni, Polite, Howard, and Janice woke up one after another.
"It looks like he's completely dead. Otherwise, the magic wouldn't have been dispelled." Andrew briefly explained what had happened, then led everyone out of the city lord's estate. Before leaving, he suddenly thought of something and carefully inspected the stone altar again. At its top, Andrew discovered a black statue of unknown identity.
In addition, Andrew found something on the lord of Lefen City's corpse-something that filled him with anticipation...