"Then bring the entire secret passage down."
As the white-gloved leader's voice fell, the gray-robed deacon pulled another iron lever beside the hidden door without the slightest hesitation.
Rumble-
A series of muffled booms came from deep within the passage.
Several key supports holding up the ceiling exploded at once. Huge rocks and earth poured down, instantly blocking nearly ten meters of the passage behind them.
"Go!"
The gray-robed deacon kicked off on the two-wheeled cart, and its narrow body sped forward along the rails.
Linley did not slow down.
The Wind Shadow Technique pushed his speed to its limit, leaving cyan afterimages flashing through the darkness.
Behind him, however, Sessler stopped.
"You chase them first."
Sessler raised his withered right hand and pressed it against the shaking stone wall. Gray death energy surged down his arm into both sides of the passage, and a layer of gray frost rapidly appeared on the collapsing rocks.
The collapse slowed for an instant.
Linley had already passed the most dangerous stretch.
Ahead, the two-wheeled cart was about to rush out of the passage.
The sound of water grew louder, and the moonlight spilling through the exit grew brighter.
Linley's gaze sharpened, and he held nothing back.
He did not draw his sword, but gathered all his ninth-level Dragonblood Battle Qi into his right fist.
"Hundredfold Waves!"
He punched through the air.
An invisible ripple tore through the air and struck straight at the rails beneath the cart.
Screech!
The rails twisted with a piercing screech and buckled sharply inward.
The two-wheeled cart jolted violently, derailed on the spot, and tumbled into the stone wall.
The gray-robed deacon screamed as he was flung away, the wound on his back tearing open again.
The white-gloved leader, however, leaped up before the cart overturned.
He tapped the stone wall with his toes, gliding forward as though his body weighed nothing.
Linley's gaze turned cold.
He ignored the gray-robed deacon and charged straight after the white-gloved leader.
But the man was too fast.
The white-gloved leader rushed out of the passage and, without pausing, leaped straight into the icy tributary feeding the moat.
Splash!
Water sprayed into the air.
His presence vanished completely the instant he entered the water.
Linley rushed to the passage exit and stopped.
The river's surface had already calmed.
Under the moonlight, only rings of ripples spread into the distance.
"What quick reactions."
Linley did not enter the water to pursue him.
In unfamiliar waters, catching a ninth-level expert who had prepared an escape route in advance was almost impossible.
He turned and walked toward the gray-robed deacon lying on the ground.
The gray-robed deacon struggled to rise, but Linley planted a foot on the middle of his back.
Crack!
Bones broke.
The gray-robed deacon gave a muffled grunt and lost all ability to resist.
Sessler approached from behind.
He glanced at the river, then at the gray-robed man beneath Linley's foot.
"One got away."
"We caught one," Linley said.
"Then it wasn't a failure."
Sessler walked up to the gray-robed man and pressed his withered fingers directly against the top of his head.
"Let me see what else you're hiding in that head."
Jade-green light flared.
The gray-robed man's body convulsed violently, incoherent howls spilling from his mouth.
This time, Sessler did not hold back.
He intended to dig out every secret buried deep within the man's soul.
A moment later, Sessler withdrew his fingers.
The gray-robed man no longer moved, and the presence of his soul had completely dissipated.
"Found it." A trace of coldness flashed through Sessler's eyes.
Linley sealed the passage entrance again.
"Who is the white-gloved leader?"
"He has no name, only a code name," Sessler said. "Purifier."
"Purifier?"
"A secret operative within the Radiant Church's Inquisition, responsible for dealing with 'filth,'" Sessler explained. "On every mission, they erase all traces, including their own people."
"Huoyi, the medicinal herb merchant, the imperial messenger-they were all pawns he could discard at any time."
Linley thought of Lady Weide and Holmer.
This way of doing things was exactly like the Radiant Church of the past.
"Why is he capturing magicians?"
"For the 'Holy Grace Ritual.'" Sessler's tone grew even more sinister. "It's an ancient sacrificial ritual. They need large numbers of magicians with pure souls as offerings to reconstruct a divine body for a descending angel."
Linley's heart sank.
"Reconstruct a divine body?"
"An ordinary Saint Realm body cannot withstand an overly powerful angel's soul," Sessler said. "But by sacrificing the souls of hundreds of high-ranking magicians, they may be able to create a false divine body."
"Although that body wouldn't truly be at Deity Level, it would allow the descending angel to unleash power far beyond the peak Saint Realm."
"When Landan fought you, she was merely forcing her sixth-level body beyond its limits."
"If she'd had a false divine body, you wouldn't have stood a chance in that battle."
Linley clenched his fists.
s
"Where is the ritual being held?"
"The Silent Monastery in the Ankh Mountains."
Linley looked southeast.
The Ankh Mountains lay on the border between the O'Brien Empire and the Luo'ao Empire, their terrain steep and treacherous, with few visitors.
"Shall we go now?" Sessler asked.
"No." Linley shook his head. "Back to the embassy first."
Carrying the gray-robed man's corpse, the two returned to Chiyan City along their original route.
By the time they returned to the Yulan Empire's embassy, dawn was approaching.
Longers stood in the rear courtyard, his expression calm.
Hadon the Earth Bear lay in a corner by the wall. Seeing Linley and Sessler return, he merely lifted his eyelids.
Delia was sorting account sheets in the study.
The captured ninth-level warrior had already been taken to the dungeon, and Bebe guarded the entrance, allowing no one near.
Linley recounted Sessler's findings.
Delia's expression grew increasingly grave.
"The Holy Grace Ritual," she repeated softly. "I once saw that name in one of the Yulan Empire's oldest forbidden texts."
"The book said that every performance of this ritual requires the sacrifice of thousands of lives."
"Moreover, the ritual contaminates the land for hundreds of li around it, turning it into a dead wasteland where nothing grows."
Linley's gaze turned cold.
"They plan to hold it in the Ankh Mountains?"
"Very likely," Delia said. "It's near the border between the two empires. Even if it's discovered afterward, they can shift the blame onto the Luo'ao Empire."
She looked at Linley.
"Teacher Longers has already interrogated that ninth-level warrior."
"Like the gray-robed deacon, he only knew about the 'Purifier' and the 'Holy Grace Ritual,' but not the exact time or place."
"All our clues now point to the Silent Monastery."
"Then when do we leave?" Linley asked.
"At dawn."
Delia stood.
"I'll apply to His Majesty Joanne for permission to enter the Ankh Mountains under the pretext of investigating the people who went missing in the old waterways."
"Teacher Longers, Hadon, and Parei will all accompany us."
"Linley," she said, looking at him, "would you and your companions be willing to join us in a private capacity?"
Linley nodded.
"Of course."
Doehring came in from outside the courtyard.
"I'm going too."
Delia did not refuse.
"All right."
She spread a map of the Ankh Mountains across the table.
"The Purifier already knows we're after him."
"He may hold the ritual ahead of schedule, or he may set a trap at the monastery."
"We don't know how many people are inside, or how strong they are."
"But we must go."
Everyone looked at the circled name on the map.
The Silent Monastery.
Linley's gaze settled on the contours of the mountain range.
"Haeru and Bebe will scout the perimeter."
"Sessler, stay at the foot of the mountain with Lina and Rebecca. If any large-scale undead fluctuations appear in the monastery, take them and retreat immediately."
Sessler nodded.
"Barker will stay at the foot of the mountain too," Linley continued. "You've only just broken through to the Saint Realm. Leave the direct fighting to us."
"No." Barker walked in through the doorway. "I can fight."
"This isn't an order," Linley said. "It's a division of duties."
"There may well be Saint Realm experts in the monastery. If the Purifier escapes through an underground passage, we'll need someone who can stop him underground."
Barker fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
s
"All right."
Linley looked at Delia and Doehring.
"The three of us, along with Teacher Longers, will enter the monastery directly."
Delia had no objection.
Doehring also said, "That works."
"Yale will handle news in the imperial capital," Linley said finally. "Tell Joanne when we leave Chiyan City."
"Tell her we've gone to the Ankh Mountains."
"And tell her that the Yulan Empire and the Baruch Clan will handle this matter."
After dawn, an embassy party escorted by dozens of knights left Chiyan City.
Delia sat in the carriage.
Linley, Doehring, and Sessler rode alongside on horseback.
No one knew that the party's true destination was not the border outpost, but the isolated monastery deep within the Ankh Mountains.
Two days later, the party reached the outskirts of the Ankh Mountains.
Haeru and Bebe had already entered the mountain forests ahead of them.
Linley and the others abandoned the carriage and continued deeper into the mountains on foot.
The mountain paths were rugged, and the woods were dense.
After they had walked for most of the day, Haeru's Soul Transmission finally came from ahead.
"Boss, found it."
"There's a monastery on the mountaintop."
"It's very quiet around it. There aren't any living creatures."
"There's only a very faint aura of light coming from beneath the monastery."