"Underground."
Linley relayed Haeru's mental message to everyone.
Delia nodded. "Just as we suspected."
The group did not stop, continuing toward the summit.
The depths of the Ankh Mountains were terrifyingly silent. No birds sang, no insects chirped, and even the sound of wind passing through the woods seemed shut out by an invisible barrier. The closer they came to the summit, the more pronounced that oppressive feeling became.
"It's light element magic," Longers said quietly. "High-tier light magic domains repel the elements of other types and make ordinary living creatures instinctively afraid."
Linley gripped the Purple Blood Soft Sword at his waist.
He sensed no deity-level pressure in this aura, but that pure, immense energy already far surpassed that of an ordinary Saint Realm expert.
Half an hour later, they finally reached the monastery.
It was an ancient building constructed entirely of gray stone, standing alone atop the mountain. Its walls had long since crumbled, and moss covered their corners. A gust of mountain wind blew past, making the half-open wooden gate creak.
Apart from the wind, nothing stirred.
"Bebe, go take a look," Linley said.
A black shadow flashed, and Bebe vanished into the shadows of the wall.
A moment later, his voice rang out in Linley's mind. "Boss, there's no one inside. The courtyard is full of weeds, and the church is empty too. There's just a scent that's a little like that guy with the white gloves."
"The Purifier," Linley said. "He knows we're here."
Delia looked at Linley, Doehring, and Longers.
"Proceed as planned."
The four stopped concealing themselves and walked straight into the monastery.
Weeds overran the courtyard, and cracks covered the flagstone path. Directly ahead, the church doors stood open. Inside the dim interior, rows of dust-covered wooden pews stood silently, as though no one had visited for centuries.
Yet the faint trace of light aura lingering in the air pointed the way.
"Down below."
Doehring walked over to the pulpit at the front of the church.
He reached out and pressed his hand against the floor.
An earthy yellow light flashed and faded.
"It's hollow beneath the pulpit," Doehring said. "There's a long spiral staircase leading nearly a hundred meters underground."
"Are there traps?" Delia asked.
"None on the stairs." Doehring shook his head. "But there's a very large stone hall at the bottom, and the fluctuations of light essence there are extremely strong."
Linley raised a hand and pressed down on the stone candlestick beside the pulpit.
He exerted a little force.
Rumble-
The stone slab beneath the pulpit slowly slid aside, revealing a pitch-black opening.
A light aura ten times denser than outside surged out of the opening, mingled with the smells of blood and potions.
t
"I'll go first," Linley said.
He descended the stairs first, with Delia close behind.
Magic crystals emitting a soft white glow were embedded in the stone walls on either side. The spiral staircase wound downward, seemingly without end.
After they had walked nearly a hundred meters, an enormous underground stone hall appeared before them.
The hall was over a hundred meters in both length and width, with an extremely high vaulted ceiling. A vast, intricate magic formation was carved into the floor, with a fist-sized light element Magic Crystal Core placed at every node.
At the center of the magic formation, hundreds of mages were bound to stone pillars.
Their eyes were tightly closed, their faces pale, and their mage robes long since torn. Magic-sealing shackles encircled everyone's wrists and ankles, and their soul auras were as feeble as candles guttering in the wind.
On the other side of the hall, a dozen or so gray-robed figures were pouring bottle after bottle of potion into the grooves of the magic formation.
The potions were pale gold and gave off a pungent odor.
"The Holy Grace Ritual has already begun." Longers's expression darkened.
"Stop them!"
Before Delia had finished speaking, Linley had charged out.
Wind Shadow Technique!
An azure afterimage flashed through the stone hall.
The gray-robed figures clearly had not expected Linley to be so fast. One of them had barely begun to turn when Linley's fist slammed into his back.
Thud!
Before the gray-robed man could even scream, he flew forward and crashed into the distant stone wall.
"We're under attack!"
The remaining gray-robed figures immediately drew their longswords.
But even the strongest among them was only a seventh-level warrior.
Linley did not draw his sword, attacking only with his dragonformed fists and dragon tail. With every sweep of his fists, another gray-robed figure fell. A sweep of his dragon tail sent three or four flying at once.
Deliliya and Longers charged in as well.
Wind blades and stone spikes appeared in succession.
In the blink of an eye, all the gray-robed figures lay on the ground.
The Purifier was not among them.
"Save them first!" Delia said.
She and Longers rushed toward the magic formation, preparing to free the bound mages first.
Just then, a cold chuckle suddenly came from the depths of the hall.
"You're too late."
A figure in white robes and white gloves slowly emerged from the darkness.
It was the Purifier.
He held a translucent white crystal in his hand. Within it, a wisp of golden flame burned slowly.
The moment Delia saw the crystal, her expression changed sharply.
"A Divine Spark?"
"To be precise, a Divine Spark Projection," the Purifier said with a smile. "Specifically intended to welcome the descent of angels."
He raised his other hand.
"Activate the ritual."
Hum-
The enormous magic formation on the floor suddenly lit up.
The pale gold potion poured into the grooves rapidly ignited, turning into golden flames that spread along the lines of the formation.
The hundreds of mages bound to the stone pillars let out a pained groan in unison.
Their souls seemed to be forcibly drawn from their bodies by an invisible force, turning into translucent threads that converged at the center of the magic formation.
"Stop!"
Delia waved her staff.
Dozens of wind blades shot toward the Purifier at once.
The Purifier did not dodge.
Four figures suddenly appeared before him.
Four guards clad in silvery-white armor and wielding cross-shaped heavy swords blocked the way, swinging their swords at the wind blades.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The wind blades collided with the heavy swords, producing a rapid series of metallic clashes.
The four guards retreated several steps, but none had suffered any injury.
"Saint Realm?" Longers's expression changed.
All four had auras that had reached the initial stage of the Saint Realm.
Linley's gaze darkened as well.
He could sense that their auras closely resembled those of the Two-Winged Angels in the Six-Pointed Angel Battle Formation back then.
They were not true Saint Realm experts.
They had been forcibly elevated through drugs and secret techniques.
s
"Just four pseudo-Saint Realm guards," the Purifier said with a smile. "But they're enough to hold you off."
The four silver-armored guards charged out together, engaging Linley, Delia, and Longers.
Two of them attacked Linley.
Linley did not retreat.
The Black Jade Heavy Sword left its sheath, and the Force of the Heavens and Earth descended with a roar.
One silver-armored guard visibly slowed for an instant. Linley seized the opening and slashed down.
"Hundredfold Waves!"
The guard raised his sword to block.
Boom!
A hundred layers of vibration passed through the heavy sword and surged straight into his body.
Cracks instantly covered the silver-armored guard's armor. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he flew backward and slammed into the stone wall.
The other guard had already attacked from the side.
Linley swung his sword to block.
Clang!
Linley was driven back several steps, his arm going numb.
The strength of the pseudo-Saint Realm was still far greater than that of the peak of the ninth level.
Elsewhere, Delia and Longers had also become embroiled in a bitter struggle.
Longers was a Saint-level Magus, but his two opponents worked together, their attacks extremely fierce. He could only keep blocking them with stone walls and earth spikes, unable to get anywhere near the Purifier.
Though Delia's wind blades were fast, they could not pierce her opponent's armor.
At the center of the magic formation, more and more soul threads gathered, gradually forming an enormous ball of light.
The Divine Spark Projection in the Purifier's hand also grew brighter and brighter.
"There's no time," Doehring's voice rang out in Linley's mind. "If this drags on any longer, those mages' souls will all be drained dry."
Linley forced the silver-armored guard before him back with a sword strike.
"Grandpa Doehring, what can we do?"
"They're in the pseudo-Saint Realm. Their bodies aren't tough enough," Doehring said. "Use your strongest attack to shatter their internal organs directly."
Linley glanced at the two guards fighting Delia and Longers.
"I'll deal with these two first."
He held nothing back any longer.
Full dragonform!
Black dragon scales covered his entire body, and his nearly two-meter-long dragon tail lashed heavily against the ground.
Linley's aura instantly rose to the initial stage of the Saint Realm.
A trace of shock flashed through the eyes of the silver-armored guard fighting him.
"A Dragonblood Warrior?"
Linley did not answer.
He pushed off the ground, shooting forward like a cannonball.
The Black Jade Heavy Sword came crashing down from above, carrying Hundredfold Waves.
The guard hurriedly raised his sword to block.
Boom!
The heavy sword smashed into his opponent's weapon.
A hundred layers of vibration erupted.
The silver-armored guard's armor exploded from within, and his body tore apart.
The other guard was just about to charge toward Delia.
Linley was already behind him.
The heavy sword swept sideways.
The guard's body was cleaved straight in two at the waist.
After finishing off the two, Linley immediately charged toward the remaining guards.
The smile finally vanished from the Purifier's face.
He had not expected Linley to be in the Saint Realm as well, or to be so powerful.
"Stop him!"
The remaining two silver-armored guards turned simultaneously to face Linley.
Longers and Delia finally had a chance to catch their breath.
"Teacher, destroy the magic formation!" Delia shouted.
Longers immediately began chanting an incantation.
The ground shook violently.
The stone slabs along the edge of the magic formation cracked one after another.
The Purifier's expression changed, and he immediately pressed the Divine Spark Projection toward the ball of light at the center.
"Too late!"
The ball of light abruptly contracted, turning into a golden pillar of light that shot into the Divine Spark Projection.
The Divine Spark Projection blazed with light.
A terrifying pressure far beyond the Saint Realm descended from the crystal with a roar.