Deep in the White Dusk Forest, Phaetnis and Morgan met once again.
They no longer possessed their initial composure, instead weaving through the forest in a wretched state.
“Screeech—!”
Five or six mantis-like dryads leapt from the ground a hundred meters into the air, surrounding the two Cardinals to kill them.
These dryads were somewhat different from the ones they had encountered before; they were entirely white, as if the trees within the tree wall had come to life.
“Phantom Guards.”
Cardinal Morgan flicked the baton in his hand. Several spectral Inquisitors appeared from all directions, mercilessly slaughtering the dryads from every angle.
Their swords severed the dryads' trunks, and the battle only ended when the dryads dissolved back into pools of black liquid.
Along the way, they had encountered at least several hundred of these new dryads. Although they had faced a similar situation while heading toward the forest's core—the White Dusk Ruins—those had been low-level dryads that were relatively easy to deal with.
It was as if the entire forest had come to life, with its sole purpose being to stop the two Cardinals from escaping.
Especially with the masked girl hot on their heels, these dryads were exceptionally annoying.
“Have you found an exit, Morgan?”
“I'm sorry, Phaetnis. The tree wall has completely sealed off this area. I can't do anything about your injuries, either.”
“No matter. I had no idea a human siding with the magical beasts could be this powerful. I brought this upon myself.”
Phaetnis clutched her shoulder. Blood was also seeping from her abdomen. She was utterly exhausted, and casting spells had become exceptionally difficult.
“If this keeps up, I will only be a burden to you,” Phaetnis said.
But Morgan merely nodded with a smile. “Whether you leave or stay has no bearing on the outcome.”
“What? Do you have the confidence to face her? She is the disciple of the Sword God, you know.”
“Hehe...” Morgan gave a contemptuous chuckle, and Phaetnis understood immediately.
The man before her was far stronger than she was; perhaps he truly did have a way.
“In that case, take care.”
By the time Phaetnis departed, the girl was already standing on a branch not far away, watching them.
Having made her decision, Phaetnis chose to leave the area, and Morgan noticed Tina's presence at that moment.
“Tell me, what is your purpose in stopping me? Whom do you actually serve?”
His tone carried simple curiosity rather than an interrogation, and the hostility had vanished from his gaze. He knew he could not possibly lose the upcoming battle.
Tina replied to Morgan with great interest.
“I serve the magical beasts. I am the Demon King.”
These words almost made her laugh.
The people of this world were quite interesting; they always had to ask for their opponent's name and background before a fight.
A knightly duel?
As if things were ever that pleasant.
However, Tina still had mysteries she hadn't fully solved. Perhaps she could get some answers out of this man.
For instance, why were those people so obsessed with calling her the Demon King?
And what was the ultimate goal of the Saintess Selection?
Was the Deceptive Magical Beast pulling the strings from the shadows?
“I'm also quite curious. What exactly is the point of choosing Saintesses only to sacrifice them?”
“That is because they are all failures.”
“...”
Morgan curled his lips, his eyes widening like a mad scientist explaining his grand experiment.
“For the sake of great human peace, they all failed.”
“A Saintess should be a perfect existence who can defeat magical beasts single-handedly—a flawless piece of art, an impartial god who can make sacrifices for the greater good of humanity!”
“Sathya is the one who fits this role best.”
【Kill her】
Before the System's voice could even finish, Tina had already drawn her dagger.
She vanished from Morgan's field of vision in an instant, the branch she had been standing on snapping loudly.
“Phantom Guards!”
Eight spectral Inquisitors, holding massive spears and shields, tightly surrounded Morgan to protect him.
“Colossus Guards!”
Morgan spun his baton again. Two seven-meter-tall guards materialized out of thin air. Like giants trampling the forest, their mere appearance crushed everything. They swung their halberds, unleashing crimson sword qi that carried a powerful shockwave, cleanly snapping the dense trees within a hundred meters and sending them crashing outward.
The massive shockwave from the aftermath shredded all the trembling dryads nearby into pieces.
Tina began weaving through the woods.
In truth, there were very few existences in this world who could "take on a hundred single-handedly."
In a world where both magic and science were undergoing a revival, a legion of paladins could overwhelm almost any powerful human individual. In fact, even she was no exception.
She would eventually run out of energy and be defeated.
Yet certain individuals were the complete opposite.
Take Morgan, the Red-Robed Cardinal, for example.
Every supreme powerhouse in this world specialized in a single type of magic as their "major."
Morgan's specialty was necromancy.
He could manipulate the bodies or energy left behind by the deceased, turning them into weapons sealed within a vessel.
This was originally an unpopular, thankless branch of magic that few showed interest in.
But for Morgan, the situation was completely reversed, making him entirely different from ordinary necromancers.
He killed those disloyal to him and turned them all into specters, doing the same even on the battlefield.
And those exhausted paladins would have died anyway.
Thus, he sacrificed nearly all the paladins in the White Dusk Operation. Once their souls returned to God, he turned their bodies into weapons.
“Sacrifice: Divine Guard!”
A colossal meteor pierced through the clouds and mist. The howling wind whipped up Tina's long hair. She gently smoothed her skirt and looked up.
Above her, a "giant boulder" hurtled toward the ground, tearing open a clear sky thousands of meters wide through the misty canopy of the forest.
The mere shockwave flattened countless trees. A crisis akin to a natural disaster crashed down with a deafening roar.
The moment the meteor struck the ground, a thunderous boom shook the entire forest.
The earth rocked like a cradle, and the sparks from the explosion formed small orbs of light that ignited the darkness.
Tina stood at the edge of the blast, pinching the hem of her skirt, her long hair fluttering gently.
As the mist cleared, the "giant boulder" finally revealed its true form.
A heavily armored spectral guard, thirty stories tall with three heads and six arms, resembling a demon from mythology.
Within its body, as if trapped inside armor sealing their souls, wail after wail echoed in rapid succession.
Screams, shouts, weeping...
Their painful wails drowned out the howling wind, echoing in the ears of everyone who set foot in this place.
This was Morgan's way of fighting.
“Sacrifice.”
He forcibly killed humans, extracted the energy from their bodies, and fashioned them into spectral guards.
The more energy used to create them, the stronger the guards would be.
And because the "Sacrifice" process was so rapid, the deceased's "energy" still retained the pain and wailing from just before their deaths, preserved within the giant standing before her as a part of the spectral guard.
Rate on N.U.
