Volume 3, Chapter 27 – Cooperation

“Boom! Boom!”

In the middle of the night, accompanied by one earth-shaking roar after another, beams of greyish-white magic power erupted continuously from the valley. The terrifying energy fluctuations caused the surrounding earth to crack and the sky to tear. Had the valley itself not been bolstered by magical enchantments, it likely would have collapsed under this venting of magic power.

Although the valley remained intact, the Bishops and other members of the Divine Punishment Holy Church who were fighting bravely within were swept away by this tsunami of greyish-white magic power. One by one, they lost their ability to fight, falling miserably from the sky and slamming into the ground, losing consciousness on the spot.

“Damn bastard!”

After seeing their companions easily defeated, the remaining members fully realized the power gap between them and their enemy. Led by one of the Archbishops of the Divine Punishment Holy Church, the group took out Blood Soul Pills, prepared to fight to the death to protect the Demon God’s altar.

However, after taking in this scene, the black-haired man hovering in mid-air gave a helpless smile.

“Life is quite fragile; one must learn to cherish it.”

As he spoke, the greyish-white light surged once more. A massive magic circle flashing with dazzling light manifested beneath the feet of the cultists, causing their expressions to shift drastically as they fell into a panic.

“This-this magic circle?! When was it set up!”

“Quite early on.” The black-haired man smiled indifferently.

‘High-Tier Magic – Velsade Chain Binding Art.’

As the incantation was rapidly finished in his mind, the magic circle completed its construction.

In the next instant, countless chains of greyish-white magic energy surged continuously from the formation, rushing toward the members of the Divine Punishment Holy Church who had no time to defend themselves. In a flash, accompanied by another burst of magic power, dozens of people, including the Archbishop, were tied up by the chains and firmly suppressed against the ground, unable to move.

Undoubtedly, if the black-haired man wished, any random high-tier magic spell at this moment could have annihilated everyone from the Divine Punishment Holy Church. However, he did not strike. Instead, he looked toward the high sky with a playful gaze.

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Up there, a green-haired man was struggling to deal with three powerful summoned creatures. If Yumo were here, she would likely be surprised to find that this green-haired man fighting a bitter battle in the sky was Wilt, the Cult Leader of the Divine Punishment Holy Church whom she had previously let escape.

Facing the fierce assault of the three summoned beasts, Wilt refused to show weakness and resolutely swung the blood-colored scythe in his hand.

“Boom!!”

A massive explosion echoed through the clouds.

An eerie, dark-green light illuminated the night earth, and violent dark-green magic power swept through the entire valley as the light spread. Following the frantic assault by Wilt himself and his two dark-green energy pythons, the three powerful summoned creatures were finally destroyed by Wilt, turning into particles of magic energy that filled the sky.

“Cough, cough!”

Although he had defeated the three summons, Wilt did not dare relax. An even stronger opponent was still watching him from not far away.

After coughing up a few mouthfuls of blood, Wilt glared with eyes full of anger and resentment toward the black-haired man hovering in the distance, who was silently watching the show. When he saw the man standing with his arms crossed over his chest, Wilt realized that the other members of the Divine Punishment Holy Church in the valley had likely all been dealt with by this person.

Single-handedly, he had beaten them into this pathetic state.

Though he wasn’t at his peak, the opponent’s strength undoubtedly exceeded Wilt’s estimates.

“You lot…”

Staring fixedly at the black rose outlined with golden thread on the black-haired man’s military uniform, Wilt’s pupils narrowed. Countless doubts surfaced in his solemn eyes.

‘The Blackrose Family…’

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Why would someone who was supposed to be within the territory of the Sadik Empire suddenly appear in the northern part of the Red Lotus Leaf Empire? And how did they happen to find their hidden base?

No, now was not the time to consider these things! He had to eliminate this guy; he couldn’t let the headquarters they had painstakingly operated for years be lost like this!

‘I’ll risk it all against you!’

Showing no fear of the powerful magic power and appalling killing intent surrounding the opponent, Wilt abruptly opened his mouth and rapidly chanted a magic incantation. As the chanting continued, a dark-green magic circle was outlined in front of him.

“Sanctuary magic – Lurotte’s Blackdeath Thorn Spear!”

The dense dark-green magic power in the surroundings immediately gathered toward the circle as if answering a call. Under the shaping of the formation, a black energy spear wrapped in green thorns suddenly manifested before Wilt.

This magic was Wilt’s strongest single-target spell, the same one he had previously used against Yumo.

Grasping the shaft, Wilt immediately threw the magic spear at the black-haired man. In an instant, space seemed to shatter as the spear whistled forward with an aura like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves!

“Go to hell!!”

…

After several minutes of fighting, the valley returned to tranquility.

Leisurely drinking tea, the black-haired man strolled through the shattered valley as if he were enjoying the night scenery and the pleasant climate. The terrifying magic power and dense killing intent that had previously surrounded him had completely retracted, leaving no trace of his former appearance as a god of slaughter.

After taking a sip of tea, the black-haired man couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

“Hmm, this weather is quite nice. It’s not as hot as the Sadik Empire, and not as cold as the Snownight Empire. Enmm, maybe I should conquer it later and build a palace for Lady Yumo.”

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However, just as the man was reminiscing, a feeble male voice suddenly rang out.

“Yumo? Who is that?”

“About that, you don’t need to know.” The black-haired man spoke with a smile.

As he spoke, he slowly turned around and looked behind him with a very polite gaze.

“It seems you’ve recovered quite well, Cult Leader.”

In the reflection of the black-haired man’s eyes, the scarred and battered Wilt was being pinned firmly to the ground by two giant wolf-shaped summoned beasts. Not only was the magic power within Wilt’s body nearly exhausted, but both of his legs were broken, and his right hand was nowhere to be found.

Although an eighth tier powerhouse could regenerate limbs, Wilt clearly lacked the strength in his body to do so now.

It was easy to see that Wilt had completely lost his ability to fight and was being totally suppressed by the black-haired man. Even if he wanted to use a Blood Soul Pill to turn the tables, it was impossible, as the ring storing the pills had been destroyed by the black-haired man at the very beginning.

He had expected to be killed directly, but Wilt was surprised to find that the opponent had refrained from delivering the finishing blow and had instead dispersed his killing intent. This left Wilt extremely confused. At first, he thought the man had come to crusade against the Divine Punishment Holy Church, but now it seemed that was not the case.

Wilt narrowed his dark-green eyes slightly.

“Duke, what exactly is it that you want to do? One moment you’re full of killing intent, and the next you’re being so pleasant?”

“Me?” Hearing this, the black-haired man named Xiao smiled. He walked toward Wilt without any hostility, appearing almost apologetic.

“My apologies, I was a bit heavy-handed. I did this to test your strength and the combat power of the Divine Punishment Holy Church to see if you have the value to be our partners. Although my companions reported quite a bit of intelligence regarding you, I still preferred to test it personally to ensure nothing goes wrong.”

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“A test? Heh, so that’s how it is.” Wilt gave a cold laugh as the confusion from the previous battle was resolved.

However, at the thought that he would one day become a subject for testing, Wilt felt a sense of being caught between laughter and tears.

“Then do we… have value now?”

“Yes. Being able to fight me for so long naturally means you do. You are qualified to cooperate with us.”

“Qualified? So what? Why must we cooperate with you?”

Regarding this question, Xiao shook his head indifferently.

“Do you think you are in a position to refuse?”

“You…” Wilt glanced at the magical giant wolves suppressing him and his subordinates who were still bound in the magic circles in the distance. His eyes couldn’t help but reveal a trace of resentment and humiliation.

“However, I believe you won’t refuse this proposal.”

“What is it?” Hearing the confidence in Xiao’s voice, Wilt frowned. “What kind of cooperation?”

“Cooperation to eliminate the Chosen One together.”

“What?!”

In an instant, seeing the genuine, bone-chilling killing intent on Xiao’s face, even Wilt, who had killed countless people, felt a shiver run down his spine at this moment.