“What?!”
Martin was instantly shocked. The stronghold where Fallon was stationed had also been hit?
Moreover, under Leon's attack, Fallon hadn't even been able to send back a single piece of intelligence?
One had to know that Fallon was a peak Silver rank rogue with extremely strong survival and escape capabilities.
Among the cultists sent by the higher-ups this time, other than Martin, who had recently entered the Gold rank, Fallon was the strongest.
And Fallon... was dead just like that?!
“No, no, no!”
Martin instantly realized something was wrong. Even if he wanted to kill Fallon himself, with Fallon's escape skills, he would have been able to stall him for a significant amount of time.
As long as he could spare a brief moment, a devout cultist like Fallon would have certainly sent information to notify Martin at the main headquarters.
But Martin hadn't received any intelligence!
What did this mean?
It meant that it certainly wasn't just a single Gold rank priest like Leon, but other experts must have acted together to wipe out their Black and White Hand strongholds with thunderous methods!
“Damn it!”
Martin pondered for two seconds and quickly made a decision:
“Prepare the materials! Start the fire elemental creation sacrificial ritual right now!”
Time waited for no one. There was no longer any time to wait until everything was fully prepared before taking action!
...
High in the sky above the Gold-Touch District.
When Leon arrived above the merchant storefront, a buzzing hum echoed from below.
Outside the merchant storefront, a pale blue glass-like barrier lit up.
Faint mana flowed across the glass-like barrier, enveloping the storefront and blocking anyone who wished to enter.
However, due to the massive commotion Leon had caused when destroying the Black and White Hand strongholds earlier, all the citizens had realized something was wrong, and no one dared to wander outside.
In the entire Gold-Touch District, only the transcendents hiding inside the Alchemists' Association and the Mages' Association dared to watch the commotion.
“Is that... Priest Leon?”
“Wait! Priest Leon... has he advanced to the Gold rank?!”
“No way? When I met Priest Leon a month ago... he was still only at the Silver rank!”
Below, the crowd of onlookers stared up at Leon in the sky with wide eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing.
Inside the merchant storefront, the Black and White Hand cultists also fixed their vigilant gazes on Leon, fully prepared for battle.
“Hmm? Sensing my arrival, they activated the shop's protective barrier in advance?”
Sensing the presence of the magic barrier, Leon tapped his finger lightly. In an instant, a blue-gold giant holding a longbow materialized beside him.
The moment the giant appeared, it exuded a soul-shaking pressure, making the onlookers in the associations below instantly feel a heavy oppression.
Some ordinary people who had not yet stepped into the transcendent realm felt their chests tighten under this aura. They involuntarily lowered their heads, completely lacking the courage to look directly at the blue-gold giant.
“However, if a magic barrier of this level could stop me, then what was the point of my advancing to the Gold rank!”
Before his voice even faded, a majestic torrent of mental power erupted from his body. The blue-gold giant beside him moved accordingly, gripping the longbow tightly and suddenly drawing the bowstring to its limit!
Creeeak!
The sharp crack of the tightening bowstring exploded in midair like thunder!
On the gold-and-silver-interwoven longbow, profound runes lit up one after another, as if bestowed with a holy blessing, wrapping layer upon layer around the invisible hammer arrow of Sacred Light.
Thrum!
The blue-gold giant released the string without hesitation. The sound of the snapping string whistled out, vibrating in midair with a clear and freezing ring!
In the next instant, the magic barrier outside the merchant storefront was struck violently by the invisible arrow!
A violent ripple of energy suddenly exploded at the point of impact, spreading in all directions at an astonishing speed, shaking the entire barrier in the blink of an eye!
Wherever the ripples passed, dense cracking sounds echoed from the surface of the barrier, and spiderweb-like fractures spread across it within half a second.
Smash!
Half a second later, the barrier could no longer withstand the surging impact and shattered with a loud bang!
The mana flowing within it instantly dispersed, kicking up a gale laden with dust and smoke.
The numerous cultists of the Black and White Hand were left in disarray amidst the howling wind.
“A barrier capable of blocking a Gold rank powerhouse... just shattered like that?”
A Black and White Hand cultist gaped, his eyes wide and round, his face filled with utter disbelief.
But he had no choice but to believe it.
Because the second attack from the Radiance Longbow had already descended!
Thrum, thrum, thrum!
The bowstring vibrated again, and the massive gold-and-silver-interwoven longbow turned into a turret, frantically pouring fire downward!
The invisible hammers of Sacred Light, like the Grim Reaper's scythe, harvested the lives of the Black and White Hand cultists piece by piece under Leon's control!
Without a single word of nonsense, Leon had no desire to waste his breath.
Because these cultists were not worthy of listening!
He simply hovered high above the merchant association, calmly slaughtering the cultists while occasionally using Light Dust Flicker to dodge scattered attacks.
He wasn't worried about getting hurt; he was merely taking the opportunity to grind experience points for Light Dust Flicker.
Under Leon's exquisite control, the hammers of Sacred Light only crushed the grounds of the storefront, grinding the cultists' physical bodies to dust.
As for the adjacent Alchemists' Association storefront, it remained completely unaffected and unscathed.
This incredibly precise control over his power left the numerous mages in the nearby Mages' Association utterly horrified.
As fellow spellcasting transcendent classes, only they truly understood what a terrifying realm Leon's divine art manipulation represented—rough yet incredibly precise, completely focused on the target!
After a long moment, the vast majority of the cultists had been crushed to death by the hammers of Sacred Light.
Only in the deepest part of the storefront did a single cultist remain alive.
With a grave expression, he tore open an extremely precious Gold-rank magic scroll, protecting himself and Martin, who stood in the altar behind him.
“Are you the Bishop of the Black and White Hand?”
Leon looked down at Martin and asked coldly.
Even as he asked, the attacks from the Radiance Longbow did not stop. Instead, they continuously bombarded the barrier formed by the magic scroll.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The barrier vibrated continuously, letting out sharp cracking sounds under the pummeling of the hammers of Sacred Light.
Crack!
In the time it took to speak a single sentence, the barrier rapidly shattered, and the magic scroll turned to ash.
It couldn't even hold out for ten seconds!
However...
Faced with Leon's questioning and his current dead-end situation, Martin suddenly burst into wild laughter.
“Ha... haha, hahahaha!”
Madness and a near-distorted joy intertwined in his eyes as he stared intently at the center of the altar—
There lay a sleeping fire elemental creation.
Beneath the creation, dense sacrificial runes were engraved, along with countless lines that seemed chaotic but hid a profound mystery.
These lines wound and stretched like blood vessels, eventually converging beneath Martin.
“Leon Douglas!”
Martin suddenly raised his head, his gaze locking onto Leon like a hook:
“You are indeed powerful...”
“But unfortunately—you're still a step too late!”
Thud! Thud, thud!
The altar suddenly burst with a blinding light. Prompted by a mysterious power, the fire elemental creation rapidly melted, turning into blazing red lava that flowed along the lines of the altar and poured frantically into Martin's body.
“Aaargh—!”
Martin let out a roar mixed with pain and excitement, and the aura around his entire body began to surge rapidly.
Beside him, the sole surviving cultist tore open another Gold-rank magic scroll.
The hammer of Sacred Light fired from the Radiance Longbow was once again blocked by the barrier raised by this scroll.
“As expected, the interruption-free transformation process is indeed an ironclad law...”
His plan to crush Martin to death with a hammer while he was transforming had fallen through.
Watching Martin, who was about to complete his transformation, Leon drew a signal flare from his robes and fired it into the sky.
With a sharp screech, a crimson firework exploded in the sky, and a special ripple instantly spread across the entire Stormveil City.
Although he didn't know how strong Martin would be after his transformation...
But since he could gang up on him, why would he be foolish enough to fight Martin in a 1v1 duel?
Rate on N.U.
