Under the immense shock, the evil aura finally infiltrated their souls again, driving them towards madness.
Danas watched all this emotionlessly, waiting for the evil beings to tear the beastmen saintess apart and retrieve The Book of Plunder from her corpse.
Danas didn’t notice that a moment before the evil beings engulfed Elise, a stream of light rushed over, reaching Elise first and embracing her.
“Boom!”
An astonishing magic power, like a volcanic eruption, suddenly burst forth from the army of evil beings.
The magic power was like a storm, blowing away countless evil beings, even lifting the temple ceiling, creating a pillar of energy that soared into the sky.
“Ohhhhh…!”
Danas couldn’t react in time and was blown away by the storm of magic power, rolling on the ground like trash, looking pathetic.
The evil beings were also tossed around like garbage, either crashing into the temple walls or being blown out of the temple.
Even Oz and Maeve weren’t spared, knocked to the ground by the storm of magic power.
But they weren’t angry. Instead, their expressions changed, their eyes lighting up with joy.
At the center of the magic power storm, a figure appeared, holding the beastmen saintess in their arms.
Elise had closed her eyes in fear when the evil beings pounced on her. When she came back to her senses, she found that she wasn’t torn to pieces, but held in a somewhat familiar and warm embrace.
“You…”
Elise slowly opened her eyes, and the face she had secretly resented and feared countless times appeared before her.
“I say, Saintess, you didn’t actually need to go through all the trouble to snatch that book. Instead of wasting your precious opportunity on that book, you could have just blasted that disgusting member of the Old Demon Faction with a spell and be done with it.”
Holding the glowing Holy Sword in one hand and Elise in the other, Shien glanced at the fox-girl saintess in his arms and smiled.
“Well, thanks to you, I finally got rid of those troublesome magical lifeforms. I guess I should thank you.”
Hearing Shien’s words, Oz and Maeve, who had been knocked to the ground, subconsciously looked around the temple, then finally found the four Warfighters lying in a corner, covered in wounds and barely clinging to life.
Having lost the enhancement of The Book of Plunder, the four Warfighters’ power plummeted, and Shien seized the opportunity to defeat them in one fell swoop.
“When we get back, I’ll have Lasha make you a delicious meal as a reward.”
Shien smiled at Elise, causing her to stare blankly at his face. After a while, her cheeks actually turned red.
Shien didn’t see this scene.
He had already looked away, his gaze fixed on Danas, who was struggling to stand up, now only accompanied by the small Warfighter.
“My Warfighters…!”
Danas saw the four Warfighters lying on the ground, barely alive, and his expression changed drastically.
But then, Danas was suddenly pushed to the ground by the small Warfighter beside him.
“Clang!”
Before Danas could react, a sword light flashed from where he had been standing a moment ago, accompanied by a clear ringing sound.
Danas finally reacted, his hair standing on end in fear.
“Bang!”
The next second, a foot heavily kicked Danas, sending him flying.
“Gah…!”
Danas crashed into the wall, the air knocked out of his lungs. He coughed up blood, then slid down.
The small Warfighter tried to rush to Danas’s side, but was grabbed by a hand and thrown towards Oz and Maeve.
Oz and Maeve, who had gotten up from the ground, quickly caught the small Warfighter and restrained her despite her struggles.
Shien then put down Elise, whose face was flushed red, and turned his gaze to Danas.
“You’re quite resilient. No wonder you could become the leader of an Old Demon Faction branch.” Shien came to Danas and said with a smirk, “I wonder if the great Old Demon Faction lord has any other tricks up his sleeve? Hmm?”
Shien raised the Holy Sword before Danas, the tip pointed at his head.
Danas, lying on the ground, didn’t move. After a while, he chuckled softly.
It wasn’t the confident chuckle from before, but a chilling sneer.
And then…
“I do.”
Danas said with a smile.
“I didn’t really want to use this method. After all, [Mirage] doesn’t have as many members as the former [Assassination Branch]. But now, it’s time for them to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.”
Danas’s words made Shien’s eyes narrow, a bad premonition rising in his heart.
“Sacrifice!”
At this moment, Danas abruptly raised his head and roared towards the seal.
There, the group of Old Demon Faction members who had been surrounding the crystal, chanting strange spells, and ignored by everyone, suddenly took action.
They all took out small knives covered in magic script from their pockets and stabbed them into their hearts without hesitation.
“Swish!”
With a series of piercing sounds, the knives plunged into the chests of the Old Demon Faction members.
They didn’t even let out a sound as they slowly collapsed to the ground, the chanting abruptly stopping.
But the knives in their chests suddenly emitted a blinding light, and the blood flowing from their wounds transformed into streams of black air, denser than before, surging towards the sealed crystal at an astonishing speed.
“Crack… Crack, crack, crack…!”
The crystal cracked in response, countless fissures appearing as everyone watched in horror.
“Boom!”
A terrifying magic power once again surged from the crystal.
On this day, the heavens above Cosmos changed.