Shadow and Sudden Attack
The one who was sent flying so impressively was obviously Geiger Dole. He now had three cauterized slashes on his body, obviously an injury from the lightning claws of the Berserk Boltbear. Afterwards, Geiger was dragged out by it, curled up into a ball.
A powerful force rippled through the area once more, suppressing the lightning burns that Geiger Dole had sustained. “Get away!” he screamed, spiritual force sweeping out to send a few guards flying immediately. Blood and brain juices began to leak from their eyes and ears, pouring out like a flood.
Many Sacrificers liked to draw the support of offerings to suppress their injuries.
“Thinking of leaving?” The Elias governor’s eyes flashed ominously, “Summon— Nighthawk!”
An enormous tattoo of a black hawk suddenly emerged from his forehead. The large hawk was so vivid it seemed alive, and after the governor issued a command the beast spirit instantly transformed into a streak of light. A high-pitched cry sounded out as it soared into the air, its enormous wings spreading to blot out the skies.
‘Hmm? This beast spirit...’ Leylin was amongst the onlookers in the distance, wrapped up tightly in a black cloak as he watched the battle attentively with his blue eyes.
‘A giant beast at Morning Star! It looks like the governor isn’t simply playing around...’ Leylin knew very well that the governor was at least rank 4. The Berserk Boltbear he had previously summoned had only been rank 3, and it was obviously used to toy with Geiger and Geiger Dole.
No, instead he had not even taken notice of them. He was far more interested in the depths of the warehouse, and in the hidden presence in the cellar.
Leylin could sense a terrifying bloodline force hiding deep underground that was even draining most of the governor’s strength.
As it were, the strength of a Morning Star was not something an elder like Geiger Dole could withstand. With a high-pitched cry, a pair of black wings streaked past Geiger Dole like a sharp blade, destroying the sacrificial spell formation behind him.
Losing its communication link, no matter how unwilling it was the figure of the large eye could only slowly dissipate. Geiger Dole crumpled to the ground. Having lost his dignitary’s support, the frailty and injuries from the battle had resurfaced. His tendrils began to pale, the colour spreading until it reached Geiger Dole’s eyes.
‘Such temporary strength has a lot of flaws...’ Leylin watched on from the sidelines, leisurely commanding the A.I. Chip to gather data. He was making use of this time to analyse the pros and cons of the power systems of the Purgatory World.
‘The path of offerings is limited in the strength it can supply. No matter how powerful the Sacrificer is, such power is only borrowed. Once the communication is broken or the dignitary retreats, the Sacrificer will be trapped in a dire situation...’
Leylin’s eyes flickered, ‘The information shows that there are some who obtain a permanent bonus to their strength or racial upgrades. However, those require huge sacrifices and even require completing specific missions, such as offering blood sacrifices of higher-ups from an enemy organisation.’
The path of offerings seemed very primal to Leylin. He was even beginning to suspect that this system was the original path to power in the Purgatory World.
‘In that case...’ Leylin stroked his chin, suddenly thinking of other aspects, ‘I’ll probably need to dabble in the training the path of offerings. No, it can’t be superficial. I need to be proficient in it in order to complete my final plan!’
The hawk’s cry sounded once more at this moment, and outside the warehouse the hawk soaring into the air descended like a victor, its sharp metallic talons ripping Geiger Dole to shreds.
“AAAAH! FATHER!” Geiger cried out pitifully, but couldn’t escape his own fate of death.
Seeing the two Beholders perish one after the other, Leylin’s expression did not change at all. Everything that had happened was obviously a result of the information he’d spread to the governor and his troops in secret. He’d mostly done it because Geiger Dole had made a futile attempt at putting Leylin in an unfavourable situation. No matter how pitiful the two ended up, Leylin wasn’t moved the slightest in his heart.
On the contrary, he was here personally so that he could see what happened, and remove all chances of Geiger Dole’s survival. Even if he had managed to escape, Leylin would’ve acted afterwards.
Seeing the soul undulations of the two being extinguished completely, Leylin could relax slightly. At the very least, there was now nobody who remembered him. He was now focused on the black figure in the shadows.
‘That person was clearly Geiger Dole’s superior. They are unusually powerful and have been laying low all this time, waiting for the most opportune moment to strike.’ Leylin surveyed his surroundings. With Geiger Dole’s death, the merfolk sailors soon lost all willpower to fight on and sank to their knees, begging for mercy.
At the anchoring point of the port nearby, the Beholder tribe’s ship was already completely surrounded and had surrendered. The giant Godric was already floating on the surface of the water, rolled over and revealing its white belly.
‘It’s all settled. If it were me, this would be the best chance!’ Leylin’s eyes were fixed coldly on the warehouse.
At that moment, a deafening bang sounded out. Leylin could sense that the black shadow had finally made its move!
Rocks and earth flew everywhere the moment it acted, turning into marbles in the sky that fired into the surrounding area.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!* These marbles formed of soil and rocks possessed a kinetic energy so immense that they could even penetrate through steel armour. A large number of guards fell with a miserable cry. Blood flowed out profusely from their wounds.
“Kill them!” A black cloak flew into the air, and a white figure was like an illusion as it arrived in front of the Elias governor so fast it was hard to see with the naked eye. Sharp fingernails tipped the scale-covered hand that sprung forth.
The governor’s beast spirit was currently outside, so he lacked his most powerful defence.
“Monkdarse Turtle!” Dark rays appeared at the Elias governor’s chest, and immediately after a dark turtle shell emerged to block the area in front of him. Mysterious patterns appeared on the shell, and it emitted a metallic feeling that made it seem indestructible.
Beast spirit masters could not only summon beast spirits to battle, but could also use part of the abilities of the beast spirits that had been sealed into their bodies.
The Monkdarse Turtle was a marine beast known for its defence, but the strongest ones were at the peak of rank 3. Still, although the Elias governor wanted to summon something more powerful, he had no beast spirits that were more formidable.
Beast spirit magic was a common strength system in the Purgatory World, and almost all intellectual races had their hand in this. Beast spirit masters were divided based on ranking, from rank 1 to the legendary rank 9!
However, in the Purgatory World now, masters at rank 6, 7 and above had been consigned to legend.
The requirements for each beast spirit master to advance were simple. One had to seal enough powerful beast spirits and have enough soul force to control the sealed beast spirits. However, beast spirit masters that wanted to advance in rank needed to subdue a beast spirit of a similar rank.
To advance to a rank 7 beast spirit master, it was necessary to subdue the soul of a rank 7 beast with laws, and seal it into one’s body. Only the dignitaries of the various continents possessed such a strength in this world, which made it practically impossible. Just the thought of extracting the Snake Dowager’s soul and sealing it into their body would leave a beast spirit master quivering in fear.
A rank 1 beast spirit master could at most only control a rank 1 beast spirit, while a rank 2 could control a rank 2 beast spirit. As long as one was powerful enough and one’s soul could take the stress, there was no issue with sealing multiple beast spirits into one’s body.
However, it was evident that the Elias governor was a newly promoted rank 4 beast spirit master. The most powerful creature it had was the rank 4 Nighthawk beast spirit. The others were at rank 1 or 2 and wouldn’t be brought out, because they would only bring shame to him.
This rank 3 Monkdarse Turtle was the most powerful beast spirit he had left.
From Leylin’s perspective, a beast spirit master was very much like a summoner. Though the beast spirits that could be controlled were powerful, the master was a weak point.
‘No! Rather, a newly advanced beast spirit master is at a weak point. The largest difference between a beast spirit master and a summoner is that beast spirit masters can seal beast spirits into their bodies, and make use of some of the abilities of a beast spirit. If they bide their time and seal enough spirits, they’ll gain a lot of power.’ Leylin touched his chin, ‘The beast spirits sealed inside the body can constantly nourish the beast spirit master’s own body and soul. As long as no bottleneck is reached, he can keep advancing!’
*Crash!* With just one attack from the palm covered in alabaster scales, the turtle shell in front of the governor began to fragment, showing its powerful strength.
Whether it was the Berserk Boltbear or the Nighthawk from before, even if they were hurrying over they were still a distance away. The governor was in a very dire situation.
However, Leylin merely watched on coldly, not having any plans to make his move. In his opinion, the governor had obviously discovered the other party and still sent out his Nighthawk, evidently having plans of his own.
“Die!” A low voice that was distinctly feminine came from the person who had launched the sneak attack. The figure of a white python suddenly appeared, emitting a bloodline aura that caused Leylin’s pupils to shrink.