9

 1018 Action BeginsChapter 1018 Action Begins

Mr. Fool, who presided over the Tarot Club, seemed to have other things to do. He separated the members who were leaving and those who were staying and then disappeared. The "Meeting before the Gods" was presided over by Mr. Fool's follower, "The World".

What's more, this "commission" was originally issued by him, and the others were just collaborators.

Looking at the Queen, Justice, Magician, Hermit, Judgement, and Star who were also left behind by him, Klein suddenly realized that except for Emlyn the Moon, who did not participate because he was just released by the Nighthawks and was worried about being imprisoned again after causing trouble, this hunt almost became a team-building activity for the Backlund members of the Tarot Club.

Unfortunately, due to the threats from Zaratul and Amon, I cannot show up, otherwise it would really be a team-building activity... He muttered inwardly, first looking at Justice Audrey, and said in a low and indifferent tone:

"Congratulations on your promotion to Manipulator."

Klein's words were deliberately emotionless, like a businesslike congratulation, in order to maintain the persona of "The World".

But in his heart, he was actually very happy that this original member of the Tarot Club had been promoted again, adding another demigod to the Tarot Club.

Because "Justice" had already revealed this matter at the official gathering of the Tarot Club, the others were not surprised. They just congratulated her and quickly got down to business.

The "magician" Fors, who served as hunting bait, visited almost all the known underground gatherings in Backlund during this period, and purchased potion materials from the "recordant" on different occasions, raising some questions related to the "apprentice" path and the Abraham family.

Although she deliberately kept these things secret and sometimes even hired other extraordinary people to do them on her behalf, Fors believed that there was a high probability that she had attracted the attention of the Aurora Society.

At the same time, "Star" Leonard is taking advantage of his position to continuously pass on information about underground gatherings controlled by the Aurora Society to the Church of Night and the "Substitute Punishers" of the cooperating Storm Church. In just half a month, several secret gatherings have been hit, and even two members of the Aurora Society have been arrested, but there has been no trace of the Messenger of God yet.

This greatly reduced the Aurora Society's space for activities in Backlund, causing them to feel a sense of urgency that "the situation is becoming increasingly difficult," forcing the "Secret Saint" to take action against the exposed bait as soon as possible.

According to the analysis of the newly promoted demigod, the manipulator "Justice" Audrey, if the attacks continue like this, the Aurora Society may temporarily withdraw from Backlund before the New Year, and return to the city after the situation eases a little. Before that, the "magician" Fors, who obviously has a certain relationship with the Abraham family, will become the last target of the Aurora Society, especially the "Secret Saint" Butis.

"If, I mean if…" After listening to the analysis of others, Fors said hesitantly, "If the Secret Saint really appears, will he kill me directly in order to end the battle quickly and avoid being tracked by the official Beyonders?"

Although she was willing to take certain risks for the wishes of her teacher Dorian Grey Abraham, it did not mean that she would rush towards death recklessly.

"The probability is very small. If it is during a battle, there is indeed a possibility that he will not be able to hold back and accidentally kill you. But if the 'Secret Saint' takes the initiative to ambush and capture you, he should try to take you to a safe place and torture and interrogate you in order to maximize the value of you..."

Next to her, "Judge" Hugh Dilchard made an analysis based on his recent work experience in MI9.

When Fors heard the word "torture", he shrank his neck. Various harsh punishments that he had referred to when writing novels flashed through his mind, and he felt phantom pain all over his body.

"...According to our previous analysis, the 'Secret Saint' will most likely use the '0' level seal he has to quickly control you. That is actually a relatively safe outcome. After all, it can seal you for up to 24 hours. Before that, we will definitely end the battle and release you."

Angel added.

The words of the only angel of the Tarot Club reassured everyone present, especially the "Magician" Fors.

Although according to the plan, He would not directly participate in the hunt for the "Secret Saint" in order to avoid causing a strong reaction from the Orthodox Church, but even if He watched from behind, it would bring great comfort to everyone.

It was not until then that they realized the biggest difference in mentality between wild Extraordinary People and official Extraordinary People:

the latter have angels behind them, "0" level seals, and even the backing of gods.

And now, the Tarot Club also has its own angels and its own backing, angels who are full of humanity and can get along well with everyone.

In this matter, Audrey, the "Justice", felt the most deeply, followed by Fors, the "Magician". Especially the latter, when she thought of the look that the "Queen" had inadvertently cast at her when she brought "World" Gehrman to meet Dorian, she felt her heart tremble.

Thinking of this, she no longer raised any questions, but nodded silently, acknowledging her position as bait in the hunting plan.

"You don't have to worry too much. Every time you attend a gathering, Mr. Star will cooperate in attacking other gatherings. This will attract the attention of other Aurora Saints who may be hiding in Backlund. Only Butis is left who is interested in Abraham. If the visitor is someone else, you can rely on 'travel' to go directly to the church of the Steam Church for refuge, and there will be almost no danger."

Seeing that her expression was somewhat gloomy, Cattleya, the Hermit, tried to persuade her with a few words, then looked at Angel and said:

"If during the battle, a member of the Aurora Society attracts an angel that we cannot deal with, Miss Queen will stop him. Otherwise, she will not take action to avoid causing too much noise and attracting the attention of the official Beyonders."

Angel nodded slightly and took over the conversation,

"I will prepare a magic mirror for Miss Magician to carry with her. This will allow me to track her location around the world and project some of my power when necessary. In case the Secret Saint succeeds in taking her away, this will be the last resort to rescue her."

This is the promise of an angel... Fors muttered with emotion, and decided to keep this feeling in mind as the content of the next book in the "Great Pirate Angelica" series.

At the end of the meeting, Leonard, who did not directly participate in the "hunt" but attacked the Aurora Society as an official Beyonder, reminded:

"Although the plan is perfect, you still have to be careful. It won't just be the 'Secret Saint' who will appear in Backlund. There will also be the 'Dark Saint'. He appeared at the scene where the last God's Envoy was killed. He is likely to continue to be in charge of this area. If you can't resolve the battle quickly, you will face the counterattack of the two demigods."

As everyone nodded in understanding, Leonard's eyes flashed with a crimson light, and he returned to his home at 7 Pinster Street.

After closing his eyes and recalling the contents of the meeting and memorizing the key points in his mind, he stood up and paced back and forth in the living room, whispering:

"Old man, the hunt for demigods has begun. If nothing unexpected happens, there will be results this week."

The voice belonging to Pales in his head chuckled and commented:

"Is that why you sat stiffly on the sofa for an extra fifteen minutes?"

He then continued in a teasing tone,

"Even if that saint really brought the '0' level sealed object you mentioned, it would not be your turn to share the harvest. In my opinion, it is the best choice for them to offer it to the 'Fool'. Heh, the 'Box of the Old Ones', the contaminated sealed object in Abraham's house, is also ranked in the top five in terms of danger among the same level items I know of."

"So scary..." Leonard's eyelids twitched, "Should I warn them?"

"It's up to you, but if no one mentioned the distribution of this Sealed Artifact in your meeting, it means they all know what to take and what not to take, and you don't need to worry about it... You might as well think about how to ease the relationship with that little girl. After the Winter Festival, she doesn't seem to have asked you out again, right?"

Pales's old, lazy voice made Leonard look strange. After a moment, he nodded and replied,

"I plan to take Sherman with me when we destroy the underground gathering of the Aurora Society this week. I will introduce her to the other members of the team as my informant. This will be beneficial to her future cooperation with the Nighthawks... But why are you concerned about this?"

"I just think you're progressing too slowly. If I could see you resolve your lifelong affairs as soon as possible, it would be a wish of mine."

"Haven't you lived for thousands of years? What else could you wish for..." Leonard sat back on the sofa, put his feet on the coffee table, and suddenly his tone became higher. "Wait, old man, do you mean you're leaving soon?"

"Maybe. Isn't this what you've been looking forward to?" Pales said with a sigh. "But this requires us to confirm the value of the relics in the Jacob family's treasure. Besides, the situation is not very clear right now. We should at least wait until the war is over."

The old man was about to leave... Leonard sat on the sofa in a daze, not knowing what to say for a moment.

————

On the last night of 1350, Audrey Hall dressed up and came to Thordrak Palace to attend the New Year's Eve party held by the royal family.

This was the first large-scale banquet held by the new king, Edessac Augustus, after he ascended the throne. Almost all the nobles were invited, which excited the upper class of Backlund, which was shrouded in a haze because of the war.

Audrey, however, was not in the mood to join in the fun. She danced a few dances with a few aristocrats she knew, then used the excuse of being tired to come to the lounge, where she stayed with her golden retriever, Susie, and quietly looked at the red moon outside the window.

Suddenly, a gray mist appeared in front of her eyes, and a low voice came into her ears:

"The action has begun."

(End of this chapter 1019: Battle on Both SidesChapter 1019: Battle on Both Sides

This voice came from Mr. Fool, which meant that this god would be watching over everyone's actions tonight and providing the necessary protection.

After all, the enemies that the hunting team has to face also believe in the "True Creator". Although He is evil and crazy, He is indeed a true God.

According to the plan, the "Hermit" lady who had arrived in Backlund and was staying in the Hillston District would use the "Eye of Secrets" on the "Magician" Fors, who was used as bait, to monitor any movement around her. Once she showed any abnormality, it meant that the "Secret Saint" Butis was attacking her.

As one of the main forces in this hunting operation, Audrey will immediately receive the signal and rush to the attack site.

Sure enough, as The Fool finished his words, a blurry image that could identify the location of the Backlund Bridge immediately appeared in Audrey's mind, allowing her to confirm that Fors's current location was the underground party she planned to go to tonight.

"Praise Mr. Fool..."

Audrey sighed silently in her heart, and stood up from the sofa by the window where she could see the beautiful fireworks outside the palace. She said to Susie at her feet,

"Pretend to be me, rest in this room, and refuse anyone who invites you to dance."

Susie, who had experienced "becoming Audrey" many times before, nodded heavily, and climbed onto the sofa where Audrey had just sat, put her front legs together, and assumed a comfortable position, looking towards the door of the lounge.

It has recently been promoted to a "hypnotist" and can hypnotize everyone who enters the room, making them think that the person sitting on the sofa is not a big golden retriever, but blonde Audrey.

At least there will be no problem dealing with the guests at the ball for a short period of time.

Patting Susie's dog head, Audrey did not delay any further, but immediately activated her "dream shuttle" ability, jumping into the nearest dream, using it as a springboard to quickly move towards the Backlund Bridge.

It was already night, and it was not difficult to find enough dreams for her in the city. The only problem was that Sodrak Palace was located at the westernmost part of the West District, almost in the suburbs, and there were no residential houses around. It was possible that because no one was asleep, Audrey would not be able to use the power to "jump" this distance.

Fortunately, she was well prepared and hypnotized a carriage driver to let him take a nap after finishing his work. At this time, Audrey quickly found the dream in which he was dancing with her hand in the imaginary palace ballroom. Using this as a springboard, she successfully entered the city.

Hurry up, otherwise Fors might be in danger... She passed through one beautiful dream after another, and in the blink of an eye she arrived at the edge of the East District.

————

In the basement of a building at the junction of the North District and the East District, Sherman, who was not wearing the "Ring of Madness" due to recent health reasons, but wearing a mask and a hood, looked absent-mindedly at the transaction information on the blackboard in the center of the room, and occasionally looked away, secretly observing other members attending the party.

Suddenly, she noticed that several party participants in the corner slowly closed their eyes under their hoods, and their bodies entered a state of relaxation. Some of them leaned on their chairs, or lowered their heads and fell into a sudden sleep.

They took action... Sherman knew what was going on and nodded continuously like a pigeon pecking at rice, but soon he was truly affected by this force and closed his eyes.

When more than three-quarters of the party members in the basement showed similar situations, the party organizer, a "Rose Bishop" of the Aurora Society, who was wearing a hooded robe in the middle of the room and waiting for others to initiate a transaction, realized that something was wrong. He suddenly jumped up from the sofa, and his body turned into a dark shadow, floating towards the ceiling as if it had no weight.

But before he could touch the ceiling and merge into the shadows to leave, his body regained its human form and fell heavily to the ground, his eyes closed, and he fell into a high-quality sleep along with the remaining quarter of the party members.

The next second, the door leading to the upper part of the basement was kicked open from the outside, and several figures wearing black windbreakers and bright red gloves filed in one after another, and pounced on the hooded man who had transformed from a black shadow into a human form with a clear goal. They added two "sleeping" talismans that filled the basement with drowsy power, and then skillfully searched the talismans and magical items on his body and carried him out of the basement.

Originally, dealing with the wild Beyonders in Backlund was not the mission of the "Red Gloves" of the Church of Evernight. However, as the war progressed, most of the Beyonders in Backlund Parish were transferred back to the Tranquility Church far away in Winter County to resist the Beyonders of the Church of the God of War who were cooperating with Feysac to attack Loen. Only two "Red Gloves" teams were left in the city of five million people, so this matter naturally fell on them.

The captain of this team, Leonard, who was also wearing a windbreaker, revealing his shirt and vest underneath, was the last to walk into the basement. He rubbed his temples and frowned slightly. It took him a lot of effort to force the vigilant "Rose Bishop" into the dream at the last moment.

Seeing him come in, the "requiem master" in the team, Cindy with long wine-red hair, came up and asked in a low voice:

"Captain, what should we do with the spiritual materials that the others traded with them?"

Leonard's eyes swept over the party members who were staggering into a deep dream and unaware of their surroundings. He paused for a moment on a certain woman who was wearing a hood and an iron mask on her face, but whose figure under the cloak looked very familiar to him. He replied,

"Check one by one to see if there are any on the wanted list. If not, ignore them."

Cindy nodded, and led the other two team members to look through the sleeping party members, taking off their masks and pulling open their hoods, comparing them with the portraits of the wanted Extraordinary People in their memories, and heard voices of "This is not it" and "This is not it either".

Sure enough, such a low-level gathering is unlikely to have wanted criminals, unlike the Tarot Club, where nearly half of the people have been there before or are still on the wanted list... Leonard couldn't help but compare the scale and level of the two gatherings in his mind, and was pleased to find that even the gathering of the "Fate Hermit Club" he had just attended was not as high-level as the Tarot Club.

At this moment, he heard another member of the team, Sequence 7 "Nightmare" Bob, exclaimed: "There is a wanted person here... It's the witch who committed serial murders in the East District!"

In an instant, the eyes of all the "Red Gloves" in the basement turned to him, and then moved to the round-chinned and incredibly charming face next to him.

"Hasn't the wanted warrant for her been cancelled? It is said that the real murderer has been caught and she is not a suspect."

Cindy, who obviously had a better memory than Bob, explained quickly.

But having a good memory is not a good thing. I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to capture Sherman and get rid of the suspicion of being an "inside man"... Leonard frowned slightly and waved his hand, saying,

"Take her away first, and then we will carefully identify her when we get back."

…

Only when they boarded the carriage with the police logo did Leonard manipulate the power of dreams to make Sherman wake up.

The latter immediately jumped up from his seat, causing chaos among the "red gloves" in the carriage.

"Be quiet, don't get excited." Leonard pretended to be calm and pressed his hands down, saying calmly, "This is Miss Sherman, my informant, and the biggest contributor to our smooth operation during this period."

At this time, Sherman also understood the current situation under Leonard's explanation and the gaze of other "Red Gloves". He sat back in his chair, lowered his head, and looked very shy.

This non-threatening look, combined with her aura that made people want to protect her, quickly eliminated the hostility of the other team members. The red-haired Cindy even winked at her captain and teased,

"No wonder the captain has been leaving work on time recently and rarely works overtime. It turns out that he has...an informant outside."

"No matter what, he is much better than Captain Soest. Almost everyone knows that he pursued Ms. Daly. He tried hard for more than half a year, but was plucked away by that senior deacon who showed up halfway..."

Bob also joined in the teasing of Leonard. They were all members of the Soest team before, and they were transferred here only after Leonard was promoted to Sequence 5 and led the team independently. Naturally, they all knew that the "spiritual witch" had a good impression of Daly Simone. Unfortunately, in the end, she got engaged to a senior deacon from the Holy Temple who came to Backlund at the speed of light, which made everyone stunned.

What do you mean by "coming out halfway"? The captain was the first to arrive... Leonard curled his lips and was about to defend the pure relationship between himself and Sherman. Suddenly, the spirit in his body frantically warned of danger, and the anxious voice of Pales came into his mind:

"careful!"

Without hesitation, Leonard knocked his upper and lower teeth together, and a spirit suddenly disappeared from the white enamel surface. When it reappeared, it had formed a translucent light that enveloped everyone in the car, allowing them to "fall" out of the moving car without any hindrance and fall to the ground.

boom--

Behind them, the entire black carriage and the horse pulling it were torn apart by the impact of a deep black shadow, making a violent explosion.

At the explosion point, the black figure stood up twisted and shaky. It was wearing black full body armor, more than two meters tall, holding a huge straight sword, and there was a deep red light flashing in the eye sockets of its helmet.

The moment he saw the armor, Leonard, who had studied the members of the Aurora Society in advance, had an identity in his mind:

"Dark Saint" Kosma, the Sequence 4 "Black Knight" of the Secret Prayer Path!

Leonard was originally prepared for the possibility that the members of the Aurora Society would come to stop their actions, or even directly attack the team, so he sent the entire Red Gloves team out in full force. With the help of the seal, even if those Sequence 5 "Shepherd" gods appeared, they could be easily dealt with.

But the one who came was actually a saint... Leonard's mind quickly flashed through the pitifully little information about this sequence, most of which came from "Queen" Angel, who had fought a "Black Knight" head-on.

There are no demigods among us, and there is a world of difference between Sequence 5 and Sequence 4... He didn't care about the possibility of exposing his own secrets, and called out in a suppressed voice:

"Old man, think of a way."

While he was manipulating the spirits that wrapped around the other team members and Sherman, trying to send them further away, he took out the "Word of the Sea" scepter from under his windbreaker and swung his hand so that a bolt of lightning would hit the "Dark Saint".

But the white and powerful lightning fell on Xesma's armor made of flesh and blood, and disappeared with a snap, leaving only a shallow mark on the surface of the armor.

The saint of the Aurora Society sneered from inside his armor. The dull laughter came from under his fully covered visor, and it was accompanied by changes in the shadows of all the Red Gloves members present and Sherman.

They came to life one after another, grabbing their masters who were floating along with the translucent spirits, and rising like a stream of black, filthy water, trying to entangle them.

This is the Black Knight's "Dominating Shadow"!

Shadow's betrayal caused everyone to escape from the spirit released by Leonard and fall on the cold street, entangled by the black shadow and unable to move for a while.

The "Black Knight" Xesma took a step forward, causing his heavy armor boots to collide heavily with the ground, causing Leonard, Sherman and the others to tremble in their hearts, feeling their spirituality surging and dizzy.

Then, the man in black full body armor raised the straight sword in his hand and slashed at Leonard who was closest to him.

————

Inside the mirror world, Angel was observing the outside world through the "mirror" formed by puddles on the ground.

This was a forest on the southeast outskirts of Backlund. It wasn't too far from St. George, but it was sparsely populated, making it a perfect place for a battle.

In her sight, the battle between "Secret Saint" Butis, "Hermit" Cattleya and "Justice" Audrey is nearing its end. The former has suffered a mental breakdown and spiritual loss from the continuous "mind deprivation" and "mental plague". He has to resist all kinds of fairy tale magic that he has never heard of. His body is shining with brilliant light, and there seems to be many insects wriggling inside. There is no reason in his eyes.

In fact, this deserted forest was not the first battlefield.

After the "Secret Saint" Butis ambushed and sealed the "Magician" at a party held in the city of Backlund, he was attacked by the "Hermit" and "Justice" for the first time. During this period, Audrey secretly planted a psychological hint for him to "escape here", and then pretended not to cause too much trouble and retreated.

After that, Butis, who had relaxed his vigilance, wanted to use "teleportation" to leave Backlund and slowly interrogate Fors, who was related to the Abraham family. However, he landed here because of a hint and fell into the trap that was truly prepared for him.

The outcome of two saints who were well prepared fighting against an unprepared one was almost certain. In addition, Angel also exerted a certain influence on the surrounding spiritual world in the mirror world. This effect came from the principle that the "mirror world" was essentially a part of the spiritual world and could influence each other. Although it was impossible to completely ban abilities such as "teleportation" and "spiritual world shuttle", it was enough to greatly increase the difficulty for a Sequence 4 "mystic" to leave.

Unless he is a Sequence 3 Wanderer, no one can stop him from leaving... Angel took a last look at the battlefield and found that the "Secret Saint" had been pierced through the body by a blood-stained spear, and his head was slapped away by the claws of a gray-white dragon whose head still retained a human form, turning into a dazzling "Star Bug".

The "Box of the Old Days" whose third layer was almost opened fell to the ground and rolled a few times. The lid opened automatically, and the figure of the toy-like "Magician" Fors could be vaguely seen inside.

It's over... Angel nodded with satisfaction and removed the blockade of the spirit world, making it easier for the Tarot Club members to quickly leave the battlefield.

Next, they would sacrifice the spoils to Mr. Fool, avoid subsequent divination and tracking, and then distribute them. They would also have to find an opportunity to release Fors from the "Box of the Old Days"... Hmm, Zaratul didn't seem to care about this battle at all. Did he predict that Klein would not appear, so he didn't take any corresponding actions? The expected angels from the Aurora Society didn't show up either. It was as if Butis had been abandoned by them...

Angel was floating in the mirror world, thinking, and his doubts grew more and more.

At this moment, she heard an urgent prayer in her ears and an illusory light appeared in front of her eyes.

This was not a prayer formed by chanting her honorific name, but a "cry for help" quickly triggered by the magic mirror she made and distributed to her subordinates with the Minor Arcana cards.

Based on the distance, Angel immediately determined that the cry for help came from "Queen of Pentacles" Sherman.

Shouldn't she be with Leonard, shutting down another underground party that might be connected to the Aurora Society?

Angel's spirituality enveloped the prayer light, and the image transmitted by the magic mirror immediately appeared in her eyes.

It was a messy street with wind blades and lightning flying everywhere, the "Red Gloves" staggering, and the "Black Knight" holding a straight sword high...

...and Leonard and Sherman under his sword 1020 Leonard's AngerChapter 1020 Leonard's Anger

The moment Angel saw the "Black Knight" wearing black full body armor and holding a straight sword, he recognized the other party's identity.

He was the "Dark Saint" of the Aurora Society who had obstructed Angel's previous hunt for "Mr. X" Louis Wayne and finally escaped before the official extraordinary people arrived.

It seems that Leonard's actions of leading the team to ban other Aurora strongholds during the "Hidden" and "Justice" operations have instead led to the revenge of another Aurora Saint in Backlund... According to their previous conservative style, they should abandon the discovered strongholds and shrink the scope of action to prevent the official Beyonders from following the clues and finding other clues. Why did they brazenly attack the "Red Gloves" team this time?

Could it be that the Aurora intends to temporarily abandon Backlund and prepare to "do a big job" before leaving?

Looking at the "Red Gloves" who were lying on the street in the picture sent by the prayer light, still breathing but suffering varying degrees of injuries, Angel frowned, and followed the mirror channel opened by Sherman's request for help, and sent a ray of power into it, aiming directly at the magic mirror that was closely related to her.

…

boom--

The suddenly compressed and released gale erupted in the night street. Leonard, who was holding a dark black cane inlaid with silver-white metal, was blown away by the force, his hair stood on end, his windbreaker was torn, and his body flew backwards. He narrowly avoided the oblique slash of the "Dark Saint" Xesma.

The latter was wearing heavy armor and was not affected by the strong wind at all. He took a step forward and raised the straight sword in his hand again. The dark shadow crawled over the sword edge, stretching it to more than three meters long, and chopped it down again at Leonard, whose body was tilted and had not yet stood still.

Besides the two of them, Sherman was the only one who remained awake on the windswept street. She barely stood in the strong wind released by "Word of the Sea". Seeing that Leonard was about to die under the giant sword of "Black Knight", her expression almost froze. The "Flame Blade" dagger in her hand emitted high temperature, and the dagger body also ignited with flames. She was about to throw it at the enemy to attract his attention and interrupt his fatal blow.

At this moment, she suddenly sensed something, and with her other hand she pulled out a small dressing mirror from under her cloak. She threw the mirror, whose surface had turned pitch black and seemed to lead to an unknown world, forward, and activated the "Lightness" skill. She was blown away for a distance like a fallen leaf in the strong wind that had not yet dissipated.

The mirror fell accurately at the feet of "Dark Saint" Xesma. An invisible force surged out from the inside of the mirror, immediately covering the ground near it with a layer of grayish and dull color, and then spread to the surroundings, making the street in the night look like a white flower.

Before the sword in Xesma's hand, who was in the center of the flower, fell, he felt the spirit issuing a crazy warning. He no longer cared about chasing the "Red Gloves" captain who was fleeing in a panic. He kicked his legs in metal boots and jumped into the air, avoiding the inconspicuous dressing mirror.

But the power of "petrification" still caught up with him from bottom to top, starting from the tips of his shoes, quickly climbing up Xesma's legs, then his torso, his hands, and finally his helmet that emitted two points of deep red light.

The entire black armor turned into stone in an instant, and its surface was gray and mottled, as if it had experienced a hundred years of wind and frost.

Bang——

He jumped up in panic while holding the straight sword, and fell heavily on the ground which had also turned into gray-white stone. His head and feet were shattered into several pieces of different sizes, and there was no sign of life left.

Is this...solved?

Leonard then landed on his feet and stood firmly. He held the "Word of the Sea" in one hand and a high-level talisman in the other. He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked warily at the remains of the "Gray Knight" that looked like a shattered statue. He couldn't believe that a saint died under the dressing mirror thrown by Sherman.

Of course, judging from the scene, this "petrifying" power undoubtedly came from Sherman's real boss, the "Queen" of the Tarot Club. The power transmitted from a remote angel might really be able to kill a Sequence 4 "Dark Saint" instantly?

But before he could think carefully and identify it carefully, the voice of Pales in his mind sounded hurriedly:

"He's not dead."

This warning came even before Leonard's spiritual warning, causing him to take a few steps back and leave the shadow that was still there before the shadow under his feet changed.

The shadow crawled up from the ground and quickly formed a man with a similar height and build to Leonard. He was wearing a linen shirt and looked to be only in his twenties. His face was well-defined and his features were outstanding, like an ordinary person who had accidentally entered the battlefield.

But those eyes, glowing with a deep red light, revealed his identity.

The "Dark Saint" Kosma actually abandoned his black full-body armor at the moment of being "petrified", turned himself into a shadow and escaped from the attack range of the dressing mirror, and then directly sneaked into the shadow under Leonard's feet. If it weren't for Pales' timely reminder, Leonard, who relaxed his vigilance, would have died in an instant under his attack.

Xesma's cold gaze, who had left the shadows, chased Leonard as he retreated. Before he could make any further moves, problems arose with the souls grazing in his body, especially the "Witch King" who had reached the demigod level.

They began to struggle restlessly, as if they wanted to get rid of Kesma's "herding" and become truly free spirits!

This was the influence of the dressing mirror. It not only released the power of "petrification", but also triggered a kind of "degeneration"... no, should it be said that it was "betrayal"?

Kesma's expression changed slightly, and he looked at the mirror on the ground with some surprise. It had completely lost its luster and no longer reflected any scene.

Then, in his own shadow beside him, a twisted and swaying shadow slowly rose up. Its outline was blurred, and its eyes emitted a phantom bright red light, like the red moon above its head.

This is the strongest soul herded by Xesma, a vampire count from the God-forsaken Land, the "Witch King" of Sequence 4 of the "Moon" Path. Because his spirit possesses divinity, it is very strong and can be released to form a new individual independent of the herder. This is equivalent to a demigod who can freely use his own abilities, but is limited to the abilities he gained while being herded.

This instantly escalated the battle between the Red Gloves and the Aurora Saints into a battle against two saints. Moreover, the Red Gloves only had Leonard, who was at Sequence 5, and Sherman, who was at Sequence 6 and could hardly provide any help.

But at the moment when the body of the "Witch King" was taking shape, Xesma's head suddenly tightened, and there was a blank in his mind, as if his thoughts had been taken away.

The next second, he discovered that his ability to "switch grazing souls" had been stolen.

Fortunately, his core ability "herding" was not stolen, otherwise all the herded souls in his body would instantly conflict with his own spiritual body, causing him to immediately lose most of his combat effectiveness, or even directly lead to loss of control and death.

However, the inability to switch the soul to be grazed also means that the "Witch King" released by Xesma and other souls he possesses cannot be used by him for the time being.

The newly formed external soul beside him immediately evaporated and disappeared like a water stain in the sun, leaving only Xesma, who had also lost his armor and looked somewhat lonely, standing there, a little confused for a moment.

It's not like he had never experienced being unable to use his "herding" soul before, but facing a tiny Sequence 5 and being threatened with "petrification" and having his important abilities stolen was beyond his imagination before the war.

Leonard, who had a completely different mentality from him, was cheered up. He could feel that he had the ability to "switch and graze souls" in his brain. Although this had no effect on him, it meant that Pales had secretly made a move and crippled the "Black Knight" in front of him, and his combat effectiveness dropped a level.

Maybe there really was a chance, just like the day he faced Ince Zangwill... He suddenly raised the hand holding "Word of the Sea", and another thick lightning shot out from the tip of the staff, striking straight at Xesma who had lost the protection of his armor. The spirits sealed on his teeth emerged one after another, some blocking the opponent's vision, and some rushed forward to launch suicidal attacks, creating opportunities for Leonard's next move.

That's right, including the lightning, all the exaggerated attacks were illusions, his real purpose was to cover up the high-level talisman on his other hand that was being infused with spirituality and was about to be activated.

That was the "Disaster" spell he exchanged from Angel for a "Time Worm" that could easily kill the Saint and even have a chance to injure the Angel!

Just delay for another two seconds... As soon as this thought came to his mind, he found that the "Dark Saint" in his sight turned into a creeping shadow again.

The shadow did not burrow into the ground, but crossed the distance between the two of them in a movement that Leonard could hardly see clearly, and instantly appeared in front of him. The distance was so close that Leonard could almost smell the faint smell of blood in the shadow.

That was the smell of Xesma's long sword made of flesh and blood. The sword stretched out from the shadows and almost touched Leonard's chest.

"well..."

Leonard heard Pallez's regretful sigh in his mind. He did not care about hiding his own existence and was about to show the true power of the "Thief" angel.

At this moment, out of the corner of Leonard's eye, a slender figure rushed over at a speed no less than that of the "Dark Saint". The "Flame Blade" in her hand emitted a brilliant flame, and she stood between the two with the determination of "charging power for a strike".

wait...

Leonard's mind was blank. He watched as Xesma's straight sword was deflected by the "Flame Blade" and then stabbed Sherman with his backhand. He watched as Sherman's body turned into mirror fragments stained with dark mist and scattered on the ground. He watched as the witch, who had re-outlined her figure not far away, had a huge wound on her chest that revealed her internal organs. He watched as the handsome but ferocious Xesma raised his sword again and pointed it at him.

"Disaster!"

The spell to activate the talisman gushed out from Leonard's mouth, and with endless anger, he pressed it on Xesma's face along with the purple crystal-like talisman.

The all-destructive force enveloped the entire street in an instant