A third of the mountain valley had been enclosed by the canopy of necromancy. Black clouds obstructed all light, and a thick sense of death floated everywhere, making the mercenaries within feel extremely uncomfortable.
In the center of the canopy of necromancy, having undergone a slaughter, Han Shuo was finding his desires hard to control. The aura of killing intent around him created a scene in which his mind was starting to run out of control. Thankfully, his long honed willpower hauled back on the reins at the most critical moment, forcefully halting his further descent into madness.
He sat down cross legged and ignored the chaos around him. Han Shuo calmed himself and concentrated, slowly placating his deep desires. Three zombie warriors, two hate warriors, and seven to eight skeletal warriors stood around him. The little skeleton wielded a bone dagger as his purple eye sparkled. He was as if a general leading thousands. He stood with a puffed up chest plate and looked towards the front, silently protecting Han Shuo.
The most magnificent building in the valley finally collapsed with a roar beneath Edwin and Belinda's concerted efforts. The earthshaking explosion shook the entire mountain valley. All of a sudden, whether it was mercenaries living further away in the valley, those meditating or practicing, or yet others sparring with each other, all members of the Rainbow Sickle mercenary band realized that their old nest was under attack and surged towards the valley.
In a place exceedingly far away, a knight wearing gleaming silver armor charged over on the back of a warhorse clad with silver armor whilst wielding a three meter long javelin.
A thin, black figure moved adroitly amongst the branches of trees with thick accumulation of snow, swiftly making up for her tardiness in arriving. A loose, black dress and several colorful ribbons concealed her face as she moved. Only two long, tipped ears indicated her identity as an elf.
Andy and the thunder mage made use of the moonlight to fly through the air from another direction. They too were rushing over to render aid, panic and shock written all over their faces.
"Who dares come wreak havoc in the Rainbow Sickle mercenary band!" A furious roar shook the earth from the knight clad in silver armor. Even though his head was covered by a silver helmet, this roar still echoed throughout the entire valley.
"The Knights of Light are here! It looks like we should retreat!" Belinda cast a look into the distance and turned to speak to Edwin.
Edwin nodded and suddenly pointed at the horizon in shock, "Eh? Who's that?"
Belinda followed the direction of Edwin's finger and looked at the sky. Although there was the cover from the canopy of necromancy, gouts of flame still enable the two to identify an enormous black figure through the light of the flames.
"It's that person's magical pet, a young dark dragon. To think that they followed us here as well!" Belinda seemed to remember her earlier embarrassment and responded with a heavy tone.
"Heh heh, then that's perfect ,we don't need to be in a hurry to leave!" If it wasn't for Gilbert and the others, then all of the Rainbow Sickle mercenaries' attacks would've been targeted at Edwin and Belinda. Now that Gilbert and the others were here to divert attention away from them, they naturally wouldn't have to bear the brunt of the pressure.
Gilbert made use of his fast flight speed over the valley to haul Emily and Phoebe around, spewing out red hot flames at the buildings below and drowning them in a sea of fire.
Gilbert would send a stream of green poison down to wherever a concentrated group of people were. The mercenaries all screamed in agony and dodged away to all sides. If any were splashed with even a hint of the green poison, they would loose their lives in the span of a moment.
"Lowly lives, you shouldn't have angered us. This is the punishment that I, dark dragon Gilbert, am visiting on you for your lowly actions!" Gilbert's resonant voice sounded out as he passed over the mountain valley. He was dancing in his excitement and proud of the destruction that he had wrought.
"Oh noble God of Light, hear my calls. Disperse all darkness—Radiant Glory!" A wizened voice suddenly rang out in the chaotic mountain valley. All sorts of cries, shouts, and collision sounds were unable to bury this chant.
An exceedingly strong beam of light ripped through the sky, and the pure, divine elements of light suffused the valley. The black clouds formed by the canopy of necromancy was diffused in an instant and vanished without a trace.
The resplendent and stunning light scattered down over the valley, intermixing with the soft light from the stars. When the divine power of light shone down, the presence of death was swiftly banished and all the mercenaries in the valley were no longer affected by the darkness.
Apart from the little skeleton being unafraid of the light, all the dark creatures that Han Shuo had summoned began to rot in an exceedingly short amount of time. They displayed expressions of great pain and hurriedly began to find cover.
The dark creatures that had been protecting Han Shuo under the little skeleton's orders were also all in great pain, but they seemed to fear the little skeleton greatly. Although their bodies were fast decomposing, they didn't leave. They all looked pleadingly at the little skeleton, waiting for the little skeleton's forgiveness.
The little skeleton finally waved his hand, allowing the dark creatures to disperse. They all hid beneath roofs or found a random hole in the ground to burrow into, attempting to evade the rays from the Radiant Glory.
The injured mercenaries saw their wounds miraculously come under control beneath the radiant beams of light. They all recovered some of their energy like they'd been quickly healed.
When the element of light filled the valley, it immediately turned the situation around. Shortly thereafter, an old man wearing the accoutrements of a priest of the Church of Light with greying hair but in good spirits, started patrolling the valley with a benevolent gaze in his eyes.
"He's here alright. When Florida was injured so heavily, I thought he might go back. Let's go, Florida must've been transferred elsewhere. Otherwise, the building that he lives in wouldn't have had only that little bit of defense!" Edwin looked viciously at the light archmage Ferguson as he stood in the shadows of a house and spoke lowly to Belinda.
"Yes, we'll find it hard to leave soon if we linger any longer!" Belinda understood just how strong Ferguson was. She didn't hesitate. The golem had already transformed back into a beam of white light as soon as she'd finished speaking, disappearing into her scroll.
On the other side, the bellowing Gilbert fled swiftly into the skies without another sound when he saw that this old man had used a single light magic to change the situation as soon as he'd appeared.
Ferguson frowned as he saw Gilbert about to leave and chained a basic Radiant slash spell. The light element surrounding the mountain valley suddenly coalesced into three swords of light, swiftly shooting towards Gilbert.
Gilbert turned his head back and spewed out a gout of flame, hauling two of the swords. Emily hastily released a hand of death and blocked the other sword of light. It was only after that that the dragon and two girls finally made it out of the mountain valley.
After Ferguson had release the Radiant Slash, a strong purse of light magic formed, resulting in ripples of magic spreading out from the epicenter. The ripples screeched through the air as cracks grew swiftly in the ground. A building roughly fifty square meters was in the path of these ripples. It was instantly crushed to rubble and stone shards flew through the sky.
"Edwin old friend, I could feel that hateful presence from you from a far distance away! Come on out!" Ferguson called out in the direction of his attack after releasing the light magic.
It looked like Gilbert wasn't Ferguson primary target. Otherwise, he wouldn't have left so easily. As someone on his level and an opponent he was quite familiar with, Edwin was Ferguson's true target.
"Heh heh, it's so good to see you. However, this place isn't suitable for me. Good bye!" Edwin's sinister laugh traveled from the pile of rubble as a dark figure slowly faded after these words were delivered, disappearing from the wreck.
"I'll find you!" Ferguson's face was calm. He didn't look happy or sad, and there were no ripples of anger in his voice either.
"There's another one down there, and he actually looks unafraid of death!" Thunder mage Asa looked askance below and called out with surprise.
There was a figure shimmering with a blood red light in the center of the ruined mountain valley. He sat there like a boulder, as unmoving as a mountain, ignoring all that was going on around him. A figure that was slightly shorter, wielding a bone dagger with seven bone spurs on his back and a purple left eye stood by his side, unswerving in his loyalty and looking like he was protecting the other.
"It's him, the person ho almost killed Florida at the border of the valley!" The fire mage Andy immediately cried out after flicking a glance down.
Everyone was shocked after these words! They all looked at Han Shuo, perplexed, not understanding why he hadn't left at this time.
Could it be that he wanted to use his own power alone to fight against the entire Rainbow Sickles mercenary band? Didn't he know that there was a light grand magus in the mercenary band?
"Surround him, I want him alive!" A trace of anger finally colored Ferguson's voice. It was unknown whether or not he was angry that Han Shuo had injured Florida, or that Han Shuo was ignoring all of them.
"Understood!" The Knights of Light immediately surged forward from all directions after hearing Ferguson's order, surrounding Han Shuo with three layers.
Up in the sky, archangels Andy and Asa as well as grand magus Ferguson and sharpshooter Maxine also surrounded Han Shuo as well. By this point, it was likely that only a magister or a divine knight or swordmaster would be able to leave at will.
Han Shuo was obviously not at that level of existence!
As everyone focused on Han Shuo, a stunning light suddenly lit up light archmage Ferguson's eyes. His calm face was suddenly filled with a bizarre expression. His brows were knit together, the furrows in his forehead twitching as his mouth opened and closed. Incredible shock filled his expression, as well as a few traces of worry and fear.
"Grandpa Ferguson, what's wrong?" Maxine looked at Ferguson with an odd expression not too far away.
Maxine's features were comprised of an exquisite, flawless face like she was a perfect work of art. She had all the advantages that a beauty of the elves should possess. A long and limber body, an ethereal bearing, gleaming green tresses that were like a waterfall, and a heart stopping face. All of this had come together in a marvelous combination to form an elfin beauty that would cause cities to go to war for her.
On a cliff on the other side of the valley, where Han Shuo and Gilbert had stood, Edwin and Belinda were now standing side by side.
The expression on Edwin's face was incredibly similar to Ferguson and the others below. A stern light flowed out from his eyes, focusing on the little skeleton wielding his bone dagger. His expression encompassed a few gleeful traces of obtaining a heavenly treasure amidst unparalleled shock, and his lips trembled uncontrollably.
"Master Edwin, what's wrong?" Belinda looked oddly at Edwin, asking the exact same question as Maxine.
"That little skeleton isn't afraid of the Radiant Glory!" Ferguson and Edwin said at almost the same time with exceedingly different emotions.
"I don't know how that person has done it, but he must die now. He can't live for another second!" In all these years, it was the first time that Ferguson had made up his mind to kill someone. An unquestionable resolution filled these words.
On the other side, Edwin took a deep breath in and said gleefully, "He must stay alive no matter what! In the last thousand, hundred years, light magic has always been the bane of dark magic. If the dark creatures no longer need to fear the rays of light magic, then the Calamity Church will completely change the situation and the Church of Light will no longer be able to halt our footsteps forward!"
Belinda immediately woke to her senses after hearing these words as her eyes were also filled with shock and delight. She then looked at Edwin, "What should we do?"
"We need to save him no matter what. He absolutely can't die!" Edwin said firmly. He'd never wanted to protect someone as bad as he did now!