Alex studied Otto and Cullen. They were divine-level warriors, but their auras were very weak. It was obvious that they wouldn't survive for much longer. If they had continued to stay in hiding, then they might have lived for another few decades. But now that they were challenging him, he was determined to teach them a lesson. If they had sensed the impending doom that awaited them, they wouldn't have appeared.
"I don't want to waste my time on you two," said Alex, glancing at them. "You're both powerless. Call that vile leader of yours out."
"If you don't stop disrespecting our leader, you'll soon regret it," warned Cullen. He couldn't tolerate Alex insulting Sigismund.
"That leader of yours nearly died under my hands," Alex pointed out. "Do you really think you're a match for me?"
Then he raised both of his hands out in front of Cullen and Otto, and two huge handprints appeared on their chests. Everyone gasped.
Cullen's and Otto's expressions darkened. They quickly raised the silver scepters in their hands and started chanting.
But before they could finish casting their spells, they were both struck by Alex at the same time. Their bodies went flying across the courtyard and crashed into the castle door, smashing it into pieces.
"He's defeated Otto and Cullen," cried one of the grand masters.
"He knocked them out just by raising his hands," commented another.
"What kind of demon is he?" cried a third.
The grand masters, who had been confident in the hidden power of the castle, were no longer as imposing as before. All of them looked at Alex nervously.
One by one, they started to run, fearing for their lives. They were afraid that they would meet the same fate as Cullen and Otto, so they hid behind the castle gates.
As Alex and Maya passed by the statue, Alex noticed a ray of light coming through the broken castle door.
A warrior holding a spear and dressed in bronze armor stepped out.
Behind him, at the castle door, twelve warriors were standing in rows.
"What a bold sinner! How dare you charge into our castle," said the head warrior threateningly as he pointed his spear at Alex.
The grand masters immediately recognized the warriors, and they were astonished.
"It's the bronze warriors!" exclaimed one of them in surprise.
"What are they doing here in our castle?" asked another. "Didn't they live in the past?"
"A hundred years ago, these warriors served Sigismund and were very loyal to him," explained another grand master. "It's obvious they have returned to protect him and deal with his enemy."
"I can't believe they're still alive!" said one of the younger grand masters.
The bronze warriors had been known as the most loyal soldiers, and they had fought many battles for Sigismund.
Alex looked at the warriors and said mockingly, "You're just twelve lost souls. There's a name for beings like you. Ghosts!" He chuckled. "I can kill you all with just one move."
The twelve bronze warriors came forward and barricaded the entrance of the castle. Their aura was overwhelming.
The grand masters started to get very worried about the warriors and wondered whether they could defeat Alex.
"Our master has yet to appear, and our leader, Sigismund, has been injured. How can we defeat this evil man?" cried one of the grand masters.
"Our castle is in trouble. I don't know if we'll survive this," said another.
They all looked on in silence. They hoped that their master would arrive and save them, or that the bronze warriors would be able to defeat Alex.
Alex looked at the warriors and shook his head. "You still think you can defeat me," he said. "Today, I'll overcome you all."
Then he raised his hand, and a purple flame appeared.
This flame was so powerful that it could burn a soul. Even a divine-level warrior with a physical body wouldn't be able to withstand the burning of this flame, let alone these twelve warriors who only had souls and no physical bodies to protect them.
"Warriors, charge!" ordered their leader.
The warriors in the front row raised their spears and charged fearlessly at the purple flames in front of them. They had thought that they could protect themselves from the flame with their armor, but they hadn't expected the flames to land on their boots. The flame instantly consumed them.
One of the warriors let out a shriek.
Alex was slightly surprised. There's still one left! he thought.
Out of the twelve warriors, only the head warrior had survived, while the other eleven had been extinguished by the purple flame.
The remaining warrior quickly got up and used his energy to produce a huge shield around him. The shield covered the earth and darkened the sky. Then he rushed toward Alex.
"Not bad!" said Alex, nodding.
The energy of the head warrior was extremely concentrated and strong, and he had almost escaped from the ghost realm.
But Alex was unfazed. He used his power to produce a long sword and instantly cut through the shield.
Maya, who had been silent all this time, now opened her mouth to speak. "Can we capture this ghost?" she asked, and then she immediately regretted it when she remembered that she had only just met Alex. She wondered why he seemed so familiar to her that she felt she could ask him such things.
Alex was a little taken aback. "Do you want me to?" he asked. Then, without waiting for her to reply, he dropped the sword in his hand and bound the warrior using his power.
Maya picked up the sword and said, "Well, now I have a magical artifact, but I don't have the spirit of a warrior."
Alex chuckled. "If you want the spirit of a warrior, then I'll catch this ghost and turn him into a ball for you to play with," he said.
He stretched out his hand and grabbed the bronze-armored warrior.
As soon as Maya saw Alex grabbing the warrior, she felt a little regretful and wanted to stop him. What if he can't overcome the warrior and gets hurt instead? she wondered.
She didn't know why she cared about Alex so much, but she couldn't help but feel worried.
While Maya was thinking about this, Alex held out his palm, and a container appeared and absorbed the warrior's soul. Then the warrior's soul turned into a ball of light and bobbed up and down inside the container. Alex handed it to Maya.
"Here, this is for you," he said.
Maya was astonished. "Is this a divine ball of light?" she asked, gazing at it. "I didn't know you had that ability. Condensing a soul is a secret technique of those in the top sects. Are you from such a sect?"