A third of the mountain valley was enveloped by the canopy of necromancy. Black clouds blocked out all light, and a thick sense of death hung in the air, making the mercenaries inside feel extremely uncomfortable.
At the centre of the necromancy canopy, Han Shuo found it difficult to control his desires after the carnage. The aura of killing intent around him created a scene where his mind began to spin out of control. Fortunately, his long honed willpower regained the reins at the most critical moment, forcefully stopping his further descent into madness.
He sat down cross-legged, ignoring the chaos around him. Han Shuo calmed down and concentrated, slowly calming his deepest desires. Three zombie warriors, two hate warriors and seven or eight skeleton warriors stood around him. The little skeleton wielded a bone dagger as his purple eye sparkled. He was like a general leading thousands. He stood with his chest plate puffed out, facing forward, silently protecting Han Shuo.
The most magnificent building in the valley finally collapsed with a roar under the combined efforts of Edwin and Belinda. The earth-shaking explosion shook the entire mountain valley. Suddenly, all the members of the Rainbow Sickle mercenary band, whether they were mercenaries living farther down the valley, those who were meditating or practicing, or those who were sparring with each other, realised that their old nest was under attack and rushed towards the valley.
In a place far away, a knight in shining silver armour charged on the back of a silver-armoured warhorse, wielding a three-metre spear.
A slender black figure moved deftly between the branches of thickly snow-covered trees, quickly making up for her late arrival. A loose black dress and several colourful ribbons covered her face as she moved. Only two long, pointed ears gave away her identity as an elf.
Andy and the Thundermage used the moonlight to fly through the air from another direction. They too rushed to help, panic and shock written all over their faces.
"Who dares to come and wreak havoc on the Rainbow Sickle mercenaries?" A furious roar shook the earth from the knight in silver armour. Even though his head was covered by a silver helmet, the roar echoed throughout the valley.
"The Knights of Light are here! It looks like we should retreat!" Belinda glanced into the distance and turned to speak to Edwin.
Edwin nodded and suddenly pointed at the horizon in shock, "Huh? Who's that?"
Belinda followed the direction of Edwin's finger and looked up at the sky. Despite the cover of the canopy of necromancy, the bursts of flame allowed the two of them to make out a huge black figure by the light of the flames.
"It's that person's magical pet, a young dark dragon. To think it followed us here as well!"
" Belinda seemed to remember her earlier embarrassment and replied with a heavy tone.
"Hehehe, that's perfect then, we don't need to be in a hurry to leave!" If it weren't for Gilbert and the others, all of the Rainbow Sickle mercenaries' attacks would have been directed at Edwin and Belinda. Now that Gilbert and the others were here to draw attention away from them, of course they wouldn't have to bear the brunt of the pressure.
Gilbert used his high speed over the valley to drag Emily and Phoebe around, spewing red hot flames at the buildings below, drowning them in a sea of fire.
Gilbert sent a stream of green poison down to wherever there was a concentrated group of people. The mercenaries all screamed in agony and dodged on all sides. If any of them got even a whiff of the green poison, they would lose their lives in an instant.
"Humble lives, you shouldn't have offended us. This is the punishment that I, the dark dragon Gilbert, inflict upon you for your base actions!" Gilbert's resonant voice rang out as he passed over the mountain valley. He danced in his excitement, proud of the destruction he had wrought.
"O noble God of Light, hear my cries. Disperse all darkness - Radiant Glory!" A wizened voice suddenly rang out across the chaotic mountain valley. All manner of screams, shouts, and crashes could not bury this chant.
An extremely powerful beam of light ripped through the sky, and the pure, divine elements of light permeated the valley. The black clouds formed by the canopy of necromancy dissipated in an instant and vanished without a trace.
The dazzling and overwhelming light scattered over the valley, mixing with the soft light of the stars. As the divine power of light shone down, the presence of death was quickly dispelled and all the mercenaries in the valley were no longer affected by the darkness.
Except for the little skeleton that was unafraid of the light, all of the dark creatures that Han Shuo had summoned began to rot in no time at all. They showed expressions of great pain and quickly began to seek cover.
The dark creatures that had been protecting Han Shuo at the little skeleton's command were also all in great pain, but they seemed to fear the little skeleton greatly. Even though their bodies were decomposing quickly, they didn't move. They all looked at the Little Skeleton in supplication, waiting for the Little Skeleton's forgiveness.
Finally, the little skeleton waved his hand and the dark creatures dispersed. They all hid under roofs or found some random hole in the ground to burrow into, trying to escape the rays of the Radiant Glory.
The injured mercenaries saw their wounds miraculously brought under control by the radiant light. They all regained some of their energy, as if they'd been quickly healed.
As the Element of Light filled the valley, it instantly turned the situation around. Soon after, an old man dressed as a priest of the Church of Light, with grey hair but in good spirits, began patrolling the valley with a benevolent look in his eyes.
"He's here. When Florida was hurt so badly, I thought he might come back. Come on, Florida must have been moved somewhere else. Otherwise the building he lives in wouldn't have had so little defence!" Edwin looked maliciously at Light Grand Magus Ferguson as he stood in the shadows of a house and spoke softly to Belinda.
"Yes, we'll find it hard to leave soon if we stay any longer!" Belinda understood how strong Ferguson was. She didn't hesitate. As soon as she'd finished speaking, the golem had turned back into a beam of white light and disappeared into her scroll.
On the other side, the roaring Gilbert fled into the sky without a sound when he saw that this old man had used a single light spell to change the situation as soon as he'd appeared.
Frowning as he saw Gilbert about to leave, Ferguson chained up a simple Radiant Slash spell. The element of light surrounding the mountain valley suddenly coalesced into three swords of light that shot swiftly towards Gilbert.
Gilbert turned his head back and spat out a blast of flame, dragging two of the swords with him. Emily quickly released a Hand of Death and blocked the other Light Sword. Only then did the dragon and the two girls finally make it out of the mountain valley.
After Ferguson released the Radiant Slash, a powerful pocket of light magic formed, causing waves of magic to spread out from the epicentre. The ripples screeched through the air as cracks rapidly grew in the ground. A building about fifty square metres in size was in the path of the ripples. It was instantly reduced to rubble, shards of stone flying through the sky.
"Edwin, old friend, I could feel your hateful presence from afar! Come out!" Ferguson shouted in the direction of his attack after releasing the light magic.
It looked like Gilbert wasn't Ferguson's primary target. Otherwise, he wouldn't have walked away so easily. As someone on his level and an opponent he was quite familiar with, Edwin was Ferguson's real target.
"Hehehe, it's so good to see you. But this place isn't for me. Goodbye!" Edwin's sinister laugh travelled from the pile of rubble as a dark figure slowly faded and disappeared from the wreckage.
"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.
"There's another one down there, and he actually looks unafraid of death!" Thundermage Asa looked down and shouted in surprise.
In the centre of the ruined mountain valley, a figure shimmered with bloody-red light. It sat there like a boulder, as immobile as a mountain, ignoring all that was going on around it. A slightly shorter figure, wielding a bone dagger with seven bone spurs on his back and a purple left eye, stood by his side, unwavering in his loyalty and looking as if he was protecting the other.
"It's him, the person who almost killed Florida at the edge of the valley!" The fire mage Andy shouted immediately after glancing down.
Everyone was shocked after hearing these words! They all looked at Han Shuo in confusion, not understanding why he hadn't left yet.
Could it be that he wanted to use his own power to fight the entire Rainbow Sickles mercenary band? Didn't he know that there was a Light Grand Magus among the mercenaries?
"Surround him, I want him alive!" A trace of anger finally coloured Ferguson's voice. It was unknown whether he was angry that Han Shuo had injured Florida or that Han Shuo was ignoring them all.
"Understood!" Upon hearing Ferguson's order, the Knights of Light immediately rushed forward from all directions, surrounding Han Shuo in three layers.
Up in the sky, Archmage Andy and Asa as well as Grand Magus Ferguson and Sniper Maxine also surrounded Han Shuo. At this point, only a Magister or a Divine Knight or a Sacred Swordmaster would be able to leave at will.
Han Shuo was obviously not at that level of existence!
As everyone focused on Han Shuo, an overwhelming light suddenly illuminated the eyes of Light Grand Magus Ferguson. His calm face was suddenly filled with a bizarre expression. His eyebrows were knitted together, the furrows in his forehead twitching as his mouth opened and closed. Incredible shock filled his expression, along with a few traces of worry and fear.
"Grandpa Ferguson, what's wrong?" Maxine looked at Ferguson with a strange expression not too far away.
Maxine's features consisted of an exquisite, flawless face, as if she were a perfect work of art. She had all the advantages that an elven beauty should have. A long and lithe body, an ethereal posture, shimmering green locks that fell like a waterfall, and a face that made your heart stop. All this had come together in a wonderful combination to form an elfin beauty that would cause cities to go to war for her.
On a cliff across the valley, where Han Shuo and Gilbert had stood, Edwin and Belinda now stood side by side.
The expression on Edwin's face was incredibly similar to that of Ferguson and the others below. A stern light streamed from his eyes, focused on the little skeleton wielding the bone dagger. His expression contained a few gleeful traces of having obtained a heavenly treasure in the midst of unprecedented shock, and his lips trembled uncontrollably.
"Master Edwin, what's wrong?" Belinda looked at Edwin strangely, asking the exact same question as Maxine.
"This little skeleton isn't afraid of the Radiant Glory!" Ferguson and Edwin said at almost the same time, with very different emotions.
"I don't know how that person did it, but he must die now. He can't live another second! It was the first time in all those years that Ferguson had decided to kill someone. An undeniable determination filled those words.
On the other side, Edwin took a deep breath and said happily, "He must live, no matter what! For the last thousand years, light magic has always been the bane of dark magic. If the dark creatures no longer have to fear the rays of light magic, then the Church of Calamity will completely change the situation and the Church of Light will no longer be able to stop us from moving forward!"
Belinda came to her senses as soon as she heard these words, her eyes filled with shock and joy. She then looked at Edwin, "What are we going to do?"
"We have to save him, no matter what. He can't die!" Edwin said firmly. He'd never wanted to protect anyone more than he did now!