The turmoil on the plaza swiftly caught Alan's attention. After successfully subduing two protagonists, he proceeded towards the ceremony venue.
There, he witnessed the Moon Goddess Sect's Saint, whom he had previously encountered, now overrun by demonic will, launching indiscriminate attacks on the gathered attendees.
Reacting quickly, Alan gestured in the air, conjuring a burst of light in his palm.
Subsequently, a radiant portal emerged in the sky. Around his uplifted arm, a golden beam of light reached up, tearing open a rift in the heavens.
As the light expanded, a scene not of Royal City but from Beaconburg came into view.
Alan's action was an advanced form of light transportation. Following this move, in addition to the 300 paladins already present at the ceremony, another 2,400 paladins from Beaconburg, riding mounts made of light energy, rushed through the portal.
This spectacle left the onlookers, including the nobility, utterly stunned. They stood frozen, witnessing an unprecedented display of power and coordination from the Beaconburg paladins.
Individuals with extraordinary powers immediately understood what was happening. The imagery of Beaconburg was unmistakable, its buildings opulent and bathed in the shining light of the Almighty God.
Alan, as the leader of Beaconburg, summoning the paladins from his city, caused a mix of shock and surprise among the onlookers.
Everyone was aware that the situation was unusual. Rivenland was facing an invasion from the abyssal demon race, the Sky Curtain had been breached, and Saint Christine of the Moon Goddess Sect had her will corroded by this malevolent force.
With the deities yet to descend to offer protection to Rivenland, Alan's and the Beaconburg paladins' actions could be seen as a heroic intervention.
It was well-known that Beaconburg possessed the most experience in combating the demon race, and the light powers wielded by its paladins were among the most effective means of countering demonic forces.
Considering that Alan and the paladins he summoned through the portal were there to assist Rivenland, the people present felt it might be unjust to blame the Beaconburg paladin leader.
However, from personal and political standpoints, opposing Beaconburg appeared to be the correct stance.
While Beaconburg held a distinguished position on the continent, it did not mean its forces could freely enter another country. Such actions were against established norms and protocols.
The nobles of Rivenland wore complex expressions on their faces, uncertain whether to accept and recognize the arrival of Beaconburg's military forces.
Meanwhile, at the center of the ceremony venue, Christine's condition post-demonic transformation worsened.
Wrapped in red demonic mist, she appeared as if clad in blood-red armor. Her movements shifted from the elegant dance to combative gestures, turning the once beautiful "Dance of Moon Goddess" into a "Dance of Slaughter."
As the bloodthirsty energy spread, more and more people nearby were affected. The weaker individuals were instantly hit by the energy, disintegrating into dust and dissipating as a cloud of blood and Qi.
This energy then reconverged above Christine's head, forming a shadowy blood demon. This blood demon shadow, like a totem, reflected against the dark clouds in the distant east, seemingly drawing even more power from the Abyss of the Demon World!
Even within Valer, Rivenland's capital, Queen Agatha was struggling to maintain the "Sky Curtain," but it was becoming increasingly difficult to resist the strengthening power of the demon world in the sky. The Sky Curtain was on the verge of collapse.
The dark aura above Christine's head continued to draw abyssal forces, giving the impression that the ceremony was not a ritual to summon gods from the Divine Realm but rather one to call forth dark gods from the abyss!
As Christine exerted herself, a second hole appeared in the "Sky Curtain," maintained by Queen Agatha. To her horror, a cloud of blood surged into the sky, merging with the forces arriving from the Abyss of the Demon World. In moments, the blood mist grew denser.
Seeing this, despair was etched on Queen Agatha's face.
Meanwhile, Alan and his 3,000 paladins also sprang into action. Each one conjured holy light in their hands, merging these streams of light into a collective force directed towards the blood mist above Christine's head, causing a collision of energies.
In this confrontation, the holy light temporarily held back the onslaught of the abyssal forces, preventing them from merging with the blood mist above Christine.
At that moment, a totem-like, sinister dark god phantom rose above Christine.
Its eyes, upon opening, slowly turned towards Alan and his paladins. In the eyes of this phantom, these paladins were the primary disruptors, interfering with its plans.
Had it not been for the paladins, the "Sky Curtain" in the sky would have probably been completely shattered by now.
The complete destruction of the "Sky Curtain" would have allowed it to summon more wills of the Ancient One from the eastern abyss, merging them within Christine's body.
With a fully integrated will, it could easily activate the powers within Christine's bloodline — both that of the Goddess of Moon and the vampire.
This transformation would make her even more bloodthirsty, craving for more blood.
Ultimately, as the Ancient One, it could use the immense power of this blood and flesh to fully revive itself, returning to its full strength and potency.
The so-called "blood feast" referred to by the dark god phantom naturally encompassed all living beings in the city – the common folk, the nobility, and others.
The phantom, a manifestation of the Ancient One, glared hatefully at the paladins. It had already devoured the corpse of the ninth demon king in the abyss, which gave it a chance to revive.
However, the nearby presence of the Divine Pillar suppressed its power, rendering it unable to fully manifest, fueling its intense resentment towards the holy light.
Despite being suppressed by the holy light and its consciousness shattered by the Divine Pillar, it had managed to bring a fragment of its consciousness into the world through David, a protagonist.
It then found an even more suitable vessel – Christine, the Saint of the Moon Goddess Sect.
Now, Saint Christine's will, although not completely collapsed, was thoroughly dominated by the Ancient One imbued with the power of the dark god, turning her into a puppet.
Christine's bizarre and ludicrous performance of the "Dance of Moon Goddess" was a result of her own consciousness still fighting for control, even as her body was overrun by the demonic will.
As the Ancient One, controlling Christine, continued to kill and greedily consume blood, it grew stronger.
Escaping the suppression of the Divine Pillar, it needed to quickly expand the fragment of consciousness that had narrowly escaped from the Abyss of the Demon World.
Just when its plans were reaching a critical juncture, Alan, the leader of the Beaconburg paladins, teleported his forces into the fray, thwarting the Ancient One's scheme.
"Holy light... such a curse!" The dark god phantom continuously emitted terrifying murmurs, its eyes filled with rage as it glared in the direction of Beaconburg…
Meanwhile, the protagonists and antagonists had also begun to take action. A corner of the Sky Curtain seemed to flicker momentarily. Alan quickly noticed this anomaly.
Until now, he had not displayed his full capabilities as a wielder of the Almighty God's powers, instead keeping his strength at the lord-tier level.
The reason for this restraint was to avoid alerting the Ancient One, now empowered with dark god power, to his true potential.
If Alan revealed his full strength, the Ancient One might sense the danger and resort to a drastic measure, such as severing the connection between its consciousness in Rivenland and its main body in the abyss.
It could then flee deeper into the abyss and conceal itself, making it much more difficult for Alan to locate it again.
Another reason for Alan's restraint was to gauge the current capabilities of his paladins.
The flicker in the "Sky Curtain" was likely caused by an attack launched by protagonists against antagonists.
Alan had learned through the antagonist chat group that a court mage among the antagonists had taken control of one-quarter of the Sky Curtain.
It was possible that the protagonists, having learned of this through their own channels, were attempting to disrupt it.
The reasons why the protagonists would aid in the empowerment of the malevolent Ancient One were unclear and perhaps complex.
Elsewhere in the city, particularly in other corners of the ceremony plaza, Alan sensed fluctuations of divine power. It appeared that others were attempting to summon deities...
At that moment, several protagonists were conversing in a corner of the plaza.
"Ha ha, now that the summoning of the Goddess of Moon has failed and the will of the dark god has manifested, isn't this the perfect time for us protagonists to intervene?" one of them remarked.
"Great War Goddess, please heed the call of your servants!" another exclaimed, their voice filled with a blend of excitement and solemnity.