The High Priest, his face nearly black, glanced coldly at Grand Knight Commander Reilov.

Only then did Grand Knight Commander Reilov slowly lean away from the stone pillar, hoisting his Heavy Sword onto his shoulder.

’He still had to follow the orders of the High Priest, who held a supervisory role. Otherwise, he’d get tattled on again!’

Of course, he wasn’t afraid of the man’s little reports.

After all, his own brother was the Vice Bishop of Ogrande City’s Fog Zone Cathedral!

Oh, right!

And it was worth mentioning that his brother-in-law was none other than His Excellency Bishop Andre Burke of Ogrande City.

Just a few days ago, he had delivered 6,000 gold pounds—proceeds from the seizure of the Sun Church’s assets—to his sister.

That evening, when Bishop Andre Burke returned, he had been so pleased that he’d opened a bottle of Blood Flame Red Wine for him, which had been secretly shipped over from Saintisman.

A gentle flick of the glass would cause flames of blood to blossom inside.

A single bottle was said to be worth 138 gold pounds, and the taste was unforgettable.

’These days, you couldn’t get a firm footing in the Church without status and connections.’

He, too, had once been a Sun Knight!

Willing to sacrifice his life for his Faith.

But now, he was just a "Money-added Knight"—someone who only worked for pay.

"Hey! You lot, get over here! The High Priest is calling for assembly!"

He shouted loudly.

After a good while, the Knights swarmed over.

By this time, a dense Black Mist had completely enveloped the area within the Ritual Curtain.

HSSSSSS...

The Death Black Mist collided with the curtain’s barrier, creating the hissing sound of annihilation.

Then...

BANG BANG BANG...

CLANG... CLANG CLANG...

All sorts of attacks rained down from the Death Black Mist onto the barrier of the Ritual Curtain.

The attacks grew increasingly frequent.

Soon, Grand Knight Commander Reilov, High Priest Theodore, and Divine Mage Jerome gathered together behind the small pyramid structure used for the ritual.

A curtain of light prevented anyone from eavesdropping on their secret conversation.

Although the three of them didn’t get along, this was now a matter of life and death.

"It’s a Level 4 Evil Spirit Calamity out there," High Priest Theodore said, his voice low. "Even a Level 4 Knight would lose all combat ability upon touching that Death Black Mist. What do we do?"

"A Level 4 Evil Spirit Calamity poses an immense threat."

The speaker was Divine Mage Jerome.

"Moreover, when the Evil Spirit Calamity descended, a Knight tried to send a distress signal, but it was blocked by some strange means."

"Holding our ground is meaningless."

"Even if we try to hold out, we can’t be certain we can defend this place."

"As time passes, the Death Black Mist from the Evil Spirit Calamity outside will only grow denser."

"You’ve all seen previous Evil Spirit Calamities. If left unchecked, once a Border Region forms, it can become permanent—an anchor point for a land of Calamity in the real World."

"And our Ritual Curtain’s barrier..."

As he spoke, Divine Mage Jerome glanced outside.

"...is being rapidly depleted."

"So, my opinion is to evacuate as soon as possible. The longer we delay, the worse it will be for us."

Divine Mage Jerome finished speaking.

At his side, High Priest Theodore looked toward Grand Knight Commander Reilov.

Grand Knight Commander Reilov smiled.

"I think we’ve reached an agreement on this matter, at least."

"Agreed!"

High Priest Theodore nodded.

"In that case, let’s inform everyone to prepare for retreat as soon as possible."

They might have lacked the patience and willpower to confront a powerful enemy, but when it came to self-preservation, they would give it their all.

’As for the treasure here? What treasure? It was nothing but a Demon’s curse!’

Just as the leaders began to organize their people...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Several surging Thunderous Warhammers smashed heavily against the barrier of the Ritual Curtain in quick succession.

Divine Mage Jerome looked out at the deathly thundercloud, his brow furrowed slightly.

"It’s that damned Evil Spirit Divine Mage, Francis. As I thought, he’s not dead."

「At the same time.」

The silhouette of the Evil Spirit Divine Mage, Francis, faintly materialized.

While guiding the deathly thundercloud to unleash all kinds of offensive Divine Arts, he roared madly.

"Damn you, Holy Fierce Sun! You killed so many people from our Sun Church."

"My mentor, my friends, they all died at your hands."

"All enemies who have offended our Sun Church will die today beneath my Evil Spirit Calamity!"

As he roared, he cast his Divine Arts with even greater desperation, battering the Ritual Curtain’s barrier until it shook violently.

The Evil Spirit Divine Mage, Francis, was putting on a very convincing performance.

But the Church members inside paid him no mind at all; right now they only wanted to escape.

Deep within the Death Black Mist.

Zorn was just pondering whether he should cast a Forbidden Curse to aid Francis’s assault when, suddenly, the Ritual Curtain was torn open.

A powerful blast from a Holy Light Forbidden Technique swiftly carved a path through the Death Black Mist.

Then, the group fled outward at incredible speed.

"ROAR..."

"HISSS..."

"AWOOO..."

The Evil Spirit Creatures roared and swarmed in pursuit.

Watching the people from the Holy Fierce Sun Church flee rapidly, Zorn was stunned for a moment. But after a brief moment of reflection, he let out a relieved smile.

He was, of course, well aware of the internal state of the Holy Fierce Sun Church.

The Holy Fierce Sun Sect, on the verge of collapse at any moment, had long lost its ability to fight a difficult war.

Besides, they couldn’t win against a Level Four Evil Spirit Calamity. Fleeing was their best option.

Zorn had expected them to flee, but not for the rout to happen so quickly.

’It was a "strategic withdrawal" as swift as the wind.’

’I’m afraid... the internal strife within the Holy Fierce Sun will erupt even sooner than I imagined,’ Zorn mused.

’When the old order collapses, the real bloodbath begins with the arrival of the new order’s architects!’

"Master, should we go and hunt them down?"

Alvin materialized and came to Zorn’s side to ask.

"Having the Evil Spirit Creatures drive them out achieves our strategic objective."

"Killing a few more or a few less is not important."

"Besides, the Evil Spirit Creatures have already killed enough of the Church’s Transcendents. There’s no need to push those few experts into a corner. We’re still counting on them to spread the news about Francis!"

By this point, the thousand-plus Transcendent Confused that Zorn had finished "reaping" had successfully coalesced into an immortal Calamity Sacred Mark within the chronicle of Ogrande City. Such were the benefits of having an abundance of sacrifices.

As the Ritual Curtain’s barrier opened and the Death Black Mist seeped in, it wasn’t long before the ritual beacons were extinguished one by one under the encroaching darkness.

The location of the Treasure Gate was now completely exposed.

It was an Oak Tree Stump over three meters in diameter and five meters high.

On the trunk where the oak bark had peeled away were the patterns Zorn had carved long ago.

Without the correct ritual password, any amount of resources and time the Holy Fierce Sun Church invested here would be for naught.

He lit two black candles and placed one in each of the Demon eye sockets on the Treasure Gate.

In that instant, the Demon head on the doorframe seemed to come to life.

Zorn began to chant the correct Taes Ancient God Spell in a low voice.

Before long!

RUMBLE...

The ancient Treasure Gate slowly opened before Zorn.