Chapter 214: Don't Run When You See Me

  The priests and mages were undoubtedly the first to sense the aura emanating from the huge corpse puppet. They were also the first to spot it, but they did not make a move, because they saw that both Commander Roland and the Emperor were on it.

  At this moment, everyone's first reaction was: The Emperor and Commander Roland had been taken hostage, or controlled. And whether they were controlled or taken hostage, although every priest and mage here was an outstanding expert, they all understood that they absolutely did not have the strength to rescue the two from a Necromancer's hands.

  But when they saw Commander Roland, his face full of killing intent and anger, looking at Bishop Javi as he leaped down from the corpse monster, everyone else could see that he was neither controlled nor a hostage. And so, everyone was dumbfounded, feeling as if the contents of their brains had suddenly turned into a large patch of paste—the kind that had been left out for a long time and was about to solidify.

  At this time, the Emperor also dismounted the huge corpse puppet with the Necromancer. His Majesty the Emperor, who was clearly standing beside the Necromancer and the undead monster, pointed at the Cardinal in the sleeping chamber and shouted loudly:

  "Everyone, be careful! This Cardinal is actually a Necromancer."

  The crowd, who already felt their brains were about to solidify, upon hearing this, felt as if their brains hadn't just solidified, but shattered. It wasn't that they didn't know how to think; it was that they had lost the very ability to think.

  But this was not everyone's reaction. At least, it wasn't Cardinal's. The moment he heard that Necromancer's voice, his body froze. But the next moment, when he saw Commander Roland jump down from the corpse puppet and look at him as he walked forward step by step, his body moved again. And even faster than the move he had made in his earlier rage.

  This time, however, he did not strike with his sword. Instead, he retreated. After taking a step back from the four Paladin Order squad captains, he pulled a scroll from his robes.

  The minds of the four squad captains were still in that hazy, chaotic state, and Cardinal's movements were too fast. They had no time to react. By the time they realized it, a jet-black scroll was already in Cardinal's hand, and a jet-black magical fluctuation instantly formed beside the hand holding the scroll, waiting for the scroll to unfurl and erupt.

  The moment Roland saw Javi retreat and pull out a scroll, his expression completely changed. His figure, from walking step by step, became a rapid, phantom-like blur.

  The Necromancer with the golden mask, of course, also saw the scroll. Naturally, no one could see the expression on his face, but his action was to immediately take a step back, pull the Emperor behind him with a tug, while the huge corpse monster also quickly moved to block their path.

  Magic sealed within a scroll is far more effective in actual combat than the magic itself. Such a ready-to-use item requires no gestures or incantations and can be activated in an extremely short time. And although the cost of crafting a top-tier magic scroll is usually astonishing, anyone who possesses such an item undoubtedly holds a trump card capable of turning the tide of battle at any moment.

  The scroll in Bishop Javi's hand was undoubtedly such a trump card. And yet, the people around him had not yet grasped the true nature of the situation. Commander Roland had already reacted, but he was too far away, with too many people in between. And at this moment, the time it would take to shout a warning was enough to unfurl three scrolls.

  Bishop Javi's hand holding the scroll could already feel the thick, jet-black fluctuation within it, about to surge out and erupt with immense, unparalleled destructive power through the most wondrous resonance and the most profound magical techniques. With just a flick of the wrist, the people before him would be crushed like ants by the magic. Although the strongest among them might not perish, and the two he feared most might not be gravely injured, this would still have given him an opportunity.

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  But just as the scroll was about to unfurl, he also sensed the momentum and airflow coming from behind his head. It was a momentum of wind and thunder, springing from level ground, unstoppable.

  He might still be able to unfurl the scroll, to unleash all the magical power contained within. Maybe. But at the same time, that momentum and airflow could absolutely turn his head into a flying, rotten tomato.

  He crouched, leaped out diagonally, and flipped in mid-air, simultaneously using his sword to completely seal the follow-up momentum of the attack from behind. Bishop Javi landed. He had finally dodged the attack from behind, but he likewise had no time to unfurl the scroll. Because that person had charged forward again. The black saber in that person's hand, originally as steady and heavy as ten-thousand-year-old granite, now that it was all pressing down on him, he discovered it could actually be a collapsing mountain. If he didn't block it with all his might and counter-attack, he would only be crushed to dust.

  The long sword in his hand transformed into a swath of white electric arcs, as heavy and oppressive as the sea, but sharper and more violent, rushing out to meet the attack. Black and white collided once more, and the two figures separated again.

  At this moment, the swordsmen behind also caught the Chancellor and the Queen, who were thrown over.

  Ethan grunted, retreated a few steps, and spat out a small mouthful of blood. The only one who could have stopped Cardinal at that first moment, with that first reaction, was him. But he had already suffered not-so-light internal injuries from the first exchange, and this head-on collision only made his condition worse.

  But this was already enough. Even though he had knocked Ethan back, Javi still had no way to use the jet-black scroll in his hand. Because with just this brief delay, Commander Roland had arrived.

  "Good disciple. So it was you." First came this deep shout, then a flash of white sword light, a human figure.

  This expanse of sword light had no internal impact like a mountain or a sea, nor any variations or fluctuations. It was just a sword, a single strike. It was an extremely pure sword strike, and the wielder's posture was like the sword, his gaze was as sharp as a sword, and even that low shout was like an incomparably sharp sword stabbing straight into the heart.

  Fear had already appeared in Bishop Javi's eyes. It was unclear whether he was terrified by seeing such a sword strike, or by seeing the person wielding the sword, or perhaps by the swordsman's gaze, or by hearing that low shout.

  He actually had no intention of resisting at all, but turned and fled.

  Such a sword strike, even Gru would not dare to turn his back to it, but Javi did. And the direction he fled was actually toward a wall.

  Such a sword strike was absolutely impossible to escape by running. Almost the moment Bishop Javi started moving, the sword had already reached his back.

  Such a sword strike, in theory, could be blocked by nothing. The Battle Qi, killing intent, and sword qi, all gathered at a single point, perfectly combined with power, speed, and technique—even the body of a legendary dragon would be as soft as pork, and no matter how strong or tough the armor, even if it could block the sword's edge, the sword qi would penetrate and shred all life within.

  But, as it happened, this sword strike had no effect on Bishop Javi at all. Just as the sword's edge was about to touch his body, a layer of mixed white and black magical light suddenly flashed on him. With a strange impact sound, this layer of strange magical light actually managed to block Roland's sword strike.

  At the same time, another faint sound of shattering was heard. The cross on Bishop Javi's chest also shattered, scattering into a pile of dust.

  "Guardian of the Holy Light Angel? Well, well!" Outside the sleeping chamber, the golden-masked Necromancer let out a strange cry. "There are only two of those in Diya Valley. Back then, even I wasn't willing to use one."

  Although the sword strike had been blocked, the resulting impact still existed. Commander Roland's figure paused, while Bishop Javi's body, which was fleeing forward, was propelled even further forward, rushing toward the wall in front of him.

  For Javi, who had a sword in his hand and was determined to escape, a wall was naturally no obstacle. With a flash of the sword in his hand, the wall before him instantly collapsed. His figure shot out like a bolt of lightning, and then he casually swung another sword backward. A larger section of the wall crumbled down, just in time to block the figure of Commander Roland behind him.

  The moment he burst out of the sleeping chamber, Javi immediately cast several white auxiliary spells on himself, his figure sprinting toward the palace buildings.

  Run. That was his only thought now. He knew he no longer had the slightest chance of winning, but when it came to escaping, he was still confident. He had sacrificed the protective magic gem left to him by his father to gain this opportunity to burst out of the sleeping chamber. As long as he could duck into a slightly hidden place and buy the few seconds needed to use a teleportation scroll, it would be enough.

  His figure was like lightning, and having slightly delayed Commander Roland's steps, this should indeed have given him enough time. But it was a pity he forgot about another person.

  Just as Cardinal shattered the wall and burst out, the Necromancer outside the sleeping chamber also snorted coldly. But he did not give chase. Instead, he turned and leaped onto the huge corpse monster. The corpse monster also gave a mighty leap, spreading its wings and flying into the air.

  High in the sky, the golden-masked Necromancer watched coldly as Cardinal sprinted away. He reached out his hand and gave a light, distant grasp. It was a very light, very casual gesture.

  Cardinal suddenly felt a muscle in his thigh twitch inexplicably. His originally agile, swift, and perfectly coordinated sprint, like that of a leopard, suddenly lost all control due to this inexplicable twitch. He actually tripped over his own right foot with his left, like a child just learning to walk, and tumbled head over heels like a rolling gourd, crashing headfirst into a stone railing with a dull thud.

  "You want to run after seeing me? How did your teacher teach you?" The Necromancer shook his head, tut-tutting.