The high ceiling, stone pillars, stained glass, and murals within the sanctuary vibrated incessantly.

Accompanied by the continuous booming sounds, even with the combined desperate efforts of the Executioner and the Holy Knight, they could only slow down the Destroyer Saintess's advance.

On the flank of the battlefield's center, the male guard of the merchant association lurked within the interplay of light and shadow, scrutinizing the battlefield with calm and sharp eyes.

From the Destroyer Saintess's fighting style, it was evident that even without a cleric, she could maintain a high level of self-healing, consistently locking her physical state in a balanced condition.

Besides possessing power and magic that absolutely surpassed everyone else, the Destroyer Saintess would also choose to trade injuries when necessary, which in turn made her even stronger, making it even more difficult for the Executioner and Holy Knight to parry her.

Judging by appearances alone, she had at least three pieces of equipment of [Pink Sacred] quality on her person.

Furthermore, because many key, versatile cards were Rank 6, such as [Forced Dispel] that could remove all status effects and [Designated Purification] that could completely immunize her from the same abnormal status for a period, the control exerted by them didn't significantly restrict the Destroyer Saintess. They could only rely on numbers and the time difference between cooldowns to briefly hinder her.

Forcing a head-on confrontation with her was definitely not worth it, but at this moment, his sister, the young master of the merchant association, the cleric, the lawyer, and their companions were all in the back row. They couldn't allow the Destroyer Saintess to break through any further.

The short blade in the male guard's hand glinted with a cold light. His figure merged into the silent air with subtle footsteps, preparing to launch a fatal strike.

At the same time, a pillar of fire soared from the ground. It was a trigger-activated trap set on the sanctuary floor by the merchant association guard's sister. The Destroyer Saintess gracefully leaped to evade it, her black-armored figure landing on the other side from mid-air.

"Where did you go?"

The Destroyer Saintess seemed to be talking to herself. As she spoke, she raised her sword and slashed behind her without turning her head.

As she swung her sword, the air within the entire area suddenly began to boil. A scorching energy spread at an indescribable speed. In that instant, it seemed as if any substance would be ignited.

At the same time, the male guard had also revealed himself, his short blade stabbing fiercely toward the Destroyer Saintess's back.

However, the Destroyer Saintess's combat awareness had anticipated this.

The scorching longsword and the cold short blade clashed in mid-air, erupting in a deafening metallic clang. The air instantly filled with the acrid smell of a foundry!

…

Yekrit Academy, Jela Memorial Plaza.

The flickering images and the thunderous roars of battle constantly blasting from the giant outdoor screen immersed the students on the steps in that meat grinder-like battlefield.

Usually, such scenes only appeared at the very end of a Shadow World—

When all the challengers had solved the puzzles, reached the final boss, and begun the final team battle to encircle and annihilate it.

But at this moment, the Destroyer Saintess alone already exuded a sense of oppression far exceeding that of an ordinary Rank 5 Shadow World's final boss.

Even though the image on the screen showed them barely managing to hold her back, it was clear that she was still handling the situation with ease.

"This Destroyer Saintess… finding her feels even worse now."

"If we get delayed until dark, and she activates her vampire abilities, we'll probably get wiped out directly. This timing is deadly."

If it were daytime, there would still be enough time to engage the Destroyer Saintess in a protracted battle.

But now, the countdown seemed to be weighing on all the challengers.

In less than an hour, the sun would set, and the vampire count, far away in an unknown location, would awaken. At that time, the Destroyer Saintess would be able to use unknown vampire powers!

No matter what type of vampire power it was, it would be equivalent to an extremely powerful orange epic spell card effect.

In this situation, it would directly overturn the balance of victory.

[The true identity of the Destroyer Saintess of the Rebirth Church has been confirmed as Adalis, a silver-ranked challenger from the Kretia Empire. Danger level: SS. All residents of the Southern Continent, please note her characteristics.]

A flashing emergency notice from the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association quickly appeared on the screen, simultaneously displaying the effects of the key magic cards used by the Destroyer Saintess—

[Blood Oath Pendant]

[Category: Equipment Card]

[Rarity: Pink Sacred]

[Rank: 1]

[Effect: Continuously consumes life force after equipping, granting boosts to all attributes and providing a small amount of life steal.]

[Note: In the silence of the dark night, the crimson contract shall never be broken.]

Corresponding to the magic card's attributes, the screen zoomed in on a piece of jewelry embedded in the Destroyer Saintess's chest, its shape irregular, twisted, and covered in spreading blood vessels, resembling hardened blood, flickering with a mesmerizing dark red luster under the light.

Clearly, this was the piece of equipment that led to her gradually gaining the upper hand in the battle against the Executioner and the Holy Knight.

She would only become stronger as she fought.

The Destroyer Saintess, who had previously appeared in the real world but whose true identity could not be ascertained, had finally revealed her true colors. The core equipment attributes that had been identified and recorded when she wreaked havoc in the real world in the past also began to be displayed one by one.

The camera quickly switched, locking onto the jet-black armor wrapped around the Destroyer Saintess's body.

[Life-Death Reversal Armor]

[Category: Equipment Card]

[Rarity: Pink Sacred]

[Rank: 6]

[Effect: The lower the life status, the higher the recovery effect gained is strengthened. When receiving fatal damage, it is negated. Cooldown time: 30 days. Cannot be stacked with other effects that negate fatal damage.]

[Note: The shadow of death is dancing, and the carapace of life emerges from its cocoon.]

The screen simultaneously showed the Destroyer Saintess wielding her bloody longsword, and a split-screen appeared—

[Blaze Bringer]

[Category: Equipment Card]

[Rarity: Orange Epic]

[Rank: 4]

[Effect: Gains life steal effect when attacking, inflicts burn and healing reduction. Damage dealt by this weapon will not trigger the enemy's magic card effects.]

[Note: The scorching death that scorches the sky and the earth is irresistible.]

The other purple rare and blue precious quality cards used by Destroyer Saintess Adalis in the previous battle were all versatile cards well-known to Yekrit students, mostly used to resist spells and dispel control effects, almost always brought along at Rank 6.

"Destroyer Saintess has invincibility written all over her face. Even if a Rank 6 vampire fought her all night, they might not be able to kill her."

"If they keep fighting like this, the cleric will run out of mana, and it'll be the same."

"Hang in there… clerics!"

The students watching on the steps couldn't help but sweat. Even their throats had become a little dry from constantly talking.

The traitor they had finally caught was too terrifying, and the setting sun was like a countdown, only providing the courageous challengers with brief protection.

"Isn't there another healer?"

They suddenly remembered.

Lanchi's class was actually White Mage.

Because he was too much of a novice, everyone almost forgot that his combat class was a healer.

In the current back row position, Hyperion had further secured the unconscious female cleric, and Lanchi had cast a mysterious spell on the female mage who had lost her will to fight but whose motives were unclear, stifling even her cries. Then, Hyperion began to knock out the noble female mage as well.

After dealing with these two variable prisoners and handing them over to the young master of the merchant association to guard, Lanchi and Hyperion should be able to join the battle with peace of mind.

"Even if two healers can balance the battlefield, the challengers can't afford to drag it out!"

Logically speaking, the combat configuration of this challenger team was quite balanced: two tanks, two healers, and three damage dealers.

The problem now was that it was about to get dark, and the challengers were the ones who needed to end the battle quickly!

If they couldn't break this balance, the situation was already a dead end!

"Wait, has anyone seen Lanchi fight?"

Someone suddenly asked a question, stunning everyone.

The surrounding students widened their eyes and shook their heads.

"That's right, why is this guy a White Mage??"

"I'd find it reasonable if you said he was an evil shaman or a strange warlock."

The students near the steps suddenly realized that this team battle didn't seem so simple!

One of Lanchi's scary points was that no one had ever seen him go all out.

Regarding Lanchi's strength, the most questionable point all along was his third round entrance exam, the combat test.

The most circulated version of the story about that event, which was personally sealed by the Dean of the Sage Academy, was that Lanchi and Hyperion happened to encounter the examiner, Ferrat, suffering from a cerebrovascular disease, and thus侥幸 (jiǎoxìng - luckily) won the duo team battle.

Thinking about it now, it felt increasingly wrong.

Perhaps Examiner Ferrat's sudden cerebral hemorrhage was the masterpiece of Lanchi and the Great Poet!

Could it be that Lanchi, besides messing with people's minds and drawing aggro in non-combat situations… even had a way to induce an enemy's blood pressure to explode in combat?

Instantly.

Everyone looked nervously at the image on the screen—Lanchi, who had already taken out several healing magic cards, with a smile on his face.

(End of Chapter)