Baham stomped his right foot hard against the ground, sending a violent shockwave that caused everything to tremble. The decayed shipwrecks shattered instantly. Mulock and his companions lost their balance under the seismic force and were struck by countless attacks from the enemy.

  The Cerberus seized the opportunity, flinging Frank far away before snapping its jaws onto Mogan nearby and tearing him apart. Everything happened too fast for anyone to intervene. Mogan’s body was split into three pieces.

  Just as everyone believed Mogan was dead, fleshy tentacles burst from his body, reconnecting the severed parts. His skin turned blood red as his body began to expand. Bat wings sprouted from his back, and two horns tore through the flesh on his head.

  Mogan roared like a wild beast and charged straight at the Cerberus, smashing the monster into fragments of shattered bone.

  “Well, what do we have here? A Bloodhunt demon. Since when did Yh’raeth dare to extend his hand into the lands of Madenes?”

  Baham looked down on Mogan with contempt. Just a low level demon, unable even to suppress his own madness. No matter how many times Mogan destroyed his troops, they would simply rise again. Baham did not tolerate the presence of another god within his domain.

  He swung his sword, crushing Mogan into a lump of mangled flesh. Casually, he compressed the remains into a perfectly round ball of meat. Nightmare energy poured from Baham’s body, igniting the mass as the tentacles writhed in agony. The flesh convulsed violently, tentacles squirming in a desperate search for escape, but it was futile. Before long, all that remained in Baham’s palm was Mogan’s pale, cold corpse.

  “Rise, and become a servant to a god more worthy.”

  Baham muttered as nightmare energy once again flooded into Mogan’s body. The flesh rotted away, leaving only a bleached skeleton. Black flames flickered to life within the empty eye sockets. Mogan rose and joined the army of white bones, continuing the assault on Mulock’s forces.

  “Damn it.” Mulock roared in anguish.

  After the transformation, Mogan immediately became an elite skeleton. Even in life, he had been formidable. Each punch slammed into Mulock’s body, forcing the captain to spit mouthfuls of blood. Mogan’s betrayal pushed Mulock’s crew even deeper into despair.

  Tris was surrounded by countless skeletons. Though agile, she had no room to evade. Her space to maneuver shrank steadily. Before long, she would be swallowed by the endless sea of skeletons.

  Matthew fared even worse. The skeletons, empowered by Baham’s blessing, struck straight through the defensive strength he had always taken pride in. His body was riddled with wounds. Matthew struggled desperately, his hook destroying one skeleton after another, yet their numbers never diminished.

  Pfft.

  A sword pierced his abdomen. Then another followed. Matthew was quickly turned into a pincushion. Blood poured endlessly from his body. He knew he was finished.

  “Great Oxxhurael, I offer to you… everything.”

  Matthew murmured his final words as darkness consumed his vision. The Orbis transformation spread rapidly through his body. Before long, Matthew became a grotesque deep sea monstrosity. His arms turned into massive crab claws, while his head became a writhing mass of octopus tentacles. With a single swing, every skeleton surrounding him shattered into fragments.

  “What is this now? Another fanatic.” Baham snapped irritably.

  Consuming two such pests in a single day did little to improve his mood. These zealots carried the power of ancient gods within their bodies. If he wished to turn them into Undead, he first had to eradicate those foreign energies. For someone as lazy as Baham, this was nothing but trouble.

  The Orbis was far stronger than Mogan had been. Driven by instinct, it attempted to break through the encirclement and flee toward the sea. If it reached the ocean, escape from the island would be effortless.

  Naturally, Baham would not allow that.

  He hurled his massive sword with overwhelming force, pinning the Orbis to the ground. Under the immense pressure, its body exploded into fragments, leaving no chance for transformation.

  Far away, beyond the reach of Baham’s Domain, Ret and Not sat swinging their legs atop a shipwreck, observing the battle.

  “Hey Ret, running away like this does not feel right,” Not said quietly.

  “If we do not run, we die, Not. Do you see what that is? An Emperor. Our abilities would be exposed under the influence of his Domain. Do you remember the way that kid stared at us back in Golden? If I am not mistaken, the skeletal monster standing beside him is just as powerful as this one.”

  “Now that you mention it, you are right. That kid really was strange. And it did not even seem like he cared much about us,” Not nodded thoughtfully.

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  “But hey, Ret,” Not suddenly stiffened as if realizing something critical.

  “What is it?” Ret asked.

  “So what exactly are we supposed to do to escape this place?”

  “…” Ret

  One by one, Mulock’s companions fell, and the pressure on him grew heavier with every moment. The captain knew that if he did nothing, death was the only outcome awaiting them. He saw no sign of Ret or Not and held no resentment toward them. They were simply too weak. Had he possessed such an ability, he would have fled long ago as well.

  Mulock had no choice but to transform once more. This time, he directly assumed his strongest form, something he had managed to acquire back in Golden.

  Mulock’s eyes glowed brightly. Two sharp horns erupted from his skull, curving forward. The thick fur of the wolf was gradually replaced by rough skin and gleaming golden scales. His bones and muscles shifted as his body grew ever larger.

  “Graooo.”

  Mulock transformed into a colossal dragon. Its form was somewhat peculiar, yet the aura it emitted was undeniable. The dragon swung its massive tail, sending countless skeletons flying. Those thrown beyond Baham’s Domain lost their animation instantly, collapsing into ordinary piles of bone. Even the Cerberus was destroyed. Its frost breath was nearly useless against the dragon’s terrifying defense. With a single stomp, the Cerberus was ground into dust beneath Mulock’s foot.

  “A Druid? Even a follower of Caelthrys has appeared. You have truly angered me.”

  Baham was now consumed by extreme fury. The flames within his eyes surged violently. He drove his sword hard into the ground and spoke in a low, grinding voice.

  “Since you enjoy using such ‘privileges,’ I shall also allow you to witness the ‘privilege’ of Madenes.”

  Baham clenched his fist. Nightmare energy erupted within his grasp, then poured downward and soaked into the ground. Baham’s Domain was violently reinforced. The skeletons roared in exhilaration as their white bones gradually turned pitch black. Strange spiral patterns emerged across their skeletal surfaces, and both their strength and defenses increased severalfold.

  They swarmed over Mulock like countless ants, dragging him down and slowly burying his body beneath a sea of bones. Skeletons that had once been fragile and easily shattered now became abnormally sturdy and powerful. Mulock screamed and struggled, but was gradually entombed alive. Before long, his voice vanished entirely.

  “This is bad, even Mulock has been killed. What are we supposed to do now?”

  Shelley and Tris had gathered beside Rowling, shielding her during what seemed to be their final moments.

  “Hold on. It is almost finished. Just a little longer,” Rowling said solemnly, sweat streaming down her face.

  “How are we supposed to hold on?” Shelley stared in despair at Baham’s enormous figure as it slowly advanced toward them.

  Each of his steps was slow, yet it struck her heart like a crushing hammer. Baham closed in on the three of them and raised his massive sword, intending to bring this chaos to an end. The aura of death enveloped them completely. Shelley collapsed to her knees, waiting for death to descend. Before absolute power, all resistance was meaningless.

  At that very moment, from the sea of skulls engulfing Mulock, a beam of annihilating light suddenly burst forth like lightning toward Baham. The beam incinerated everything in its path, blasting Baham away and burying him deep beneath the sand and earth.

  A blood soaked red parrot flew over and landed trembling in Shelley’s palm. It screamed with unrestrained fury.

  “ROWLING…”

  “All right. It is done. Let us leave this place,” Rowling said with a relieved smile.

  The formation beneath their feet lit up. Her staff transformed into a massive serpent that swallowed all of Mulock’s remaining members into its belly before vanishing, leaving behind countless skeletons standing blankly after losing their target.

  Baham slowly crawled out of the deep crater. Mulock’s attack seemed to have done almost nothing to him. He stared at the now empty formation for a long while before letting out a furious roar. His bellow echoed across the entire bone covered plain, driving all living creatures into hiding within their caves.

  The enormous serpent emerged once more from a black vortex, appearing atop the black ship. It spat out all the surviving members before reverting back into an inert staff.

  “Let us get out of here,” Mulock muttered weakly before losing consciousness.

  Shelley immediately took control of the ship and set sail. Their destination would likely be Mornet. But before that, the urgent priority was escaping this place. They still had one more obstacle to overcome before they could flee safely. By now, the waters surrounding Fallen Island were likely swarming with patrolling ghost ships.

  “This is the report from Ceasar, my lord.”

  The young soldier respectfully handed the documents Ceasar had compiled to Jacor, then quietly withdrew from the room.

  Jacor studied the materials spread across the table in silence before letting out a sigh. He took a drag from his pipe, then pushed the window open and gazed at the bustling crowd flowing through the streets below.

  “Am I simply overthinking this?”

  Aster also had his own list of candidates. He only gave it a cursory glance. No matter how strong they were, none could surpass an old Lich who had lived for over a hundred years. Unless something unexpected occurred, the position of queen would undoubtedly belong to Valen.

  He harbored only a faint illusion, a hope that someone would register for this competition. A mage who had once protected him throughout the civil war. After the battle against the Naga, she vanished without a trace. Perhaps she truly was dead.

  During this period, Aster could not risk intensive cultivation. Setting aside the countless eyes watching from the shadows, even according to Valen, there were at least three Emperors hidden here. His current strength was only at the level of a Warlord, yet with the coordination of his special Ability and powerful artifacts, he believed he could easily defeat even a Battle King. Even so, that was still far from enough to contend with an Emperor.

  Among all the contestants, Greaton’s appearance was hardly surprising. What he had not expected was that even Break Island and the vast desert kingdom of Eversand had sent representatives.

  Was Break Island not already under Greaton’s control? This move alone was enough to give Greaton pause. It seemed they harbored some deeper scheme. Aster was intelligent, yet even he found it difficult to discern the intentions of these barbarians. There was no fruit to be gained from betraying Greaton, unless they had found another patron of comparable power.

  As for Eversand, their motives appeared clearer. With most of their territory consisting of desert, wedged between Noland and the BadLand, cooperation with the Dwarves alone was evidently insufficient. They needed additional allies from across the ocean.

  The world itself seemed to be descending into greater chaos than ever before.

  Just as Aster was lost in deep thought, a soldier burst into the room in a panic and delivered a piece of utterly shocking news.

  “My lord. The delegation of the Red Orc tribe from Noland has arrived to participate in the consort selection competition.”

  “What?” Aster exclaimed. “What did you just say?”