Chapter 17: An Unexpected Opportunity on the Path of the Holy Guardian

The monsters howled throughout the night, eventually losing patience and attempting several attacks. Even the night guards could tell that such attacks were merely attempts to gauge the enemy’s strength.

As soon as they entered the illuminated area, green smoke began to rise from the monsters’ bodies, as if their interiors were on fire. However, the damage stopped there. The light balls emitted by the sunlight projectors were mainly for illumination, with constant light output that couldn’t cause much harm. Only the weaker monsters were injured; those stronger ones had dark energy shields resembling mist that allowed them to resist the light, though visibility was severely impaired—a problem that was difficult to solve. Clearly, the monsters wouldn’t use un invented black magic like “sunglass goggles.”

A thin red beam struck one monster’s forehead, followed by a “bang!” Its head exploded, spewing grayish-black viscous brain matter and dark red blood along with bone fragments. The monster next to it was stunned by this sudden attack, and soon, its head was blown off as well.

Although only two guns were firing at a relatively low frequency, they started shooting from 200 meters away from Fangyanyi. With the cliff walls to climb over, over 20 monsters were eliminated before they could reach the camp. Even if they charged from the main road, where there were four guns, ordinary monsters still found it hard to get close.

The only time they posed a real threat was when 50 monsters, led by a stronger boss, tried to charge straight at the camp at high speed. The boss, relying on its high agility, darted around to draw fire and cover the other monsters’ advance.

Yet the soldiers of Star 745 had been repeatedly reminded during training: “It’s better to have one bird in hand than ten in the forest.” The strategy in a defensive battle was to target the weakest enemies first, effectively eliminating their fighting strength while also intimidating the foe.

The monster boss’s tactics didn’t work much, but it was still much stronger than its peers. It quickly approached the defense line. At that moment, the night guards threw two light bombs. These bombs were far less powerful than those used by Neo earlier, with weaker shockwaves but intense light radiation. The soldiers avoided looking directly at them to prevent eye damage.

As a result, the monster boss lost its eyes and suffered severe damage to its body under the blinding white-green light beams. It was then shot twice more and finally died.

A strange wooden whistle sound arose in the darkness. The remaining monsters heard it and immediately turned back to retreat, only to have a few more killed. Fewer than half of them made it back.

What followed was several hours of silent confrontation. The monsters weren’t using their full strength, nor were the soldiers of Star 745.

Before dawn, it was pitch black, with wind blowing dust everywhere, as if the light itself was being swept away. A thick cloud of smoke emerged from the darkness and rushed toward the camp. Along the way, dozens of pythons appeared in the smoke, leaping out to swallow the light balls, which disappeared without a trace.

The soldiers on watch grew nervous; this enemy was clearly extremely powerful. Hiss! It was difficult to aim at that mass of smoke with red rays, and even if one managed to aim, it was hard to determine where to focus, and shooting had no effect at all. But this formidable foe suddenly halted its advance when still over 50 meters away from the camp. At the same time, the soldiers heard footsteps. Turning their heads, they saw their captain arriving. “Welcome,” said Neo, holding a gun and pointing at the rolling black smoke. With a cold snort, the black smoke parted like waves, revealing a figure wrapped in a large black silk robe. The wind couldn’t disperse the smoke, but it made the tattered edges of the robe flutter like flags. The figure floated in midair, his feet hovering above a sea of churning black smoke, as if standing on dark clouds. His eyes glowed like the cold light of an abyss, blue as gems, emitting an icy chill. A dark, mysterious magic circle orbited above his head, with purple sparks flickering within—it was a typical black magician. Just by looking at his appearance, one could sense his immense power. The black magician naturally picked up the sarcasm in Neo’s words. Indeed, he had intended to ambush those soldiers to intimidate Neo and the others. For a magician who had just reached level 15, such an act would indeed be beneath his status. But if those he attacked were nothing more than swine in his eyes, why bother with courtesy? Of course, he was satisfied to have encountered his target so quickly, as it meant Neo must have stayed awake all night to defend against a stronger foe. “Hmm, and those mages from the Elemental Towers as well,” the black magician sneered, thinking, “Just low-level monsters, yet they kept these people awake all night. Truly, helping amateurs.” The five members of Green also rushed over immediately upon receiving the alert. Like Neo, they had their own ways of detecting such powerful beings. From afar, they saw Neo confronting the enemy with a gun. “It seems to be a mage above level 15!” Green and the others felt anxious. A mage at level 15 might not yet be able to cast spells that caused massive destruction instantly, but their control over energy was already flawless. Even a small fireball could rival the power of an ordinary mage’s blast ball. Without countermeasures, an entire squadron or even a battalion (over 300 soldiers) of regular troops could be completely annihilated. Such a person couldn’t be threatened by just a gun, so Neo’s actions seemed more like a way to steady his emotions. The black magician didn’t take Neo’s gun seriously either. After having the monsters test it earlier, he already had a good idea of its power, and he had also verified it firsthand during his advance against the soldiers on watch. It was nothing more than the power of an ordinary scorpion crossbow, and due to its small projectiles, it couldn’t even carry a magic-breaking effect. Under his advanced protective arrow magic, the projectiles couldn’t even come close to his body.

“Simon, the name of a saint,” the Dark Mage spoke slowly, with a hint of pretense, yet combined with his hoarse, deep, and penetrating voice, it carried a strong sense of mystery. “Those in this world who bear the title of saint are all wise and powerful beings. It’s astonishing that you use the name of a saint yet are so foolish as to not even distinguish between friends and enemies. Tell me, do you know the truth behind your father’s death?”
At these words, Neo took his eyes off the scope. “If you think just talking can persuade me, you’re far too naive!”
“Hmph…” The Dark Mage sneered. “Evidence. Of course I’ve brought it—I…”
Just then, Neo rudely interrupted, “Good. Remember to balance work and rest in your next life. Staying in the magic tower for too long has gone to your head!”
As he spoke, Neo pulled the trigger.
Bang! Around the rear of the long gun, a flat beam of white light spread out, as if vapor was escaping from a vent, but it was actually light, not vapor. This light didn’t convey any sense of sacred power to the nearby mages like Green; instead, it was pure force.
Between the gun barrel and the Dark Mage’s forehead, countless halos formed a magnificent and dazzling pattern in midair. A beam of light stretched straight through them, radiant and intense. What shocked Green and the others was the immense power contained within that light—its sheer intensity far exceeded their comprehension.
The arrow-resistant magic that the Dark Mage took pride in was now meaningless against this shot. A bullet no larger than a mung bean pierced straight through his skull.
Yet, as the world’s most bizarre magic system, the Dark Mage’s magic allowed him to survive such a strike. An ordinary person would have had their head blown off, neck broken, and thrown far away, but the Dark Mage only tilted his head back slightly, with a hole the thickness of a little finger appearing on his forehead.
In that instant, Green and the others saw his expression turn utterly monstrous—such a shot hadn’t even killed him!
Neo’s sudden attack and the Dark Mage’s bizarre reaction made the five of them forget to help him at that moment. Failing to act at critical times—this is why novices remain novices.
But Neo was used to facing strong enemies alone. The moment after pulling the trigger, he activated his charge skill and a terrifying battle roar. He knew well that against a powerful foe, the rule was never to give them even a moment’s respite. He had prepared for this moment for a long time, and this was undoubtedly his ultimate strike.
Even so, before Neo could get close to the Dark Mage, he managed to activate one of the emergency third-tier spells. A magic circle above his head flared brightly, and a conical jet of poisonous green light shot forth. Inside it, countless black light spikes, sharp as needles, flashed like shrapnel from a bomb.
Without hesitation, Neo met it head-on. His three-stage charge could be altered mid-way, but the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. He preferred to endure the blow with his own flesh rather than delay even half a second.
The poisonous green light enveloped Neo, and the black spikes caused countless clusters of blood-red light to burst forth on his body, like numerous bright red flowers blooming.

Nio seemed unconscious, not even trembling, maintaining his high speed and continuing to roar loudly.
The second tier of the Dark Mage’s emergency third-circle spell was almost ready by now, and his hands had begun to form a complex sigil—a powerful additional spell. At the same time, he was raising himself and retreating, showing a clear pattern of acceleration.
Under these circumstances, Nio closed in. His intimidating battle roar finally had some effect; with the Dark Mage’s head injured and his mental focus unable to concentrate as quickly as before, it further disrupted the spell, slowing it down by just under half a second.
The outcome was decided in that half second.
A blood-red arc flashed, and the Dark Mage’s body continued to retreat, but his head remained suspended in midair.
Yet this was not the end. First, the cut on the Dark Mage’s neck did not bleed—a single drop of blood did not flow. Second, the magic circle above his head did not disintegrate, and he continued to chant spells, his hands still forming sigils.
Nio didn’t think everything was settled after making that cut. After severing the Dark Mage’s head, he quickly did three things. First, he created a seal bag to capture the head. The seal bag was a basic spell he had mastered during his first pursuit by dark forces in the Dark Lands; originally used to seal magical items in storage boxes, it was now used by Nio to isolate mages from the world.
Considering the four major forces he controlled—blood energy and moon energy, both influenced by dark energy—dark energy itself was unsuitable. Thus, Nio chose his life energy to counteract the corrosive effects of negative energy, and this energy did not disappoint him. He could sense that the magical fluctuations in that area had significantly decreased.
The second thing he did was slash off the Dark Mage’s hands. As the most agile limbs, a mage’s hands are always their strongest weapons. Even if not forming sigils, Nio would undoubtedly cut them off. Again, he caught them in the air using the seal bag. Mages usually wear magic rings and bracelets, and no one knew whether these artifacts served merely to enhance power or had special functions, so the safest approach was to seal them, preventing contact with the world and thus interrupting their spells.
The third thing Nio did before abruptly turning and fleeing during the third phase of his charge was to throw away the dagger he had always carried (originally from the West Wind Battle Camp outside Sol’s City, later reforged with a new handle), and then snatch the Dark Mage’s belt, including the black robe and several small leather pouches attached to it.
A mage’s spell materials are usually kept here. Sometimes, obtaining these materials isn’t as simple as opening a pouch and taking a handful—instead, they are directly absorbed (common among war mages), so these items couldn’t be left behind for the enemy.

At the same time, the lingering effects of the Poisonous Green Shock cast by the Dark Magician had spread over 50 meters, burning the barriers with a hissing sound and leaving scorched pits everywhere. This successfully drew the attention of Green and the others, preventing them from witnessing Neo’s series of brutal actions in their entirety.

The Dark Magician’s body had now stopped retreating. All the black smoke that had surrounded him was drawn into his body through the wounds on his neck and wrists. An extreme physical transformation immediately ensued—a new head with a single blood-red eye appeared, along with a pair of giant black claws. His body swelled, tearing his clothes apart, and wings resembling a mix of feathers and bat wings unfolded at his back. His legs turned into hooved limbs with reversed joints. In just a few seconds, the Dark Magician transformed from a thin man into a muscular demon.

By then, Neo was already over 20 meters away and had completely sealed off the Dark Magician’s limbs and belongings.

“Vengeful Demon, leave it now!” Green shouted anxiously after seeing the monster the Dark Magician had become.

The Vengeful Demon is a highly rare black magic whose successful casting is extremely difficult. The caster must obtain a demon embryo and seal it within their own body. Over many years, they must nurture the demon using their mental energy, blood, and dark energy. Once successful, if the caster dies, their body is handed over to the demon according to a contract made earlier. The demon is then freed from its bonds and feasts on the most nourishing meal, truly manifesting itself. During this process, powerful chaotic energy from other dimensions acts as a shield for it. Only those familiar with dimensional energy or at the level of a sacred being can inflict harm on it at this stage.

Although the Vengeful Demon has huge eyes the size of cow eggs, it is completely blind. Yet night is like day to it, just as it is to ordinary people. Its contract with the caster grants it several abilities: it can find anything that has come into contact with the caster’s blood, even from thousands of miles away; it can track targets marked by the caster’s soul, no matter how far they go; and it can detect those who have touched the caster and possess their scent within a kilometer.

Unfortunately, Neo avoided all three possibilities and had already taken refuge in a lit area.

As an extradimensional being protected by the shield of chaotic dimensional energy, the Vengeful Demon is almost invincible to ordinary people for a certain period of time. Thus, if a direct confrontation occurred, even with Star 745 and Green fighting together, they would still be doomed to defeat.

Aaaah!!

The Vengeful Demon scanned the surroundings with its blood-red eye while using its tiny, insignificant snout to sniff intensely. Nothing—no scent to follow, no target splashed with blood in recent time, and no way to contact its host’s soul. All around was nothing but vast emptiness, with only a faint path visible behind it. The Vengeful Demon was frustrated and angry. It had limited time; if it couldn’t avenge its host this time, it would have to create its own path to this world to continue searching for the culprit. Entering such a well-developed primary material dimension was an extremely difficult task. But if it failed to avenge its host, it would bear the curse forever, suffering immense pain at regular intervals—something it definitely didn’t want!

By the time Neo rushed back to the barrier in one go, the Vengeful Demon had already gone berserk. With each swipe of its claws, lightning, wind blades, frost, boulders… whatever spell might appear was far more powerful than those cast by archmages. The barrier defenses over 50 meters away were also affected, as if under attack by a team of 10 tactical mages. Hess used the power of the earth to strengthen the barrier, while Babo employed fire spells to weaken the attacks. Eran and Nizi erected energy shields, barely preventing the barrier from collapsing in a short time. As for the warriors, they had already withdrawn from the front line under Neo’s orders—this was beyond their capabilities, and charging in would only result in more casualties.

Neo himself was also badly injured. Saying he was battered by the black magician’s dying counterattack might be an exaggeration, but saying he was covered in wounds certainly wasn’t. His entire front was covered in charred pits, and his face had several such wounds, leaving him disfigured. The pus and blood flowing from them looked extremely tragic and severe.

Of course, Neo wouldn’t let such evil magical forces ruin him like this. He had already used the Wave of Life on himself; otherwise, he wouldn’t be bleeding pus and blood. It would have seemed like he wasn’t seriously hurt. Many black magic spells are of this kind—seem harmless but actually very dangerous and hard to eradicate.

Green also possessed purification spells, water-based cleansing and healing spells that were relatively neutral and compatible with any constitution, though their effectiveness was somewhat lower. As a seasoned caster, Green’s spells were quite powerful. The charred pits turned into bloody ones, and these wound-like holes couldn’t be sewn up—there was no way to repair them. All that could be done was wait for new tissue to grow and fill them.

Following Neo’s orders, over a dozen Night Watch soldiers were hit, and then sunlight catapults were used to fire energy projectiles toward the front line.

The Vengeful Demon felt the surroundings becoming increasingly blinding and instinctively retreated in the direction where it could barely see anything. It wasn’t stupid—it guessed that its target of vengeance was likely in that light. By retreating, it aimed to get a clearer view of the terrain from a broader perspective and come up with a targeted strategy.

But once it got a rough idea of the terrain, it couldn’t help but frown. Fangyanyi was like a solitary island connected by a single path, but it was quite large—otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible to easily accommodate those 10 large carts and 10 giant rhinos. Under the light, the range expanded to over 300 meters. To deal a powerful strike in such a large area, ordinary spells wouldn’t suffice; a strong spell was needed. And such spells usually took a long time to cast. Worse still, it had no usable materials at hand, making things even harder. Most critically, it could sense that dawn was approaching!

“Give up? Of course not!” The world where the Vengeful Demon lived was already extremely cruel. Just to survive, one had to pay a heavy price. As long as there was any chance, it would try!

Meanwhile, in the camp, Neo, whose wounds had just begun to heal, was solemnly putting on his armor with the help of his soldiers.

Next to him, the expressions on the faces of those around him were quite complex. That had been their expression ever since they learned that Neo had chosen to confront the Vengeful Demon head-on rather than defend passively.
“I am a guardian—not one who hides in a corner waiting for disaster to pass!” Neo’s reasoning sounded noble and solemn, but in truth, it was nothing but fear—a sentiment he couldn’t allow himself to have, having chosen such a difficult path. Recalling past battles, he remembered how many times he had risked his life to make progress. He tried every means to stay alive, yet he couldn’t fear death. So he would fight! The Vengeful Demon was powerful—could it surpass the Holy Land? Without the absolute dominance of a domain, he still had a chance to fight. Besides, dawn was approaching…
Gritting his teeth, he refused to fear. Thus, when more than half of the Vengeful Demon’s spells had been cast and the eastern horizon began to glow faintly, the two warriors met.
“If I die in battle, I will return to your embrace early. If I survive, I will understand the path you follow, uphold the laws you uphold, and remain unwavering!” Neo recited his words of faith once again.
Aaaah… With his loud battle cry, the stones on the ground within several meters trembled. A flame-like light illuminated his body—silver, the light of a guardian, blessed by the Whispers of the Abyss. It was said that this holy sword contained the laws of the Earth Mother. Among Emira’s deities, only certain alien races worshipped the Earth Mother—Mi, and by “Earth Mother” here, it actually referred to nature.
Unlike before, Neo was still wearing the same armor, but over it he had donned a blood-red battle robe. The robe was adorned with symbols representing the forces of nature, and at the hem, just above the crotch, were golden spells of sacred guardianship.
This magical robe was being worn for the first time since it was crafted. As Neo raised his fighting spirit and roared his battle cry of faith, the spells began to emit brilliant light. Under this light, the silver glow of guardianship merged with the bright red energy of blood, turning orange, before eventually giving way to golden light.
“Damn it! I’m seeing the Sacred Guardian here!” The Vengeful Demon immediately halted its spells—it was now certain that its enemy was this guy right before it. Of course, this was actually a misunderstanding. The Sacred Guardian came from a world called Earth and had become famous in the demon realm system 3,000 years ago. Along with their mad leader, Xilang the Burning, they had slaughtered demons across the realm. The realm where the Vengeful Demon lived had been ravaged by hundreds of holy war leaders for hundreds of years. Their original world had been destroyed, and it was one of those demons that had escaped using the method of demonic gestation. Now, upon seeing the Sacred Guardian, it thought it was a pursuer sent specifically to hunt it.
“A final battle!” The Vengeful Demon roared in imperfect demon language, gathering elemental powers around it, creating a chaotic mix of colors—a sign of incomplete fusion. That was all it could manage here.

Bang! The clash of sword and shield produced a deafening sound. Then,Neo strode forward from the edge illuminated by the light sphere toward the Vengeful Demon, his pace gradually accelerating—faster and faster, thud thud thud! He started running, charging forward! His blade glowed brightly, emitting light like a golden flag.
“Destruction!” The Vengeful Demon crossed its arms in front of it before spreading them apart, reciting a curse filled with immense power in a demonic tongue.
Boom! A chaotic force in the shape of a diagonal cross summoned a mudslide over ten meters high, rushing wildly towardNeo.
Neo met it with his brightly lit tower shield.
Boom! A massive explosion spanning nearly ten meters created a huge crater in the ground, with a prominent trench extending outward. At the end of this trench, the charge was halted. Covered in dust,Neo emerged from the dissipating smoke, his body glowing again as he roared and charged once more.
“Death!” By now, the Vengeful Demon had taken to the air, diving downward like a fierce lightning bolt.Neo used his shield to block the demon’s kicking hooves.
Boom! Black lightning exploded, causing the ground to ripple like a crumpled blanket, forming a semicircular pit. At the center of this pit,Neo held up his tower shield, which showed signs of melting and cracking, as he roared and charged out again.
“Tear apart!” The Vengeful Demon’s claws and legs, infused with chaotic power, moved rapidly, attackingNeo nonstop. With sword against shield, accompanied by thunderous noises and his hoarse yet powerful roars, the kinetic energy from their battle sent sand and stones flying everywhere like in a hurricane. The intense energy waves created strong winds that made Green’s robes flutter dozens of meters away. It was a chaotic scene of glowing magic and fierce fighting—no one could intervene. Green couldn’t even lock ontoNeo to use his healing spells.
Howl!Neo wasn’t just passively taking hits; his combat skills were excellent. Though the Vengeful Demon’s devastating attacks repeatedly disrupted his defense, he still fought with all his might, occasionally launching ridiculous counterattacks that annoyed the demon.
“Stupid stone (a derogatory term for Sacred Guardians)! Your worthless attacks mean nothing. Today, I’ll crush you! Crush you!” The Vengeful Demon was cunning; it had been cautious earlier because the Sacred Guard always appeared in groups—whether fighting one or a hundred or a thousand, it was always the same group, with very few instances of fighting alone.
But as time passed, the Vengeful Demon grew complacent. The Sacred Guard wasn’t someone to be underestimated—they were always strong. And this one, the Vengeful Demon could tell, didn’t seem like a proper Sacred Guardian—its armor was inferior, and its protective power was clearly weak. “Besides, this guy is barely holding on. He won’t last long!”

The vengeful demon finally unleashed its full power. In this world, many of its abilities could not be used, and their strength was reduced. Even if it could use them, they wouldn’t be fancy in any way—everything for immediate combat was instant. In an instant, a brilliant light surrounded it, forming a turbulent vortex-like convergence that frantically sucked in elemental energies from the surrounding area. To spellcasters like Green, it seemed as though the entire dark world was cheering for it.

As for Neo, he was clearly struggling to hold on. His orange-golden light resembled a flickering oil lamp in a strong wind, seemingly on the verge of going out at any moment. Only his occasional battle roars made people realize that he had once again managed to defend himself and could fight on…