Chapter 012: Disaster

The battle within the Divine Palace continued.
The three Death Knights were clearly not newly born undead creatures; they coordinated seamlessly, moving in an orderly manner, suggesting they had been working together for many years.
Each of their slashes carried a strong aura of death, seemingly capable of tearing through space itself.
Oldas swung his long sword coldly, his combat energy infused with a sacred aura, which gave him some advantage in dealing with the deadly aura.
If he had been facing just one Death Knight, the battle might have already ended long ago.
But now he was dealing with three of them, making it difficult for him to focus on all at once, though he wasn’t completely overwhelmed.
Seeing the Death Knights closing in once again, Oldas gritted his teeth. He knew he couldn’t keep fighting this way indefinitely. Undead creatures had no sense of pain and were tireless—this was what made them so terrifying. If he continued to stall, even if he eventually won, he would pay a heavy price.
He roared loudly, his voice echoing like thunder.
Although the Bone Horses lacked pain sensation, they still had souls. Oldas’s roar caused their intense cyan flames to flicker briefly, but they returned to normal shortly after.
Yet those few seconds gave Oldas the chance he needed.
Swinging his sword, he executed a series of intricate sword techniques, instantly blocking the Death Knights’ attacks. Taking advantage of the opening, his long-accumulated combat energy surged forth, enveloping him as if in a colorful suit of armor.
Oldas stood firm in place. The three Death Knights, realizing what was happening, immediately surrounded him, slashing down with their blades imbued with death aura.
But the layer of combat energy surrounding Oldas acted like a castle—though somewhat shaky, it still managed to withstand the repeated attacks.
Inside his energy shield, Oldas’s expression was solemn. In utter silence, a powerful surge of combat energy emanated from every part of his body. His sword tip burned continuously, like an eternal flame.
Finally, Oldas seemed to roar again, but no one heard the sound.
His energy shield retracted at some point, and in one motion, he broke free from the Death Knights’ encirclement.

One of the Death Knights collapsed like a heavy blow; its burdened body suddenly froze, and the flames in its eyes began to flicker. Finally, with a “crack,” it fell from its mount, its black aura dissipating gradually until the snow-white bone powder beneath its armor was revealed. The bone horse beside it neighed once, its form slowly weakening, and eventually, after all its black aura vanished, even its soul flame disappeared, leaving only two piles of bone powder on the ground, drifting away in the wind. The remaining two Death Knights, enraged, charged at Aldas at the same time, but Aldas merely smiled coldly. With a flash, he disappeared from his spot and reappeared elsewhere, slicing the two Death Knights in two. A strong aura of death spread everywhere as they vanished. Eventually, those mighty Death Knights turned into bone powder, which vanished with the cold wind. The surrounding death creatures, sensing something, scattered instantly. In less than a moment, only Aldas and two others remained in what had once been a crowded divine palace. Aldas suddenly stiffened; the fighting spirit flames burning throughout his body dimmed rapidly, and he collapsed to the ground. After a long while, he suddenly burst into wild laughter, which quickly turned into a fierce shout, then back into laughter. Eventually, he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood. His face turned pale, and his body trembled violently. Nicholas and Alfred watched in confusion from the side. Alfred slowly retracted his fighting spirit, shielding Nicholas behind him. He gently patted Aldas’s shoulder and asked, “Lord Aldas… what… happened to you?” Aldas abruptly turned his head, startling Alfred, who quickly stepped back a few meters, holding Nicholas close. His eyes were filled with deep red bloodlight, flickering with intense murderous intent. After a while, the bloodlight in his eyes gradually faded away. Aldas’s expression returned to normal. He slowly stood up, still somewhat weak and unsteady on his feet, but his composure was restored. His black hair mixed with white strands floated gently in the wind, giving him an air of elegance. Aldas took a deep breath and said after a long pause, “It’s fine… let’s hurry now. We can discuss other matters later. As for those things up there…”

Before he could finish speaking, Ordas felt a shiver run through his body. He stared at the figure on the altar, utterly speechless for a moment. On the altar, there was a beautiful figure who had appeared somehow—she stood there gracefully, looking up at the broken statue. The light from the statue illuminated her, making her appear radiant and sacred. She seemed to be sighing softly, gently shaking her head. No one knew when this woman had appeared on the altar, yet even with Ordas and the others’ abilities, they hadn’t sensed her presence… Who could she be? The atmosphere became tense again. Ordas slowly stepped forward two steps, not knowing what to say. It seemed the beautiful figure had only just noticed someone behind her. She turned slowly, her face extremely charming. Ordas’s mind went blank in an instant. The woman glanced at Ordas and the others, then suddenly smiled and said, “You’ve helped me deal with those noisy ants—thanks for the trouble. If there’s nothing else… you can leave. I don’t need you here…” Ordas was stunned and quickly regained his senses. “Who the hell are you?” “Me?” The woman smiled, causing Ordas to lose focus again. “What does it matter who I am? All you need to know is that your presence is unnecessary. Do you really think it’s important to know who I am?” With that, she shook her head slightly, a hint of mockery on her lips. She gently touched the altar, then walked toward the statue. As she approached, ripples spread across the void like waves on water, and her figure slowly merged into them. In the end, Ordas still seemed to see the mockery on her face. “Space magic! It’s actually space magic!” Nicholas, with his sharp eyes, couldn’t help but exclaim. The legendary space magic, when mastered to its extreme, could even allow one to touch the realm of gods. Such control over the laws of time and space was beyond the reach of ordinary people. His surprise faded quickly. After hesitating for a moment, Nicholas asked, “Who is that woman? Why is she here?” The three of them looked at each other, unable to answer.

After hesitating for a while, Alfred finally said hesitantly, “On our way here, we encountered third-party forces. What do you think? Could it be… those people?”
Nicholas shook his head. “What third-party forces? Those people from the Snow Fox Mercenaries were actually hired by me. I originally planned to use them to weaken the power of the Temple Knights in the ice fields. Who would have thought they were such fools that they all fell into Du Fan’s hands?”
Alfred looked relieved, not knowing what to do for a moment. Their gazes both turned to Aldas, as they could only rely on him to make a decision now.
Aldas’ expression was unpredictable. Although the source of divinity was right in front of him, he dared not move. The pressure exerted by that suddenly appearing woman was simply overwhelming.
A light laugh suddenly came from behind them. Aldas’ expression changed as he turned around and was stunned.
Du Fan walked in slowly from outside the divine palace, hands behind his back. Several magical shields surrounded him, while his smile was full of mockery.
“So that’s how it is!” Du Fan smiled faintly. “I’ve been wondering if such third-party forces really exist. Now that you’ve given me the answer… shouldn’t I compensate you in some way? For example… the identity of that woman just now?”
Aldas and the others exchanged glances, not knowing how to respond.
Du Fan smiled again. “But I think it’s better if you don’t know. If you did, it would end in a life-or-death struggle between us… As for now… we might still have some room for negotiation. Any other developments in this situation probably won’t be good news…”
Before Alfred could say anything, Aldas waved his hand, stepped forward, and said, “Du Fan… I didn’t expect you to still be alive?”
“I’m sorry to disappoint Lord Aldas… It’s said that good people don’t live long, while troublemakers last for thousands of years… How could someone like me die so easily?”