Chapter 390: The Clash of Domains

Seeing the endless brilliance on the other side, several powerful figures among the allied forces realized that things were trouble this time.
The opponent had clearly revealed their strongest cards before the decisive battle, catching them off guard.
“This power… it belongs to someone at least at the legendary level, and there are also fluctuations of divine energy. It seems the Glory of the Three Gods Church is really going all out!”
Legendary Archmage Colin created a magic barrier about ten feet in diameter and spoke to Dawson, Donald, and the others.
Earl Dawson frowned deeply, his brows completely white.
“What do we do? I didn’t expect them to plan to fight us so soon!”
The aged mage Colin smiled and said, “I never expected them to behave properly and fight us honestly at our base. Although starting the battle here was a bit hasty, with Donald and the others joining us, our chances of victory have increased several times over. Let me go first to fight them and assess their strength. As for the main force, I hope you can help protect Prince Duri—just in case anything unexpected happens!”
Donald nodded on behalf of his group and said, “Don’t worry. With us here, we’ll ensure our people are safe. Any fool who dares to launch a sneak attack will surely meet their end!”
Hearing Donald’s assurance, Colin nodded in relief at Duri.
“Are you ready? It’s time to show them the glory of Selt!”
“Yes, Master. I’m ready. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time!”
Beside Colin, Second Prince Duri solemnly drew out a magnificent silver-colored knight’s sword. Donald immediately recognized the immense power contained within it. Though not yet a sub-legendary artifact, its strength was no less than that of an ordinary one.
Duri muttered something under his breath, then raised the sword high and shouted loudly, “Glory is my destiny—”
All the knights present, including those from the Glory Knight Order, noble knights and their servants, as well as knights under Donald like Uther, all shouted this slogan along with Duri.
This was the phrase from the knightly oath when officially granted knighthood in Selt—said to be spoken by Selt I, the greatest knight and founder of the kingdom.
As all the knights shouted this phrase, invisible beams of light connected them to the sword in Duri’s hand. The originally silver-colored sword immediately emitted a soft, sacred white light.

As Durai shouted once again, “Glory is my destiny—courage!” The brilliance of the knight’s sword in his hand instantly spread over an area of a thousand feet, encompassing the entire core of the army. Durai himself also saw his strength surge from the peak of bronze level, as if inflated, rising from the early stages of silver to the middle stages of silver, and finally breaking through to the middle stages of gold. It wasn’t that he couldn’t advance any further, but rather his physical constitution could no longer withstand more power.

Along with Durai, all the knights who were shouting slogans also saw their strength increase by at least one minor rank. Among them, the black-iron rank knights and apprentices saw the most significant improvement—those with superior aptitudes advanced by two or three ranks, breaking through from bronze to the early or middle stages of bronze, and even some reaching higher levels.

The full-fledged knights above bronze rank, though their strength increased little under the influence of this domain, still saw a boost relative to their current levels. Thus, even though the increase was modest, it was still far greater than that of the lower-ranked knights and apprentices.

Not only did the knights enhance their own strength, but everyone in Celt who was within this domain felt an surge in fighting spirit, as if a lion or tiger inside them was ready to be unleashed and pounce on the enemy.

This was the second effect of this domain. Donald guessed it was related to the word “courage” that Durai had just shouted.

Seeing this phenomenon, Donald, who possessed divine vision, naturally understood the secret of this knight’s sword. An object that could gather, transform, and utilize faith power could, in the terms of the God’s Church, be called a sacred artifact!

So, the royal secret technique actually revolved around the use of faith power—using the belief power of numerous knights to create faith energy, which, through the transformation of that sacred knight’s sword, formed a domain akin to that of a legendary warrior, though even broader than ordinary legendary domains. The downside was that a domain created by equipment wasn’t as flexible as one cast by a legendary warrior itself, and its rules were too rigid!

No wonder King XV’s body had deteriorated to such an extent—using this secret technique frequently would inevitably cause physical damage. After all, for true gods, faith power was energy and nourishment, but for mortals, it was nothing short of a deadly chronic poison.

It’s not that the power of faith is toxic, but rather it relates to the level of that power and the organism’s capacity to withstand it. How can mortal bodies and souls endure the impact of such complex faith-based concepts? Even if there are special techniques to shield against mental impacts, using such high-level powers as faith through a physical body results in harm manifested as a loss of life force.

Donald was able to use the power of faith at the Bronze and Silver levels because of the Book of Truth acting as a buffer, taking on all the harm it caused to the human body. For a high-tier artifact, that harm wasn’t just negligible—it actually served to nourish the artifact itself.

Durye being able to wield this power was clearly due to the royal secrets he possessed. Even though his elite knight’s sword, which could be considered a sacred weapon, took 50% of the harm caused by faith to the body, and secret techniques reduced the backlash by another 40%, Donald could see that the remaining 10% still had a significant impact on Durye, who had just reached the Silver level but hadn’t yet advanced further. Even if it wasn’t apparent now, it would surely plant hidden dangers within his body. Once those accumulated to a certain extent, Durye, as the king’s heir, would follow in his father’s footsteps!

Donald didn’t have a good solution for this and could only give Durye two bottles of undiluted Moon Essence. This energy liquid, rich in vitality and with mild medicinal properties, could help alleviate the risks caused by faith backlash, at least temporarily preventing excessive permanent damage.

Holding his knight’s sword in one hand and the crystal bottle in the other, Durye smiled gratefully at Donald and said, “I’ll guard the center forces. I leave the flanks to you!”

Donald nodded and signaled to his two legendary warriors.

Eager to act, Carlisle and Nozdormu immediately split up and rushed to the front lines on either side, unleashing their domain powers to resist the influence of the opposing radiant forces.

Carlisle’s Blood Battle Domain had become increasingly refined over time, enhanced by his divine bloodline and the fragments of deities he had integrated, covering an area of 500 feet in diameter.

As for Nozdormu, although he had risen to the legendary rank by obtaining the title of Sea Lord, his innate dragon advantages allowed him to fight far beyond ordinary legendary warriors.

Although his divine domain could not benefit from totemic powers since it was not located within his own territory, its power and range were no less than those of the domains unleashed by Duri through sacred artifacts. If Nozdormu took on dragon form, its body length alone would reach fifty feet, meaning the range of such a dragon’s domain was often several times larger than that of ordinary humans or humanoid warriors like elves. Seeing several powerful warriors capable of wielding domains appear in their ranks, the soldiers of the allied forces finally regained their morale, their fighting spirit soaring as they were no longer affected by the opposing radiant forces. The radiant forces on the side of the rebels in Bitterwater Town, sensing the emergence of opposing domain forces, immediately charged at those domains with overwhelming force. These radiant forces were different from domains but similar to them, and far more powerful than the domains unleashed by ordinary legendary warriors. It was precisely because the three domain forces on the allied side were not ordinary legendary domains that they could barely hold their ground. Among them, the weakest was Carlisle’s Blood Battle Domain, which had been reduced to half its original size under the pressure of those radiant forces. Yet, due to Carlisle’s strong control over domain power, even though its range had shrunk, it still covered the front of the left wing, preventing the frontline soldiers from being weakened by the opposing forces. Next in terms of pressure was Duri’s white light domain in the center of the army. Strictly speaking, this domain, unleashed through a sacred artifact, was slightly stronger than Carlisle’s Blood Battle Domain, as it was supported by hundreds of powerful full knights and nearly a thousand knight servants. The combined strength of these forces far exceeded that of three legendary warriors like Carlisle. However, it was precisely this very strength that became its weakness. Since it relied on the collective faith of many people, its power was widespread but dispersed. Faced with the opposing radiant forces, even with Duri’s strong support, its strength was reduced to three-fifths of its original level, barely sufficient to cover the center of the army. The strongest resistance to the radiant forces came from the Bronze Dragon King’s side on the right wing. No matter how fiercely those radiant forces surged like a flood, Nozdormu’s Tidal Domain remained steadfast like rocks on the coast, unshaken by wind and rain.

Feeling the dominance of the Bronze Dragon King’s domain, from the direction of Bitter Water Town, it seemed as though a voice, hot yet tinged with utter coldness, came from the heavens above.
“A false god? How dare it violate the gods’ taboos…”