Chapter 001: Sacred Binding

Prince Fischer spoke in a mysterious tone, yet the smile on his face carried an eerie undertone.
Du Fan couldn’t figure out what he meant at first, so he didn’t overthink it and merely frowned slightly.
Seeing that Du Fan didn’t respond, Prince Fischer didn’t mind—it was only natural for Du Fan to hesitate under such circumstances.
Both of them turned to look at the scene. There, several cardinals surrounding Francis were entirely enveloped in holy fire. Their positions formed a pattern that vaguely resembled a magic circle.
Francis stood in the center, his blood-red rose drawn once again. Gray combat energy spread around him, as if he was ready to act.
Anthony glanced at Francis from afar and said, “Lord Francis, do you really intend to fight?”
Francis sneered, “If we’re going to fight, let’s do it. Why all the talk?”
Hearing this, Anthony shook his head slightly and sighed, “What a shame… Lord Francis… truly a pity!”
With that, Anthony stepped back a few steps and joined Du Fan and Prince Fischer before continuing, “Go ahead and fight… Remember, Lord Francis is also a great hero—leave him at least his intact body!”
The cardinals responded in unison. Holy light emanated from their staffs, and soon, under their control, the lights interconnected, forming a massive holy cross in the air that slowly descended toward Francis.
Francis snorted, “Trying to play god!”
With that, he flicked his blood-red rose, sending a flame toward the holy cross in the sky. But with a loud boom, the flame vanished instantly, yet the massive holy cross remained unharmed.
At the same time, a huge holy cross appeared on the ground, mirroring the one above, seemingly meant to trap Francis in its center.
Seeing this, Prince Fischer sighed suddenly and said, “It’s rare to see five cardinals using this move, Sacred Binding, at once.”
Du Fan frowned and asked, “Is this move that powerful?”

Prince Fischer glanced at Du Fan with some confusion and said, “Du Fan, you’re still part of our Holy Church. How can you not even know about the Sacred Binding? The Sacred Binding is one of the magic arrays passed down through our Holy Church since ancient times. It belongs to the advanced holy light magic category and is already extremely powerful. With five cardinals casting spells together, even Francis would likely not be a match…”

Du Fan took a few more looks. The holy light all around was intense, almost completely enveloping Francis’s figure. But having witnessed the power of the holy rank before, he knew well that Francis probably wasn’t even using 10% of his strength at this moment. He shook his head slightly and said, “I doubt it… After all, Francis is a being of the holy rank!”

Prince Fischer looked at Du Fan in surprise and said, “I didn’t expect you to know about this.”

Du Fan shook his head, remaining silent, but continued to watch the scene.

At that moment, a golden combat aura suddenly surged upward from the blazing holy fire. Although the holy fire tried its best to engulf it, it melted away the moment it touched the golden combat aura. The surrounding space began to tremble slightly as white and golden energies clashed. Francis wore a cold expression, while the five cardinals were all sweating profusely.

Prince Fischer suddenly frowned and said, “If Francis is that strong, how can’t even five cardinals defeat him together? After all, these cardinals are all powerful beings at level eight or above!”

Du Fan shook his head again, still silent.

But Anthony, who had been watching the scene the whole time, heard this and suddenly smiled lightly. “Your Highness Fischer, level eight is still just level eight, while the holy rank is ultimately the holy rank… Not to mention five cardinals—even ten wouldn’t be a match for Francis…”

Prince Fischer’s eyes lit up as he suddenly smiled gently and said, “I see!”

Anthony laughed heartily and said, “That’s good! That’s good! I think not only have you understood, but that Mr. Francis has probably understood as well… Du Fan… do you understand?”

Du Fan’s heart skipped a beat. Those two bastards were implying that they had long known the five cardinals weren’t a match for Francis—even Francis himself was aware of this. So what Francis was doing now was merely buying time… Then what was their purpose in buying time…

It seems the show isn’t over yet tonight!

Du Fan sighed inwardly, then smiled and said, “Lord Anthony… Prince Fischer… I think I mostly understand now.”
Anthony smiled faintly and said, “It’s good that you understand. Then let’s watch…”
With that, all three turned their attention back to the arena.
The five cardinals appeared pale, sweating profusely, seemingly on the verge of fainting at any moment. The holy light emanating from their wands had become extremely weak, as if it might vanish at any second.
Seeing this, Anthony frowned and said, “It seems they can hold on no longer.”
Prince Fischer glanced at Anthony, his expression complex, and said, “Lord Anthony… Are we really going to let Lord Francis go like this?”
Anthony smiled and said, “Of course not… The time is right. Let me step in and add fuel to the fire!”
With that, Anthony flicked his hand slightly, and a beam of holy light shot out from beneath his robe, striking the Sacred Binding magic array. As this holy light joined forces with it, the once-fragile magic array became stable once again.
The five cardinals’ grim expressions gradually improved, and the holy light suppressed by their holy combat energy flared up once more.
Francis’s holy combat energy had been suppressed to its limit, making his expression grim. Though red flames kept bursting from the blood-red rose in his hand, they were quickly overwhelmed by the holy light.
Seeing this, Anthony suddenly glanced at Francis again and shouted, “Lord Francis, if you admit defeat now, it might be acceptable. But if you continue… dying like this will be a pity!”
Francis snorted coldly and said, “There’s no need! This Sacred Binding can’t do anything to me!”
With that, a gray-colored combat energy spread through the golden holy combat energy, pushing back the surrounding holy flames once more. The cardinals whose expressions had slightly improved turned pale again.
But this time, Anthony didn’t intervene. His gaze fixed on Francis in the arena, his expression shifting rapidly. What should have been concern vanished in an instant, and he murmured in a voice too soft for anyone to hear, “Just at the peak of the holy rank…”
After saying these unheard words, Anthony showed a look of relief. He glanced at the arena a few more times and suddenly murmured, “The time is almost up!”

Du Fan and Prince Fischer raised their eyebrows, about to say something, but at that moment, a cold voice suddenly came from all directions: “Francis, how useless you are! To be trapped by these trashlings! You’ve completely disgraced the eldest prince!”
Du Fan’s expression changed, and he couldn’t help but say, “Amper! You old monster! Come out and face me!”
Anthony wore a smirk but said nothing, while Prince Fischer also shook his head slightly.
Amper seemed to have heard Du Fan’s words as well. He sneered a few times and said, “Little Du Fan, it’s not time for us to decide a winner today. I said I’d come back for you… As for now!”
Before he could finish speaking, Du Fan’s brows twitched suddenly as he felt a fire dragon burst forth from the darkness, aiming straight at one of the cardinals. The cardinal’s expression changed instantly; he spun his wand, and a barrier of holy light appeared before him.
The fire dragon slammed into the barrier in an instant. The cardinal clutched his wand tightly, channeling magic from within. Under the barrier’s protection, the fire dragon was split into two and disappeared into the air.
Yet, precisely because of this, the Sacred Binding lost its balance. As the fire dragon vanished, cracks appeared on the holy light behind the cardinal. With a crisp sound, like fireworks exploding, the entire Sacred Binding magic array turned into silver fragments.
Several cardinals stepped back at the same time. One of the less powerful ones turned pale and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Francis appeared in the silver light. Though he had escaped, his expression grew even colder. He glanced at the cardinals around him and said grimly, “Amper, when did I ask you to intervene?”
Amper’s figure slowly appeared behind him and whispered, “The court magicians have arrived. If we don’t leave now, we really won’t be able to!”
“Court magicians?” Francis sneered. “What can those trashlings do?”