Chapter 675: Gabriel Is At Disadvantage?

Seeing that his opponent now appeared weaker, the Captain was upon Gabriel once more his long black longsword came slashing again.

CLANG!

Gabriel raised Crimson Judgement horizontally to block the strike, his body sliding back half a step with the momentum. Then, with a twist of the blade, he redirected the second strike to the side.

Without Blood Rush, his speed had indeed slowed. But his combat experience had not disappeared.

The captain struck several times in succession. Each time, he was clearly faster than Gabriel, yet he still could not truly break through the defense of that crimson greatsword. And as time passed bit by bit, more and more blood flowed from his left eye.

Gabriel quickly understood.

The other man was racing against time.

The white mark was not without cost.

And that cost was even more severe than Blood Rush’s.

Once Blood Exhaustion ended, he could still recover.

But if this guy in front of him continued using divinity like this, his body would truly break down.

After understanding this, Gabriel was in no hurry anymore.

"What’s wrong?"

He blocked another strike and smoothly pressed the black longsword to one side.

"Didn’t you say you could kill me earlier?"

The captain’s expression was icy. "You think dragging this out for a few dozen seconds means you’ve won?"

"At least I won’t go blind first."

Gabriel glanced at his left eye.

The captain’s expression immediately turned even uglier.

In the next moment, the white divinity suddenly surged violently.

The black sword directly knocked Crimson Judgement aside.

Gabriel did not take it head on. Using the force, he retreated until the two of them had once again opened up some distance before stopping.

The captain did not pursue.

He naturally knew Gabriel was stalling for time.

But he likewise had no other choice.

The ritual had already failed.

Of the seven corruption nails, one had been extracted and now sat inert in Gabriel’s system space. Two more were active within that same space. The fourth was still loose on the altar, but roots had already risen around it, isolating it with the others so no one could grab it during the fight. Only the last three remained embedded in the withered root.

Continuing to stay here now was meaningless. The only thing they could do was take away as many of the remaining corruption mediums as possible before withdrawing, and at the same time dispose of anyone who could confirm their identities.

As for the other infiltrators, the battle was actually nearing its end.

Some had been killed one after another, some had been subdued, and the rest had their retreat cut off by continuously awakening roots. Now, only one original operative remained bound alive by Sophie’s roots. Of the seven ritualists, one was dead, and the rest were captured, unconscious, or bound. The six elven guards outside the corrupted inner ring had already completely sealed off the routes leading out of this area.

The only one who could still change the situation was the captain.

So he had to win.

At the very least.

He had to force Gabriel back.

The captain tightened his grip on the black sword.

Gabriel also raised Crimson Judgement again.

The two faced each other across a distance of more than ten meters, but before any of them could made a move.

Dong.

A very soft vibration suddenly came from underground.

Gabriel glanced down.

The captain also frowned instinctively.

However just as the vibration had came it quickly disappeared so neither of them paid much attention to it. Plus the captain had already charged forward again.

On the other side, Sophie was no longer paying attention to Gabriel’s battle.

What she truly cared about now was the World Tree’s root beneath her feet.

As the first three corruption nails were pulled out, the enormous root system that had almost completely turned gray black had already begun to show a faint trace of gold green again. It was just that the remaining three corruption nails were still deeply embedded within it, releasing a surge of dark red power at intervals and suppressing the life force that had just begun to recover.

Sophie could feel it hurting and the feeling was growing clearer and clearer.

At first, she could only sense some vague emotions through the World Tree fragment. But after that voice had truly called her "child," something that had originally stood between her and this forest seemed to be disappearing bit by bit.

Now, she could even sense the general condition of every root beneath her feet.

Which ones had already withered and died.

Which ones had only been contaminated.

Which ones were recovering.

And which ones were protecting her.

Matthew still lay on the nearby root platform that kept moving. Both his legs were broken, part of his chest had caved in, and several living roots firmly secured his body to prevent his injuries from worsening further as the altar shook. The two black robed men who had been subdued earlier had likewise been dragged there.

Sophie looked up. A bound captive near the edge of the altar suddenly twisted. The altar’s collapse had loosened his restraints, and he lunged toward the remaining corruption nails.

Sophie saw him and quickly shouted, "No."

In the next moment.

Boom!

The stone slab beneath the black robed man’s feet directly split apart. Several roots burst out from underground, instantly entangling his legs and waist and lifting his entire body from the ground.

The man’s expression changed drastically, and his mana immediately erupted.

But those roots did not loosen at all.

More and more vines grew over from the edges of the altar, and in just a few seconds, he was completely fixed in midair.

"Don’t let them touch those things." Sophie ordered quietly.

Shhh, shhh, shhh...

The branches and leaves around the entire altar swayed simultaneously as if answering her.

Near the remaining three corruption nails, one root after another rose from underground, quickly forming a natural barrier.

Just after those roots surrounded the remaining three corruption nails, she suddenly sensed something else coming from underground.