Since it was right next to the southern swamps, it was extremely hot even though it was the middle of the night. Now and then, creepy birds flew out of the darkness with bloodcurdling shrieks.

At the edge of the swamp, Arnold, who had been staring at Cocus City, was suddenly amused. “Nielson, you never thought you could return to this city someday, did you?”

He was talking about his return as a master.

This place, as the capital of the Asso Empire, had the most perfect infrastructure for the defense that the Liege of Death worked out. Naturally, it became the target for the operation.

With his bloated fat jiggling, Nielson said with unusual, mixed feelings. “I thought that I would never visit Cocus again in my life… I remember that I was praised right here by the Liege of Death when I became a ninth-circle archmage.”

Priscilla covered her anxiety with a smile. “At first, I thought the target was Rentato instead of Cocus.”

The operation was mostly to be carried out by legendary sorcerers under the secret cooperation of legendary knights. However, after the churches were destroyed and the cities were occupied, a lot of senior-rank sorcerers were needed to maintain the order and prepare for the construction of the defense. Therefore, Arnold was waiting for the signal at the edge of the swamp with Nielson, Priscilla, Amanata, Fernando, and the other sorcerers.

Arnold clicked his tongue. “The Sword of Truth does not want to lose his territory.”

“Huh, why is Douglas not here?” Priscilla basically figured out the reason. She looked around but did not see the archmage who left a deep impression on her ten years ago.

Arnold smiled. “Douglas said that his research had approached the most critical moment, and he was onto something. So, I said that he did not need to take part in the operation.”

Then, he suddenly narrowed his eyes. “It has begun.”

He received a message from the Liege of Death. The legendary sorcerers were about to take action.

……

Below the thick mud, the ragged City in the Sky lay there just as usual.

Douglas sat in the square at the center of the city, faced with pieces of papers that had symbols and numbers all over them.

The law concluded from tremendous astrological records and the application of calculus allowed him to touch something marvelous, but there was still a gap for him to figure out what it was exactly.

The questions haunted him and kept him here for days, but despite that, he never found the perfect answer.

The secrets of planets, and the power source of the earth. The most essential secrets of the world seemed to be right before him, and all he needed to do was to push the gate and embrace them!

All he needed was one more moment!

In the square, several sorcerers, who were watching over the place, roamed with their kids. They were very curious about the contemplative archmage but dared not approach him.

The kids ran joyfully far away from each other, trying to win the fruits in their parents’ hands.

……

Aalto was set on fire. Buildings collapsed one after another. The defense circles did not seem to be of any use.

“What happened? Where’s our defense?” Beto, who was in the middle of a party, did not expect the Church to attack at such a moment, or that the defense of Aalto did not work at all!

Aalto was the western stronghold of the Magic Empire. It was first built to deal with the creatures in the Dark Mountain Range and only second to Antiffler in terms of sturdiness. After legendary sorcerers, vampires, dragons, elves, and other people were gathered here to resist the Church, the defense had been perfected and fortified without a care about the cost. The city was as strong as Antiffler after more than ten years. It was one of the trump cards that the coalition army hoped to offset “God’s Arrival” with.

However, the defense was not activated at the critical moment!

Furan was in a rather chilly mood as she panicked. “There’s only one reason why the defense is not activated. Something is wrong with the legend who is watching over the defense!”

“Who is it?” Beto, the twins, and Antec asked simultaneously.

Furan looked at them and snorted, “Are you idiots? The most important thing right now is to escape, not to find out which legend is wrong. Can you kill him? The grand cardinals and knights of the Church are right above Aalto, and you have the time to ask that question?”

She talked through the telepathic bond this time. While berating them, she ran to the basement of the villa. “Do not run out. We may be killed by the aftermath of the battle of legends. Do not go to our teachers either. They must’ve been stalled by the grand cardinals and legendary knights. Let’s get out of the city through secret channels and hide in the Dark Mountain Range first before we find out what happened!”

The proud students of legends were rather panicked. They did not know how to respond due to their lack of experience. Things would have been better if Stanis were here, but he had gone to the Dark Mountain Range for materials again.

Thankfully, Furan kept the basic calmness at this moment and showed her leadership. She pointed out the best way to deal with the situation.

Antec trembled hard in fear. He never thought that he would confront such grave dangers. He preferred to hide in the dark and defeat the enemy by creating dreams and illusions. Right now, the enormous noises in the sky challenged his heart all the time.

Suddenly, the purest light descended from the sky and purged all the unholy things as if it were a ruling of the god.

The light was reflected by a mysterious mirror that appeared out of nowhere and split into multiple streaks. One of them hit the house where Furan and her companions were at precisely.

A holy light burst out. With a tiny crack that sounded like the falling gavel in the hands of a judge, the whole house disappeared.

Beto, Furan, Antec, and the rest of them were only one step away from the basement, but they were all consumed by the aftermath of the Light of Judgment.

Seeing his body and his soul about to turn into holy light quickly, Beto only had one vague thought in his mind. Am I going to die so easily?

In the age of chaos and darkness, Beto wasn’t certain that he could live to the natural end of his life even though he was a legend’s student. He had pictured possible ways that led to his death, and all of them were heroic. Some involved battles with legends, while some were his desperate counterattacks after he was ambushed.

However, he did not know until today that he would die such an easy and unknown death. The aftermath of the battle of two legends had wiped him out completely!

It was not a heroic death at all. He couldn’t even put up a fight! He was now familiar with the ordinary people who died in the previous battles!

“So, I am not the hero…” Beto’s consciousness completely dispersed.

Antec also sensed the momentary vaporization of his body and his soul. His fear was finally gone, replaced by vague sorrow. “I haven’t created a real dream yet…

“I don’t have many dates in my dream yet…

“I will never live to meet Fernando again…

“To be honest, the Nando he turned into was really pretty, although not as pretty as Furan…”

Stunned, Furan watched Beto, Antec, and her other companions swallowed by the holy light. The brightness of their life-preservation methods glittered, only to be drowned again. She knew very well that she would end just like them.

“I don’t want to die here!

“I am an empress who will become a legendary sorcerer in the future. How can I die like a common sorcerer so easily?

“There are many wishes that I have not fulfilled yet. I need to settle scores with Nando and transform him into a real girl…”

Ambitions, desires, and wishes broke out, but Furan’s struggles were useless. After a brief predicament, she was also dissolved by the holy light, leaving nothing but subtle regrets behind.

The whole time, the two legends fighting in the sky never looked at the house at all.

The house had nothing but incomplete walls that were ablaze. Nobody knew that the flames were telling the story of a bunch of legends’ students struggling against their fall, only to die in silence.

Whatever big wishes and ambitions they had, they could only be buried in such an age!

After a hot wind blew over, one couldn’t even find any ashes anymore.

……

The King of Nightmare, the Stellar Mentor, and the other legendary sorcerers fought a few grand cardinals and legendary knights hard, communicating with each other through the telepathic bond.

“They are unstoppable. Gregory is suppressing Dracula and the Master of the Boundless Ocean with the strength of a demigod.”

“Mecantron stopped Danisos. Ivan and Rudolf are fighting the Mother God of the Earth and the elven queen…”

“The Silver Moon hasn’t shown up?”

“No? What do we do?”

“We have to turn to the last resort! It’s time to put Kufuray to use!”

“Alright. We can only summon the Lord of Hell now!”

After the Silver Moon’s failed attack against the former pope, the legendary sorcerers decided to add another important leverage to the battle, even if it meant that they had to sell their souls to the devils!

Suddenly, the Stellar Mentor said with a stunned expression, “It’s useless! The blood sacrifice in Kufuray is useless!”

“It’s him! It’s Banham!” Somebody finally realized who the traitor was. It was Banham, the Original Fire!

It was not the Original Fire’s turn to watch over the city, so they did not suspect him at the beginning. From what they had seen, he must have assassinated the legendary sorcerer!

Now that their last trump card did not work, the Stellar Mentor, the King of Nightmare, and the rest of them were not willing to fight anymore. They began to look for opportunities to escape.

However, a middle-aged man suddenly appeared in the sky. His face was plain and his skin was dark, but he was graceful in his sacred crown and his platinum staff.

“Gregory!”

“The pope!”

“Isn’t he stopped by Dracula and the Master of the Boundless Ocean?”

Pope Gregory smiled. “Since the Silver Moon didn’t come, Dracula could only evacuate in advance. After he left, Harex certainly did not want to waste his life here either.”

After a pause, he looked at the bunch of legendary sorcerers. “None of you are at the peak of legendary. I wonder if you can take one ‘Light of Judgment’ from me together.”

When level-three sorcerers were up against a demigod, they would be killed instantly if they did not escape through their unpredictable spells. Furthermore, in the current situation, they were still being haunted by plenty of grand cardinals and legendary knights.

“Why has he given up pursuing the top legends but focused his attention on dealing with the rest of us?” That was the final thought of the King of Nightmare and the rest of the sorcerers.