............"Cough... cough... not... good. It's not good. We need to run right away... we have no future... it's totally bleak!" Malik coughed, his voice filled with horror. He had seen something that made him despair and feel dread deep in his heart."What do you mean, bleak? Let me see!" Celestius Starcrest didn't believe Malik, even though he felt in his heart that Malik might be right. He decided to see for himself and performed the divination personally."Pufffff... cough... cough...!!" It didn't take a minute before Celestius coughed up blood, looking pale from the dread and despair. He understood why Malik said they had no future and needed to run."So, we really angered someone we shouldn't have and have no way to salvage our situation," Celestius muttered with a grim face, all color drained from his face.Both Malik and Celestius saw a vision of their men and themselves lying in a pool of blood. A man stood over them, radiating a divine presence like an ocean, deep and hea

............Thaddeus's Divine Tool had already lost four petals, leaving only a single petal."Swiish... Bammm... Swiish... Boomnn!!""Boommmn... Craaack!"In a decisive moment, Celestius found an opening. With a swift, powerful strike, he brought his weapon down on Thaddeus. The powerful aura shield Thaddeus had dissipated as he blocked the attack, losing its last petal."Thump...!!"Thaddeus fell to the ground, drained of all his energy.The battlefield fell silent, all eyes on Celestius as he stood victorious. His presence radiated hope and strength, and the Starcrest men rallied with renewed vigor."Fight on, Starcrest!""Hooooohhhh!!" The remaining Starcrest men shouted with zeal, despite being tired and injured, or coughing up blood.Malik shouted, his voice filled with triumph, "Victory is within our grasp!"Meanwhile on the Everglen Family grounds,"Bammmnn...Booommn...Ahhhh...!!"Aarav arrived at the mansion after decimating several dozen beasts on his way through the fores

............Aarav was beyond pissed, trying to repeatedly stop a crazed opponent. He was done holding back; he was ready to kill her, seeing she was beyond saving."Ah... Swoosh... Bam!"Elowen attacked again with sinister energy. Aarav deflected it, sending a shockwave back at her."Boom!"Elowen staggered, her momentum broken. Aarav seized the opportunity, closing the distance between them in an instant."Swish!"He brought his dagger down, aiming for Elowen's shoulder. She barely managed to deflect it with a barrier of malevolent energy, but the force of the blow sent her reeling."Swish... Bam!"Aarav pressed his advantage, striking with swift, precise movements that left Elowen struggling to keep up."Boom... Ah!"With a powerful strike, Aarav broke through Elowen's defenses, his dagger cutting through the dark energy that surrounded her. Elowen cried out in pain, stumbling back as the light dagger pierced her shoulder."Thud... Ah!"She fell to the ground, clutching her wound,

............"Hahaha... leader, we thank you in advance for your generosity. We, Servants of the Scourge, are grateful for being chosen for this mission. Please let us know if there's anything else we can do for you!" Nineteen men stood up, bowing to him, expressing their humble gratitude and trying to curry favor.He was the sole Acolyte of the Blight present, and the rest were lower in rank. They knew they had to please him if they wanted to climb the ladder in the organization.Suddenly, the atmosphere shifted, filled with a chaotic swirl of dark energies.The leader, now basking in the respect of the Servants of the Scourge, allowed a sinister smile to spread across his face. His eyes gleamed with satisfaction."Very well," he said, his voice filled with a chilling authority. "With the success of our mission, the Cult of the Plague God will be pleased with our progress. We have shown our enemies the true power of chaos and terror."The mention of their cult's name sent a ripple o

............"Ohh... it's that old? I didn't know," Pope Aurelius said, shocked by the revelation. He had no idea the records were so ancient.Just like the previous Pope guarded the treasury before him, he had been doing his duty without knowing much about the history of their own organization, let alone the world. He only knew a little from the five record books he could read."Let's find some more books similar to this one!" Aarav said before he put down the book on the table and looked into other shelves.After spending some time searching through the books, Aarav, with the help of Pope Aurelius, who could only use the illustrations to make sense of them, found about ten books."Hmm, even though some of these records have deteriorated, I can make do with them," Aarav said, looking at the ten books on the table. As he flipped through one, he noted their aged condition."Hmm, should I fetch you some new sturdy materials so you can record on them?" Pope Aurelius asked, glancing at t