Chapter 6: A God-Level Expert
In Fenlai City, both within the city walls and outside, there were magical beasts everywhere, vast numbers of them. This originally joyous Ten Thousand Year Magnolia Festival had become a day of disaster. Death occurred at any moment, and the population of this holy capital, Fenlai City, was plummeting at a terrifying rate.
From the high-ranking members of the Radiant Church to the common citizens, everyone was busy either resisting the magical beasts or fleeing for their lives.
"Hurry, hurry, stop dawdling!!!"
Duke Bernard roared loudly. At this moment, Duke Bernard couldn't care less about the king. He simply brought his family and the dozen or so most powerful guards from the duke's mansion and immediately began fleeing toward the outskirts of Fenlai City. He only carried a few magic crystal cards on him.
This was survival!
"Father, please go and save Nisha," Duke Bernard's son, Albert, pleaded.
"You idiot, if you don't want to die, come with us," Duke Bernard bellowed. "Let's move!"
Duke Bernard ignored his son entirely, directly taking his wife and other children and setting off. Albert hesitated on the spot for a moment, then gritted his teeth, drew his sword, and ran off in another direction.
"That unfilial brat," Duke Bernard cursed under his breath, but his heart ached deeply.
Yet Duke Bernard understood clearly that at this moment, Fenlai City was filled with magical beasts everywhere. Level seven beasts could be seen anywhere, and level eight or even level nine beasts were not uncommon. At this point, if they didn't escape Fenlai City, there was almost no hope of survival.
"Son, forgive your father," Duke Bernard thought to himself, then shouted to the guards, "Quick, get out of Fenlai City. Once we're safe, each of you will get three hundred thousand gold coins!" At a time like this, Duke Bernard wasn't being stingy.
"Yes, Your Grace!" The dozen or so guards were overjoyed. Three hundred thousand gold coins would be enough to keep them comfortable for life.
But just as they had traveled two or three miles, killing two level seven beasts, five level six beasts, and three level five beasts...
"Roar~~"
A black bear, a full ten meters tall, came running over from afar with large strides, each step shaking the ground. Seeing this black bear, the guards' faces turned pale instantly. Duke Bernard shouted loudly, "Quick! It's a Violet-Striped Black Bear. Run!!!"
A mature Violet-Striped Black Bear was typically a level nine magical beast.
The Saint-level Violet-Striped Black Bear that Linley had encountered in the Misty Valley back then was likely a powerful member of the Violet-Striped Black Bear clan.
"Roar~~" The Violet-Striped Black Bear had clearly locked onto Duke Bernard's group. It took large strides quickly, each step shaking the earth, as if stepping on the hearts of Duke Bernard and his people, making them tremble. The bear's path was completely straight—anything in its way was trampled into rubble.
"Boom!" It swung its arm, smashing a three-story building to pieces. The shattered stones rained down directly onto Duke Bernard's group.
"Bang!" A stone half the height of a person smashed into one of Duke Bernard's daughters. The beautiful girl's head was crushed into a pulp, blood and brains staining the stone and ground red.
Duke Bernard and the others had no time for anger or grief, because this level nine Violet-Striped Black Bear was swinging its massive paws, slapping each guard into a meat patty.
"Ah!" Duke Bernard suddenly saw a giant bear paw heading straight for him. He immediately rolled out of the way like a donkey.
"Smack!"
The Violet-Striped Black Bear stepped on Duke Bernard, crushing him to death. If someone with Duke Bernard's meager abilities could escape the attack of a Violet-Striped Black Bear, then it wouldn't deserve to be called a level nine magical beast.
"Roar~~" The Violet-Striped Black Bear raised its head and roared to the sky, excitedly beating its chest, then turned and walked off in another direction to continue its slaughter.
...
Being trampled, clawed, slapped, bitten to death... this was all very normal. Throughout Fenlai City, whether noble or commoner, life was fragile at this critical moment. One by one, nobles and commoners were killed like this.
Fenlai City was in utter chaos.
The most intense area of slaughter was around the Radiant Church.
On the vast square in front of the Radiant Church, the church's powerful knights and the inquisitors of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal were constantly fighting the magical beasts. The resistance here was the fiercest, so more and more beasts kept gathering there.
Linley and Bebe were in a corner of the Radiant Church square. They were perfectly safe. With their strength, as long as no Saint-level beasts showed up, they had nothing to worry about.
But at that moment, the Saint-level beasts were all in the sky above the Radiant Church.
"Boss, there are so many Saint-level beasts," Bebe's voice rang in Linley's mind.
Linley was also looking at the group of Saint-level experts in the sky. He hadn't expected that, in a time of crisis, the Radiant Church could deploy seven Saint-level experts in Fenlai City.
"The Saint-level experts that the Radiant Church publicly reveals can be counted on one hand. In reality, quite a few are hidden. This is the holy capital, so there are seven Saint-level experts here. The total number of Saint-level experts in the entire Holy Alliance is probably even higher."
Linley finally understood the true pinnacle of power on this continent.
The aura of Saint-level experts was terrifying. Any one of the seven experts above could easily kill Linley, as easily as crushing an ant. But these seven human experts were currently at an absolute disadvantage!
Magical beasts naturally had an advantage over humans.
Once a magical beast entered the Saint level, even if it was a newcomer, an ordinary Saint-level beast would generally require a Saint-level mid-tier expert to handle. If it was an especially powerful beast that reached the Saint level—like a Spiked-Back Iron-Armored Dragon, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, or a Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor—once they reached the Saint level, only a Saint-level peak human expert could hope to fight them.
And now...
Over a dozen Saint-level beasts stood in the air. Among them were terrifyingly powerful Saint-level beasts like the Blood-Eyed Mane Lion, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, and the Violet-Eyed Golden-Fur Ape. Any one of these could fight the Pope on equal terms.
But the most shocking thing was that in front of these dozen or so Saint-level beasts stood what they called their "King"—a bizarre-looking young man.
"Are you human, or...?" Haintz stared at this strange young man.
The bizarre young man glanced coldly at Haintz. "Human? How could I be a lowly human? Humans are nothing but food for us magical beasts!" His tone was filled with absolute contempt. Even when looking at Haintz, the young man was utterly dismissive.
"Haha, our great King could kill you all with ease. Don't think we're giving you face if you don't take it. Haha..." the Violet-Eyed Golden-Fur Ape shouted loudly.
Haintz's face changed dramatically. The six Saint-level experts behind him also looked grim.
A magical beast that could take human form—what did that mean?
"Could it be that another God-level expert has appeared on the Yulan continent? An invincible existence?" Haintz felt bitter. Originally, the Yulan continent had three peak experts: the 'War God' of the O'Brien Empire, the 'High Priest' of the Yulan Empire, and the 'King' of the Dark Forest.
Haintz hadn't expected that the Magical Beast Mountain Range had also produced a 'King' who could take human form.
"Breaking through the Saint level and entering the God level. A God-level magical beast... this..." Haintz knew very well how terrifying a God-level magical beast was. This 'King' before him could kill all seven of them without breaking a sweat.
Haintz immediately decided—
They had to escape!
Preserving the Radiant Church's strength was the top priority. If these seven Saint-level experts died today, the Radiant Church's power would be at least halved, and its status would plummet.
"A God-level magical beast. Where did a God-level magical beast suddenly come from?" Haintz cursed inwardly. He had no idea that this God-level beast was the one Linley had accidentally released from the Misty Valley back then. And now, this God-level expert had set in motion a plan he had been preparing for half a year, which coincidentally saved Linley.
Fate was indeed mysterious.
"Great King of the magical beasts, I am Haintz, the Radiant Pope. May I ask what you want us to do?" Haintz decided to submit.
The bizarre young man smiled and nodded. "You're called Haintz. Good. What you need to do is take your people and flee north. The magical beasts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range will also keep expanding northward. When my beasts feel that their territory is large enough, they will stop expanding."
Haintz was furious inside.
What kind of talk was this?
When they feel their territory is large enough, they'll stop?
"Hmph, don't worry. We won't completely take over your Holy Alliance's territory. At most, we'll take half. Hmm... it's about right now. The Dark Alliance's holy capital has already been destroyed by us," the bizarre young man said casually.
"The Dark Alliance's holy capital?" Haintz and the other seven Saint-level experts were shocked.
Had the Saint-level beasts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range attacked both the Dark Alliance and the Holy Alliance at the same time? That was too arrogant. They knew the Magical Beast Mountain Range had many beasts, including quite a few Saint-level ones, but they hadn't expected enough strength to attack both sides at once.
"You can all get lost. Finally, I'll tell you my name... Dylin," the bizarre young man said casually.
Hearing this conversation from above, Linley was completely stunned. Clearly, the actions of the Magical Beast Mountain Range's beast groups weren't just targeting Fenlai City alone, but both the Holy Alliance and the Dark Alliance. From what they said, they intended to take half of both alliances' territories.
"Then... the twelve kingdoms and thirty-two duchies west of the Magical Beast Mountain Range—half of them will be plunged into chaos," Linley thought with horror.
"The 'King' of the Magical Beast Mountain Range... Dylin?"
Linley deeply remembered the name 'Dylin.' After listening for a while, he quietly slipped away through the crowd and hurried back to his old mansion, because some of his belongings were still there.
"Owww~~" A sturdy Wind Wolf noticed Linley and immediately leaped at him.
"Swish!"
A flash of purple light. Linley's movement speed didn't slow at all, but the sturdy Wind Wolf was sliced in half, blood staining the ground. The path back to his mansion was a road of slaughter. Beasts were everywhere.
But when Linley reached the intersection of Champs Elysees Avenue and Green Leaf Road, he saw a group. There were only about thirty people in this group, but wherever they passed, the magical beasts couldn't stop them.
"Boss Yale?"
Linley suddenly saw Yale tied to a warhorse. "Second bro and Fourth bro are also here, but they're riding horses."
"Father, let me go! Let me go save Third bro! The Radiant Church has already collapsed. Now is the best time to rescue him!" Yale was tied to the horse but still shouting loudly. Sitting on that horse was a red-haired man who was extremely strong.
Linley felt that this man was no weaker than Caesar.
"Shut up!" In the center of the cavalry formation was an enormous fat man. This fat man held a giant battle-axe, which he swung so fast it became a blur. Clearly, he was incredibly fierce.
"Father? The president of the Dawson Conglomerate?" Linley thought to himself.
Linley kicked off the ground and, in two or three strides, caught up with the cavalry group.
"Boss Yale, Reynolds, George!" Linley shouted loudly.
Yale, who had been shouting, was startled and looked over. Reynolds and George, who had been silently riding their horses, also looked over. When they saw Linley, covered in bloodstains, especially with the familiar Shadow Mouse Bebe on his shoulder, all three of them had red-rimmed eyes.
"Third bro!"
All three shouted in surprise.