Chapter 44: Invitation for a Meeting

On the island, the ninth level of the Radiant Temple.

At this moment, the atmosphere here was extremely oppressive, as if the very space had frozen solid.

Radiant Pope Haydense, Arbiter Usono, Fanatic Legion Commander Thunder, and Ascetic Leader Lord Falling Leaf—these four highest-ranking figures—gathered here. After reading the transmitted news, their expressions changed, turning extremely grim.

Silence!

After receiving the news, no one spoke for a time. Everyone realized the severity of the situation. Perhaps to Linley... worldly territories and kingdoms meant nothing. Even the loss of the Baruch Kingdom was no great matter.

But for the Radiant Church, it was different.

"A rat tide, of all things—a rat tide!" Lord Falling Leaf frowned deeply, his gaunt, skin-and-bones face etched with bitterness. "The most terrifying rat tide in the Dark Forest—why would it obey Linley's commands? This has never happened before."

Haydense spoke, his voice low: "It's likely controlled by Linley's magical beast, that Saint-level black shadow rat."

"A Saint-level rat-type magical beast is a Violet-Gold Rat King!" Usono shook his head. "Although Linley's rat-type magical beast is also Saint-level, the king of the rats in the Dark Forest is the Violet-Gold Rat King clan. All shadow rats and stone-eating rats obey the Violet-Gold Rat King clan's commands."

This was a fact known to all the continent's experts.

Among the five God-level experts at the pinnacle of the Yulan continent, the most mysterious was undoubtedly the king of the Dark Forest. According to the Church's records, even in its earliest documents—before the High Priest was even born—the king of the Dark Forest had already existed.

The oldest among the five God-level experts.

The most mysterious one.

He did not vie for dominance, did not show himself...

Yet no one dared to offend him. No major power dared to.

The major powers knew that this mysterious Dark Forest king had a hobby: he was very fond of rat-type magical beasts. With his help, the rat-type magical beast clan had become the largest group in the Dark Forest, especially the Violet-Gold Rat King clan, which was among the top-tier Saint-level magical beasts. Even Saint-level beasts like the Nine-Headed Serpent King, the Earth Bear, and the Blood-Eyed Mane Lion were not much stronger than the Violet-Gold Rat King.

"Enough." Haydense frowned. "Let's not discuss why the rat horde obeys Linley's side. The most important thing now is how to resolve this matter. Everyone should be well aware of the severity of this situation."

Usono, Thunder, and Lord Falling Leaf remained silent.

Haydense glanced at the three of them: "Last time, the 'Day of Destruction' cost us over a hundred million believers. The loss of that vast amount of faith energy already displeased the Lord of Light greatly. Once the Chaos Territory is occupied by Linley's side, the churches will certainly be destroyed. Within a hundred years, I fear few in the Chaos Territory will still believe in the Lord of Light."

Faith!

This was the most important reason for the Radiant Church's existence. Last time, they had been fortunate that the Lord of Light did not impose his punishment.

If they lost another large chunk...

The consequences would be unthinkable!

"Regardless, we cannot let the Radiant Church's foundation in the Chaos Territory be destroyed. This vast faith energy cannot be lost." Lord Falling Leaf said in a low voice.

"Yes, we cannot afford to lose it," Fanatic Legion Commander Thunder added.

Usono's lips curled slightly: "Faith energy is important to us, but it may not be important to Linley. That Linley probably doesn't have much desire for territory. We can negotiate with him."

"Yes." The other three's eyes lit up slightly.

This matter was not unsolvable.

Haydense pondered for a moment, then commanded: "In that case, Thunder, you stay on the Holy Island for now. You will be in charge of everything on the island, to prevent Linley from launching a surprise attack and destroying our foundation. As for Falling Leaf and Usono, you two will come with me, along with six Saint-level angels."

The gaunt Lord Falling Leaf nodded slightly.

Usono also agreed.

The Radiant Church did have human Saint-level experts, but their potential was far greater than that of angels. The Church would rather use angels as 'cannon fodder' than send human Saint-level experts into battle.

******

Led by Radiant Pope Haydense, the three titans—Haydense, Usono, and Lord Falling Leaf—along with six Saint-level angels, quickly flew off the Holy Island, crossed the ocean, and headed straight for the Chaos Territory.

Meanwhile, the Dark Church, which valued faith energy no less than the Radiant Church, also dispatched its many titans, along with a group of Saint-level experts, toward the Chaos Territory.

...

In the south-central part of the Chaos Territory, on a desolate official road, the vast, orderly rat horde marched alongside human soldiers, advancing forward. The original hundreds of millions of rats and two hundred thousand warriors had been divided into ten armies.

Each army consisted of tens of millions of rat-type magical beasts and twenty thousand human soldiers.

The human soldiers' main role was to pacify the residents of the cities. Among the twenty thousand soldiers in one group was a single carriage—the only carriage in the entire army.

Inside the carriage was... only Bebe!

In the spacious carriage, Bebe lay leisurely on his back, his hind paws crossed, while communicating with Linley via soul link: "Boss, my five teams have already captured six county cities and dozens of smaller towns. What's up with you? Training in that pocket dimension secret room? Fine, I won't bother you."

"So boring."

Bebe sighed helplessly.

Although Bebe's location was nearly two thousand miles from the magic crystal vein, both Linley and Bebe had extremely high spiritual power. Moreover, their contract was an equal one, so the distance for soul communication between them was twice that between Linley and Haeru.

Twelve years ago, Linley and Haeru could already communicate via soul link within a thousand miles.

Now, Linley and Haeru could communicate within two thousand miles, let alone Linley and Bebe.

"Hey, where are we? How much longer until the next county city?" Bebe shouted loudly to the guards outside.

Immediately, a guard pulled open the carriage window curtain and said respectfully, "Sir, according to the map, we are still over fifty miles from the next county city."

"That far?" Bebe muttered, then closed his small eyes. "I'll just take a nap."

...

"The rat tide is coming! The rat tide is coming!" Panicked voices rang out on the city walls.

The thousands of soldiers on the walls of this county city turned pale. Seeing the endless sea of rats covering the mountains and fields, who wouldn't panic? At least, no one in this county city could remain calm. Even the city lord was sweating profusely.

"What do we do?" The city lord was completely dazed.

The steward beside him said in panic, "City Lord, this rat tide is too terrifying. We can't hold it off. Better to surrender." The steward's voice dropped as he spoke. The many defenders on the city walls noticed that within the massive rat horde, there was a long column of human soldiers.

"Surrender, and you won't be killed!"

...

The human army then erupted in a thunderous chant. The earth-shaking sound, combined with the boundless rat tide, caused many defenders to drop their weapons directly. Even before the rat horde had arrived, these people had already heard of its terror.

"Lord Bebe."

The carriage suddenly stopped. Bebe inside opened his drowsy little eyes. Just as he was still half-asleep, his small eyes suddenly widened, and with a 'whoosh,' he vanished from the carriage.

The rat horde, which had been about to surge into the county city after the surrender, suddenly stopped moving.

Because, in the sky, several figures stood in midair, led by a tall, thin, bald old man—Haydense. A pressure radiated from Haydense as the core, spreading downward. The rat horde, terrified, all lay flat and stopped moving.

"Saint-level experts!" The many human soldiers below felt a trace of fear in their hearts.

Seeing this, Haydense revealed a calm smile.

The space trembled, and Bebe, who had been in the carriage, appeared directly in midair. His small eyes fixed on Haydense, and his voice was sharp: "You bald old man! Even Usono is standing behind you. You must be that so-called Pope of the Radiant Church?"

Bald old man?

Usono, Lord Falling Leaf, and the two Saint-level angels behind Haydense found it amusing.

Haydense, however, still wore a calm smile, looking at Bebe with a gentle, fatherly gaze: "You must be Linley's magical beast. I am indeed Radiant Pope Haydense. I have come today hoping to have a proper discussion with Linley."

"Oh?" Bebe's small eyes darted around.

"Fine, wait a moment." Bebe said loudly. "My boss is still in the kingdom right now. I can't reach him from here. You'll have to wait half a day."

Haydense nodded with a smile: "Agreed. The meeting place can also be decided by Linley." Haydense's attitude was very humble.

Bebe's eyes darted around again, then he said loudly, "Alright, you stay in this county city. I'll come find you later." With that, Bebe let out a sharp screech. The countless rat-type magical beasts below obediently began to pull back, eventually forming ranks outside the county city without attacking.

Haydense, Usono, Falling Leaf, and the others watched this scene, marveling inwardly.

Bebe then transformed into a black streak, flying straight north. As he flew, he began communicating with Linley: "Boss, hurry up, stop training! Something big has happened!"

...

At the magic crystal vein, a breeze blew, and Linley's figure appeared in midair. Sethler then flew up from below.

"Lord Linley, this pocket dimension secret room—its value is definitely comparable to a divine artifact." Sethler exclaimed in awe. This was his first time entering the pocket dimension secret room, and he had just been training there with Linley.

Sethler, possessing the 'Undead Inheritance,' knew far more about many profound mysteries than Linley.

Sethler was well aware that a Demigod was absolutely incapable of creating an independent pocket dimension.

"Forget about that. Just now, Barker's magical beast came to inform me that many experts from the Dark Church have arrived. Even Bebe sent me a message." Linley had a hint of a smile on his lips. "Both the Dark Church and the Radiant Church are panicking."

"Of course." Sethler chuckled. "Lord Linley, you don't care much about territory, but religious organizations place great importance on faith. Losing such a large area might even result in direct punishment from the Radiant God Realm."

"They attacked my territory with their armies, and I held back. Now these people are jumping out. Let's see what they have to say!" A cold glint flashed in Linley's eyes.

"Sethler, let's go."

Linley shot southward at extreme speed. Sethler followed with a grin, though his 'smile,' combined with his skeletal appearance and eerie green eyes, was enough to make anyone's heart tremble.

During the flight.

Linley's gaze was cold, and he communicated via soul link: "Haeru, bring the three Saint-level dragons over here." Immediately, the Saint-level magical beast 'Black-Striped Cloud Leopard,' along with the Tyrant Dragon, Golden Dragon, and Thunder Dragon, flew away from Black Crow Mountain.