The entire Fenn City — both within its walls and in the surrounding areas — was overrun with magical beasts, and the skies above were swarming with them as well. What should have been a joyous Millennial Yulan Festival had turned into a day of catastrophe. Death was everywhere, and the population of Fenn City, the Holy Capital, was dwindling at a terrifying rate.
From the upper echelons of the Church of Light all the way down to the common folk, everyone was either fighting the magical beasts or fleeing for their lives.
"Hurry, hurry, no dawdling!!!"
Duke Bernard roared at the top of his lungs. At a time like this, he couldn't care less about the king. He gathered his family and a dozen of the strongest guards from the ducal estate and immediately began to flee outside the city walls. On his person he carried only a handful of Magic Crystal Cards.
This was an escape for survival!
"Father, please go save Nisha," Duke Bernard's son, Albert, pleaded.
"You fool! If you don't want to die, come with us!" Duke Bernard bellowed. "Move out!"
Duke Bernard didn't bother with his son at all. He immediately set off with his wife and his other children. As for Albert, he hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth, drew his sword, and sprinted off in a different direction.
"That damned boy," Duke Bernard cursed under his breath, his heart aching.
But Duke Bernard knew full well that the entire city was crawling with magical beasts. Seventh-level beasts were everywhere, and eighth- and even ninth-level beasts were not uncommon. At this moment, if you didn't flee Fenn City, there was almost no hope of survival.
"Son, forgive your father," Duke Bernard murmured to himself, then shouted to his guards, "Hurry! Get out of Fenn City! Once we're safe, each of you gets three hundred thousand gold coins!" At a time like this, he was no longer stingy.
"Yes, Your Grace!" the dozen or so guards were overjoyed. Three hundred thousand gold coins was enough to keep them set for life.
But after they had traveled two or three li and killed two seventh-level beasts, five sixth-level beasts, and three fifth-level beasts —
"Roar~~"
A black bear standing a full ten meters tall came charging toward them from the distance, each stride shaking the earth. The moment the guards laid eyes on the bear, their faces went white. Duke Bernard screamed, "Run! It's a Purple-Striped Black Bear! Run!!!"
A fully mature Purple-Striped Black Bear was typically a ninth-level magical beast.
The Saint Realm Purple-Striped Black Bear that Lin Lei had once encountered in the Misty Valley must have been one of the elite among the Purple-Striped Bear clan.
"Roar~~" The Purple-Striped Black Bear had clearly locked onto Duke Bernard's group. It charged forward with enormous strides, each one shaking the ground as though it were stomping directly on the hearts of Duke Bernard and his companions, making them tremble with fear. The bear's path was a straight line — anything that stood in its way was crushed to rubble.
"Boom!" With a single swing of its arm, it smashed a three-story building to pieces. The shattered stones flew directly into Duke Bernard's group.
"Thud!" A boulder half the height of a man crashed right onto one of Duke Bernard's daughters. The beautiful young woman's head was instantly pulverized. Blood and brain matter stained the stone and the ground crimson.
Duke Bernard and the others had no time for rage or grief, because this ninth-level beast, the Purple-Striped Black Bear, was already swinging its massive paws and flattening the guards into bloody paste one after another.
"Aah!" Duke Bernard suddenly saw a gigantic bear paw coming down on him. He immediately threw himself into a desperate roll.
"Wham!"
The Purple-Striped Black Bear crushed Duke Bernard to death underfoot. If someone of Duke Bernard's pitiful ability could have escaped the bear's attack, the Purple-Striped Black Bear would not have been worthy of being called a ninth-level magical beast.
"Roar~~" The Purple-Striped Black Bear reared its head and roared at the sky, excitedly pounding its chest, then turned and walked off in another direction to continue its slaughter.
Crushed to death, clawed to death, swatted to death, bitten to death — this was perfectly normal. In all of Fenn City, whether noble or commoner, at this critical moment life was fragile. Nobles and peasants alike were being killed, one after another.
Fenn City was plunged into an abyss of suffering.
The most frenzied slaughter was happening around the Temple of Light.
On the vast plaza before the Temple of Light, the Temple's powerful knights and the inquisitors of the Religious Tribunal fought the magical beasts without cease. The resistance here was the most intense, so more and more magical beasts were converging on this spot.
Lin Lei and Bei Bei had found a corner of the Temple of Light's plaza. The two of them were perfectly safe. With their strength, as long as no Saint Realm beast showed up, they had nothing to worry about.
And right now, all the Saint Realm beasts were above the Temple of Light.
"Boss, there are so many Saint Realm beasts," Bei Bei's voice echoed in Lin Lei's mind.
Lin Lei too was gazing up at the group of Saint Realm powerhouses overhead. He hadn't expected that in this moment of crisis, the Church of Light could deploy seven Saint Realm experts in Fenn City.
"The ones the Church of Light publicly acknowledges can be counted on one hand. In reality, quite a few Saint Realm experts have been kept hidden. This is the Holy Capital — having seven Saint Realm experts here is impressive, but the total across the entire Holy Alliance must be somewhat higher still."
Lin Lei was finally beginning to grasp the existence at the very top of this continent.
The aura of Saint Realm powerhouses inspired dread. Any one of the seven figures above could easily kill Lin Lei — as effortlessly as crushing an ant. Yet these seven human powerhouses were at an absolute disadvantage!
Magical beasts were born with an inherent advantage over humans.
Once a magical beast stepped into the Saint Realm — even if it had just entered — if it was an ordinary Saint Realm beast, it generally required a mid-stage Saint Realm human to deal with it. And if it was one of the truly terrifying species that reached the Saint Realm — like the Spiked Iron-Armored Dragon, the Tyrannosaurus, or the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor — once they entered the Saint Realm, only peak-stage Saint Realm humans could hope to fight them.
And right now…
Over a dozen Saint Realm beasts hovered in midair. Among them were especially fearsome specimens — the Blood-Eyed Mane Lion, the Tyrannosaurus, the Purple-Eyed Golden Fur Ape. Any one of these could battle the Pontiff head-on.
But the most terrifying thing of all was that in front of these dozen or so Saint Realm beasts stood their so-called "King" — a young man of eerie, otherworldly beauty.