Chapter 44: An Invitation
Holy Island, ninth floor of the Church of Light.
The atmosphere here was oppressive, the air so heavy it seemed as though space itself had frozen solid.
The four highest-ranking figures of the Church of Light—Supreme Pontiff Haitins, Chief Judge Usenno, Zealot Corps Commander Leiming, and Ascetic Leader Lord Luoye—had all gathered here. After reading the report that had arrived, every one of their expressions had changed, turning extremely grim.
Silence.
After receiving the news, no one spoke for a long time. Everyone understood the severity of the situation. Perhaps for Lin Lei, the secular territories and kingdoms didn't matter much. Even if the Baruch Kingdom ceased to exist, it wouldn't be a big deal.
But for the Church of Light, it was a different matter entirely.
"Rat tide—it's actually a rat tide!" Lord Luoye's brow was deeply furrowed, his gaunt face reduced to little more than a layer of skin now etched with bitterness. "The most terrifying rat tide of the Dark Forest—how could it possibly be under Lin Lei's command? This has never happened before."
Haitins spoke in a low voice: "It's likely controlled by Lin Lei's magic beast—that Saint-level Black Shadow Mouse is directing the swarm."
"A Saint-class rat-type magic beast—meaning a Violet Gold Rat King!" Usenno shook his head. "While Lin Lei's rat-type magic beast is indeed a Saint-level creature, the true rulers of rat-type beasts in the Dark Forest are the Violet Gold Rat King lineage. All Shadow Mice and Stone Devourer Mice obey the Violet Gold Rat King clan."
This was a fact known to every powerhouse on the continent.
At the absolute pinnacle of the Yulan Continent stood those five god-level experts. The most mysterious among them was the sovereign of the Dark Forest. According to Church records—even in the earliest records of the Church, long before the High Priestess had even been born—the sovereign of the Dark Forest had already existed.
The oldest among the five god-level experts.
The most mysterious.
He did not seek dominion. He did not show his face.
Yet no one dared to offend him. No major power, no matter how great, dared to provoke him.
All the great powers knew that this mysterious sovereign of the Dark Forest had a particular fondness for rat-type magic beasts. Under his protection, the rat-type magic beast clan had become the most numerous species in the Dark Forest. The Violet Gold Rat King lineage in particular stood among the very top of all Saint-level magic beasts.
Even the Nine-Headed Serpent King, the Earth Bear, and the Blood-Eyed Mane Lion were not significantly more powerful than the Violet Gold Rat Kings.
"All right," Haitins said, his brow creasing. "Enough discussion about why the rat swarm is under Lin Lei's control. Right now, the most important thing is how to resolve this situation. I trust everyone understands how serious this matter is."
Usenno, Leiming, and Lord Luoye all remained silent.
Haitins glanced at the three of them. "Last time, the 'Day of Destruction' already cost us over a hundred million believers. The loss of such an enormous body of faith-power left the Lord of Light deeply displeased. Once the Chaos Region falls under Lin Lei's control, our churches there will certainly be destroyed. Within a hundred years, I suspect there will be scarcely anyone left in the Chaos Region who still has faith in the Lord of Light."
Faith!
This was the single most important reason for the Church of Light's existence. They had already lost so much last time, and it was sheer luck that the Lord of Light had not brought down His punishment.
If they lost another massive chunk…
The consequences would be unthinkable.
"No matter what happens, our foundation in the Chaos Region cannot be destroyed. This vast body of faith-power must not be lost," Lord Luoye said in a deep voice.
"Correct. It must not be lost," agreed Leiming, the Zealot Corps Commander.
The corner of Usenno's mouth twitched upward. "Faith-power is important to us, but it may not matter much to Lin Lei. That Lin Lei probably has little desire for territory. We can negotiate with him."
"Yes," the other three said, their eyes lighting up slightly.
This was not an unsolvable problem.
Haitins considered for a moment, then issued his command: "In that case, here is the plan. Leiming, you will remain on Holy Island for now and take charge of everything here. Guard against a possible sneak attack from Lin Lei aimed at destroying our foundation. As for Luoye and Usenno, you two will accompany me, and we will bring six Saint-level angels with us."
The gaunt Lord Luoye nodded slightly.
Usenno also agreed.
The Church of Light did have human Saint-level experts, but the potential of a human Saint-level was far greater than that of an angel. The Church would rather use angels as expendable pawns than send a human Saint-level into the fray.
The three great pillars of the Church of Light—led by Supreme Pontiff Haitins, along with Usenno and Lord Luoye—departed Holy Island with six Saint-level angels, crossing the ocean at top speed and heading directly for the Chaos Region.
As for the Church of Darkness, they valued faith-power just as much as the Church of Light.
The Dark Pope's own prominent figures similarly led a contingent of Saint-level experts toward the Chaos Region.
In the south-central part of the Chaos Region, along a desolate highway, a vast and orderly column of rats moved alongside human soldiers, marching forward together. The original rat tide numbering in the hundreds of millions and the two hundred thousand warriors had been split into ten separate armies.
Each army consisted of tens of millions of rat-type magic beasts and twenty thousand human soldiers.
The role of the human soldiers was primarily to pacify the residents of each captured city. Within this crowd of twenty thousand soldiers, there was a single carriage—the only carriage in the entire column.
Inside the carriage, there was only… Bei Bei.
In the spacious carriage, Bei Bei lay sprawled leisurely with his two hind paws kicked up, chatting with Lin Lei through soul communication: "Boss, the five armies I'm controlling have already conquered six prefecture cities and dozens of smaller cities in succession. What about you? Still cultivating in that pocket-dimension chamber? Alright… I won't bother you then."
"So boring."