North Africa inland, Adis, the capital of Adus Kingdom.
In the afternoon, dense dark clouds covered the sky above Adis, and a suppressed and gloomy atmosphere filled the entire Adis, as if it were the prelude to something erupting, making the citizens of Adis feel very uncomfortable.
Inside the negotiation hall of Baruk Royal Palace, a tense confrontation was ongoing at this moment. When Mukhtar announced his purpose, the tense atmosphere within the negotiation hall was immediately elevated to its peak.
In the negotiation hall at this time, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Savior Descends Faction was now going to use forceful means. The people of the Church envoy group successively drew their weapons and confronted Mukhtar directly. Facing the envoy group before him, Shadi on the side showed a look of astonishment. He spoke directly to Mukhtar and the others.
"Mr. Muktar, what are you doing? This is not a negotiating attitude. Please pay a little attention..."
"Force is also language, and language is also force. In the so-called negotiations before, we have exhausted our words. Since you cannot understand and agree with our position... then we can only use this final language to solve the problem. Shadi General, next, you'd best restrain your subordinates and not act rashly, otherwise we cannot be sure whether we can avoid accidentally injuring you."
Glancing at Shadi on the side, Mukhtar said directly with a disdainful attitude. As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Vanya and the others, and then slowly spoke with a serious tone.
"otherworld Sister, and all your followers, what you are now facing is the truth of Light. Under the Lord's benevolence, you have the right to convert to the truth. As long as you immediately abandon the Three False Faiths, I can spare you. So choose now! Convert, or perish!"
Declaring directly to Vanya before him, Mukhtar issued the final ultimatum to the other party. Facing such coercion, Vanya was fearless. She replied silently.
"Since I was young, I have been bathed in the grace and Light of the Three Saints. The true meaning of the Three Saints has never been false in the slightest. Save the World and the Three Saints are of the same origin and nature, and there should be no distinction at all. Save the World above does not wish for everyone to go astray and ultimately walk the path of no return, so I also advise everyone here, while there is still a chance, turn back, otherwise what awaits everyone, including the entire Adus, is only the end."
Vanya replied to Mukhtar thus, not only directly rejecting Mukhtar's final ultimatum but also trying to persuade the other party in return at this last moment. The guards around her, who had been carefully selected, also had firm expressions. There was no hint of fear in their fervent eyes, and they all held their weapons, standing ready against Mukhtar. Facing this situation, Mukhtar, who had already anticipated it, couldn't help but let out a cold snort.
"Hmph... If that's the case, then go and see for yourselves whether your three false gods exist..." Saying this, Mukhtar slowly raised his hand towards Vanya and the others before him. Just as she seemed about to do something, an unexpected event suddenly occurred.
Outside the vast negotiation hall, streaks of lightning suddenly flickered frequently, followed immediately by successive thunderous roars outside, directly startling everyone in the hall, causing them to pause in surprise.
People had seen lightning before, and had just heard it, but continuous thunder like this was the first time they had encountered it; there was clearly something wrong here. Although the atmosphere was tense, many people still shifted their gaze towards the direction from which the sound came after the continuous strange thunderclaps. Many people suddenly realized that the direction from which the thunder was coming seemed a bit off, as if it was all coming from the same direction. And the people around Mukhtar even noticed that the direction of the thunder seemed to be precisely the direction of their headquarters in Adis, the Priory of Radiance.
Relying on the bone object hidden beside Shadi, the undead Setuot sensed the continuous thunder outside. The entire spirits body seemed to show a hint of abnormality. After sensing this abnormality, Shadi couldn't help but be startled, and then quietly asked in a way that only the undead could understand.
"What's wrong, Setuot?"
"It's activated... it's really activated. My previous premonition wasn't a delusion, wasn't a delusion..."
"What delusion? What's activated? Explain it more clearly?" Listening to Setuot's words, Shadi continued to ask with a confused tone. This time, Setuot paused slightly, then answered with a solemn tone.
"Adis... or rather, the city defense system left by Radset has been activated. Someone has successfully entered the Qiwen Temple and activated the legacy within... Incredible... The possibility I guessed before is actually true!"
Setuot murmured thus. Among his words, there were some things Shadi could understand, such as the name Radset, which seemed to be the ancient name of Adis seven thousand years ago. As for Qiwen Temple and city defense system, he wasn't very clear, so he continued to ask Setuot with a confused expression.
"What guess? What are you guessing? Is this related to the thunder outside now? Could this be the change that Sister mentioned?" Shadi asked thus. Last night, when he was secretly plotting today's matters with Sister Vanya, Vanya told him to quietly wait for a change at this time and then act opportunistically. He had always been curious about what the change Sister mentioned was. Now it seems... it's actually a thunderstorm!?
Could that Church Sister have already foreseen this thunderstorm? What is the essence of this thunderstorm? For a moment, Shadi was extremely confused and could only consult Setuot, who was with him. After a moment of silence, Setuot then slowly opened his mouth to answer.
"It's 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment)... An Extraordinary of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) who meets all requirements, at least of the Chalk tier, has solved the thunder number puzzle of the Qiwen Temple, entered the hidden reading room, and taken over the Extraordinary city defense system left by Radset within. The current thunderstorm is created by that Extraordinary using this system!"
"What... 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) Extraordinary?"
Listening to Setuot's words, Shadi was directly stunned on the spot. Having been active in the secret world for decades, he naturally knew what the so-called "enlightenment" Extraordinary meant. It was an Extraordinary profession that theoretically existed but had never appeared in the entire secret world, a large blank area in the modern Extraordinary system, a forbidden domain that countless people had explored but found no results, instead sinking deep into the swamp of Spirit Sight, an ancient legend that had disappeared for a thousand years.
For a moment, various thoughts kept emerging in Shadi's mind, and his expression was full of astonishment. On the faces of most other people present, confusion still lingered. Many were attracted by the continuous thunder outside, opened windows, and looked towards the direction from which the sound came. Then, what they saw was continuous streaks of bent electric light flashing across the sky in the distance and falling in places obscured by buildings and out of sight. Many people were thinking, what is happening over there?
His deterrence was interrupted by this inexplicable thunder, which made Mukhtar very unhappy. Looking at the continuous flashes in the distant sky, his brows furrowed, and then he turned and asked his attendant beside him.
"Go ask the people from the Church, what happened over there? What's with this thunder?"
Mukhtar said sternly to his subordinate. Before the subordinate could respond to his words, a figure stumbled and ran over from outside the negotiation hall door. Looking closely, it was a priest from the Savior Descends Faction.
"Mr. Muktar! There's an urgent report from the Priory of Radiance!"
With a look of panic, the Savior Sect priest hurried to Mr. Muktar's side in the negotiation hall. Mr. Muktar immediately turned his attention to him and spoke sternly.
"Speak, what's the situation over there? What's with these thunders?"
After Mr. Muktar finished speaking, he waited for the priest's response. At the same time, the other gazes in the hall were also focused on him. After taking a breath, the priest's voice trembled slightly as he spoke.
"Acc... According to the Priory of Radiance, they, they were attacked by a thunderstorm. The Lord's altar was shattered, and more than half of the people left behind were sacrificed..."
"Thunderstorm... How could such a large-scale thunderstorm appear out of nowhere? Is someone playing tricks!?" Listening to the priest's response, Mr. Muktar spoke sharply, then turned his gaze to Vanya and the others beside him, clearly implying that this was a conspiracy by the special envoy delegation.
Mr. Muktar spoke loudly with a tone of accusation. In his opinion, such a strange incident must have been caused by powerful Extraordinary forces hostile to the Savior Sect. In Adis, such Extraordinary forces were undoubtedly this group of special envoys from Holy Mountain, so he directly blamed the special envoy delegation.
Regardless of the facts, such an accusation would definitely be beneficial to Mr. Muktar's side. With this thunderstorm attack, they could completely blame the Priory of Radiance's attack on the special envoy delegation after cleaning up the special envoy delegation. The reason for this incident would become that the special envoy delegation first attacked the Savior Sect's Priory of Radiance without following the rules, causing heavy casualties, and then the Savior Sect retaliated out of anger.
After slightly inverting the order of events, the Savior Sect's actions today became much more justified. It wasn't that the Savior Sect didn't follow martial ethics and bullied the weak by killing the special envoys during negotiations, but that this group of special envoys, not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth, came to attack the Savior Sect's Church and killed many people. The Savior Sect was completely retaliating to eliminate the special envoy delegation. In this way, the Savior Sect's actions became much more righteous.
The Priory of Radiance did not know the cause of the thunderstorm. This was the answer Mr. Muktar wanted to hear about this attack, and it was also the most likely answer. However, what Mr. Muktar did not expect was that the answer given to him by the priest in front of him was far beyond his expectation.
"Yes... Captain Muktar, you are right. This thunderstorm was indeed summoned by someone. According to the survivors at the Priory of Radiance, this thunderstorm was summoned by a local North Wu woman named Isis, who claimed to be a priestess of the Judge of Heaven! She said she was the representative of the god who ruled this land before the Lord..."
"Judge of Heaven..."
Listening to the priest's response, Mr. Muktar's eyes widened slightly, while more people in the hall looked more confused. Shadi suddenly felt that Setuot, who was with him, had a very strong reaction after hearing the priest's words, something he had never encountered in so many years.
"Hey... Setuot, what's wrong with you? Your spirits are a bit unstable..."
"Priestess of the Heavenly Saint Master... How is that possible... Could it be that the Heavenly Saint Master..."
Setuot muttered in Shadi's heart with a clearly astonished tone, and at this moment, the messenger priest continued to speak.
"Yes... Judge of Heaven, according to that priestess, the Judge of Heaven is the first god who rules this land, and the only supreme god. That priestess said that we and the three false gods are shameful usurpers, and she is now going to judge us and lead this land to the correct path!"
The priest had just finished speaking, and just as Mr. Muktar was about to respond to something, he suddenly felt a sense of crisis. The powerful perception of the 'Light' Extraordinary reminded him that a powerful Spirituality was gathering above him at this moment, and danger was imminent. So he began to act, activating his Extraordinary ability.
"Boom!"
Before the people in the hall could react too much to the priest's words, sudden changes occurred around them. Accompanied by a dazzling white light outside the negotiation hall, the huge dome ceiling of the negotiation hall suddenly shattered with a bang. Amidst the falling rocks, a thick bolt of lightning fell directly from the shattered dome, and under everyone's watchful eyes, it struck the ground, directly hitting Mr. Muktar's head. For a moment, Mr. Muktar and several priests around him were submerged in the dazzling white light, completely unable to see their figures.
The roar shook the sky, and the white light was dazzling. Under the extremely intense close-range lightning strike, many people in the negotiation hall were temporarily deaf and blind. When they recovered, they saw a scene of devastation.
The originally luxurious and dignified negotiation hall had become a ruin in many places. The dome of the ceiling was shattered, and the position where Mr. Muktar had stood had become a scorched pit. The exquisite marble floor was shattered into Slag, the furniture and furnishings were burned into Crumbs, and in the stone pit were scattered several charred corpses. These... were the attendants around Mr. Muktar before. After just one lightning strike, they had turned into black charcoal-like corpses.
And in the center of the stone pit, a figure was standing at this time. It was Mr. Muktar. At this time, he stood motionless in the center of the pit, his clothes all over his body were on fire, and large areas of his exposed skin were covered with a layer of charring. The whole person seemed to be in a precarious state.
However, although Mr. Muktar's figure was precarious and his face showed pain, he never fell down. He slowly opened his eyes after the lightning strike, and then slowly spoke with dry, cracked lips.
"Mind over matter, soul over body, the suffering of the flesh cannot shake the firm faith..."
Muttering, a strange change occurred on Mr. Muktar's body. The flames on his clothes began to extinguish, but the injuries on his skin remained, but his figure became firm again, and the pain on his face disappeared.
At this time, although Mr. Muktar was covered in injuries and his clothes were damaged, looking very disheveled, a strange and invisible majestic aura emanated from his body and spread to the surroundings, making everyone subconsciously dare not underestimate him. Gaspare, who was beside Vanya, couldn't help but say after seeing this scene.
"This is the soul bearing the body's suffering... Enduring the physical damage with the tenacity of the soul allows Extraordinary who are strong in soul and weak in body to have extremely strong endurance.
"Experiencing suffering in the body to comprehend the soul, and comprehending divine will with the soul, this is the cultivation method of ascetics, and it is also one of their most powerful abilities..."
While Gaspare was speaking, there was a sudden roar of thunder in the sky above Baruk Royal Palace. Bolts of terrifying lightning fell directly from the clouds, striking the surroundings of Baruk Royal Palace, where the Savior Sect's ambush was located. Attacked by this sudden terrifying lightning, the Savior Sect's ambush suddenly fell into chaos, showing signs of fear and even rout in the face of the thunder's power. And Mr. Muktar, who was in the negotiation hall, perceived this scene, opened the holy book beside him, and then spoke majestically.
"Precept: Fear not, do not rout, obey order, the power of thunder cannot shake firm faith."