Over the wilderness outside Kanak City in Atus West.
The boundless desert wilderness was filled with smoke. The former front lines of the Savior Sect soldiers were now covered in dense shell craters. Around the craters were intersecting trenches and scattered soldier corpses, mostly belonging to the Savior Sect forces. They either died from bullets or were blown apart beyond recognition by explosions. Flames were still burning in many places, and the air was permeated with the smell of char and decay.
Large groups of Revolutionary Army soldiers were conducting a simple battlefield cleanup on the position. Spoils of war were taken and piled aside, while the wounded from both sides were being treated. Large numbers of surrendered prisoners were rounded up and disarmed. All signs here indicated that the battle that had just taken place was over, and the result was a decisive victory for the Revolutionary Army, the attacking force.
With the support of absolute superiority in troops and firepower, the Revolutionary Army soldiers quickly completely swept away all the outer positions outside Kanak. Without the assistance of the undead, the Savior Sect soldiers could be said to have collapsed completely. The Revolutionary Army suffered almost no casualties and cleared all the outer positions of Kanak in a short period. With their command system almost completely ineffective, the Savior Sect soldiers couldn't even put up a decent resistance and were captured in large numbers by the advancing Revolutionary Army soldiers.
Wearing the uniform of a high-ranking officer from the Main Continent, Shadi stood on the chaotic battlefield, looking into the distance with binoculars. From his current position, he could already see Kanak City. He was just one step away from winning this battle.
"General, all the outer strongholds that posed a threat to the siege have been cleared. There are no longer any obstacles to our attack on Kanak. Kanak is already within our grasp. We can now rest for half a day and then launch the general offensive." At this moment, Adan, an officer under Shadi, walked over, reported to Shadi, and offered his suggestion. After listening to Adan's words, Shadi put down his binoculars, looked at Adan, and replied.
"There's no need to rest for that long. Our army's morale is high right now, and it's the time to strike while the iron is hot. We'll rest for at most half an hour and then continue the attack."
"This... half an hour, isn't that a bit too short for rest? Soldiers can easily get fatigued from continuous combat." Listening to Shadi's words, Adan spoke with a worried tone, while Shadi immediately explained and responded.
"Judging from the recent battle situation, the enemy fought very chaotically, each fighting their own way without any organization, and they collapsed much faster than we expected. I think this is caused by problems with their command system. With command issues... everything below is in disarray, which is why we fought so easily.
"So we can't wait now. We must finish the battle in one go while they are in disarray. If we wait too long and they re-establish their command, it will be much harder to fight. Next, we will be fighting in urban areas. If they are properly organized, they can consume a lot of our forces. While they are still in chaos, let's push through."
Shadi explained his considerations to Adan, who was beside him. After listening to Shadi's words, Adan nodded silently, seemingly agreeing with Shadi's perspective. He then immediately withdrew and began to relay Shadi's orders.
After Adan left, Shadi once again looked towards Kanak in the distant desert. As he watched, he focused his attention on the high mountains behind Kanak. After gazing at the mountains for a while, he put down the binoculars in his hand and then spoke to the soul possessing his body.
"Setuot... how do you think those from the Judge of Heaven are progressing at the Lakheman Royal Tomb? Could the sudden leaderlessness here in Kanak be related to their actions?"
Shadi questioned the ancient undead that had always accompanied him in this manner, but unlike before, that ancient undead did not respond to Shadi's words immediately. Instead, it remained silent, which made Shadi feel a bit surprised for a moment.
"Setuot? What's wrong, Setuot?"
Shadi immediately asked about Setuot's condition, and Setuot, after another moment of silence, slowly spoke.
"Madman... that madman... how could he be here? It shouldn't be... there's no reason for him to extend his power here..."
Inside Shadi's mind, Setuot murmured in an unbelievable tone. Listening to Setuot's words, Shadi couldn't help but feel confused. He then asked the ancient undead within him with a solemn expression.
"Madman? What madman are you talking about? Did a big figure from the Savior Sect come?"
"No... not a new madman from the Savior Sect... but an old madman, a pathetic and detestable old madman who has been twisted for thousands of years.
"He is a sinner, a prisoner, a lunatic, the greatest taboo among beings like us..."
...
North of Kanak, Dead Eagle Valley, Lakheman Royal Tomb.
Within the vast underground palace of the royal tomb, gloom spread, black marks appeared, and chill permeated... A huge, terrifying translucent mummified face, adorned with countless golden ornaments, floated within the underground palace, staring intently at the Sand Giant Lizard within the palace with horrifying eyes. At this moment, the black handprints spreading everywhere were rapidly diffusing towards the Sand Giant Lizard. Before long, these black handprints began to continuously cover the Sand Giant Lizard's body, gradually covering its entire form. Under the suppression of the black handprints, the massive Sand Giant Lizard was completely unable to move.
"What... is this!"
Inside the Sand Giant Lizard, Chabakunka was horrified to find that he was completely unable to control the Sand Giant Lizard's body. His own soul and the Wilderness Spirit he had summoned were both suppressed at this moment, feeling unable to exert even a bit of strength. A great panic spread in the hearts of Chabakunka and his Wilderness Spirits. Chabakunka could even feel the spiritual bodies of the Wilderness Spirits trembling. Under the oppression of the huge and terrifying mummified face before him, Chabakunka felt that he couldn't even muster a shred of resistance.
Chabakunka could perceive that this terrifying entity, similar to a spiritual body, emitted astonishing resentment and hatred, which made him momentarily think it might be some incredibly powerful vengeful spirit. So, he roused his strength and began to murmur.
"Res... resentful soul... This world is not where you should remain. Let go of everything and follow the great guidance! Return!"
Chabakunka used the ability of soul transference on the entity before him, attempting to banish and escort it to the Netherworld. However, his ability was completely useless; instead, it was met with a mocking remark from the mummy's phantom in ancient North Wu language.
"I'm not going anywhere... Until the dynasty is revived in death, not even a god shall drive me away!"
Saying this, burning netherfire emerged from the mummy phantom's agony. Immediately, in the void, two dry, withered, gigantic, slender translucent claws, as if from a charred corpse, appeared out of thin air. They then simultaneously grabbed into the Sand Giant Lizard's body, directly seizing the spiritual bodies within. Chabakunka's spiritual body was instantly subjected to intense pressure.
Subsequently, the dark withered arms that had entered the Sand Giant Lizard began to pull outwards. Before long, the two withered arms each pulled out two spiritual bodies: the lizard-shaped Wilderness Spirit Shas Tongue and the chicken-shaped Wilderness Spirit Beak Cry. After being pulled out by the dark, thin cursed hands, the two Wilderness Spirits struggled fiercely but completely in vain. After the two cursed hands tightened their grip, the two spiritual bodies of the Wilderness Spirits were immediately crushed. The spiritual bodies of the Wilderness Spirits turned into wisps of shattered fragments and floated away in the air.
After the Wilderness Spirits were crushed, the massive Sand Giant Lizard disintegrated with a crash, turning into sand and pouring onto the ground. After the sand had completely fallen, Chabakunka's body also appeared. He fell directly from mid-air with wide eyes, landing on the thick sand.
"You can't hide, Boyle... You can't hide no matter what you're hiding in..."
Then, the two withered cursed hands reached down again, directly grabbing the fallen Chabakunka. They then directly pulled out two spiritual bodies from within Chabakunka: one was Chabakunka's own soul, and the other was the soul of Moen, the object of Chabakunka's reliance. Both showed expressions of panic on their faces.
Next, the withered cursed hands threw Moen's spiritual body aside, and then directly grabbed Chabakunka's spiritual body with both hands, preparing to tear it apart. During this tearing, Chabakunka felt an incredibly sharp stinging pain from the depths of his soul. He watched helplessly as his spiritual body rapidly disintegrated and his consciousness fell into chaos. After personally experiencing this immense pain, Chabakunka finally understood what he was facing at this moment.
"Cur... Curse..."
What's going on? Why did I suddenly get hit with such a strong curse!
Under the tearing of the Black Hand of Curse, Chabakunka's Scarlet "Silent" strength soul began to disintegrate. His spiritual body's arms were torn off, vanishing into nothingness in mid-air, followed by his legs and even his body. At this moment, he finally realized the reason for what was happening.
It was that soul! The soul he had just devoured! Chabakunka couldn't recall ever being afflicted by such a powerful curse... The only answer was that the soul he had just devoured was cursed! After devouring the other party, his soul had essentially covered the other party's soul, and before refining the devoured soul, the curse the other party was enduring would transfer to him! This curse, powerful enough to materialize, was precisely meant to tear apart his soul and release the truly cursed soul! And then curse her!
Upon realizing this, Chabakunka immediately began to release the soul he had just devoured. However, this release also required time, and during the painful process of his soul being torn, this time was extended. Finally, after an extremely painful process, Chabakunka managed to spit out the spiritual body he had just devoured in the form of soul fire. At this point, his own spiritual body had been torn apart by more than half, with his limbs and a small portion of his torso gone. Chabakunka's spiritual body was now too weak to maintain its own spiritual state, and after spitting out the devoured soul, it quickly began to collapse into a ball of soul fire.
"Found it..."
Seeing Chabakunka spit out the soul he was looking for, a ferocious smile appeared on the mouth of the giant mummy phantom. The huge black cursed hand reached out towards the soul that had been spit out.
At this very moment, Dorothy, hidden within the ceremonial chamber, sensed through the information channel that Naifnis was rapidly being affected by the curse. She immediately transmitted a message to Grego in the distance through the information channel.
"Mr. Hunter, inject Spirituality!"
Thousands of kilometers away from Adus, in the basement of Boyle's new residence in Prit Tivian, Grego, who was tightly gripping the Golden Scepter, immediately injected "enlightenment" Spirituality into the Golden Scepter after hearing the voice in his mind. Subsequently, a flash of light quickly flickered in the eyes of the bird on the Golden Scepter.
Then, in the Lakheman Royal Tomb, the dark cursed hand that was about to touch Naifnis's spiritual body suddenly stopped, completely stiff in place, as if being obstructed by some force, unable to advance even half a step. The huge and terrifying mummy face phantom now became blurred and distorted.
"Wh-what... No... No..."
As if realizing something enraging, the mummy phantom began to mutter and shout in an agitated tone. Visibly, the countless handprints covering the entire Lakheman Royal Tomb were rapidly fading, and the giant dark cursed hand began to automatically break apart and scatter.
"No... No! Boyle... How dare you... Give back the Holy Scepter..."
Amidst the unwilling roars of anger, the mummy phantom gradually twisted and faded, eventually slowly returning to nothingness. Finally, when the black handprints in the Lakheman Royal Tomb were all erased, the phantom, along with the dark cursed hand, completely vanished, leaving the vast space of the Lakheman Royal Tomb considerably emptier, with only a few balls of soul fire drifting within.
Among these balls of soul fire, the most violently flickering one was undoubtedly Chabakunka's soul fire. At this moment, Chabakunka's soul, although being violently ravaged, still retained a trace of consciousness. Upon seeing the disappearance of the terrifying curse entity, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, then desperately tried to consolidate his soul to prevent it from dispersing, preparing to immediately escape from here.
Must... must leave here immediately!
Chabakunka thought to himself. Then, he began to prepare to directly perform a reverse spiritualization ritual in his soul state, spiritualizing his soul and the spiritualized divine artifact back, leaving this problematic place, and reporting everything that happened here to the organization. Although Rahman's soul could not be obtained, at least a divine artifact could be brought back!
Thinking this, Chabakunka began to unleash his abilities purely in his soul state without any physical support. This act caused great damage to his own soul, a self-harming behavior, but at this moment, he couldn't care less!
Just as Chabakunka was preparing to begin the ritual, a loud clap of thunder suddenly echoed in the Lakheman Royal Tomb. A flash of lightning shot out from the ceremonial chamber, directly striking Chabakunka's soul fire. Chabakunka's soul fire was directly hit by the dazzling electric light, the entire ball of soul fire trembled, and it instantly shrank significantly.
Struck by the electric light, Chabakunka's heart trembled, and the cohesion of his soul fire was instantly disrupted. He fearfully sensed towards the door of the ceremonial chamber, and then saw a masked figure in a robe flying out from within, rapidly flying towards him.
It's him! That hidden Judge of Heaven member!
Seeing the figure condensing electric light and flying towards him, Chabakunka felt a wave of despair. At this moment, he could no longer spiritualize himself back. A mere remnant soul without any physical support could not contend with a Chalk Tier Extraordinary in good condition. The fate awaiting him would be soul dispersion, followed by easy soul capture and imprisonment, leaving him at the mercy of the enemy.
No, it won't be like that!
Thinking of this outcome, Chabakunka's soul resisted fiercely. He absolutely refused to accept such a result. In this moment of despair, he wanted to make one last desperate struggle, a life-risking gamble.
At this moment, Chabakunka was in a remnant soul state. He could burn his remaining soul to forcibly perform a high-speed spiritualization, spiritualizing a powerful soul to fight the enemy and cover his escape.
Souls are difficult to completely destroy. After doing this, Chabakunka's soul would be burned down to just a wisp. This wisp of soul would not even be able to maintain his divine position, and would simply drift around on the ground. It would take over a hundred years to recover to its original state. He would become an unconscious soul wisp for at least a hundred years, which to others would be no different from death. However, even if he chose this path, he did not want his soul to fall into the enemy's hands. If they could refine souls, then he would be completely finished!
Based on the same considerations, Chabakunka would also not use the soul-burning instant reverse spiritualization ritual to spiritualize himself back, because he knew that if he returned to the Corpse Coffin stronghold with only a wisp of soul, who knew what his former colleagues and subordinates might do to his soul in the meantime. The final outcome might even be worse than falling into the hands of the Judge of Heaven.
This decision... Chabakunka made it in an instant. Facing the renewed threat, he burned his remaining remnant soul and performed an instant spiritualization without any physical support.
The spiritualization ritual was completed in just an instant. As the complex spiritualization array appeared on the ground, Chabakunka's weak soul fire dwindled to only a faint wisp. His soul could no longer carry the minyin zunzhan. The illusory cup, resembling a classical oil lamp, fell from mid-air. Dorothy's eyes stared intently at the falling cup.
And at this very moment, a soul rose from the array Chabakunka had just deployed, catching the falling illusory cup in mid-air.
This spiritual body was a middle-aged man with a large beard, wearing a helmet and luxurious North Wu-style armor. The style of the armor had a strong Adus influence, and the face beneath the helmet made Dorothy feel a sense of familiarity. Dorothy quickly realized where the familiarity came from.
This spiritual body's face bore a seventy percent resemblance to Mazhar. They were clearly related by blood!
This soul was none other than Didin Baruk! The last king of Baruk, killed by Shadi and Mukhtar working together! Mazhar's father!
"Go, last king of Baruk... Do whatever you want to do! Buy me some time... You are currently the most successful test subject of our Wizard Spirit Teachings... It's the perfect time to test and show them... how complete you are..."
Facing Didin's spiritual body, Chabakunka muttered with his last trace of consciousness, then his wisp of soul drifted outside the Lakheman Royal Tomb, completely losing consciousness.
As a Scarlet Tier Great Shaman, he was generally considered dead. At least in this era, he would have no further activity. Perhaps in a hundred years, he might have a chance to become a guiding Grandpa, helping some young man or woman improve themselves while seizing the opportunity to resurrect...