What exactly was going on in there? Although Hei Ji had mentioned it—a chaotic battle among the apex powerhouses of various factions—Lin Luo was somewhat mentally prepared. But the moment he stepped in and saw the scene, he had only one thought: run.

Run as far and as fast as possible.

Furious power and monstrous demonic energy saturated the entire space... Forget about his current state; even if he could wield the power of the Rules, Lin Luo wouldn't dare guarantee he could retreat unharmed from such a battlefield.

Instinctively stepping back several paces, Lin Luo, carrying Lei on his back, watched everything happening in the arena with extreme caution. Now, he didn't dare take even the slightest rustle of grass lightly... Lin Luo felt a twinge of regret. He had initially worried about leaving Lei outside, which was why he had brought her along, but now it seemed this place was absolutely far more dangerous than the outside.

There were three main battle clusters, in fact, only three, as this was the grand engagement orchestrated by Hei Ji's side against her enemies, and besides Hei Ji herself, her faction only had three others present.

To Lin Luo's right, several miles distant, a massive melee was unfolding. Though only two individuals were fighting, their contest was equivalent to a war.

One combatant was a handsome, fair-haired youth, clad in a white suit, wielding a rapier. He was currently directing a large host of specters to charge forward, displaying the bearing of a great general.

This was none other than one of Princess Hei Ji's bodyguards, and concurrently, the Eighth Progenitor among the Twenty-Seven Progenitors—the White Knight—Fina Brad Spherding, originally a Vampire Count and captain of the Phantom Fleet.

The spectral legion he commanded was his Conceptual Reality—Phantom March.

A Conceptual Reality is a subspecies of Materialization of Fantasy, involving the processing of pre-existing objects, where the caster's inner world erodes the reality around them. Theoretically, it is considered the form of Magecraft closest to true magic; indeed, it could easily be called magic itself, as it is the re-enactment of near-miracles.

Conceptual Reality is the ultimate goal every Magus strives for, yet only a handful can wield this form of Magecraft. In the entirety of the Nasuverse known, there are no more than fifteen individuals capable of it.

Originally, what transpired within a Conceptual Reality could not be observed from the outside. However, whether due to the influence of this grand barrier or because he had extended the invasive scope of his Conceptual Reality across the entire space, the situation over there was visible with startling clarity.

To be one of Princess Hei Ji's three supreme bodyguards, the White Knight’s power was unquestionable. Furthermore, every phantom soldier he commanded possessed the strength of an average Heroic Spirit. With a total of over a hundred phantom soldiers, each charge involved at least ten soldiers abreast, and every single charge was practically equivalent to an attack from an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm.

This meant the White Knight’s every strike carried the destructive power of an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm.

Yet, such fierce attacks had not broken the enemy; in fact, the battle was fiercely contested, and the reason was simple: his opponent was equally formidable.

His adversary across the field appeared to be a beautiful youth of about twelve years old, but no one could afford to underestimate him based on looks, for his identity was the direct disciple of the Progenitor of Progenitors, Jewel Month—Solomon Melian.

Ranking twentieth among the Twenty-Seven Progenitors, despite the relatively low placement, the Progenitors were never ranked strictly by power. While being a Dead Apostle, he was simultaneously the Fifth Seat within the Church’s Burial Agency, a supreme demon summoner utilizing four imaginary demonic beasts as his limbs.

Although the talents of a vampire lineage were inherently limited, as the "Terminal of Stars"—a divine child capable of manifesting others' desires—he could materialize fantasy, imaginary demons. Excluding the demon in his left hand—the Emperor of Rats—which possessed no combat capability, the other three imaginary demons each held combat power equivalent to a "Progenitor."

At this moment, Melian had summoned the demon of his right hand—Karakuri Thousand Gold.

A ten-meter-tall, giant, dilapidated, anthropomorphized young swordswoman, covered in weaponry. Though she wore an expression of complete apathy, every swing of her sword wrought destruction no less than a single charge from the phantom legionaries—meaning, possessing Anti-Army Noble Phantasm level power as well.

This was only natural. As a combat-oriented construct, Karakuri Thousand Gold possessed abnormally strong weapon-fighting aptitude, enough to qualify her for the Saber class. Coupled with her enormous frame, the power she exerted was even more terrifying.

However, Karakuri Thousand Gold alone could not possibly contend with the White Knight. Thus, beside her was another imaginary demon, the demon of his right foot—King of the Earth, a colossal monster nearly 200 meters long, currently sweeping through the phantom legion with an overwhelmingly powerful posture.

Of course, 'sweeping' was merely how it appeared. In reality, every clash with the phantom legion resulted in a stalemate; it was hard to judge who held the upper hand.

Perhaps because the battle had reached its decisive stage, Melian had deployed his final trump card besides these two: the demon of his left foot—King of the Sky.

It was the collective embodiment of all animals, a kingly beast soaring beautifully through the heavens. Its massive body resembled an aerial fortress, poised at all times to deliver a fatal strike against the White Knight.

Next, directly ahead of Lin Luo, was likely the most brutal engagement. The reason was simple: one of the combatants was the White Beast, ranked first among the Twenty-Seven Progenitors, a monster created by Gaia, Princess Hei Ji’s beloved hound.

Though not inherently a Dead Apostle, only mimicking its mistress by drinking blood, its absolute killing authority over primate lifeforms led the Church to rank its danger first, making it the undisputed Primate Killer, a provisional Earth UO.

Should this beast engage a primate, the result would invariably be a river of blood, without question. However, since the Church had firmly decided to eliminate Hei Ji's faction, they naturally had arrangements in place. Its opponent in this battle was... a humanoid weapon.

Yes, twelve humanoid weapons—devoid of life, devoid of emotion, utterly soulless, manufactured purely for combat.

These twelve humanoid weapons, each standing over two meters tall and wielding weapons like great axes and massive swords, had bodies constructed from the world's hardest metal, further reinforced by Magecraft, and equipped with various magical or high-tech weaponry.

Each of the twelve humanoid weapons was virtually equivalent to a... Progenitor.

Setting aside all else, the sheer expense incurred just to forge the materials for these bodies would be an astronomical figure. Originally intended as the Church's secret weapon, deploying them now against the White Beast clearly indicated the Church was absolutely determined to win this fight—they had truly spared no expense.

And the White Beast, surrounded by the twelve humanoid weapons, while momentarily unable to break the encirclement, had not fallen into the disadvantage either. The fight was deadlocked... It could be said that by itself, it was resisting twelve Progenitors, proving the unparalleled strength of the Progenitor number one without question.

The final battlefield was to the right. This fight appeared much cleaner than the other two. There was no Conceptual Reality eroding reality, no summoned creatures, and certainly no group assault of Many vs. One... Only two individuals were engaged in combat there.

One was a man in black attire, wielding a deep purple greatsword. Cloaked in black robes, his face was expressionless. Every swing of the demon sword in his hand carried the destructive power of an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, its single-target lethality absolutely surpassing any of the others previously observed.

This was Rizevol Sturulut, the Black Knight among the Three Primal Dead Apostles, and also one of Hei Ji’s sworn guardians, dedicated solely to protecting his Princess with unwavering loyalty.

Black Knight Sturulut, afflicted by a curse of time, possessed an immortal body and wielded the demon sword known as "True Evil." His combat prowess was strong enough to place him within the top ten Progenitors... In fact, among the Twenty-Seven Progenitors, the top ten strongest were so close in ability that it was almost impossible to definitively rank them; they stood almost shoulder to shoulder.

Although he lacked a Conceptual Reality and possessed no other special abilities besides immortality, he was absolutely qualified to contend with anyone alive solely based on the demon sword in his hand.

And facing such a formidable Black Knight was... a woman.

Yes, a woman. Not a Progenitor, not a Dead Apostle, not a humanoid weapon, nor a monster—just a woman of flesh and blood, completely unmixed with any other lineage... a human.

Upon seeing that person, Lin Luo could hardly believe it. For someone merely human to fight against one of the strongest Dead Apostles, the Black Knight, was simply incredible. What shocked him even more was that facing the overwhelmingly powerful Black Knight, the woman was not yielding even an inch, and in fact... she seemed to be subtly gaining the upper hand against him.

Who was she?

At that moment, Lin Luo almost assumed this woman was Aozaki Aoko, as in his memory, only the Fourth Magus, Aozaki Aoko, possessed such strength.

But upon closer inspection, it was clearly not her. Current Aozaki Aoko was merely a young girl in her early teens, incapable of Magecraft let alone actual combat.

Though far away, Lin Luo could clearly make out that she was a remarkably beautiful European girl: wearing leather boots, a tailcoat, white gloves, a red cravat, and sporting a long ponytail cascading down her back.

For a girl who seemed so clearly from an aristocratic lineage, her strength could not be described using human terms.

With a cold expression, the girl gently extended a hand forward and pointed. Without uttering a single incantation, merely by raising her hand, a roaring gust of wind pressure shot forward like a massive laser beam.

The Black Knight, who had been advancing, was instantly driven back.

This was Magecraft—a very simple wind spell that even an apprentice Magus could easily use. But when deployed by this girl, it was as powerful and irresistible as an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm.

Absolute dominance.

Who was she?

Even ransacking every corner of his memory, Lin Luo could not begin to guess the true identity of this girl.

PS: Ah ah ah, I finished this after pulling an all-nighter writing. Please cast your Monthly Tickets, Recommendation Tickets, and all other tickets V