Chapter 159: Chapter 124: Mage, A Secret Rumor of the Saint’s Remains
The term "Mage" is merely a general and vague classification for humans who have pledged allegiance to Demons.
If broken down further, the group known as Mages can be divided into Tormentors and Legion Overseers, Void Governors, Demon Princes, and Supreme Divine Servants.
Because they serve different members of the Four Gods, the Extraordinary Power they wield also varies greatly.
Among them, Tormentors and Legion Overseers occupy the lowest tier of the Mage hierarchy.
Even the strongest among them are only comparable to a Five-star Military Rank Official Knight. If a Tormentor’s demonic master is not powerful enough, a squad of ten Imperial veterans can deal with them easily.
Carrying a Dark Green Soul Lamp is this group’s most distinct identifier.
If a Mage’s master happens to be a Great Demon, and they are fortunate enough to be granted a gift of power, they may have the chance to become a Void Governor, commanding a Demon Battle Group a thousand strong.
This is also the most formidable power an ordinary Mortal can obtain after pledging themselves to a Demon.
To gain the attention of a Venerable Great Demon, or even one of the Four Gods, one must be at least a sufficiently powerful Imperial Knight or Wizard, or a Mortal who has accomplished something truly earth-shattering.
Assassinating one of the Empire’s Legendary Immortals.
Secretly completing a sacrificial ritual within the Holy Capital Star City.
Using any means necessary, be it conspiracy, trickery, or plagues and viruses, to slaughter tens of millions of civilians.
As long as you survive—or if your soul isn’t burned to ash by the Empire’s wrath after death—then congratulations, you will have successfully earned the notice of a Venerable Great Demon and the Death God.
Of course, you will also have caught the attention of a certain top-secret unit from the Judgment Court, a unit whose name cannot be spoken.
Previously, Reinhardt, Raphael, and even Manon, the elite veteran of the Emperor’s Shield, would not have had the administrative rank within the Empire to access this kind of top-secret information, which is kept under lock and key by the Judgment Court.
But after Sedon initiated the Vengeful Angels project, classified at the Legendary level, these files were fully disclosed to them.
This project appeared to be more than just creating a secret squad of Knights, but its specific future plans were likely known only to the Lord Governor himself.
Reinhardt’s squad was just the beginning.
As the Tormentor, who had sworn allegiance to the Dark Abyss, emerged from around the street corner with his Dark Green Soul Lamp in hand, striking the pose of a powerful conqueror, he appeared before Reinhardt’s trio.
The next moment.
A deathly stillness spread mercilessly through the air.
The Mage’s Alien face, covered in sharp bone spurs and vicious fangs, perfectly illustrated the expression a person should have when transitioning from shock to terror.
His pupils constricted slightly, his expression froze, and his body stiffened in place.
Even his right foot, which had taken a step back.
Every detail betrayed the confusion and terror currently gripping his heart.
This man, Zorar, was the most wanted criminal by the Haines Kingdom’s Holy See. A Demon Mage renowned for his cruelty and bloodlust, he had already slaughtered over a thousand innocent civilians.
’He had thought today would be the same as always—that he would effortlessly dispose of the lapdogs sent by the Holy See and offer his master an even more powerful and delectable soul. But what was the deal with those two absurdly large, hulking figures?’
Simply standing before them, their terrifying aura felt like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down upon him in his perception, crushing him until he could barely breathe!
Especially the man at the very front, who carried a Giant Axe so large it was frightening.
Through Zorar’s vision, connected to the Void Realm World, he saw the sky dying, mountains of corpses and seas of blood piled into a throne. Enormous Angel’s Wings, formed from coalesced blood, unfurled behind the man. Yet these wings were also like the terrifying, fleshy wings of a Venerable Great Demon, and an overwhelming aura of slaughter blotted out the sun as it rushed toward him!
And the eyes that stared at him burned with eternal fury.
Just from that one glance at Reinhardt, the Tormentor, whose strength was at best that of a New Recruit Knight, was plunged into a terrifying illusion and his legs gave out, causing him to collapse on the spot.
He wanted to let out a terrified scream, but just as a Mortal cannot look directly at a Great Demon, the current Reinhardt had long since grown to a level where ordinary Demons and Mages were unworthy of meeting his gaze.
What the Mage saw was both an illusion and his future.
Manon Knight, who had been feeling stifled the entire way, had been flexing his arms, preparing to use this chance encounter with a human traitor to loosen up his nearly-rusted joints.
But before he could even make a move, the opponent had collapsed on the ground in fright?
Reinhardt looked down, his gaze fixed on the frantically trembling Mage. "Raphael, search for the whereabouts of the clerk from the Civil Affairs Department."
White lightning composed of Mental Power gradually filled Raphael’s eyes. He sent a message to Manon via Telepathy, "The sacrificial ritual here is interfering with my Mind Perception. Help me dismantle it."
The style of the Shield of the Empire’s Battle Groups had always advocated responsibility and honesty, emphasizing the bond between Battle Brothers.
Although Manon had joined the Vengeance Angel Squad and left his original Battle Group, the habit of acting decisively and never questioning a superior’s order was already deeply ingrained in his bones.
Without a word, Manon channeled Knight Power of the Guardian Barrier Attribute, letting it continuously seep into his flesh and bone.
His already formidable Physique swelled by a full size in an instant, as if being inflated like a balloon. Arcane golden Runes wove an Energy defense layer across his Armor and skin.
Then, these golden Runes flowed down his Armor and onto the ground, before surging upward like an inverted torrent of golden rain.
Knight Manon sank into a low stance, and the ground beneath his feet exploded into a spiderweb of cracks. His body, like a human tank, shot forward with a deafening sonic boom, smashing heavily into the sacrificial altar built of corpses!
He drew his Knight’s Broadsword and mercilessly granted the last mercy of an Imperial Knight to the civilians who, though horribly tortured, still clung to a breath of life.
After a brief search, Raphael’s brow furrowed.
"I can’t find him. Could he have been sacrificed by the Mage?"
For a clerk from the Civil Affairs Department, one who held evidence of rebellion against certain Governors and Great Lords, to die so bizarrely at the hands of such a lowly and weak Mage was not a good start for the Vengeance Angel Squad.
Raphael then knelt before the Mage, who was still helplessly trapped in the illusion. He grabbed his head with his right hand and began to carefully sift through his memories.
A moment later.
"Lord Reinhardt, I’ve found him. He was taken away by Grand Lord Kles’s Knight squad..."
However merciful Raphael was to the citizens of the Empire, that was how cruel he was to these traitors.
After the violent search, the Mage’s mind was utterly shattered, turning him into a mindless husk.
He rose and looked at Reinhardt. Having witnessed something inhumanly tragic happen to their rescue target, his scholarly and gentle demeanor was gone, replaced by a grim expression and a deep frown.
"That Knight squad is stationed at the frontline Fortress forty kilometers away. Rescuing her will be very difficult.
"Moreover, Grand Lord Kles’s men seemed to know something. They interrogated her here for an hour, trying to get some information..."
After saying this, Raphael pondered for a moment before continuing, "My lord, I also found a strange piece of information in his memories, something called the ’Saint’s Remains’..."
