"You Fool!!" yelled the man in the narrow alleyway.


    The nearby building and the clergyman immediately got cut in half by Farron. At the same time, a ck shadow and the nearby beggars jump away from Faron''s attack before it reaches them.


    Seeing the ck shadow and the beggars grouped, "Hoo… Quite a group you have there." said Farron causally before pursuing them.


    The ck shadow revealed a man with dark purple skin and a cloth on his head, while the other rgos members were also from various races.


    "Tch.. Annoying!" said the purple-skinned man.


    Suddenly, a double scythe appears on the purple-skinned man''s hand and pushes Farron back. Just as the other rgos members want to attack Farron, a long white arch flies toward them [Sword Art - Crescent sh].


    *Swish* Some of the rgos members couldn''t react fast enough and got injured. However, rather than the usual red blood coloring from the injury, they released pitch-ck blooding from their injury.


    "You got careless, Farron." said Anny, who was approaching them.


    "Shut up! I don''t need your help." replied Farron.


    "Hmm… This fight will be difficult." said Addie, Afir''s fifth-grade holy knight.


    A group of holy knights from the mix of Temple of Death, Karum, Afir, and Zion religions follow behind Addie. At the same time, the rgos members didn''t seem afraid and were more eager to fight. The Holy Knight is the same as the elite knight of the kingdom.


    All of them have the minimum power of a fourth-gradebatant. When rgos created chaos in the world a dozen years ago, people learned that only fourth-grade and abovebatants were able to fight against rgos''s followers.


    Because of the time constraint and the secrecy, the four religious groups couldn''t gather more holy knights and were only able to use their current holy knights. Still, their number can reach almost twenty people.


    Combined with the support of all the priest leaders from the back, they are certainly a force to be reckoned with. However, they didn''t dare to get careless as they knew how vicious rgos believers could be, especially after feeling their opponent''s strength.


    Most of the rgos members consist of fourth-gradebatants with two fifth-gradebatants. At the same time, the purple-skinned man who looks like their leader is a sixth-gradebatant.


    Combined with rgos''s nasty skills/spells, this force could easily destroy a small country. Just as the Holy Knights and the rgos''s followers start their battle, the whole area begins to tremble.


    Not far from their location, a few of Zion''s priests finished their chant and cast a spell [Formation Spell - Ground Sanctum]. *Grrt* In front of the priest, who stood at six different locations nearby, appeared a tall earth pir with countless runes.


    Suddenly, the whole area near rgos and Holy knights is isted from the outside. Furthermore, the rgos member feels their body getting heavier and weaker over time.


    Various hands and spikes made of the earth also appear from the ground, trying to grab the rgos members. Unfortunately, rgos'' followers are also elitebatants and could easily dodge this attack.


    Still, the weak and heavy body feeling is quite troublesome for them. Using this opportunity, the Holy Knights immediately pushed the outnumbered rgos members.


    At the same time, Angus, Anna, and Duchess Amberze look at the battle from the top of a tall building outside the Ground Sanctum.


    "Hoo… That''s quite a handy spell. I never knew a religious group like Zion had that kind of spell. It seems Jayna and my squad is unnecessary."mented Duchess Amberze.


    "Hmm… I am not sure about that." replied Angus as he looked at a particr foggy area.


    "Why did you say that?" asked the Duchess.


    "When I got the report about the epidemic, I found it very odd since the epidemic is spreading too fast. The first thing in my mind is someone is deliberately spreading this gue. So, I decided to check the condition of the city on the first day and find a few oddities."


    "First, this area is still full of beggars and homeless people, but none of them are dead or get infected by the gue. Normally, these people should be the first ones infected by the gue since theyck hygiene and proper food."


    "Unless they have certain immunity or eat something to prevent the gue, they should get infected by the gue before the city''s residents. This leads me to think they are the mastermind behind the gue."


    "Furthermore, there is a ce not far from here that seems covered by a misty fog and ignored by anyone. If it is not because of Lily passing by the area coincidentally a few days ago, I may still be oblivious to this ce."


    "I suspect someone cast a high circle spell at that location or enchanted it. This kind of ce is perfect for someone''s base or hideout. Since the ce is not far from where the beggars gather, I think it is rted." exined Angus.


    "Hmm… Make sense. Now, you mention it. I also think that the foggy area is weird. Hmm.. The fog is spreading around and getting thicker." said Duchess Amberze as she found the fog spread around.


    In the meantime, the battle inside the Ground Sanctum begins more chaotic and destroys the nearby building.


    "This feeling… A special istion spell, huh?! It seems you already prepared this attack from the start." said the purple-skinned man.


    Farron didn''t respond and kept attacking the purple-skinned man. Anny also wanted to fight against the purple-skinned man. She feels an ominous feeling from the purple-skinned man''s double scythe. Moreover, she feels the man is powerful and dangerous.


    Before she could help Farron, two fifth-gradebatants attacked and stopped her. Fighting rgos is almost the same as fighting monsters.


    They couldn''t get a single scratch or were injured by rgos followers. Otherwise, they will get infected with an unknown disease and dieter. Hence, they need to be extra careful when fighting against them and make the Holy knights less aggressive than usual.


    *Growl* Suddenly, a loud beastly roar was heard inside the mist. Then, various animals like dogs, cats, birds, and ratse out from the fog area. The animals'' condition is quite weird since they keep drooling a ck liquid from their mouths.


    Soon, the animals are run toward the Zion priests who are maintaining the Ground Sanctum spell.


    Seeing the iing animals, "That''s Infected Animal!! Kill It!! Don''t let them bite or scratch you." said one of the Karum knights.


    Unfortunately, the nearby knights are not holy knights and are only third-gradebatants at the strongest. Under the agile onught of the ferocious animals, three of Zion''s priests get bitten by them. Then, the bite wounds turn the skin ck and start rotting their body.


    The bitten Zion''s priest couldn''t do anything and stop their spell while in pain. Fortunately, the spell is still working but is less effective than before. Sensing the Ground Sanctum debuffing effect weakening, the rgos followers begin to fight boldly.


    "Tch.. we shouldn''t trust the barrier to those Zion." replied Anny as she avoided her opponent''s attack.


    Just as the animals run towards the remaining Zion''s priest, a blurry fire cuts down the charging animal and burns them to ash. Then, a few groups of knights start following the blurry fire and killing the escaped animal.


    At the same time, the sh Squad also kills the infected animals and keeps them away from the Zion''s priest. All of them are moving fast, especially their vice leader Adeline who is cutting down any infected animal who tries to pass through her.


    *AWOOO* a loud howling is heard from inside the fog. Soon, arge group of wolves came out of the mist and charged the sh squad.


    "That''s gue Hound!! It''s summoning creatures!! They can keep spawning unless we stop the caster!" informed the nearby Karum knight.


    As the ones that hate rgos the most, all Karum believers are familiar with some spells/skills gor''s believers used.


    "It means we need to go inside the fog. Lady Jayna, leave this area to me. Please lead the Royal Guard and the nearby religious knights into the mist." said Adeline.


    Jayna, who is covered by crimson fire, stopped killing the nearby animal and nodded at Adeline with her usual cold face. Without saying anything, she ran towards the mist.


    "Ehh.. It seems my niece is going to enter the mist. Aren''t you worried about her, mister boyfriend?" teased Duchess Amberze.


    "Worried?! It would be lying if I said no. However, I also can''t keep protecting her forever. Besides, our rtionship started because she asked me to make her stronger.


    "If I keep protecting her and denying her strength, I will not only hurt her but also bury her talent. Jayna is the most talented girl I know, even before merging with Fire Phoenix. Her merge with Fire Phoenix only makes her reach greater heights in the future." exined Angus.


    ''This boy is really an enigma. If it is Leon who said that, I could still take it since he has a dozen years of experience and sharp discerning eyes. But, judging from his tone, it seems he already found Jayna''s talent many years ago. How could he do that?'' thought Duchess Amberze.