“All troops, hear my command! Form ranks!”
Golden Tooth roared.
The originally loose bandits instantly changed their expressions.
They formed ranks in a well-trained manner, bearing no resemblance to undisciplined roaming bandits.
Francis saw how organized and disciplined these bandits were, and he suddenly realized what that sense of dissonance he had noticed earlier was.
The degree to which these bandits obeyed orders was not something ordinary bandits could display.
Instead, they seemed like… an army.
“Not good!”
Realizing the situation, Francis shouted to the others.
“These bandits are an exiled army! Don’t let them complete the Collective Magic Array!”
Hearing this, Loyalty rushed forward without hesitation, attempting to stop their mobilization.
However, every time he drew near, soldiers would jump out to block him.
“Stop right now!”
Loyalty watched the Magic Array that was nearing completion and the soldiers continuously blocking him, his eyes turning bloodshot.
He drew a long blade and slashed it across the soldier in front of him.
“Die! Would you just get out of my way?!”
Loyalty was currently in a killing frenzy.
He then gritted his teeth and added, “Zhencheng, if it wasn’t for your indecisiveness, we would have rescued the Saintess by now!”
‘Tch, can this guy be any more simple-minded?’
Francis watched the murderous Loyalty, his own heart burning with anxiety.
He had never expected this nest of bandits to be an exiled army.
No matter how strong or one-in-a-ten-thousand the Defenders of the Faith were, once an army’s Collective Magic Array was formed, even they would have to avoid its edge if they didn’t release the Dogma.
A Collective Magic Array was essentially many people with a silent understanding of each other linking their Mana to release powerful collective Magic.
Collective Magic often consumed a massive amount of energy that could not be released by a single person.
Correspondingly, its power was incredibly formidable.
The armies of the most powerful Ancient Empire in the past could even destroy a small country with a mobilized Collective Magic Array.
Facing the soldiers currently mobilizing, Francis couldn’t afford to care about much else.
He had to break the Collective Magic Array before it formed.
Otherwise, they might not get another chance.
Francis gritted his teeth and decided he had to act.
He pulled a staff out of thin air and gave it a forceful wave.
Ice Walls rose from all directions, splitting the military formation.
However, they lasted for less than a few seconds before Golden Tooth smashed them to pieces.
“Are you acting as if I don’t exist? You dog of the Holy See!”
Golden Tooth stared at Francis, a look of determination in his eyes.
He had already sent Skinny Monkey to take Mida away.
All they needed to do now was stall for time.
“Tch, I really detest you soldiers-turned-bandits. You’ve clearly become criminals, yet you insist on maintaining that shred of pride,” Francis said.
He was now alone, as the remaining Qiancheng and the other Defender of the Faith had gone to stop the formation.
“Heh, think whatever you want. You won’t take a single step forward today,” Golden Tooth said, slowly drawing his sword.
“Tch, there’s no helping it.”
Francis had a headache.
This was completely different from what he had originally planned.
He had thought they were just a nest of ordinary robbers.
He planned to say a few nice words, use the name of the Holy See to make them cooperate, or use force to intimidate them if that failed.
Who would have thought that this nest of bandits wouldn’t listen to a word he said and wanted to fight as soon as they met?
With no other choice, he had to resolve this with force.
Francis held his staff, facing Golden Tooth from a distance.
Golden Tooth stared at Francis, his gaze suddenly narrowing.
He took a step forward and thrust his longsword, closing the distance toward his opponent.
Seeing this, Francis didn’t dare to be careless.
With a wave of his hand, an Ice Wall appeared in front of him.
At the same time, he quickly retreated.
*CRASH!*
A cold flash of light erupted as the longsword pierced through the Ice Wall, shattering it into pieces.
Golden Tooth’s speed didn’t slacken as he continued to charge straight for Francis.
Francis glanced at his companions and saw they were all entangled by the soldiers.
He felt extremely anxious.
If he had known, he would have just attacked from the start.
If they had struck immediately, the situation wouldn’t have reached this stalemate.
Since arriving, they hadn’t even seen the Saintess.
Only the guidance of the Holy Stone continued to linger within the fortress.
If they didn’t find the Saintess, the Holy See would remain in its current half-dead state.
They would also lack the top-tier combat power needed to fight the Abyss, leaving them perpetually powerless.
Most importantly, if they failed to find the Saintess, they would face severe punishment upon their return.
At the thought of the Holy See’s punishment, Francis couldn’t help but grit his teeth.
He swung his staff violently, and dozens of fireballs appeared in mid-air, illuminating the ground like dozens of suns.
“Would you just stop blocking the way?! You’re really in the way!”
Francis roared.
“Can’t you ants just die for the greater good?! You don’t understand the horror of the Abyss at all! Don’t stop us from finding the Saintess!”
As he spoke, the fireballs crashed to the ground, and a violent burst of flame covered the area where the two were.
A scorching heatwave swept through the entire fortress, charring the earth.
Clouds of green smoke drifted into the air.
Soon, the smoke dissipated.
Francis stared intently at Golden Tooth’s position.
A moment later, his pupils suddenly dilated.
Golden Tooth was still standing where he had been.
Though his clothes were in tatters and his body was covered in burns, the light in his eyes still flickered.
At his feet, the red light on a shattered crystal was gradually fading.
It was clear that this crystal had blocked the most fatal strike for him just now.
Enduring the pain, Golden Tooth raised his longsword toward Francis once again.
“How are you still not dead? You’re like a cockroach!”
Francis could no longer keep his composure.
He cursed at Golden Tooth, “Damn it!”
In an instant, Francis’s figure vanished, and a light breeze brushed against Golden Tooth’s cheek.
In the next moment, he appeared in front of Golden Tooth and threw a punch.
“Just… die already!”
The punch landed on the longsword, bending it by force.
His own fist was also sliced open, leaving a deep wound that bled uncontrollably.
Golden Tooth was forced back two steps by the powerful recoil.
Francis seized this opening and threw another punch, striking Golden Tooth in the abdomen.
“Pfft — “
Golden Tooth took the punch full-on.
The immense force caused him to vomit blood, his vision blurred, and he fell backward.
Francis didn’t even look at the blood-spitting Golden Tooth on the ground.
He rushed toward the area where the military formation was gathering.
“Zhencheng! You’re finally here!”
Qiancheng was being pinned down by several soldiers and couldn’t break free.
He let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Francis.
Initially, when he saw Francis engaging in a duel with Golden Tooth, he had been worried that Francis would be stalled for a long time.
But now, it seemed the matter had been resolved rather quickly.
“No time to talk about that! Destroy the Magic Array!”
Francis said anxiously as he watched the nearing completion of the formation.
“We overplayed our hand. These people are lunatics!”
“How far along is this Magic Array?”
Loyalty asked hurriedly after seeing Francis’s attitude.
In terms of knowledge regarding Magic, only Francis among the four of them had the deepest understanding.
“It’s bad. This Magic Array is about to be completed,” Francis said, waving his staff.
An Ice Wall appeared again, attempting to split the Magic Array in two.
But this time, the Ice Wall vanished the moment it touched the Magic Array.
“It’s over!”
Seeing this, Francis realized something was wrong and shouted, “Back away, now!”
Hearing Francis’s words, the Defenders of the Faith used everything they had to kill the soldiers around them before immediately retreating.
Just after they had retreated a few meters, a strong magical fluctuation surged from the center of the array, sweeping out in all directions.
A white-robed Mage had appeared in the center of the array at some unknown time.
He waved the staff in his hand and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“**COLLECTIVE MAGIC ARRAY: HEAVENLY FIRE JUDGMENT!**“
Streams of Mana continuously converged in mid-air, gradually forming a massive… sun.
Sensing the terrifying energy contained within, Francis’s expression changed instantly.
“Everyone, retreat!”