"In an instant, the attack target of the Holy Sanctuary Mage was twisted... by a three-winged Soul Spirit," Hanna exclaimed in amazement. "You must have only gone to the Distant Realm once and yet, you managed to gain such a reward?"
"With the assistance of a Sword Master, I was lucky enough to have some gains in my adventures," Igula said, leaning weakly against the wall. "I never thought there would be good people among the mages."
"It was your first visit to the Distant Realm, and you got help; you’re really lucky."
"I didn’t just get lucky for nothing. He asked me how to fix a strained relationship with his brother, to which I offered lots of good advice," Igula said. "Moreover, if I had been really lucky, I wouldn’t have ended up here with you, descending into Hell."
Don’t be fooled by the appearance that the Funeral Ceremony party could barely resist the attack of the Holy Sanctuary Mages; it was because they were using hostages for protection—those Legendary Mages who sat motionless.
The Legendary Mages were almost unresponsive to the outside world, but everyone could see that they had close ties with the Divine Beings, and this relationship was almost obvious—they were energy conduits for the Divine Beings.
Previously, everyone believed that the Gospel was a system operated personally by the All-knowing Weaver. However, seeing the scene in the underground hall, the Funeral Ceremony party realized that the Kingdom of Gospel didn’t rely on any God Emperor at all. The wonder of the Gospel was entirely created by the working people.
The Gospel, this great wonder that covered the entire kingdom and reached all people, regarded as the cornerstone of civilization, was the collective achievement of all Legendary Mages throughout history who served as fuel. Day and night, they burned themselves out to drive Divine Beings, so that the Gospel could traverse the lands and shine upon all creatures!
As for whether these Legendary Mages were coerced or brainwashed, everyone had their speculations, but Igula believed otherwise—they were resources.
For these Legendary Mages, who stood at the pinnacle among mortals, the temptation of researching Divine knowledge to build the stairs to Angels was likely the only thing that could fill the void in their hearts.
Give them what they want, provide them what they need; it was a win-win deal. The Divine Beings operated because of their dedication, and they peered at a higher firmament because of the Divine Beings. But even as energy conduits, they ran great risks—the Divine Beings were so vast, and their wills, being so close to those beings, had long since been assimilated and dissolved.
In Igula’s eyes, even if they looked different and were of different ages, there was no sign of ’individuality’ left in these Legendary Mages’ thoughts. There was only one voice: the Gospel.
It is worth noting that the Holy Sanctuary Mages currently fighting in the Funeral Ceremony also showed signs of this ’noise reduction’—their emotional fluctuations were pitifully low, as if stones of myriad oddities had gradually been sculpted into identical artifacts. When they became Legendary Mages, they were bound to become the next generation of energy conduits.
However, to say they were deceived by the Gospel would be greatly underestimating mages. Not to mention how much they gained from the Gospel, without it, the majority here would have had no hope of advancing to the Legendary level.
And they could choose not to come to Nabistin. They must have guessed the truth of the Gospel, but since they came, they had to bear the consequences of their choices.
At this moment, Igula suddenly recalled Hanna’s words, "Every choice you make is a path arranged by the Gospel for you, and you’re not even conscious of it... Only those who can choose count as human, those who blindly follow are nothing but worms."
The Swindler shook his head and turned his gaze back to the battlefield in the underground hall.
Regardless, it was precisely because of these Legendary Mages, the energy bars, that the Funeral Ceremony could hold out until now. The Holy Sanctuary Mages dared not attack the Legendary Mages—not to say that the Legendary Mages were fragile. In fact, if it were possible to take a Legendary Mage hostage and cause harm, Hanna’s group would have done so already. The Holy Domain Mages were more like they didn’t want to ’disturb’ the Legendary Mages focused on their work.
And Hanna’s group could only rely on the Legendary Mages to establish a defensive line, unable to further utilize these strategic weapons. The Legendary Mages were enveloped in a layer of Holy Domain that clung tightly to their bodies, and unless they exhausted the Legendary Mages’ Magic Power, it was impossible to touch their true forms.
But that was all they could do.
The Holy Sanctuary Mages had blocked the only passage, and the ten Holy Sanctuary Mages were in no hurry, slowly wearing them down with time. Banjee’s melting had a time limit, Harvey’s "Ice Cold Flowing Fire" state could not be maintained indefinitely, Igula’s Magic Power was depleted after using a three-winged Technique Spirit once, and Hanna’s Combat Power was only Two-winged—at her age, being a Two-winged Mage was already impressive. If Igula and Harvey hadn’t obtained the Seven-colored Tail feathers, their combat power would not have been able to catch up with Hanna’s!
Their wounds were also mounting, and defeat was just a matter of time.
"Speaking of which," Igula said, "Their only target is Hanna, right?"
"That’s right," Hanna said calmly. "So you all are going to die in order to protect me."
"If it were Ash, he definitely wouldn’t have implicated us."
"Yes, that’s why I like him," Hanna said. "But if it were Ash, you wouldn’t abandon him either."
"If you can persuade Banjee to live on his own, I’m willing to spare you guys," Purple Moth stated with a smirk. "It would be a bit lonely if only Banjee and I descended into Hell. Plus, if you were in my shoes, knowing you’re going to die, would you drag others down to Hell with you for a little bit longer, or would you just die cleanly?"
The Swindler suddenly asked, "What if the person here were Ash?"