Hector’s expression changed as he looked at the sword in Red’s hand. “The sword! Sheathe it, quickly!”

The elder made a grabbing hand and Domeron’s scabbard which laid at the edge of the battlefield flew over to his hand. He handed it over to Red, who did not hesitate to sheathe the sword.

Although he didn’t feel like the spirit was going out of control, he knew better than to assume.

As soon as the blade was covered, the flame surrounding it died out into nothingness, and the youth heard a faint roar of unwillingness in his mind. With the flames, so too did his strength disappear. The foreign power that filled his body evaporated, and the weakness of his mortal frame never was so clear to him at that moment.

Never had a battle taken so much out of him, and he didn’t even fight it using his own powers. He was exhausted, spent, both in mind and body.

Yet, he still couldn’t afford to relax.

He looked over downhill. “The fighting at the edge of town stopped.”

Since the woman was dead, the zombies she controlled did not have a master whose commands to follow. He wasn’t sure if this meant they would cease to function, but at the very least, they weren’t attacking the formation any longer.

Hector nodded, struggling to get up. “It’s not done yet, we need to… You need to…”

The elder stumbled, but Red rushed ahead to catch him.

“N-No!” The old man, his strength deflating, pushed the youth away. He struggled with himself, but finally managed to stand straight. “We… We don’t have time for this. They are still here. You need to leave.”

Red frowned. He, of course, knew who the man was referring to.

‘The Imperials.’

Whatever connection they might have possibly had with that woman in black, their presence was never seen once throughout the battle. This meant there was still a Peak Lesser Ring Realm assassin somewhere around here, and both he and Hector were at their weakest at the moment.

“They have seen everything,” Hector said. “The fight, the ghosts, the sword, the demon… You need to leave this place before they decide to do something about it.”

Red looked around the battlefield. “We should bury them first.”

What they could bury at least. Goulth was the only one with a whole body. Rog had his entire upper body destroyed, while Domeron’s corpse was nowhere to be seen. Red still didn’t know what happened to the swordsman, but judging by the fact his entire surroundings were consumed by flames as soon as the sword was passed to him, it was easy to come to a conclusion.

“Bury them?” Hector shook his head. “That’s of the least importance right now.”

The youth frowned. “They didn’t deserve this.”

“It’s rare cultivators get the ending they deserve.” the elder said. “Your master, Domeron and Rog, died fighting for what they believed in. It’s more than a lot of people can say, and now you need to make sure their sacrifices don’t go to waste. You need to leave this place”

Red hesitated, but he knew the elder was right. “What about you?”

Hector scoffed. “Me? How much time do you reckon I have left?”

The youth didn’t respond. Even through his crimson sense, he could feel the elder’s fluctuation getting weaker by the second. At this rate, it would just be a matter of a couple of hours before it completely disappeared.

“What are you going to do?” Red asked.

“I will settle things around here.” Hector said. “You need to escape and hide. Once everything has blown over, you need to make your way to the Skycrown Mountain and reunite with Allen.”

“That will be difficult.”

The trip over to the Skycrown Mountain was a dangerous one. That area itself was home to some of the strongest monsters in the world, and only the immediate area surrounding the Crystal Sky Sect was deemed safe for humans to live in. Even then, that place wasn’t reachable by mortals, and only members from the sect were even allowed to enter and leave as they pleased.

Hector shook his head with a pale expression. “He needs your help. The only reason I felt safe sending him over was because I thought you would be with him, but now…”

“I will do my best.” Red nodded.

The elder smiled. “Good… Still, don’t forget your own safety takes priority. Until you feel confident, don’t go that way and don’t try to contact anyone from the Crystal Sky Sect for help.”

“You don’t trust them?”

Hector snorted. “Bah… They aren’t a single entity. We can trust the elder we made a deal with, but anyone else might try to take advantage of your situation. If they somehow learn about what happened here, then…”

Red sighed. “I got it. I will be careful.”

“Good, good. If you breakthrough before then, things will be much easier… I thought you would still have some issues without assistance, but I was wrong to doubt you after what happened. If anyone can open their Spiritual Sea without the help of a sect, it’s yo-”

The elder was interrupted as the sound of a horn echoed through the town. It felt incredibly loud, shaking their very cores. Yet, somehow, the sound didn’t seem to hurt their ears, instead reaching into somewhere far deeper in their beings.

Red was in a daze, confused. Then, a second later, he saw a light appear far above their heads.

It seemed as if the Sun had risen, washing away the night in its golden glow. Yet, as the light dimmed and his eyes adapted to the glow, he saw the source of this brilliance.

A human figure. Not just one, though, but dozens of them, all mounted atop pure white winged horses and wearing shining golden armor that made one’s eyes hurt from looking at it for too long. Their faces, covered in helmets that hid their features, stared down at the town beneath their feet, like gods in their awe-inspiring presence that seemed to bear down on Red and the others.

It was an oppressive feeling, as if divine punishment was to be dolled out upon them and a feeling of helplessness instilled in those aimed at by their gaze. There is no resistance. There is no purpose in opposing this fate.

This was what Red felt as he looked at these figures, a strange sense of familiarity coming to him.

Amidst these mounted flying knights, one figure was holding a pure golden horn, the source of the noise they had just heard. Said knight lowered the horn, and his booming voice reached the town down below, echoing through the entire region.

“Under the orders of His Radiance, Emperor Augustus the Third, we, the knights of the 7th Golden Legion under the command of our Holy General, Sir Bernard, have come to this town with the intention to liberate its people from the corruption of sectarian, demonic, and unholy influences.”

The knight paused, as if letting them diggest the words that were spoken. Almost ten seconds later, he continued.

“Lower the formation and submit yourselves to the command of our holy knights. Any resistance will be met with swift and decisive retaliation. You have ten minutes to obey our commands, after which we will take it as your intentions to disobey our orders and will immediately attack the formation.”

This time, it seemed that the knight was finished speaking.

None of the legion seemed to have drawn their weapons, but each and every one of them carried a lance and shield at their back, as well as a longsword sheathed at their side. The pressure and absolute feeling of strength they emitted was evident even to those without sensitivity to Spiritual Energy.

For cultivators like Red, it was much worse. He could feel the waves of energy constantly being emitted from their body, reaching him from hundreds of meters above. Each one of these knights seemed to be brimming with as much power as the ghost he had just defeat, and he counted at least thirty of them mounted atop these winged-steeds in an organized formation.

This wasn’t all, though.

At the center of this squadron, there was someone else. Another knight, though this one brought attention onto himself by the fact their armor was silver, and they didn’t seem to emit the same golden light as the rest of their companions. They only carried a longsword at their side, and they seemed almost too ordinary to fit amidst this golden host. However, their position at the center of the army spoke to the contrary.

Red felt his gaze drawn to this person, sensing there was something special about them. The knight’s expression was hidden behind this plated ornamental helmet that covered their entire head, and yet at that moment, their head shifted.

The youth felt as if they were staring directly at him. Red felt his eyes sting, as if something was being transmitted from that person’s gaze onto his very own. An intent, sharp, overwhelming.

Impossible to look away from.

“Don’t!” Hector called out to him and pushed him away.

The elder’s interruption made Red break eye contact with the knight. He reached up towards his face in a daze, sensing blood pouring down his eyes. His vision was blurry, and yet a regenerative force within his body acted at that moment, as if trying to repair the damage done to his vision.

It took almost ten seconds before Red felt as if he could see things somewhat properly again, upon which he noticed Hector’s alarmed figure standing by his side.

“Don’t… Don’t look at him.” the elder said. “You will die.”

Red was confused, still trying to process what had happened. “… Who is that?”

“It’s… It’s Bernard. He’s here.”

The youth shivered, feeling a sense of terror overcoming his mind.

The man he swore to kill now arrived at the gates of his home. Except, now it was uncertain who would kill who.