The rounds of attack quickly diminished the dark energy escaping the ogre, and soon, the energy vanished, and the human figure of the bishop fell.

“Catch him!” Dyne ordered as he leaped and rushed to get something that sparkled green.

The group complied and caught the Bishop as Dyne caught on to a green stone that immediately disappeared.

“Well, that went just as planned. And we didn’t even have to use these priests!” Dyne laughed.

The group glanced at the fallen bishop.

“Hey, you priests! Heal your bishop. He’s alright now!” Dyne called out to the shocked priests.

“I didn’t even get to use that spell again…” Ishreth sighed. She always wanted to use that spell, but unless there was war and she would be hiding in a secure fort. And earlier, she managed to use it for the first time and was thrilled to use it.

“Ishreth, your spell lacked skill. If I had the same power source as you, I could have shot that several times faster!” Dyne shook his head.

Ishreth felt pain in her liver. Anyone else in the kingdom would have praised that, but Dyne was not even impressed.

“Amorien… You should learn how to navigate your arrows. You could have aimed for his eyes! You know, that archery was really sloppy.”

Amorien felt an arrow strike her heart.

“Jaden and Landen… Your job was to launch that ogre up high. Yet because your sword and ax somehow swung a bit over, you two were negating each other as your strike began to pull the ogre towards each other. If you were able to do it properly, I could have harnessed another Brimstone attack, and we would have won at the second cycle of the hits.”

“I beg for your forgiveness!” Landen bowed in tears while Jaden received a blow on his pride.

“Chad…”

Chad was trembling.

“Good job!” Dyne approved.

Chad was in tears.

“But you guys need to train more. Now… For the unconscious soldiers… Tie them up. But bring the Priests here.”

The priest were all gathered.

“Heal the Bishop with your spells,” Dyne ordered to which the priest followed. They had seen how these mighty Martial Formation experts followed the boy and won.

They complied, and the priest began to gather around and start chanting a strange chant and immediately summoned the energy onto the bishop.

Dyne observed the healing process and wondered.

“Interesting. They all have a strange power in the Force Foundation. I thought it was supposed to be in their Mind…”

“This is yet another inferior method of cultivation. The Martial Formation experts here are very limited. So wizards and priests often try to use various means to use the energy created in the Force Foundation to be directly converted into healing magic.”

“I see. But the better way is to keep Mind, Body, and Soul separated. There's a form of harmony if that is followed. I’m guessing these cultivators would implant the magic source in their Force Foundation and their Mind Palace too.”

“That’s right. They did it to compensate for the lack of purity and power of the medicines and power sources they could acquire in this place. In the end, they become people similar to that Brigandine!”

“I get it. The priest and wizards in Brigandine are physically weak. They divide cultivation into being a warrior, wizard, and so on. But true cultivation cultivates each aspect to the extreme! That’s the path of being a god!”

“Correct.” Strafe acknowledged.

“Ugh… My head…” The bishop began to stand up. His clothes were tattered, but something in his voice seemed different.

“Just like in the game…” Dyne nodded. In Star Ocean 2, the first boss was also possessed by a strange green stone that allowed him to transform into a strange creature. But upon defeating the creature, Rena was able to heal the person, and they managed to wake up.

Dyne had seen the dark energy, and it somehow manifested itself to create a condensed form of energy, creating the ogre.

“Bishop?!” The Priests were stunned.

“What? Where am I? Chantel? Gregory? What happened?”

“Bishop? Is this really you? You’re back!” One of the Priest was delighted.

“Bishop Chrone. I am Jaden Ciroel Martsirt. You know me. How was it that you became a crony of Archbishop Lazarus, who betrayed the throne?” Jaden asked.

“Lord Jaden!” The bishop recognized the knight.

“He wasn’t. You’ve seen what happened, Jaden. The bishop was deceived. He was given this little thing.” Dyne revealed a green stone that mysteriously appeared on Dyne’s hand.

He kept channeling a strange earthly-orange fire as he held it, and a pained scream could be heard.

“AHHHH!” The ogre was shouting.

Dark and terrifying energy could be sensed in the stone.

“That! That is the Spirit Stone that the Archbishop gave me! He said it contained tremendous power and told me to use it as a base to put in my mind stone!” The bishop recognized it.

“Oh… Amazing developments! So that’s what happened! Well, Bishop. This thing turned you into an Ogre creature. It was powerful… But meh. A little dumb, to be honest.”

The ogre’s spirit felt a different kind of pain striking him.

Strafe noticed it and began to plot how Dyne could insult the poison spirit affecting him.

“Bishop. You changed after putting that Spirit Stone. You always lost your temper, and you began to make strange orders that we can’t understand.”

The other priests nodded immediately and began to recount what had happened.

Dyne observed the bishops and could sense through the Eyes of Destiny that their fate seemed grim.

“They are good guys… But man! These poor kids. Those fates of death and pain. Maybe I should save them! If Legaia has priests… Hmmm….” Dyne began to consider the possibilities.

The priest recounted the orders, and while they seemed strange, Jaden and Bishop Chrone, who were well-versed in politics, had grim expressions.

“I… I did all those?”

“It seems like the Serpentari is really bearing their fangs!”

“What would be our next auction? Master Dyne… you should know what’s next, right?” Jaden turned over and saw that Dyne had a very strange expression.

“Yes… That’s it! I will start my own kingdom in Brigandine! I always wanted to wipe that continent out! Yes! I’ll have my own Priest and Bishops! I’ll command my own Knights and Archers! Monks, Rangers, archers, wizards! I WILL RULE FORSENA! MWAHAHAHAHA!” Dyne laughed a rather depraved kind of laughter.

“Oh no! The Spirit Stone is affecting Dyne!”

“Wait! Stop! Don’t attack! I’m still me! It’s complicated. But yes, I do have a plan. Our most pressing concern is if any of Lazarus’s men would try to teleport back here. They have to see that the fort is still safe! Landen, take these four priest and go back.” Dyne then took out a small strange metallic rock.

“This is what you call a Wizards Ore! Make the priest continuously channel the energy inside this ore.” Dyne then harnessed his Brimstone Energy in one stone, and it began to have a light orange glow.

“Man, the post as you were still serving Lazarus. Tell them that you were attacked, so you called for backup, sending these priests from Bishop Chorne. Once you have teleported to the other side, do the same. Make it look like a battle had occurred in your fort in case others will teleport towards you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Lord Dyne.”

“You can then keep this priest informed of whatever you’ve overheard from our discussion. Priests, just know that the Archbishop has betrayed us and is serving a demon. I hope that the bishop's earlier state is proof enough.”

The priests all nodded.

“Go now. Time is of the essence.” Dyne explained.

The group immediately left. They boarded the Caravan they used to get here and made haste to return to the mines where the secret teleportation pad was.

“You.” Dyne pointed to the last priest who was not sent.

“You seemed to be Chrone’s right-hand man. I want all the details of what had happened after Chron took the Spirit Stone. Then, Chrone, we will be headed towards Martsirt. We will give you the details of our plan and what we’ve uncovered during the trip.”

The bishop nodded.

“As for the men, board them and take them. Then, we can make your claim that these are our prisoners. Chad, Amorien, drive us with Chrone’s Caravan. We’ll need these many caravans for our escape.” Dyne explained.

The group immediately began to move, and they bounded and gagged the guards and rendered them paralyzed through Dyne’s medicines.

“Good ol’ Jigul Grass!” Dyne praised as the group left and confirmed the paralyzed guards.

Chrone’s Caravan dashed back to Martsirt.

There, Jaden began to explain the many things that occurred when they left.

The Bishop and the remaining Priest were shocked at the tale they had heard.

They heard of the Afarit, the mysterious Dyne, the plot of the Archbishop, the captured Prince, Char the Evil, the Kong Apes. All the details were disclosed, and the bishop’s expression grew darker and darker.

“The priesthood was the one thing that Serpentari could not control… To think… now they have powerful wizards on their side! Our side weakens… and their side grows stronger!” The bishop’s eyes grew grim.

“And this is why we must follow the arrangements of Lord Dyne! First, we have to kidnap the king!” Jaden expressed with a serious tone.

Dyne, however, was closing his eyes the entire time. So, while Jaden talked all this, Dyne was back in Jedo’s Soul Space, having fun with the Spirit Stone.