“How does the Mora family have access to our royal secret arts?” Fratis also recognized the origin of the formation, her delicate face full of confusion and surprise.
The high-level secret arts of the royal family were strictly confidential, tightly guarded by contracts and restrictions. Even royal members were forbidden from passing them on, making any sort of leak virtually impossible.
“Who knows how they got their hands on it.” Luca shook his head slightly.
Without further clues, there was little he could deduce.
But once Fratis reported this to Dawn City, specialists would certainly be sent to investigate.
It leaving him with less to worry about.
He looked toward the Outer District. There, Bronte hovered mid-air, gripping a gleaming silver sword, his expression icy as six silver wings of pure sword energy unfurled behind him, stirring his cloak in the wind.
“Did you really think a single Superclass-level formation would stop me? That’s wildly optimistic,” Bronte sneered, his entire body surging with sword energy as he pointed his sword skyward.
High above, specks of starlight began to shimmer, growing brighter and more numerous with each passing second.
As the others squinted, they realized that these weren’t stars but massive silver swords!
The Swordmaster’s Superclass skill—Falling Star Sword Rain!
Countless giant swords descended like a relentless storm, crashing against the Dark River Array.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!” The deafening roars echoed as the array trembled violently, appearing as if it might shatter at any moment.
Only now did many remember that this Marquis of the Southern Territory, who had been quiet in recent years, was once an unparalleled prodigy—and now, he had reached the Sky-level!
Inside the meat factory in the Outer District.
The members of the Mora family looked up at the sky, their hearts pounding in fear.
Bronte’s strength far exceeded their expectations!
“At this rate, we won’t last much longer!” Ian’s face turned pale. If Bronte kept up the assault, not even the Dark River Array would hold; his strength was simply overwhelming!
“This is all your fault!” Harvis glared at Ian furiously.
If not for him, Fratis wouldn’t have consumed the Desire Seed, and they wouldn’t be in this predicament!
The elder Andrew, his white hair glinting, spoke gravely, “How much longer until the blood sacrifice is complete?”
“At least half an hour,” another elder replied, his expression grim.
Inside the blood-lit array, tens of thousands of slaves were trapped, strands of blood essence being drained from them, with dozens or even hundreds turning to skeletons every minute as their essence was funneled into a dark box hovering above the formation.
These captives, aware of their doomed fate, knelt and pleaded desperately, begging the Mora family members for mercy. Yet, those on the outside didn’t spare them so much as a glance.
In the crowd, a young man with algae-green hair stared ahead in despair.
Their fate had been sealed the moment they were bought.
“It’s still too slow!” Andrew frowned.
Half an hour later, Bronte could have wiped them all out by then.
After a brief moment of thought, he narrowed his eyes slightly and said, “Send in the family’s fighters to speed up the blood sacrifice.”
A heavy silence fell over the group.
There was a way to speed up the blood sacrifice—by killing everyone within the array.
But there was one problem: those who went in couldn’t come back out; they too would be sacrificed.
Seeing no volunteers, Harvis’s face turned icy. “Ian, you’re going in.”
“Me?!” Ian’s head shot up, his face filled with shock.
He couldn’t believe it. Harvis was actually sending him into the blood sacrifice!
“What? You’re unwilling?” Harvis’s gaze fell on him, a cold smirk tugging at his lips. “If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Letting you enter the blood array to atone is already merciful.
“Of course, you can refuse. But you know what that means…”
As he spoke, dark purple lines began to ripple across Harvis’s body.
The black box within the blood array emitted a sinister black glow, pulsating with a potent aura of desire!
At this point, the box looked entirely different from when they had taken it from Pure River Town. Now it was a deep purple-black, with four etched images on its surface. The golden tree depicted had grown lush, its branches heavy with vibrant red fruit, so lifelike it almost appeared real.
But if one looked closer, they would see twisted, agonized faces of women faintly etched onto each of the red fruits, their expressions contorted, disturbingly vivid.
Ian stared at the black box within the array, his face a mixture of terror and fascination, his body trembling as he began to step toward the array. He wasn’t alone; others whom Harvis had selected wore frenzied expressions, voluntarily stepping into the blood sacrifice array.
Seeing members of the Mora family entering, the slaves within the array mistook it for a rescue. Thinking their salvation was at hand, they crowded around, pleading desperately:
“Noble lords, please, have mercy on us! We won’t slack off ever again!”
“Yes, yes! I’ll serve you with all my life; just spare my child! He’s barely a teenager; he’s so young!”
“Spare me, please! I’ll do anything you want!”
…
The pleas fell on deaf ears as the Mora family fighters walked on, their faces unmoved, while Ian’s gaze grew darker, tinged with a bloody glow.
He suddenly laughed—a twisted, menacing laugh—and sneered, “Spare you? Who’s going to spare me?!”
The moment his words fell, Ian’s sword flared with a silvery light, his arm raised as he swung mercilessly toward the densest part of the crowd.
In an instant, blood sprayed everywhere!
Dozens of people were shredded into pulp by Ian’s sword energy, while over a hundred more were severely injured!
Terror filled everyone’s eyes.
Only now did they realize that these men hadn’t come to rescue them—they’d come to kill them!
These were ordinary people, with no chance of resisting a single strike from a Diamond-level warrior.
But it was too late. By now, other Mora family fighters had also joined the slaughter.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of slaves were dead, their agonized screams echoing.
As the blood soaked into the array, the Blood Sacrifice Array grew brighter, making the black box above it even more ominous.
“Stop this madness!!” Up in the sky, Bronte was nearly beside himself with rage. Sword energy surged around him, condensing into a massive sword, hundreds of meters long, which he sent crashing down on the array.
“Boom!” The shockwave spread as Bronte, even trying to hold back, still reduced the nearby factory buildings to rubble.
Fortunately, the surrounding residents had already been evacuated by the soldiers, or the death toll would have been disastrous.
As the dust cleared, a huge crack appeared on the Dark River Array. Harvis couldn’t help but twitch at the sight—this Superclass array had almost been shattered by a single strike!
But to his relief, the crack soon began to heal.
With the continued slaughter within the Blood Sacrifice Array, the black array glowed ever darker.
Harvis let out a triumphant laugh, “Bronte, is that all you’ve got? Ha!”
Bronte was so furious he nearly passed out.
These lowly dogs, who’d once been too afraid to even breathe near him, now dared to mock him!
His face flushed, his sword erupted into a storm of slashes, one after another pounding the Dark River Array, tearing the clouds above them apart with the sheer force of his attacks.
The array quaked, yet with the reinforcement from the Blood Sacrifice Array and the black box, it quickly healed each time.
“This won’t work.” Luca frowned.
At this rate, by the time Bronte broke through, the factory’s slaves would all be dead.
After a moment of thought, he sighed and started toward the Outer District.
He’d hoped this would go more smoothly, but it seemed he’d have to take a risk after all.
Just then, two streaks of light shot up from Red Maple Academy, speeding toward the meat processing factory.
It was Orf and Medel!
“Bronte, step aside! We’ll handle these animals!” Orf’s voice, thick with anger, thundered through the sky.
In the next moment, an intense concentration of magic began to gather above.
In the blink of an eye, the sky filled with a countless number of intricate magic runes.
Layer upon layer of multicolored symbols, stacked so densely that they seemed to blot out the sun.
The sight alone was enough to suffocate countless onlookers.
Even Bronte’s face changed at the sight. Without hesitation, he turned and retreated.
When a Demonic Rune Mage tells you to clear out, you best get as far away as possible.
They had little regard for collateral damage once they got started.
“Shame,” Luca murmured, shaking his head.
He withdrew his gaze, continuing his way toward the Outer District.
Inside the meat factory, Harvis looked up at the sky, his smile frozen on his face.
Only now did he realize he’d celebrated far too soon.
Southwind City had more than one Superclass powerhouse.
And Orf, especially, was a Demonic Rune Mage—a walking artillery barrage, recognized across all professions.
If the magic box and the Dark River Array couldn’t withstand his onslaught, they would be obliterated in an instant!
“Don’t worry. In Southwind City, they wouldn’t dare go all out,” Andrew said, leaning on his cane, with a calm expression.
The reason they’d chosen Southwind City to complete Pandora’s plan was because of its dense population; even Superclass powerhouses couldn’t unleash their full power without risking catastrophe. Outside the city, they would have fewer restraints.
At that moment, Orf’s voice cut through the air, cold and firm, “Andrew, I’ll give you one last chance.
“Release everyone now, and I’ll spare your lives. Otherwise, you’ll leave me no choice.”
Andrew raised his head, looking up at the figures in the sky, a sly smile crossing his wrinkled face.
Calm and unhurried, he replied, “Then go ahead, strike us down. Use as many Superclass magic runes as you like—wipe out our Mora family along with these tens of thousands of slaves.
“Then, Orf, you’ll certainly go down in history as the Empire’s greatest hero!”