13 Mink Street

Within the principles of squad operations, intelligence always took top priority. Karon did not believe the organizers had managed to ensure that every aspect of the selection was flawless. In fact, he could clearly sense a distinctly rough-and-ready quality permeating the entire process.

After passing the security inspection, no behavior would be considered cheating, and everything was permitted. The sounds of iron cages crashing against each other were clear through the dark vortex overhead. Unless something unexpected happened, the second and third rounds of targets for this exam were likely already lined up on the other side.

After receiving the captain’s order, Ashley immediately lowered her head and began searching across her arms. The most useless, the most useless... this one!

Ashley placed her fingertip on a small totem and chanted, “My most sincere friend, Cindy! Now, I ask you for aid. I hope your power can be transmitted to my side and help me through this danger.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Ashley’s eyes went vacant, and then a white light emerged from her left arm, projecting a large white bird. Its eyes were azure blue, its feathers were pure white, and its form was graceful. It practically looked like an interpretation of sanctity itself.

The reason Ashley had chosen it was that this flying beast named Cindy had no function other than being pretty. It usually appeared during ceremonies to embellish the ritual, serving as a kind of mascot. So, to follow the captain’s requirements, Ashley summoned it first.

At this moment, she was controlling the projection, or rather, she was guiding Cindy’s projection. After it circled once in the air, Cindy flew straight into the black vortex. Before long, a miserable scream rang out, followed by a sharp bang. Several phantom feathers flew out of the black vortex and slowly dissipated. Clearly, the Cindy had completed its mission.

The organizers on the other side of the black vortex had probably not expected such a thing to happen, but after a brief moment of shock, they had immediately slaughtered the large bird that had dared to fly in and spy on the exam.

“Cough, cough, cough...” Ashley’s eyes recovered. She took a deep breath, clutching her chest as she let out several more coughs. “Behind the cage holding the Meka, there’s also an illusion demon Zoge. Behind that is an illusion demon Redina. I also saw an illusion demon Psyen being loaded into a cage!”

Ashley turned to look at Karon. She gulped before resuming her report, “I also saw another enormous silver gate. Cindy sensed a terrifying aura of restriction there. That... it’s a sealed space!”

Ashley had proven herself to be far, far more effective than Karon had anticipated. In fact, with just the information she had just provided, even if she did nothing else throughout the rest of the exam, she had already offered their squad an enormous advantage. From childhood, she and her parents had spent time in a research institute alongside rare demonic beasts. She was extremely familiar with such creatures, and this was not the kind of familiarity that could be gained from seeing illustrated manuals, but came from touching the beasts, spending time with them, and perhaps even seeing her parents dissect them.

What Karon had expected was for Ashley to tell him what the demonic beasts looked like, so that he would then be able to deduce their possible abilities and plan appropriately, but since Ashley had been able to name each of the creatures, it proved that she recognized them. This completely removed any sort of guessing from the equation. Karon could obtain specific information regarding the later rounds of the exam solely from Ashley. This was no different from turning a closed-book exam into an open-book exam.

After the Meka, the squads would likely face three more illusion demons. If, at that point, there were still more than two teams remaining, a soul-type divine artifact would be taken from the Church of Order’s sealed space so that it could exert its power on the candidates as the final stage of the exam.

At this moment, the black vortices in the air disappeared. Karon knew that the loophole had been patched in time. Although the squads were all separated from one by barriers, their vision was unobstructed. What Squad 3 had just done had certainly been seen by other squads, and they might be able to learn from that example. It was even possible that some squad might take a more extreme option and simply throw one of their teammates through. After all, a candidate could not possibly be slaughtered in the same way they had treated the projection of the large white bird. Rather than allow more variables and uncertainties to appear, it was better to simply remove the black vortices that had originally been used to create the atmosphere of the exam. The illusion demons would be released only when it was time.

“An illusion demon Meka’s body resembles a massive eyeball. Their bodies are soft, yet tough, which grants them an extremely high degree of flexible defense. At the same time, their skin secretes a hallucinogenic toxin. Their own abilities include deep hypnosis and a mental storm.” Ashley shared what she knew of the illusion demon Meka.

Karon immediately made some changes to his previous orders. “Vintral, when the Meka appears, control it. Bart, only attack after Vintral has the Meka under control. Blanche, provide mental defense for Vintral and Bart!”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Yes, Captain!”

Karon looked at Mars and said, “Continue setting up the array.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Ashley, rest.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Blanche started chanting, and a layer of black protection appeared on both Vintral and Bart. A second round of chanting caused what looked like an umbrella to appear behind each of them. The first protection was a Cloak of Purification, while the latter was a Soul Umbrella.

After some time, the black vortices reappeared. Monsters as tall as a two-story building and shaped like a massive eyeball fell from them.

Vintral spread both of his hands, and a layer of crystal instantly covered his body. His originally small frame began expanding at the same time, and he rose up to a height of two meters. His physique, built up by the crystal that also acted similarly to muscle.

“Order—Protective Wall!” This was not considered as an especially advanced Art, and Karon often used it as well. However, when Vintral used it, the walls he summoned actually extended from his arms. He had added his own element into the Order Arts, which caused his walls to be silver. Not only that, the two enormous walls he summoned looked like they were embedded in his arms. Before the Meka even landed on the ground, the two huge walls clamped it in midair. This scene looked comical, yet it was playing out before their eyes.

Karon had long since predicted that Vintral’s forte was not the strength of his soul. However, because he had spent nearly every day of his life being tormented by corruption that had affected him since before birth, his soul was far tougher than that of an ordinary priest. That was why he had passed the district selection. However, where he truly excelled was his physical body. He had broken through with his own corruption, and used that corruption. By stepping on the corruption that had tortured him so much, he had obtained much greater ability.

When the young man seriously drew upon his strength, the originally reserved boy became a berserk giant.

The Meka which was clamped in place instinctively tried to break free, but Vintral’s arms did not move at all, and naturally, the enormous walls holding the Meka in place did not move either. Unable to break free, the massive eye turned crimson. At that instant, Vintral, Bart, and Blanche’s vision was completely dyed red, given that they were closest to the illusion demon. Even Karon, Mars, and Ashley, who stood farther away, could detect a change to their vision.

Blanche began retreating. She needed to maintain a safe distance, depending on the current situation, though while retreating, she continued to offer mental protections to Vintral and Bart. The two black umbrellas continued to rotate above their heads, offsetting the mental influence of the Meka.

Seeing that the illusion demon was already successfully under control, Bart leaned forward, his arms hanging down. With a sudden shake, the flesh of his palms split open to reveal small white bone spurs. Engravings could be clearly seen on his exposed bones.

It was difficult to imagine how runes had been carved onto his bones, and how much pain Bart must have endured throughout the process. If Vintral had obtained greater strength by overcoming his own suffering, Bart had instead proactively pursued suffering for the sake of getting stronger.

After a brief chant, two black curved blades appeared in his hands.

Karon carefully observed the battle from where he stood at the back. He understood that Bart had transformed his own bones into something similar to holy relics. They not only strengthened his bodily enhancement, they also used his bones as a support to improve the level at which he used Arts. Originally, Bart should have been following a path similar to Darkmoon Island’s martial arts system, but he wanted something that far surpassed just that.

His figure flashed, and Bart appeared above the Meka, and the two black curved blades stabbed straight down into the illusion demon’s body.

Identical copies of Blanche appeared on either side of her body. The three Blanches chanted in unison, providing a new enhancement for herself, Bart, and Vintral.

In truth, her reaction was a little slow. She should have acted earlier, but Bart had moved far faster than she had expected. Of course, it could also be said that Bart’s tempo had been too fast, and that he had missed Blanche’s timing.

In short, the squad still lacked proper coordination.

Buzz! The black curved blades stabbed into the Meka, but failed to break through its hide. Yet before the illusion demon’s flesh could cave inward and dissipate the force of the attack, Bart’s elbows trembled. He instantly withdrew the power behind his first strike, and instead of continuing to press downward, the twin blades snapped back a short ways before he drove them forward again.

He already had a grasp of the Meka’s defenses, so he would not attack with singular decisive blows. He chose to employ a rapid, high-frequency method of repeated impacts, continuously piling up the pressure the Meka was subjected to.

“Ooo...” The Meka let out a pained howl as cracks began spreading across its skin. Its proudly resilient hide had lost its effectiveness under Bart’s targeted assault.

At the same time, tiny pores opened across its flesh, and clouds of green mist spewed forth.

Fortunately, Blanche’s protection had already been put into place. A defensive barrier enveloped Bart, allowing him to resist the effects of the mental toxin so he could fully focus on attacking.

Even in its near-frenzied state, the Meka’s poisonous mist and mental assaults were unable to break through the defenses Blanche placed around her teammate.

“Roar!” Vintral let out an angry roar. It looked like he was growing larger once again, and both of his arms became even thicker and stronger. The two massive Protective Walls also became larger and sturdier. His feet spread slightly apart, and he began squeezing the Meka with greater power. With this, the illusion was not merely held in place, but the pressure caused its skin to become tense from the overall pressure it was being subjected to. In turn, this allowed Bart’s attacks to become more effective.

Seeing this, even Karon could not help but let out a silent sigh. These three truly were geniuses.

In essence, they were the same as him. While their age meant that they were still advancing step by step along the conventional path, they had already begun broadening themselves by spreading out, digging deep into their potential while simultaneously laying foundations for future growth. That was the greatest difference between them and Richard in the past. Previously, Richard had been much too lazy and undisciplined to push himself so hard. Fortunately, his father had recently started helping him to compensate for those missed lessons.

Karon could not help but lament to himself, If only all these young people could become my foundation.

At present, it was only realistic for him to be able to pull Vintral to his side. Bart and Blanche both had ties to the Knight Regiments. It really was a pity.

If a Whip of Order squad were assembled solely of geniuses like these, even Captain Nio would drool with envy at the sight.

Their situation was basically stable. They only needed to wait for Bart’s continuous pressure to eventually overcome the Meka’s limits, and their first battle would be resolved. Therefore, Karon made no move of his own. He simply lifted his head to look up at the statue of Ogureth above. He believed that there had to be true powerhouses of the church observing this exam through the statue’s eyes at this moment, so his Darkmoon Blade and Sea God’s Armor... he could still use them, but could not do so too blatantly.

Although he had already developed methods to conceal the visible aspects of the two Arts, he did not want to take risks in regards to such matters.

He looked around at the other squads. After all, everything needed to be judged through comparison.

His own squad had managed to completely suppress the Meka using only half of their members, and it was nothing more than a matter of time before they were victorious. However, that did not mean the Mekas were weak. In fact, several of the nearby squads had already been thrown into complete chaos by the giant eyeball creatures, forced into bitter, uneven fights. Without proper preparation from the beginning, or a proper team composition, dealing with a creature like the Mekas, with their mental abilities, poisonous mist, and soft-hide defenses, would genuinely give anyone a headache.

Still, Karon noticed that Squad 1 was already finished with their battle. All six members were sitting cross-legged on the ground, quietly adjusting their condition.

That fast?

In another direction, Squad 7 was also done. These two squads were the fastest to finish, yet the second target, the illusion demon Zoge, had not appeared for either Squad 1 or Squad 7. That suggested that the second round would only begin after every squad was finished with their current battle.

In other words, the earlier a squad finished, the more time they would have to rest.

Yet even after understanding this rule, Karon still had no intention of personally intervening, because he already had an overall plan in mind.

Finally, with the sound of an overinflated ball bursting, the Meka’s body failed to withstand the pressure and attacks, and it exploded.

Although Karon’s squad was not the fastest to finish, the Meka assigned to them had undoubtedly died the most miserable death of all. It had never even managed to touch the ground, having remained helplessly pinned in midair from beginning to end.

“Vintral, Bart, retreat and rest. Our next illusion demon won’t appear before all of the other squads finish dealing with their targets. Blanche, rest as well. Don’t waste any power on accelerating their recoveries. Use this time to rest.”

“Yes, Captain.” The three answered and all retreated closer to the ritual array.

At this moment, Mars finally completed setting it up, though at Karon’s request, the array had not been activated and remained silent.

“The illusion demon Zoge, judging by an adult individual, is more than twice the size of a Meka. It looks like an octopus and has many tentacles. Its mental power is much stronger than a Meka’s. Each tentacle can serve as the origin for a separate mental attack. In addition, it can spit venom that acts as corruption.”

“Corruption?”

“Yes, Captain. Though after the venom is extracted, it can be used as a very precious raw material for reagents.”

Karon nodded and said to Ashley, “Are you rested?”

“I’m rested, Captain.”

“Spread out your arms and let me see.”

“Alright, Captain.” Ashley rolled up her sleeves and placed both arms before Karon.

He observed the totems for a while, then pointed at one of a fire lizard, and said, “Later, summon this one.”

“Captain, it isn’t strong... aside from having flames that cover its body, it doesn’t have any means of attack. If not for the fact that it can’t fly, I wouldn’t have summoned that Cindy earlier and would have summoned this one instead.”

“This one will do. It’s fine.”

At this point, all of the other squads had completed their battles. Two had even been eliminated in the very first round.

One had seen half of its members trapped within the mental vortex, unable to awaken, which had ultimately caused the squad to fall into internal conflict due to the Meka’s manipulations. The other squad had been unable to break through the illusion demon’s defenses and had instead been defeated by the Meka one by one. The former had chosen to voluntarily withdraw from the exam, while the latter saw the organizers step in and end things for them.

In an instant, the barriers that separated those two squads contracted, sealing the two Mekas away. The other squads, whether cleanly, unhurriedly, or in a rather embarrassing manner, all managed to complete the first round.

Eighteen squads entered the second round. Above them, the dark storm clouds gathered once more. Thanks to Squad 3’s earlier stunt, the organizers could only use the storm clouds as a countdown method.

Bart, Vintral, and Blanche all stood up, but Karon told them, “Continue resting and recover as best you can. Mars, set up another array for building a mental bridge.”

After giving that order, Karon glanced at Ashley and gestured for her to come over with him.

Karon arrived beneath the storm clouds, and Ashley stood behind him. An instant later, an enormous split appeared in the maelstrom, and it widened. A huge octopus fell from that crack, landing within their barriers with a boom. Upon landing, the illusion demon Zoge raised its twelve tentacles and let out a piercing roar.

Karon stood with both hands behind his back. A faint layer of black mist shrouded him, and he floated up, both of his feet leaving the ground. More than a hundred chains shot out from around him, locking down each of Zoge’s tentacles, as well as the illusion demon’s head.

Boom! Another roar rang out. The Zoge, which had been incomparably arrogant a moment before, was already suppressed and pinned to the ground by dense black chains.

Seeing this, Ashley’s eyes bulged. Similar expressions could be seen on the faces of other squad members who were resting.

“Your summon,” Karon reminded her.

“Oh, yes, Captain!” Ashley began summoning. Very soon, a projection of a fire lizard appeared. Flames flickered across its body. It crawled over to the Zoge, and the flames transferred onto the illusion demon, causing continuous damage. From time to time, white smoke from the burning and melting rose from the Zoge’s head, but compared to the illusion demon’s enormous body, the amount of smoke was far too little.

It let out a deep, angry roar. It was unclear whether it felt stifled because it was unable to move, or because such a lowly thing was being used to attack it.

Ashley softly reminded Karon again, “Captain, its attack power isn’t very high.”

He calmly nodded, and said, “There’s no hurry. We’ll roast it.”