Sadius and Emilin had already flown far from the battlefield.
As expected, this mission was nowhere near as simple as a normal Fiend assessment.
Even the assessment proctor, a Highgod Fiend, had been forced to join the fight.
And judging by his aura, he was at least Six-Star Fiend level—a true powerhouse.
From the exchange between the proctor and the bandit leader, Sadius pieced together the true story behind this ambush.
These weren't ordinary bandits.
After all, no Six-Star Fiend would willingly lower themselves to live as a mere bandit in the wilderness.
But if they were former subordinates of the previous city lord, then it made sense.
They had stayed in the Jidao Mountain Range as bandits for one purpose—to take revenge on Blackcloud City.
With a Six-Star Fiend holding the fort, no merchant caravan passing through this route could ever resist them.
"My lord, what now? Even the proctor joined the battle. Who are we supposed to hand these Fiend Badges to?"
Emilin's tone carried some hesitation.
Sadius thought for a moment.
"It seems the bandits have thrown in all their forces at the battlefield. Which means their main fortress must be empty of strong guards. In that case… why don't we raid their base instead? There could be plenty of valuable resources left unguarded."
Emilin nodded.
It made sense.
Right now, the Highgod battlefield clearly favored the Fiend Castle's side—it wouldn't take long before the fight reached its conclusion.
Striking the bandit fortress now, when it was weakly defended, was undoubtedly the smartest move.
They wouldn't have to face the full force of hundreds of Midgod bandits
and could loot the resources with minimal resistance.
Immediately, Sadius and Emilin circled around the mountain range, searching for the bandit's main base.
Above them, the sky still roared with the clash of Six-Star and Five-Star Fiends, both sides unleashing terrifying power.
Now it was five Five-Star Fiend proctors versus three Five-Star bandit leaders.
With that numerical advantage, the proctors began to regain the upper hand.
"Focus your strength! Target one enemy at a time!"
The Fiend proctors stopped fighting separately, banding together to kill the bandits one by one.
The balance of the Highgod battlefield slowly shifted.
After a long flight, Sadius and Emilin finally spotted a castle hidden deep within the Jidao Mountains.
It was clearly the bandits' main fortress.
Sadius extended his divine sense, probing the fortress.
Inside, there was only one Midgod and a handful of Lowgods.
As expected, the bandits had emptied the base for the large battle.
"Let's move. We loot, then we leave."
"Mm."
The two flew straight toward the fortress.
A Lowgod spotted two unfamiliar Midgods flying in.
Realizing they weren't allies, he immediately sent a warning transmission to the Midgod inside the castle—but before he could finish, Sadius' longsword sliced through him, killing him instantly.
Sadius and Emilin stormed into the fortress, two Midgods against a bunch of Lowgods—it was like wolves charging into a flock of sheep.
Blood and shattered Divine Sparks littered the halls.
Some Lowgods fled deeper into the fortress, desperately trying to call for help.
Meanwhile, on the outside battlefield, the Highgod bandit leaders noticed the disturbance from their base.
"Damn it! Tynoderson, do you really want to annihilate us completely? Then today either you die—or I do! Brothers, send twenty Midgods back to reinforce the fortress!"
Twenty Midgod bandits immediately disengaged from the main battle and flew toward their castle.
"Rexus! Only one of us walks away today!"
"Tynoderson, I'll kill you, you traitor! I'll avenge my elder brother!"
The Six-Star Fiend bandit leader suddenly revealed his true form—a terrifying Titan Behemoth, specifically of the royal Titan lineage.
A colossal beast, even larger than the mountains themselves, appeared.
Behind it loomed an even more massive phantom projection of its true soul.
Then the Titan Behemoth and its phantom both swung their titanic fists.
This was his innate divine ability—Titan Earth Splitter Smash.
The moment the blow landed, the entire mountain range shook violently.
Back in the bandit fortress, Sadius and Emilin cut through the inner halls. Sadius' divine sense had already located the treasure vault within.
They moved with a clear goal.
But suddenly—a magic array flared to life around them!
Powerful elemental energy surged, unleashing a devastating dimensional blade straight at them.
Sadius' longsword swept up in a flash, deflecting one blade that carried power on par with a Highgod attack.
Emilin wasn't as lucky.
The terrifying dimensional blade sliced into his body, tearing open a massive wound.
Thankfully, it was purely material attack, and his divine body quickly began to regenerate.
Then, one after another, magic arrays ignited, launching wave after wave of wind-elemental magic.
"Emilin, fall back. I'll handle these arrays."
Sadius' tone was calm.
With Emilin's current Midgod strength, he couldn't withstand these continuous magic assaults.
Sadius' sword moved in a constant flow, deflecting attacks while simultaneously analyzing the array's structure.
"This array's creator is definitely a wind-elemental deity…And they're actively controlling it right now. It must be that lone Midgod still hiding in the castle. No wonder they left only one Midgod guard here. Even a typical Highgod barging in would be forced to retreat under this kind of layered array."
The arrays kept shifting,
cycling through all manner of wind-elemental spells.
But Sadius wasn't afraid.
He was already beginning to see the pattern of the array's operation. A bit more observation, and he'd know exactly how to break it.
He dodged all the mental attacks, choosing not to test them.
Even with the Coiling Dragon Ring, which was a damaged Sovereign Artifact, he wasn't fully confident it could defend against a true soul strike.
"My lord! More Midgod bandits are returning to the fortress!"
"Perfect timing! I'll use this magic array against its own master. Let's make their array… kill their reinforcements!"
Sadius pulled several divine crystals from his spatial ring.
These were special crystals he'd taken from the Tomb of the Gods, perfect as magic array cores.
He poured his divine power into the crystals, then carefully embedded them into key positions on the fortress walls.
He wasn't placing them randomly.
He had already fully deciphered the structure of the array.
By placing divine-energy-filled crystals at specific critical nodes, he could alter the entire array's flow, gaining partial control over it.
It sounded simple, but the underlying principles were incredibly complex.
While constantly dodging and deflecting the array's attacks, Sadius maneuvered with precise steps, placing each divine crystal one by one.
After an intense series of movements, he finally finished embedding them all.
"Now… it's time to witness a miracle!"
By then, the twenty Midgod bandits had already rushed into the fortress.
Sadius raised his hand with a subtle gesture.
Suddenly, the magic array's attacks shifted—and all the devastating elemental blasts that had been aimed at him and Emilin swung around, hurtling directly toward the incoming bandits!
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