From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

The Rhea People had come.

It was undeniable; with foreign Monarch powerful experts suddenly crossing into the country unannounced, Rhea was surely on high alert, ready to welcome war at any moment.

The Monarch strong experts of the current province would also probe the situation at the first opportunity.

He knew the details well because in Cyart, the same defensive procedures were in place...

Darren silently sensed the enemies several kilometers away, discovering that four Extraordinary Exponents of Monarch Level were rapidly approaching by flight.

"They came so quickly, they definitely aren't moving with an army, so there's no strong endurance capability, good news," he mused.

With military support, even a low-level Monarch Extraordinary Exponent could hold up against a mid-level Monarch. Coupled with the city's barrier, it was even possible to defeat a mid-level Monarch. Therefore, both the Monarchs and the city barriers remained crucial.

Chris suddenly said with certainty, "There's only one at the mid-level Monarch tier."

Darren was briefly startled, knowing that Chris's Perception Ability was stronger than his own, so his words were likely accurate.

So, there's only one at the mid-level Monarch tier, and then there are three low-level Monarch Extraordinary Exponents, correct?

If that was the case, even in a two-on-four situation, his side wasn't at a significant disadvantage.

"I still need a few hours before I can perform the 'Evil Demon Transformation' again, right now I can only transform into a dragon in the simplest sense, and I'm still quite weak..."

He took a deep breath; if he hadn't used up the "Evil Demon Transformation" just now, he just needed to stack the Double Transformation to momentarily gain the strength of a mid-level Monarch.

"Too bad I can only use one kind of transformation now."

However, it didn't matter, Darren was very aware that he still had two other potent rune powers at his disposal.

"Emerald Ring" and "Soul Dice", with their strength factored in, Darren didn't feel he would be any weaker than a mid-level Monarch Transcendent.

"Uncle Chris, let's hide for now and use this time to recover."

Having said that, Darren harshly picked up the unconscious Yeager, unceremoniously slung him over his shoulder, and then plucked a portion of the Pitch Black Object's corner, fleeing southwards with Chris.

The two didn't fly for long before sensing that the four pursuers were drawing ever closer, and the enemies, coming from different directions, had already merged into a single group.

After contemplating for a moment and noticing the sky gradually darkening, Darren knew Chris would be stronger in the night, so he immediately said, "Let's split up and hide!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Chris moved in another direction, not even bothering to respond.

Meanwhile, Darren continued southwards, dragging the unconscious Yeager with him, though they were still a long way from escaping the barrier's range.

"..."

After a long time, Darren sensed once more, realizing the four enemies had split into two groups: one pursuing Chris and the other two chasing after him.

"Good."

Darren continued flying until he saw a large mountain ahead, and in the mountain, there was a black cave that led directly underground, where he promptly hid.

Soon, he detected that the two behind him had caught up.

"Without the National Defense Barrier's lock-on, you probably would have lost me already, huh?"

After reaching the 5th Rank, Consecution Extraordinary Exponents developed a Perception Ability much stronger than that of the Bloodline Knights, which was a substantial advantage for Darren and his companions.

Darren was acutely aware that the National Defense Barrier's lock was only able to determine a rough location, not a precise position, unlike the Perception Ability he possessed.

So, those two could only sense that he was within this large mountain, but they couldn't pinpoint his exact whereabouts.

"The two chasing me are only low-level Monarch Extraordinary Exponents; even if they specialize in wide-range attacks, they can't just blow up the mountain."

Darren calmly hid in the mountain, set down the corner of the Pitch Black Object, and looked at Yeager, not far from him.

At this moment, Yeager was still unconscious, seemingly not only physically damaged, but also soul-deep, by the power of the Abyssal Flame Demon.

"But I alone am enough; Yeager, I didn't expect your role to be holding me back," he shook his head.

At the same time, two low-level Monarch Extraordinary Exponents also arrived outside the mountain.

Not both of them were Rhea People; one was a middle-aged man with dragon scales on his face, a general of Rhea, known as the "Thunder Scale Claw Dragon." He had fought in numerous wars, even boasting a certain fame in Cyart.

The other was an elderly woman wearing a pure white robe, missing her right eye, and ominously, she was holding a continuously rotating, somewhat eerie red eyeball in her left hand.

If Darren had seen that elderly woman, he would have been stunned for a moment because she was not one of the known Rhea Monarch Transcendents but a person from the Salvation Church!

Indeed, that elderly woman was a bishop of the Salvation Church in one of Rhea's provinces, known as the "Hand of Salvation." Supposedly, as a bishop of the True Gods Church, she would never partake in the secular battles between countries.

But the current situation was just as the intelligence previously provided by the Black Tide had indicated...

The Salvation Church and the Reforging Church had formally entered the fray!

Having retreated into the cave and hidden deep within the mountain, Darren soon heard an elderly female's voice coming from outside. Stay updated with empire

"To the distinguished person who came from Cyart, I don't know who you are, but I want to tell you that I am Bishop Bianchi of the Salvation Church, and I hope you can come out and explain your unpermitted intrusion!"

"Rest assured, as long as I am here, I will not let anything happen to you!"

Hmm? The bishop of the Salvation Church is actually working together with the Rhea people?

As for the assurances of coming out unharmed, Darren did not believe them at all and immediately shouted loudly from the cave:

"Fine, as long as Bishop Bianchi makes an oath, I will come right out!"

Instantly, there was no more sound from outside, and Darren clearly understood that they didn't want to make an oath, which meant his guess was right—if he showed himself, it was highly likely he would be attacked.

"They should be able to roughly determine my location, they'll probably lose patience and come in to kill me soon."

Darren silently pondered and suddenly noticed a kind of irritating green gas "flowing" in from outside, the green gas looking very bizarre, and appeared to be some kind of poison gas!

"A spell or mysterious rare artifact's summoned poison, or perhaps some extraordinary power contained within a bloodline?"

Darren silently pondered, and to him, equipped with his Blood Specter body, poison gas wasn't a problem at all, but the issue now was the unconscious Yeager.

He did not know the extent of this poison gas, or whether Yeager's physical condition could withstand it.

However, the next moment Darren was surprised to see a purple demon with only half of its body crawling out from Yeager's shadow, which then turned into a liquid that covered Yeager, isolating him from the poison gas.

"You have more cards up your sleeve than I imagined, Yeager."

Darren couldn't help recalling Viscount Bast from the past, feeling that the demons Yeager had subdued over the years might even outnumber those of Viscount Bast. They might not be very strong, but their abilities were diverse and very useful.

A while later, he sensed the two Monarch powerful experts entering!

"Good."

Darren immediately went deeper into the mountain and, without hesitation, summoned the "Emerald Ring" to hide in the shadows. It was a powerful rune artifact capable of ignoring defenses, with strike power enough to seriously injure low-level Monarch Exponents.

He planned to use the "Emerald Ring" to launch a surprise attack!

The next moment, Darren sensed a peculiar sensation as the ground around him started to shake violently, followed by the mountain wall nearby suddenly merging, constricting closer as if to crush him completely!

Darren had never expected such a slim probability to occur!

"Damn it! One of those two chasing after me can manipulate rocks and terrain, or are they using some mysterious rare artifact?"

He could turn into a specter to avoid the crushing stones, but what about the still-unconscious Yeager?

For a moment, Darren furrowed his brows tightly.

However, the tunnel was closing faster and faster, leaving him no time to think!

"Hmph!"

Darren stopped thinking and abruptly transformed into a dragon, his enormous size instantly breaking the surrounding rocks apart. The stone shattered!

As a dragon, he took Yeager into his mouth and forcibly opened up the tunnel inside the mountain, charging at the two enemies who had entered!