Chapter 71: The Church’s trap (Castle Bonus Chap)
Xingluo forced herself to focus on the immediate danger. "What is the current situation? Do you know what rank of God Beast they are trying to summon?"
"We have not found the summoning site yet, so its rank cannot be confirmed," Miao Tianhe replied. "However, many participants have already been killed. So far, I have only contacted seven squads that remain largely unscathed mine, Han Zhen’s, and five others."
He pointed toward the soldier’s scattered remains. "Many of the remaining squads have either been confirmed annihilated or stopped responding entirely.
Others are carrying parasites like this one. The creature I killed attached itself to your friend the moment that soldier’s body ruptured."
Ruan Mei looked down at the severed parasite near her feet, and her expression immediately tightened.
"My team separated to search for the other contestants," Miao continued. "It was dangerous, but most of us managed to locate survivors, everyone we contacted agreed to regroup at the castle."
He glanced toward the trees before looking back at them. "We are already close, so follow me, we need to move quickly."
Everyone nodded, but Miao paused after considering the difference between their levels. "Qiao Xueyi, Lin Xiaotian, and I are the fastest each of us can carry one of you."
"No need," Xingluo replied. "I can keep up on my own just help my friends instead."
She returned her sword to storage before summoning the rest of her equipment. Red plates emerged around her body and locked together until the complete armour set covered her from head to toe.
Everyone stared at her in surprise, the smooth, fitted plates made her resemble a sleek knight clad entirely in red, while the mana flowing through every piece confirmed that the entire set was Diamond-tier.
Complete equipment sets of that rank were extremely rare, other than Miao Tianhe, no one among them possessed a full Diamond-tier armour set. Even Lin Xiaotian and Qiao Xueyi only carried individual Diamond-tier weapons and armour pieces.
Lin Xiaotian crouched and allowed Su Lan to climb onto his back, while Miao Tianhe carried Ruan Mei. Once they were ready, Xingluo glanced toward Wuxia and spoke through the Anchor Link.
You have dragons and still cannot provide me with a decent mount, what is the point of keeping you around?
Wuxia clenched his teeth. And reveal the Soul Army in front of everyone here? How is that my fault? Every beast you had me extract inside this realm was either human-sized or too small to carry you. It is already difficult enough to extract their souls secretly after you leave the area.
Before he could complain any further, Miao Tianhe charged into the forest, and the others immediately followed at full speed.
As they travelled, he explained everything his group had discovered, of the hundred or so Squads who had entered the realm, more than fifty had already been confirmed dead at the hands of the Church.
The surviving squads had also gathered enough information to estimate the enemy’s strength.
"We believe five Church members infiltrated the realm," Miao said as he moved between the trees. "One of them has been identified as a Lesser Holy Son."
Everyone’s expressions turned grim after hearing Tianhe’s explanation. If the Church succeeded, the consequences would not end with the deaths of those trapped inside the realm, once the God Beast escaped, the entire city would be placed in danger.
They moved through the forest without slowing down. Several beasts tried to block their path, but the group no longer conserved their strength and eliminated each one as quickly as possible.
Their pace left Wuxia with no opportunity to extract the fallen beasts without exposing himself, forcing him to abandon their souls and continue following Xingluo.
After several hours of travelling at full speed, they finally approached the castle, Miao Tianhe slowed slightly before taking out a tracking device and a compact communicator.
Miao Tianhe activated the communicator while continuing to study the tracker. He switched between several channels, contacting the surviving teams one after another andconfirming their locations.
Replies gradually came through the device, most of the groups he reached were already near the castle, so they agreed to gather outside its main gate before deciding their next move.
However, several channels remained silent. Tianhe tried contacting them again, but only static answered him, more signals disappeared from the tracker as he waited, causing him to release a frustrated sigh.
Damn, only thirty squads have made it this far. Even strong groups like Qin Haoran’s team and the Crow Guild’s squad have vanished.
The others noticed his expression and looked at him questioningly.
"The teams I contacted have agreed to meet near the castle gate," Tianhe explained. "Most of them are already close, but several squads have stopped responding. We should regroup with the others before searching for anyone else."
He tightened his grip around the tracker and started moving again. Xingluo and the others followed without delay, maintaining their pace as Tianhe guided them through the remaining forest.
The trees gradually thinned until the castle finally emerged before them.
Although it had appeared enormous from the altar, only from this close did its true grandeur become clear. Its dark grey walls towered above the forest, with several damaged towers surrounding the massive central keep.
Long cracks spread across the ancient stone, while parts of the walls and battlements had collapsed. Despite the damage, the castle remained imposing, and faint mana continued flowing through the formations carved across its surface.
Several surviving squads had already gathered outside the broken main gate, while others approached from different parts of the forest.
Miao Tianhe glanced at the tracker before storing it away. "We have arrived."
As Miao Tianhe approached the castle gate, he saw that most of the survivors looked exhausted and confused. Many had lost teammates inside the forest, while others still did not understand the true scale of the Church’s plan.
Despite their condition, they had instinctively gathered around Han Zhen, the son of Commander Han Jinhai.
Among the city’s younger generation, Han Zhen and Miao Tianhe were considered two of the most respected and powerful heirs, though few people knew the true extent of their strength.
The crowd made way when Miao Tianhe arrived, allowing him to approach Han without delay.
Tianhe looked over the surviving squads before releasing a tired sigh. "It seems we lost far more people than we expected."
Han Zhen nodded, his expression grim. "Yes, but there is nothing we can do for those who are already dead. We need to focus on stopping the Church and saving ourselves and escaping the realm will not be enough."
"If they complete the summoning, escaping will only delay our deaths," Tianhe agreed. "However, we still do not know the strength of the Church members or where they are performing the ritual."
"I do not know their exact location either," Han admitted. "But I have a strong feeling they will eventually come to the castle. The legacy is concentrated here, so if they intend to use the realm as their summoning medium, this should be the most suitable location."
Han then turned toward the survivors gathered around them, their conversations gradually stopped as everyone waited for him to speak.
"I understand that none of you were prepared for this," he began. "The military failed to detect the Church’s infiltration before we entered, and that oversight has already cost us too many lives."
Several military entrants lowered their heads, while the remaining contestants listened in silence.
"We cannot change what happened inside the forest, but we can prevent the Church from completing its ritual."
"From this point onward, no squad will move alone. We will share everything we have learned, search for the remaining survivors and secure the castle before the Church reaches its objective."
Han looked across the exhausted crowd before continuing. "I cannot promise that no one else will die, but if we remain organized and fight together, we still have a chance to stop them, we will not allow another city to be sacrificed."
His words did not remove their fear, but the confusion among the survivors gradually faded. Squad leaders began checking their remaining members and supplies while the injured were moved closer to the castle gate.
Miao Tianhe waited until the crowd dispersed before lowering his voice. "How did this happen again? After the disaster twelve years ago, the military strengthened every inspection procedure. Infiltrating a realm under this much surveillance should not have been possible."
Han’s expression tightened. "We still do not know, either the Church found a way to bypass every security measure, or someone helped them from within."
He raised one hand and pointed toward the top of the castle. "There is another problem, the realm appears to have recognized the Church members as participants as well."
Two enormous lines of pale light floated above the castle’s central tower, visible from every direction.
[Participants Arrived: 148/153]
[Time Remaining: 10 Days, 12 Hours, 13 Minutes]
"There are currently one hundred and forty-eight people gathered here, but the realm recognizes a total of one hundred and fifty-three participants," Han continued. "If your estimate is correct, then the remaining five should be the Church members."
Miao Tianhe stared at the counter. "That means the realm is still waiting for them to reach the castle."
Han nodded. "And the countdown will continue regardless of what happens to us."
Before Tianhe could respond, the tracker secured to Han’s left forearm suddenly began blinking.
Han immediately raised his arm and activated the display. A single dot had appeared at the edge of the tracker’s range and was rapidly approaching the castle.
His eyes narrowed when he recognized the signal. It belonged to one of the team members he had sent to search for survivors, but the signal had disappeared more than an hour ago.
Han had tried contacting him repeatedly and received no response.
How did his tracker suddenly become active again?
Before Han could consider the possibilities, the dot accelerated and continued moving directly toward their position.