Clare, her armor dented and smeared with the remnants of battle, stood upon a hill overlooking the vast expanse of chaos.

"It's not ending, huh Just why are they so focused on our territory" Clare complained as she received some news that other areas in the kingdom were no longer being attacked!

The Demons had somehow concentrated their forces to destroy them!

It was as if they knew that they were the center of command that was controlling the defense of the whole kingdom!

Her stern gaze swept across the battlefield where the fate of the Milton Kingdom hung in the balance.

"We're going to lose at this rate That Demon Saints has to die" Clare muttered as she knew that the Demon Saints were simply forcing the low-tier Demons to attack them!

This Saint doesn't care about the lives of low-tier Demons at all!

The atmosphere in the field was now thick with the scent of blood and the mixed energy of the two opposing sides.

The ground was littered with the fallen! It was such a harrowing sight

Yet, it was not despair that filled her heart, but hopehope in the form of the three Arcana that the Untainted Sentinels had been entrusted with!

Needless to say, the Sentinels don't have three Arcana. They only had one! However, one of them was entrusted to them by the Church of the Fortune Goddess, and the other was from the Royal Family!

Apparently, Odessa no longer had the strength to wield the Arcana after the capital was attacked. It was unfortunate for her that the Demons had targeted the capital on the very first day of the Abyss Realm's invasion!

Because of that, Odessa was already too exhausted as she used several Forbidden Spells in order to send the Demons back to hell and even kill a Demon Saint in the process!

It was such an amazing feat, but in exchange, the capital was now a mess and had to be protected by the Arcanist Factions supporting the Royalty.

Anyway, the first of these sacred relics was the Arcana of Valor, a crystalline orb pulsating with a warm, golden light.

It was the heart of the Holy Arts Faction's strength, its radiance infusing the Arcanists with a power that transcended their mortal limits. Under its influence, their spells were amplified, their spirits bolstered, and they received a support spell similar to Indomitable Will! No Arcanists would feel afraid facing the Demons!

Beside the Arcana of Valor stood its twin in purpose, the Arcana of Sanctity from the Church of the Fortune Goddess

This ethereal tome was bound not by leather or thread, but by the very essence of the divine, the skin of an Immortal!

It allowed the Arcanists to wield Forbidden Spells, those ancient incantations that demanded a heavy toll from any who dared utter them. Yet, with the Arcana of Sanctity, they cast these spells with impunity, and the usual backlash was absorbed by the tome's limitless pages!

Indeed! This very Arcana allowed any Arcanist to cast their Forbidden Spells without any worry as long as they had the energy to do so! It was from the Order of the Untainted Sentinels!

Aside from that, it also served as a barrier, a shield that contained the demonic corruption, preventing it from seeping into the land and tainting the souls of the innocent. This Arcana was normally in the Sacred Ground of the Church, but it was sent here in emergency to fight the Demon horde1

The final Arcana, the Arcana of Transcendence, was a magnificent scepter crowned with a gem that shone with an inner light. It was the key to their salvation, a beacon of purity in a sea of malevolent darkness.

The Arcana of Transcendence had the power to transmute the vile energy of the demons into Holy Energy, turning their own malevolence against them. It was a weapon of redemption, converting the essence of destruction into a force for healing and protection.

"We should be able to win against the Demons with these three items However, that Demon Saint is not normal" Clare muttered.

"According to the informants from the Arcane Bureau, that Demon Saint was Malrath. He's Rank 2 in the Demon Saint Ranking!" Teresa reported after hearing the information from one of the Bureau's agents nearby through telepathy.

"No wonder The Demon Saint that Odessa killed should be in the sixtieth, if I'm not mistaken" Clare muttered.

"That's true It's normal that we're struggling here." Teresa added with a sigh.

Clare and Teresa then watched as the Master-Class Arcanists continued to channel the power of the Arcana

"It's starting This will be the last burst of strength" Clare muttered.

Teresa nodded at this since they knew that they were already in Plan B! The Arcana would burst into power, and after this, they had to use the opportunity to end this battle!

Whom~

The Arcana of Valor glowed brighter with each passing second, its light a rallying cry to the forces of good.

The Arcana of Sanctity hummed with forbidden power, its pages fluttering as if caught in a divine wind.

And the Arcana of Transcendence, raised by the highest member of the Sentinels, became a star of hope, its radiance piercing the shadowy veil that the demons had cast over the battlefield.

The Demon horde, sensing the shift in power, roared their defiance, but it was too late

The Holy Knights, empowered by the Arcana of Valor, charged with lances that cut through darkness like rays of dawn. The Exorcists, protected by the Arcana of Sanctity, bound the greater demons with chains that no strength could break. And the Priests, guided by the Arcana of Transcendence, healed the wounded and cleansed the land, their prayers turning the tide of corruption into a flood of sanctifying light.

Clare, with her sword raised high, knew that this was the moment they had been waiting for. The Untainted Sentinels, her brothers and sisters in arms, formed a phalanx as they charged forward!

Their aim was the Rank 2 Demon Saint!

***

"Hahaha! Is this your final struggle!" Malrath laughed as he waved his sword

He had carved a path of destruction through the ranks of the Arcanists, his blade dripping with the essence of those who had fallen before his might.

Yet, his rampage was halted by the elite Untainted Sentinels, a phalanx of warriors led by Clare!

"Untainted Sentinels, right? Allow me to taint you all!" Malrath said as he unleashed his Corrupted Divinity!

However, it was momentarily blocked by the Arcana of Sanctity that was supporting the Sentinels from behind!

This caught the Demon Saint off guard!

In a moment of opportunity, Clare and her Sentinels managed to wound the Demon Saint! This wound wasn't normal either, as their weapons had the blessed blood of Immortals!

It was like a curse to the Demon!

"You!" Malrath didn't expect to be blessedNo, to be cursed by an Immortal's blood!

"Fine!"

Without hesitation, Malrath retreated, leaving all the remaining low-tier Demons in the hands of the Arcanists!

This decisive retreat dumbfounded even his allied Demons!

***

"I guess he's really afraid of dying, huh" Vale commented after seeing how Malrath didn't hesitate to escape after getting an injury!

He couldn't help but look down at this Demon Saint after recalling some Demon Saints who were willing to sacrifice their lives!

"Well, you can't escape from me"

Vale's Avatar, seizing the moment, pursued the fleeing Malrath with the stealth of a specter.

He trailed the Demon Saint to a secluded grove where Malrath sought to mend his wounds with dark incantations and the blood of the earth.

"Mhmm You're not returning to the Abyss Realm to recuperate? Are you too embarrassed?" Vale mused as tried to understand this Demon Saint's actions.

As Vale's Avatar prepared to strike with his Celestial Arts, his Divine Sense alerted him to the presence of othersBeast Arts Practitioners, their auras vibrant with primal energy.

They were undoubtedly members of the Order of the Valiant Scourge, the clandestine assembly of the Beast Arts Faction.

"Ohhh? Did they also sense the injured Demon Saint? As expected of Beast Masters They have good sense." Vale muttered as he guessed the reason they were here.

After some thought, he decided to just observe for now.

To be honest, these Beast Masters were still a mystery for Vale. He had rarely seen them in action, so he doesn't have too much information about them in terms of their strength.

He only knew some surface-level information about them.

"They look strong Some of them even had 13 Spell Models recorded and there's one 15 Spell Models! What a rare sight!" Vale said in surprise.

The practitioners were a sight to behold, each bearing the mark of their ordera sigil of a beast entwined with a scourge.

Although Vale was about 500 meters away from them, he was able to listen to their conversation.

Vale then frowned as he listened to their conversation... They were talking about a Forbidden Spell of their Faction!

"So they can turn the Demon Saints as Tattoo Marks on their bodies and summon their strength? It's not just limited to beasts?"