Chapter Forty-One: The Seven Sovereigns

A series of notifications rang out, but Murong Xun was absorbed in observing the Night Stalker’s movements and had no time to check them. As he watched, he constantly put what he saw into practice—this was the secret to his rapid improvement.

The surrounding blood thralls, and even some ordinary vampires, suffered as a result. At first, he couldn’t kill them in one strike and needed to finish them off with another blow. But after focusing intently on the Night Stalker’s technique, he found he could dispatch his targets with a single stroke.

Sometimes, speed wasn’t everything. If the blade missed a vital spot and required a second strike, it was better to take one’s time and ensure a fatal blow from the start. Precision, speed, and ruthlessness—all three were essential.

Under these conditions, his swordsmanship soared, reaching the fifteenth level before finally stalling. His understanding had nearly matched that of the Night Stalker, so further observation yielded diminishing returns. Even so, advancing five levels at once—and entirely through his own insight—felt as though he had mastered them through arduous practice, with no need for slow assimilation.

Had he relied on his own training, it might have taken years to reach this point. Improvement in the Tower of Magic Park came at a steep price.

When Murong Xun finally paused, he realized that only a few dozen vampire corpses remained around him—the rest had already fled. He hurriedly gathered the bodies. As for the blood thralls, he didn’t even glance at them.

Meanwhile, the merit leaderboard was in turmoil. The four Holy Knight brothers had lost their top spot, which was now occupied by Fang Yuan. Wang Junfeng, Wen Feng, and others had also squeezed their way into the top ten. Yet Murong Xun had no time to care about others; he simply wanted to earn more merit and exchange it for valuable rewards.

After fighting desperately for what seemed like ages, his merit finally broke a hundred. Among all the players, he now ranked 133rd!

He cleared an entire street. The Night Stalker strode coldly ahead, indifferent to the corpses strewn across the road. Murong Xun followed silently behind, their styles remarkably alike.

“You’re well suited to join the Night Stalker Corps,” the Night Stalker remarked after a while.

Murong Xun glanced at him but said nothing. The Night Stalker fell silent once more.

Both moved swiftly: when they encountered vampires, they fought; otherwise, they pressed forward. They never lingered, treating every corpse—human or monster—as nonexistent.

What they didn’t know was that in the city center, several figures clashed violently in the sky above. Seven shapes, each with vast, shadow-casting bat wings, formed a circle, relentlessly assaulting a pillar of light that soared into the heavens. No matter how fierce their attacks, the light remained unmoved; only a faint tinge of crimson began to appear in its once-pure white glow.

“Futile efforts,” came a cold voice from within the light.

Inside the pillar, Tolelia watched the seven blood clan monarchs who had emptied their nests to attack. She stood quietly, golden longbow in hand, beside a figure clad head to toe in golden armor.

That figure was tall, his knight’s sword—blade and hilt together—nearly two meters long.

“This barrier is linked to Aelran Royal City. Unless you utterly destroy the city, you won’t break it!”

“Heh, no need to hurry; someone will disrupt all of this,” one of the blood monarchs laughed chillingly.

“You want to rescue your Blood Emperor? Then you should know this barrier is sustained by his own power. All your attacks are ultimately borne by him,” Tolelia revealed coldly.

“The Emperor truly lies below?” Several blood monarchs were overjoyed.

The Blood Emperor was the source of their lineage, the strongest among the blood clan; rescuing him was their faith. At first, they didn’t even know where he was sealed, so there was no way to begin the rescue. Now, finally, they had confirmation that he was imprisoned here, and their only thought was to free him as soon as possible.

What they did not know was that the entire formation used the Blood Emperor as its core defense. Attacking the formation was tantamount to attacking the Emperor himself.

Tolelia and the man in golden armor, relying on the pillar of light, managed to maintain a balance with the seven blood monarchs. Yet, faced with such overwhelming force, they feared things were not going well elsewhere.

Despite their worries, confronted by seven beings of equal strength, they could not afford to be distracted.

At this moment, the seven blood monarchs exchanged glances, each hesitant to act rashly.

They could not discern whether Tolelia spoke the truth, but they had no choice but to assume she did. The situation favored her, and reckless action could prove disastrous. Besides, Tolelia’s pride made her unlikely to lie.

All seven paused their attacks, keeping the two saints encircled and preventing their escape.

“We’ll leave the rest to them—stick to the original plan,” one monarch said. The rest nodded in agreement.

From the start, when unsure if the Blood God was truly here, they had devised alternate plans. Now, knowing the Blood God was present but unable to attack, they could only follow the original strategy, entrusting everything to their collaborators. Their task was to keep Tolelia and her companion occupied.

Their cooperation with Wang Junfeng and others was meant to have them disrupt the sealing formation within Aelran Royal City. Once the formation was destroyed, they could search freely for the Blood God’s exact location.

Tolelia and her companion abstained from attacking for a simple reason. Previously, facing two against seven, they had fought fiercely and held their opponents at bay, but at great cost to themselves. Now, they used the lull in combat to rapidly recover their strength via the formation.

The seven monarchs were reluctant to leave, knowing only together could they barely withstand the saints’ assault. If one left, the outcome would be uncertain.

They too understood their opponents were recuperating, but so were they.

Above all, they dared not depart, for their adversaries could launch a thunderous strike at any moment.

The initiative lay firmly in the saints’ hands; the monarchs could only react.

Within the royal city, the saints’ power was unmatched. Even with all seven monarchs present, causing chaos in the city to weaken the formation, unleashing the undead legion, and drawing the main force of the White Knights away, Tolelia and her companion still suppressed them. The terror of the formation was evident.

Of course, the two saints’ superior strength was also a crucial factor.

Tolelia, the archer knight, was a legendary force, renowned and formidable.