The gods of the Radiant Temple had only arrived in the Wakanda Plane through the planar teleportation array a little over a hundred years ago.
If not for the fact that so many of the upper echelons of the Frost-Snow Empire had betrayed their nation, how could the Radiant Temple have seized thirty percent of the empire's territory in such a short time?
"Damn it!"
Watching Locke's departing figure, the sanctuary-level High Priest of the Radiant Temple flushed red, then pale, fingers tightening around his magic staff.
But in the end, he still didn't dare make a move.
Just as Locke had said—
Twenty-odd years ago, the Frost-Snow Empire had already lost a Saint-level powerhouse and more than eighty thousand elite soldiers to the Radiant Temple.
Now that the Frost-Snow Empire had returned in force, even if victory wasn't guaranteed, they were at least evenly matched.
At the very least, this High Priest could clearly feel that Locke's strength surpassed his own.
"It seems… I must hasten the search for a pure soul."
"If I can find just one more, my power will make another tremendous leap."
Why had people like him dared to betray the Frost-Snow Empire, knowing full well the emperor could crush them at any moment?
Because the Radiant Temple could ignore talent and forcefully elevate one's cultivation.
All they needed to do was find a woman with a "pure soul" and sacrifice her to the Lord God.
In return, the Lord God would bestow a blessing, granting these nobles a tremendous surge in strength.
Before they found such a target, they all kept their heads down.
But once they succeeded, they defected at once, proclaiming themselves vassals of the Radiant Temple.
A single pure soul was enough to raise these talentless nobles by two whole levels.
If they were already a level nine expert, the blessing could push them directly into the Sanctuary.
It could be said that every high-ranking member of the Radiant Temple stood atop an altar made from the lives of their own people.
Locke might be Commander of the Tsunami Legion, but he understood himself well.
His strength was respectable, true—but when it came to commanding large-scale battles?
He had essentially no experience.
Thus, Locke relinquished command entirely.
Each division of the Frost-Snow Army was personally led by its own captain.
And he had to admit—Bolton, despite his terrible personality, had a remarkable eye for talent.
Even without a Saint-level expert joining the battle, even though the Tsunami Legion's mage corps was inferior, they still crushed the Radiant Temple's Knight Legion.
In three years, the Tsunami Legion had reclaimed territory nearly half the size of Vidia Province.
If Locke could completely hold back the two sanctuary-level experts of the Radiant Temple, the Tsunami Legion might have reclaimed all of it.
Boom!
Today, the Tsunami Legion and the Knight Legion clashed once more.
A powerful aura erupted from the Radiant Temple's side.
Three years had passed—
The Sanctuary experts could finally act.
Feeling the aura of their own Saint-level powerhouses, the Radiant Temple's soldiers erupted into deafening cheers.
These three years had been the most humiliating years in the Knight Legion's history.
Of the one hundred thousand knights they once commanded, fewer than thirty thousand remained.
How could knights who had annihilated an entire Frost-Snow Empire legion twenty years ago accept such shame?
But now—
Their High Priest and Knight Commander could finally join the fray.
As long as they slew the opposing Commander, they could avenge the fallen and slaughter every soldier on the enemy side.
This belief was what kept the remaining knights from collapsing entirely.
They hadn't truly lost—not yet.
All they needed was to hold on for three years, until their Saints could fight again!
To the Pope of the Radiant Temple and to Celes, the inhabitants of the Wakanda Plane were nothing more than sources of faith.
Even if victory required war, they would never allow excessive deaths among their own believers.
Thus, each side could send only a hundred thousand troops.
Currently, the Frost-Snow Empire still had nearly sixty thousand soldiers remaining.
The knights' morale soared, but the Tsunami Legion's morale was no less intense.
If the Radiant Temple's High Priest and Knight Commander could fight—
Then Commander Locke could also fight!
Yes, twenty years ago, the High Priest and Knight Commander had slain the Fifth Legion's commander together, proving their strength.
But the soldiers would never forget the scene from three years ago—
When Locke and Bolton crossed blows.
The High Priest and Knight Commander needed a full day of besieging to kill the Fifth Legion's commander.
Locke, on the other hand, needed less than ten seconds of seriousness to kill Bolton.
To the soldiers, this meant only one thing:
Commander Locke's strength far surpassed both Radiant Temple Saints.
Their understanding of the Sanctuary realm was naïve—
But their conclusion was not wrong.
Boom!
As the enemy Saints made their move, Locke naturally would not remain idle.
A crushing aura erupted from him, instantly suppressing the two Saints of the Radiant Temple.
"S-Saint… Saint-level peak?!"
Sensing Locke's aura, the two Saints on the Radiant Temple's side turned pale.
They had only reached the Sanctuary realm through the Lord God's blessing, not through comprehension.
The High Priest, at least, had passively absorbed a sliver of the Profound Mystery of Water through spellcasting, making him slightly stronger.
But even then, he was merely mid-tier Sanctuary.
The Knight Commander was worse—
Though he had comprehended "Unity of Man and Nature," decades had passed without any real improvement.
Only his battle-qi was somewhat denser.
Locke?
Locke had comprehended ten percent of the Profound Mystery of Illusionary Fog, stepping firmly into the pinnacle of the Sanctuary realm.
Against him, these two were simply too weak.
Having committed himself, Locke held nothing back.
He rose into the sky above the battlefield, immense magic power resonating with the endless water-element particles in the heavens.
In an instant, the boundless water elements condensed into a giant black vortex, as though seeking to devour the world itself.
"Water-Element Forbidden Spell—
Furious Tides of the Sea!"
Locke spread his arms wide.
His shout echoed across the battlefield.
Under the despairing eyes of the Radiant Temple's soldiers, the colossal black vortex descended—
A towering, hundred-meter-high tsunami of swirling destruction, swallowing everything in its path.
(End of Chapter)
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