The instant the Holy Light magic array was disrupted, Anbaixiu teleported into the city and unleashed a colossal Darkness spell.
The entirety of Sandshadow City was cloaked in thick black fog—forget being unable to see one's fingers with an outstretched hand, holding a palm right before one's eyes yielded nothing.
Yet the magic Catherine had left behind could disrupt the array for only a few seconds. The Holy Light magic array reactivated and immediately locked onto Anbaixiu, an undead creature radiating dark aura from head to toe.
Anbaixiu had long wanted to see the Ryan Empire's faith-conversion magic array in action. Experiencing it firsthand now, he found the thing genuinely formidable.
The converted power of the Holy Light was deeply rooted within Sandshadow City's magic array. Upon Anbaixiu's appearance, the Holy Light condensed into dozens of radiant swords that hurtled toward him.
With such power, the Anbaixiu of the past would never have dared to take it head-on.
Fortunately, he was no longer the pushover he once was. The Golden Throne poured all its power into fortifying his Shield spell, blocking the relentless bombardment of Holy Light.
Yet with every sword blocked, a small piece was chipped off Anbaixiu's Golden Throne, and hundreds or even thousands of gold coins vanished into thin air.
The radiant blades poured forth without end, and Anbaixiu's gold vanished just as swiftly with a steady whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Still, it was no big problem. Anbaixiu was wealthy now; he even had the leisure to scrutinize the composition of these radiant swords.
He wondered which genius had devised a way to transmute intangible faith into the power of the Holy Light.
This was clearly the authority of a deity. To the Lord of the Dawn, it should have been virtually indistinguishable from blasphemy.
Yet this god simply acquiesced. It was doting on the people of Ryan almost to a fault.
After weathering the bombardment of Holy Light for a short while, Anbaixiu suddenly slashed a gesture toward the ground. A wall of earth rose up, instantly cutting the Holy Light's power down by more than half.
"Oh, I see."
Anbaixiu hurled spell after spell, crisscrossing the grounds of Sandshadow City with numerous earthen walls. Viewed from above, these walls formed a different magical configuration, "sealing" all of Sandshadow City.
The power of faith previously rippling through every corner of the city became like a pinned butterfly, unable to flutter its wings any longer.
Anbaixiu even found time to pull out a notebook and sketch down this magical configuration. He surmised that the Holy Light magic arrays in Ryan's other cities worked on the same principle; if he sold this to the Rose of Decay, he would earn back all today's expenses and more.
While Anbaixiu was cheerfully calculating his business prospects, an unusual ray of Holy Light shone from a corner of the city.
Fine as a strand of hair yet brilliant as a blazing sun, wherever this Holy Light reached, the darkness parted. The black fog blanketing the city was neatly cleaved, then vanished rapidly into nothingness.
This Holy Light dismantled Anbaixiu's Darkness spell with consummate finesse, drawing an involuntary sigh of admiration from him: "Impressive."
Extending his senses toward the corner where the light had emerged, he spotted a frail, aged figure as expected.
The Silvermoon Knight. He had never left Sandshadow City from the beginning, merely remaining hidden to watch events unfold.
The old fellow looked on the verge of drawing his last breath at any moment, yet Anbaixiu sensed an immense threat from him. If they truly fought, even if Anbaixiu managed to stall until the Silvermoon Knight expired, Anbaixiu's soul would probably have to flee back to his phylactery to regenerate.
The Silvermoon Knight wore a grim expression. The reason he had intervened just now was that Anbaixiu's Darkness spell blanketed the entire city; if it continued, the resulting panic would inevitably cause many needless casualties.
The Silvermoon Knight meant to test the army of Sandshadow City, never intending to drag commoners into it.
Yet his intervention also signified one thing: the test was over, and Sandshadow City had suffered a total defeat.
Without needing Anbaixiu to say a word, the Silvermoon Knight took to the air and loudly declared to the whole city: "No need for panic! What just transpired was merely a military exercise. Return to your homes and await further notice in peace. Anyone who uses this chaos to commit crimes will face aggravated penalties!"
Though lacking in breath, the Silvermoon Knight's voice echoed over the city, effectively reassuring the populace.
The genuine militiamen remaining in the city, under Alan's command, swiftly dealt with the handful of troublemakers stirring up mischief. Then, brimming with shame, Alan walked into Sandshadow City's Temple of Light.
The Silvermoon Knight and Anbaixiu were both waiting for him there.
Upon entering, Alan saw Simon and a throng of paladins kneeling in mortification, not daring to raise their heads. But seated up above was not just the Silvermoon Knight—there was also Anbaixiu, who had shifted into human form.
Looked at from another angle, it was as if these hundred-plus paladins were on their knees, kowtowing to a lich.
Alan's mouth tasted bitter, his very breathing turning heavy.
Though he still did not know what had transpired, this scene was destined to be recorded in the annals of the Ryan Empire. They, these paladins, would go down in infamy for ten thousand years, serving as fresh fodder for every bard across the continent.
Seeing Alan appear, the Silvermoon Knight gave a cold snort and told him, "Alan Watson, come over and kneel like the rest of them."
Alan did not dare object, dutifully kneeling at the end of the line.
Only then did the Silvermoon Knight speak coldly: "Now that everyone is here, fine, I shall tell you what actually happened. It was I who invited Master Ultraman to assist in giving you a test. The result leaves me profoundly disappointed. In less than a single day, you lost Sandshadow City. If this hadn't been an exercise, do you know what the outcome would be?
"Tens of thousands of our compatriots in Sandshadow City would have lost their lives because of your stupidity!"
In his agitation, the Silvermoon Knight flushed crimson and broke into a violent coughing fit.
Every cough sounded agonizing, as though tearing his lungs apart. Alan kept his head lowered, clenching both fists tightly. Of everyone present, he bore the greatest responsibility, for the Silvermoon Knight had entrusted Sandshadow City to his care.
A single day! Barely one day had passed, and Sandshadow City was lost!
Tears welled in Alan's eyes; he could not find words adequate to describe his failure.
Yet not everyone blamed themselves as heavily as Alan did. Paladin Simon, who had previously been high-spirited and eager to etch his name into history, was full of indignation now. He couldn't resist talking back: "General, this wasn't our fault! Who could have anticipated this lich would be so cunning?!"
Anbaixiu snorted with laughter and said to Simon, "What undead isn't cunning? In all your life, have you only ever seen zombies that can barely walk in a straight line?"
This stoked the fury of all the paladins, but it also made Simon flush red with embarrassment.
Using such an excuse really lacked persuasive power.
Yet he immediately pressed on: "General, that's not the only reason! There was also that female elf! She impersonated the Elven Queen and used spells to charm our minds—that's why we fell for her lies! Magic like that is definitely of legendary power; there was no way we could resist it!"
The Silvermoon Knight had just caught his breath and was nearly sent into a faint from sheer fury at Simon.
"Shut your mouth! Is Her Majesty Catherine someone you can insult at will?!"
Simon was struck dumb, asking in shock, "General, what did you say? That woman... is she truly the Elven Queen?!"
Who could believe it? The Elven Queen coordinating with the undead, tricking them out of the city to walk straight into a trap—spread the word, and even the Lord of the Dawn would jump out of his skin!
Seeing that the Silvermoon Knight was almost gasping for air, Anbaixiu spoke up to prevent any mishap before the old man paid his bill: "Ahem, allow me to clarify matters, lest you harbor grievances about your defeat.
"First, Queen Catherine's identity is beyond doubt. As for your accusation of deceit, that isn't quite right. Queen Catherine was invited by the Silvermoon Knight to take part in this exercise. Her mission was never to deceive you."
"Despicable lich, you still dare lie to me?!" Simon could not help rising to his feet, crying in agitation, "She put on a show with you to make us believe you were grievously injured! How is that not deceit?!"
Anbaixiu smiled and said, "My apologies, but in the script, what you were meant to face truly was only a heavily wounded lich. If you had managed during your second assault to kill me in that 'heavily wounded state,' that would have counted as your victory too. Think back carefully: during that second clash, wasn't the vast majority of my power kept occupied by Catherine?
"Wasn't the reason you failed the second time because you triggered my magical trap? Didn't Catherine even warn you to watch your step before the battle began?!"
Simon knitted his brows. What Anbaixiu said was all true; the scene of the second battle had indeed unfolded just like that. It was merely that the moment they approached, they had all fallen into the trap, never getting a clear view of how the two were fighting, before Anbaixiu captured them all alive.
Had this exercise really been set up from the start with the lich in a weakened state? Were they truly incapable of defeating even a weakened legendary lich?
Simon questioned again, "Then how do you explain that fake phylactery?! If not for that phylactery, we would never have resolved to sortie en masse!"
Anbaixiu chuckled. "In the script, that phylactery was real. If you had truly killed me in my 'heavily wounded state' while holding the phylactery, I wouldn't have been able to regenerate. Don't you see? Once that happened, the exercise would conclude, and you would have successfully defended Sandshadow City."
Simon was originally unwilling to believe it, but recalling Catherine's demeanor... in his heart, he couldn't help leaning toward believing it. An Elven Queen truly shouldn't collaborate with a lich; if it was merely the script arranged for the exercise, everything made sense.
Deep down, Simon found it hard to accept that he had been duped by Catherine, and so he persuaded himself.
The Silvermoon Knight squinted at Anbaixiu. Lies rolled off this lich's tongue with effortless ease. He had blatantly conspired with the Elven Queen to deceive this bunch of hot-blooded young men, yet in just a few sentences, he had completely washed Catherine's hands clean of blame. Could this lich be worried about tarnishing the reputation of the elven race?
If that was true, then the relationship between this lich and the Elven Queen seemed even closer than he had thought.
This thought made the Silvermoon Knight's fingers twitch.
Lord of the Dawn above!
The Elven Queen and a lich... Perhaps he was simply too old to keep up with the times.
Anbaixiu was indeed helping Catherine off the hook, but primarily because Catherine was simply too useful. Ruining her reputation now would make tricking people in the future far less effective.
In short, Catherine had to remain pure and untainted in this exercise—a savior sent specifically to balance the combat scales for Sandshadow City and give these youths a fighting chance against a legendary undead.
Just when Anbaixiu thought he had finished bluffing them, Alan stood up and said loudly, "Wait, that's not right! The magic array was disrupted just now, which is how you broke through its defenses and entered the city! Weren't those sabotage traps that disrupted the array left behind by Queen Catherine?! If she was completely on our side in the script, how could she have set traps to help you?"
Anbaixiu looked at Alan. The kid had gotten sharper, learning to spot loopholes.
Yet Anbaixiu's expression remained unfazed as he said, "You're overthinking it. Before Catherine entered the city, I had already slipped into Sandshadow City in secret. It was precisely during that infiltration that I encountered your general, and why he invited me to take part in the exercise. It was also because of his invitation that, before departing Sandshadow City, I had already put all the means to breach the city in place."
Anbaixiu turned to the Silvermoon Knight and asked, "Lord Silvermoon Knight, swear upon the Holy Light—is what I just said true or not?"
The Silvermoon Knight sorely wanted to say: Every word from your mouth is technically true, lich, but for every ten truths, you leave out the vital eleventh.
Yet after a moment's hesitation, the Silvermoon Knight nodded and said, "Indeed. Every single word he spoke is the truth."
These brats had been far too arrogant. Today, they needed to be taught a profound lesson, to be dealt a defeat so absolute that they could find no excuses whatsoever!
With the Silvermoon Knight vouching for it, the paladins had nothing left to say. One by one, they burned with such shame they wished the ground would open up and swallow them whole.
Anbaixiu thoroughly enjoyed the sight of these paladins kowtowing to him, but time was almost up. It was time to collect his pay.
Chapter 163