Benedict noticed that another Venerable was approaching, one who was not any weaker than he was. He clicked his tongue, feeling slightly annoyed.

Their goal was to eliminate the empress and take at least one more Venerable on her side. They had already accomplished one of those goals, but completing the second one seemed to be impossible now.

Even within this darkness, I cannot fight three of them at once. I should retreat for now and report the situation to the cult leader.

Thinking about this, he looked at the empress and said with a faint smile. "I enjoyed our battle, Your Majesty, but I must leave now."

With a wave of his hand, he used the power of his domain to conceal himself and blend in with the darkness.

Just like that, his figure vanished. Even his aura was untraceable.

"Benedict Agma!" The empress roared as she launched vicious attacks in all directions.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Under her overwhelming power, the terrain had been turned upside down and it was no longer recognizable.

In the end, the empress missed the old priest.

She was fuming mad and her eyes seemed like they could spew out fire.

Dammit!

Yskaela couldn't contain her rage, causing her aura to fluctuate intensely. She scoured the area, but she couldn't find a trace of the old priest. It was like he had disappeared out of thin air.

Alaric and the Grand Commander helped her search for Benedict, but they also came up empty-handed.

"Your Majesty, Commander Bai is not in great condition! She needs urgent medical attention!" A member of the Crimson Phoenix Knights Order reported with an anxious look.

Hearing this, the empress's eyes eased up.

Suppressing her fluctuating emotions, she instructed. "Bring her into safety and have our medical experts check on her condition. I will find her when everything has been wrapped up."

"Your servant obeys!" The warrioress from the Crimson Phoenix Knights Order bowed and left with haste.

After she left, the empress observed the battlefield. There were still many humanoid monsters and followers of the heretic cult. Even with the absence of their leaders, they continued to fight without showing any signs of surrender.

She moved her gaze to the grand commander and ordered him. "Grand Commander, please lead our troops. I want those bastards dead before sunrise!"

"I understand! I will handle it properly!" The Grand Commander nodded, turned around, and quickly left.

The empress walked towards Min Taehyun's corpse and carefully grabbed his severed head. She placed his head on top of his body and covered it with a cape.

"I will avenge you, Lord Min. I will kill them all! I promise you that!" She muttered.

Alaric was standing quietly behind her. He didn't say any words of comfort and just stood there silently.

I must help her destroy the heretic cult!

He didn't want Astania to suffer the same fate as Veronica. The best way to prevent that from happening was to eliminate the heretic cult.

…

A few days later, Benedict Agma arrived at the secret hideout of the heretic cult.

It was a temple located on the mountains of Rabu, a small city several hundred miles from Ulmunsan.

On the surface, the temple looked normal with several monks and servants moving around, but behind this veil was a hideous secret that only a few members of the heretic cult knew.

An old monk came to greet Benedict at the entrance of the temple.

"Your Excellency."

Benedict nodded at the old monk.

"Cheolseong, I need to speak with the Cult Leader. Bring me to him."

Cheolseong was the abbot of the temple, but he was secretly a follower of the heretic cult, a high-ranking one at that.

Just like Benedict, he was also a Venerable.

Cheolseong stared deeply at him and said. "It seems like you failed your mission. That's a first."

Benedict furrowed his eyebrows.

Cheolseong didn't want to upset him so he no longer pursued the matter. He turned around and said. "Follow me. I will take you to the Cult Leader's quarters."

Benedict followed the abbot without saying a word.

They encountered a few monks and servants who greeted them with cupped fists. It was the standard greeting in the temple which they always followed to keep up appearances.

The cult leader's quarters were located in the innermost part of the temple. It was an obscure building with almost no design, looking completely ordinary on the outside.

"The cult leader is inside. You can head in on your own, Your Excellency." The abbot spoke while pointing at the ordinary-looking building.

"Alright." Benedict nodded and walked towards the building.

He stopped a few meters in front of the building and was about to announce his presence when a calm voice drifted into his ears.

"Come in."

Hearing this familiar voice, Benedict took a deep breath and headed inside the building.

He pushed open the old door and was greeted by an empty hallway.

At the end of the hallway, he saw a half-open door.

As soon as Benedict entered the half-open door, he saw a purple-haired man kneeling in front of a demonic statue. He was dressed in a monk's robes which looked unnatural to his appearance.

Benedict silently watched without interrupting the man.

After a long while, the purple-haired man stood up and looked at him with a deadpan expression. "You may speak."

The man looked like he was in his early forties. He looked like a human, but he had the unique features of a demonkin. He had a pair of twisting horns on top of his head and a pair of feathered black wings.

This man was none other than the leader of the heretic cult, Kim Chon-jae.

Benedict quickly lowered his head. "I apologize for disturbing you, Cult Leader. I came here to report on the situation. This happened…"

Kim Chon-jae's eyes remained serene after hearing the situation. "So you failed to retrieve the demonic sword…"

Benedict became nervous when he heard this.

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