While the cultists were still slowly conferring,
Kaluto suddenly trembled, blood streaking his entire body.
Seeing this, all the surrounding cultists retreated in an instant, leaving a large circle.
Besides Kaluto, only one other figure, shrouded in a black robe, remained standing by the bonfire.
The others all watched cautiously from the periphery.
As the blood streaked, a pair of massive, sharp horns sprouted from Kaluto's head.
A slender, bloody tongue licked his cheek, a scent of blood mixed with sulfur spreading.
With a pair of demonic eyes, each with vertical orange pupils, he gazed at the crowd.
Everyone took a slight step back.
The pressure emanating from those eyes was a bit frightening.
They could sense that the being suddenly possessing Kalutor was a powerful being.
It was most likely the evil deity Kalutor worshipped.
Now, it looked like no evil deity at all. It was clearly an extremely powerful demon.
After glancing around, the demon, through Kalutor's body, looked towards the black-robed figure still standing opposite him.
"Nightmare!"
A large amount of black smoke gathered around the black-robed figure, enveloping it in a strange armor.
"It's you, you damned demon. You're still alive? You're lucky!
You damned half-blood bastard."
Faced with Nightmare's insults, the demon showed no anger at all.
He didn't act like the irritable demons of the abyss at all. Instead, he resembled a devil from hell.
"Nightmare, I know you're still angry about what happened, but that's not my fault, is it? You're just an idiot."
"What! You damned fool..." This statement clearly infuriated Nightmare.
"Okay, I have something serious to discuss with you. I hope you won't act like an idiot again." The demonic orange pupils stared at Nightmare.
Nightmare continued to curse a few more times before calming down.
"Tell me, you must have some sick scheme to stop that bitch's resurrection ritual."
"Haha, you're quite clever."
"Isn't your nightmare realm the opposite of where we are now? I need you to use the link I grant you at a specific time to infiltrate reality.
Reverse reality and drag the area I've encircled into your nightmare realm."
"Drag it into the dream realm? Hahaha, that's quite a good plan. Do you want to use my nightmare realm to connect to an even more powerful abyssal portal?" the dark pupils in the armor stared at the demon.
The demon nodded, unabashedly revealing his plan.
"Of course. Simple and straightforward, isn't it?"
"Okay, now get out of here."
Hearing this, the demon chuckled twice and vanished. The changes in Kalutor's body began to fade, returning to their original form.
At the same time, the nightmare armor attached to the black-robed figure also dissipated. An evil god and a demon, thus striking a remarkable bargain.
As both sides returned to normal, the figures gathered around them and gathered around them again.
Kalutor twisted his neck and looked at the crowd.
"Now, are you willing to join this plan?"
"Yes."
"I'll join."
"..."
It seemed the exchange between the two powerful evil beings had given them confidence. Most of these cultists had joined the plan against the Flower Fairy.
This was their only remaining chance before the Flower Fairy's resurrection.
Their reason for coming here was simply to be unwilling to give up.
...
The Dawn's Voice quickly sailed to the nearest distance to the Land of Fragrance. Alka patted the Dawn's Voice, and after saying goodbye, they boarded the Flying Swallow and headed for the Land of Fragrance.
The Voice of Dawn also sank to the seafloor beneath the sunlight, awaiting Alka and his companions' return.
Alka and his companions, aboard the Flying Swallow, had only taken a few days to reach the Fragrant Country.
Sitting on the deck, Pororo remarked with some curiosity, "We haven't encountered a single demon along the way. It seems most of the demons around here have been eliminated."
Hearing this, Jason beside him said, "Didn't you already shut down the energy channels at the border of life and death? Without more portals bringing in more demons, the remaining demons will surely be eliminated soon."
Besides, without the pressure from the front lines, both the Church and the Flower People had more resources to clean up the chaos behind them.
Soon, their ship encountered knights patrolling the area.
The knights greeted Alka and his companions, briefly inspected them, and then let them go, chatting for a while.
"Is it my imagination? Why do I feel like there are more patrols?" Sofia asked doubtfully, gazing at the soon-to-be-reached Land of Fragrance.
"It's not an illusion. There are indeed more patrols, and many members of the Holy Mother Church are also among the patrols," Alka said from the side.
They naturally didn't know the specific reason.
However, the group didn't continue on to the distant Land of Fragrance, but instead returned to their camp outside of it.
After a quick cleanup, they went inside to rest.
Alka and Sofia headed towards the Land of Fragrance to learn more about the current situation.
They soon arrived.
The vine wall that had been built around the area remained in place. With their arrival, a vine-covered gate opened and they entered.
A soldier approached and led the two toward the barracks, explaining that Gilliana had been waiting for them. The two walked along the street. While there were a few more residents coming and going than before, overall, not much had changed.
The situation remained grim, and soon they arrived at the military camp. Arka noticed that in addition to the Children of Flowers, there were also many members of the Church of the Holy Mother.
And they were clearly not priests or knights of the Church of the Holy Mother.
Their attire was somewhat strange.
Here, Arka spotted someone familiar.
"Chebrid? Why are you here?"
Sofia also noticed the slightly gloomy man. He remembered him as someone from the same group as Pororo.
Chebrid looked at Arka, and they both nodded politely, their gloomy aura unchanged.
"Help the people here eliminate those demons and cultists." With that, he turned and left, as if he had something else to do.
Arka watched as Sofia shrugged helplessly and walked inside.
Soon, they spotted Gilliana, writing at a table inside.
The two of them approached.
"You're here."
"I heard you had something to ask us? The demons must have been cleared out. We didn't see a single one when we came back."
Hearing Sofia's words, Gilliana hugged her and nodded.
"Indeed, almost all the demons have been cleared out. Without the energy supply, there's no portal.
And, perhaps because it's essentially useless, the concealing power used to shield the teleportation array's core has also dissipated. We destroyed the entire array as well."
Alka asked curiously, "Then why does it feel like the patrols are more intense than before?"
And there are more patrolling forces.
Hearing this, Gilliana sighed and said, a little irritated, "There's nothing we can do. You saw the dark cloud of negative energy floating in the sky. It's too much, and it's too concentrated to dispel.
We can only wait until our god awakens before we have the strength to dispel it.
Those damned cultists certainly won't give up. Instead, almost all of the pirate cultists in the Giant Tree's Habitat have begun harassing the Land of All Spirits."
After saying this, she frowned and cursed bitterly, "Those damned rats."
Alka could understand it somewhat. These pirates and cultists might not be able to cause the kind of widespread destruction they had at the border of life and death.
They could mobilize a large force to attack, but they had many methods and were disgusting, and they were extremely skilled in stealth operations.
They couldn't do anything else, but they were definitely the most disgusting ones, conducting internal sabotage.
They couldn't kill anyone, but they were disgusting.
After saying this, Gilliana frowned and looked at the two of them. "And the head gardener did a quick divination, and the danger hasn't subsided; it's become even more serious."
Hearing this, Alka frowned and nodded. The head gardener's divination wasn't exactly detailed.
If it was just a rough warning, it was still quite accurate.
Since the danger has increased, it won't be any easier than before.
"Alati also said that those cultists are definitely trying to stop our god's resurrection.
We can only patrol and defend with great vigilance, preventing any accidents from happening before our god revives."
Sofia patted Gilliana on the back, offering a little comfort. There really wasn't any good solution right now; they could only do their best to prevent any accidents.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Alka asked from the side.
Gilliana smiled and shook her head. "You've already helped a lot. It would be rude to trouble you again."
"What we did before wasn't really help; you paid for it, after all," Alka said with a smile.
"Then why don't you just hang out here for a while longer, waiting for the flower fairy's resurrection?"
The two nodded.
That was exactly why they had returned.
Then they said goodbye and left.
They headed back to their camp.
"You said Kalutto must be the mastermind behind this. Why do you say that?" Sofia asked, walking beside Alka.
The reason they had returned this time was, of course, to kill Kalutto.
After all, that damned thing had nearly taken Juanlu's life if they hadn't rushed back.
Even the puppet girls who had stayed in the camp at the time were killed.
When it came to revenge, Alka and his friends believed in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. How could he just run away like that?
Not to mention that their relationship with the Flower Fairy was perfectly good, and that the Flower Fairy was an ally of the Holy Mother.
If anyone had helped them the most, the Holy Mother would undoubtedly come first. Providing assistance within her capacity would naturally be even better.
"A hunch," Alka muttered vaguely.
He had been checking the map daily recently, observing Kalutto's location. He could see that Kalutto was frantically moving throughout the Giant Tree Habitat, his activities unknown.
And Kalutto wasn't heading towards the Land of All Spirits, but rather wandering around.
Most importantly, Alka had noticed that Kalutto's symbol had disappeared from the map for a while.
This was a point of great concern to him. There were only two possible scenarios: either he had temporarily left the map's range through teleportation via the Devouring Mouth.
Or perhaps someone had been discovered and deliberately shielded them. Either way, it was something worth considering and vigilant about.
The two quickly returned to camp.
They explained the current situation to everyone.
"Let's rest in camp for a while, waiting for the flower fairy to revive.
Of course, we can help them if we can."
No one objected, as everyone present was essentially progressing towards the fourth stage.
A short stay would help them better progress to the fourth stage.
After all, they were at a crucial stage.
Calming down to slowly meditate and experience insights was crucial.
The travels had taken their toll.
Not to mention, their camp happened to be located at a node in the energy network, a rare and advantageous location.
This would make their advancement more stable and seamless.
That was it.
He waited quietly until nearly five months had passed.
…
Simon opened his eyes within the circle of the energy-focusing stone, and the sweat on his body instantly evaporated.
He turned off the energy-focusing stone overhead and walked out.
"Congratulations," Jason, who was waiting nearby, said with a smile.
Simon also smiled.
After such a long period of meditation, he had finally reached the fourth stage, barely keeping up with Alka.
"You should be almost there too, right?" Simon asked Jason.
Jason nodded. "About another month and a half. I should be able to advance to the fourth stage, too."
Now, except for Matlisa, who had just obtained her second treasure, and Juanlu, who was at the bottom of the list, everyone else had already reached the perfection of the third stage and was basically accumulating energy. The interval between breakthroughs to the fourth stage is, at most, between half a month and a month.
This means that in a month, there will be several more members at the fourth stage on board.
"But Sofia and Pororo should be a step ahead of me," Jason thought.
At Sofia and Pororo's meditation speed, they should be able to advance to the fourth stage in less than ten days.
The people waiting outside felt the fluctuations inside cease and entered one after another.
"How do you feel?"
At Alka's words, Simon smiled. "Not bad. It'll take a day or two to stabilize. Then it'll take a long time to adapt to the increase in strength."
The improvement at each stage is enormous.
Especially at the fourth stage.
This indicates that they can perfectly control a Holy Grail-level artifact. They are now qualified to control a higher-level artifact, one representing the scepter.
It is also the most important of these stages.
The improvement is certainly enormous, both in terms of performance and inner qualities.
Simon now feels like he's been reborn, shedding his outer shell.
"Not everyone is like you," Simon teased with a hint of envy.
Hearing this, Alka simply smiled and waved his hand, saying nothing more.
After all, Alka had already experienced most of the abilities attainable at the fourth stage in his dreams, so when he reached the fourth stage in reality...
It only took him a day or two to consolidate before he was able to fully demonstrate the strength he could display at this stage.
The chaotic nature of his strength increase was barely noticeable in him.
If it were
A normal person would need at least several months, or even a year, to fully master their current strength.
After all, even fully mastering a treasure and tapping into its full potential requires a considerable amount of time.
It was equivalent to many years of accumulation, unleashed in this instant, a burst of strength.
Observing Simon, who had already reached the fourth stage, Alka removed the ring from his hand.
The fluid ring, resembling a galaxy, was none other than the Scepter-level treasure—the Galaxy.
He removed it and handed it to Simon.
"What are you doing?" Simon asked, somewhat puzzled.
"As I said before, this treasure isn't suitable for me, is it? So, try it out and see if it matches yours."
Hearing this, Simon frowned and said, "You're the strongest among us. You can wait until a new treasure that matches yours is available, and then replace it with ours."
The others nodded.
This method is actually the best, and it doesn't affect the display of strength.
It also doesn't affect their overall strength structure.
It's safe and stable.
But Alka shook his head. "It's different. The galaxy is already suppressing my power growth. Holding it inevitably weakens my control over my dreams and the other two treasures.
Only my internal magic power is increasing, while the other gains are negligible. This treasure has begun to block my path."
Furthermore, preventing Alka from gaining a deeper understanding and control of the treasure for a long time is a complete waste of time, especially while in dreams.
After listening to Alka's explanation, Simon nodded and accepted the ring without hesitation.
"If I'm not suitable, then there's nothing I can do."
Alka nodded. Of course.
After all, if it was truly suitable, he would have to remove his own aura from the ring before he could truly hand it to Simon.
At this stage, he was only slightly suppressing his aura, primarily to see if Simon's artifact repelled the galaxy or was repelled by it.
If it wasn't suitable, he would have to carry it for a while.
After all, it was a scepter-level artifact, and an exceptionally powerful and comprehensive one at that.