"Is it Lord Coffin Master Bishop?"
"Was it Lord Coffin Master Bishop himself mobilizing the demihuman-plus-monster army?"
The remnant Sequoia Corps arcane masters also saw the coffin-shaped dark clouds gathering above the Thorns Swamp. They immediately shouted in joy and showed fervent hope.
However, Divana began to show worry instead.
Does the legendary Lord Coffin Master Bishop have to make a move personally already?
If Lord Coffin Master Bishop really has to intervene, even if we win, his arcane skills and secrets will be revealed. They will be researched by the Kingdom of Eich for countermeasures.
If the legendary Coffin Master Bishop loses that mysterious layer and is found to be not as powerful as the rumors say. If he is even killed, it will be impossible to win this war, right?
……
"Is it the Evil Dragon Bishop?"
Ayrin also stopped chasing after the monsters. He stared at the creepy dark cloud and showed anticipation.
Stingham suddenly shuddered. Jean Camus, Ferguillo and Ayrin all had a really ominous expression.
At that moment, Ayrin shouted out towards Stingham and the others while standing on the head of the Titan, "Where are Rinloran and Uncle Lenyu?"
"What do you want to do?"
Stingham's danger sensor was tingling.
"Of course to go there and take a look! I want to see what's over there! Is it the Coffin Master Bishop? Didn't Jean Camus and Uncle Lenyu try their best to lure out the Coffin Master Bishop.and check what kind of existence he was?" Ayrin shouted back at Stingham. Turning grumpy, he added, "These guys don't want to fight properly. If I attack their backstage boss, they would have to fight me!"
"What!? It's already so dangerous here, yet you want to go over there? That eerie cloud looks so scary, I won't go! One against one!" Stingham immediately refused and desperately dissuaded them.
"Two against one, idiot!"
While many others could not understand what Stingham meant by 'One against one', a chilling voice came from behind him.
Rinloran appeared right behind Stingham.
"Can you two stop being like that every time?" Stingham was teary-faced.
Is this the rule of their team? The minority must obey the majority?
If he can obey such a rule, even if he looks unreliable…… He must be a true brave warrior!
Many Royal Thorns Corps arcane masters changed their view of Stingham.
At that moment, Ayrin excitedly shouted, "Uncle Lenyu!"
Hearing that call, Stingham almost blacked out. He knew the Dimension Traveler Lenyu had also appeared.
"Uncle Lenyu, how about it? Shall we go take a look?"
Ayrin ignored Stingham's reaction and beckoned Lenyu who just appeared.
Lenyu did not answer immediately because an emotionless voice suddenly answered in his stead, "We will go together with your team."
"Uncle Philp? Aunt Emila?"
Ayrin looked at them in surprise, "You want to go with us?"
Emila's expression instantly darkened, "Can you not call me aunt?"
"I'm used to calling people of your status that in Cororin Town." Ayrin embarrassedly scratched his head.
"We must go take a look. That place seems to be constantly gathering arcane energy." Philp did not reveal any emotional change and quickly spoke, "But we don't know what dangers lie ahead. Hence, we cannot send a large group. In case anything goes wrong, it will be possible to retreat. Mody needs to replenish arcane particles and will take command here, so me and Emila will go with your team."
"Can we not send a large group? Then I don't need to go." Stingham immediately suggested.
"No, your defense is the strongest of all of us. Furthermore, the Green Dragon Spear can unleash tremendous power at crucial times. You must go!" Ayrin immediately rebutted Stingham and then shouted towards Charlotte, "Charlotte, you and Meraly stay behind. Me, Rinloran, Stingham, Jean Camus and Ferguillo will go. We should be alright."
"Ayrin, let me go as well!" Meraly volunteered. She also wanted to fight alongside Ayrin and the others.
"What are you going for? Relying on your broken Golden Holy Sword or the summoning skill that calls forth cats and dogs? Just obediently stay here."
Stingham grumbled, "What kind of world am I living in? I don't want to go but am forced to go, and you can stay behind yet you want to go!"
"Stingham!"
Meraly's eyes immediately blurred.
The bickering between them was nothing new. However, this time, Meraly felt not shame, but helpless and sad.
"Don't take it to heart, Stingham's words usually don't go through his brain." Charlotte quietly consoled Meraly after seeing her become speechless.
"You're saying that because of your strength huh!?"
"Because I'm not strong enough, I can only look at your backs while you march into danger. Can I never fight together with you all?"
Meraly bit her lips. As she watched Ayrin and the others dashing away, her tears rolled down her face uncontrollably.
She vowed to herself, "Meraly, you must become strong!"
"You must endure through extreme training like Chris!"
"If you can't fight alongside them…… If any of them had an accident, Meraly, you will never forgive yourself, alright?"
"Even if you die from training, even if you die from fighting, you must stand together with them!"
……
Ayrin rapidly dashed forward and kept his eyes on the big cluster of dark clouds in the shape of a coffin. Suddenly, Philp handed him an ancient-looking scroll with a black leather cover, "Uncle Philp, this is?"
"This is the scroll you wanted. It's the forbidden skill that can let you activate the Grudge Soul Gem's power and manifest a loyal Grudge Soul Knight." Philp continued expressionlessly, "But can you learn it in time?"
"It's the scroll that lets me make use of the Grudge Soul Gem! I forgot about it for a moment." Ayrin scratched his head and quickly opened the scroll.
"Ring Soul: Death Knight?"
He immediately exclaimed in surprise, "The power of the forbidden skill can actually let the Grudge Soul Gem integrate with arcane power and become a ring! Like this I can summon the Grudge Soul Knight to fight for me at any time?"
The forbidden skill was very special. It was not simply drawing the power from the Grudge Soul Gem, it actually modified the gem with arcane power to cultivate into a new gem. The new gem could become a ring.
"This Grudge Soul Gem is left by the Bone Emperor. So, my Grudge Soul Knight should also be powerful!"
The scroll had an explanation at the end which mentioned the strength of the Grudge Soul Knight summoned by the forbidden skill depended on the power of the monster that became the Grudge Soul Gem.
"Uncle Philp! Can you let me ride your black panther? If it brings me there, I can focus on studying this scroll and hopefully learn it before we get there."
Ayrin's gaze fell onto the black panther that followed Philp like his shadow.
"Grr……"
The black panther clearly had high intelligence. It could understand Ayrin and lowered its back.
Ayrin jumped onto its back and commented, "You're so nice! I thought it would be hard to negotiate with you because you're so black. I was worried you would bite me."
"……" The black panther stiffened, then roared and almost threw Ayrin off.
"Such an idiot!" Rinloran lamented.
Although they could not tell what kind of monster the black panther was, its body reverberated a strange arcane energy fluctuation, as if it were a unique domain. Just that aura was enough to let them determine it was much stronger than normal Lord level monsters. However, Ayrin actually treated it like a normal black panther.
The huge cluster of coffin-like dark clouds seemed closeby, but they only got closer after running for over ten minutes, overtaking most demihumans.
"There's really a coffin! Is this really the Coffin Master Bishop?" Stingham shouted out.
Rinloran and the others also held their breaths.
Right below the dark clouds, there was a purplish black arcane energy current spinning like a swirl.
At the center of that swirl, there was a grey crystal coffin.
The coffin had no lid. As the purplish black arcane energy current wrapped around it, they could not see whether there was anyone inside. There did not seem to be any arcane masters around either.
The scene of a coffin below and a cluster of dark clouds above made Stingham really scared. He was shivering non-stop.
"Stop!" Ayrin suddenly shouted.
"What? Even you're scared and want to retreat? Now we're two against one!" Stingham shouted.
Ayrin who was still sitting on the black panther shook his head with a serious expression and spoke, "No, Stingham. I think I have learned this forbidden skill."
"He really learned it in such a short amount of time?"
Philp and Emila looked at each other in surprise.
Even the black panther Ayrin rode on did not seem to believe it and growled.
"Are you trying to bite me?" Ayrin immediately became worried.
"……" The black panther was speechless and finally threw Ayrin off of its back.
