“The final intelligence sent back from Falling Star «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Valley reports not only the fall of Domoko Your Excellency and a million civilians! Just half a day ago, a wave of destruction-level energy that ignored the rules of the Heavenly Dao erupted in that region. The three main battalions sent to blockade the perimeter were completely evaporated in an instant, along with the mountains within a hundred-mile radius, leaving no remains!”

Another Legion Commander stepped forward immediately and shouted loudly: “And the Old Days Mountains to the west! Just a few hours ago, the vitality of the entire mountain range was drained by an unknown power! The primordial forest stretching for thousands of miles has been turned to ash!”

“According to the images sent back by the perimeter scouts before their deaths, a massive rift in the Void Realm opened in the sky. A grey-robed man there tore through the Heavenly Dao lightning and swallowed a massive, terrifying monster whole!”

Legion Commander Ryan gripped the marble floor tiles with both hands.

“Holy Lord! That power draining all life is still spreading! In the three provinces near the Old Days Mountains, millions of civilians are falling into extreme panic. They are being affected by invisible Laws, aging and dying in massive numbers!”

“After Archbishop Andrew Your Excellency returned from Falling Star Valley, he went into seclusion and only activated the Holy City great array. My Lord, we can wait no longer! We implore you to issue an oracle and immediately dispatch all main legions to the western territories to suppress the heresy; otherwise, the Foundation of our Free Federation will be destroyed!”

The three Legion Commanders stared at the layers of gauze curtains.

There was no sound from behind the curtains.

On the massive bed, the Holy Lord Francis leaned against the pillows, expressionless.

He held a glass of wine in his hand, his eyes shifting slightly.

Francis slowly raised the wine glass and took a sip of the red wine.

“Are you finished?”

An aged voice drifted from behind the curtains.

The three Legion Commanders were stunned, and Ryan stood there with his mouth agape: “My... My Lord?”

“If you are finished, then withdraw.” Francis swirled the wine glass in his hand, watching the red liquid residue on the glass wall. “Pass down my oracle. Have everyone within a five-hundred-mile radius of Falling Star Valley and the Old Days Mountains evacuate. Do not attempt to investigate, and certainly do not try to stop it.”

“What?!”

Legion Commander Ryan stood up. “Evacuate?! Holy Lord, those are the wealthiest western plains of our Federation! If we retreat, it is equivalent to handing over tens of millions of citizens and territory to that unknown demon!”

“Does the meaning of our Holy Judgment Knights' existence not lie in protecting...”

“Presumptuous!”

Francis raised his hand, and the gravity within the hall doubled.

“Thud! Thud! Thud!”

The three Legion Commanders were pressed down until their knees slammed into the ground, smashing deep pits into the marble floor. Blood seeped from the corners of their mouths.

“This is God's will.”

Francis looked down at the three struggling men.

“That is not a power you can contend with. No matter how many people you send, it will be nothing more than a meaningless death. Andrew did the right thing by contracting all defensive lines and closing the Holy City. From now on, no one in the Federation is permitted to step foot near those two ruins.”

“Those who disobey shall be executed on the spot for the crime of heresy!”

Only heavy breathing echoed within the hall.

The Legion Commanders looked at each other.

But faced with absolute authority and the suppression of power, they could not resist at all.

“Your subordinates... obey your command.”

Silence fell within the Holy Lord's bedchamber.

Francis looked at the empty hall, raised his withered hand, and waved away several personal maids huddled in the corner.

“All of you, withdraw. Without my oracle, no one is permitted to step foot into the bedchamber.”

“Yes... Holy Lord.” The maids fled the hall as if they had been granted a great amnesty, scrambling away.

When the last footsteps vanished, this ancient Holy Lord who had ruled the Free Federation for a long time finally sat up from the soft bed.

He lowered his eyelids, his withered lips moving as he muttered in a low voice: “It's almost... time.”

As his voice fell, Francis reached his hand into his cross-embroidered robe.

After a moment, he took out the item he had hidden close to his body.

A brass mirror.

The mirror was only the size of a palm, its edges carved with intricate ancient runes, and its bronze-green color was dull. It was originally a sacred relic of the Federation representing light and holiness, but held in Francis's hand, it emitted a cold, eerie light.

This was precisely the country-guarding Divine Artifact that had mysteriously vanished from the Holy City's secret vault—the sky mirror!

Archbishop Andrew could rack his brain and still never guess that the culprit who caused the overnight evaporation of a million people in Losga City and Newt City was the very Holy Lord they worshipped!

Francis held the sky mirror level before his eyes and looked deep into the dark surface of the mirror.

If anyone else were to take a single look into this mirror, they would surely be driven mad by the sight. Within that flat mirror surface, Avici Hell hung upside down. Densely packed human corpses were piled like mountains inside.

Over a million bodies were connected head to tail. Their mouths were wide open, their eyes bulging, and their Souls were imprisoned within this square inch, letting out silent wails.

Faced with this tragedy of the human world that would be enough to make a god weep, Francis's aged face remained expressionless.

“I am sorry, everyone.”

He extended a withered finger and stroked the brass edge, his tone flat: “For the future of the Free Federation, and to combat the impending calamity, I had to make the necessary sacrifices.”

“Life is great, and your dedication will become the Foundation for the Federation's eternal existence. When your Souls enter the eternal kingdom of heaven and bathe in the holy radiance, you will understand my painstaking efforts... and you will choose to forgive me.”

After saying this, Francis no longer hesitated and stared intently at the mirror surface.

He bit his fingertip and let a drop of dark red blood fall onto the surface of the sky mirror.

“Buzz—!”

Crimson ripples oscillated across the mirror's surface, and the life energy of the more than one million people compressed within the mirror world turned into hundreds and thousands of blood-colored threads, drilling into Francis's seven orifices and pores!

“Ugh—”

Francis threw back his head and let out a long howl.

A miracle occurred upon his body. His loose, sagging skin began to tighten and fill out under the infusion of life energy; his withered muscles bulged once more; and his sparse white hair lost its pallor from the roots, turning into thick black hair!

In just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea...

When the blood-colored threads were cut, the dying old man had vanished. Standing in his place was a tall, handsome young man in his twenties, radiating fluctuations of Qi and blood!

Francis walked to the floor-length dressing mirror, stretched his neck, and listened to the crisp cracking sounds from his bones. He nodded at the young body in the mirror.

“Not bad, truly not bad.”

Francis smiled, “That fellow did not lie to me. Using the ancient sacrificial method to forcibly extract a Mortal's life Origin can indeed break the limits of lifespan.”

He lowered his head, looking at the SSS-rank Peak Law power surging in his palm. He noticed that the forcibly plundered power was slowly leaking away and could not be sustained, but this was already enough.

“I can only maintain a brief Peak, but it has given me the bargaining chip to sit at the table and negotiate.” Francis clenched his fist. “Duan, did you think you could control everything? In this game of chess, it is now my turn to make a move!”