Underdark.

On the open ground before one of the exits of the hidden path, the fierce battle was still raging.

Although the soldiers of the Imperial Legion had already heard their own general, Cobarturn, shouting loudly and had begun to retreat quickly, it was already too late.

With the beholder Zergelos’s enormous spherical body as the center, a ring-shaped gray halo suddenly flashed through midair, rapidly covering nearly a hundred meters around it.

All the imperial soldiers within this area immediately became restless and agitated, and their strides slowed noticeably compared to before.

"Get out of the way, this is a Legendary Domain!" Hamilton, commander of the Silver Battle Group’s Wings of the Seraph and wielder of a heavy Warhammer, shouted with an ugly expression as he sped backward to evade the halo.

"It’s a Death Aura!" The Transcendent Paladin Kalman’s face was equally solemn!

Legendary Domain?

Death Aura?

Hearing the shout from the main force of the Wings of the Seraph, Raine raised an eyebrow, as if something had come to mind.

’If I remember correctly, the difference between Legendary and Extraordinary lies in whether one possesses a domain, so this Death Aura should be the name of the domain of the newly advanced Legendary beholder Zergelos?’

As he pondered, Raine observed even more closely.

An opportunity to carefully observe a newly advanced Legendary Demon like this was truly once in a lifetime!

With both Dark Vision and the True Eye, Raine could see far more than ordinary people.

At this moment, what entered Raine’s field of vision was such a scene—’Within the range covered by the Legendary beholder Zergelos’s halo, faint red strands of Life Energy were emerging from the heads of a large number of Imperial Legion soldiers, rising like steam and converging toward the beholder.’

This scene was different from the one-time, high-intensity draining of the eighth-circle Magic "Death Ripple."

The effect of Death Aura was more like boiling a frog in warm water, slowly siphoning away the Life Energy of all targets within the halo.

Moreover, when the beholder Zergelos released the Death Aura, it seemed as simple as eating or drinking; Raine noticed that during this period, Zergelos had also continuously fired multiple eye rays!

At the same time, Raine also noticed that aside from continuously draining the targets’ Life Force, the Death Aura should have other negative effects, such as panic, weakness, and plummeting morale.

Otherwise, these well-trained Legion soldiers, who were all of various Classes, would not have turned into this listless, abnormally dispirited state.

The next second!

’Not good!’

Raine’s pupils contracted sharply, and he grabbed Meredith, retreating at high speed.

Because the area he was in at this moment was being enveloped by the further expanding Death Aura.

Yet even with Raine’s speed, it was still a bit too late.

With a sizzling "chi" sound, the Invisibility Spell on him and Meredith was instantly dispelled by the Death Aura, as if morning mist meeting the rising sun.

Fortunately, he had retreated in time, and after the halo expanded a little over ten meters, it stopped spreading further.

At the same time, two elite Drow who had been lying in ambush not far from Raine, keeping their eyes fixed on the exit of the hidden path, widened their eyes as they stared at Raine and Meredith.

These two were the capable personnel dispatched by the four High-tier Priestesses of the Breagan Family not long ago, after they sensed Magic Energy Fluctuations coming from underground.

"Why did two people suddenly appear?"

"We’ve been watching for so long just now and didn’t see a single shadow!"

"Yeah! I didn’t expect it to really be like the four adults said—someone did come out of the hidden path!"

"Wait, that’s Meredith!" One of the Drow elites, aided by Dark Vision, quickly recognized Meredith, who was also a member of the Breagan Family!

"What? That’s the one who defected..."

"Exactly!"

"This is bad! The beholder’s halo is spreading over!"

...

Raine glanced at the two Drow figures that had burst out from the fern bushes not far away, then looked down and immediately noticed that the Invisibility Spell on himself and Meredith had vanished.

At the same time, Raine also noticed that their appearance had drawn the attention of several Transcendents of the Urein Empire in the distance.

Seeing more and more gazes cast their way, Raine immediately pulled Meredith back into the hidden path and then began to cast Teleportation.

Noticing the two figures appearing at the entrance of the hidden path and then quickly disappearing, Cobarturn, who was organizing the Legion’s retreat, grew even gloomier; he immediately associated it with something.

But at this moment, he was busy commanding the Legion’s withdrawal and had no time to spare.

"Hamilton, you go check the entrance of the hidden path. You must find out who they are!"

"What about you here..."

"Don’t worry, I’m not dying yet!"

...

Meanwhile.

Bornberry.

Inside the Marquis’s mansion, a grand victory celebration was being held in the splendid banquet hall.

In the hall, glasses clinked and toasts were exchanged as nobles of all ranks of Bornberry, along with their ladies and young misses, attended in full splendor.

Originally, Marquis Gareth, who was supposed to be the Governor of a city, was at this moment standing respectfully beside a stunning woman in a tight red Mage Robe, talking to her. From time to time he bent at the waist and nodded repeatedly, showing not a shred of a city governor’s authority, looking more like a chubby butler.

The one beside him was the Demon Mage Lilith. Right now the dispirited look on her pretty face was long gone; her cheeks were flushed, her aura restrained yet extraordinary—she had clearly already advanced to the Extraordinary Level.

"Lady Lilith, I must trouble you this time to put in a few good words for me before Lord White Mann. This is a small gift I prepared."

Marquis Gareth’s chubby face was piled with a fawning smile as he spoke obsequiously, respectfully offering a palm-sized wooden box with both hands.

"Marquis Gareth, there’s no need to be so polite. If not for you this time, the Eldest Princess Leonore of the Soladin Kingdom would not have so easily fallen into our trap."

Lilith stretched out her fair, slender fingers, nails painted a bright red, and took the gift box without changing her expression, teasing him with a smile.

"No, no, no, it’s all thanks to you lords."

Hearing this, fine beads of sweat instantly broke out on Marquis Gareth’s forehead. He hastily pulled out a handkerchief, wiping as he repeatedly waved his hand.

On one hand, he really didn’t dare claim this credit for himself.

If this matter were to be loudly trumpeted, then even if the Soladin Kingdom was tottering in the storm, they would definitely take revenge on him; on the other hand, he wasn’t sure if this beautiful yet rumoredly venomous Lilith was actually speaking in reverse.

Faced with Gareth’s flattery, after Lilith accepted the gift she had no interest in continuing the conversation.

"I’ll go report to Lord White Mann now, Marquis Gareth, excuse me." Saying this, Lilith turned around, her graceful figure swaying as she headed toward the side door at the back of the banquet hall.

"Of course, please."

After stepping through the side door and rounding a corner up the stairs, there was a soft "click" as Lilith opened the gift box Marquis Gareth had given her. Inside lay a pigeon-egg-sized ruby, its surface glowing with brilliant luster.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Lilith picked up the ruby and casually tossed the box aside.

Then she followed the spiral staircase inside the tower up to the door of the second-floor study and knocked lightly.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Enter!"

As a calm male voice sounded, Lilith smoothed the hem of her red Mage Robe and pushed the door open to walk in.

"Lord White Mann, good day!"

"Lilith, how are things dealing with the nobles here in Bornberry?" White Mann set down the documents in his hand and lifted his head slightly to look at her.

For nobles of this level, White Mann naturally would not personally appear.

"Aside from a very few diehards, over ninety percent of the nobles have already expressed their willingness to submit. However, my lord, it’s obvious that lot of nobles are just fence-sitters."

"It’s fine. Once the situation fully stabilizes, their usefulness will come to an end anyway."

White Mann’s words made Lilith’s heart give a jolt.

"By the way, my lord, when are we going to take Dorne City? Is it possible that after being wounded, that Eldest Princess Leonore is currently hiding in Dorne City?"

"Dorne City?" White Mann raised an eyebrow.

Letting Leonore escape this time did leave White Mann somewhat regretful.

If they had succeeded, then given her identity as Eldest Princess, not only could she be used to pin down the Soladin royal family and make them hesitate to act, on the other hand, it would also greatly weaken the Soladin Kingdom’s will to resist.

But he hadn’t expected her to have left behind a special contingency. After breaking through the combined attack of Haigen and himself, she immediately used a Teleportation Spell to escape the encirclement.

Even so, although they had failed to capture Leonore, the vast majority of cities in the southwestern region of the Soladin Kingdom had already surrendered, and the situation was overwhelmingly in their favor.

And just now, spies from Rapids Castle, the Soladin Royal Capital, had sent word that in all the important locations—whether within the Imperial Palace, the War Council, or several other key areas’ Teleportation Arrays—no trace of the Eldest Princess had been found.

Although there was a legendary powerhouse sitting in the Soladin Royal Capital, as long as that legendary figure was not at Leonore’s side every waking moment, their operatives would be able to find an opportunity to act.

But now it seemed their opponent was even more cautious than expected.

White Mann had been pondering where she might have fled. Hearing Lilith’s suggestion now, he felt the likelihood was small, but he did not dismiss it.

"Very well, you take a team and go."

"Huh? My lord, you’re not going?" Lilith was delighted at first, but then worry and a trace of dread showed on her face.

"Hm?" Seeing the obvious fear on Lilith’s face, White Mann felt a bit puzzled.

In truth, however, Lilith was worried about Raine!

Raine had already left a shadow in her heart. Ever since the incident in Warwick City of the Fadia Kingdom, Lilith had often been jolted awake from nightmares.

And the leading figure of those nightmares was, of course, Raine.

Even though her condition had improved somewhat after she Entered the Extraordinary a few days ago, she would still wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, breathing hard. The reason was—within her dreams, Raine always managed to find an opening to kill her with ease!

The name Raine was now like a living nightmare in her heart!

"That... that Raine, I truly have no confidence in defeating him!" Lilith thought for a moment, lowered her head, and spoke honestly.

"Lilith, you’ve already Entered the Extraordinary, and you’re still afraid of that Raine?" Seeing her expression, White Mann couldn’t help feeling both annoyed and amused.

"Fine, I’ll give you a Teleportation Array disc. You can set it up outside Dorne City. If anything seems off, send word to me at once and I’ll come immediately."

"That’s wonderful, my lord!" Lilith’s eyes instantly lit up with joy.

"All right, go quickly! And if Leonore really is in Dorne City, contact me at once."

"Yes, my lord."

....