When the Oracle of the Divine Army opened her eyes, she found herself lying at the base of a mountain.
Pain wracked her body, and several wounds and bruises could be seen on her once smooth and radiant skin. Her clothes were also in tatters, and the life-saving talismans that she carried to protect her were all gone.
If she had not used up all of those artifacts, she might have suffered injuries far worse than the ones she had at the moment.
It took her a moment to recall what had happened to her, and when she did, she realized that they had been so stupid to look down at the unknown projectile that came from the floating island.
"I'll kill that Heretic…" the Oracle of the Divine Army said through gritted teeth before inspecting her body, checking the severity of her injuries.
Her clothes, which looked more like rags, were dyed with her own blood. However, when she tasted blood on her lips, she subconsciously touched the base of her nose.
Feeling something wet and warm on it, the Oracle then looked at her fingers and saw blood on them.
Hastily, she summoned a mirror to look at her beautiful face, whom she was very proud of.
There, she saw that her nose and ears were bleeding. Aside from that, there was also a three-inch cut on the side of her face, which made her eyes widen in shock.
Without wasting any time, the Oracle took out a High-Quality Elixir from her storage ring and drank half of it. The rest, she poured over the injuries on her beautiful face, hoping that it would help to heal them faster.
For the Oracle, her beauty was very important. Even though she had several injuries on her body, taking care of her face was her top priority over anything else.
It wasn't easy to injure Saints. However, once they were injured, ordinary healing potions wouldn't work on them. Only Elixirs with the highest quality would have an effect on them.
Seconds later, the bleeding on her nose and ears stopped, and the wound on her face slowly recovered.
However, seeing that the effect of the Elixir wasn't enough, the Oracle drank four more to remove the visible injuries on her body.
The Oracle knew that even though her injuries looked healed, that was only on the surface and her internal injuries would take time to recover.
"Should I escape first or look for the others?" the Oracle muttered to herself before slowly propping herself up off the ground.
All the members of the Divine Army of Light had a crystal that would allow them to instantly teleport back to their Headquarters.
However, the Oracle was unwilling to use it. Although she had clairvoyance, she understood that it would not always tell her where the Half-Elf was currently located.
Although unwilling, the Oracle of the Divine Army wasn't stupid. Since she had received fatal injuries during the explosion, it was only natural to think that her comrades had suffered the same because they were close to each other when the tragedy struck.
Her body subconsciously shuddered when she thought of the High Templar who had slashed the Bone Rocket in order to destroy it.
Although he was also a Saint, just like her, and had several life-saving artifacts on his body, the Oracle wasn't confident of his chances of surviving that kind of destructive power.
She even thought that the High Templar might have lost a limb or two since he was the one closest to the center of the explosion.
'He got us good,' the Oracle sighed in her heart. 'Really good.'
They had tried to kill Lux twice, and in both instances, the ones who lost out and suffered more were the Divine Army of Light.
They had lost one of their Saints in the Necromancer's Ancestral Lands due to Vera, and they had probably lost another one today.
It was also possible that they might have lost more than just one Saint in this mission to kill the Half-Elf.
After making up her mind, the Oracle decided to look for her comrades first.
She had also decided to halt their mission for the time being and take her comrades back to their Headquarters, where they could recover.
Using her power of Clairvoyance, she found the location of one of her comrades that was nearest to her.
She hoped beyond hope that her comrades were only seriously injured and not dead.
If they were injured, they could still recover from their injuries.
But if they were dead…
The Oracle shuddered for the second time because she was dealing with a Necromancer. If her fallen comrades were to fall in his hands, the chances of fighting the Undead version of them in the future were already set in stone.
"Damnit!" the High King of Lunaria cursed inwardly as his subordinates flocked in his direction with expressions of shock and disbelief.
When he regained consciousness, he was lying on the side of a riverbed, covered with his own blood.
His left arm was broken, and his armor had cracks all over it. Just like the Oracle, the life-saving talismans that were meant to protect him from death had all been used up, making him feel bitter inside.
Knowing that the possibility of being found in his weakened state was high, the High King of Lunaria didn't hesitate to use the teleportation crystal that allowed him to return directly to his own Kingdom, where his subordinates would ensure his safety.
As his people applied first aid to his injuries, the High King who was very eager to end Hereswith's Legacy gritted his teeth in anger and frustration.
'We should have brought more people.' the High King of Lunaria clenched his teeth. 'We shouldn't have underestimated that thing!'
Just like the Oracle, he had severely underestimated the Half-Elf's ability to protect himself from their assault.
He also didn't expect that the Saints of the two Dragon Kingdoms would be there to act as Lux's bodyguard.
Originally, he thought that only Vera and Gaap would be there to defend against their attack, which would make it an easy victory for them.
However, aside from these two, several more Saints were there, all of which were no pushovers.
He thought that with the addition of the six Saints that agreed to help them, they would finally chop off Lux's head and present it as a trophy to their Sovereign that was waiting for them in their Headquarters.
While the Oracle was looking for her comrades and the High King of Lunaria was being treated for his injuries, Gaap arrived at the location where one of the blinking red dots was located.
"Heh~ so, you're still alive, huh?" Gaap sneered at the High Templar of the Divine Army of Light whose entire body was like a charred corpse. "I guess you are fated to suffer for your sins."
Similar to the High King of Lunaria, the High Templar was one of the Hunters that had hounded his Master when she was still alive. Seeing his pitiful state, the Halfling felt satisfaction in his heart, knowing that his enemy was now under his mercy.
The High Templar's dominant right arm was missing, which the Halfling assumed to have been instantly obliterated by the power of Eiko's tactical nuke.
The injuries that the High Templar received were so severe that it would have been better if he had died already, ending his misery.
Fortunately or unfortunately, his life-saving artifacts kicked in at the last moment, preserving his life.
While Gaap was thinking about what to do, Blackfire suddenly appeared out of nowhere and nudged the Halfling's body, as if asking him for permission to take the body in.
"Blackfire?" Gaap blinked in confusion before laughing. "So you've become autonomous now after being upgraded to a Divine Artifact."
Blackfire nodded its head as if to confirm Gaap's hunch. Lux didn't order Blackfire to follow his Master, but knowing the possibility of retrieving the Corpses of Saints, the Black Coffin decided to tag along with the Halfling without its Master's permission.
Even when Lux first received Blackfire, the black coffin was already a sentient artifact. After being upgraded to a Divine Artifact, it could now move autonomously and appear near the members of Heaven's Gate.
"Go ahead," Gaap replied. "He's yours."
The Black Coffin then opened its lid and sucked up the dying High Templar, storing it inside its body.
Now that it could store more creatures inside it, the Black Coffin could now automatically create new servants for his Master.
Servants that would protect the Half-Elf for the rest of his life.
