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As for the sacrifices? That was even less of a problem. The population under the jurisdiction of the Temple numbered nearly eighty million, with over sixty million believers among them. After weeding out those who were not devout enough and those without power, what remained were the very targets of the orc occupying forces' focused attacks. After rounds of purges, the number of powerful Light believers captured by the orcs exceeded thirty thousand. After Chen Xuanfeng raised the banner of "using saints to counter saints" and established the orc-friendly "Heaven of Saint Love," the task of dealing with human Light believers fell to this werewolf lord. By using intimidation, deception, bribery, hypnosis, and other means, he turned most of the captives into the backbone of the "Heaven of Saint Love." The remaining thousands of die-hard individuals, all possessing formidable strength, unwavering wills, and pure faith, were immediately seized upon by Lord Xuanfeng, who, under the guidance of an unscrupulous high lich, signed dozens of highly advantageous contracts, thereby acquiring magical powers that could rival those of the Grand High Priest of the Radiant Temple. Although this effortless power lacked the flexibility of genuine mages and Chen Xuanfeng himself had no deep understanding of the advanced theories of magic application, the sheer vastness of his magical power allowed him to bully ordinary tenth-level mages with ease (upon closer reflection, this situation seemed eerily similar to that of the "Knight of the Red Sun").

Today, fearing that the "Knight of the Red Sun," whom he had just faced last month, might recognize him, Chen Xuanfeng did not intend to use martial techniques at all. Seeing the Flame Sand Army's mages setting up their magic cannons to bombard the oasis, he immediately engaged them in a magical duel. Since it was his favorite type of battle—a pure consumption of magical power—Chen Xuanfeng did not even target the mages themselves but instead aimed at the fireballs launched by the magic cannons, intercepting all their attacks with equally powerful spells, thoroughly enjoying himself without any regard for the casualties on either side.

While Chen Xuanfeng could ignore the casualties, the Mercenary Empire could not. Although Jin Luosha's efforts had improved the situation for the tribe, the numbers were still insufficient to completely turn the tide. However, the arrival of another unexpected reinforcement soon broke the Flame Sand Army's advantage.

A cavalry force of about three thousand suddenly appeared behind the Flame Sand Army on the other side of the natural barrier. A sudden assault inflicted heavy losses on the unprepared regular army. Although the number of this force was limited, they were the most elite desert mercenary group, employing guerrilla tactics to tie down a large portion of the Flame Sand Army's main force, making it impossible for the enemy to cross the stone bridge and attack the Hanos Tribe. Without a steady supply of reinforcements, the other half of the Flame Sand Army's offensive immediately slowed down. Seizing the opportunity, Jin Luosha led her people in a brilliant counterattack, successfully pushing the enemy back to the stone bridge passage, forming a new defensive line.

Faced with this dilemma, someone who had been unwilling to show himself finally could not remain silent.

"A bunch of incompetents, all of you step down!"

With that arrogant command, the sky was once again illuminated by the golden-red flames.

Chapter 8: The Crying Wall and the Twin Forked Moon of Inferno

Some say, "Failure makes one grow, and loss makes one mature."

This may not apply to everyone. Some become even more deranged because of it.

For someone of noble blood, hailed as a martial arts prodigy from a young age, and who ascended to greatness through the "Holy Emblem," failure and loss were intolerable, especially when the failure involved two Sword Saints ganging up on a Sword Emperor, and the loss was an arm from his noble body.

To be honest, if it weren't for the overwhelming and surging flame aura, Chen Xuanfeng and Jin Luosha would not have recognized the strange figure before them as Hein, the "Knight of the Red Sun," who was so full of confidence and clad in golden armor a month ago. Now, the "Knight of the Red Sun" might better be called the "Black Demon Knight." His once glorious golden armor was nowhere to be seen; instead, Hein now wore a much heavier and more imposing Nine Demon Armor, with black metal plates adorned with nine different, fierce demon faces on the shoulders, chest, back, abdomen, and joints, each with eighteen points of eerie gray-green light flickering in the eye sockets of the skull-like demon faces, as if telling tales of endless resentment. Hein did not display his handsome face and golden hair as he did last time but instead covered his entire head with a similarly sinister helmet and mask, hiding his entire body beneath the armor.

"What has happened to this guy? Is he planning to develop in the direction of a Black Knight like me?" Chen Xuanfeng, unaware that the "Golden Thunder" evolved from the "Grand Judgment Spell" had cost the "Knight of the Red Sun" an arm, could not understand the psychological journey of a disabled person and could only speculate curiously.

Similarly, the transformed "Knight of the Red Sun" Hein did not know that the strange black-clothed man casting high-level spells nearby and the black-haired girl leading the tribal warriors against the Flame Sand Army were the two culprits responsible for his disfigurement. However, regardless of past grievances, he would never let these two who forced him to take personal action go, and certainly, the mercenaries who emerged from behind the Flame Sand Army were also on his hit list.

Of course, there were those who were confused, such as the bearded warrior leader who had just caught his breath due to the Flame Sand Army's retreat.

"Excuse me, are you the 'Flame Saint' sir?" the bearded Barok asked hesitantly.

The "Burning Heaven Flame Saint" Levis had been a legend for over a hundred years, and almost every desert warrior grew up admiring his name. This was true even for the tribal alliance, which had long split from and opposed the Mercenary Empire. Moreover, although he sat in the capital "Star Shattering Abyss" as the guardian of the empire, he never interfered in the conflicts between the empire and the tribes, even restraining his disciples from getting involved in such disputes. Therefore, the respect the tribal warriors had for him was no less than that of the imperial side. Despite the news of his death spreading three years ago, the desert warriors were unwilling to believe it from the bottom of their hearts. Coupled with the fact that the empire had never officially announced the appearance of the "Knight of the Red Sun," the poorly informed tribal warriors, upon seeing this masked sword saint controlling flames, thought not "this is a new sword saint" but "Lord Levis has come back to life."