Vahn watched Aria, Evelina, Valeria, Flama, and Celestine stare back at him in stony silence.

Unsurprisingly, he got no public response from them. Flama seemed the most restless, her eyes flickering with internal conflict, but she could only go so far. Her ingrained loyalty and fear of exposure held her captive.

​Vahn's smirk turned genuinely cold. "Very well... Light and Darkness is all I need. But one day, I will make sure all of you regret your choice."

​With that final threat, he turned to leave, his hand firmly grasping Seraphina's. The shimmering Secret Realm Gate was their escape, their future, and their first objective.

​However, in the next instant, Vahn found himself locked in place.

​"What! Do you really think you can get away with our Saintess to the Demonic Faction?" Patriarch Dimidium roared, unleashing his powerful aura at once. He couldn't allow the Saintess of Light to be stolen by the Devil's Child.

"Never shall I allow you two to sully our name!"

​The other elders and Patriarchs also closed in, their righteous fury overriding their fear of the Blood Monarch, all ready to fight to the death to reclaim Seraphina and capture Vahn.

​

​Just then, the Blood Monarch waved his hand dismissively into the air, a cruel, easy gesture.

​"Demon Patriarch," the Monarch commanded, his voice absolute. "Release them. Let them know the consequences of touching our Young Lord."

​"Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh–ooooooooooohhh..."

​With a deep, horrifying, resounding scream, the massive Demon Patriarch acknowledged the command. It opened the lower section of its massive, grotesque belly, and countless bee-like red creatures swarmed out, pouring down onto the ordinary citizens and smaller cultivators alike.

​"Go, my Blood Beetles! Devour them!" the Blood Monarch decreed, the command like an absolute decree, his crimson long hair fluttering elegantly in the wind.

​The Colosseum instantly erupted into an unparalleled wave of terror and chaos. Although half of the ten million people had already retreated in fear, the others were still stuck there like helpless lambs.

​The Heavenly White Lotus Barrier was the only thing preventing the Blood Beetles from consuming the Patriarchs themselves. Children, women, and the elderly were crying tears of utter despair.

​These were the same people who had just moments ago been shouting for Vahn's execution, the same people who lived on their blind faith. The bitter irony was suffocating.

​Vahn, locked in a spiritual cage created by the Patriarchs' auras and facing the Blood Monarch, was struggling to save himself.

How could he possibly save them?

Meanwhile, the Heavenly White Lotus Barrier, strained by the assault of the Demonic Patriarch above and the converging auras of the righteous elders, finally reached its limit. With a deafening, resounding Bang, the spiritual defense fractured and shattered.

"Bzzz, bzzzz, bzzzzz!"

​The Blood Beetles, a crimson tide of horror, instantly stormed past the broken barrier and descended upon the helpless spectators. The scene transformed into an immediate, gruesome massacre. The tiny, insectile demons latched onto the innocent, drinking their blood and leaving behind only skeletal husks in mere moments. The horrifying screams of the victims were a death knell to the hope of the Righteous Faction.

​The remaining rogue cultivators, local elders, and law enforcers fought back desperately, unleashing every spiritual art and defensive technique they possessed. Yet, they were struggling; their dispersed power was no match for the organized, devastating assault led by the Blood Monarch.

​

​The horrific carnage was too much for the Saintesses to bear. Despite their internal conflict and shock, their core duty to protect the righteous overcame their emotional turmoil.

​"We must buy them time!" Aria Stormsong commanded, her focus snapping back to the threat.

​The five remaining Saintesses (excluding Seraphina, who was still with Vahn, and the dummy) converged their immense spiritual power into a single, blinding beacon—the Moon Flower Art.

​The shimmering, transcendent Moon Flower instantly burst into thousands of radiant, holy petals. Each petal, infused with Light, Ice, Fire, Stars, and Nature energy, struck the invading Blood Beetles with purifying force. The holy power neutralized the demonic creatures, vaporizing them in flashes of bright light. The Saintesses had successfully paused the immediate slaughter.

​

​Vahn, still caught in the Patriarchs' spiritual lock but having watched the Saintesses commit their power to the battlefield, recognized his perfect chance of escape.

The Saintesses were distracted, the Patriarchs were focused on fighting the Demons, and the Secret Realm Gate remained shimmering behind them.

​Vahn gave Lilith ( who was now standing at a close distance) a brief, intense glance. A silent signal that communicated everything: Now is the time.

Lilith acted with terrifying speed and stealth.

Utilizing her true power as the Darkness Saintess, she didn't just move across the ground; she instantly blended into the shadows of the people and structures present. In a fraction of a second, she materialized beside Vahn and Seraphina.

Patriarchs Xion and Dimidium, two of the most powerful cultivators present, noticed the unnatural ripple in the darkness and their eyes narrowed instantly.

"Come Out!" Dimidium roared, attempting to intercept the hidden threat. However, before he could reach Vahn's side, the spiritual cage he had cast to lock Vahn in place shattered instantly. Lilith's hidden power was superior to his containment technique.

Vahn seized the moment, his voice amplified by his unleashed Soul Power, ringing throughout the entire Colosseum:

"Revenge is due, Old dogs. Just pray you can catch me before I turn your Foundation upside down."

The domineering message reverberated across the stadium. Holding Seraphina's hand, Vahn, Seraphina, and Lilith drifted instantly into the shimmering Spatial Rift.

They were gone. Their beloved Saintess of Light was gone, openly choosing the Devil's Child.

The remaining five Saintesses—Aria, Evelina, Flama, Valeria, and Celestine—noticed the sudden escape. Though betrayed, their loyalty to the Righteous Faction's resources and their own sense of duty compelled them. The Secret Realm was too important to surrender.

They immediately followed Vahn through the open rift, along with their carefully selected followers: Veerion, Lumina, Prince Helix, and all the other prodigies of the younger generation.

However, the young generation of the Righteous Faction was not alone.

Using the chaos and the imitation dummy of Lilith, which provided a brief, temporary opening, the Blood Monarch also acted. He swiftly sent 10 Prodigies from theur faction through the rift.

Their mission was clear: protect their Young Lord, Vahn Necrotis, and bring him back safely, while simultaneously utilizing the Secret Realm's chaotic environment.

The elderly Patriarchs and Supreme Elders could only watch everything in speechless despair. They were legally barred from entering the Secret Realm; practitioners above twenty-five years old and without a Saintess's affiliation were automatically rejected by the spatial passage.

And thus, the grand political war between the Righteous and Demonic Factions devolved into a desperate chase between the Younger Generation within the confines of the Secret Realm.

Who would emerge as the true Champion of this unpredictable confrontation, no one could know.

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