Tamashi still remembers the first sorcerer he killed.

At that time, he hadn’t yet become a judgment warrior, although he could subdue young warriors from the cult without injury in five minutes. The cult was still reluctant to let an ordinary person become a Death Raven who hunts evil. They preferred Tamashi to become Miss Ye Lu’s assistant, responsible for logistics within the cult, especially since Tamashi was good at cooking.

So he sneaked a look at the mission intelligence before the other warriors set out, walked sixty kilometers in half a day, and slaughtered the sorcerer scout sent by the Tribulation Fire Chapel who was lingering in the town.

The Raven had already forgotten what it felt like to kill for the first time. After all, just like eating many slices of bread, one doesn’t remember the taste of the first slice. But he remembers being covered in blood due to his unfamiliar technique, combined with the dust and sweat from walking so far, and to make matters worse, it rained. He was covered in blood and mud, and even some excrement-because he had to carry the corpse back, and after he twisted the neck of the Tribulation Fire sorcerer, the excretions from the corpse fell out due to gravity.

Killing is indeed a dirty business, which is one reason the Raven later had a good impression of Harvey. He even thought necromancers who dealt with corpses for free were doing charity work.

He carried the corpse back, and halfway through, someone found him.

It was Tanomoo.

At that time, although Tanomoo was only in her teens, she was already a sorcerer and had directly entered the blessing priests sequence, known as the White Crow, due to her healing skills and beautiful appearance.

Though called a White Crow, because white clothes easily get dirty, she usually wore a white scarf, paired with a black dress and tight pants, and convenient short boots for movement.

But when she found him, Tanomoo had only one short boot left, and she held it in her hand. Her body had many scratches, her pretty face had abrasions, clearly from falling while running too fast, and the other boot was nowhere to be found. Her face was smeared with tear marks; the cult’s biggest dissatisfaction with Tanomoo was her tendency to cry easily, not being strong enough.

Seeing the filthy Tamashi, Tanomoo directly threw the remaining boot at him, but her strength was too weak; she couldn’t throw it far, let alone accurately. She picked up the boot, put it on, and limped over to hug the dirty and smelly Tamashi, burying her head in his chest, breathing in small gasps, eventually sobbing quietly. She cried worse than a crow, seemingly said something, but Tamashi had already forgotten.

Then Tamashi gave his boots to Tanomoo, wearing the larger boots from the corpse himself. Thus, he carried the corpse, hand in hand with Tanomoo, slowly walking back to the Raven Annihilation Cult.

This became their later portrayal. After completing missions, the Raven would carry the body bag, while holding the hand of the physically weak Tanomoo, walking under the sky of the Senlo wasteland. Sometimes they talked about the Virtual Realm and wasteland topics, sometimes just chatting nonsense, as if they had endless things to say and discuss.

Yes, there was once a time when Tamashi was a very talkative and chatty Raven.

The Raven thought such days would continue forever.

So he never imagined that the two who once talked about everything…

Snap.

Because the Grey Fox blade struck too quickly, the Black Feather sorcerer thought he was fine, but the next second, a vertical line of blood appeared on his body, splitting him in half.

In the splattering blood, the Raven raised his head, eyes under the blood-stained raven mask meeting the cold gaze of the Mercury Trojan Horse hiding behind the sorcerer.

Now, they had nothing left to say.

Sizzle!

Suddenly, countless high-pressure water arrows rose from the liquid and blood on the ground, and with the Black Feather sorcerer’s thunder spell enhancement, these water arrows entwined with bizarre lightning, coming down like a torrential downpour!

Facing such an attack, the Raven didn’t need to retreat to Igor’s Sanctuary. He turned and slashed in the thunderstorm, like a petrel in a storm. The Thunder-Water Arrow Rain, split by the Grey Fox blade, exploded with bursts of lightning, painting the Raven in brilliant colors at that moment.

However, Igor and Gwen didn’t fare as well. Even though they used Mental Scream and the veil of starlight to block part of the attack, they still took half of the Thunder-Water Arrow Rain-the Black Feather sorcerer was actually guiding each water arrow-they could only minimize the Sanctuary to reduce the attack area.

But it wasn’t over yet. Suddenly, a massive flame ignited in the hall, and then a gale howled, forming a fiery storm sweeping in. But compared to the Thunder-Water Arrow Rain, the fiery storm’s range was noticeably narrower. The Raven stepped on sonic boom clouds to dodge, while Gwen immediately grabbed Igor, her feet glowing with starlight, dragging Igor to the other side-the Star Sect’s movement spirit, meteor!

However, the fiery storm was aimed directly at Igor and Gwen, the flames constantly roasting the Sanctuary. Igor was forced to use a close-range Mental Shock to disperse the flames, but the next second, the ground beneath them suddenly collapsed!

Although they immediately took to the air, the Thunder-Water Arrow Rain struck again! Suspended in mid-air, they were undoubtedly subjected to the full force of the torrential attack!

Perhaps because the Miracle’s offensive was effective, a Black Feather sorcerer couldn’t help but become excited, widening his eyes to look at Igor and Gwen.

But amidst the flames and downpour, he noticed that Igor was also staring at him.

Then he could no longer look away; the Con Artist’s gaze seemed to be filled with a fatal allure that tempted him to fall. Suddenly, everything around him fell silent, and he felt like a moth in endless darkness, with the Con Artist being his only light.

“Bart!”

When the voice of the Mercury Trojan Horse jolted Bart awake, he found himself outside the Sanctuary. Fear gripped him, and he immediately retreated, trying to return to the safety of the domain. But in that brief moment, a fleeting black shadow crossed his vision.

It was the Death Raven.

Then Bart heard a gentle whoosh, the sound of blood spraying from his throat, echoing like the call of the Death Raven. His head soared skyward, and his corpse crashed to the ground.

“Don’t look at them!” the Mercury Trojan Horse sternly warned, “Focus on your spellcasting!”

Though they had successfully lured out and killed another Black Feather sorcerer, Igor’s expression showed no joy, and his mood grew increasingly heavy.

The Mercury Trojan Horse’s offensive was exceedingly straightforward, having all sorcerers hide within the Sanctuary and then combining different spells to create stronger offensives, such as Thunder-Water or Wind-Fire. Yet, this simplicity to the extreme made Igor feel extremely uncomfortable.

Because it was a straightforward clash of spellforce!

Aside from the four sanctuary sorcerers, other Black Feather sorcerers could also participate in the offensive. In a situation where neither side’s offensive could penetrate the Sanctuary, Igor could only pit his spellforce against theirs collectively!

This Black Feather Guard was evidently a carefully selected elite by the Mercury Trojan Horse. Who knows how she trained them to follow orders so precisely, with spellcasting coordination reaching a sublime level. Besides attacks like Flame Storm and Thunder-Water Arrow Rain, they could also cast collective Defensive Miracles. Now, the Black Feather sorcerer formation was shrouded in a thin layer of white mist, which, although severely impairing their vision, significantly weakened the Miracle power attached to sound and light!

Moreover, their offensives were large-scale area attacks, requiring no high accuracy-just confirming Igor’s location and blasting away, fully exploiting their numerical advantage!

Igor’s only advantage was using Mental Miracles to lure out Black Feather sorcerers, allowing the Raven circling the perimeter to swiftly kill them. With their cooperation, eight Black Feather sorcerers had already died under the Raven’s gray fox blade.

But as a price, Igor’s spellforce was already more than half depleted!

He couldn’t continue this consumption… Igor and Gwen slowly moved toward the upper Fog Gate, and the Mercury Trojan Horse immediately noticed, launching a Flame Storm to force them back and having the earth sorcerer erect a solid earth wall in front of the Fog Gate!

“Thinking of escaping now, isn’t it a bit too late?” the Mercury Trojan Horse sneered, “Even if you retreat to the upper level, I’ll chase you until I see you fall into hell before I forgive you.”

“What terrifying hatred,” Igor sneered, “But how many will I drag with me to the grave before I die? Ten? Twenty? By then, how many of your Black Feather Guard will be left to follow you to a new Kingdom? They all have the potential to become sanctuary sorcerers, and you’re willing to waste their lives in the mire of the Silent Spiral?”

“Who told you to betray a woman’s goodwill?” the Mercury Trojan Horse snorted, taking a sip from a bronze flask, and arrogantly asked, “Black Feather Guard, are you willing to wash away this shame for me?”

“Ready to die for the honor of our leader!” the voices of the Black Feather Guard echoed throughout the hall.

Igor’s eyes were sharp. His previous words were not meant to negotiate with the Mercury Trojan Horse but were directed at the Black Feather sorcerers, hoping they would show signs of fear or other weaknesses. However, their loyalty to the Mercury Trojan Horse had reached the level of fanatic disciples.

The Con Artist excelled at finding the dark side of the enemy and then tearing it open, expanding it until the enemy was completely consumed by it. And fanatic disciples were undoubtedly the Con Artist’s least favorite clients.

However, Igor wasn’t truly planning to escape. The Mercury Trojan Horse’s cunning and ruthlessness had already doomed them to be unable to coexist. Even if the Con Artist didn’t think for himself, he had to consider Ashe, who was heading to the lowest level-Ashe and Silver Lantern were already complicated enough without the Mercury Trojan Horse as a ‘third party’!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

At this moment, Igor noticed that the Black Feather sanctuary Dao Qiong was continuously shooting at the Raven, various bullets relentlessly tracking the Raven’s movements. Yet, the Raven was too adept at dealing with gun sorcerers, and even when facing a sanctuary gun sorcerer, he could still deftly evade and parry.

Hmm?

Igor then realized that not only Dao Qiong but other Black Feather sorcerers were also focused on the Raven. They weren’t devoid of negative emotions, but their negativity wasn’t directed at Igor; instead, their hostility was aimed at the Raven, making it difficult for Igor to exploit their dark sides.

Raven Tamashi… Black Feather sorcerer…

A peculiar thought emerged in Igor’s mind as he gestured to Gwen and Raven. Though Gwen and Raven were puzzled by his orders, they complied nonetheless.

Raven suddenly shifted from evading to actively attacking the Black Feather sorcerer. However, with the Sanctuary blocking his way, his gray fox blade couldn’t reach the sorcerer inside, but he successfully drew their attention to himself.

Meanwhile, he deflected the bullets shot by Dao Qiong with disdainful laughter, provoking the Sanctuary gun sorcerer’s anger. At that moment, Tamashi suddenly leaped up, his gray fox blade scraping along the Sanctuary like a raven soaring into the sky!

The Black Feather sorcerers were momentarily stunned, then overjoyed, as they aimed at the airborne Raven-being in the air meant he couldn’t leverage his position, and since Raven wasn’t a sorcerer, his floating was practically seeking one’s own doom!

At this moment, Gwen fired a pinpoint starlight, but the target wasn’t the Black Feather sorcerers; it was above Raven!

The starlight instantly brightened, casting Raven’s shadow over the Black Feather sorcerers!

Now!

Igor decisively unleashed a Miracle, targeting-Raven’s shadow!

Miracle: Psychological Shadow Blast!

Raven’s shadow twisted violently, exploding like a bubble! The explosion was silent, without even a hint of airwave, yet several Black Feather sorcerers were blasted away, and the Defensive Miracle on the Black Feather Sanctuary was shattered!

Sanctuary gun sorcerer Dao Qiong spat out a mouthful of foul blood, but he continued to aim at Raven. As long as he pulled the trigger, this raven in the sky would fall-

Miracle: Mental Thrust!

Igor used his only Miracle capable of piercing a Sanctuary, an invisible mental blow dart that shot through space, piercing Dao Qiong’s head.

He was dead.

But other Black Feather Sanctuaries were already launching ranged attacks at Raven. Just then, Raven’s figure mysteriously shifted ten meters to the side, landing smoothly on the ground, collecting the heads of several Black Feather sorcerers who had been blasted out, and returned safely to Igor’s Sanctuary.

“How did you manage to shift in mid-air?” Igor couldn’t help but ask, having already prepared for Raven to be seriously injured.

“Oh, it’s a simple trick,” Raven replied. “I create a vacuum beside me, and the air pressure pushes me over. If there’s someone opposite me, this trick can even swap our positions… But creating a vacuum puts a heavy load on my arm, so I can only use it once in a short time.”

Igor nodded as if he understood, but after a moment, he added, “Since Ashe isn’t here, Gwen, you can mock how ridiculous his simple trick is.”

Gwen couldn’t help but chuckle, saying nothing.

“Your Miracle was amazing just now,” Raven said. “Do it again!”

“It wasn’t me who was amazing, it was you,” Igor replied.

“Hmm?”

“My Miracle requires two prerequisites: the opponent must be covered by a shadow, and the shadow’s owner must be something the opponent fears,” the Con Artist explained. “If it weren’t your shadow, this Miracle would have no power at all.”

“They fear me?” Raven was momentarily stunned, then understood, “Of course, villains always fear judgment warriors.”

“They don’t fear your strength; they fear your ‘existence,’” Igor’s voice carried a hint of mocking laughter. “They fear you will take away Mercury Trojan Horse’s favor.”

“The Black Feather Guard was established by Mercury Trojan Horse in your image. These Black Feather sorcerers are replacements she found after losing you.”

By this time, Mercury Trojan Horse had already reorganized the Black Feather Guard. Holding Dao Qiong’s corpse, she slowly said, “I’ll say it again, don’t look at them, focus on casting.”

“You are my last reliance,” Mercury Trojan Horse’s voice was gentle yet sorrowful, “I don’t want to lose any more of you.”

The Black Feather sorcerers were filled with rage, almost grinding their teeth to dust, as if they wished to immediately atone for their sins by taking their own lives. But they did nothing, said nothing, only silently stared at the ground, then drove their spirits to cast Miracles!

Suddenly, a Black Feather sorcerer fell, with the rune of a blood raven appearing on his body-he had developed an overwhelming sense of guilt, triggering the curse of the Raven Annihilation Trial, and was pecked at by the blood raven!

He hadn’t felt guilty for joining the Four Pillars Cult, nor for his evil deeds, but he felt guilty for failing Mercury Trojan Horse’s expectations!

However, after a few comforting words from Mercury Trojan Horse, he quickly broke free from the curse and resolutely joined the casting sequence.

“Looks like there’s no chance for a second time,” Igor sighed helplessly. “They no longer have a psychological shadow of you.”

“Their psychological shadow was never me,” Raven gripped the gray fox blade, speaking calmly, “but the imagined Tanomoo.”