Marianne’s expression turned cold as her lord was challenged. "A second tier Divine Chosen is too weak. You’re not qualified to open the chest. And don’t forget, your guild was hired by us."

"Our Necromancer Association trusts that Mr. Riemann will not side with the Adventurers’ Guild."

At last, a woman’s voice came from among the black robed mages. She was clearly the Necromancer Association’s Divine Chosen.

"Fine. Then we want a larger share of the gold bars."

Josena let out a long sigh and stepped back dejectedly.

"No problem..."

Riemann breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he began to speak, a blur shot past him with incredible speed. His heart skipped a beat as he instinctively looked toward where Josena had been standing moments ago. She was already gone.

"Divine Artifact, Disintegration!"

Josena shouted as she dismantled her Divine Artifact, temporarily raising her strength to the third tier.

She simply couldn’t resist the temptation of a Divine Artifact. Even the weakest first tier Divine Artifact was enough to become the heirloom of a minor noble house. Faced with such overwhelming profit, reason no longer mattered. She was gambling that Riemann would not dare act against her, and that the other two factions would stay out of it.

Her body became nothing more than a blur.

She lunged straight for the treasure chest.

Just as her hand was about to touch it, a thunderous crack echoed through the chamber. A cyan crossbow bolt shot from within the Twilight Knights’ ranks. It pierced clean through Josena’s palm, sending flesh and blood flying everywhere.

Agonizing pain exploded through her hand, but before she could even scream...

"Pathetic insect. Your mind has once again been corrupted by demons."

Farlo moved.

Despite wearing heavy armor and wielding a massive slab-like greatsword, she was far faster than Josena.

Her greatsword crashed down, distorting even the surrounding space.

Boom!

Josena was struck like a ragdoll and slammed violently into a distant stone wall. She opened her mouth, trying to admit her mistake, but only streams of blood trickled from her lips. Before she could beg for mercy, Farlo’s greatsword flew through the air and blasted her head apart with a single strike.

"Hmph. Rules are rules."

Farlo extended her hand, and the greatsword flew back into her grasp.

A stunning beauty had bloomed for only an instant before withering forever.

"Ruthless. Not even a shred of mercy. She was talking about honor just moments ago."

Phield narrowed his eyes as he glanced toward the Twilight Knights.

The Twilight Knights had brought a hundred heavily armored infantry knights, mixed with several Mana Knights. But without question, the greatest threat among them was their Divine Chosen, especially the one who had fired that sneak attack.

Rosalia had suffered badly after being ambushed by a hidden arrow before.

Judging by how merciless they were, they would probably make their move soon enough.

Still, this was exactly the scene he wanted.

The more information he gathered and the more both sides weakened each other, the more he stood to gain. Of course, it would be best if neither side was completely wiped out. Half dead and still useful enough to clear the way for him was the ideal outcome.

Closing her eyes, Tisiana whispered a prayer.

"Rest in peace, poor child."

"Thank you, Miss Farlo."

Cold sweat poured down Riemann’s face as he expressed his gratitude.

Farlo merely shrugged before saying meaningfully, "It seems your Divine Chosen aren’t particularly skilled in combat."

The Navy’s Divine Chosen and the merfolk Divine Chosen had contributed very little in battle.

Perhaps they should be eliminated from the trial. After all, they were far too greedy, and people like that would never do anything beneficial for humanity.

Farlo lowered her gaze slightly as she pondered the idea.

"Hmph! Don’t underestimate us! My Spear of Dark Tide kills just as fast as yours!"

Marianne, Riemann’s Divine Chosen, flew into a rage. She summoned her spear and immediately began slaughtering the innocent adventurers.

"Why are you attacking us? We have nothing to do with Miss Josena!"

"Please spare us! We’ll leave right now!"

The adventurers desperately begged for mercy.

"Who knows if you’ll come back for revenge? Die!"

The others immediately joined in.

The adventurers who had been allies just moments ago were swiftly overwhelmed and slaughtered to the last.

"Every evil force that is purified makes the world a better place."

Seeing hesitation appear among a few members of the Twilight Knights, Farlo immediately declared in a commanding voice, "They may look human, but anyone who tries to steal the treasures meant to save the world has undoubtedly been seduced by demons."

"As for us, we don’t dare dream about Divine Artifacts. More money is enough."

The sailors wiped the blood from their weapons and congratulated one another.

Phield almost laughed.

"I don’t see anyone selecting the Child of Destiny. But if they’re trying to pick the next Demon King, I’d say they’re making excellent progress."

Seeing all this, even the remaining barbarians lost their courage.

"We jungle warriors don’t want any treasures. We don’t want gold either. Barbarians don’t eat gold. We want to leave."

After a mixture of gestures and broken speech, they suddenly changed the subject.

"Many jungle warriors died fighting for you. You should reward us. We’re hungry. We want that Divine Chosen’s corpse. We’ll use it for our ritual feast and roast the meat. It’s our custom."

They pointed at Josena’s corpse, their eyes gleaming with savage hunger.

Cannibalism was still part of their traditions. To them, the corpse of a powerful warrior was a priceless treasure.

"Take it and get back to the ship. Don’t wander around."

Riemann rolled his eyes.

"Good! Jungle warriors will always serve Mr. Riemann!"

The barbarians cheerfully rushed forward to carry away the body.

"Just looking at them makes me sick. Tisiana, kill every last one of those cannibals."

Phield frowned so deeply he nearly threw up. Trembling with anger herself, Tisiana heard his order as he coldly addressed everyone else.

"I’ve never needed a noble excuse to kill someone. Anyone who disgusts me deserves to die."

"Yes, my lord!"

Tisiana nodded firmly.

She silently thought to herself that her own lord was someone truly worthy of following, while those sanctimonious hypocrites were nothing but villains hiding behind beautiful words.

Her four wings spread wide as she shot straight into the barbarian ranks, charging left and right. Bloody mist erupted everywhere.

One enormous snow white wing swept horizontally, sending seven or eight heads soaring into the air, frozen with expressions of utter disbelief.

Her angelic wings looked soft, but they were sharper than the finest blades.

Without giving the barbarians any chance to react, Tisiana slashed again. Another seven or eight were cut clean in half at the waist.

"Death! It’s Death herself!"

"Mr. Riemann! Save us!"

The barbarians screamed in terror and scattered in every direction.

None of them escaped.

Tisiana cut every single one of them down.

"Well... Mr. Phield, well done. If it makes you happy, then... heh."

Riemann’s gaze gradually turned cold.

Those barbarians had always been his loyal tools and merchandise. Every voyage, they handled the dirty work in exchange for nothing more than corpses.

Such cheap and disposable warriors had all been wiped out.

"Much better."

Phield spread his hands, suppressing the murderous impulse rising within him.

"So what are you waiting for? Open your treasure chest."

Riemann said nothing more.

He strode to the chest and placed his hand upon it.

A first tier Divine Artifact in the shape of a green four leaf clover floated gracefully into the air.

Riemann quickly claimed it and completed the blood binding ritual. The moment he learned its abilities, a crazed look of overwhelming ecstasy spread across his face.