Soon, with a sudden and unanimous roar from several dark mages, a circle of eerie black mist appeared on the zombies and skulls. The guards would rapidly decay in flesh and bone if they accidentally touched it. Before long, as several bodyguards fell, the encirclement by the terrifying army of undead drew tighter.

  Toxic Soul Fog?

  Looking at the black fog on the zombies and skulls, Stoff's guardian warrior swallowed hard. The soul-killing fog was a high-level dark magic, obviously, these dark mages in front of him had reached the realm of great mages. Coupled with several high-ranking dark knights, the situation was extremely unfavorable.

  "Master, I'll carry you out, quickly!" After a moment's hesitation, the guardian warrior, wearing a cloak, didn't dare to fight back and knelt down in front of Stoff.

  Can't rush out?

  As he gazed at the surging zombies and skulls, then looked back at Merills' pale face, Stoff couldn't help but hesitate. He was worried about being trapped by the rotting corpses and skulls, yet he couldn't bear to abandon the lovely Merills.

  "What's going on? What should we do?"

  Merrill pretended to be distracted, leaning against Stoff as she spoke. Her elastic skin, enticing aroma, and dark charm that seemed to seep into her bones immediately captivated the latter, leaving him bewildered. It wasn't until the guardian warrior stepped in front of her, blocking the Dark Knight's sudden attack with a loud "clang", that he came back to his senses.

  "Batty, you take Miss Merryls and lead the way, I'll bring up the rear with the Imperial Guard, quickly!"

  Although his heart was racing and he was sweating profusely, Stovall couldn't bear to abandon the lovely Meryl just yet. From the moment he laid eyes on her, he knew he had irrepressibly fallen in love with this beauty in black.

  No time to waste, under Stov's persistence, the Guardian Warrior let out a sigh and no longer hesitated, carrying Merills in big strides forward. The three-foot-long red battle aura swept past, turning the blocking zombies and skulls into fragments, even the killing intent of the Black Knights had to retreat three points.

  With a desperate effort, the novice Sword Saint Guardian Warrior was incredibly brave. However, he didn't notice the cold glint that flashed in Meriel's eyes behind him, nor did he notice the black needle slowly piercing towards the major artery on his neck, completely unaware of the danger lurking right next to him.

  If Barty looked back, he would find Merill's mouth opening and closing rapidly on his back, muttering some sort of incantation; if he glanced back, he would see the black needle getting closer and closer to his neck; if he paid a little attention, he would notice that a strange magical power had gathered behind him.

  What a pity! There aren't so many ifs in this world!

  Under Bati's desperate lead, Stoff and his party successfully broke through the outer perimeter of the encirclement. However, just as Stoff thought they were about to escape, Bati, who was an initial sword saint, suddenly let out a miserable cry and fell to the ground in an unbelievable manner.

  Is Bati dead?

  As a low-ranking Sword Saint and Guardian Warrior, he actually encountered misfortune at the moment when he was about to break out of the encirclement?

  Stov and others were shocked, unexpectedly. No one noticed the unwilling eyes of Bati staring at Merilles before his death, no one noticed the small needle mark on his neck, and no one noticed the faint cold smile on Merilles' face.

  A fatal poison that can kill even a Sword Saint!

  The venom extracted from the body of the silver ring snake, combined with the dark erosion magic that specifically breaks through the protective aura, accidentally hit Batley, the guardian warrior, with Merille's sneak attack.

  Even if he was poisoned with a deadly toxin, he could use his sword saint cultivation to force the poison out with his internal energy. But when he was fully focused on fighting against the army of undead, how would he have thought that Meriel would suddenly attack him from behind?

  In short, Patty's protective aura was broken by Merille's dark invasion magic, and the deadly snake venom took advantage of the opening. By the time he realized something was wrong, it was already too late!

  After withdrawing the tiny poisonous needles in a flash, Merille pretended to scream and hid behind Stov. However, just as she gritted her teeth and was about to make another move, two figures riding tall horses suddenly appeared in the distance.

  A figure clad in Keraf armor, holding a Xuan Tie long spear, and another wearing white robes, grasping an ink-green staff - it was none other than the Temple Knights Cruz and the mage Michelle who happened to be passing by.

  Apostolic Nuncio?

  Looking at the Temple Knights and White Mages getting closer, then looking at Stoff's dull expression, Merilus gritted her teeth in frustration. In order to conserve their strength and avoid alerting the large army of the Church, she had no choice but to give the command to retreat.

  There were only two of them, and although they could be taken down together, she was still unwilling to act rashly. Now that Cruz and Michelle were dead, the Church would not let it go. If this led to a large number of Templar knights and mages coming after her, affecting her plan to find a master, then it would not be worth it.

  However, although he couldn't take advantage of the situation to kill Stov, killing his Guardian Knight as the Sword Saint was enough, enough to cause a stir among all parties.

  Merrill believed that after understanding the strength of the Dark Magician's Guild, Yang Ling would not reject such a powerful force. As long as he could successfully dispel his vigilance and misunderstanding towards himself, then his plan would be half accomplished.

  Upon receiving the order, several Dark Knights and Dark Mages quickly disappeared into the forest. As for the uncommanded zombies and skulls, they were swiftly purified by Michelle's large-scale holy light that rushed up.

  One thing overcomes another, Stoff and others were tormented by the puppet-like corpse and skull, but for the high-ranking mage of the Holy See, Michelle, low-level dark creatures were not worth mentioning, even if there were many, they did not pose any threat.

  After being rescued by Klaus and Michelle, Stoff was still in a daze, staring blankly at the motionless Bati on the ground. He couldn't believe that the Guardian Warrior, known as the Sword Saint, had met with misfortune in such an unfortunate way, without even seeing how the enemy had struck.

  Russians, I will crush your bones and scatter your ashes!

  The patrol team suffered heavy casualties, and even the Guardian Warrior, who was a Sword Saint, unfortunately encountered difficulties. Stoff clenched his fists tightly, realizing that the Russians had sent in a batch of elite reinforcements. Only the Russians had an irreconcilable conflict of interest with him, and only the Russians had such terrifying dark knights and magicians.

  ******

  After hastily sending Merille back to Shangri-La, Stov sent out eight hundred li of express letters, requesting an increase in the scale and speed of reinforcements. The Roshan reinforcements have arrived, if their own reinforcements are delayed for another ten days or half a month, they will probably only be able to collect their own corpses.

  A stone causes a thousand ripples!

  Soon, Stoff was ambushed and seriously injured. The news of the Guardian Swordsman's death spread throughout Visen Town. Some people beat drums and cheered; others closed their doors and refused to come out, fearing they would encounter some disaster.

  After leaving the battlefield, Michele and Kulus looked serious and quickly sent back the news of the dark sorcerer's appearance in Visen Town to request support from the Holy See. At the same time, in a branch temple of Shangri-La, Meril was discussing the next move with several dark knights and magicians.

  Upon hearing the news, the Roshans hiding in the Tras Forest were overjoyed and cheered endlessly. Even Genoa, who usually didn't show her emotions, was no exception. It was clear that Yang Ling had finally taken action.

  In his opinion, in Weisen Town, only Yang Ling and Stov had a real conflict of interest; also, only Yang Ling had the ability to plan such an earth-shattering action.

  "Your Highness, since Yang Ling has already taken action, we should give him a bigger sweetener so that he can go all out and thoroughly defeat the forces of Bantu. Now is the time to pay him a visit!" The strategist hiding in the dark said his suggestion with excitement.

  Give Yang Ling a sweet head?

  Hearing this, Renna's heart moved and she said: "That's right, it's time to reveal the truth to Yang Ling. We can't delay, we'll set off early tomorrow!"

  The Russians rejoiced, and inside the Visen castle, people were also excited. Servants discussed this great news everywhere, from old to young, cursing the extortionate lord Stoff to a bad death.

  "Gu De, what's your take on this matter?" Yang Ling leaned back in his chair and gently rubbed his temples.

  Not long after Stoff was ambushed, Yang Ling received the news. Originally, he thought it was a good deed done by the Russians, but after receiving specific intelligence that Stoff was seriously injured and the Guardian Warrior of the Sword Saint had died in battle, he realized that this matter was not simple.

  If the Russians had such a strong ability, they would have taken action long ago. How could they have endured until today?

  After a moment of contemplation, Good said slowly: "Sir, according to the parrot's report, several unidentified black-clad men have appeared at Merile's villa recently. They are always sneaking around and their strength is unfathomable! When Stoff was ambushed, someone saw them quietly withdrawing from the battlefield. Preliminary estimates suggest that they are connected to the assassination of Stoff!"

  Meryl's?

  Yang Ling sipped a refreshing jasmine tea, puzzled. After this period of observation, he was certain that Meriel was not an assassin sent by Stov. If the intelligence was true, then she was indeed the one who had attempted to assassinate Stov. Otherwise, she would only think of ways to help Stov deal with himself, and there was no need or possibility for her to take action against her own enemy!

  A woman as mysterious as fog, who is she and what are her unmentionable intentions?

  Under the circumstance of being unable to think of a solution, Yang Ling ordered Gu De to closely monitor Meryl's actions and try his best to figure out her true intentions in a short period of time.