Arcane Academy: The Divine Extraction Legacy Chapter 1189: Saved

Without delay, the conflict erupted...

Brandishing a tainted staff, an Apostle who had once served as a priest lunged forward!

This marked the very first Holy Arts Practitioner that Desmund was forced to confront...

Nevertheless, the disparity in their power levels became instantly apparent!

He intercepted the blow with his bare palm with ease, not even finding it necessary to circulate the Draconic Energy residing in his Dantian...

Instead, he simply funneled the power of cleansing into the priest’s frame.

"Aaah!"

As the corrupted holy energy was forcibly dispelled within him, the priest let out a harrowing shriek while his staff crumbled into fragments...

To be more precise, it appeared as though the priest was being incinerated from the inside out. He collapsed and expired within a matter of heartbeats.

Another Apostle, a woman of noble status, attempted to entrap him within illusions of carnal pleasure and boundless riches...

"Illusions, is it... For a second, this actually seems authentic," Desmund remarked quietly, his eyes piercing through the technique's flaws immediately.

Yet, the potency of the mental trap suddenly surged... It became clear that the noblewoman was being bolstered by several hidden supporters from behind...

Despite Desmund’s awareness of the fabrication, he found himself being dragged into the vision. Gritting his teeth, he fought to push the hallucinations away.

Igniting his Draconic Energy, he lunged forward to seize her arm, unleashing a wave of purification.

In that fleeting moment, he harbored a grim wish that she would not survive! Fortunately, he watched as her frame convulsed and the illusions dissolved, followed by her falling lifelessly to the earth.

Just as he had anticipated, she had perished...

But the skirmish was merely beginning. He was forced to remain in constant motion as more Apostles swarmed his position...

If he failed to regenerate at a sufficient pace, being hemmed in by these depraved Arcanists could still prove fatal.

Desmund fought with desperate intensity, each palm strike venting cleansing energy. A few of the enemies collapsed from the purification; they were the fortunate ones who remained alive because their corruption was only superficial. Most, however, were killed instantly, their bodies failing to endure the purging process.

The streets of Harake City were soon drowned in blood and agonizing cries...

"This is simply too much..."

With every body that hit the ground, Desmund felt a pang of sorrow in his heart.

"I never desired this... but there is no other path."

At last, only a single Apostle remained.

The man was a giant, standing nearly twice as tall as Desmund...

Desmund recognized him as one of the sentries who had once guarded the Silver Swan Pavilion... Now, the man was more terrifying than ever. Crimson veins snaked across his skin, and his gaze was fixed solely on his target.

"You cannot stop us," the giant snarled. "Mistress Lust is eternal."

Desmund was weary of these words... It seemed every corrupted man spoke the same drivel regarding their mistress...

Realizing that dialogue was futile, he simply stepped forward while condensing his energy...

Within moments, his hand radiated a glow more brilliant than anything seen before.

'In that case, I shall liberate you from her,' Desmund thought, feeling the continuous blessing of the three enigmatic entities.

The Apostle showed no fear and made no move to evade the strike... It almost seemed to Desmund as if these people were intentionally seeking to be hit by his techniques.

'Wait...' Stunned by this realization, Desmund paused mentally. This might explain why his progress had been so strangely smooth.

Perhaps a fragment of their original consciousness still clung to their bodies and...

Before he could finish the thought, he collided with the Apostle head-on...

"Hah!" He slammed his palm against the giant’s chest.

The energy erupted with unprecedented brightness. The Apostle screamed as his body shook with violent tremors. For a brief second, the haze left his eyes, and tears began to well up.

"Thank... you..." he breathed in a whisper before falling dead.

Silence descended upon the courtyard where dozens of corpses lay strewn about, their souls finally unchained from Lust’s dominion.

'I was right...' Desmund mused as he stood amidst the fallen...

These people weren't merely charging forth to obey their Mistress. They were also driven by a desperate wish to break free from her shackles... His hands shook at the implication.

He gazed upon the dead with eyes filled with mourning.

"I had no wish to kill you... but you were beyond saving. At the very least, you are free now."

Turning away, he vanished into the darkness before reinforcements could arrive.

***

Meanwhile, in a distant manor, Lust sensed the deaths.

Her Apostles had been wiped out. While they were easily replaced, she was displeased by the ease with which they had been vanquished.

"The purifier possesses more strength than I anticipated."

She licked her lips, her mind lingering on Desmund’s image...

Unfortunately for her, the moment she allowed her craving for Desmund to surface, her aura seeped out...

With so many Apostles eliminated, the three dragons finally pinpointed Lust’s genuine location.

The aura of corruption was undeniable, concentrated inside the body of the noblewoman she had possessed.

"This is the place," Ash whispered, her gaze sharpening. "She is exposed."

Lightning crackled across Zerel’s arms as he prepared for the inevitable...

"The games end here. Let us finish this."

Shadows belonging to Drazek crept across the manor’s walls, obstructing every exit. "She won't be escaping this time."

Suddenly, the three acted as one...

Upon reaching her residence, they immediately unleashed their full Aura...

This was their personal Spiritual Pressure, intended to crush Lust into submission.

They were certain that their collective power bearing down on her would make for an easy victory...

And they were not wrong.

Lust’s crimson eyes widened as she perceived she was trapped. Still, she possessed a few remaining gambits...

"You believe you can imprison me?" she bellowed, intending to migrate her soul into another follower... But at that exact moment, the Dragon’s Magic Circle was triggered!

Ash threw up her hand, causing vines to erupt from the floorboards. Zerel’s lightning scorched her form while Drazek’s shadows cut off any path of retreat.

However, just as they prepared to cast the Spell that would annihilate both her flesh and spirit, the space behind Lust was violently shredded!

"What?!"

A rift in the very fabric of space opened!

It occurred in a flash... A gargantuan hand composed of pure void energy emerged from the tear, seizing Lust and dragging her backward.

The dragons stood frozen, unable to react in time.

"How is this possible?!" Zerel exclaimed in shock.