Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

If the God of Death representing Greece was Hayla, the God of Death representing Egypt was the Sphinx!

Osiris might have been just a legend, since no one had ever seen his true appearance, but the Sphinx did exist. He had been lying not far away from the Great Pyramid of Giza in deep slumber for years, just like a giant lifeless statue...

However, many people witnessed how vicious the beast was whenever he was awakened. For many years, countless cities had lived in fear of the Sphinx. They had no chance of defending themselves. The Sphinx was indeed a God of Death; no one could survive his stare!

Zhao Manyan finally understood why he was shivering in fear when he first saw the face; he now realized behind the face was the body of a lion as massive as a mountain!

The Sphinx of Giza was an ancient being that had existed for thousands of years. The Egyptians had worshiped him as a deity for a long time!

Such an existence known for his dominance throughout the history of Egypt had shown up here. Could the Great Wall really hold it back?

The sand drifted wildly in the howling wind. The Sphinx spat out an amount of sand equal to a sandhill at the Great Wall from a few kilometers away.

The sand surged fiercely and smashed onto the Great Wall. The wall was clearly at its limit. Both Zhao Manyan and Lingling, hidden in a tower, could feel the insane force of the impact!

The raging sand kept smashing into the Great Wall. Pieces of the wall began to fall as its thickness rapidly decreased.

The Earth Fountain Spring Water was already depleting at an insane rate as the army of undead was attacking the Great Wall. The wall immediately suffered serious damage after it was attacked by the Sphinx.

Once the wall was damaged, the Realm of the Heavens became less effective, too. A huge bunch of Underworld creatures started climbing up the wall, stacking on top of one another in the sandstorm!

Meanwhile, the Black Vatican was aggressively attacking the Magic Fire Beacons on the wall...

Northguard Fortress had the highest number of defenders, but the Black Vatican's troops, led by Tall Sparrow, were remarkably strong too. The wall was scattered with the corpses and remains of soldiers, Dark Beast Monsters, and members of the Black Vatican. The intense battle had been going on for quite some time. How could the defenders not be overwhelmed by fatigue?

"The Magic Fire Beacon… we've lost the Magic Fire Beacon of Double Mountain Keep!" Lingling said, pointing into the distance.

Only five Magic Fire Beacons were clearly visible amid the sandstorm. Their brilliance represented the determination of the defenders as they continued to fight the Black Vatican and the Underworld creatures to the very end. Some time later, another fire pillar vanished. The Great Wall, already on the verge of collapsing, shrank rapidly once again!

"We can't hold for much longer," Zhao Manyan murmured.

The appearance of the Sphinx was like adding hail to snow. They were already struggling to hold back the Black Vatican with the mere numbers they had, and now a deadly existence that could easily pose a threat to the Great Wall had shown up, too! The North Valley was going to experience a bloodbath soon!

"I thought we could at least hold them off for a day or two. I didn't expect them to break through our defense so quickly," Lingling smiled wryly.

The Great Wall had to stand for two days. Most of the people in the cities in the North Valley would be evacuated to Feihuang City within two days. Since Feihuang City was located on higher ground, it was easier to defend the place than invade it. There were other hordes of demon creatures in the other places, too. If the army of undead insisted on marching onward, the demon creatures would put up some resistance, too!

Many Mages were gathered in Feihuang City, so they just needed to buy enough time for the people to evacuate to Feihuang City, even if it meant giving a huge amount of land away. Staying alive was more important than anything else!

However, judging from the current situation, the Great Wall would only last for a few hours. It had only been a day since the battle started, but they had already lost three Magic Fire Beacons. It was likely that they would lose the remaining Magic Fire Beacons even faster!

Most importantly, the situation did not look too good for Northguard Fortress. Once the fortress fell, the line of defense was going to collapse instantly. The army of undead would chase down the people that were slowly being evacuated recklessly. Their blood would spray across the land, and their bones would pile up into mountains!

"Mo Fan's contract wasn't terminated," Lingling said.

"Mm, someone else must be holding the contract," Zhao Manyan said.

They had worked so hard to kill Violet Ghost, yet it did not even matter. It was a tremendous blow to Zhao Manyan. Normally, he would have just left after losing all hope.

However, he had decided to give his all this time. He had a hard time abandoning others just because of a single failure.

He just wanted to protect the fortress. It was currently the most important thing for him!

---

Zhao Manyan and Lingling waited for the sandstorm to calm down a bit before heading toward Northguard Fortress.

Northguard Fortress's Magic Fire Beacon was a huge castle. The two cautiously avoided the people of the Black Vatican and regrouped with the Prophet, General Bin Wei, and the others first.

"It's you guys!" Commander Ye Hong's voice came from behind the wall.

Zhao Manyan let out a relieved sigh when he saw teh Commander. He thought it was someone from the Black Vatican!

"Aren't you defending the other ancient keep?" Zhao Manyan asked.

"The people of the Black Vatican suddenly gathered toward Northguard Fortress. It looks like they are summoning the others here to focus on taking down Northguard Fortress first. I was worried that the fortress was in danger, so I immediately came to help," Commander Ye Hong explained.

Commander Ye Hong's strength was outstanding; he was only slightly weaker than a Super Mage. The members of the Black Vatican attacking the ancient keep he was defending were not a threat after he eliminated Indigo Ghost. He had made sure that the ancient keep was no longer in danger before coming to Northguard Fortress.

Unfortunately, not every ancient keep had an expert like Commander Ye Hong defending it. Otherwise, they would not have lost so many Magic Fire Beacons...

If all eight segments of the Great Wall were still active, it would take the Sphinx quite some time to break through it!

The thinner the wall, the more vulnerable it was to the destructive attacks of Ruler-level creatures!

"It seems the Black Vatican is gathering its members to focus their attacks on Northguard Fortress. I believe the person holding Mo Fan's contract is going to show up here!" Lingling said.

"I think so, too!" Zhao Manyan blurted out in agreement.

"What are you talking about?" Commander Ye Hong asked.

Zhao Manyan quickly explained Mo Fan's situation.

Ye Hong's eyes glittered upon hearing it. He did not expect to learn that Mo Fan really was capable of killing the Cold Prince. He assumed Mo Fan was just trying to do the impossible, and would most likely die trying...

"So you're saying that if we kill that person, Mo Fan will be able to kill the Red Cardinal?" Ye Hong asked.

Killing a leader like one of the Seven Ghosts was enough to destroy the morale of a group of the Black Vatican. If Mo Fan really managed to kill the Red Cardinal, it was likely that they would be able to hold every ancient keep!

"We don't have much time. The Sphinx is too strong. The wall won't hold for much longer. We have to kill the person holding the contract before the Sphinx destroys the Great Wall protecting Northguard Fortress!" Zhao Manyan said.