Seeing this scene, the crowd looked faintly shocked, except for Thunder God and Medusa, who seemed completely unsurprised.
Chekhov's strength after transforming was already nearly SS-class.
But he was still defeated by Sergei, who hadn't even transformed. Rumor had it Sergei was half a notch weaker than Thunder God, and Thunder God was supposed to be peak S-class. But now it looked like the rumors were wrong—Sergei, the Wolf God, had reached SS-class, or maybe Thunder God's strength had been underestimated and he was SS-class too, just slightly stronger than Sergei.
Chekhov climbed out of the sandpit, looking utterly grim, but chose not to keep fighting and reverted to his normal form.
Seeing Chekhov back down, the other camps felt a bit disappointed. If Sergei had killed Chekhov, the werewolf faction's strength would have dropped sharply.
"Everyone." At that moment, a gaunt old man stepped out from the Vampire Clan side. "I am Grand Duke Hilder."
At the mention of that name, the three Bureau reps, the Church of the Holy Light, and the werewolf camp all changed color.
Grand Duke Hilder—a thousand-year-old ancient monster, founder of the Hilder Family, former head of the clan, and the only Grand Duke among the Vampire Clan.
There were rumors he was dead, but no one expected an alien starship to draw him out.
Anyone with a bit of longevity in the supernatural world had heard of Hilder's infamy.
This old freak didn't just like draining the blood of human espers—even fellow vampires weren't spared. He's killed at least two hundred of his own kind.
Grand Duke Hilder continued, "Everyone's come here for the starship, but there's only one ship and eight factions. Obviously, that's not enough to go around!"
"Eight factions?"
Hearing that, the other six camps all looked puzzled, but no one here was stupid. They quickly realized there must be another faction hiding in the shadows, hoping to swoop in and profit.
"Little rats from the island nation, are you coming out on your own, or do I have to drag you out myself?" Hilder called out across several hundred meters.
"Grand Duke Hilder really lives up to his reputation."
The yellow sand surged, and then dozens of figures burst out from underground.
Leading them was a short old man, barely one meter sixty.
He was the head priest of the island nation's Onmyoji Temple—Master Tengu.
"A bunch of rats indeed," sneered the mid-Foundation cultivator from the Immortal-Dao side.
This shogunate general was extremely cruel in life, personally killing over five hundred people. After death, his vicious soul lingered as an evil ghost, until an onmyoji captured and refined him into a shikigami.
After years of feeding, this General shikigami had reached the Ghost King realm, roughly equivalent to an early Foundation cultivator.
"Baka! Which bastard woke me up?"
Even as a ghost, the General shikigami was still ferocious. As soon as it appeared, it shouted arrogantly.
But its expression immediately turned terrified.
Because five early Foundation cultivators from the Immortal-Dao side activated their magic treasures and hurled them at it.
Terrified, it turned into black smoke and dove back into the jade bottle. No matter how Master Tengu called, it refused to come out again.
Onmyoji get ninety percent of their power from their shikigami. Without General, Master Tengu was only at Innate First Layer, so he didn't even have time to scream before five magic treasures blasted him to pieces.
With Master Tengu dead, the remaining onmyoji and ninja lost their backbone. In less than ten minutes, their entire force was wiped out by the six allied factions.
Hilder wiped the blood from his mouth and smiled, "The island rats are dead—what a relief! Why don't we team up again and take out these cultivators? After all, the Immortal-Dao side is a huge threat to every faction here!"
In terms of overall strength, the cultivators were indeed the strongest. Hearing Hilder's suggestion, everyone looked tempted.
As for Master Taixuan, his face looked rather grim.
Master Tengu's face turned green and red with anger. He shouted, "Baka! You're going too far!"
"Let's do it!"
Hilder blurred into a black shadow and, before a ninja could react, grabbed his neck with a bony hand. Two half-foot-long fangs grew from Hilder's mouth and stabbed into the ninja's throat.
In less than a breath, the ninja was drained dry by Hilder and died, leaving only a shriveled corpse.
As Hilder charged out, his Vampire Clan followers flew after him. Then the werewolf camp, Church of the Holy Light, Immortal-Dao cultivators, and Indra monks all attacked the islanders.
Seeing this, Master Tengu was terrified. He held up a jade bottle and roared, "Come out, my General!"
As soon as he finished, thick black mist poured out of the jade bottle and quickly formed a three-meter-tall shikigami, pitch black, with a single horn on its forehead and a huge blade in its hand.
This shikigami was called General—a ghost of a shogunate warlord from the island nation's Warring States era.
This shogunate general was extremely cruel in life, personally killing over five hundred people. After death, his vicious soul lingered as an evil ghost, until an onmyoji captured and refined him into a shikigami.
After years of feeding, this General shikigami had reached the Ghost King realm, roughly equivalent to an early Foundation cultivator.
"Baka! Which bastard woke me up?"
Even as a ghost, the General shikigami was still ferocious. As soon as it appeared, it shouted arrogantly.
But its expression immediately turned terrified.
Because five early Foundation cultivators from the Immortal-Dao side activated their magic treasures and hurled them at it.
Terrified, it turned into black smoke and dove back into the jade bottle. No matter how Master Tengu called, it refused to come out again.
Onmyoji get ninety percent of their power from their shikigami. Without General, Master Tengu was only at Innate First Layer, so he didn't even have time to scream before five magic treasures blasted him to pieces.
With Master Tengu dead, the remaining onmyoji and ninja lost their backbone. In less than ten minutes, their entire force was wiped out by the six allied factions.
Hilder wiped the blood from his mouth and smiled, "The island rats are dead—what a relief! Why don't we team up again and take out these cultivators? After all, the Immortal-Dao side is a huge threat to every faction here!"
In terms of overall strength, the cultivators were indeed the strongest. Hearing Hilder's suggestion, everyone looked tempted.
As for Master Taixuan, his face looked rather grim.