Chapter 107: The Iron Bones Clash and the bl**d Burns (Six)
In the woods ten kilometers outside the city, small-scale conflicts raged on under the cover of night, a never-ending saga of the Church Knights clashing with heretics. Flames of infernal fire erupted from the thickets, growing larger and larger, as black smoke billowed up, soon setting half the night ablaze in a fiery glow.
Less than five kilometers from the edge of the forest, Captain of Knights Safiros tightened the reins in his grip, halting the massive creature beneath him. He gazed at the towering flames ahead, feeling the scorching heat wash over him, his brows knitting slightly.
“…Those mice really did set the forest on fire.”
The moment they decided to let the foot soldiers take a shortcut through the woods, it was only a matter of time before the heretics resorted to arson. Of course, the Knights Order had to have some countermeasures in place. The golden-armored captain stood still for a moment, surveying, then turned to the people behind him, commanding, “Unleash the Light of MaFa. Signal the rear, the Sixth Squad of the Judgment Fist has reached the edge of the fire and is ready to break through at any moment.”
“Understood.”
A knight took the order and swiftly turned his beast away. Before long, golden light orbs rose slowly from the rear of the forest. Moments later, a second orb soared up two hundred meters to the left, followed by a third on the right, then a fourth… With more and more light orbs ascending into the night sky, the fiery sky turned a soft gold over the crimson embers.
I sat atop the beast’s back, gazing up for a while before realizing I was a bit hungry. I fished out a small piece of half-eaten jerky from my waist pouch, ripped half of it off, and quickly stuffed it into my mouth, putting the other half back and sealing the pouch tightly. With a gentle squeeze on the beast’s back, I walked up to Safiros. My right cheek bulged, and between chews, I tilted my head and mumbled, “How long?”
“Well, let’s watch the Faith Organization’s movements…” Captain Safiros replied, his pupils flashing in the firelight. “We’ve ultimately slowed down. Now the infernal fire has spread so large; while it’s not too hard to control, completely extinguishing it will probably take… at least half an hour. It all depends on how many heretics are hiding in the flames, and those madmen won’t sit idly waiting for us to put it out.”
“Look, it’s starting…”
At least half an hour…
Hearing the man’s words, I swallowed the not-so-chewed jerky, my heart racing with anxiety. My little face scrunched up as I looked toward the fierce flames, instinctively shoving my thumb into my mouth, munching away at my nails.
Too long…
But this was already the shortest route, and in our squad… we had over thirteen hundred knights, more than a hundred from the Faith Organization, and adding the Republic’s guard and merchants, we totaled over four thousand, but there were only a bit more than six hundred horned horses. If they all chose to take the detour like the bald guy over there, the time wasted would be even longer…
As for my Frost Order… we could easily snuff out a small part of the fire, but now an entire area of forest just a hundred meters ahead was ablaze. Clearing a pathway for the whole squad to get through, using Frost Mist to extinguish fire bit by bit would probably wear me out… Using the Ice Realm might work, but then the fire would be gone, but it’d just turn into an icy wasteland, and people still wouldn’t be able to get through…
What to do?
It seemed like all I could do was… clear out as many heretics hiding in the fire as possible. At the very least, I couldn’t let them intensify the flames to buy more time.
“I’ll head to the front and take a look.”
The inferno was too intense; no one could get close…
Before the flames shrank, this task seemed only feasible for me.
…………
Outside the northern woods, on the slope, hundreds of golden knights surged like a rolling tide, their iron hooves thudding against the ground. Not far away, on a small hill, a young bishop held his hands close to his chest, facing the direction of the rising flames, while a dozen followers from the Faith Organization recited low chants, a burst of golden light erupting from the hilltop, followed by a rumbling thunder overhead.
Soon, a torrential downpour, summoned by divine miracle, descended from above the entire forest.
…………
Several kilometers to the south, I crawled down from my beast’s back, carrying Captain Gray a short distance before droplets of rain began to quietly fall from above, soon escalating into a pouring rain.
This is…
Raindrops hit my face, cold and numbing, just like the recent days of endless rain, and in no time, I was soaked again. I tightened my cloak, gathered my hair under the hood, frowning slightly as I looked up at the dark night sky, a flash of inspiration sparking in my mind.
Divine miracle, rain…
“The Faith Organization’s sissies are pretty speedy.”
Amid the patter of rain, Safiros’s voice came from behind: “Lady Silvya, what are you planning to do? This fire won’t be put out anytime soon; the smoke will be coming over, we should avoid it!”
“No need.”
The idea that had just flashed through my mind seemed somehow connected… but was interrupted by the captain’s words. I gently shook my head: “You guys fall back… I’m not afraid of smoke, and definitely not of fire; I’ll be right back.”
Forget it, focus on the task at hand…
The inferno couldn’t reach me, and dispersing the smoke was an easy feat. It was just that the woods were vast, and with the flames raging around, finding the mice hiding inside was no simple task—killing a few would be quite uncertain… But once the fire died down a bit, Safiros and the others would join in, right?
With just ten kilometers left to the destination, I could fly over quickly… but then I’d have to tap into the power of the Abyss. Not to mention there were so many heretics; no matter how powerful I was, if I just dashed over alone, it would be incredibly precarious… Even if I wanted to save a few people, it might take a while just to find Barry…
What a nail-biter…
I needed to move faster.
Chewing on my nails while thinking, I took little steps toward the burning woods.
…………
Alectine City.
The atmosphere was thick with bl**d and despair, the night wind howling outside the camp, mixed with the frantic footsteps of people dashing through it.
Several hundred meters away to the north, towering walls collapsed with a thunderous roar in the fiery glow, revealing a massive breach of twenty to thirty meters wide, monstrous flames roaring up from the rubble as choking smoke spread, the sky turned a bloody red, and countless warriors were devoured by the flames amidst the cacophony of battle cries emanating from all sides outside the city.
Amidst the chaos, a young knight named Barry stared at the blurry scene in the northern distance from across numerous tents. His limbs turned to ice, the buzzing in his ears grew louder, and his mind momentarily blanked out. He stood there with his mouth agape, feeling as if the flames over there were not quite real, the surrounding tumult and shadows swirling like a fever dream.
…The city fell.
Suddenly, someone bumped into him as they ran. Barry stumbled, most of the warm water he had been holding spilling out. The figure who ran into him dashed a few steps back, revealing a scruffy old knight, one arm bandaged up and burnt. Barry recognized him vaguely. The old knight shouted at him, “The heretics are coming in! What are you dawdling for!? Draw your sword and come defend the city with me!”
His hoarse voice was steady as iron, and Barry snapped out of his daze. He glanced at the bowl in his hand and then turned to run, disregarding the old knight’s shouts of “coward” behind him. The young knight sprinted towards the infirmary, and upon seeing a woman with a panicked face and a dazed expression, he leaned on his knees, gasping, “Run… get out of here, quick!”
The woman named Lilith pressed her lips together, nearly in tears, her beautiful red eyes glazing over: “What’s happening… I heard voices, what’s going on…?”
From here, looking north at the city walls, the raging flames were strictly hidden behind tall buildings, and many were still clueless about what was happening. Hearing Barry’s words now made them all look over in fear. The young knight’s lips moved, and then someone clapped him on the shoulder.
“Stand tall, Barry brother.”
Barry turned around in surprise to find Mor, a middle-aged knight from his squad, who had trained him for a while. His emaciated, angular face was familiar, often boasting while drunk. Barry clearly remembered the day at Mossley Coast when he and his comrades were besieged by a dozen heretics, their captain slain. It was the unreliable knight who had lopped off the head of the heretic leader with a single swing, leading everyone to carve a bloody path through.
That day, Barry felt a thrill as he killed for the first time, feeling the blade thrust into someone’s body and the hot bl**d splattering across his face. Afterward, he felt sick, shaking uncontrollably, and woke from nightmares at night, terrified by the salty, metallic taste in his mouth from the bl**d, thinking about how close he came to dying.
At that time, it was Mor’s face that reassured him, saying, “Don’t be scared; there’s no shame in this; we’ve all been through it. You’re not alone.”
Thoughts raced through his mind, and hearing Mor’s voice made Barry feel a bit calmer. The knight stepped forward, speaking seriously, “A few rats slipped in during the chaos; it’s no big deal. But ladies should temporarily get away, run to the city center, find somewhere to hide. As for the brothers who can still move and wield their swords, follow me out. The commander’s already gone berserk; we can’t just wait for orders here. The rats are in the city; every one we k*ll is a win.”
With that, he drew his sword with a clank and turned to walk outside. A few lightly wounded followed him. Barry looked at Lilith, still in shock, and shoved the bowl into her hands: “Quick, go.”
There was hardly any water left in the bowl, but at that moment, no one cared.
The infirmary erupted into chaos, some knights struggling to rise, a few women began to pack. Lilith parted her lips, wanting to say something to the young knight: “You’re going…”
But he had already turned and left, her raised right hand frozen mid-air.
Barry felt a surge of fear.
That’s why he rushed off so urgently; he feared Lilith would see the fear in his eyes.
But more than fear, the young knight recalled the memory of a year ago when terrible monsters attacked their village, the inky sun rising in the sky. In that apocalyptic scene, a small, frail figure stepped forward, wielding a scythe, saving him and many others.
That figure, he wanted to catch up with.
Barry jogged out of the infirmary, catching up to Mor, whose somber face turned slightly up with a faint smile upon recognizing him, exchanging no words, but they shared an unspoken camaraderie.
Everyone moved in silence, heading north toward the city walls.
There, the sounds of slaughter bubbled like boiling water.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
At that moment, the night sky howled as several colorful fire serpents shot out from outside the city, streaking across the collapsed walls with a hot, blinding red light. Two were swiftly blocked by a suddenly materialized golden light, exploding in the sky, while the rest sped past the Knights Order’s defenses like harbingers of doom, plummeting into the city amidst the terrified gazes of many—
Boom boom boom boom boom！！！
In an instant, the whole world trembled.
A fierce gust of wind sent people tumbling, scarlet flames blossomed in the view, houses collapsed, and streets cracked apart, crimson bl**d and dismembered limbs swirling in the smoke from the explosion. Barry, not far off, was nearly knocked over by the heat wave. He struggled to steady himself and turned back in shock.
The infirmary ignited into a roaring fire, filled with heart-wrenching screams.
“Ahhhhhh—”
Half the camp was blown to bits, countless tents collapsing in the flames, people shrieked and scattered, vision blurred with horror, figures set ablaze staggered into view, taking a few steps before collapsing.
Barry felt the buzzing in his ears and head, his vision foggy, feeling dazed and out of breath. Faintly, he seemed to hear Mor roaring in despair beside him: “Eastern wasteland dogs, I’ll f*ck your mothers!!!”
“Ahhhhhh!!”
Barry shook his head, surrounded by terrified yells and horrific screams, the ground still trembling beneath him. Knight Mor continued to shout something, but Barry couldn’t make it out. He felt something in his mind crack open like a shell, and despite the rising temperature around him, his heart sank into a chilling abyss, and he began instinctively retreating.
“Lilith…”
“Ahhahaha—”
In a daze, a manic laugh echoed from the shattered street ahead. Barry looked over to see a figure wielding a long kn*fe emerging from several meters away, one, two… They were covered in bl**d, some aflame, others holding severed human heads, laughing maniacally, and they turned their eyes in his direction.
The two groups faced each other in the swirling smoke and burning city.
Then a side erupted in frenzied laughter, while the other roared as a beast would. The ambush clash ignited in an instant, Knight Mor’s furious cry resonating through the smoke and flames: “Charge!!! Let’s slaughter these bastards—”
In the next moment, both sides, without hesitation, charged head-on at each other. Barry ran alongside Mor, glancing back once to the infirmary, a burning sensation in his chest that felt more intense than flame surged.
“Ughhhhhh—!!!”
The young knight, along with over a dozen companions, let out frantic howls, swords unsheathed with a clang, bl**d-red eyes practically weeping with rage—he had no idea how many heretics had stormed here or whether the enemies amounted to twenty or thirty; none of that mattered to him. He just wanted to k*ll them.
As they sprinted with all their might, the distance of dozens of meters vanished in an instant.
The twisted faces of the excited heretics were finally in front of him, and Barry caught the stench of bl**d on them. His sword suddenly lifted, and with a clash, he met the oncoming butcher kn*fe head-on; with a jarring thud, his arms went numb, and his palms stung—these bastards were impossibly strong, pushing him back a few steps. He took a step forward and shouted hoarsely at the figure, swinging his sword again!
With a squishy sound, a bloody, viscous smell rushed towards him, the heretic didn’t dodge but braved the point of Barry’s sword with his chest. Watching the bl**d splatter from the opponent’s body and hit his face, the dark red liquid mixed with sparks burned into Barry with immediate pain.
