Chapter 96: Rebirth (5)
“Everyone! Let’s get moving—”
That shout echoed from the west side of the town, booming like rolling thunder, spreading like wildfire.
“Giddy up!”
Aresta squeezed his beast’s belly, hastening forward before the halo above him reached its peak. He urged the giant creature onward, yelling at the man still standing in his way, “Get out of the way! I’m in a rush and not in the mood to deal with you right now—”
“Funny, me too.”
Zzzz!
Lightning flashed in the middle of the road, and just as the front hooves of the giant beast were about four or five meters away from Carlos, the man’s figure transformed into a streak of lightning, soaring nearly ten meters high, tangled with roaring thunder, racing towards the center of the town.
Aresta internally cursed and thought, oh no.
“Stop him, stop him—!”
He waved his hands and shouted from the beast’s back as the iron hooves of the antelope kicked up dust. Two clerics behind him reacted quickly, raising their hands as golden light suddenly burst forth around them. Miraculous light shot overhead as they chased after Carlos, who was fleeing.
But that man was moving too fast; by the time the golden glimmers soared into the air, the bright blue bolt was already fifty meters away and the distance was only increasing. In a few seconds, they lost sight of him altogether.
“d*mn it…”
Aresta cursed softly upon seeing this, then instructed the people behind him, “Signal! Warn the front about the enemy and prepare for battle!”
“Bishop, this…”
“Do it!”
“…yes.”
…………
In the center of the town.
The black sphere floating in the grey sky was writhing, as if scattered forces were colliding with the thick black mist enveloping it. Bulges appeared on the mist’s surface, rising and falling. The sphere trembled violently, the heartbeat inside growing ever louder. A chilling wind whipped towards the west from all directions, tossing the knights stationed outside the ruins like rag dolls, nearly knocking them over.
“Steady!”
“Captain of Knights, the wind is freezing—”
“The order from the Bishop has come! Where are Teams Five and Eight?!”
“They’re here, they’re here!”
“Faith Organization—!”
The golden-armored knights dismounted from their beasts outside the ruins, struggling against the biting wind, making their way step by step into the soft yellow earth kicked up by the previous explosion. A commanding Captain of Knights looked up and shouted at the distant horizon. The knights streaming in from various pathways around the ruins were already forming a half-circle formation from the barren land beneath the sphere.
Meanwhile, in the distance, a second Light of MaFa slowly rose into the sky from the ruins.
“It’s the signal to move…”
The Captain of Knights murmured to himself, then shouted, “Faith Organization—”
“Heard you!”
A few clerics in cleric robes quickly climbed down from their beasts nearby, braving the harsh wind, standing beside the Captain. One of them, fixing his round hat, said, “From the Faith Organization, this is Larix Alfred, and my people are ready, Knight Brother.”
“Is this where the ‘Chain of Divine Lock’ begins to rise?”
No pleasantries, no small talk; the Captain of Knights asked directly. Larix the cleric nodded, “Exactly.”
“Then let your people respond to the signal.” The man patted his shoulder.
“Of course, my Knight Brother.”
With a flick of his hand, the cleric gestured to someone nearby, and soon, a new Light of MaFa rose abruptly from the center of the town, with thin golden radiance spreading out from the barren land. The knights and clerics basked in the glow, their faces serious, gazing into the cold wind at the reaction of the black sun a hundred meters above.
“May the Deity bless us…”
A moment later, the Captain couldn’t help but clasp his hands in prayer before the Deity.
“Are you nervous?”
Larix asked with a smile, but he didn’t realize his smile looked incredibly stiff at that moment.
“Cough, it’s nothing, just a habit…”
“No worries, you don’t have to pretend. I think everyone here, including Bishop Aresta, is feeling a bit tense.”
“Ha.”
The Captain laughed at that: “Clerics from the Faith Organization have always been dramatic; it’s rare to find someone as straightforward as you.”
“That’s why I’m not too popular,” Larix shrugged.
Their brief conversation eased their moods a little. Meanwhile, the MaFa light they emitted was already flickering and buzzing in the grey sky, casting a dazzling brightness.
Following suit, beams of holy light began to rise from the edges of the barren land surrounding the town center.
“Team Three is in position.”
“Team Five is in position.”
“Team Eight is in position…”
With more knights and clerics rushing into place, the First Knights Order’s hundred-plus member squad formed an almost encircled formation, maintaining a hundred-meter distance from the sphere.
The miraculous light bloomed consecutively, soon turning the sky into a glorious golden hue, the bright golden currents swirling closer and closer to the black mist enveloping the sphere.
“What on earth is that thing? Is it the Abyss, or Infernal Fire, or something else entirely… I can’t quite figure it out. Ugh, having to use the ‘Chain of Divine Lock’ to deal with this…”
Cleric Larix murmured, gazing afar.
He then turned around and stood with the chanting clerics behind him, gently closing his eyes and adopting a prayer pose. The flowing golden light and surrounding rays converged, and with a resonant “hum—” the light shot upwards from the ground before him.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom…
The earth began to tremble faintly beneath their feet.
At that moment, the Captain of Knights standing behind the clerics seemed to sense something, suddenly turning around.
Swish—
A fierce wind sliced through the sky, and a beam of reddish holy light suddenly shot up from the west, where Bishop Aresta was.
The Captain blinked in surprise.
Then, his eyes widened: “Enemy attack…”
“There’s an enemy!”
Clang—
The shout rang out, and a glistening longsword was yanked from its sheath at his waist.
The sound of blade and sheath clashing rang, and the knights defending the Faith Organization’s miraculous light fell into battle-ready stances at the Captain’s yell, swords raised before them, sharp gazes scanning the surroundings for any sign of unknown enemies.
Zzzroooom—
In the next moment, a flash of lightning dashed from the nearby ruins out of nowhere!
Who is it…
“Block it, block it!”
The Captain’s pupils constricted rapidly; his body reacted in an instant, already predicting the trajectory of the racing lightning. Taking a few quick steps, he positioned himself in front of the electric bolt, and a semi-transparent shield materialized around him.
“Ah—”
He shouted, the expression under his helmet fierce, as he swung his sword forward. A purple glow flashed, and a crescent-shaped light blade shot out, aiming at the incoming lightning, but it missed completely.
The lightning was too fast.
In the blink of an eye, the electric arc was already close, and just as it touched the ground, it suddenly veered to the side, dodging the light blade and weaving through the crowd, zipping past the Captain of Knights with a “zzzz” sound, nearly brushing his ear.
“Ugh…”
Then he heard a muffled groan behind him.
