Chapter 180: Slaughter
This night was far from peaceful.
Soren heard sounds of battle and explosions, and in some places, fires blazed. The once affluent and relatively orderly City of Wealth had turned into a chaotic mess. There was no simple character among the gang organizations of the Evil Faction; they were all members of violent evil, and while they might not match the city guard in equipment, their desperate resistance would undoubtedly cause chaos. No one was naive enough to think these bloodthirsty individuals would surrender without a fight.
Curfews began to be enforced in the streets, and the city army ignited torches to create lines of defense, preventing the chaos from spilling over to ordinary citizens.
There were sounds of cursing and crying everywhere.
Their relatively peaceful lives had been shattered, and many people were desperately securing their doors and windows to protect their families from the turmoil outside. Traces of Wanderers moved through the darkness; Thieves had always been the backbone of the gray area, and now and then, the screams of the city guard could be heard, as they couldn’t easily deal with Wanderers of Second Tier and above in the dark. Soren’s figure was hidden in the shadows, standing on a clock tower, watching the city before him.
In just half a night, this once prosperous city revealed a sense of desolation.
In the dock area, warehouses had caught fire, and the city guard was trying to contain the flames. Scattered battles erupted everywhere, with members of the Dark Domain breaking through, trying to escape. The fire seemed to spread more, and cries and howls came from the direction of the Slums. Paladins had joined the fight, but the southwestern corner of the Slums was already ablaze; it was unclear whether it was due to the chaos or a deliberate act of revenge by the Dark Domain.
Their actions today would undoubtedly leave many with resentment!
The City of Wealth was a very prosperous place. However, this prosperity was also the prosperity of evil. Now, a portion of the population faced cleansing and repression, and their armed forces would inevitably resist. For the foreseeable future, trade in the entire City of Wealth would be affected, and ordinary people at the lower levels would lose their jobs. With smuggling and black market trade diminished, close to thirty percent of dock workers might be unemployed for several months, making their New Year far from pleasant.
“Sigh.”
Soren gently let out a sigh and said slowly, “In the end, it really just becomes a farce!”
The City of Wealth had compromised. The Paladins had compromised.
But the victims received no justice they deserved because they were simply too weak.
Perhaps, for a while to come, the evil forces in the City of Wealth would shrink considerably, but the current chaos would change their lives. They might not do well in the future, but one could be certain that life now and for some time would be difficult. The purges by the Paladins would severely impact trade in the City of Wealth, cutting off smuggling, slavery, and black market operations; countless people would be left without work. These unemployed impoverished people would face even greater hardships, and selling their children might become a foreseeable event.
Wealth remained here.
It would merely shift to the hands of the strong. It would never fall into the pockets of the weak.
Temporary justice was just false justice!
Soren’s figure darted through the darkness, his agile silhouette leaping across rooftops, covering more than ten meters in an instant. He moved like a ghost in the night, searching for his target. This was a chaotic moment, and many shared the same intent of taking advantage of the turmoil. Whether it was possible to scrape together some wealth from the organizations that had suffered cleansing depended on one’s strength.
Taking advantage of the fire!
The members of the Evil Faction had never feared taking risks; they were in a dangerous profession.
The City of Wealth was too affluent. Those organizations controlling smuggling and similar enterprises had accumulated wealth likely surpassing a hundred thousand Gindlers; this fortune could tempt many to take risks, seizing the chance amid chaos to secure some gains—easily yielding a return of thousands of Gindlers, comparable to a single adventure. If one had a more malevolent nature, they might even rob ordinary people directly. After all, in the aftermath, they could blame it on those organizations.
Order had been lost. Evil had descended.
……
“My daughter!… Mira!… My Mira!…”
A man with bloodshot eyes stood before the fire, dressed in tattered clothes; his muscular arms showed signs of frequent labor. He gazed at the house engulfed in flames and let out a mournful howl; there were no survivors inside. The fire was intense, and neither his wife nor daughter had escaped.
“No!!!”
The middle-aged man let out a piercing scream and suddenly lunged at a nearby white-haired elder, shaking all over as he grabbed the elder by the neck and lifted him, roaring, “It’s all your fault! It’s you! If you hadn’t begged the Paladins, those bastards wouldn’t have retaliated against us! My daughter wouldn’t have died!”
“You damned old man!… I’ll k*ll you!… I’ll k*ll you!…”
Bang.
A young Paladin struck him unconscious, and the old man fell to the ground, staring at the sea of flames with tears streaming down his face, lost and hopeless, as if he could not believe things had turned out this way.
He murmured like a madman, “Why has it come to this!… Why has it come to this!…”
The young Paladin wore a complex expression, having never anticipated that events would spiral into chaos, leading to the loss of countless innocent lives. He questioned his faith for the first time, doubting whether the justice he upheld was truly correct, for even their immense power could not halt the turmoil once it spread.
“Hold fast to your faith!”
An older Paladin appeared behind him, patting his shoulder, and said solemnly, “Maintaining justice requires sacrifice!…”
“Why has it come to this?” the young man murmured, a hint of sadness and regret in his eyes. He was passionate and righteous, yet why had it led to so many deaths? Why had maintaining justice turned into war? How many must d*e for this war to end?
——“Demon!!!”
A chilling scream echoed across the city, and everyone fell silent for a moment, then the Paladins transformed into fleeting shadows and rushed toward the source of the sound.
——“Detect Evil!”
In the end, they employed this spell. The power of the Paladins began to spread, and a faint spiritual light emerged from everyone nearby.
Many were white, but more were gray, with numerous light red, dark red, and bl**d red spiritual lights appearing.
For a long time.
These ordinary people had worked for the evil, transporting goods for them, guarding contraband, and concealing sins. Under the Paladins’ spiritual light, these individuals also bore guilt; it was just that their sins were lighter.
They inhabited the gray area.
These people walked the line between good and evil; they might not have been aware of their crimes, yet they were part of the evil.
Amidst the flames.
The City of Wealth revealed a tint of crimson. The wealth accumulated here over time was intertwined with sin, finally transforming under the Detect Evil spell into a surge of bl**d-red light that shot skyward. The power of the spell’s spiritual light was beyond the Paladins’ control; supernatural forces gathered for some reason, painting the entire sky in bloodlight.
The demons descended.
No one knew who had summoned the demons, but from the moment they appeared, the slaughter had already begun.
Perhaps even more sinister entities lurking within the City of Wealth had long been aware of this place. They had been waiting for an opportunity, waiting for chaos and slaughter to ignite. The emergence of the Paladins was one such opportunity, as the righteous turned the Paladins into a blade against evil, while the evil also took advantage of this blade to provoke severe conflict.
No one could stop it now.
Amidst the flames, a Frenzied Combat Demon, towering three to four meters high, burst forth, letting out a wild laugh as it swung its battle axe, cleaving a group of civilians in two. In the demon’s eyes, there was only slaughter and satisfaction, and even Soren was unwilling to deal with these creatures. From the moment they descended, they were fulfilling their thirst for bl**d, with hundreds slain in the blink of an eye; heads rolled among the ruins, and severed limbs littered the ground, staining it a deep red.
“Bastards!”
A robust man led his army in a raging roar, shouting, “Those damned Paladins! Those accursed scoundrels! My city! My City of Wealth!…”
“Send someone to the Temple for support!… Hurry!… You fools!… Get the Holy Spirit Priest to intervene!…”
Quasai Demons, Demon Spiders, Furo Demons, Frenzied Combat Demons, and Four-Armed Serpent Demons.
One after another, the shadows of demons emerged from the flames, letting out excited howls as they charged into the city ahead. The brilliance of the Paladins appeared so small against the forces of evil, as those demons of Third Tier and above surged like a torrent, instantly overwhelming the city guard, and then slaughtering any life they could see.
“Hahaha!…”
A twisted figure materialized in the flames, transforming into a hideous form, slowly standing up amidst the fire, grinning, “Foolish mortals!…”
“I have finally awaited this moment!”
“This evil city should have long been purified in flames! I can hear the cries of the souls! Bringing them to hell will make me stronger!… Let this group of foolish demons k*ll for now!…”
“The devil is the true victor!”
The twisted figure gradually materialized, a devil rising amid the raging flames. It did not join the battle before it, nor did it unleash its desire for slaughter, but directly walked into the sea of flames. The scorching flames seemed to harm it not at all; it gradually disappeared into the fire, as if plotting a new scheme.
……(To be continued ~^~)
