Chapter 21: Sacrifice!
February 23, 2016
Author: Floating Tower
The tranquil night breeze blew in.
Kano sat on the rooftop gazing into the distance; he was a respected Paladin. However, at this moment, his expression was somewhat confused. His handsome profile was illuminated by the moonlight, and he seemed to lack a sense of direction. The night in Lakeside Town was very quiet, only the occasional sound of barking dogs could be heard, and the patrolling guard squad changed shifts from time to time. Since the demons appeared, many human towns had been on high alert. The moonlight tonight was somewhat dim, faintly tinged with a hint of bl**d-red, which made it unsettling.
“What’s wrong?”
A tall figure appeared beside Kano. At first glance, the face was very beautiful, easily leading one to assume ‘she’ was female, but upon closer inspection, it could be distinguished that ‘she’ was male.
This was a Wood Elf.
Wood Elves lived in forested areas and were a branch of High Elves, living only around three hundred years. They inherited the beauty of the High Elves and were all born marksmen.
“Nothing.”
Kano gently shook his head. As a Paladin, it was actually quite difficult for him to find an adventurer team willing to accept him.
This, I must say, is a kind of sorrow.
Because pure goodness and justice could not be accepted by people. Kano had traveled independently for a long time; the other adventurers did not reject him but were unwilling to travel with him. They feared that the Paladin would attract unnecessary trouble, feared his excessive sense of justice, and perhaps they themselves might be the evil people considered by the Paladin.
Kano wandered alone for a long time.
The mission of upholding justice guided him forward and made him grow stronger!
But this never helped him find a true direction, especially with the recent changes in the world, which made him feel increasingly confused.
He was no longer young.
Just as the proverb said, older Paladins always had sadness and helplessness in their eyes.
Kano felt somewhat lost.
He was unsure if he could really bring change to the world; the passion of his youth had already diminished greatly. He no longer believed that light and justice were the only truths in the world.
Darkness also existed.
What he was doing now was merely struggling to maintain that little bit of truth, goodness, and beauty!
The stronger he became,
The more he felt his insignificance.
Kano did not know how long he could hold on, for in this past year, he had seen far too many dark and evil things.
“Sigh!”
A soft sigh echoed; the Elf’s voice was always filled with magnetism. They possessed the blessings of nature.
The Wood Elf sitting next to Kano shook his head and slowly said, “Are you still blaming yourself for what happened during the day? We did our best!…”
The events of the day.
Thinking of this, a hint of sadness, anger, and helplessness appeared in Kano’s eyes.
The current adventurer team was the best partners he had encountered in all these years. They were kind and filled with a sense of justice; Kano had done many good deeds with them. Today, while heading to Lakeside Town, they passed by a very small village and discovered some roaming demons there. Although they managed to stop everything in time, many innocent people still died.
The demons were so cruel.
Not even sparing three-year-old children, those poor villagers suffered heavy casualties.
Thinking of the scenes he witnessed during the day, Kano’s heart was filled with helplessness. He had encountered many such situations along the way, but there was little he could do.
“This guy just has too strong a sense of justice!…”
“This world is getting more chaotic; it’s already good for us to be alive. Do you know Kano’s team? They were entirely wiped out a while ago…”
“They all died at the hands of cultists!…”
A Halfling’s figure appeared, holding a wine jug. He looked a bit carefree and was none other than Aladdin, the Halfling who hadn’t shown up in a long time. After the incident in the City of Wealth, no one knew where he had gone, but he happened to appear here this time and had integrated into a very good adventurer team.
Hearing Aladdin’s words, the Wood Elf couldn’t help but sigh.
The world was getting worse.
In this day and age, even the lives of adventurers were not stable; usually safe routes now encountered tricky monsters like ogres.
The originally balanced food chain among various races had almost completely been destroyed.
Even the Druid Order was having a tough time now.
Kano sighed upon hearing this, at a loss for words. Ideals and reality were wearing down his will. He felt that if this continued, he might not be able to uphold his original beliefs.
“Where’s the wine?”
“My wine?”
A loud voice unique to Dwarves echoed. Shortly after, a squat Dwarf with a long beard climbed up; he was very tall, even for a Dwarf, reaching over 1.7 meters—something only exceptional bloodlines could achieve.
This guy probably weighed 300 pounds; the rooftop shook when he climbed up.
“Here.”
“Catch!”
Aladdin threw the wine jug over. He was momentarily unsure how to comfort the nearby Paladin; he felt that sometimes Paladins were just like women—caring too much about others’ lives. As long as they could help a bit, that would be good enough. Paladins, burdened with lofty ideals all day long, were too tired and foolish; only the Wood Elf in the whole adventurer team really supported Kano’s beliefs.
“Eh?”
“Am I seeing things?”
Just after throwing the wine jug, Aladdin suddenly froze, then pointed at the sky in shock, mumbling, “Look over there! There’s a crack in the sky!…”
He wasn’t seeing things.
The sky in the distance had turned bl**d-red at some point, and a dark crevice appeared, followed by countless demons emerging.
These were neither Coward Demons nor Quasai Demons but real elite demons.
Aladdin saw groups of Succubi with wings spread, saw a Frenzied Combat Demon weighing over 2,000 pounds, like a block wall, and even spotted terrifying Soul Judgment Demons and Balroth Demons.
These demons came pouring out from the crack in the sky. In an instant, they charged toward Lakeside Town.
Ding ding! The sharp warning bell rang out; there was no doubt that the strange phenomenon in the sky had alarmed the guards.
But everything happened too quickly; before the guards of Lakeside Town could gather, dozens of demons had already burst into the town.
Leading the charge was a legendary Balroth Demon.
It cackled madly while slaughtering those humans who dared to block its path. These humans were so weak that not a single one could withstand its blow.
A fierce fire ignited!
The horrifying figure of a Demon-Hunting Spider emerged from the darkness. It easily hunted down one target after another, and in the blink of an eye, dozens had fallen.
“Demons…”
“Demon Legion!…”
Aladdin swallowed hard, his voice trembling a bit: “This is an organized Demon Legion! Only the Bottomless Abyss has demons with this kind of combat power!…”
This was a well-structured demon army.
Although they were still chaotic in battle, it was evident that there were signs of command.
This was a one-sided massacre!
The guards of Lakeside Town had no ability to resist; it was a complete suppression, and they could probably hold out for only a few more minutes at most.
“Shall we run?”
“It’s not too late to run now!…”
Aladdin glanced at his companion, whose expression was equally shocked, and murmured, “With so many demons, even if we’re all legendary, we might not be able to win!…”
“If they charge over, we probably won’t even be able to escape!”
Screams rang out.
The demons had started to invade the residential area. Everywhere, innocent people’s cries echoed!
The stout Dwarf looked somewhat terrified; the Wood Elf’s face turned pale as he murmured, “This is the Abyssal Gate! How could there be so many!…”
Kano’s expression was complex.
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but soon his expression became resolute.
The inn below was in chaos.
The sudden arrival of the demons left many adventurers panicked, followed by many people trying desperately to flee. In the distance, people were desperately running for their lives, and many guards had directly given up resisting, abandoning their armor as they fled outside the town.
This was simply an enemy they could not fight against!
“You all go!”
Kano took a deep breath and slowly grasped the longsword at his waist. He gripped it so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
This not-so-young Paladin lowered his head. His expression was unclear, but he spoke in a grave voice: “You all go. The number of demons is just too many!…”
“If you don’t leave now, it will be too late!…”
After saying this, he slowly stood up and jumped down from the rooftop.
“Kano!?”
The Wood Elf seemed to understand something. His face turned quite complex as he murmured, “You… what about you?…”
His voice carried a slight tremble.
The others seemed to understand something as well; they looked at Kano with equally complex gazes.
“I cannot leave.”
Kano did not turn around but continued stepping forward, his footsteps growing more resolute as he said in a deep voice: “A Paladin cannot leave at this time!…”
“How can I stand by while demons slaughter humans and cowardly run away myself?”
Kano did not stop his steps.
In the blink of an eye, he was already several dozen meters away, with distant flames lighting up the sky. Countless demon figures gradually emerged, laughing maniacally as they unleashed their killing frenzy; bursts of wretched screams seemed to bring them even more pleasure!
Beside Kano were people fleeing for their lives.
There were soldiers, civilians, and adventurers; everyone was desperately trying to escape this terrifying place, and only he silently continued forward, even knowing that d*ath awaited him.
He was a Paladin.
At this moment, he could not leave!
Perhaps he had once felt confused, unsure of his direction for the future, but at least he now understood what he should do.
A glimmer of radiance appeared.
A holy light emerged from Kano’s longsword; this was the power of [Sacrifice].
It was also a kind of unwritten heroism!
Under the dim bl**d-red sky, a not-so-young Paladin walked toward thousands of demons. In this last moment of life, he finally was no longer lost.
………………
(PS: Due to failed negotiations, Floating Tower may leave. Everyone please follow the Official WeChat Account to continue with the book. I will try my best to finish writing this book well.) (To be continued ~^~)
