City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Holy Book

Richard’s rune knights were now advancing for the city walls at full speed. The walls of Tobia were a full fifteen metres tall, but this wasn’t enough to keep them out. A few crossbow bolts did manage to strike some of them, but they shrugged it off without issue and continue the charge. They continued to spur their horses onward as they reached the walls, pumping internal energy into the beasts’ runes to allow them to jump all the way up in only two leaps.

A thunderous yell rang out as a saint rushed to intercept them, radiating the intimidating aura of a deity descending from the sky, but as he saw the number of airborne warriors Richard had he shivered in fear. Before he could even think of his next step, a dazzling light lit up the air as a hundred javelins flew his way. He let out a strange cry of terror as he fled instantly.

The defence was scattered quickly, the gates broken open by Tiramisu’s hammer. The shadowspears flooded into the city under the guidance of the elite bats, heading straight for the Saint Louis Cathedral.

In front of the cathedral’s courtyard was a simple wooden fortification with the paladins stood behind it, their heavy shields and bodies placed to protect the clerics and priests. Richard saw this and nodded slightly, “They’re either up to no good or are complete fools.”

“Father said never to underestimate enemies in war,” Mountainsea commented from the side.

“Mm. The Church of Glory would never put a fool in charge. However, what does it matter? SOLDIERS… ATTACK!” The shadowspears rushed out as Richard’s arm fell, braving through a barrage of crossbow bolts to engage in the melee.

The paladins were well-equipped and well-trained, and the white glow constantly emanating from their bodies was the mark of buffing spells. Alongside being right in the shadow of their cathedral, all this allowed them to keep up with the enemies.

Outside the cathedral’s doors, Bishop Rizal and Cardinal Martin were standing on a raised platform, observing the battle form above. There were only two guards sitting here to protect them, the rest sent to the frontlines for battle.

The bishop was constantly casting spells, “This is the land where the Saint sacrificed himself; our warriors are definitely at an advantage. If only we had the numbers.”

“That is not a given, look at the coordination of Richard’s knights,” Martin pointed out before mumbling to himself, “This… even the God of War should not be able to command soldiers so perfectly in the mortal world…”

The shadowspears were displaying their excellent chemistry, groups of four or five encircling every single paladin and attacking from all directions to go for the kill. Without the priests constantly casting healing spells from behind, half the paladins would be dead in minutes. The bishop seethed in rage as the attacks grew more focused and more paladins fell, but it was all he could do to continue his frantic casting.

Richard himself felt like it was easier than ever. The Thinker, the broodmother’s new cloned brain in humanoid form, had now become one with his consciousness and taken over a large part of the command duty. He could already command over a hundred soldiers with every single one of his minds, and the Thinker tripled that at minimum. In a large-scaled battle, this meant he could control nearly a thousand individual troops in total.

This was also the exact number of shadowspears he had mobilised, which meant that to an extent he was fighting the entire battle personally. Only ten paladins had perished versus thirty shadowspears, but he knew that this was only an outward appearance and the paladins would suffer a bitter defeat once the clerics and priests ran dry. Several of the younger ones had already exhausted most of their divine energy.

Could things really be so smooth? Richard’s intuition told him that it was not so. His eyes darted across the battlefield before they finally fell upon Martin and Rizal. He was slightly taken aback by the youth’s presence, feeling a hint of familiarity, but he was also sure that he would remember that dazzling smile full of warmth anywhere. He felt something amiss and tried to have a closer look, but his vision was immediately blurred by an intense divine light.

He shook his head in shock. Insight only failed against specific preparations or beings far more powerful than he was. He immediately pointed at the red-shirted cardinal and shouted, “Careful of that man!”

Back near the cathedral, Martin opened his eyes wide before laughing, “It looks like I’ve been found out. Well, since we have arrived at this stage, let me see how much he is willing to pay to occupy the cathedral.”

The bishop was shocked as well. This battle had been about to collapse and he was preparing to sacrifice his life to give the cardinal a chance to escape, but Martin’s words implied that there was a chance to turn the tables!

Martin opened up his holy book, reading softly, “The first subjects were tormented by famine, disease, and their battle with the heretics. They prayed to the Lord and the Lord responded, promising them his blessings. Their first wish was for reinforcements to destroy the heretics, and the Lord thus gave them warriors…”

Martin’s voice echoed through the battlefield, strangely soothing to the ear. This passage wasn’t something special— even Richard knew it from the research he’d done on his enemy— but following these words a divine glow suddenly erupted in the plaza. It faded away to reveal almost a hundred silver knights that were a level higher than the paladins!

Only paladins at level fifteen could join the silver knights. Shocked by their appearance, Richard immediately decided to start mobilising his followers, “Tiramisu, stop them!”

“Leave it to me, Master!” “Yes, Boss!” Tiramisu’s heads called out as he raised Tenton, smashing out with full force. The first few silver knights were sent flying into the distance.

Richard then sent several commands in his consciousness, ordering 300 shadowspears to form a compact line behind the ogre to cut off any manoeuvres. The rune knights broke out in two wings, engulfing the entire groop. He heaved a sigh of relief that he hadn’t sent out all his soldiers before; that would have landed them in great trouble.

However, there was still great doubt in his mind. Where did these silver knights come from? He couldn’t feel any traces of teleportation nearby.

Before he could comprehend it, Martin’s voice rang out once more, “The Lord have them soldiers, men with swords, shields, and spears.”

The divine glow filled a corner of the plaza once more, revealing a few hundred warriors within. The highest level was only 12, but the scariest thing was the sheer number.

Most of his troops had been sent to deal with the silver knights! Richard felt his heart beating faster, but he still looked calm on the surface. Spending a second to make his decision, he quickly ordered Gangdor and Senma to go stop them.

The two charged forth with the mere fifty shadowspears they had remaining, starting a massacre amongst the weak warriors.

At this point, Mountainsea was the only one not engaged in battle; even Rosie was casting spells in support. Richard’s heart started beating extremely quickly, part with excitement and part with fear. Gangdor and Senma could stall the warriors until his rune knights dealt with the silver knights and turned around.

It was then that Martin’s voice echoed throughout the cathedral once more, “And then, the Lord sent his servants.”