City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Surrender

The war continued to drag on. Shadowspears fell one after the other, and casualties started springing up amongst the rune knights as well. His followers were still alive, but they were running low on energy and the circumstances were becoming more and more unfavourable.

Richard had already pulled his soldiers back into a single formation to strike in bursts of vicious strength, but the divine glow continued to fill the courtyard again and again. Batches of silver knights and soldiers constantly stepped out from the white glow, charging murderously towards his men. More than ten angels were keeping both him and Mountainsea entangled at any given time, some even getting the chance to escape the battle and strike at those below.

Thankfully, the lightning bolts had grown fairly powerful at this point, and there were ten clouds floating up above. A majority of the angels were being harassed by the lightning and thus unable to help down below, giving him and Mountainsea the chance to finish them off. Whenever they weren’t striking down on the angels, these foot-thick bolts of lightning destroyed the enemy warriors in one strike each. If not for the angels bearing the brunt of the damage, the silver knights would have been decimated.

Even with the Thinker’s assistance, Richard was starting to get a headache from all the multitasking. He often blocked attacks for Waterflower, Rosie, or Phaser, but that was a severe drain on his capabilities. Having to constantly dart back and forth was eating away at his mana pool, and the only way he was managing to sustain at this point was the power of his truename.

On the other hand, Martin’s smile had disappeared as well. His curly hair dripped with perspiration as he continued to flip through the holy book, but one could see just how tired he had grown. Both sides had achieved a strange balance of sorts, the summons now being killed at the same rate as they were arriving. However, each wave of summoned warriors was shrinking Richard’s army formation noticeably.

Richard himself was a little shaken at this point, considering whether he would have to give up this seemingly endless battle. However, he quickly brushed those thoughts aside and built up his confidence, telling himself that the battle was approaching an end. He had never heard of a summoning spell with no end, and this enemy still hadn’t reached the terror of Sharon’s might. He had quietly decided that he would retreat the moment the total strength of Martin’s summons reached four-fifths of what Sharon was known to be able to.

At this point, it had devolved into a war of will. Richard’s knights were starting to tire out, forcing him to use the shadowspears as sacrifices whenever possible. These days, he no longer had many qualms with the broodmother’s point of view: the shadowspears were soulless drones and were to be treated as such. Their lives were worth nothing compared to those with actual souls. If most nobles could treat their real-life soldiers as pawns to be sacrificed, he could do so for these constructs. Still, he felt a faint sadness in his heart at their deaths.

The remaining city guards had seen an opportunity to join the defence over an hour ago, but they had been completely wiped out. Waterflower had killed their general in one blow.

……

Back at the cathedral’s entrance, Martin flipped to the next page, reading in a hoarse and raspy voice, “… And the Lord said… there were no more warriors…”

“What?” Bishop Rizal asked hazily, shocked to hear the words.

Martin remained quiet for a moment as well, his eyes opened wide, but then he shook his head and smiled bitterly, “Indeed, there are no more.”

“Then...what is going to happen to us?” Rizal looked at the battlefield. His priests and clerics continued to cast spells, but they could only do so using the energy from the cathedral itself. All of them were gravely hurt, and one could not tell just how many would survive.

“We…” Martin caressed the holy book, muttering irresolutely.

“Your Eminence, leave immediately! I will try to stall them!” The bishop raised his sceptre, trying to rush to the frontlines.

However, a hand grabbed him on the shoulder before he could take the first step, the young cardinal flashing a dazzling smile once more, “Since the Lord has no more warriors for us, let us surrender.”

“Surrender?” Rizal asked, unable to believe what he had heard.

“Yes, surrender.”

……

That was how the war suddenly ended. Richard killed the last angel to realise that no more had been summoned. Ten of his rune knights, and fifty of Rosie’s had died, with only 400 shadowspears remaining, but there were no more enemies to fight. The plaza was littered with bodies but almost no blood, and close to the entrance of the cathedral were a number of clerics and priests who had fallen to the ground. They were being guarded by the dozen or so paladins who’d survived, all looking blankly at their comrades who had perished in battle.

Martin had one hand on his holy book and the other on a white cloth, waving it frantically. Looking at his cheerful disposition, Richard almost couldn’t believe that this was the same enemy who had almost defeated his men. He almost instinctively had all his lightning rain down on the area, but forced himself to calm down and jumped off his unicorn, wrinkling his brow, “What is the meaning of this?”

“I am surrendering! This is the sign of surrender, is it not?” Martin replied. The cardinal was flashing a dazzling smile, so much so that it looked like he would break into a happy dance the next moment.

“But…. How could you be so happy in surrender?”

“Why would I not? Now, there is no need for any more sacrifice on either side, is this not something we should celebrate?”

Fireballs flickered on Richard’s hands, but he just threw them into the distance and started ignoring the youth, turning around, “Senma, have some soldiers occupy the cathedral, make sure to search it thoroughly. Gangdor, take a hundred men to the Earl’s residence and take over the city.”

The bishop immediately raised his sceptre at the sight of Richard’s back, but before he could even bring it down a feathered sword was at his throat. Richard turned to gaze at the cardinal once more, but seeing the man remaining in place he snorted and withdrew his weapon, looking at Rizal, “You have guts.”

“I have faith,” the bishop responded coldly.

“Watch them,” Richard ordered a few of his rune knights before walking into the cathedral. However, before he could go very far he heard a soft voice calling out to him, “Lord Richard, wait for me!”

He stopped and looked at Martin before turning to the rune knights, shaking his head. The rune knights were still guarding the bishop with all their attention, but they seemed to pay no attention to the cardinal at all.

“You seem to be quite the interesting person,” he said.

Martin smiled, “Cardinal Martin. I do have some things to be proud of; I have quite the reputation in the Church of Glory.”

Richard nodded, continuing to explore the cathedral, “What do you want?”

“Should I not be the one asking you this question, Lord Richard? You’ve travelled thousands of kilometres to come here, you must have a reason. Please do not tell me you are here to occupy Tobia, you only have five hundred men left with you.”

“I’m just here to take anything that looks interesting. Maybe that sword,” Richard pointed at a large two-handle sword that was set into a statue. There were a number of divine inscriptions on the blade, and despite a lack of sharpness one could see a divine glow flowing within the metal.

“Great taste! This sword was left behind by a famous warrior who killed two legendary beings. Although the workmanship is nothing to be proud of, the materials and its legacy have perfected it as a weapon against the hells, the abyss, and the undead. It has been lying here for a millennium and can even slay enormous demons. However, I have to ask; are you sure any of your subordinates can use this weapon? The owner had some giant blood in him, and while your ogre is big enough I do not believe such a sinister creature can command this weapon.”

The sword truly was enormous, more than four metres long and one metre wide. Even Gangdor could not wield such a thing effectively. However, Richard shook his head as he continued to walk along, “I might be able to find someone to use it, or I might just sell it or keep it. It doesn’t seem to be serving any purpose here either.”