Chapter 153
"Are you alright?" Fei reached out, wanting to help the swordsmith who was hiding in the ruins.
"Your hands are so dirty." The knifemaker frowned and waved his hand, politely declining its offer.
It was a withered, rotting hand with gaping wounds in its flesh. Just looking at it was disgusting, let alone reaching out to touch it.
Fei Gan chuckled twice, not minding at all, and stepped back, looking up at the giant monster in the sky.
The number of spatial rifts quickly spread throughout the city, and gaps were present in almost every place that could be seen.
"Are you planning to abandon this city?" the swordsmith asked him as he emerged. "You're the one who destroyed this city."
Upon discovering Lori, Fei launched a campaign against her without a second thought. If it hadn't been for timely intervention, he would have already caused the entire city to collapse. Even though he stopped quickly, the city was already riddled with problems by his actions alone.
"Give up? No, just guard a safe zone. Someone will come to deal with this demon king later, and this place will be rebuilt." Fei seemed completely unconcerned: "We can just move some people in from elsewhere."
It turned around, but was slapped hard and sent flying, crashing through the opposite wall before helplessly emerging from it.
"I find this thing disgusting." The swordsmith gritted his teeth as he looked at the tentacle waving in the sky, then slowly closed his eyes and sighed softly.
That thing was beyond her ability to handle. If she were in her prime, she would have to fight it several times, but now she not only had very little holy magic power left, but her weapon reserves were also depleted. It could be said that she was at her most vulnerable to assassination in the last hundred years.
She should also go to the safe zone and find the church there. They will organize a defense, and she has an obligation to help.
But once she made this decision, it meant she was completely parting ways with Benny. They had come together, but in the end, she might be the only one going back.
She could only sigh; there was nothing else she could do. Since things had come to this, she could only do what she could to cope.
First, we need to think about survival.
In that instant, she raised her machete to block above her head, and something strange was stopped by the blade just before it hit her. Then, as it bounced back after being parried, the entire tentacle was sliced into several pieces.
The swordsmith watched the tentacles fall around him and barely managed to dodge the ones that landed on the black blood and mud.
At least this weapon is not bad. She hesitated as she looked at the machete in her hand, the simplest machete, without any extra features or decorations.
It's not that she's a minimalist; although it's true that she discards weapons once they break, since repairing them is usually more troublesome than rebuilding them. So she doesn't have the energy to over-decorate.
But such a weapon could probably be decorated properly, right? After all, it looks like it can be used for a long time, so it wouldn't hurt to decorate it once it's settled down.
A tremendous roar suddenly resounded throughout the city, and everyone looked in that direction. At that moment, a pillar of light shot out from the ground and into the void.
He had simply infused it with holy magic. Cold sweat trickled down the swordsmith's forehead, and a helpless smile crept onto his lips.
The shockwaves, like waves, reverberated throughout the city. Everyone watched as the golden pillar of light shot into the void, and the hundreds of tentacles snapped almost simultaneously. The seemingly tough things were severed the moment they came into contact with the holy magical energy fluctuations, without even weakening the shockwave in the slightest.
Is that something a human could do? The swordsmith hesitated. Although he could unleash such a powerful burst of holy magic when he fully released his holy power, it would only be a momentary burst.
But the beam of light had been there for almost a minute before it slowly subsided.
"As expected of Yashiro Riki." She sighed helplessly, thinking that the guy was finally willing to do a small favor.
But wasn't that thing a demon lord endowed with powers by a demon god? Why would it be here? It doesn't look like a registered demon lord. Could it be that the demons are plotting a counterattack?
I don't know. Thinking about these questions is what saints should do. I'm just an ordinary high-ranking clergyman; even if I understood these things, it would be meaningless.
"Looks like the Defender of Honor and the Demon King have started fighting." Fei stood up, looked over there, and let out a strange laugh: "What a nuisance. That lord shouldn't be fighting in this city."
Although I find its groans disgusting, it's undeniably true. That thing's abilities are a disaster in the city; even just now, the moment it unleashed its holy power, a huge open space appeared in the entire city, and buildings were blown away by the shockwave.
They must have anticipated this, which is why they didn't take any further action earlier and were just observing the Demon King.
"Hey, did you create that thing?" The swordsmith pointed his machete at the wrecked creature. "If the Benevolent Ones would raise a monster like you, it's not surprising that they would raise a Demon King."
"How rude of me, but I'm sorry, I have nothing to do with this." Fei looked up and said with a smile, "I just learned from the neighborhood that a subordinate of the Benevolent One had made a mistake that should have been dismissed, and I came to take it back to be punished. I happened to run into a Demon God and started fighting, and then I suddenly discovered that there seems to be a Demon King in this city who wants to take the opportunity to cause trouble. In short, I'm completely baffled now."
"You're all head, how could you not find it?" The swordsmith turned to look at the cube in his hand. "Did the Benevolent One lend you that thing?"
"Yes. I just found it. That monster destroyed the spatial structure inside, and I even lost a third of my body." Fei paused and said, "But it's good that we found it. This kind of stable space is an important asset of the church. I can't bear the guilt of losing it."
He said this, then turned to leave.
"The Heroes of Honor are currently fighting the Demon King. The high-ranking priests should prepare to retreat to the safe zone. Don't worry about anyone else; their losses are negligible. Also, if you find the high priest here, please try to contact me. I haven't found him yet." With that, Fei waved to the swordsmith. Several heads behind him spat out bones, and after growing twisted wings, he flew away swiftly.
"Stubborn fool." The swordsmith glanced at it, then ignored it. He'd heard that this was common for people who lived too long—they'd only do their assigned tasks, showing no enthusiasm or interest in anything beyond that.
I really don't want to become like that in the future, indifferent as if I'm detached from the whole world.
She turned her head and looked out of the city.
There were countless enormous creatures, and countless demons were alarmed. The Blood Sun had only recently passed when the monsters roaming outside noticed the grand event taking hold.
As far as the eye could see, there was only a dense mass of black—those were monsters. These mindless monsters were fighting each other one moment, and the next, they suddenly became focused and determined.
Was this why Fei suggested retreating to the safe zone? A mere Demon King wouldn't be so conservative; even without Benny, he wasn't incapable of taking on the Demon King alone. But the monsters that would be attracted later wouldn't be so easily dealt with.
That's terrible.
She took out some simple earplugs from her pocket and put them in her ear canals. With all the noise around her, even good hearing felt like torture. Without the earplugs, she was about to break down.
I really don't know whose plan this is going to be in; everything's a mess.
A faint blood mist hung over the entire city, and corpses lay scattered everywhere. The disaster struck far too suddenly; even with a large number of sorcerers and mercenaries present, they couldn't react in time.
Explosions were heard everywhere. Tentacles falling from the sky were shot down by various attacks. A rough humanoid figure could be seen moving rapidly in the sky. When the severed tentacles fell, they also crushed several houses.
Run, run as far as you can. But we're surrounded, monsters are surging in from all directions, and right now we see double digits of calamity-level monsters.
These are probably monsters left over from the Blood Sun Massacre, monsters that weren't cleared out in time. They were attracted here because of the commotion.
Perhaps that guy had some ideas. The swordsmith looked ahead, standing there gazing at Ark in the distance. He just stood there, expressionless, staring into the distance.
The knifemaker walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder.
What do you want to do next?
“I don’t know. Benny has gone to fight. I need to find Lori and Karl, but they’re nowhere to be found.” Acton paused and said, “You should hurry. This city needs more high-ranking priests to fight. If you get back too late, you won’t even be able to save the people you could have saved.”
"You're so stubborn! Why do you insist on going to find that demon seed?" The swordsmith frowned. "I didn't see how close you two were."
“You said yourself that it’s a demonic species, so it has to be under the Church’s watchful eye. As long as it’s with me, the Church won’t send out a slaying team directly.” Acton paused and said, “I’m kind of her monitor, after all, I can’t just let such a monster roam around the world so freely.”
"To leave the enemy a way out is to cut off your own way out."
“But she is not our enemy. That child is a good child. In my conscience, I don’t want her to die.”
"Conscience? Do you even have that?"
“I’ve had this before, and I want to take it back.” Acton paused. “People have a conscience, and I still want to be a human being.”
But not long ago, he refused to help two people who were within his power to survive; their bodies should be cold by now.
He said this to himself, his gaze slowly lowered, and he gently closed his eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, it was pitch black, but in an instant, the complete map appeared in my mind.
He clutched his head, gasping for breath, and was caught by the knifesmith just as he was about to fall to the ground.
"Visual synchronization?" The swordsmith slapped his head. "Honestly, every time I think about how what I see might suddenly be synchronized with something like you, I feel like I should just gouge my eyes out."
Ark didn't answer, but tears mixed with red and black slid down his cheeks and onto the ground. The swordsmith helped him to his knees.
His vision cleared only after he coughed violently and spat out several pieces of blood.
"Did you find it?" The swordsmith looked at this creature that had once been able to defeat a demon god, now even using a powerful mental ability resulted in a backlash. He just felt that time was truly too cruel. Even such a monster was slowly weakening due to the passage of time.
Because I don't know this guy, I don't know why he has this skill. He can combine the perceptions of any creature within a fairly large area into a three-dimensional map. The swordsmith had seen him use this ability when they were companions.
"almost."
Yak raised his head and looked at the sky, which had suddenly calmed down.
Because just a second ago, Benny passed through the spatial rift and entered another dimension. At the same time, all the gaps were closed, and large pieces of tentacles were severed and thrown to the ground.
She needs time to defeat the Demon King. Before that, if she can't find those two guys before the monsters swarm in, she might be alone again.
Ark patted the swordsmith's hand, and only after he regained his composure did she let go. She watched him dash off in a certain direction.
She didn't follow because she had other things to do. They had long since gone their separate ways, their lives never to intersect again.
Meanwhile, in a house that was about to collapse, Karl leaned against the wall, silently tending to his wounds.
Lori was bandaging a wound, not for Carl, but for someone lying in bed.
Or rather, the monster was just like a person. It was that elf, the elf who bought equipment at Ark's stall.
She was struck head-on by the tentacle, crashing through several walls before collapsing into a nearby house. She was barely alive, her bones broken and fractured in every way imaginable. Exaggerated wounds covered her body, and she remained unconscious.
Lori was terrified and had been crying since earlier. Karl didn't comfort her; he just sat there, crying, taking care of the elf from the edge of what was a decent bed.
Because there's no one to comfort her, and it's very dangerous now, with people everywhere wanting to kill her.
The monster that appeared before her claimed to be from the church, but was a disgusting creature; Karl considered himself inferior to it. If the Demon King hadn't suddenly torn open the spatial barrier, turning the battle into a duel between him and the Demon King, he wouldn't have even had a chance to escape.
That thing has now vanished without a trace, replaced by a demon king. And, unsurprisingly, an even more dangerous monster.
Carl had promised to protect her, but now he didn't feel he could keep that promise.
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