Chapter 333: Something unforeseen
Dozens of arrows whistled through the air as they hurtled towards Han Shuo like raindrops. However, the arrows had yet to arrive when the life-reaping light expanded in his palm and shot out once again.
As the Demonslayer Edge was infused with another thirty percent of Han Shuo’s magical yuan, countless resentful wails hissed out. The fresh souls, that the Demonslayer Edge had just absorbed, still yearned for life. They emitted an air of unwillingness and grievance that rose into the sky.
However, the bandits’ souls were tightly bound by the power of the Demonslayer Edge. They were simply unable to escape this eternal prison. Instead, the resentment and hatred made the “b.l.o.o.d.y Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts” even more powerful. Each blade of light was brilliant like blooming, colorful fireworks, charming and beautiful.
The Demonslayer Edge shot out of Han Shuo’s grasp and once again waltzed through the sky, creating a spiky, glaring red sun. None of the arrows reached Han Shuo as they were ground to dust by the “b.l.o.o.d.y Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts”. The attack didn’t lose one iota of momentum. It stretched the endless resentment and murderous intent into a dazzling, beautiful arc in the sky, aiming directly at Fa.s.s’ group.
“No! Boss, retreat quickly!” A bandit next to Fa.s.s cried out loudly. As soon as the shocked scream rang out, everyone turned their horses around, fleeing with their tails between their legs like defeated dogs.
Fa.s.s had originally wanted to scold the underling when he saw the latter frantically fleeing. However, he suddenly recalled the brutal scene from earlier created by the slas.h.i.+ng, b.l.o.o.d.y lights and couldn’t help but tremble with cold chills. Fa.s.s no longer dared to put on a heroic front. He yanked on the reins of his horse and fled.
The rotating, brilliant, b.l.o.o.d.y light was a ferocious life-reaping spectre for every person it shone down upon. Everything was disintegrated. Six minor leader bandits were first smashed to pieces. Then, the Demonslayer Edge roiled forth with its billowing murderous aura, spinning mid-air with a savage screech under Han Shuo’s control. The weapon pursued after Fa.s.s’ group, slowing down for no man.
The corpses below Brettel City wall were resurrected one by one whilst under the Canopy of Necromancy, blindly attacking all beings in their surroundings. A corpse strutted around with its intestines intestines hanging out, wielding its weapon and dripping with blood. This was obviously a major blow to the bandits, who’d been relentlessly rus.h.i.+ng at Brettel City.
A human’s most instinctive reaction in the face of fear would be to escape as far as possible. These bandits fully ill.u.s.trated the depths of this reaction. The elite bandits on warhorses, under Tuku’s command, fled at a much faster pace than what they’d charged forward with. Some had taken the opportunity to dash out like lightning before Han Shuo had created the acid swamps. It was quite the mystery where such potential had come from.
Of course, the majority of the bandits were taken out by the acid swamps. Puffs of deadly air drifted from the swamps, filling the atmosphere with the smell of corrosion. A dozen bandits, who’d risked their lives to rush straight into the acid swamps first, were instantly dissolved into a dozen skeletons. The remaining bandits, who’d yet to escape suddenly came to a complete stop.
In front of them was a mult.i.tude of acid swamps capable of granting an instant death, whilst at the rear, corpses of their former allies were drawing closer with each step. The bandits very much cherished their lives. They desperately considered which of the two sides would grant them the higher chance of survival.
After a short while, the desire to live won over the fear of corpses. Unlike Han Shuo, the bandits had no way to fly. They could only suppress the fear in their hearts, tightly clench their weapons, and face the slowly approaching corpses. These formerly dead bodies might have been their good friends in the past, but the bandits knew what had to be done under the threat of death.
“Kill them!” It was unknown which bandit had let out this cry. The still surviving bandits no longer hesitated. They used the sharp weapons in hands against the corpses who’d been comrades not long before, in order to protect their own lives. They cut off the heads of the corpses, letting their comrades die with a complete body.
The combat strength of the resurrected corpses wasn’t particularly strong; it was half of their strength when they’d still been alive. They weren’t as flexible as the zombie warriors summoned from the other dimension either. These corpses existed only to create fear in their opponents. Once the other party overcame the fear in their hearts and took action against these corpses, they’d discover that, not only were the latter’s actions quite slow, but their strength had also been negatively affected. These corpses couldn’t feel pain, but as long as their heads and hearts were destroyed, they wouldn’t be able to stand back up.
The bandits quickly discovered the weaknesses of the corpses. They were no longer scared after destroying a few of them. Their fear gradually subsiding, the bandits started to act together and annihilated the reanimated corpses.
These corpses no longer seemed too terrible compared to the acid swamps blocking the retreating path. As long as the bandits tried not to think about how the dead were once their friends, they would be able to deftly and neatly dispose of the corpses. The bandits weren’t kind folk to begin with, most of them were cruel and unscrupulous. They consoled themselves with the fact that the people facing them were already dead, as they wielded the sharp weapons in their hands to cut off the heads of their former comrades without hesitation.
Standing proudly in the sky, Han Shuo skillfully utilized his mental strength to manipulate the Demonslayer Edge, making it pursue Fa.s.s. Looking down upon the bandits, who were slowly calming down, he let out a light exclamation and mumbled, “I’ve underestimated their ruthlessness. No wonder they could become bandits. Soldiers wouldn’t be able to do that to their former comrade in arms.”
After muttering to himself, Han Shuo mused for a bit. He then revealed a cruel grin and said, “It seems like I have to give them a strong shot!”
When Han Shuo intended to use the bone staff to summon the undead army with his remaining mental strength, he suddenly heard an earth-shattering roar. The entire Brettel City seemed to shake after that huge rumbling sound.
That direction of that sound had come from behind Han Shuo. He blanked for a moment, before lightly exclaiming, “The magic crystal cannons are finally in use!”
Taking in a deep breath, Han Shuo planned to once again chant the lengthy magic incantation when he suddenly caught sight of a group in white outfits right where Fa.s.s’ group was fleeing towards. It was a team of roughly a hundred people who were slowly approaching. Amongst them was Kosse, who’d once fought against Han Shuo. There were also the Templars of the Church of Light, as well as several others in white ritual outfits.
Han Shuo was inwardly shocked. The Demonslayer Edge originally chasing Fa.s.s suddenly changed its direction to charge directly towards Kosse’s group. The weapon shot out b.l.o.o.d.y light in all directions as it fiercely targeted the Templars surrounding Kosse.
With his divine weapon “Revelation” of the Church of Light, Kosse could easily turn the tables. Under the holy light of “Revelation”, not only would the corpses, but even the undead army summoned by Han Shuo would become useless.
In the middle of this enormous battlefield, the defenses of Brettel City now completely relied on the undead creatures. Once this support was lost, Brettel City would officially embark down the path towards its doom.
Therefore, upon seeing Kosse appear in the distance, Han Shuo was determined to destroy this person above all else. Otherwise, the difficulty of winning would be akin to reaching for the heavens once Kosse opened “Revelation” to sing the divine hymns of blessing.
The “b.l.o.o.d.y Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts” spun rapidly and spewed out fatal b.l.o.o.d.y light straight at Kosse’s group with enormous murderous intent. Several low rank Templars at the front had yet to even unsheathe their weapons and make their move when the great, p.r.i.c.kly orb collided with them.
The Demonslayer Edge was as if thousands of spinning sharp blades. It whirled right into the midst of the low rank Templars, once more displaying its destructive power as it ground everything to dust. Several Templars at the front had their armors shattered, with even the bodies inside being crushed as well.
However, the Templars’ armors were obviously much more st.u.r.dy than that of the bandits. The bandits’ armor hadn’t even made a sound when they were transformed into powder, as if it was as delicate as the flesh of their owners.
But of course, these were the Templars of the Church of Light. The alchemists must have forged their armors using a special method, adding a magic resistance effect. Even though the Templars also transformed into a b.l.o.o.d.y rain like the bandits upon being crushed by “b.l.o.o.d.y Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts”, it actually took five times the amount of time when compared to the bandits.
It was because this process took five times the amount of time that it gave the six high ranked Templars around Kosse time to create a hexagonal formation. They quickly surrounded the rapidly spinning Demonslayer Edge in the center. Their six longswords, which had been blessed by baptism in holy water, burst out with a pure, divine light, shooting all at once at the Demonslayer Edge erupting with a thousand rays of b.l.o.o.d.y light.
A string of pleasing, metallic sounds rang out, followed by sprays of flying firesparks. The longswords possessed a certain purification effect after being baptized in holy water. The portion of soul energy that the Demonslayer Edge had just absorbed but had yet to fully a.s.similate was actually released back into the heavens and earth.
The remaining power of the holy light stopped the Demonslayer Edge from its continued rotation. It seemed that the sword formation of the six high ranked Templars had indeed some miraculous effect. The Demonslayer Edge’s speed became increasingly slower due to gradually exhausting its supply magical yuan. The weapon ultimately shot from within the sword formation into the sky under Han Shuo’s mental control.
The six high ranked Templars with the cross insignias on their chests were panting a bit after the Demonslayer Edge disappeared into the sky. Their eyes followed the weapon’s disappearance with lingering fear in their hearts, as if afraid that it would return again.
Red Archbishop Kosse was inwardly trembling in fear at the happenings before his eyes. He held “Revelation” and prayed over and over. Only when he saw that the Demonslayer Edge had truly disappeared, did he turn to speak to Han Shuo, “Heretic, your sins cannot be forgiven! Being burned by the holy flame shall be your final destination!”
Kosse had tried to patiently persuade Han Shuo last time, but he no longer had any patience with the latter today. In Kosse’s eyes, Han Shuo was a genuine demon through and through, even more evil than the Calamity Church. He must be exterminated at all costs, so as to free more people from his evil.
“I’m actually waiting to be burned by your holy flames, but I’m afraid that you won’t have the opportunity to do so!” Han Shuo coldly snorted with disdain. He suddenly set his right hand on fire, wrapping his entire right arm in the flames. Han Shuo glanced at his blazing right arm before glaring coldly at Kosse, asking, “Isn’t the color of your holy flame also something like this?”
“Heretic who dares to blaspheme the holy flame? Ye shall be judged by the G.o.d of Light!” Kosse held his head high and shouted loudly. He then sang the holy hymn within the careful protection of the six Templars.
Along with the melodious hymn that Kosse was singing, the Church of Light’s divine artifact, “Revelation”, began to quickly flip its pages quickly, even though there was no presence of wind. Circle after circle of light spread out into the surrounding with their holy presence. The corpses resurrected by Han Shuo instantly turned to dust under the s.h.i.+ning of the holy light.
Even the green-black Canopy of Necromancy that blotted out the sky was torn apart by rays of dazzling golden radiance, the acid swamps evaporated as well. In just a moment, the vast empire of death that Han Shuo had poured a great deal of mental strength into to build, had crumbled under the enclosure of the holy light.
It was indeed correct to say that the Church of Light was the natural enemy of necromancers. Han Shuo obviously didn’t think much of low ranked light mages. However, Kosse, who could use the power of the divine weapon “Revelation”, truly posed a great threat to Han Shuo.
Han Shuo had originally been certain of his victory, but now had his momentum disrupted due to the emergence of Kosse and his group. If he had no way to use his undead creatures to defend the city, protecting Brettel City with Han Shuo alone would be as hard as ascending to the heavens.
“I hate this light!” Han Shuo spoke with disgust when he saw the halos of holy light spreading out. However, his mind rapidly spun for a way to deal with them.
This was because he’d suddenly discovered that upon Kosse’s appearance, the desperately fleeing bandit leader Fa.s.s had led his underlings to return again.
The holy light cleared away all dangers given by the corpses and acid swamps. The several hundred bandits below the Brettel City walls once again began eyeing the spa.r.s.ely scattered soldiers.