Chapter 823 - 809: Trump Card?
Chapter 823: Chapter 809: Trump Card?
Sofia’s consciousness cleared from the chaos, and she heard the weak moans of Bella and Shi Wu in her ears.
She propped herself up on her arms to stand, realizing her back was against something hard.
It was the Captain of the Guard, who had spread his arms to shield her from the exploding side, protecting Sofia from much harm.
"I’ll heal you all immediately."
Saying that, Sofia clenched her right fist, and golden light seeped through her fingers, shining onto the group.
[Mercy of Virtue: Reduces the attack desire of surrounding creatures, broadly heals teammates’ bodies and minds]
Bella and Shi Wu’s moans gradually subsided, but Sofia’s previously unblemished skin cracked in many places, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Fortunately, she could endure it.
This kind of injury transfer took effect quickly, and when it landed on her, the penalty was greatly reduced, making it worthwhile.
After finishing these tasks, Sofia drank a bottle of Healing Potion before standing up, supporting herself on the shoulder armor of the Captain of the Guard, and said, "Sorry to trouble you to protect me again. What about the other two? I hope they..."
Sofia’s voice trailed off as she watched the blood drip from the Captain of the Guard’s faceplate.
...
Bella was the last to wake up. After realizing she was unharmed except for the dust covering her, she quickly grasped what had happened.
"Lady Sofia, you used Mercy on me again?" Bella’s voice carried concern, as having the Hero injured on her behalf always made her feel guilty.
However, this time was different; she didn’t hear Sofia’s usual light-hearted "It’s alright."
Sofia stood not far away, her head lowered, fingers resting on the Captain of the Guard’s chest plate.
Shi Wu stood a few steps away, his gaze fixed on the Captain of the Guard’s back, silent.
With a bad feeling, Bella got up and approached, following Shi Wu’s line of sight.
The back of the Captain of the Guard had no armor; from his shoulder blades to his waist, the whole area had been torn by the explosion, revealing dark red muscles and stark white bones. The once-flowing blood dried on the now breathless body.
This Holy Knight, who habitually spoke of sacrifice and duty, ultimately sacrificed himself for his duty.
And further away, the only remaining two Church Warriors were buried under the rubble, with only a few limbs exposed.
When Sofia invoked [Mercy], as long as there was still a breath left, it could save them, but they had died in the explosion.
"How... could this be?" Tears welled in Bella’s eyes but were quickly replaced by hatred. She gritted her teeth and fetched her Longsword from the rubble, "Demon—King—!"
"Don’t go!" Sofia suddenly pulled her into an embrace, "It’s just you and Samuel left, Bella, don’t go, I beg you..."
"Lady... Lady Sofia..."
On the other side, Shi Wu gave a slight bow to the still-standing corpse of the Captain of the Guard. A large part of his survival until Sofia used [Mercy] was due to the Captain’s effort. Although the Captain’s intention was solely to protect Sofia, it didn’t prevent Shi Wu from being grateful and respectful.
At the same time, he felt some relief in his heart, thankful that his partner was an undying Mushroom Race member.
No matter if now the explosion had obliterated all the mycelium, he knew they’d meet again soon—assuming he didn’t perish in the Battle of Oath City.
Shi Wu silently turned and headed to the front lines.
Although he couldn’t deal with the Demon King, the battlefield of Oath City still needed his contribution.
...
On the battlefield up ahead, the appearance of the Demon King turned Oath City into an isolated fortress. The previously dissipated spirit of the Imperial Army rekindled sharply, like embers doused in oil.
Everyone understood that once the new defense lines broke, the resonance of the Defense Runes failed, and the external Magic Power supply was cut off, Oath City was a spent force, its fall was only a matter of time.
Quickly taking this city and then aiding the Empire’s homeland or using it as leverage to negotiate with humans and the Fungus Castle was much better than surrendering outright.
Darean and Sigmund didn’t waste this opportunity, commanding their forces to press forward again.
Facing the Empire’s offensive, Lin Jun casually stuffed the freshly deceased No. 9 into the giant Puki, directing it to hold off the Abyss Beast.
At the same time, he ordered the First Mushroom that had been harassing Levi from the outskirts to launch a death charge to at least alleviate some pressure.
But to be honest, Lin Jun no longer held much hope for the battle in Oath City, especially since the Demon King was present.
In theory, even if Oath City was lost, the loss was humanity’s, he suffered no detriment, and could reasonably absorb the remaining forces of the United Kingdom.
For the Empire, the cost of this battle was the collapse of more than half of its territory, effectively falling with the United Kingdom, making Lin Jun the biggest winner.
But he knew the Demon King wasn’t foolish, there’s no sense for him to intentionally play such a poor move.
Though it’s not yet possible to determine what the Demon King was scheming with the information available, with the principle of "the more the enemy wants to do something, the more you should stop it," even though hope was slim, Lin Jun intended to give it a bit more effort.
Just now, a fearless force had returned on Lin Jun’s side.
Although it was a useless Sword Saint who couldn’t even handle the fog, some help was better than none.
Lin Jun gathered the Magic Power remaining in the fungal mat of Oath City to sketch out a temporary Teleportation Array.
However, the Demon King clearly didn’t intend to give Oath City a breather.
He raised his hands high, directing massive Magic Power skyward.
The skies above Oath City changed suddenly, heavy thunderclouds surged and gathered, bolts of electricity traversed the clouds, with a giant lightning ball slowly taking shape.