Chapter 309: Arrival at the Hills, the Two High Disciples (
2025-04-15 Author: Amnesty L
When the group walked out of the war room, they saw Clementine still entangled in a fight with two Fourth-Tier Angels.
"Sooo interesting, heehee~"
Her composed, playful laughter rang out in the night.
Clementine's agile figure constantly weaved between the Tranquility Archon Angel and the Monitoring Dominion Angel, a short dagger in each hand, rapidly executing attacks and defenses.
The two massive Fourth-Tier Angels, facing the extraordinarily nimble Clementine, could only manage to suppress her.
*Clang—clang—clang—*
The dense sound of metal colliding, like a torrential downpour, played out in the plaza.
The elite troops from the Holy Knight Order, Cleric Corps, and Sunlight Scripture, who were stationed nearby to rest, now all looked at Clementine with looks of dread.
Powerful!
Insane!
This was the first impression everyone had after seeing the power Clementine displayed and hearing her deranged laughter.
"So strong!"
"Red" Orland licked his lips. His head, adorned with a helmet with bull's horns, swayed slightly, looking as if he wished he could join in.
"Black" Pavel adjusted the black round cap on his head, his hawk-like gaze sharp as he warned, "Don't do anything stupid."
As he spoke, "Black" Pavel quickly swept his gaze over everyone present, taking in all their expressions. He then glanced at the ever-calm Tang Zheng, and his heart jolted.
*He's not surprised that the two angels couldn't take her down?*
*Is it possible that this Leader Tang's strength is even greater?*
At this moment!
Clementine, who was being besieged by the two angels, also noticed the people coming out of the meeting room.
"The boring meeting is finally over."
Clementine bent her knees, then leaped powerfully into the air. She did a mid-air flip to dodge an angel's attack and fell headfirst toward the ground. Her fluffy golden hair hung down, the corners of her mouth turned up.
"I was getting so bored just waiting here!"
*Thud!*
Just as she was about to land, Clementine propped herself up with one hand on the ground, turned, and easily landed in a half-squat.
"Little brother, I must thank you for summoning these two little toys to help me pass the time."
Little toys?
Hearing this description, the expressions of all the elites present couldn't help but stiffen.
*Boom! Boom!*
The Monitoring Dominion Angel and the Tranquility Archon Angel beat their wings and charged toward Clementine again.
With a *snap!*, Tang Zheng raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The two Fourth-Tier Angels simultaneously stopped, hovering in mid-air.
The next moment, white light surged from the two angels' bodies, and they dissipated into countless motes of light.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Miss Clementine," Tang Zheng said calmly. He continued, "However, I do hope you can save your excess energy for the enemies we are about to face."
"Oh, hah."
The smile on Clementine's face grew wider as she stared at Tang Zheng with half-lidded eyes.
Tang Zheng responded with a smile.
Two Level 28 Fourth-Tier Angels had failed to take her down. Clementine's strength was truly top-tier among human warriors.
On the other hand, given Clementine's personality, the fact that she hadn't destroyed the two angels indirectly indicated her attack power was weaker than her speed.
Among everyone present, besides himself, the only one who could match Clementine in raw power was Remedios.
"Tsk."
A soft clicking of the tongue, not too loud and not too soft, came from Remedios's mouth. She crossed her arms, which were covered in silver-white vambraces. "Are we going to keep wasting time—"
"Clementine!"
"Have you forgotten the Cardinal's orders?" Captain Nigun's face had long since darkened. Suppressing his anger, his expression was grim.
If not for Clementine's special situation and position, he wouldn't have wanted to participate in this task with her at all.
The Black Scripture had two Quintentia. Compared to the other one, this woman was a mentally unstable person possessing the power of the Heroic Realm. Unfortunately, the other Quintentia was dead.
It had even led to the horrifying situation where the Water Bright Scripture, which was investigating the matter, was nearly wiped out!
This matter was a secret of secrets within the Theocracy; even he only knew a few minor details.
Hearing the word "Cardinal."
"I know, I know."
Clementine retracted her gaze, a bored expression appearing on her fair cheeks. She reverse-gripped her short daggers and slid them back into the sheaths on her back.
"Leader Tang, Captain Nigun, you two..."
Watching this scene, Kelart's eyes were grave, but her expression remained gentle as she began to speak.
*The Slane Theocracy actually has such a powerhouse?*
*I've never heard of her!*
Kelart glanced at Remedios from the corner of her eye and saw that her older sister's expression was serious. She then understood Clementine's strength a little better.
*What is the Slane Theocracy's motive for sending out such a mysterious powerhouse?*
*No wonder this Captain Nigun was so calm and showed no worry when he saw the conflict between Leader Tang and Clementine.*
*And then there's Leader Tang.*
*Those two angels were by no means ordinary Fourth-Tier angels!*
"The situation is urgent!"
Captain Nigun, still with a grim face, spoke coolly to Kelart. He then turned to Tang Zheng at his side, forcing a smile onto his stiff face.
"Leader Tang, Clementine has a rather flighty personality. Please don't take what just happened to heart."
This attitude surprised Tang Zheng.
Because of Clementine, his first contact with the Slane Theocracy had not been pleasant, and this was also his first time meeting Captain Nigun. Yet, the other man's attitude toward him was surprisingly friendly.
"I won't."
Tang Zheng replied simply.
"One more thing."
Remedios suddenly spoke up, her gaze falling on the somewhat nervous and uneasy Enri behind Tang Zheng.
"Before we move out, I want to ask, Leader Tang, are you sure you want to bring this ordinary person along?"
Remedios truly disliked Clementine, who had obvious personality issues but was powerful, but she wouldn't say much about it.
The other woman's power would be of great use in the upcoming fight against the undead. But as for this ordinary girl from "Free Will," Remedios had a rather strong objection.
"Enri."
"Yes, Lord Captain!"
"You could die."
"Enri is not afraid!" The girl clenched her fists, her gaze firm, her earnest voice ringing out under everyone's watch.
Tang Zheng turned his head and said with a gentle smile, "This is her will, and it is also the will of the 'Free Will' squad."
"Hmph."
Remedios stared at Enri, then at the smiling Tang Zheng. Her sharp gaze gradually softened. She snorted coldly and turned her head away. "Don't blame others for not warning you when you die."
"Hahahaha!"
Gagaran let out a hearty laugh. He raised his hand as if to pat Enri's shoulder but stopped in an instant, realizing his strength would probably injure her. He grinned.
"I admire you, human girl."
"Don't worry, even if your captain can't protect you, this old man won't let you get hurt."
Enri puffed her cheeks.
The brief interlude quickly ended. The three parties... no, it should be four parties.
The Holy Kingdom, the Slane Theocracy, the Adventurer's Guild represented by Tang Zheng, and the demi-humans represented by Gagaran all knew clearly that the relationship between them was even more fragile than they imagined.
If not for the existence of a common enemy, it would have been impossible for the four parties to gather at all!
Under the urging of their respective commanders and captains, the resting elite troops quickly assembled. Kelart, Remedios, and Captain Nigun each returned to their own units.
"Black" Pavel, "Red" Orland, Gagaran, Clementine, Tang Zheng, the Green Leaf Witch, and Enri gathered together.
Their fighting styles were all different, and they operated independently of the three main forces, serving an auxiliary and supplementary role.
Tang Zheng now also learned the identity of the middle-aged male paladin whose status he had previously been unsure of.
The other vice-captain of the Holy Knight Order—"Pink" Isidro.
Remedios was also one of the Nine Colors, bestowed with the title "White."
"To have four of the Holy Kingdom's Nine Colors gathered right here..."
From this lineup, Tang Zheng could sense Holy Queen Calca's determination to eliminate the undead in the hill region.
The nine members of the "Nine Colors" were not all granted their titles based on the strength of their power. Those who made great contributions on a cultural or national level could also be bestowed a title.
The few people before him could be said to be the strongest four of the Nine Colors!
Undercurrent Moon.
March 28th, 4:59 AM.
Only a few sparse stars dotted the night sky.
An absolute elite force of nearly 600 people left "Kalinxia" and were the first to arrive at the fortress wall.
The city gate of the central stronghold, which had not been opened for decades, swung open. Everyone passed through the gate of the fortress wall, heading straight for the Abelion Hills!
The punishing sun baked the earth.
Dry air and withered grass leaves entered everyone's field of vision.
The sky was already bright. After traveling for several hours, the group finally entered the hill region after dawn.
Even though it wasn't far from the Holy Kingdom, the climate difference between the two places was like night and day, leaving many people stunned and confused.
"There's definitely something wrong with the climate here."
Captain Nigun looked up at the sky, his heart sinking. This didn't deviate much from the prior intelligence.
The group's current location was a somewhat desolate forest. Due to the lack of water or the excessively hot temperature, the leaves on many trees were extremely sparse or even yellowed.
"Everyone, rest for now!"
Kelart gave the command.
The Slane Theocracy had dispatched the Sunlight Scripture as an assisting party, so on the surface, Kelart of the Holy Kingdom was the overall commander.
Following the pre-planned arrangement, all members of the Holy Knight Order spread out to form a circle, protecting the magic casters of the Cleric Corps and Scripture Unit within, to guard against any sudden incidents!
Southern part of the hill region.
The Corpse Pit.
Densely packed, protruding mounds of earth covered the entire land. The punishing sun was clearly hanging high in the sky, but the entire area was permeated with an inexplicable chill!
Beneath the mounds and the entire ground, a massive number of undead slumbered. A dense concentration of negative energy and death aura, invisible to the naked eye, constantly flowed and gathered in this area.
At the edge of the giant Corpse Pit, a rotten stench, as if it had been fermenting for decades, continuously wafted up from its deepest part. It was an odor that would make an ordinary person faint after a single whiff.
Swarms of mosquitoes and flies soared into the sky, gathering like black clouds that shrouded the area, emitting a scalp-numbing "buzzing" drone.
"I told you I would give you a chance."
The Alliance Leader, his entire body wrapped in pitch-black negative energy, stood silently at the edge of the pit, his faintly visible pale eyes gazing at a figure inside.
Khajiit!
He was currently in some sort of comatose state, situated in the very center of a pile of rotting corpses.
Turning around, the Alliance Leader ignored the stench and walked away. The dense swarms of thumb-sized mosquitoes and flies flew past from all directions but never dared to approach the area where he stood.
*Thud!*
Heavy footsteps followed close behind.
It was the tall Death Knight, following the Alliance Leader step by step as he left. Its terrifying aura and pressure seemed to have grown even stronger than when it was first born.
From its eye sockets and limb joints, a faint black energy overflowed, causing the red patterns on its armor to become even more terrifyingly crimson!
When the Alliance Leader left this area and reached the outskirts, he saw two figures, each sitting on a raised mound of earth.
One was an old man in his sixties with a hard, dry face, somewhat graying hair, and wearing a filthy, dark-gray robe. Black bugs floated around him, and standing stiffly before him was a special demi-human—a demi-human from a race known as the Blade Armor Beetles.
The other was a middle-aged man in full black armor, his face covered in long, finger-width scars that gave him an exceptionally ferocious appearance. His pitch-black armor was engraved with the image of some kind of wild beast, looking very rugged and exuding an air of brutality.
A cold aura emanated from his entire body. Stuck in the ground beside him was an equally black longsword, its blade glowing with a faint yellow magical light.
These two were two of the twelve apostles of Zuranon.
Besides the one who had died and Khajiit, there were still ten high disciples. Each of them had things they needed to do, more or less. Excluding those who were too far away or had other arrangements, the Alliance Leader had only summoned these two.
"Alliance Leader."
"Alliance Leader."
The gray-robed old man and the black-armored warrior turned their heads at the same time and spoke respectfully.
"How are you dealing with the resistant demi-humans?" the Alliance Leader's hoarse voice sounded.
"This old one has dealt with a portion of them." The gray-robed old man's expression was slightly awkward. "The demi-humans are now huddled in a corner. Their leader is the Snake King known as 'Seven-Colored Scales,' which is a bit troublesome."
The Alliance Leader did not speak.
The air fell silent. An invisible pressure seemed to emanate from the Alliance Leader, causing a bead of cold sweat to appear on the gray-robed old man's forehead.
"ROAR!"
Suddenly, the Death Knight, which had been standing quietly behind the Alliance Leader, its crimson eyes lit up. It let out a roar with a dry, flat voice, as if it had lost its vocal cords.
"Hmm?"
The Alliance Leader turned his head slightly to look at the Death Knight. "It seems our awaited guests have finally arrived."
The undead are most sensitive to the aura of the living. A large number of undead corpses were already buried in this land.
The Death Knight would be able to sense it as soon as the living drew near.
The black-armored knight raised his head, a twisted smile appearing on his scarred face. "I hear the Captain of the Holy Kingdom's Holy Knight Order wields one of the Four Great Holy Swords, Safarisia!"
"I wonder if she'll come here!"
As he spoke, the black-armored knight pulled out the black longsword stuck in the ground beside him. "I'm eager to find out—is her holy sword stronger, or is my corrupting sword stronger!"
(end of chapter)