Lehman and his companions rode through the streets of Changge Fortress.
After the battle ended, the townspeople retreated into their homes, locked the doors, and the streets lay nearly deserted, creating a sense of desolation.
"Sir Lehman, is your hand alright?" Knight Levin asked.
"It's not a big deal," Lehman House shrugged. "At least it's still functional." But the gesture instantly made his brows furrow.
The assault on the eastern gate of the fortress went off without a hitch last night. With only about twenty guards left, we never expected the enemy to launch an attack from within the city walls.
The bugle had sounded, but reinforcements would take at least fifteen minutes to arrive. Fifteen mercenaries, having taken their pills, charged up the city walls and slaughtered the guards one by one. Meanwhile, Lehman led Knight to open the gates. In the dim light, he failed to notice a side entrance near the wall, where two guards suddenly emerged. One of them lunged at him with an iron hammer in hand.
To make the winch easier to turn, he had tucked his weapon into his waistband. In the panic, Lehman had to brace himself with his arm. At the same moment, Levin from the other side thrust his longsword straight into the guard's waist. The fatal blow reduced the hammer's force by half, yet it still left a deep indentation on his arm's armor.
At first, Lehman didn't feel much pain. After seizing the city gate, he realized his right arm couldn't be lifted. When he removed the arm guard, his forearm was swollen like a rolling pin.
"I wish there were pain-relieving herbs in the church," said Levine. "They always prepare some oddball things." "Like pills, for instance," another Knight Dorn chimed in with a grin.
Thirteen Knights had suffered two casualties in the night raid, with one severely wounded who was groaning in the camp—likely to die tonight. Overall, such losses were bearable, Leeman thought. With the militia now inside the city, the fortress was effectively under his control.
Before long, the group arrived at the church entrance where a hundred-strong militia was already waiting. The moment they saw Lehman, their faces lit up with eager anticipation.
"Hand out the pills to them." Lehman dismounted, and only after seeing that everyone had received the pills did he lead his team up the stairs toward the main hall.
"Stop!" two gatekeepers shouted. "In God's holy land, no weapons allowed!" Levin drew his weapon and thrust it forward. "Got it? Here's the deal!" As the devotee reached for the longsword, Levin suddenly gripped the hilt with one hand and yanked it upward with a forceful motion, sending the other's hands crashing to the ground.
"Ahh—" The believer's agonized cry had barely escaped his throat when Knight thrust the sword tip into his throat.
Though his nickname is 'Iron Shield', his swift sword rarely meets its match.
Another believer was also slit in the throat by Dorn, while Lehman kicked open the door and walked into the hall with a blank expression.
"Who are you?" a middle-aged man in a white robe with blue trim stepped forward, his face unflinching as he met the bloodied blades. "How dare you breach the church! Children, seize them!" Reman sneered. With most townsfolk confined at home, only twenty to thirty faithful remained in the church. Facing Knight, the battle-hardened warrior, the rebels faced certain death.
Before he could issue his command, Dorn had already sneered as he drew his sword and slew a surging believer. The others swiftly joined the fray, plunging the church into chaos. Recognizing the dire situation, the priest cried out, "Children, drink the holy potion! May God grant you the mighty power to vanquish these bandits!" His Majesty Tefiko's guess was spot-on. Reman's heart leapt with joy—there was indeed a pill here! The believers 'eyes suddenly blazed red, their faces contorted with veins bulging. Within the potion's potency, an ordinary person could unleash strength and speed beyond human limits, the narrower the terrain, the harder it was to withstand. "But you're not alone," he mused. "Savor your own power."
"Clear!" he bellowed, "The militia shall confront the enemy!" The rear guard, hearing the order, hastily swallowed the dual-colored pill and plunged into combat with the frenzied followers. Only then did the priest's face turn grim. "Why would you possess..." "The Holy Pill?" Raiman circled the chaotic crowd, advancing single-handedly with his sword. "This is the Church's sacred gift! Had you not obstructed its path, Your Majesty would have long unified Graycastle." "Your Majesty?" The priest's eyes widened. "You are Tefiko's—" The words froze as Knight's blade pierced his chest, cutting through his heart and lungs.
The battle, marked by a stark disparity in strength, concluded swiftly. Over twenty devotees were slaughtered, their bodies strewn across the ground. As the drug's effects waned, the militiamen exhaled heavily, settling down with satisfaction against the corpses, utterly indifferent to the blood that flowed freely.
Lehman increasingly felt the weight on his arm, as the sword strike had left him with a tearing pain. Occasionally, he even considered swallowing the black pill to numb the fatigue and pain in his body, but the thought was always abandoned upon seeing the grotesque appearance of the person taking the medication.
Lehman had gained profound understanding of the two pills sold by the Church. For a healthy individual, the pills can only be effective for a maximum of three times. The first effect lasts approximately fifteen minutes, after which the duration progressively shortens while simultaneously inducing strong dependency. Prolonged non-adherence to the medication will lead to gradual physical deterioration until death.
Exploiting this trait, he administered the pill to all the militiamen before departure to compel obedience, as the drug's potency could transform even the most feeble peasants into bloodthirsty beasts. These approximately one hundred individuals have now undergone the second administration, with only one dose remaining for their use.
However... even if the medication is continuously supplemented after three doses, it can only alleviate the pain but cannot reverse the process. In other words, taking the first pill is equivalent to one foot already stepping into the coffin. Of course, Lehman would not disclose this to these individuals.
Undoubtedly, the Dual-Color Secret Pill was the Church's conspiracy, a fact His Majesty Tefiko had clearly recognized, which led to its prohibition for all Knights. Yet it was also a crucial tool for unifying the kingdom—or rather, an essential necessity. Without it, His Majesty could not have defeated Giasia Wemberton, who possessed the same pill.
When His Majesty first mentioned this, Lehman was utterly astonished. He couldn't fathom why the Church would support two royal lineages in a power struggle. Yet as events unfolded, his conviction deepened. Now, seeing the pill in the western church, he had no doubts—The Church had no intention of aiding any Prince to the throne. Their true aim was to seize the entire Graycastle.
"We've found the pills in the basement—four large crates, with thousands of pills in total," Leven reported excitedly after thoroughly searching the church. "There's also plenty of gold, jewels, and silk, likely donated by the faithful." "Take everything you can carry, and burn what you can't," ordered Leiman. "Roland Wimbledon did this anyway—we're just helping the Church suppress the rebellion." Since the secret pills must be provided by the Church, it wasn't yet time to completely break ties. Blaming the Fourth Prince would leave them with no evidence. To avoid arousing the Church's suspicion, His Majesty stayed in the north, feigning compliance with their orders while sending a small contingent of Knights to mobilize a large militia for the western border seizure.
With all Church forces now concentrated in the Kingdom of Wolfheart, they have no time to address the situation here. Thus, unifying Graycastle must be accomplished swiftly to free up resources against the Church's assault. His Majesty Tefiko believes an attack on Graycastle is inevitable, and before that happens, they must stockpile and collect as many pills as possible. He also ordered the Alchemy Association in the capital to study the secret potion's composition, aiming to replicate it as soon as possible.
Now that the pill is in hand, the mission is down to its final step—completely eliminating Roland Wimbledon.