CA - Chapter 87
Chapter 87
The small city of Trenton wasn't large, and because of its dense population, the buildings were packed together. There were only two main streets; the rest were winding alleys.
The thick fog obstructed their vision, and the path ahead was littered with obstacles. The Holy Knights leading the way could only draw their longswords, using the length of the blades to feel out the path.
A cold, dark aura surrounded them, growing stronger the deeper they went. Tang Qiu took out her staff, silently recited a spell, and a barrier of light enveloped them.
The Holy Knights scouting ahead had been on high alert due to the constant corrosion of the dark aura. The appearance of the light barrier allowed their tense nerves to slowly relax.
Underfoot were corpses that had already turned to withered bones. The air in Trenton was filled with the stench of rot and blood. Lucille wrinkled her brow in disgust, paused for a moment, then slipped out of the light barrier, her figure vanishing directly into the white fog.
Tang Qiu glanced in the direction Lucille had disappeared, a hint of helplessness in her eyes. She shook her head slightly and continued deeper into the central area of Trenton under the protection of the Holy Knights.
It seemed that every time they dealt with Black Witches, Lucille preferred to act alone. At first, Tang Qiu thought it was because Lucille found their pace too slow, but after spending more time together, she realized Lucille simply wanted to find a path with fresher air.
"She's gone. Is that okay?" Karen was struggling against the thick, putrid smell. Catching sight of Lucille's departing figure from the corner of her eye, she paused, then turned to Tang Qiu and asked.
Tang Qiu shook her head at her. Before she could speak, a strange sound suddenly came from the air. A black crow shot out of the fog with a swoosh, its sharp beak piercing the light barrier as it flew toward Tang Qiu like a bolt of lightning.
Just as her staff had begun to lift, a flash of golden sword light suddenly appeared, splitting the black crow in two when it was half a meter from Tang Qiu.
Tang Qiu lowered her staff and glanced at Karen, who was sheathing her longsword. It was the first time Karen had protected the blonde bishop. Though she appeared calm, her eyes betrayed an unconcealable excitement. She kept stealing glances at Tang Qiu's expression as she put away her sword.
Young knights needed encouragement now and then. Tang Qiu raised her hand and patted Karen's shoulder, offering a token word of praise. "Well done. Keep it up."
After speaking, she lowered her hand and gestured for Karen to stand back a bit. The black crows were the eyes of the Black Witches, and they never appeared alone.
Strange noises could be heard from time to time. Although the thick fog concealed them, Tang Qiu could almost see the scene of them being surrounded by black crows. She raised her staff and chanted a spell in a low voice, and a flame of light slowly coalesced around her.
When the light flame appeared, the thick fog recoiled as if it had met its nemesis. A clearing of about ten meters around Tang Qiu became clearly visible. As the fog receded, swarms of black crows were exposed to their sight.
Karen looked up at the black crows that nearly blotted out the sky, and at the massive red figure that was only faintly visible behind them. The smug look on her face slowly vanished. She tightened her grip on her longsword, her expression turning grave.
The dark aura was now pressing down on them with clear intent. A Black Witch had discovered the intruders.
The light flame surrounding Tang Qiu suddenly dispersed into specks of white light that flew toward the black crows. The crows fled in a panic. Those that accidentally touched the white light were instantly burned to ash without even letting out a cry.
After the light flame vanished, few crows remained. The figure they had been obscuring was now fully exposed to Tang Qiu and the others.
The Gorefiend's powerful body was partially visible in the fog. It slammed its massive fist onto the ground in a rage and let out a furious roar in their direction.
This Gorefiend was several times larger than the one Vera had summoned, and its aura was far more powerful than any Tang Qiu had encountered before.
The ground beneath them shook violently. Tang Qiu steadied herself, her gaze fixed calmly on the Gorefiend ahead. She said in a low voice to Karen and the other two Holy Knights, "Hold it back. I'll find the Black Witch's location."
After the light flame disappeared, the fog enveloped them once more. Karen was some distance from Tang Qiu, and her figure was obscured as the fog closed in. Only her voice, full of vigor, could be heard shouting, "Leave it to me, Bishop Grace!"
Tang Qiu: "..."
The ground quaked as the Gorefiend charged, its roars echoing as if right beside them. Three streams of golden sword energy flew at the Gorefiend from different directions, forcefully halting its advance.
Tang Qiu listened to the sounds of fighting nearby and waited quietly for a moment. Seeing that Karen and the other two could indeed hold back the Gorefiend, she raised her staff, calmed her mind, and began to chant a spell in a low voice.
The incantation was long and difficult to pronounce. As Tang Qiu's soft voice continued, a white light slowly gathered at the tip of her silver-white staff. The power of a high-level light spell was often apparent even before it was fully formed; the thick fog was scattered as if by a gale.
The Gorefiend sensed the danger and charged recklessly toward Tang Qiu. It sent two Holy Knights flying. Karen clutched her injured arm, gritted her teeth, and stepped forward with her longsword to block the Gorefiend's path once more.
The white light above slowly condensed into a sphere. As the final syllable of the spell was uttered, the sphere suddenly burst. Dazzling white light shattered the Black Witch's Dark Domain, and brightness replaced the fog, blanketing all of Trenton.
A sudden scream came from her right rear. Tang Qiu turned her head to see a white-robed witch being thrown from a rooftop by Lucille, who had her by the neck.
The white-robed witch lay prone on the ground, clutching her chest and spitting out several mouthfuls of blood. Because the Dark Domain had been forcefully shattered, she suffered from the backlash and the attack of the light spell. Not only was she severely injured, but her mind was also on the verge of collapse.
Lucille stood beside the white-robed witch. Watching Tang Qiu approach, she said in a low voice, "There are two more Black Witches near a lighthouse to the west. The Dark Array is there too."
She had just found the Black Witches near the lighthouse, but before she could act, she sensed Tang Qiu casting a light spell. Although she knew an ordinary white-robed witch couldn't harm Tang Qiu, she still chose to come back and stand guard.
Tang Qiu walked to Lucille's side and frowned slightly. She used her staff to lift the hood of the motionless, white-robed witch on the ground and looked down. "She's gone."
The witch under the hood had, at some point, turned into a scarecrow.
Lucille frowned, her expression growing cold as a murderous glint flashed in her eyes. She stepped on the scarecrow and walked toward the Gorefiend, which had survived the light spell's attack. Her black knight's boots crushed the scarecrow in two.
The Gorefiend possessed brute strength, its crimson skin could defend against sharp blades, and the bloody aura surrounding it contained immense dark power. Although Karen had managed to hold it back, she was far from at ease. Due to her lack of combat experience, she was covered in wounds despite fighting with all her might.
Just as the Gorefiend knocked her back once again, Karen supported herself with her sword and took a deep breath. As she was about to charge forward again, she caught a glimpse of a dark figure heading toward the Gorefiend.
She froze for a second, thinking it was one of the other two Holy Knights. But when she looked up carefully, she realized it was the strange knight who was always with the blonde bishop.
With a single leap, Lucille landed directly on the Gorefiend's back. She pressed one hand on its shoulder and hammered its nape with the other. The Gorefiend let out a heavenward roar, struggling frantically to throw her off.
A white ring of light suddenly encircled the Gorefiend, binding it and preventing it from struggling. Lucille then proceeded to pummel its head clean off.
Blackish-red blood sprayed everywhere. Karen, being close to the Gorefiend, was splattered with it. The foul stench snapped her back to her senses. She stared at Lucille in shock, her brown eyes wide. "This..."
What kind of knight is this?
Tang Qiu walked over to Karen, staff in hand, and took out several vials of Holy Water of Light, tossing them to her and the other two knights. "You all rest here for a while."
Karen hesitated, holding the Holy Water. "What about you?"
"I'm going to track down the escaped Black Witch."
"But..." Karen was worried and wanted to go with Tang Qiu, but before she could say anything, the cool tip of a staff tapped her lightly on the forehead.
Tang Qiu looked at her with a smile, her tone gentle as she asked, "What were you going to say?"
Karen shrank back, raising a hand to her forehead, and answered cautiously, "I'll wait here."
Tang Qiu chuckled softly and turned to walk toward Lucille, who was standing by the Gorefiend's corpse. The murderous aura in Lucille's eyes had dissipated considerably. Seeing Tang Qiu approach, she pulled her hood down a little and said in a low voice, "That white-robed witch from before fled toward the lighthouse."
Glancing back at the Holy Knights who were tending to each other's wounds, Tang Qiu nodded at Lucille. "Let's go."
Using a scarecrow double to escape was the first witchcraft all Black Witches learned.
The white-robed witch dragged her injured body to the base of the lighthouse. The buildings near it had long since been razed to the ground. A square formation, about a thousand meters long, was carved into the earth with blood, and every line of the array was piled high with corpses.
Crimson blood flowed slowly through the formation like a small stream. Among the mountain of bodies, some who were not yet dead struggled to escape, but the moment their arms touched the edge of the array, they were swallowed by the thick, red blood.
The white-robed witch ran to the front of the formation. She knelt on the ground, pressing a hand to her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
In the center of the formation stood two white-robed witches. Their heads were bowed, right hands gripping sharp daggers, left arms hanging at their sides. Half of their white robes were stained red with blood, and a river of blood flowed at their feet.
The two white-robed witches had serene expressions; they had long since stopped breathing.
"The life of a Garcia Witch can only be dedicated to the Dark God." The white-robed witch sensed that Lucille and Tang Qiu had reached the lighthouse. Fighting through her groggy consciousness, she lifted a heavy arm, let out a low laugh, and muttered calmly to herself.
A sharp dagger appeared between her fingers. The white-robed witch expressionlessly slit her wrist, and warm blood gushed out, splashing onto the formation.
The witch's blood made the slowly flowing stream in the formation begin to boil. The viscous blood flowed out of the array, crawled up the white-robed witch's feet to her arm, and wrapped around her wrist.
The white-robed witch's face paled. She could clearly feel her blood draining away rapidly, but this brought her pleasure and satisfaction. A slow smile spread across her lips. She gripped the dagger in her right hand and plunged it forcefully into the side of her neck. After a sharp pang of pain, her vision went black, and she collapsed to the ground.
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