Tristan flicked his wrist, using the armor on the back of his hand to deflect the dozen or so small knives one by one.
"Charge!"
"Ohhh!!"
Over a hundred knights responded in unison, raising their lances high. They released their holy energy, which merged with Tristan's own power to form a massive silver torrent that surged toward the Great Wall!
Schiram seemed to have no intention of stopping them at all, allowing the knights to gallop past him.
At this moment, the knights understood that their charge had failed, and no one was willing to throw their lives away for nothing.
They bypassed Schiram and raced straight for the Great Wall.
But just then... the lead white horse suddenly let out a cry of agony.
Its front legs reared high before it collapsed to the ground.
Tristan rolled and stood up, but his feet suddenly stumbled. He managed to steady himself on one leg, leaning on his conical lance, as he looked at the fallen horse in shock.
White foam was already bubbling from the horse's mouth. A small black knife was buried deep in its chest.
What flowed from the wound was not bright red blood, but a pitch-black pus.
The blade was poisoned!
Tristan realized that in the darkness of the moment, he couldn't see exactly how many knives there were. He had only deflected the ones aimed at himself.
He never expected that Schiram's true target was his mount!
He looked down at his own ankle. The tendon of his right ankle had been severed. He couldn't put any weight on it, making even standing a struggle.
Once unmounted, he had no ability to fight on foot.
From the very beginning, Schiram intended to keep him here.
The surrounding knights had instinctively swerved to avoid Tristan. However, when they saw his white horse collapse and foam at the mouth, they all pulled on their reins, intending to turn back.
"Do not look back! Retreat immediately! That is an order!"
Tristan roared without turning his head.
Since the Demon Blade Schiram wanted to keep him here, it was nearly impossible for him to leave with a severed ankle tendon.
Looking up, Tristan saw Schiram had appeared five meters away. A faint smile played on Tristan's lips.
"I see. You plan to keep me here to weaken the overall strength of the Temple knights?"
"Since you understand, then please die quietly!"
Schiram did not intend to give Tristan any time to react. He had already seen over two hundred more people leaping down from the distant wall.
Judging by their aura alone, this group of over two hundred was significantly stronger than the previous squad.
Furthermore, the aura of the leader clearly marked him as a Guardian Knight.
If the fight dragged on, two Guardian Knights might join forces.
If that happened, even Schiram would not be certain of keeping them here.
In fact, he might end up facing an unexpected disaster himself.
"Kill that knight!!"
Schiram was not particularly suited for direct confrontation, as evidenced by his skills.
Daggers and deceptive illusions were techniques designed for trickery and sneak attacks.
Simply put, he was better suited for causing trouble from the shadows.
At Schiram's command, countless demons went wild. As a Demon Commander, his strength had already reached level fifty. In a one-on-one fight, he could even hold his own against a Temple knight.
And that was before considering a sneak attack!
"Roar—!"
Countless demons shouted as they charged at Tristan. Facing the seemingly endless swarm, Tristan's expression remained unchanged.
However... when the beacon tower in the distant west suddenly went dark, followed by the one a hundred and fifty miles away, his heart sank.
The tower at a hundred and twenty miles went out too.
Then the one at ninety miles followed suit!
In that instant, Tristan's face darkened as he realized the truth.
A diversion!!
At this thought, Tristan's expression shifted violently as he glared at Schiram!
"A diversion... Your target from the very beginning was the Guardian Knights!?"
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Schiram sheathed his twin blades and actually raised his hands to applaud Tristan amidst the chaotic battlefield!
"Impressive, impressive. You are a clever human."
Tristan's mind raced through a hundred possibilities before he suddenly thought of one!
"Has your demon army's strategy changed?! Are you targeting high-level powerhouses now!?"
"Sigh! What a sharp sixth sense you have."
Hearing Tristan say this, Schiram's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Tristan in disbelief.
But immediately after, the lewd smile on Schiram's face vanished, replaced by a cold chill.
"It seems I really cannot let you live."
Tristan heard this and smiled knowingly.
"Your plan is good, but you calculated one thing wrong. This time, the Saintess... will not be so weak!!"
He recalled the Saintess he had only met once.
At first, Tristan indeed felt the Saintess was too weak, no different from previous Saintesses.
However, when he heard that the Saintess had led five thousand knights and twenty thousand infantry to annihilate a night-raid of a hundred thousand demons, he was stunned.
If that Saintess was truly a weak person, how could she have achieved such a feat?
You can judge the whole from a single glimpse.
A legion of only five thousand knights could defeat a demon army of a hundred thousand.
That was definitely not something an ordinary person could do!
Tristan was confident that the Saintess would see through the demon race's plot!
At this moment, he had given up on the idea of escaping.
The tendon in his right foot was severed and could not be restored quickly, and there were still over a hundred knights behind him who needed to retreat.
In that case, what did it matter if he stayed behind?
He leaned on his conical lance with one hand and drew the longsword from his waist with the other.
He looked up at the vast, boundless demon army.
"Come on!!"
"Roar—!"
The first demon charged forward, raising its butcher knife.
In the next second, the longsword slashed down diagonally. The demon's body was instantly split in two, falling to the ground as a corpse.
"Demons... is this all you've got?!"
Tristan roared, raising his longsword again to sever the neck of another demon. He reached back to grab the falling corpse and hurled it back into the fray!
"Go!"
Schiram watched Tristan, who was now filled with grim determination, and his hands quietly brushed against his waist.
A dozen black knives appeared in his palms.
In the next second, countless demons surged forward like a crushing tide.
Black blood sprayed, and the sound of steel cutting through flesh was constant.
Corpse after corpse fell before Tristan. In just a few short minutes, dozens of bodies already littered the ground at his feet!
Black blood stained the yellow earth, and the messy corpses left the ground scarred.
Tristan stood on one leg, his back against the conical lance planted in the ground. He held his greatsword high with both hands, viciously hacking at anything that dared to rush before him.
Even as more demons gathered, the longsword in Tristan's hand did not falter for a moment.
However, at that moment... Schiram had quietly moved to within two meters of Tristan. With a flick of his wrist, a dozen knives poured out!
If even one of these knives struck Tristan, this heroic Guardian Knight would be torn apart by the countless demons.
Tristan had been prepared. He had kept his senses locked on Schiram, the one who favored sneak attacks, even without looking at him.
The moment Schiram flicked his wrist and exerted force.
Tristan did not hesitate to reach out and grab a demon's corpse, pulling it up to block his side!
However, although the dozen knives all sank into the demon's corpse, one knife suddenly passed through a gap in the body, flying straight for Tristan's immobile leg!
"How bold—!"
Suddenly, at this critical moment!
The neighing of a white horse pierced the sky!
"Sword of Holy Light!!"
Screech!
Clang—!
Like a peerless sword unsheathing, a crisp sound of a blade instantly struck the flying knife that was about to hit Tristan's leg.
In the next second, Klo's figure appeared beside Tristan.
He reached out and grabbed Tristan's shoulder, lifting him up and placing him behind his own horse!
At the same time, he suddenly turned back to glare at Schiram!
"Holy Trial!"
With a thunderous shout, Klo instantly released his strongest skill!
In an instant, holy light shot into the sky.
With Klo as the center, everything except for the holy knights was struck by the powerful holy light.
The moment those demons touched the holy light, their bodies hissed and crackled like they were being doused in boiling oil.
Demons were almost immune to pain.
However, the only pain demons could not ignore was an attack from holy energy!
"Augh—!"
Countless demons screamed as they retreated frantically in all directions, but the speed at which the holy light spread was many times faster than their running!
Seeing this, Schiram retreated quickly, knowing that it was now nearly impossible to keep Tristan here!
"It seems I won't be able to kill you this time. Temple knight, can you tell me your name? Next time, I will surely take your head!"
Tristan looked toward Schiram and responded loudly:
"I am the Guardian Knight of the Kingdom of the Moon, Tristan Stuart! Schiram, I will be waiting for you!"
"Retreat—!"
Klo issued the order without looking back. Two hundred Brave Knights escorted Tristan and Locke as they quickly returned to the base of the wall.
The overall movement speed of the demon army was quite slow, and since this was the vanguard, they didn't have many cavalry.
While the buffer zone was large, it didn't offer much room for knights to maneuver. Therefore, even if the demons had cavalry, they wouldn't be deployed here.
They had intended to kill a Guardian Knight, but in the end, they had failed!
The demon army seemed to realize they might return empty-handed this time and simply gave up the assault. After leaving behind nearly ten thousand corpses, the countless demons slowly retreated like a receding tide.
Standing atop the wall, Klo watched the retreating demon army, but alarm bells were ringing in his heart.
Since the demons had begun their offensive, they would definitely not stop here. They failed to achieve their goal this time, but what about next time?
What about the time after that??
No, the situation here must be reported to Brilliant City as soon as possible.
The internal rebellion had been suppressed. Although the Garnet family estate at Seaview City would still hold out for a while, they had reinforcements from the Kingdom of the Sun, General Yanagi Musashi.
They likely wouldn't be able to cause much of a stir.
Restoring peace was only a matter of time.
"Where is Lola?"
The issue with the railway would have to wait until the first experimental train had run normally for a while before construction could begin.
What needed to be done now was to organize the roads around Brilliant City.
Crawling out from under the soft silk duvet, the smooth blanket slid down from my collarbone, traveling downward until it caught at the peaks.
"Your Highness, Bishop Lola came by once this morning and then went back to her work."
"Prepare my bath and clothes."
"Yes, Your Highness."
I arrived at the massive bathhouse, which was called the baptismal chamber. This was because the Holy Church's Holy Water... was manufactured and shipped from here.
Ugh... strictly speaking, am I currently manufacturing Holy Water?
No one would bathe with me because... it would affect the quality of the Holy Water.
Therefore, I was the only one in the bath.
The Statue of the Angel on either side held bottles, making a pouring motion, with warm water continuously spilling from the mouths of the bottles.
This water was heated and adjusted to the proper temperature before entering the baptismal chamber.
Soaking comfortably in the water, a morning bath was the first thing I did every day. I had gradually grown accustomed to this life.
Freshly bathed and fragrant. Although being a Saintess meant I had nothing to do with cosmetics, the faint scent I carried was still hard to hide.
I changed into a clean Saintess's robe and looked at my refreshed self in the mirror, taking a deep breath.
Another beautiful day.
"Nara."
"Here, Your Highness."
Nara stood behind me, gently smoothing my silver hair with a silver comb.
"Did Lola say anything when she came by this morning?"
"Bishop Lola didn't say much. She just took a look and left. Oh, right, she left this for you to review."
I took it and glanced at the numbers. It was basically the resources and money seized after the rebellion, as well as the expenses paid out.
Perhaps to avoid suspicion, the Garnet family had not moved the contents of their warehouse on a large scale beforehand.
In other words, there were still many good things in that thousand-year-old ancient estate.
Adding in the properties seized from the Cromwell family yesterday, it was quite a profit.
I did a quick calculation in my head.
With this money, I could almost start building the roads.
"Are there any documents that need to be signed today?"
"Your Highness, there is nothing today. You can take a good day of rest. I suggest you do your studies and relax for the day."
Nara's so-called studies were actually just prayers, nothing more.
"Has Camilla come by these past few days?"
"Lady Camilla has not visited."
"Then let's go to the Alchemists' Association. It just so happens I have something to discuss with her."
Rate on N.U.
