The Fourth Scroll: Fading from the World - Chapter 286: Logging In, Exploring the Map, and Entering the Dungeon (2)

A vast expanse of scarlet red is taking over the sky.

"What the hell... a bird? A bat?"

It was too far away to see clearly; I could only barely make out that it was a flying animal, or perhaps a monster?

Sasin felt that the scene was somewhat familiar.

It wasn't because he had personally witnessed a similar scene, but because he had seen a similar description in a book—a history book recording the development of the Blood Blade Knights— that someone in the past had also experienced a similar phenomenon.

For example, there was the goddess who was active in the early days of the Revolutionary Army, inspired the morale of countless patriots, and was regarded as the spiritual leader of the revolution and the goddess of all the soldiers.

"... You must be seeing things."

Like other revolutionary fighters, he had heard countless stories about that woman who embodied beauty, strength, and an indomitable will. Although he initially listened to them as fairy tales, over time, he couldn't help but yearn for her. The portrait of that Blood Emperor still hangs at the Revolutionary Army headquarters, next to the portrait of the first Commander-in-Chief, Francis. Although human artists' skills were limited, they could still imagine her breathtaking beauty through the portrait.

"Boss, I'm probably not seeing things. Those things... are getting closer."

The massive, reddish horde of creatures drew closer, and they finally saw their true forms, involuntarily gasping in shock.

It's too grotesque.

Wings like membranous skin, blood-soaked bodies, muscles and nerves all exposed, and razor-sharp teeth in twisted beaks—there were thousands of these disgusting monsters, enough to make one's scalp tingle just by looking at them! The Blood Emperor of yesteryear could also create Blood Apostles, but according to records, those creations were extremely beautiful and noble, completely different from this blood-soaked horde before one's eyes.

"Tsk! It really is a horde of demonic beasts. Let's take a detour!"

"No, wait... aren't they attacking ground units?"

Indeed, from a distance, those strangely shaped flying beasts kept swooping down, and directly below them, holy light emitted by divine magic flickered incessantly, visible even from this far away.

"No way... are those ugly guys with us?"

"Hey! A big one is flying towards us!"

It looked like a dragon covered in tentacles, rapidly approaching them. Despite the Seventh Division being under tight camouflage at all times, the flying beast immediately pinpointed their location!

Everyone immediately went into battle mode. Regiment Commander Sasin frowned, because he still couldn't tell whether these unexpected troublemakers were friend or foe. The Seventh Division was skilled in infiltration and assassination, but their direct combat strength was simply not up to par. If they were to fight head-on, this flying beast would probably be enough to give them a hard time.

However--

"Commander!!!"

A familiar voice stunned Sasin.

The flying beast landed with a loud thud in front of them, making a great commotion, but the landing itself was very smooth. Several people in familiar uniforms jumped off the flying beast's back and headed straight for them.

The girl in the lead was of average looks, the kind of girl who would easily be overlooked.

"You... Dorothy!? When did you get back?"

"We arrived at Morian Port just a few hours ago and entered through the river there!"

"That's way too fast! And the border crossings must be heavily fortified with advanced search magic now. How did you manage to sneak over here?"

"Breakthrough through brute force!"

"... ah?"

"And then they move around using these... uh... flying red things!"

"Seriously, what exactly is this? A monster? How did you all—"

"It's the Blood Emperor!"

"Blood Emperor?!"

"Don't you remember? Two months ago I sent word that the Blood Emperor's successor had been basically confirmed! Now I've brought her here!"

"I thought you were dreaming..."

"How could that be, Commander!"

"You won't get away with this without evidence."

"These creatures were created by her!"

"It has absolutely nothing to do with the 'beautiful creature' described in historical records!"

"The adults say that's all embellishment by our ancestors! The actual Blood Beast are just like this! Don't be so disillusioned!"

"Where is the Blood Emperor's successor himself?"

"Well..."

Dorothy suddenly started stammering.

"She, she and her companions... well... how should I put it? They're all very individualistic... so... they split up as soon as they arrived."

"Are they insane?! This is suicide! Unless they're all super strong individuals at the level of a Grand Commander, how could they possibly venture alone into a chaotic army?"

"... What if I said, 'They really are?'"

Huh?

"In fact, based on my observations over this period of time, the three core combatants are probably no less capable than Lord Nid."

"How pitiful, how heartbreaking... But it's not my fault, you brought this on yourselves... Who told you to rebel against the Church..."

Alan dragged his blood-stained warhammer, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground, like the tracks left by a snail.

Around her was a sea of corpses, corpses, and more corpses. But apart from her, probably no one could immediately identify them as corpses, not because of their gruesome deaths, but because of the sheer variety of how they died. Generally, corpses in the same pile should have died in the same way, but the corpses here were a motley collection. Some were charred, some were clearly bloated from being soaked in water, and some were compressed into small, dense clumps of flesh, making it impossible to imagine what these people had gone through.

"So pitiful... so miserable... why did you have to anger me? Now I have no choice but to vent my anger on you all like this. It's not that I have a bad temper, it's just that you're all so pitiful..."

"Lord Alan, please recall the paladins immediately. No matter how strong you are, going to the battlefield alone is still—"

"Shut up! Do you want to become as pathetic as them? Or do you really think I can't even survive?"

"... sorry."

The adjutant immediately fell silent, secretly taking out a handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat from her brow. The murderous aura Alan had exuded when he spoke to her was absolutely genuine, and even she, who was already used to this morbidly manic superior, found it hard to bear.

Now, the only living beings here are her and Alan. Over a thousand Papal Imperial Guard have been sent out to pursue the Revolutionary Army, and Alan, in order to "kill more efficiently," has decided to act alone. His adjutant had to persuade him to stay behind.

If an ordinary general did this, he would definitely be considered crazy.

But Alan is different.

The top Templar Knight are all monsters.

They are always the ones who bully and crush others; I've never heard of a top-ranked Templar Knight being crushed by bandits.

If anyone here would dare to face Alan alone, it would probably be Nid himself.

"Ah, it seems the tragedy isn't over yet..."

Ahead, they discovered another backward Revolutionary Army, and in considerable numbers.

They were the spearhead force that launched the attack on Torres City while its attention was drawn to Green. They advanced so deep that they became the most difficult force to retreat from.

Even from a distance, it was clear they were in a sorry state, their numbers less than half of what they had at the start of their retreat, and almost all of the remaining men were wounded. It was obvious they had encountered and suffered a crushing defeat against Alan's army along the way.

"Oh dear... So quite a few paladins died at their hands? How pitiful... If they had just submitted obediently, they wouldn't have run into me... How tragic... They're about to... turn into mincemeat..."

Alan shook her head sadly, a few more tears sliding down her cheeks. To an outsider, she was simply a beautiful, heartbroken young woman. But her adjutant, who knew her well, knew that this so-called "sadness" was actually just her twisted bloodlust. Alan would often grieve over trivial matters and feel murderous intent towards inexplicable things. The more heartbroken she was, the more gruesome her opponents' deaths became. This was the origin of Alan's nickname, "The Mourning Warrior."

The Revolutionary Army on the other side also noticed the two people watching them from afar. A suffocating silence fell as these battered soldiers, focused only on escaping as quickly as possible, finally realized who their enemy truly was—

"It's... it's Templar Knight!! Templar Knight!!!"

"Run!!!"

"She finally caught her! Mingming, Mingming had already escaped all the way here!!!"

"Don't panic! Split into three teams and encircle them from there!!"

"Calm down! No matter how strong this bitch is, she's still just a human. Humans have ways to defeat her!!!"

"Accept the challenge! Accept the challenge!"

Faced with these Revolutionary Army who quickly recovered from their panic and actively fought back, the adjutant couldn't help but feel admiration. Although they were Rebel Army, they were indeed a disciplined army that never gave up easily.

What a pity.

They encountered Alan, the most bloodthirsty of the Templar Knight, the Fifth Seat.

"Die, you pathetic bugs -- Simulated Environment: Deep Sea"

All the attacking Revolutionary Army suddenly convulsed violently, then began to struggle violently, floating up in the air in a disheveled state, as if they had suddenly been submerged in water! Their faces were all purple, and their expressions clearly showed signs of oxygen deprivation, but that was secondary—their bones were creaking, their limbs were twisting in strange directions, and their entire bodies were being crushed little by little!

"How many died? How many are left? No problem, let's try again -- Simulation Environment: Magma Sea."

Boom!!!

The Revolutionary Army who had been floating just moments before were now lying on the ground. Their clothes and muscles turned to ashes almost instantly, and there was no sign of flames or anything like that. It was as if the Revolutionary Army had been thrown into lava. In an instant, more than 60% of this already heavily damaged army had perished, with no chance of resistance whatsoever!

"Sadness, isn't it? Pain, isn't it? I feel the same way, saddened by your plight..."

"--You should mourn for yourself first, bitch."

Ta-da!

A row of enormous red Crystal Pillar suddenly descended from the sky, separating Alan and the Revolutionary Army like a fence! At the same time, dozens, hundreds, and thousands of dark shadows enveloped the ground, and the crimson flying beasts had filled the sky without anyone noticing.

On the largest bird-shaped Blood Beast at the head of the group, a stunningly beautiful pink-haired girl looked down at the ground, facing off against Alan from afar.

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I'm so happy to be with Zuo Jiang and You Jiang on Qixi Festival!

Now that Qixi Festival has passed and the author has passed the CET-6 (College English Test Band 6), how about Monthly Votes reward to celebrate?