Volume Four: Withering in the Mortal World - Melee

"You filthy, traitorous bunch—"

Before the words were even finished, half of an old Divine Spellcaster's head was severed, and his brains spilled out as his corpse was instantly engulfed by countless soldiers in dark red uniforms! These soldiers, like a blood-red tsunami, swept through streets and houses like a tidal wave, unstoppable in their path! After the blood wave subsided, all that remained were the mutilated corpses of the Papal Army and their broken weapons.

"Form ranks! Form ranks! Stop them -- Ughhhhhh!!!"

The paladins' shield wall was utterly useless against such a dense numbers, crumbling like an anthill under a flood. The hastily assembled Divine Spellcaster chanted Divine Word to construct a barrier, but a sudden rain of exploding bubbles from the sky sent them flying! Victory is the best reward for soldiers; the Revolutionary Army fought with ever-increasing ferocity, each shouting victory as they charged forward! There were sacrifices—on the contrary, the Papal army, with its advantageous terrain and superior equipment, saw the Revolutionary Army's casualties steadily rise. But the grief for the dead only strengthened their fighting spirit; each soldier fought tirelessly and bravely!

The garrison inside the city was caught off guard by this sudden and terrifying offensive, and they couldn't even converge from their respective garrisons to meet the enemy! The long period of peace had eroded their strength, and the revelry of the Holy Spirit Festival had numbed their spirits. The continuous collapse could only be described as a complete rout!

Amidst the crimson tide of the Revolutionary Army, a small force of only a few dozen men emerged like a sharp blade, surpassing their comrades and piercing deep into the enemy ranks. Though numbering only a few dozen, their mobility and lethality far exceeded the combined forces of all others. Paladins, Divine Spellcaster, and even any of the Holy See's troops could not approach within a thousand meters! The young man at the head wielded a ferocious blade, and with that alone, all who approached—people, weapons, and holy light—were cleaved away by an invisible wave of energy, unable to advance any further!

Following closely behind him was a tall, burly man, from whom countless dark purple rays of light surged, weaving into massive barriers that tore the scattered soldiers of the Papal Army into pieces, who then became the victims of the swords of the arriving members.

"--That's enough!"

A sharp shout rang out, and from Nid's center, all the ground, buildings, and roads within a kilometer radius melted and deformed as if in liquid, twisting into countless inorganic waves that surrounded the elite troops! Strangely, although these roads and buildings flowed like liquid, they still maintained the hardness of steel and rock, which was extremely eerie!

In the few seconds that the "hard giant wave" was delayed, countless enormous crosses of holy light descended from the sky, each exceeding a hundred meters in length! The buzzing of hymns echoed across the heavens, and hundreds of high-ranking Divine Spellcaster dressed in magnificent robes appeared in the air, chanting at an astonishing speed!

""""Hymn of the Holy Cross: The Holy Burial!!!"""

All the giant crosses emitted a blinding light, transforming into a cross-shaped holy light of divine punishment that crashed down from mid-air. Even from hundreds of meters away, one could feel the violent aura of divine wrath! At the same time, the hard, giant waves on the ground began to flow again, pressing down on Nid at the center like a tightening iron cage!

"... I personally have no grudge against you,"

However, Nid, who was being targeted by the enemy fire, did not show the slightest sign of panic. He simply slowed his pace slightly and took the dark blue longsword that was on his back with one hand.

"So, I'm sorry..."

Then, he threw the longsword straight up like a javelin.

Directly facing that enormous cross-shaped holy light.

Even the high-ranking Divine Spellcaster in the sky widened their eyes in astonishment.

This kid's gone mad—just as they were thinking that,

Click!

The sound of something shattering came from the point where the longsword and the holy light came into contact.

Starting from this point, a massive crack rapidly spread across the holy cross of light, while the sword's soaring momentum showed no signs of weakening! The clanging of metal was so loud it hurt the eardrums, and the massive holy cross of light was actually pierced vertically through the middle by the sword! In the end, it turned into countless particles of light and dissipated into the air!

As for you--

Nid looked in the direction from which the initial cry of "That's enough" had come. There stood a handsome knight atop a massive, hard wave, but he looked somewhat flustered.

"You, you better understand the situation! I'm supposedly the most promising Templar Knight Candidate, don't you filthy ants dare to be arrogant!!!"

With a wave of his hand, the entire land was imbued with the fluidity of liquid, as if he wanted to completely surround and kill Nid!

But Nid looked at him with a complex expression, a mixture of disdain and pity.

"To so openly expose oneself, to be unable to even grasp the basics of the situation, to be a mere pretty face who's clearly never experienced real combat yet, it seems the Templar Knight Candidate See is truly nearing its end..."

"Shut up! Behave yourself!"

"... I'm sorry, and then-goodbye."

With a gentle swing of the Greatsword, the air, rocks, steel bars, and even the protective armor became the medium through which the strike traveled. The handsome knight shuddered comically before collapsing dead; his heart had been precisely cleaved.

"Alright, all troops, maintain the original pace!!"

Nid swung his sword again with all his might, and the strangely shaped, wave-like stone sculptures blocking his way crumbled into dust and vanished. The Revolutionary Army cheered for the strength of their leader and quickly resumed their advance.

"Nid ..." At that moment, Uncle Brad leaned close to his ear.

"What's wrong?"

"The Papacy's garrison Sadington City has launched a large-scale operation, crossing the city walls and the Boundary Protection Saint Domain to advance into the city, probably hoping to use their home advantage to trap them like fish in a barrel."

"No need to worry, right now Sister Ye should—"

Boom!!!

A huge explosion came from afar. People turned around and saw a pillar of blood, hundreds of meters in diameter, shooting into the sky near the city wall in the distance. Tens of thousands of blood crystals Blood Flame scattered in all directions. At the same time, countless huge blood-red flying beasts flew around like locusts. The crimson light was clearly visible even here.

Nid and Brad looked at each other and shrugged.

"... It seems they're very active right now. That means we don't need to worry anymore; let's move forward!"

"Die! Die! You bunch of scum!"

Easy! Easy! So easy! The opponents I faced in the past were all monsters, always brutally defeating me. But this army in front of me is just a bunch of weaklings! This time I can finally enjoy the pleasure of slicing through vegetables! I'm still pretty strong, aren't I? My Blood Blade doesn't even need to be crystallized to easily cut through the paladins' armor. Every exploding Blood Flame can reap dozens of kills. The holy light, holy cross, and Kamehameha of the Divine Spellcaster can't even break through the Blood Crystal Shield. That's the difference between a weak minion wave and a god-tier hero! Hahaha! You think you're Roshan? Even if you were Roshan, I could easily kill you at level one!

"Quickly, scatter!"

"She's too dangerous! Don't fight her head-on!!!"

The Papal soldiers scattered in a panic, forming a huge encirclement around me, three layers deep. It seemed that high- Divine Spellcaster and paladins began chanting at high speed. The booming hymns made my eardrums hurt. Holy crap, have you guys never been to a choir before?! The hymns you sang had absolutely no rhythm!

"--And don't think I'm some kind of traditional boss who'll obediently wait for the protagonist to cast a spell and build up their ultimate attack. Shut up, all of you!"

A crimson wave gathered at my feet, forming a vast Blood Pool. Blood Beast roared as they emerged from the Blood Pool, lunging at the Divine Spellcaster who hadn't yet finished their incantation. But they weren't fools after all; a wall of light that appeared out of thin air blocked most of the Blood Beast —it was really tough, but—

"Self-destruct!"

The Blood Beast roared to the sky, exploding into scorching Blood Flame that melted the entire shield wall! But in the few seconds that the shield wall delayed, they had already completed their horrible incantation.

"Hymn of the Holy Angels!"

"The angels would cry if they heard you singing, wouldn't they!"

Ignoring my complaints, a milky-white sanctuary of light enveloped me, and at the same time, many... bird-men made of light appeared in the sky? Were those their so-called holy angels? Angels = bird-men?

"Hymnant Burial with Bayonet!!!"

The Birds of Light chanted in seemingly sacred voices phrases I couldn't understand, as if praising God or something. Hundreds, even thousands, of Light Gun, each tens of meters long, appeared in their hands, all aimed at me below, reminding me of the scene between Unit 2 and the mass-produced units.

"""""Emission!!!!!!"""""

The birdmen hurled thousands of Light Gun at me, the immense energy causing the air to churn and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to surge and boil. Such a powerful attack was truly a rare sight.

But--

"Ultimately, this attack is less effective than Sick Spider slicing with its thread..."

If their opponent had been the Sick Spider instead of me, they would probably be nothing but pieces of flesh and blood by now. Perhaps the so-called supreme god really did give them some protection.

But it's too weak.

Too weak, too weak.

It's so weak that I, having already fought against Special Class Combatant, can't even be bothered to watch it.

As I raised my hand, the massive Blood Pool beneath my feet began to boil violently, and a pillar of blood, hundreds of meters in diameter, shot into the sky! The countless Light Gun were swallowed up by the pillar of blood and vanished into nothingness. The so-called holy domain was also crushed into dust, and the splashed blood droplets turned into a dazzling rain of Blood Flame that enveloped the battlefield, turning hundreds of holy knights into charred corpses in an instant!

The sharp, blood-crystal forest pierced through the Divine Spellcaster, and the Blood Beast devoured the severed limbs with relish—a true tragedy. Unfortunately, I'm an atheist who never bows when dragged to Buddhist or Daoist temples during the National Day holiday, so don't expect me to pray for you.

I, Ye Jiang, who's used to being tortured, can finally unleash my fury!☆

"What's going on! Why, why did the Rebel Army suddenly attack?!"

Caught in the midst of countless Sadington residents fleeing towards the outskirts of the city, the spirit priestess was utterly horrified. Having grown up in a sheltered environment, how could she bear the cruelty of war? Even from dozens of miles away, the bloodshed and shouts of battle on the horizon filled her with terror.

"Why... Everyone was having so much fun, they were still playing with Yu Jie at the stall until it was all over, how could this... how could this... Ah!"

A large group of refugees, in their panic, pushed her to the ground, and the next wave of people ignored her and rushed forward, threatening to trample her underfoot.

"This way!"

A strong hand pulled her up, and then she felt her feet lighten as she was lifted up.

Yu Jie lifted the spirit like a cat and lightly jumped to the roof of a house. The spirit looked down at the surging crowd below, still feeling lingering fear.

"Really... Revolutionary Army! It's rare for me to come out and have some fun with the Princess, and you come and cause trouble. I didn't do anything to you... Sigh, whatever."

Yu Jie shrugged and started walking, with Ji Ling quickly following behind.

"No, shouldn't we flee outside the city? What if—"

"I'm fine, but what about you? If it weren't for me, you would have been trampled into mincemeat by now."

"Ugh... But, how strange! We're clearly caught in a war, but according to the doctrine, shouldn't the lives of the people be protected first in times of crisis? Why aren't there even a single Papal soldier directing the crowds? And, and—"

Moreover, she had seen several Rebel Army who abandoned their armor and weapons, ignored civilians, and only cared about escaping, while the rebels never attacked civilians.

"Hoping those cowards will save people... Hmph, this world isn't all that great... Never mind, don't think about it too much. I remember there's an old shelter underground in Sadington City; it's much safer there. I'll take you there now."

"... But what about you, Yu Jie?"

"I?" "..."

The spirit of the sacrifice looked down at the civilians below, crying out in fear as they fled. His eyes, once pure and innocent, were now filled with a profound and piercing sorrow.

"Ahhh..."

Yu Jie smiled helplessly.

"As expected, if we could just abandon the fearful civilians and go to seek refuge on our own, we wouldn't be Spirit Sacrifice-chan... Oh well, I was originally planning to just stand by and watch..."

"... Yu Jie?"

The man stretched his neck and pressed the muscles in his arms, seemingly checking his physical condition.

"Let's do it this way! After I get you to the shelter, I'll go... and meet that legendary Blood Blade Knights."

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A Fateful Encounter