Two hours later.
The raging tide of rioters finally struck an insurmountable wall.
Golden Radiance Avenue.
The broad avenue that divided Zellheim in two had become the boundary between life and death.
On one side stood tens of thousands of rioters carrying torches and crude weapons. Like demons that had crawled out of hell, they howled to storm the Upper District, that bastion of wealth and order.
On the other side lay a deathly silence.
Five hundred fully armed Templars stood in three ranks, their silver-white plate armor reflecting a cold metallic sheen in the firelight.
Behind them, more than a dozen heavy siege crossbows had already been set up, their thick bolts shimmering faintly with magic-breaking runes.
Farther back, atop the towers of Holy Radiance Cathedral, several high-ranking priests raised their staves, channeling sacred power.
A pale golden barrier of divine magic spanned the avenue like a transparent glass wall, shutting out the clamor and filth.
"Charge!"
"That's our hard-earned money!"
"Drag that old bastard of an archbishop out here!"
At the front of the crowd, several burly men, their eyes bloodshot from killing, carried a log freshly torn from a construction site and charged howling at the wall of light.
Sssss-
The instant the log touched the barrier, it was like butter hitting a hot pan.
A violent sizzling replaced the expected crash.
The log, so thick that it took two men to encircle it, met no resistance. It simply burned away as it slid forward. The two men at the front failed to stop in time, and their arms vaporized with it.
"Aaaah!!!"
Their piercing screams had barely carried before the sound of something cutting through the air drowned them out.
Thrum-
It was the deep report of the heavy siege crossbows firing.
Three bolts as thick