"You traitor, and you're even feeling sentimental?"
Somehow, Cuiske's low murmur reached Ed's ears, leaving the Son of God speechless.
Judging from Cuiske's tone, someone unaware of the background might think he's returning home in triumph. Who could possibly associate him with a traitor?
At Ed's command, the loyal Adrian Imperial Guard scrambled up the alchemical golem and pulled Cuiske out of it.
Ed's order was simple: the traitor in the cardinal's camp had returned to the Holy City, and the only way for him to enter was through a parade.
However, since the specific format was not clearly defined, the players quickly got into a discussion.
However, this dispute didn't last long, as the players quickly came up with a near-perfect idea—
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Oathbreaking Cardinal Cuiske, who had broken his oath, was bound hand and foot to the high cross.
The crosses assembled by the Soul Returner using Directed Alienation were tall and large, resembling a parade version of a sedan chair carried by eight men. Hanging people on them made them even more eye-catching.
Cuiske was left suspended in the air, several meters above the ground, exposed to a cool breeze, while the Soul Returner excitedly lifted the entire wooden frame and carried it forward.
Meanwhile, few people noticed that Ed's rare character team had been missing one person at some point.
A shadow appeared without warning directly above the group. If it was a cloud blocking out the sun, its movement was surprisingly fast.
Before the players could figure out what had happened, another wail and exclamation came from the direction of the city wall:
"Dragon! It's a dragon again!"
Everyone looked up and saw a crimson cloud streaking down from the horizon, completely tearing apart the few clouds that were already scattered across the sky.
A ball of scorching fire, accompanied by countless plumes of white mist, rushed straight towards them, not towards the city walls or the enemy, but towards the very front of the column, where Ed was currently standing.
As the endless steam dissipated, Ed, wearing a half-crowned green wooden hat and a white priest's robe, stood atop the head of the Red Dragon, his line of sight almost perfectly level with the city wall.
He stretched out his right hand and beckoned, and the knight's sword embedded in the head of the plant dragon Noya flew to him on its own and was firmly grasped in his hand.
"Everyone!"
Ed raised his sword high and swung it forward:
"Follow me into the city!"
"Oh oh oh oh!"
"Enter the city!"
"Enter the city! Enter the city!"
At this moment, the players who remained in the team and did not participate in the battle felt that their choice was absolutely correct, and their passion was completely Ignite.
Ed, standing at the very front and highest point, lamented the utter devastation his wallet suffered while thinking to himself that the money was well spent...
Seraphina truly lives up to her reputation as a prime example of someone who gets things done for money. As long as the funds are in place, she, as the client, can freely customize everything from the way the character appears to the way they enter the city, or any other aspect.
Given this dragon's dedication, even without learning economics, he would eventually make a fortune through his business.
"Boom boom boom!"
As if echoing Ed's bold words, several explosions came from the other side of the city wall as the players cheered.
Afterwards, the north gate of the Holy City opened before Ed as he had hoped, and a large group of blood-soaked Soul Returner stood on both sides to welcome his arrival, looking relieved that they had fulfilled their mission.
At this moment, these guys, completely immersed in their roles, seemed like true locals of this world. Looking at Ed standing atop the dragon's head, they shouted loudly, not even bothering to wipe the blood from their faces:
"Welcome, Son of God, into the city!"
Looking at these rather proud Soul Returner their homeland, Ed quickly pulled up the tags for each of them and, sure enough, saw the " Adrian Imperial Guard " tag.
As a player-organized group, the " Adrian Imperial Guard " is not only loosely structured but also has a large number of members, with many people simply joining for fun.
When Ed was arranging the positions, he specifically left options for players with multiple identities. They could either stay at the back and enter the city with him, or join the combat troops to experience the thrill of battle.
After receiving news from other Adrian Imperial Guard that Ed had already set off, these players began to head down to the city gates.
Especially after learning that Seraphina was also there to help, they launched an attack without any regard for the consequences.
Some people even resorted to self-destruction of Oil Vine to clear a path, which is the source of the previous explosions.
The outcome was positive— Ed arrived just as they opened the door, everything was so perfect, which made the players who had actually participated in the capture even more pleased.
"Well done."
The Son of God on the dragon's head looked at them and said with a smile:
"Everyone, get back to your units."
"Yes!"
The blood-soaked Soul Returner returned to the Imperial Guard, and the entire procession continued its advance, slowly entering the largest human city in the world through the city gates.
The breaching of the city gates does not mean absolute safety; at this moment, there are still nearly a hundred battlefields of varying sizes in the Holy City ahead of Ed.
On the city walls, the Holy Crusaders outside the north gate continued to gather and put up a stubborn resistance, but their efforts ultimately yielded little result.
The walls of the Tree Worship Church were wide enough that even a tracked fortress like the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess could run freely on them.
The advantages that were once to be boasted about have now become the enemy's reliance, a scene that made many Stained Ones officers' eyes practically spit fire.
Beneath the city walls, in the northern half of the city, there were still a large number of Holy City citizens and stragglers of the Holy Crusaders who had not yet recovered from the illusion.
They were either trapped in illusions and unable to extricate themselves, or they knew their sins were grave and were determined to resist to the end. In any case, they turned the entire North City into a quagmire full of traps.
Duma's "regular army," thanks to their high level of training and excellent teamwork, is currently sweeping through the entire city.
For them, it was just an ordinary live-fire exercise.
Fortunately, the scattered soldiers knew they couldn't stop the approaching tide, so the safest route in the entire northern district was actually the road from the Holy City all the way to the central square.
The so-called Son of God entering the city for pilgrimage naturally involves a show of force, and the core of this show of force is to demonstrate one's martial prowess.
For the average army of that era, the simplest way to show off their power was to extort money from the ground.
First they'll steal your money, then your food, then they'll demolish your house, then they'll kill your family...
Once the entire city has been plowed three times, who would dare say this army is weak?
But Ed's moral bottom line is still very high, and since he already considers the Holy City to be his own, he naturally wouldn't do something like extorting money from the city.
Why would someone rob my own home?