Many players agreed with this and realized something small—
Ever since they emerged from the tunnels and joined the battle, dozens of bastards on the city wall have been constantly shooting arrows at them from the shadows.
Previously, the constant close-quarters combat and bloodshed was one thing, but now that the Treant Hunter can't be killed, are these arrow-shooting beasts also off-limits?
And so, guided by [ Zhongde ], a large group of players turned their attention to the enemies who were busy shooting arrows on the city walls.
The Holy Crusaders also realized something was wrong. After confirming that the rebels below were targeting them, they quickly looked towards the stone steps closest to the city wall.
The players followed the direction of the city wall and saw the pass.
Clearly, this place has now become a battleground for both sides. Whoever captures this stone staircase will control this section of the city wall, gain the right to launch attacks from above, and enjoy the thrill of attacking from a high position.
Soon, [ Zhongde ] led a group of players out of the Treant Hunter ' encirclement and arrived at the bottom of the stone steps.
He took the lead and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Holy Crusaders who were waiting there. Knowing that they had nowhere to retreat, the Holy Crusaders were equally determined to fight, and the narrow stone steps quickly became a new battlefield.
However, just as [ Zhongde ] and his companions were winning victory after victory against the Holy Crusaders ' attacks and were about to reach the city wall, the players were surprised to find that the Holy Crusaders seemed to have received some kind of special instruction and abandoned the battle, running towards the nearest other stone steps down the city wall.
The players, whose manpower was temporarily limited, did not choose to chase after them. Instead, they firmly controlled the city wall located above the players' tunnel exit to prevent the Holy Crusaders from "defecating and urinating" above the players' heads again.
Meanwhile, the cathedral in the heart of Fir City offers a completely different experience.
Nearly a thousand Holy Crusaders soldiers left in the city were lining up to enter the cathedral. Soldiers who had been patrolling the city, those who had retreated from the city walls, and those who had been scattered by the rebels and did not know where to go, all came to the cathedral to await the archbishop's summons.
Throughout the city, all the unorganized Holy Crusaders, except for those belonging to Antiya Lisi who were not summoned, had gathered here.
Despite having fought a fierce battle with Adelaide, who was possessed by the " Clear Soup Master," and despite the fact that the two symbolic bell towers have disappeared, the main prayer hall of Fir City Cathedral still retains most of its original structure.
As the capital of the province, the twin-towered church here naturally has a much larger indoor space, enough to accommodate two thousand people praying at the same time, which can be considered a real cathedral in World of Disorder.
One by one, the Holy Crusaders were summoned into the Great Prayer Hall by the Archbishop, yet the entire hall was completely silent.
As the last person entered the Great Prayer Hall, he politely closed the wooden door. Turning around, he saw no soldiers, only the usually composed archbishop staring at him, and the spot where he was sitting... wasn't that where the World Tree statue originally stood?
Despite being fellow Stained Ones, the Holy Crusaders were still shocked by Antiya Lisi's overstepping of authority.
However, before he could even bow or ask a question, Antiya Lisi seemed impatient and casually waved his hand before turning away.
Before the Holy Crusaders could ask anything, they saw that strands of roots were sprouting from the cracks in the stone bricks on the ground. These roots varied in thickness, some as thick as old vines that had grown strong for many years, and others as thin as a spider's web.
These tree roots wound up the Holy Crusaders ' ankles, as if coated with superb quick-drying glue, making it impossible for them to break free.
The Holy Crusaders quickly lost his balance and fell to the ground. Before his eyes were covered by several beams, the last thing he saw was the entire cathedral floor, beneath the tables and chairs, filled with countless soldiers who had suffered the same fate as him.
With his last ounce of strength, he turned his body toward Antiya Lisi and asked through his gagged mouth:
"Archbishop, why...?"
The next moment, his mouth and nose were completely covered, and apart from Antiya Lisi, the last creature that could be called a "human" disappeared into the sacred Great Prayer Hall.
Instead, huge, humanoid "pupae" of varying shades of color lay haphazardly on the church floor.
"Why?"
Antiya Lisi sat on the bench and muttered to himself:
"Yes, why? Ultimately, it's just a feeling of being stifled..."
If the players had already reached this point, they would definitely point at these strange humanoid objects on the ground and sarcastically remark, "They're dressed like they're shipping something under wraps."
The Holy Crusaders soldiers were not actually "insect-ified," but rather entangled by numerous roots that emerged from cracks in the ground.
The tree roots enveloped their bodies, quickly forming a dark, carapace-like structure similar to the outer skin of an insect pupa.
The more the Holy Crusaders struggle inside the "pupa," the more vibrant the pupa appears, much like the live silkworm pupae displayed to customers in a real-world supermarket.
As the Holy Crusaders writhed, their shouts grew fainter, and at the same time, their originally humanoid shells gradually shrank, transforming from a humanoid form into a cylindrical "pupa".
Painful groans echoed inside the dilapidated church. Several bolder local residents of Fir City, drawn by the sounds that resembled both sobs and cries, ignored the curfew and instinctively approached the church into the night.
The once magnificent twin bell towers have completely disappeared, and the statue of the World Tree amidst the ruins is covered with a thick layer of dust. The somewhat dilapidated cathedral gave them the courage to enter and explore.
However, upon seeing the hundreds of monstrous pupae wriggling on the church floor, several citizens couldn't help but shout out. They were then immediately captured by roots extending from the ground, and after a brief entanglement, they became one of those pupae.
The mastermind behind all of this was Antiya Lisi himself. After dealing with these trivial matters, the archbishop returned to the original location of the World Tree statue, his face showing an indifferent expression, revealing his overstepping intentions.
At this moment, all the etiquette, dogma, and laws that had once bound him were trampled under his feet.
Does the survival of the Tree Worship Church matter?
unimportant.
Is the mission of those Stained Ones important?
unimportant.
Are the duties of an archbishop important?
It's not important either.
Antiya Lisi now only wants to do one thing: to use his combat skills, which he has honed over the past decades, to fight a fair fight against those rebels who only know how to use underhanded tactics.