Chapter 690

Chapter 75: Bathed in Fire Part 7

“What did you say?”

The scouts outside the town avoided the western entrance and made several probing advances along the southern wall. Finding no traces of heretics, they reported back. The town was eerily silent. The commander ordered a white dove to be released into the town. Soon after, the dove flew towards the center of the town. Upon receiving the report from the scout sharing vision with the dove, the commander’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“A crimson sphere? A woman massacred the entire town!?”

He looked at his subordinate knight, who nodded in confirmation. Unable to hold back, he murmured, “So we went through all this trouble only to find that everyone here is already dead? And it was done by some random woman? What kind of nonsense is this…”

There was a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice. Realizing his tone might be inappropriate, he quickly fell into deep thought.

He suddenly remembered something the two Papal knights had mentioned to Bishop Areesta recently. Before the arrival of the First Order, they had pursued a powerful female heretic and killed her near the Sand Valley…

Could it be that the female heretic didn’t die and has returned to the town?

No.

It’s impossible…

If the Papal knights said she died, then she must have died. Besides, with the Sword Saint there, how could any female heretic fake her death and dare to return to kill everyone… Lawrence didn’t believe such an enemy existed, but he still remembered the seriousness and solemnity in their voices when discussing this matter.

That was a very terrifying heretic…

Even if she is dead, there might still be other formidable individuals like her here, even if they are women.

“Commander, what do we… do now?”

After waiting for a moment without hearing a response from their commander, another knight riding a horned horse asked, “Do we continue advancing or retreat and report the situation to Bishop Areesta first… Shall we enter the town?”

“…Of course, we will enter.”

The woman in the town might be waiting for us…

Huh, how interesting.

The commander’s face was grim, a chilling smile forming on his lips. He glanced back and saw that the knights were still quite far away. He turned his mount, urging it forward with a sharp squeeze, and galloped toward the town, shouting, “Enzan, release Mafa’s Light! Everyone else, follow me!”

“Yes!”

The scouting knights followed the commander, their twenty-strong group charging forward, raising dust and sand as they raced toward the blazing town of Mesher.

“Ianlot, lock onto the woman’s position! And those two from the Faith团, provide cover on both sides. Be careful, keep your eyes sharp! Even if she’s just a woman, she could be a heretic in the blood sacrifice phase. Do you understand?”

“We’ll act accordingly when we meet. We can’t let her escape before Lord Areesta and the Sword Saint arrive… A crimson sphere? What the hell is that? I have a bad feeling…”

But if we capture her alive and achieve such a feat…

Our path to promotion would undoubtedly become smoother.

Thinking this, the commander urged his horned horse to accelerate, the iron hooves ringing out like rapid drums. The horned horses leaped over the spiked barriers and entered the town’s yellow dirt roads, rushing toward the fire.

The First Order was proud; they never intended to hide their presence or movements. Even if she was in the blood sacrifice phase, they had faced heretics before and could hold her off until the Sword Saint arrived. However, pride aside, the knights of the First Order were battle-hardened, especially those from the Grace Scales. They knew the danger of heretics firsthand and remained vigilant. Lawrence, as the commander, was even more cautious. From the moment the small team entered the town, he held his breath, issuing commands while constantly monitoring the surroundings.

“Sin!”

“Ianlot, where is the woman?”

“She’s still in the town center, but she seems to have noticed our movements…”

“Keep watching! Report any movement immediately—”

Buzz—

Golden light poured down from above, enveloping the charging knights one by one. Thin, semi-transparent arcs of light rapidly formed around them. Two members of the Faith团 lowered their hands from prayer and grabbed the reins again. The horned horses turned the corner and entered the main road of the town. The knights slowed down, forming a tight formation, ready for anything.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a strange whistling sound came from ahead. Immediately afterward, the knight who had released the dove gasped and clutched his forehead, nearly falling off his mount. He shouted urgently to the commander, “The dove has fallen! I lost track of her!”

“Be on guard!” the commander responded instantly, waving his hand to command, “She’s going to attack!”

“Stand at the ready, everyone! Faith团—”

Before the command was finished, the next instant, a second shrill screech came zipping over from afar.

What…

Boom!

The wind was sharp, no one could clearly see what the flying object was. The knight commander Lawrence’s mouth was still wide open when the knight running beside him suddenly had his head explode. He didn’t even have time to let out a sound. The light shield shattered into pieces, red and white substances splattered all over Lawrence’s face and mouth.

The man instinctively ducked his head, stunned by this sudden situation.

According to his original assumption, the terrifying aspects of the heretic were only two: one was the extremely high temperature that made it hard for people to get close, and the other was its frightening self-healing ability. No matter how severe the injury was, as long as it wasn’t fatal, it would recover in two breaths.

This was his previous experience; the power of the heretics would inevitably be accompanied by explosions, burning, or other large-scale disturbances. The stronger the heretic, the larger the disturbance. The出手 during the blood sacrifice phase would certainly be spectacular. He had always been guarding against a sudden large-scale offensive move from the opponent, but he did not expect the attack to come so mysteriously. In an instant, it had already taken away a warrior’s life.

“Gerald…”

The oryx was still running. Knight Commander Lawrence turned his eyes, and the knight named Gerald had already fallen off the beast’s back. He stared at the scene, momentarily stunned, then swallowed the blood foam in his mouth and revealed a vicious grin.

“Faith团—”

The man turned his head to stare ahead, his eyes bloodshot, and shouted loudly, “Onanastasi, prepare!”

Buzz—

Before his order was fully given, the elite priests of the Faith团 behind reacted even faster. Glorious golden light instantly shone from their bodies. Amidst the buzzing sound of divine miracles, a thin arc-shaped light wall appeared in front of everyone, advancing with the speed of the squad’s advance.

In the next moment, the third shrill howl, carrying strong winds and turbulence, swept past at low altitude.

“Block it! Block it!”

Even though Knight Commander Lawrence opened his eyes wide, he still couldn’t see what the flying object was, and he couldn’t react in time either. When he had just shouted halfway through, the howling turbulence had already roared past from the right, sweeping toward the back.

In the line of sight, yellow dust was raised more than half a meter high. The sin barrier that had just formed in front was pierced by a hole as thick as an arm. The last Faith团 priest who was running fell, and a similar-sized blood hole appeared on his chest. Struck by this strange blow, he fell backward, crashing down.

Rustling…

With the loss of one priest, Onanastasi’s sin barrier instantly burst and shattered. Countless fragments like dazzling golden glass flew everywhere, quickly left behind by the knights and vanished into the air.

“Damn…”

Knight Commander Lawrence gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly, then let out an anxious roar, “Take a detour! Take a detour! Split into two groups and go around from the side! Lower your heads, lower them!”

“Commander, I see someone! She’s over there! Behind the tallest earthen tower!”

“That woman is heading east! She wants to escape—”

“Don’t let her escape!”

“Pursue—!!!”

Clack clack! The iron hooves sounded fiercely in the small town. Ahead, a figure cloaked in a cape, covered in blood, leaped onto a house and sprinted towards the eastern part of the town, where the fire raged fiercely, and the intense heat could already be felt here.

The woman jumped quickly across the rooftops. Knight Commander Lawrence stared intently at her figure. He gestured to a nearby subordinate knight and galloped into a narrow alley on the side. He lowered his body on the beast’s back, running for a distance. From the other side, the sounds of movement continued, explosions of clashes, the buzzing of divine miracles, and the cries of someone falling.

Knight Commander’s face darkened as he circled to the rear of the female heretic from the left. As they got closer, he rode the beast over a burning collapsed earthen wall and stood up directly, loosening the reins and bending forward, “Clang!” He drew his long sword from his waist and jumped!

“Hmm…”

The fierce man jumped four to five meters high. The oryx beneath him could not bear the weight and neighed loudly before collapsing. He ignored it and climbed up a roof using the wall, intercepting the female heretic in front of him.

The woman’s face was hidden under the hood, revealing a dim, cold eye, as if looking at a dead person. After a brief encounter, there was no further conversation. The female heretic formed her fingers into claws, enveloped in scarlet flames, and directly grabbed towards Lawrence’s face. Lawrence swung his sword, dodging sideways, “Bang!” The sword hit the female heretic’s extended arm and was deflected!

Upon closer inspection, the female heretic’s arm was covered with something resembling scales, gleaming with blood-red color under the fluttering cape.

Damn! What kind of monster…

The man was shaken by this impact, feeling pain in his eardrums. He took a step back, and the female heretic, taking advantage of the momentum, was about to strike again. Suddenly, with the clanking sound of chains, two golden chains abruptly rose from below the earthen house, wrapping around her legs in an instant, hindering her next move.

“Commander—”

Someone shouted from not far away. Lawrence immediately responded. He quickly steadied himself, his right hand glowing purple, lightly touching the blade of his sword. Amidst the humming sound, brilliant purple light suddenly erupted from the sharp blade. His eyes were fierce, muscles bulging under his armor. He slashed down with his second sword, “Try this!”