Chapter 447

On the outskirts of Wheatfield Village, a sparse, straggling troop was marching toward the north.

They were the last batch of prisoners to set out.

The Salvation Army had broken up their original organization and reorganized them into ten-man squads, tethered by a single rope, with a pikeman standing on either side to monitor their movements at all times.

If one person escaped, the entire squad would be punished.

In fact, even without this rule, absolutely no one was willing to escape.

After all, once they left Wheatfield Village, the surroundings were either villages controlled by the Salvation Army or wilderness with no village in front and no shop behind.

Following the Salvation Army at least meant having enough to eat, without becoming a meal for the beasts.

As for returning to the Green Forest Army...

After witnessing Aka's fate, not a single person dared to entertain that thought.

Near the watchtower of Wheatfield Village, 【Gold Medal Artilleryman】 had already resurrected and returned here via the teleportation array.

"Aka is dead, in the area of Wheat Field Village in the Quemubao territory... He was killed by the Sword Saint Master Gangte."

"I just feel it's a bit of a pity."

【Lighter】 glanced at him sideways.

"Pity for what?"

【Gold Medal Artilleryman】 gave a sheepish laugh.

Of course, he couldn't say it was a pity about the experience points, but speaking the truth would make him seem too inhumane, so he had a flash of inspiration and took a roundabout way to say it.

"They are all rebels, can we really not kill a few?"

Lighter: "Didn't we kill them during the battle? And isn't their leader already dead?"

Gold Medal Artilleryman: "I mean... there must be guys among them who have done bad things, right? We have to at least find those people! We can't just let them go because they put down their weapons and surrendered, right?"

This argument actually made sense.

【Lighter】 nodded thoughtfully.

Even if this group of peasants had a justifiable reason for rebelling, they were still traitors to the kingdom after all; they couldn't just throw away their weapons and blend back into the ranks of the farmers.

Watching the two "shrimp soldiers and crab generals" worrying for the Demon King, 【Both Earthy and Dull】 mocked them in his heart and teased,

"How exactly are you going to find them?"

【Lighter】 was stunned upon hearing this.

Oh, right.

They didn't have surveillance cameras.

This... also seemed to make sense?

"That is indeed a problem... but we can't just stop doing it because it's difficult."

【Gold Medal Artilleryman】 racked his brains for a long time, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration, slapped his fist, and said.

"Damn, I've got an idea!"

【Both Cautious and Strong】 was surprised.

"What idea?"

Gold Medal Artilleryman: "We can make them report each other! Denounce! Expose themselves! If they repent from the bottom of their hearts, they definitely won't shield the bad guys! We'll definitely be able to ferret out the bad stuff hidden among the masses!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the three players standing next to him were all shocked.

"Holy crap, you're really a genius."

"6666!"

"You're smarter than the Saintess!"

Thinking these three animals were praising him, 【Gold Medal Artilleryman】 smiled triumphantly and rubbed the area under his nose with his index finger.

"Hehe, keep it low-key... I've been smart since I was a kid; I even got first place in the whole class back in third grade."

Lighter: "Damn, I thought you were a good guy, I was almost fooled by you; it's a good thing you're just a super soldier, damn it!"

Gold Medal Artilleryman: "???"

Both Cautious and Strong: "I think this idea is not bad; not only can we get experience, but we can also take the opportunity to please the evil spirits in Chaos and see if we can have a 'py' trade with the Claw of Eternal Hunger. Manual funny. jpg."

Gold Medal Artilleryman: "Wait, how does this please the evil spirits in Chaos? I'm clearly helping them ferret out the Chaos Apostles, okay!"

Lighter: "Claw of Eternal Hunger: Well said! I love watching this! Haha."

Both Earthy and Dull: "Guess what methods the Green Forest Army used to find so many 'priests,' 'nuns,' and 'nobles'."

Both Cautious and Strong: "Pope: I remember there was only one regional bishop in this tiny place, so where did all these bishops and Saintesses come from?"

Gold Medal Artilleryman: "No... of course I know there might be fakes among them, but flies don't bite seamless eggs, right? My point is, this can at least mark some high-risk targets, and it can also serve as a deterrent, making these farmers who have carried guns together wary of each other, so that even after the transformation is over, they won't dare to collude and rise up again..."

"Stop wasting time with this guy; I think it's a waste of time. To deal with this kind of fellow, you have to let him learn with his body."

【Both Cautious and Strong】 gave a wicked smile and draped his snow-white, slender skeleton arm over Gold Medal Artilleryman's strong shoulder.

"Prove it now, you didn't rape me last night."

Gold Medal Artilleryman: "???"

Both Earthy and Dull: "I testify! I saw it!"

Gold Medal Artilleryman: "????"

Fortunately, the vast majority of players were normal people, and a potential Chaos Apostle was thus nipped in the bud.

Of course, it wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't been nipped.

After all, the Demon King is a master chess player; when would he ever need to listen to the ideas of a lousy chess player?

Who is Bronze and who is Bai Yin, on the surface, of course, depends on the players' own efforts, but in reality, even if a heaven-defying guy wears his skin bald, he still has no chance of squeezing into T0.

Letting souls of different virtues go to different ecological niches is also one of the Demon King's arts of governance.

On the other side, Quemubao.

Through the scouts trained by Sarah for the Salvation Army, Luo Yan obtained the latest news from Dusk City.

Nearly a million troops surrounded the entire city, while the coalition forces of the Campbell Principality and the dwarves were still marching with difficulty in the Stillwater Beach territory, which was jointly partitioned by the ratmen and the Green Forest Army.

According to reliable sources, the Chaos Chosen in the Green Forest Army seemed to have become stronger again.

Not only that, a ratman tribe located in the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain range, known as the "Rotten Meat" clan, also entered everyone's field of vision at the same time.

They originally only transported supplies to the Green Forest Army through tunnels, but as the regional situation heated up, they were no longer satisfied with providing food and weapons and began to send ground troops and assassins to support the Green Forest Army's war.

Just at this juncture where everyone was fanning the flames, only the Salvation Army became a clear stream.

On the castle's training ground, a group of militiamen were practicing riding under the command of a riding instructor.

The instructor in light armor roared loudly while chasing after the riders whose formation was in a mess.

Before this, he had only instructed the young master's riding for the Master, and this was also his first time teaching so many people at once.

"Move faster! Don't dawdle!"

"Press your chests against the horse's back, don't let your horse see your fear, conquer it with courage! If you don't want to be thrown off!"

What was being trained was the Salvation Army's new type of army, standard name "Hand Cannon Cavalry," while Luo Yan called them "Grenade Cavalry."

As the name suggests, they were light cavalry on the battlefield, mainly responsible for carrying the dwarves' hand cannons to charge to the enemy's flank, fire a shot, then retreat after one strike, and come for another round after reloading.

If the enemy hadn't collapsed by then.

The dwarf hand cannon from the North Peak City exit to Calamity Castle, the power of one explosive shell was at least equivalent to a Bronze-tier magic spell!

And the power of a hundred-man cavalry unit's volley could at least reach the power of a Bai Yin or even Gold-tier AOE spell... if one had to make a cross-boundary comparison between mortal power and extraordinary power.

Compared to epoch-making weapons like rotary machine guns and rockets, dwarf hand cannons were not only more suitable for the terrain of Quemubao but also more suitable for the Salvation Army's current economic environment and for keeping a low profile.

This was the human world, after all.

Luo Yan had no need to risk the loss of advanced technology and let the Empire learn advanced weapons "too early"...

In the tower corridor of Quemubao, Luo Yan overlooked the training ground below the corridor, with an expression of approval on his face.

At this moment, light footsteps came from behind him, followed by a faint trace of sorrow drifting along.

"Are we... going to war again?"

Luo Yan turned around and saw Saintess Kalian, dressed in a plain white long dress, walking toward him.

"Why do you think so?"

Seeing Mr. Prince Kelin looking at her, Saintess Kalian blinked gently and answered truthfully.

"Your eyes told me."

"Oh?"

Luo Yan glanced slightly surprised at this increasingly clever girl, smiled, and said.

"Then you're quite impressive; maybe you really have awakened the ability to communicate with the gods."

Hearing Mr. Prince Kelin's praise, a shy smile appeared on Saintess Kalian's face; it was the heartfelt joy revealed by an immature child after being praised by an elder.

However, that joy did not last long and soon turned into a soft sigh.

"Although I am very grateful for your recognition, I would rather that it was just me overthinking."

The people of Quemubao had finally obtained a stable life with great difficulty, and she no longer had to wear a mask that didn't belong to her every day and run around; she could stay by her God's side every day and listen to the legends he told.

Ever since she was dragged out of her home by the chains of fate, this had been her happiest time.

No hardship of displacement.

Only stability from the depths of her soul.

She was a person who was easily satisfied, and her current life satisfied her quite well.

Seeing the sorrow behind the eyes of that country girl, Luo Yan smiled faintly and said.

"Understood, you think this way precisely because you are a kind person... Most people, after receiving my favor, would want to get more."

A faint flush rose on Saintess Kalian's cheeks, and she lowered her fair forehead, saying softly.

"It's not that I haven't had extravagant hopes of getting more from you... It's just that I often think of that cold snowy night, and whenever that happens, I feel that now is quite good."

"However, the 'quite good' you see might be illusory." Luo Yan moved his gaze away from Saintess Kalian's face and looked toward the forest outside the castle and the vast sea of clouds connecting to the horizon.

"Although you escaped the pursuers behind you, this war has not ended; the boiling wildfire is still continuing, and as long as you are still alive... they cannot let you go."

The Saintess said in a low voice.

"But... why? We just want to live our own lives well."

Luo Yan said casually.

"Because we are putting out the fire, but not everyone wants to see this fire end."

A mighty wildfire ignited in the forest, and every tree was trying to find out which tree had made the mistake; only the Salvation Army was trying to extinguish this wildfire.

This was undoubtedly something Chaos did not want to see.

What they pursued was not victory, nor was it defeat, but merely hoped that this fire would burn endlessly, so that their power could expand like a snowball.

For this reason, the whispers in the void would tell those towering trees that it was the withered shrubs at their feet that had bred the seeds of evil fire. Then He would tell the plants struggling at the feet of the big trees that it was the lush big trees that had attracted the heavenly thunder, which led to this wildfire.

In this way, they would fight endlessly and believe that only by killing everyone except themselves could this catastrophe end.

In fact, the Chosen of the "Claw of Eternal Hunger" were also on the list of sacrifices.

Of course, Luo Yan hadn't seen the Claw of Eternal Hunger before, so he didn't know what His ritual specifically was; he just made a rough deduction based on logic—the apostles of the Claw of Eternal Hunger increased the more they were killed, and they became stronger when killed, even stronger the more they were killed.

Until finally, a monster that even demigods couldn't deal with popped out, killing all the remaining living people at once, completing the final great sacrifice.

If his speculation held true, then the "Salvation Army" piece he fostered would be the biggest nemesis of Urgos on this land.

No wonder.

After hitting a wall on the frontal battlefield, they sent assassins over without hesitation.

"Watching" the little mice lurking under his mental tentacles, the corners of Luo Yan's mouth curled into an imperceptible smile.

A total of 102 ratman assassins, among whom the strongest was actually Gold-tier, and the weakest was Bronze.

If he hadn't been guarding this castle every day waiting, they might have really had a chance.

After all, relying solely on a "Champion Warrior" was somewhat professionally mismatched.

This was likely 80% of all the elite forces they had deployed in the Quemubao area.

By the way, he deliberately placed the battlefield in this convenient place.

He hadn't just noticed these little guys, even though they were indeed hiding quite well.

"Prince Kelin... sir?"

Seeing Prince Kelin suddenly staring straight at her, Saintess Kalian felt a bit embarrassed, and her cheeks were slightly hot.

Even though she knew that those clear eyes had no ulterior motives toward her, and she had absolutely no intention of overstepping, she still asked in a trembling voice, her hand clutching her skirt tightening unconsciously due to nervousness.

Luo Yan did not answer, just smiled and reached out his hand.

"Can you lend me your hand for a moment?"

He had to prove to the "stupid" Hearing You You that he wasn't always hiding behind women.

As a dancer with flexible footwork, he would change his posture according to his needs.

Sometimes he would also be in the front.

Saintess Kalian did not hesitate, nor did she ask for any reason, and extended her right hand.

And the moment she grasped that warm, large hand, she felt the world spinning around her; when she came to her senses, she was already standing in the woods outside the castle, with lush greenery in her eyes.

This is...

Where?

She blinked, and it wasn't until she met the gaze of a stunned squirrel and watched the pinecone drop to the ground that she realized Mr. Prince Kelin had brought her away from the castle.

Just as Saintess Kalian was puzzled about what he was going to do, the ratman assassins hiding in the shadows of the castle corridor were also stunned on the spot, completely unable to understand what had happened before their eyes.

The man in the cloak just held the Saintess's hand, and then the two disappeared into thin air.

Vaguely, Genni Rotten-Tongue, holding a dagger, saw a butterfly quietly land on the corridor railing.

He had never seen such a beautiful butterfly; those star-like patterns seemed not to belong to this world.

Before he could recover, a leisurely voice appeared in his mind.

"... I really dislike guests who enter without knocking; what if I happened to be doing something unspeakable?"

He had never claimed to be a gentleman, and there wasn't a 1% chance that such a thing wasn't happening.

Genni's pupils shrank suddenly, his small bean-like eyes looked around, searching for the source of the voice in panic, but he couldn't see where it was drifting from at all.

Not to mention not seeing where it was drifting from, the little guys who were ambushing around with him hadn't heard the voice at all and were still stunned as to why the target had suddenly disappeared.

Genni didn't know what tricks that human thing had used, but one thing was certain—

Their plan was exposed!

Without a hint of hesitation, he made a decisive decision to tear off his disguise and shouted shrilly.

"Plan canceled! Scatter! Quick! Retreat!"

They couldn't run away.

Just as Luo Yan's voice fell, the bone-chilling cold sealed the gates on both sides of the corridor, cutting off the retreat of these little mice.

At the same time, the metal armor standing on both sides of the corridor suddenly seemed to come alive, raising the maces and knight longswords they were leaning on, and emitting a grim gaze from under the armor.

No one was ambushing inside in advance.

An invisible large hand and a glowing magic wand manipulated every piece of cold armor.

"... With iron as your flesh and blood, you must offer the blood of sin to repay my favor... Go, kill all these bugs for me."

The spell was woven.

Unlike the Sword Saint who let the opponent draw their sword first in every duel, the Demon King never talked about martial virtue, and his methods had always been flashy and treacherous.

Before the panicked little mice could run away, these twenty-five steel puppets charged like chariots, taking heavy steps, and killed them with a clatter.

The panicked Plague-Tooth assassins tried to fight back with the poisoned daggers in their hands, only to find that they were no match for this group of metal puppets at all.

Frontal combat was not their specialty, especially fighting against these iron cans.

Even if their daggers could pierce the cold heavy armor, they couldn't stop these fleshless knights from waving their longswords and hacking wantonly among the rat swarm.

Even though these ratmen were no ordinary people and had extraordinary power and skills, they still couldn't escape the trap personally woven for them by a Diamond-tier Necromancer.

And what made them despair was that they had already left more than twenty corpses on the ground, yet they still hadn't seen the figure of the spellcaster.

They didn't even know if he was in this castle, and could only watch helplessly as the knights charging back and forth slaughtered them with the cooperation of magic.

Watching the walking knight charging toward him, Genni Rotten-Tongue pulled out the scimitar hidden under his cloak and swung it hard, cutting off the knight's helmet in one move.

However, what made him despair was that the latter, whose head had been cut off, was still acting like nothing had happened, swinging a mace to smash at him; it was only thanks to his flexible footwork that he dodged this violent strike.

His opponent had changed from a walking knight to a headless knight.

Not only that, just as he reversed his scimitar, preparing to cut the headless knight in half, an invisible large hand suddenly grabbed his wildly beating heart.

His eyes bulged, and he felt poison being injected into every blood vessel in his whole body, and his strength was flowing away at an incredible speed...

It was Necromancy!

"Soul Extraction?!" He screamed in horror, trying to break free from the invisible chains and also trying to dispel the fear in his heart.

The headless knight chased after him, and chasing after him was the sweeping mace!

The whistling steel let out an aggressive roar; this strike was enough to instantly shatter a city gate without magic protection!

Genni Rotten-Tongue jumped backward hard, barely dodging this fatal strike, and then used the momentum to flip and jump toward the bottom of the castle.

This was the only chance to survive!

He had already seen that the mage who was playing with him had the strength to crush him!

Not to mention a Gold-tier Plague-Tooth assassin like himself, even a Diamond-tier Chaos Chosen would probably take a big fall in front of that guy...

The distance of tens of meters passed in a flash!

Genni landed heavily on his feet, smashing up a noisy cloud of dust on the edge of the training ground!

The sharp pain piercing his ankles and knees made a flash of pain cross his rat face, but soon that painful expression turned into the ecstasy of escaping death.

Success!

The invisible hand that grabbed his heart seemed to have let go, and he had successfully escaped the casting range of Soul Extraction.

Too late to mourn for his miserably dead subordinates, he didn't dare to stay for a moment, used all his strength to dash toward the hedge next to the training ground, trying to escape from this bloody hell.

He had to bring back the news that the Saintess was guarded by a Diamond-tier Necromancer!

This might become the most direct proof of the hell forces intervening in the situation of the Dusk Province!

However—

He was still too happy too early.

Just as his front claws touched the atrium of the castle, a hair-raising feeling crawled up his spine.

That feeling...

It was like being locked onto by a natural enemy.

His legs were as heavy as if filled with lead; Genni Rotten-Tongue barely moved his neck and finally saw the figure standing next to the fountain, as well as the ears standing above the pitch-black fur.

Cruelty flickered in the vertical pupils; she seemed to have been waiting here for a long time.

In the last second of his life, Genni Rotten-Tongue heard that understated voice again.

"Sarah, it's up to you."

He had always been in that invisible large hand, never escaping for a second...

"As you command."

The last 0.1 seconds.

The cold dagger and the sound of breaking through the air pierced into his paper-thin skull together...

The slaughter on the castle corridor ended, taking no more than three short minutes.

If it weren't for testing the new spells he had learned during his journey, Luo Yan could have actually let these little mice die more quickly.

Space twisted slightly, and the azure butterfly flashed and disappeared.

When Luo Yan stood in this corridor again, a stunned Saintess Kalian also appeared beside him.

"What on earth is..." Looking at the blood, mud, and severed limbs all over the floor, Saintess Kalian's face was full of shock.

"Ratmen from the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain range," Luo Yan let go of that soft little hand and said in a gentle tone, "I should have said before that the Green Forest Army is not a simple rebel army; they probably hooked up with the ratmen a long time ago."

"What I actually wanted to ask was just now..." Saintess Kalian glanced at him quietly, "How did I suddenly end up outside the castle?"

Luo Yan explained casually.

"That's my magic, um... can you keep it a secret for me for now? I don't want too many people to know this secret."

Actually, that wasn't magic, but a gift given to him by the Solipsi people called the "Butterfly of Myriad Phenomena."

However, it was too troublesome to explain, so he didn't intend to say it.

Saintess Kalian nodded seriously.

"I am willing to swear on my life that I will guard this secret with my life."

"It doesn't have to be that exaggerated."

If it were really that serious, he wouldn't have used this skill in front of her.

Saintess Kalian took a deep breath, quickly calmed herself down, and looked around at the corpses.

"I understand why you said that not everyone wants this fire to end... Even if we want to live in peace with them, they will come looking for us for their own desires and ambitions."

"Correct." Luo Yan nodded approvingly, looking at this simple country girl with satisfaction.

She was growing up fast.

And this saved him quite a bit of time in training, allowing him to skip the prelude and get straight to the point.

Saintess Kalian nodded respectfully and prayed for an oracle in a sincere voice.

"... Please tell me, what should I do next?"

There was not a hint of doubt in that voice.

Just like when she held his hand before, without hesitation.

"... The Rock Sword Saint is on his way here and might reach the castle by evening. That person is also an extremely kind person; he is willing to use the sword in his hand to clear all the thorns for you and let your order spread to the Griffin Cliff territory, which is in deep water and scorching fire."

Telling Saintess Kalian the intelligence he had seen, Luo Yan continued to instruct in a relaxed tone.

"I need you to follow your destiny and spread the light of order there in the name of the Saintess, bringing bread and 'new doctrines' to the people in deep water and scorching fire."

"I believe that if it is the current you, even if you don't have to listen to my oracle, you definitely know how to carry this matter forward."

He couldn't go with Saintess Kalian.

After all, the Sword Saint was coming here, and he had to take Sarah and Tafu and leave this castle for a while...