Chapter 378: Battle Royale: Kill Again and Kill Again

No matter what, they finally found allies and finally waited for the nobles and priests upon whom hope had descended to be extremely excited.

If they weren't still trying to save face, they would almost have been jumping for joy on the spot, and would even ask each other if they had any plans tonight, hoping to get to know each other better.

Thus, after the meeting ended, they chattered nonstop like elementary school kids who had finally made it to Friday and whose last afternoon class was music, art, and PE.

From time to time they let out a sharp laugh, as if they had hit on some common interest, then chatted away, everything understood without words.

Fortunately, Ji Ming now appears in shadow form, and his aloof demeanor keeps this bunch of brats from overstepping, so nothing filthy soils his ears.

But how could such a relaxed state let the god-chosen leader in charge feel confident entrusting them to complete the mission smoothly?

So he decided to use a very realistic combat drill as the customary leadership supplement for every meeting.

"Since the plan is set, I'll take my leave first; you do as you please."

Thus, not long after the Shadow God-Chosen vanished into shadow just as he had appeared, the people in the secret chamber heard a dull rumbling from outside.

Those who were hotly chatting, debating, and kicking off suddenly stopped what they were doing in unison and exchanged puzzled looks.

"Hiss, this sounds like... the Pioneers' gunfire!!"

As if to confirm their guess, a series of explosions followed in the rock cavern corridor, then came chaotic footsteps.

If it were before, such a situation wouldn't even scare this bunch of scoundrels rotten to the core.

On the contrary, they'd find it amusing and eagerly order their subordinates to remember to take captives alive.

As for capturing the assassin alive, then what to do with him...

That's hard to say, after all people's tastes differ; can't generalize—maybe they just wanted to imitate Hannibal's story.

But now they clearly lack such leisure; having been beaten, scolded, and toyed with by the Pioneers, they've developed severe PTSD and are shouting in panic.

"The players are here—another secret base is about to be destroyed!"

"No, don't steal my treasure—that's too cruel!"

"I heard they have a faction that treats prisoners well; when I kneel, you guys follow me—if luck's good, maybe we'll survive!"

Making him watch these cowards who tremble before battle, even flopping onto their knees to critique each other's pose standards, the obviously still-unconvinced Earl of Yan Mountain flew into a rage.

"Bastard, how can you be a proper noble hanging out with this bunch of worms?"

"Great worms ought to have the dignity and composure fitting great worms; they can't panic like these guys."

So the earl remained calm, walking over to his own knight captain as if nothing were wrong.

"Bogo, stop pretending—get up already; the God-Chosen isn't blaming you."

……

"Get up! Stop pretending—he's already left!"

……

"What? Do you want me to beg you to get up?!"

The earl, unable to bear it any longer, flared with rage and kicked Bogo in the elbow.

Bang!

……

"Ow! Iron-wrapped, that really hurts!"

He sucked in several breaths of cold air before easing up, only to see his beloved knight captain still motionless as if dead.

"You... wait."

The earl gritted his teeth, about to draw his waist sword sheath and turn into a plantation overseer to beat him, when suddenly he thought...

"Grandma's sake, could he really be dead?"

He isn't afraid of corpses, but in this chaotic situation he truly needs a fighting power on the level of a Divine Pearl that Stabilizes the Sea.

So the earl furrowed his brow, used his sword sheath to pry open Bogo's helmet visor, and found he wasn't faking—he'd really passed out.

"Damn it... someone come!"

As a proper earl, his nightly guard certainly wasn't just the knight captain alone; there were many knights as attendants.

He waved his hand, ordering the knights to think of a way right away to wake his superior!

Though the knights were blameless in loyalty, hearing this they couldn't help but ponder...

"We're martial artists—if you wanted us to kill the commander, we could at least try, even if we fail; but we truly have no skill in saving lives!"

Yet seeing their lord's grim expression, they dared not say that, so they steeled themselves and decided to hold a consultation worthy of the brave.

"What should we do? Let's all pool our ideas!"

Sweating profusely as they stood around the knight captain, the group fell silent for a few seconds, then a young man took a deep breath and raised his hand.

"Seniors, do you still remember the night before last?"

"Um, you mean Charles and his son accidentally summoned the same courtesan, then just went into battle as father and son..."

"No, no! I mean Mr. Hawkins said he hopes I can clean my own boots from now on, because their smell can wake the dead, and the hotel maid really doesn't want to do it."

"Ah..."

The knights all felt their foreheads through their visors, after all this story had spread to the inn where they were staying, so they naturally knew it too.

One of them was even the little knight's roommate; clever as he was, he suddenly seemed to think of something, his whole body jolted, his lips trembling.

"We... we probably don't need to..."

"We do need to!"

The eldest knight in the crowd spoke decisively, putting his arms around the necks of the nearby knights and drawing the group close to hear him.

"Comrades, this is a critical moment; our choice will not only decide our present fate but also change our future!"

"Think about it—if we can get through this crisis, we'll be bound to the earl by life and death!"

"What kind of person is the earl? He's the Southern region's 'evergreen pine' second only to the duke! So even if we don't strike it rich, at least we'll never lack food or clothing for life!"

"Think of our families! Think of our dreams! We must get through this trial!"

The old knight's move was undoubtedly effective encouragement; even the comrades who had been hesitant just now became convinced.

The little knight was even more hot-blooded, feeling that everyone's fate rested on his feet!

In an inexplicable sense of mission, he took off the boots he had just finished the last fire-smothering of, which were crucial.

"District D..."

"Right now, don't talk about others; even the most resolute decision-maker and encourager almost made the old knight vomit, he could only cover his mouth, gesturing for the little knight to act quickly!"

Then the little knight grabbed his boots, preparing to launch a biochemical attack, but just then he heard a harsh shout.

"Hey! Don't waste any more time—have you made any progress or not?"

That was the impatient count, who pushed through the crowd to see what had happened to his own knight commander.

As a result, he saw the little knight frightened by that shout, now pressing his boot hard onto the knight commander's face with the intent to smother him to death.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Such viciousness, even from several meters away, the count felt his nose as if struck by a heavy hammer sparking, let alone the knight commander who bore the full brunt of close-range magical damage.

"Wah!"

He who experienced the improvised poison gas bomb let out a hysterical scream, flinging the little knight who was pressing on him away.

Moreover, those who knew said the knight commander had awakened; those who didn't thought some evil god sect had harmed a little boy, producing a gifted castrato singer making his debut.

He held that high note for a long time before finally quieting, but still lay on the ground continuously exhaling atomic breath, wishing to replace his bodily fluids and even his skin.

After a long while.

"What happened? I vaguely recall being knocked out..."

The old knight was about to explain when the count shoved him aside.

"No time to explain, Bogo—the Pioneers are about to break in; we must leave quickly!"

"What? Oh oh..."

Such a rapid version change left the knight commander somewhat unable to react, but out of his professional competence he quickly fastened his helmet, drew his weapon, and restored his combat ability.

At this moment, the chaotic little nobles and church officials also regained some sense, deciding that no matter what, they would at least try to break out.

"What? You say resist?"

Resistance is impossible to resist; back when everyone still had confidence, they hadn't not resisted before.

Aside from changing the ending from 'beaten into a grandson' to 'beaten into a box,' there really was no chance of success.

So, to let everyone live a couple more years, it's better not to engage in such a gamble.

And since they chose to flee, first they had to leave this secret chamber; thus the Cold Iron Divine Official stepped out from the crowd, controlled the magic array, and slowly opened the gate.

"Go!"

Outside the gate, many nobles or church guards had already gathered, waiting for their own leaders to come out before making plans.

Moreover, although each faction brought their own people fearing a fire merge, if possible, who would want to fire-merge in a situation where a little mistake would turn it into a personal competition?

So, fearing that too many people on the field would cause chaos, the team leaders left the outside guards, which were actually far more numerous than those inside; together they amounted to a big pot.

"Wait, so if you all stay here, who is stopping the Pioneers?"

……

"Good heavens! You absolutely must not fight to the death!"

As the organizer, naturally also responsible for overall venue security, the Cold Iron Divine Official let out a startled cry and vanished down the corridor like a rabbit.

"Heh."

Although logically they should now be allies and united against external foes,

but given their moral standing... not kicking someone when they're down would already be good, so they ought to laugh anyway.

Then, while they were laughing foolishly, they discovered a very important problem.

First, the Cold Iron Church itself is actually quite weak; in terms of foundation, strength, potential, and divine backing, it can be said to be utterly lacking, unable to become a major power even among this bunch of little fleas.

So the fundamental reason everyone came is the same as Cloi being able to chair the Soul Spirit Council: they just wanted something easy, so easy that no one thought it had the guts to overturn the heavens.

Thus, for the Cold Iron Church previously, not being bullied by the crowd was already good; they fundamentally lacked the guts and ability to contend for power, merely seeking self-preservation.

Thus this secret base had to be built not only deep in the mountains and old forests, but also dug underground in a remote, quiet place, its multilayered defense practically deserving the description 'maddened.'

So, having gone mad, could this little earth-and-stone wonder possibly have a simple structure?

So the Cold Iron Divine Official's flight not only panicked him, but also threw everyone into panic.

"--Son, if you leave, Dad won't know how to get out of this labyrinth created by divine wisdom!"

But tonight the fate maiden... the icy fate gear set that everyone regarded as a goddess was merciful, so they soon wouldn't have to worry about this.

Because with a miserable scream, a figure torn apart by some unknown horrible weapon flew backward, hitting the end of the corridor, dead~

The crowd took a close look, discovered, ah, indeed, it was the Cold Iron Divine Official who had just run away.

In the crowd, a Cold Iron follower had his collar tightly gripped by a heretical divine official, who was vigorously shaking him like chaff.

"Sir, only the divine official knows the full map! The only exit we know of… it… it lies in the direction the Pioneers are attacking from!"

"Bastard!"

The quick-eyed, quick-handed divine official who caught him was also a hot-tempered sort; hearing this bad news, he angrily slapped him.

The follower's fragile cervical spine: 'Go ahead and fan it, old man; I'll twist and not make a sound!'

And seeing the Cold Iron follower on the spot transformed into a crooked-neck owl, the divine official before everyone's eyes was also startled, his eyes darting, then he shouted loudly.

"They… they clearly said they would absolutely guarantee safety tonight!"

"Moreover, we are fully cooperating, completely following their rules! Even the friends of the Deep Pool Church unleashed divine techniques, letting the divine sovereign wipe away all traces outside!"

"So now two hours have passed, and the Pioneers actually managed to break in through the front gate—this shows their mismanagement; all this is their fault!"

Silence.

Immediately, the crowd became stirred up.

"Exactly, it's all the Cold Iron Church's fault!"

"There must be a traitor among them; they betrayed us!"

"I've long sensed something was off about them, heroes, we can't let them get away!"

Under normal circumstances, even if such a major mistake and disaster occurred, at most we'd just blame it on the Cold Iron Church and call it a day.

After all, in theory they are the leader of this alliance; even if they're useless, without them it would be hard for us to continue cooperating.

But now this leader's position clearly belongs to neither him nor anyone present, not even to Count Yan Shan, but to the Shadow Church.

——Then you useless little Cold Iron!

Coincidentally, we're about to embark on an expedition, short on money and food, and lacking a bond of fighting side by side—so why not just tear you apart and have that?

Thus, before they even made contact with our Pioneers side, casualties had already appeared—each one a Cold Iron follower brutally stabbed in the back.