Chapter 394: The Most Heart‑and‑Soul‑Ripping Episode

Since this damned place can be called Wolf Fang, it shows that not every place has a gentle hillside where you can launch a graceful charge.

Thus many impatient true zealots, who have not even a moment's patience, excitedly jump straight off the cliff.

But they are not masters of taking falls; such reckless acts will surely cause bumps and bruises, some see blood before even fighting, and many more have the misfortune of breaking bones.

As mentioned before, the current jungle zealots are Blood Cross-like mad demons, and in their eyes only the lives of the heretics matter.

So without hesitation, they crawl up from the ground, clutch their twisted limbs, and launch a frenzied assault.

"Damn, an ambush!"

Although they cannot tell who these oddly moving, drooling madmen are, when faced with the ambush, the scouting knight squad still displayed a fairly professional demeanor.

They huddle together, protecting comrades trying to climb back onto their horses, while shouting hoarsely.

But the enemy apparently guessed they might send scouts, so while surrounding a few of them, the nearby carriage convoy had already come under attack from more madmen.

"Holy Light! Intercept the enemy!"

The more than ten Guardian Knights in the unit were already on constant alert, and under the leader's command they didn't care who the enemy was, brandishing their weapons and seamlessly shifting into combat mode.

But thinking that we have many people here and are fighting on home ground, they treated it like a spring outing, and the Floating Light Knights aiming for a relaxed vibe weren't so lucky.

They even mistakenly thought these reckless rushers were death‑defying mobs, while thinking "I haven't collected taxes lately," they tried to disperse them with shouts and whips.

"Hehe, darling, let me use your head!"

And this underestimation resulted in an unlucky knight being leapt upon by a madman who rode onto his shoulder and, like plucking a pineapple, ripped his head off.

The startled, hamster‑like knights cried: "Ah!?"

Ah, Bull Demon, still pulling stage effects at this hour?

Seeing blood spray, Lord Hou's blood pressure spiked; he hurriedly drew the decorative side‑sword at his waist and shouted hoarsely.

"Kill them all! If we don't kill, we all die!"

Da Huzi also quickly raised his axe in agreement.

"Right, brothers! Follow me and kill!"

The hesitant Floating Light Knights then hurriedly brandished their assorted weapons, shouting various slogans as they joined the fray.

Unfortunately reality isn't a shōnen anime; even mustering courage and chanting rhymes can't change the facts.

For the long‑peaceful Floating Light Knights, this battle was another pinnacle of their lives—at least a peak in difficulty!

In their past careers, they thought no one could be harsher than bandits or more wicked than mercenaries, but today opened their eyes wide.

"Ugh!"

Alright, they literally opened a big eye.

However for the Holy Knights, these believers, no matter how hard they hit the ground, are not the legendary experience elixir; a low‑level body cannot be pushed beyond its limits.

So since the opponent cannot break their armor with weapons, facing fully‑armed Mounted Warriors' high‑ground attacks leaves only the fate of being brutally torn apart.

Yet amid the chaos, one Floating Light Knight after another was knocked off horseback by madmen, their flesh shredded by weapons—or simply by claws and teeth.

"You beast!"

Even if the brave Guardian Knight swiftly thrust his spear through the zealot's chest the next moment, the small knight whose throat was torn could see he wouldn't survive.

"Damn!"

All words turned into a brash roar; the knight swung his weapon and rushed into the next chaos.

But this is a battlefield; any weak point that can't be patched will only grow with time.

"No, we have to help them!"

Facing a shortage of manpower, the two Holy Knights originally tasked with guarding the prison carriage also had to join the fight.

Although they instructed nearby Floating Light Knights to guard the carriage, assigning such a difficult task to them was truly a burden.

Moreover, when the perfect moment finally arrived, how could the zealots possibly let go of this chance to cause chaos?

"Yee ha!"

Amid the wild howls, a few madmen leapt from the trees like monkeys, willing to snap their legs to break through the knights' guard.

One even smashed a special lock—crafted by dwarf‑gnome allies—with his fists, his hand like rotten meat, and forced the prison carriage door open.

Da Huzi knew that one purpose of these north‑bound bigwigs was to escort the Death Knight, who had just committed a war crime in Sunlight City, back to the Holy Court.

"No! No no no!"

Seeing him released by the enemy, his eyes bulged in terror, and he squealed wildly, ready to ride in for a rescue.

However!

Yet, under the crowd's excited or terrified gazes, the Little Lion seated in the prison carriage innocently raised both hands, then curled back into his little blanket.

... Hmm, as a very popular model prisoner, his carriage has been forcibly refurbished by the maids and servants on the road, now as luxurious as a single‑room moving inn.

"Wa, wacka! Elbow, elbow! Elbow!"

Now even the madman who had taken a special drug was stunned, using the tiny sliver of regained sanity to open his mouth and speak human words.

But the Death Knight remained unmoved, even spreading his arms, conveying a "Man, what can I say, I'm just a background character..." vibe.

Yet the zealot could no longer grasp such complex body language; following the underlying logic that "the enemy's enemy is a friend," he tried to crawl into the carriage and force the cowardly Death Knight out to serve as a hate‑pulling tool.

Then he saw the Death Knight thrust forward, darting out of the blanket like encountering Jie's brother Ah Wei, retreating repeatedly—cowardly, but he couldn't let himself be caught!

Unfortunately, a prison carriage is still a prison carriage; no matter how luxurious, the room is limited, and he couldn't step back two paces before hitting the corner.

Seeing no escape, he gritted his teeth and prepared to stomp… ah, before he could even step, he kicked outward in one swift motion.

The kick was delicate, but it came from a high‑rank Death Knight, blasting the pitiful zealot ten‑plus meters away.

The soaring body crackled, knocking down several unlucky souls, then crashed hard to the ground, ending in a shattered‑organs demise.

With his eyes blood‑shot crimson, his fading consciousness recalled one final thought:

"Oh awesome, how can a prisoner not want to escape..."

Nonsense! Being locked inside at least lets you enjoy a few more days; if I ran out with you, I'd probably die on the spot. How stupid am I!

So afterward, every lunatic who tried to rush into the prison carriage was forcibly elbowed out by Little Lion, and in the end he simply resorted to violence, snapping one of their arms on the spot.

"Get lost! Don't hinder my imprisonment!"

Pulling out that person's belt, Little Lion simply tied his own cell door shut, then raised his hand to signal the surroundings.

—Don't mind me, you keep fighting; I'm just inside, comfortably watching the show.

But even if the prisoner fully cooperates, steadfastly refusing to flee, in truth it doesn't really affect the direction of the battle much.

In the end, a few good men can't match four hands; even a dozen knights, even if all become fire‑rescue captains, can't turn the tide, and they gradually lose the initiative to the madmen.

Moreover, such a vicious fighting style was precisely tailor‑made by the Dense Forest Church for these kind of cruel scenarios, and wouldn't be deployed lightly.

Everyone, once on the battlefield, is just a low‑rank foot soldier; seeing comrades decapitated like pitiful chickens and dogs, facing fear beyond death, how could they not be scared?

And these madmen, if they only killed bloodily, that would be one thing; after killing, they trample the corpses with whips, both heart‑rending and overly sentimental, utterly testing the lower bound of human morality.

Thus, under the blood‑red sky, even though the Marquis has raised the bounty to a sky‑high price, the Knight Order's morale, with a third of its forces lost, is on the brink of collapse.

At the crucial moment, Archbishop Tenise stepped forward, alighted from the carriage, and with a casual jab of her cavalry lance‑scepter, skewered a fresh madman like a meat skewer.

She glanced at the surrounding fearless, even‑though‑chest‑pierced enemies hanging on the lance, still trying to attack her, and at that moment she felt no stir within.

Whether they are human or ghost, whether it's the Dense Forest Church's pursuit or the Evil God Church's coalition, it doesn't matter; I'm an armed personnel, I only handle the peacekeeping.

Whether you're a follower of an evil god or a true lunatic, under the lance all beings are equal; just swing the holy light and smash.

If this were Earth, a single soldier's force is useful but limited, barely able to turn the tide; but this is a fantasy world—sorry, high level means you can do whatever you want.

So this time it's the turn of those who were just flaunting their might, keeping a trick up one hand, a leg up another, the lunatics who whisper heart‑to‑heart to the heretics have overdone it.

Can't beat them, absolutely can't!

Under the scrutiny of weapons, their mental madness is just for a bit of fun.

The fearless, death‑defying frenzy turned the heavy hammer, capable of crushing an enemy's spirit, into a foolish head‑delivering tool.

But the hidden commander in the forest certainly wouldn't let her hero unit clear the troops so easily, so the second wave of enemies soon arrived on the battlefield.

They looked equally ecstatic, perhaps because higher level brings higher wisdom; a sliver of reason still lingered in their eyes, at least they wouldn't strain their own ankles and knees before the fight even began.

If it were earlier, the terrifying scene of chaotic demons would have been enough to make all Floating Light Knights collapse completely and flee without looking back.

But now, although just moments ago they were drenched in sweat from the beating, the Floating Light Knight leader laughed heartily and came to the Marquis's side to brag.

"Marquis! If they only have this level, they can't possibly beat our great Archbishop!"

The Marquis's face turned green upon hearing that, nearly fainting.

"Ah! You, all mouth and no substance, still love wearing a fake beard to look tough, can you stop saying this…"

But unfortunately, the crow's mouth effect had already taken hold, because behind the elite lunatic burst out an ultra‑fast live madman.

His figure seemed to flip up and down; a simple tap on the ground could launch him dozens of meters away, so he quickly caught up with the elite lunatic ahead.

But he didn't gallop ahead as the knights imagined; instead he simply "dissolved" into the heap of lunatics, as if he never appeared.

The uninitiated were puzzled, the seasoned were skeptical, and the Marquis recalled that terrifying theatrical scene, shrinking back in fear again.

"Sir, what are you doing?"

"…Giving you a fierce opportunity."

The Archbishop also noticed the opponent's movement, but she didn't foolishly wait to engage; without a word, she raised a shower of holy light droplets and scattered them down.

The impact was spot‑on, right where that live madman had slipped in; though the holy light's fierce scorching was effective at killing, the charred ground showed no abnormality.

Tsk, at least they ran fast!

Tenise didn't hesitate, continuing to cast AOE magic, but even when the elite lunatic collided with a Floating Light Knight, she still couldn't pinpoint the tough opponent's location.

She shook her head with a sigh, reining in the overly flamboyant technique, continued clearing troops in the over‑pressured combat zone, and probed where he might appear.

However this time, as she swung her lance she sensed something off—not the enemy being oddly strong or weak, but the hammering feel was light and floaty.

The weapon's chopping resistance still existed, but only for a thin instant before vanishing.

Upon closer inspection, she discovered a highly abnormal phenomenon; in gaming terms, it's like… why do dead enemies leave no interactive ragdoll?

Indeed, unlike the previous foot soldiers, this enemy's corpse leaves nothing; once dead, both flesh and blood vanish entirely.

What does this mean?

Fear often stems from the unknown; one doubt after another made Tenise feel a burning and gloom.

But this won't affect her actions; it only continues to stack her movement and attack speed.

Moreover, clearing troops is also a way to force the opponent to reveal themselves; once she slaughters all these elites, see if he can keep his composure!

Fact proved Tenise's old‑woman wisdom worked again; that live madman indeed couldn't hold back, launching a surprise attack during her attack interval.

Unfortunately, both are calculating; the contest is whose wrist is harder, and moreover, masters often master the special technique of cancel‑after‑shake.

Thus, at the moment when the initial force was spent and the follow‑up force hadn't launched, she leveraged her succubus talent to launch a directed mental attack.

"Ugh!"

Abstinent succubus is still a succubus; hundreds of wisdom dropping like bricks—who can withstand that?

The live madman let out a panicked scream, offering no resistance, rolling to the ground like a monkey that missed a vine.