Chapter 176
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This is a huge cliff.
The strong wind howled, the black mist rolled, and the lanterns around the knights' waists went out.
Darkness swept in, engulfing everyone, leaving only the faint red light of the tear-shaped red stone.
The captain of the knights said in a deep voice, "This is the Death Cliff, at least a hundred miles away from the defense circle."
The darkness was very thick, and Rode noticed that his field of vision had greatly shortened, leaving only a distance of about two hundred yards.
The captain of the knights suddenly said, "There are monsters approaching!"
Rode was surprised and asked, "Did you see them?"
"I sensed them, level eight spiritual energy wave, mid-level ferocious, a total of nine, prepare for battle!"
The spiritual energy of everyone instantly lit up.
"High-level reaction ahead! Eagle Wing! Defense!"
A knight stepped forward, raised a huge shield, and spiritual energy spread out from the shield, like a bald eagle spreading its wings, forming a huge defensive shield.
The next second, a bright light burst through the air and hit the defensive shield directly.
The huge explosion engulfed everything in sight, and the power of this attack was close to the strengthened [Spiritual Energy Quintet] before.
But the defensive shield remained motionless.
In the gray-white light, Rode clearly saw nine shadows rushing towards them.
Their soul fluctuations were extremely strong, with complex and sharp waveforms, indeed mid-level ferocious monsters.
Perhaps the spiritual energy fluctuations caused by the explosion were too strong, and the captain of the knights did not react. Rode shouted, "The monsters are coming!"
The captain of the knights immediately said, "Engage in combat!"
Rode saw one of the shadows' spiritual energy quickly light up, far exceeding the other shadows, and immediately shouted, "Here it comes again! Spiritual Energy Cannon!"
The captain of the knights immediately shouted, "Eagle Wing! Continue to defend!"
Boom!
The second spiritual energy cannon hit the shield.
The knight remained motionless, but there were fine traces of blood on his eyes, nose, and ears.
Rode shouted for the third time, "The monsters are coming! Three in front, two at one o'clock, three at three o'clock, and one at nine o'clock that hasn't moved."
The captain of the knights immediately adjusted their positions.
"I'll protect Eagle Wing! Everyone else, spread out. Rode, you guard the Chief Dean."
Rode controlled all the puppets to surround Theodore. The wooden puppets formed a wooden wall, and the flesh puppets stood in front of the wooden wall.
A few seconds later, the monsters rushed into the defense circle.
Rode finally saw what they looked like.
It was a dark and sticky mass, wearing a huge ghost mask, without legs, only giant claws.
The escort knights quickly fell into a fierce battle. The attacks of the ghost masks were extremely swift, and their spiritual energy was powerful. The most troublesome thing was that the masks would suddenly spray small spiritual energy cannons. The intense battle caused the spiritual energy fluctuations to become chaotic and impossible to sense, only Rode could detect them.
Rode constantly issued warnings, fully demonstrating the role of a scout.
The flesh puppets also joined the battlefield.
The strength of this big guy far exceeded Rode's imagination. Although its movements were slow and couldn't hit the ghost masks, it was not afraid of the masks' attacks and served as a very good cover.
The battle gradually reached a stalemate.
The captain of the knights shouted, "Hold on for a while longer! The horse transmission is about to be activated."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly sensed a huge spiritual energy reaction in the distance.
"Level ten, level ten spiritual energy reaction!"
The captain's voice carried a rare tremor, as if he couldn't believe it. He suddenly reacted.
"High-level reaction ahead! Quickly protect the Chief Dean!"
In an instant, all the knights flew behind Eagle Wing and opened their spiritual energy defenses.
The captain pushed Rode away and threw him to the back.
"Stay alive, take..."
Before he finished speaking, a huge white light burst through the air, instantly piercing through Eagle Wing's protective shield, engulfing all the escort knights, and the residual force pierced through the flesh puppets, tearing the united wooden puppets in half.
The white light fell, and everything in front of them turned into ashes.
In the distance, more ghost masks flew towards them, accompanied by a larger white figure slowly approaching.
Rode's heart raced.
But time was up.
In the next moment, a gray light lit up, the field of vision became blurry again, a sense of weightlessness came, and when he came to his senses, he had been transported to a new place.
This was a mountainous area covered with sharp gravel. The black mist was not as dense, but the field of vision still couldn't reach two thousand yards.
Only he and Theodore were left at this point.
The huge body of the Chief Dean lay quietly beside him, not knowing when he would wake up.
Rode felt heavy-hearted and didn't want to think too much. He found a hidden cave and hid inside.
This was an absolutely wise choice. Not long after, the ghost masks from the cliff actually chased after them, and they brought even more ghost masks.
Rode immediately summoned a large number of wooden puppets, forming a cluster, blocking the cave.
Continuous loud explosions came from outside, the sound of branches breaking constantly resounded, and the resilient wooden puppets managed to withstand the external attacks, dragging it until the next teleportation.When his vision returned, Rode saw a vast familiar wasteland, and his vision finally returned to two thousand yards.
Is this the wasteland of corpses?
The wasteland in front of the Sword Pass?
Isn't this the inner layer of the defense circle? Is there any danger here?
Rode stood up and looked around.
Sure enough, most of the nearby monsters were at or below the rank, and they posed no threat to him now.
It should be safe.
Even more fortunately, it didn't take long for the Chief Dean to finally open his eyes.
When his azure eyes looked at Rode, he let out a long breath.
Finally safe.
"Chief Dean..."
Rode was about to speak, but a strong sense of sadness suddenly surged up, choking his throat and rendering him speechless.
Theodore seemed to know something and asked softly, "Lil and the others have sacrificed, haven't they?"
Rode nodded slightly.
A trace of sadness appeared in Theodore's eyes, but it quickly disappeared behind his square glasses as he said softly, "Little Rode, don't be sad. Returning is our destiny. Without their sacrifice, there would be no smiles in the royal city. Gifts come at a price, and you have also experienced such happiness. You can bring this kind of happiness to those who have smiled for you."
In an instant, many people appeared in Rode's mind: Green Feather, Aunt Yusef, Sister Nun, Kassan, the Raisin brothers, Ado, Teresa... and many others whose names he knew or didn't know.
When their smiles appeared in his mind, Rode suddenly stopped feeling lost and felt an infinite courage rising in his heart.
He knew what he had to do.
"I understand, thank you, Chief Dean."
The kind gaze of Theodore looked at him. "You've done well, child. Now, leave the heavy burden to me."
Rode quickly and detailedly recounted everything he knew, starting from the lighthouse and continuing until the end.
"...The luck of this teleportation is very good, and there is no danger here..."
"No."
Theodore interrupted him.
"The luck of malicious teleportation will never be good. The twisted curse of the Abyssal Serpent Premis can never go wrong. It is a high-level Abyssal creature, second only to the Abyssal King."
Rode was taken aback. "Are you saying..."
Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Theodore extended his right hand, and a long wooden staff appeared in his hand out of thin air.
"Yes, there are dangers here that you can't imagine."
Bang!
Theodore held the staff with both hands and forcefully inserted it into the ground.
Accompanied by a huge flash, a giant ghost composed of countless agonized faces rose from the ground and appeared before their eyes.
Rode instantly recognized it. It was the high-level evil spirit he encountered when he reinforced the Sword Pass!
The high-level evil spirit that Greygrove deliberately awakened to destroy the Sword Pass.
The high-level evil spirit formed by the countless remnants of the Twilight Knights who perished thousands of years ago!
The soul attack of the Moonbow Bach didn't kill it?
Theodore said gently, "The current situation is very bad. The Abyss is spreading, the Laiso City has been breached, the nearby areas have all fallen, the war zone is in ruins, and the warriors are in a bitter battle. The Great Serpent's whereabouts are unknown, and the Dark Tide has not ended... There are many things we need to do, but we can't rush. Take it one step at a time."
He raised the wooden staff, and a surge of spiritual energy gathered at the tip of the staff like a tide.
"Let's start by eliminating this hidden threat."
---
---
Royal City.
Royal District.
Supreme Military War Department.
The destruction of Laiso City and Theodore's disappearance had caused two days of chaos.
Bad news kept coming, making the already stretched and leaky defense system of the royal city even worse.
Amidst this darkness, the only good news was that the situation at the Iron Armor Fortress had improved.
Arlan killed the undead giant and broke the unclean core.
As long as the skeletal monsters inside the fortress were cleared, the Iron Armor Fortress could be restored.
But the decay of the entire war zone made this good news not so pleasing to the eye.
The First Defense Commander, Daren, had not slept for two days.
The destruction of Laiso City had caused a large breach in the defense line, and nearby strongholds were in urgent need of support. If it weren't for the Iron Armor Fortress blocking the way, the darkness would have already advanced.
But the Iron Armor Fortress couldn't exist in isolation. Its value lay in protecting the nearby strongholds.
If all the nearby strongholds were lost, the isolated Iron Armor Fortress would not have much effect in the entire defense line.
To make matters worse, the fierce and protracted battle had pierced through the Abyss, and a fissure appeared near the defense line, spewing Abyssal creatures like a tide.
This fissure had to be destroyed, and the Abyssal creatures that opened the fissure had to be eliminated.
The royal city had urgently dispatched the Guardians, Green Feather and Jon, to support, but the situation did not quickly turn around, and reports of death and destruction continued to pour in like snowflakes.
Daren looked at these pillars of humanity falling one by one, feeling a heartache that made it hard to breathe.In this vast tragedy, the only piece of news that made him feel slightly better was that the Sword Fortress had accepted a large number of refugees and fleeing soldiers from Laiso City.
This was no easy feat.
According to the report, at least half of the people had escaped from Laiso City when it fell, and about ten thousand of them fled in the direction of the Sword Fortress.
The vast majority of them successfully reached the rear at the Sword Fortress.
As for those who fled in the other two directions, most of them were already dead.
According to the refugees, it was the Giant Stone Lighthouse that guided them and diverted the monsters.
This was a great achievement.
Unfortunately, by the time the reinforcements arrived, the lighthouse had already gone out.
They only found one hundred and twenty severely wounded people sealed inside the tower, and it was highly likely that all the stationed soldiers had perished.
It took Dalin two packs of cigarettes to forget this news.
Even though he was used to sacrifices, he couldn't remain indifferent.
Moreover, too many negative emotions could lead to the corruption of the soul in a detrimental direction.
Forgetting was the best memorial.
But the situation was still deteriorating, and Dalin could no longer find any additional forces to reinforce.
What to do?
Just as he was worrying, an order from the highest council of the royal city reached him.
After reading the brief order, Dalin immediately stood up and quickly arrived at the main hall of the royal city council.
Archbishop Horus, First Elder Amado, Second Defense Chief Zhang Bai, were all already seated there.
Dalin rushed in, anxiously asking, "Are we going to use the forbidden method?"
Horus said solemnly, "The king has allowed it, we can deploy a forbidden object or person under the Silver Oath."
Dalin fell silent.
"Just one?"
First Elder Amado said coldly, "It's best not to deploy the forbidden objects, the corruption of the abyss is too great, they will lose control."
Dalin and Zhang Bai looked at each other, and in an instant, they understood each other's thoughts.
"Only that one."
"Yes, only that one."
Horus asked solemnly, "Have you decided? This is our last chance. Once the defense circle breaks, all our achievements over the past decades will be destroyed."
Zhang Bai nodded slightly, "We have decided."
Dalin said solemnly, "We will use it wisely."
"Good."
Horus said no more and turned to leave.
"The oath of the forbidden one, Wolfgang von Mephisto, is about to be lifted."
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This is a huge cliff.
The strong wind howled, the black mist rolled, and the lanterns around the knights' waists went out.
Darkness swept in, engulfing everyone, leaving only the faint red light of the tear-shaped red stone.
The captain of the knights said in a deep voice, "This is the Death Cliff, at least a hundred miles away from the defense circle."
The darkness was very thick, and Rode noticed that his field of vision had greatly shortened, leaving only a distance of about two hundred yards.
The captain of the knights suddenly said, "There are monsters approaching!"
Rode was surprised and asked, "Did you see them?"
"I sensed them, level eight spiritual energy wave, mid-level ferocious, a total of nine, prepare for battle!"
The spiritual energy of everyone instantly lit up.
"High-level reaction ahead! Eagle Wing! Defense!"
A knight stepped forward, raised a huge shield, and spiritual energy spread out from the shield, like a bald eagle spreading its wings, forming a huge defensive shield.
The next second, a bright light burst through the air and hit the defensive shield directly.
The huge explosion engulfed everything in sight, and the power of this attack was close to the strengthened [Spiritual Energy Quintet] before.
But the defensive shield remained motionless.
In the gray-white light, Rode clearly saw nine shadows rushing towards them.
Their soul fluctuations were extremely strong, with complex and sharp waveforms, indeed mid-level ferocious monsters.
Perhaps the spiritual energy fluctuations caused by the explosion were too strong, and the captain of the knights did not react. Rode shouted, "The monsters are coming!"
The captain of the knights immediately said, "Engage in combat!"
Rode saw one of the shadows' spiritual energy quickly light up, far exceeding the other shadows, and immediately shouted, "Here it comes again! Spiritual Energy Cannon!"
The captain of the knights immediately shouted, "Eagle Wing! Continue to defend!"
Boom!
The second spiritual energy cannon hit the shield.
The knight remained motionless, but there were fine traces of blood on his eyes, nose, and ears.
Rode shouted for the third time, "The monsters are coming! Three in front, two at one o'clock, three at three o'clock, and one at nine o'clock that hasn't moved."
The captain of the knights immediately adjusted their positions.
"I'll protect Eagle Wing! Everyone else, spread out. Rode, you guard the Chief Dean."
Rode controlled all the puppets to surround Theodore. The wooden puppets formed a wooden wall, and the flesh puppets stood in front of the wooden wall.
A few seconds later, the monsters rushed into the defense circle.
Rode finally saw what they looked like.
It was a dark and sticky mass, wearing a huge ghost mask, without legs, only giant claws.
The escort knights quickly fell into a fierce battle. The attacks of the ghost masks were extremely swift, and their spiritual energy was powerful. The most troublesome thing was that the masks would suddenly spray small spiritual energy cannons. The intense battle caused the spiritual energy fluctuations to become chaotic and impossible to sense, only Rode could detect them.
Rode constantly issued warnings, fully demonstrating the role of a scout.
The flesh puppets also joined the battlefield.
The strength of this big guy far exceeded Rode's imagination. Although its movements were slow and couldn't hit the ghost masks, it was not afraid of the masks' attacks and served as a very good cover.
The battle gradually reached a stalemate.
The captain of the knights shouted, "Hold on for a while longer! The horse transmission is about to be activated."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly sensed a huge spiritual energy reaction in the distance.
"Level ten, level ten spiritual energy reaction!"
The captain's voice carried a rare tremor, as if he couldn't believe it. He suddenly reacted.
"High-level reaction ahead! Quickly protect the Chief Dean!"
In an instant, all the knights flew behind Eagle Wing and opened their spiritual energy defenses.
The captain pushed Rode away and threw him to the back.
"Stay alive, take..."
Before he finished speaking, a huge white light burst through the air, instantly piercing through Eagle Wing's protective shield, engulfing all the escort knights, and the residual force pierced through the flesh puppets, tearing the united wooden puppets in half.
The white light fell, and everything in front of them turned into ashes.
In the distance, more ghost masks flew towards them, accompanied by a larger white figure slowly approaching.
Rode's heart raced.
But time was up.
In the next moment, a gray light lit up, the field of vision became blurry again, a sense of weightlessness came, and when he came to his senses, he had been transported to a new place.
This was a mountainous area covered with sharp gravel. The black mist was not as dense, but the field of vision still couldn't reach two thousand yards.
Only he and Theodore were left at this point.
The huge body of the Chief Dean lay quietly beside him, not knowing when he would wake up.
Rode felt heavy-hearted and didn't want to think too much. He found a hidden cave and hid inside.
This was an absolutely wise choice. Not long after, the ghost masks from the cliff actually chased after them, and they brought even more ghost masks.
Rode immediately summoned a large number of wooden puppets, forming a cluster, blocking the cave.
Continuous loud explosions came from outside, the sound of branches breaking constantly resounded, and the resilient wooden puppets managed to withstand the external attacks, dragging it until the next teleportation.When his vision returned, Rode saw a vast familiar wasteland, and his vision finally returned to two thousand yards.
Is this the wasteland of corpses?
The wasteland in front of the Sword Pass?
Isn't this the inner layer of the defense circle? Is there any danger here?
Rode stood up and looked around.
Sure enough, most of the nearby monsters were at or below the rank, and they posed no threat to him now.
It should be safe.
Even more fortunately, it didn't take long for the Chief Dean to finally open his eyes.
When his azure eyes looked at Rode, he let out a long breath.
Finally safe.
"Chief Dean..."
Rode was about to speak, but a strong sense of sadness suddenly surged up, choking his throat and rendering him speechless.
Theodore seemed to know something and asked softly, "Lil and the others have sacrificed, haven't they?"
Rode nodded slightly.
A trace of sadness appeared in Theodore's eyes, but it quickly disappeared behind his square glasses as he said softly, "Little Rode, don't be sad. Returning is our destiny. Without their sacrifice, there would be no smiles in the royal city. Gifts come at a price, and you have also experienced such happiness. You can bring this kind of happiness to those who have smiled for you."
In an instant, many people appeared in Rode's mind: Green Feather, Aunt Yusef, Sister Nun, Kassan, the Raisin brothers, Ado, Teresa... and many others whose names he knew or didn't know.
When their smiles appeared in his mind, Rode suddenly stopped feeling lost and felt an infinite courage rising in his heart.
He knew what he had to do.
"I understand, thank you, Chief Dean."
The kind gaze of Theodore looked at him. "You've done well, child. Now, leave the heavy burden to me."
Rode quickly and detailedly recounted everything he knew, starting from the lighthouse and continuing until the end.
"...The luck of this teleportation is very good, and there is no danger here..."
"No."
Theodore interrupted him.
"The luck of malicious teleportation will never be good. The twisted curse of the Abyssal Serpent Premis can never go wrong. It is a high-level Abyssal creature, second only to the Abyssal King."
Rode was taken aback. "Are you saying..."
Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Theodore extended his right hand, and a long wooden staff appeared in his hand out of thin air.
"Yes, there are dangers here that you can't imagine."
Bang!
Theodore held the staff with both hands and forcefully inserted it into the ground.
Accompanied by a huge flash, a giant ghost composed of countless agonized faces rose from the ground and appeared before their eyes.
Rode instantly recognized it. It was the high-level evil spirit he encountered when he reinforced the Sword Pass!
The high-level evil spirit that Greygrove deliberately awakened to destroy the Sword Pass.
The high-level evil spirit formed by the countless remnants of the Twilight Knights who perished thousands of years ago!
The soul attack of the Moonbow Bach didn't kill it?
Theodore said gently, "The current situation is very bad. The Abyss is spreading, the Laiso City has been breached, the nearby areas have all fallen, the war zone is in ruins, and the warriors are in a bitter battle. The Great Serpent's whereabouts are unknown, and the Dark Tide has not ended... There are many things we need to do, but we can't rush. Take it one step at a time."
He raised the wooden staff, and a surge of spiritual energy gathered at the tip of the staff like a tide.
"Let's start by eliminating this hidden threat."
---
---
Royal City.
Royal District.
Supreme Military War Department.
The destruction of Laiso City and Theodore's disappearance had caused two days of chaos.
Bad news kept coming, making the already stretched and leaky defense system of the royal city even worse.
Amidst this darkness, the only good news was that the situation at the Iron Armor Fortress had improved.
Arlan killed the undead giant and broke the unclean core.
As long as the skeletal monsters inside the fortress were cleared, the Iron Armor Fortress could be restored.
But the decay of the entire war zone made this good news not so pleasing to the eye.
The First Defense Commander, Daren, had not slept for two days.
The destruction of Laiso City had caused a large breach in the defense line, and nearby strongholds were in urgent need of support. If it weren't for the Iron Armor Fortress blocking the way, the darkness would have already advanced.
But the Iron Armor Fortress couldn't exist in isolation. Its value lay in protecting the nearby strongholds.
If all the nearby strongholds were lost, the isolated Iron Armor Fortress would not have much effect in the entire defense line.
To make matters worse, the fierce and protracted battle had pierced through the Abyss, and a fissure appeared near the defense line, spewing Abyssal creatures like a tide.
This fissure had to be destroyed, and the Abyssal creatures that opened the fissure had to be eliminated.
The royal city had urgently dispatched the Guardians, Green Feather and Jon, to support, but the situation did not quickly turn around, and reports of death and destruction continued to pour in like snowflakes.
Daren looked at these pillars of humanity falling one by one, feeling a heartache that made it hard to breathe.In this vast tragedy, the only piece of news that made him feel slightly better was that the Sword Fortress had accepted a large number of refugees and fleeing soldiers from Laiso City.
This was no easy feat.
According to the report, at least half of the people had escaped from Laiso City when it fell, and about ten thousand of them fled in the direction of the Sword Fortress.
The vast majority of them successfully reached the rear at the Sword Fortress.
As for those who fled in the other two directions, most of them were already dead.
According to the refugees, it was the Giant Stone Lighthouse that guided them and diverted the monsters.
This was a great achievement.
Unfortunately, by the time the reinforcements arrived, the lighthouse had already gone out.
They only found one hundred and twenty severely wounded people sealed inside the tower, and it was highly likely that all the stationed soldiers had perished.
It took Dalin two packs of cigarettes to forget this news.
Even though he was used to sacrifices, he couldn't remain indifferent.
Moreover, too many negative emotions could lead to the corruption of the soul in a detrimental direction.
Forgetting was the best memorial.
But the situation was still deteriorating, and Dalin could no longer find any additional forces to reinforce.
What to do?
Just as he was worrying, an order from the highest council of the royal city reached him.
After reading the brief order, Dalin immediately stood up and quickly arrived at the main hall of the royal city council.
Archbishop Horus, First Elder Amado, Second Defense Chief Zhang Bai, were all already seated there.
Dalin rushed in, anxiously asking, "Are we going to use the forbidden method?"
Horus said solemnly, "The king has allowed it, we can deploy a forbidden object or person under the Silver Oath."
Dalin fell silent.
"Just one?"
First Elder Amado said coldly, "It's best not to deploy the forbidden objects, the corruption of the abyss is too great, they will lose control."
Dalin and Zhang Bai looked at each other, and in an instant, they understood each other's thoughts.
"Only that one."
"Yes, only that one."
Horus asked solemnly, "Have you decided? This is our last chance. Once the defense circle breaks, all our achievements over the past decades will be destroyed."
Zhang Bai nodded slightly, "We have decided."
Dalin said solemnly, "We will use it wisely."
"Good."
Horus said no more and turned to leave.
"The oath of the forbidden one, Wolfgang von Mephisto, is about to be lifted."
This is a huge cliff.The strong wind howled, the black mist rolled, and the lanterns around the knights' waists went out.Darkness swept in, engulfing everyone, leaving only the faint red light of the tear-shaped red stone.The captain of the knights said in a deep voice, "This is the Death Cliff, at least a hundred miles away from the defense circle."The darkness was very thick, and Rode noticed that his field of vision had greatly shortened, leaving only a distance of about two hundred yards.The captain of the knights suddenly said, "There are monsters approaching!"Rode was surprised and asked, "Did you see them?""I sensed them, level eight spiritual energy wave, mid-level ferocious, a total of nine, prepare for battle!"The spiritual energy of everyone instantly lit up."High-level reaction ahead! Eagle Wing! Defense!"A knight stepped forward, raised a huge shield, and spiritual energy spread out from the shield, like a bald eagle spreading its wings, forming a huge defensive shield.The next second, a bright light burst through the air and hit the defensive shield directly.The huge explosion engulfed everything in sight, and the power of this attack was close to the strengthened Spiritual Energy Quintet before.But the defensive shield remained motionless.In the gray-white light, Rode clearly saw nine shadows rushing towards them.Their soul fluctuations were extremely strong, with complex and sharp waveforms, indeed mid-level ferocious monsters.Perhaps the spiritual energy fluctuations caused by the explosion were too strong, and the captain of the knights did not react. Rode shouted, "The monsters are coming!"The captain of the knights immediately said, "Engage in combat!"Rode saw one of the shadows' spiritual energy quickly light up, far exceeding the other shadows, and immediately shouted, "Here it comes again! Spiritual Energy Cannon!"The captain of the knights immediately shouted, "Eagle Wing! Continue to defend!"Boom!The second spiritual energy cannon hit the shield.The knight remained motionless, but there were fine traces of blood on his eyes, nose, and ears.Rode shouted for the third time, "The monsters are coming! Three in front, two at one o'clock, three at three o'clock, and one at nine o'clock that hasn't moved."The captain of the knights immediately adjusted their positions."I'll protect Eagle Wing! Everyone else, spread out. Rode, you guard the Chief Dean."Rode controlled all the puppets to surround Theodore. The wooden puppets formed a wooden wall, and the flesh puppets stood in front of the wooden wall.A few seconds later, the monsters rushed into the defense circle.Rode finally saw what they looked like.It was a dark and sticky mass, wearing a huge ghost mask, without legs, only giant claws.The escort knights quickly fell into a fierce battle. The attacks of the ghost masks were extremely swift, and their spiritual energy was powerful. The most troublesome thing was that the masks would suddenly spray small spiritual energy cannons. The intense battle caused the spiritual energy fluctuations to become chaotic and impossible to sense, only Rode could detect them.Rode constantly issued warnings, fully demonstrating the role of a scout.The flesh puppets also joined the battlefield.The strength of this big guy far exceeded Rode's imagination. Although its movements were slow and couldn't hit the ghost masks, it was not afraid of the masks' attacks and served as a very good cover.The battle gradually reached a stalemate.The captain of the knights shouted, "Hold on for a while longer! The horse transmission is about to be activated."Before he finished speaking, he suddenly sensed a huge spiritual energy reaction in the distance."Level ten, level ten spiritual energy reaction!"The captain's voice carried a rare tremor, as if he couldn't believe it. He suddenly reacted."High-level reaction ahead! Quickly protect the Chief Dean!"In an instant, all the knights flew behind Eagle Wing and opened their spiritual energy defenses.The captain pushed Rode away and threw him to the back."Stay alive, take..."Before he finished speaking, a huge white light burst through the air, instantly piercing through Eagle Wing's protective shield, engulfing all the escort knights, and the residual force pierced through the flesh puppets, tearing the united wooden puppets in half.The white light fell, and everything in front of them turned into ashes.In the distance, more ghost masks flew towards them, accompanied by a larger white figure slowly approaching.Rode's heart raced.But time was up.In the next moment, a gray light lit up, the field of vision became blurry again, a sense of weightlessness came, and when he came to his senses, he had been transported to a new place.This was a mountainous area covered with sharp gravel. The black mist was not as dense, but the field of vision still couldn't reach two thousand yards.Only he and Theodore were left at this point.The huge body of the Chief Dean lay quietly beside him, not knowing when he would wake up.Rode felt heavy-hearted and didn't want to think too much. He found a hidden cave and hid inside.This was an absolutely wise choice. Not long after, the ghost masks from the cliff actually chased after them, and they brought even more ghost masks.Rode immediately summoned a large number of wooden puppets, forming a cluster, blocking the cave.Continuous loud explosions came from outside, the sound of branches breaking constantly resounded, and the resilient wooden puppets managed to withstand the external attacks, dragging it until the next teleportation.When his vision returned, Rode saw a vast familiar wasteland, and his vision finally returned to two thousand yards.Is this the wasteland of corpses?The wasteland in front of the Sword Pass?Isn't this the inner layer of the defense circle? Is there any danger here?Rode stood up and looked around.Sure enough, most of the nearby monsters were at or below the rank, and they posed no threat to him now.It should be safe.Even more fortunately, it didn't take long for the Chief Dean to finally open his eyes.When his azure eyes looked at Rode, he let out a long breath.Finally safe."Chief Dean..."Rode was about to speak, but a strong sense of sadness suddenly surged up, choking his throat and rendering him speechless.Theodore seemed to know something and asked softly, "Lil and the others have sacrificed, haven't they?"Rode nodded slightly.A trace of sadness appeared in Theodore's eyes, but it quickly disappeared behind his square glasses as he said softly, "Little Rode, don't be sad. Returning is our destiny. Without their sacrifice, there would be no smiles in the royal city. Gifts come at a price, and you have also experienced such happiness. You can bring this kind of happiness to those who have smiled for you."In an instant, many people appeared in Rode's mind: Green Feather, Aunt Yusef, Sister Nun, Kassan, the Raisin brothers, Ado, Teresa... and many others whose names he knew or didn't know.When their smiles appeared in his mind, Rode suddenly stopped feeling lost and felt an infinite courage rising in his heart.He knew what he had to do."I understand, thank you, Chief Dean."The kind gaze of Theodore looked at him. "You've done well, child. Now, leave the heavy burden to me."Rode quickly and detailedly recounted everything he knew, starting from the lighthouse and continuing until the end."...The luck of this teleportation is very good, and there is no danger here...""No."Theodore interrupted him."The luck of malicious teleportation will never be good. The twisted curse of the Abyssal Serpent Premis can never go wrong. It is a high-level Abyssal creature, second only to the Abyssal King."Rode was taken aback. "Are you saying..."Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.Theodore extended his right hand, and a long wooden staff appeared in his hand out of thin air."Yes, there are dangers here that you can't imagine."Bang!Theodore held the staff with both hands and forcefully inserted it into the ground.Accompanied by a huge flash, a giant ghost composed of countless agonized faces rose from the ground and appeared before their eyes.Rode instantly recognized it. It was the high-level evil spirit he encountered when he reinforced the Sword Pass!The high-level evil spirit that Greygrove deliberately awakened to destroy the Sword Pass.The high-level evil spirit formed by the countless remnants of the Twilight Knights who perished thousands of years ago!The soul attack of the Moonbow Bach didn't kill it?Theodore said gently, "The current situation is very bad. The Abyss is spreading, the Laiso City has been breached, the nearby areas have all fallen, the war zone is in ruins, and the warriors are in a bitter battle. The Great Serpent's whereabouts are unknown, and the Dark Tide has not ended... There are many things we need to do, but we can't rush. Take it one step at a time."He raised the wooden staff, and a surge of spiritual energy gathered at the tip of the staff like a tide."Let's start by eliminating this hidden threat."------Royal City.Royal District.Supreme Military War Department.The destruction of Laiso City and Theodore's disappearance had caused two days of chaos.Bad news kept coming, making the already stretched and leaky defense system of the royal city even worse.Amidst this darkness, the only good news was that the situation at the Iron Armor Fortress had improved.Arlan killed the undead giant and broke the unclean core.As long as the skeletal monsters inside the fortress were cleared, the Iron Armor Fortress could be restored.But the decay of the entire war zone made this good news not so pleasing to the eye.The First Defense Commander, Daren, had not slept for two days.The destruction of Laiso City had caused a large breach in the defense line, and nearby strongholds were in urgent need of support. If it weren't for the Iron Armor Fortress blocking the way, the darkness would have already advanced.But the Iron Armor Fortress couldn't exist in isolation. Its value lay in protecting the nearby strongholds.If all the nearby strongholds were lost, the isolated Iron Armor Fortress would not have much effect in the entire defense line.To make matters worse, the fierce and protracted battle had pierced through the Abyss, and a fissure appeared near the defense line, spewing Abyssal creatures like a tide.This fissure had to be destroyed, and the Abyssal creatures that opened the fissure had to be eliminated.The royal city had urgently dispatched the Guardians, Green Feather and Jon, to support, but the situation did not quickly turn around, and reports of death and destruction continued to pour in like snowflakes.Daren looked at these pillars of humanity falling one by one, feeling a heartache that made it hard to breathe.In this vast tragedy, the only piece of news that made him feel slightly better was that the Sword Fortress had accepted a large number of refugees and fleeing soldiers from Laiso City.This was no easy feat.According to the report, at least half of the people had escaped from Laiso City when it fell, and about ten thousand of them fled in the direction of the Sword Fortress.The vast majority of them successfully reached the rear at the Sword Fortress.As for those who fled in the other two directions, most of them were already dead.According to the refugees, it was the Giant Stone Lighthouse that guided them and diverted the monsters.This was a great achievement.Unfortunately, by the time the reinforcements arrived, the lighthouse had already gone out.They only found one hundred and twenty severely wounded people sealed inside the tower, and it was highly likely that all the stationed soldiers had perished.It took Dalin two packs of cigarettes to forget this news.Even though he was used to sacrifices, he couldn't remain indifferent.Moreover, too many negative emotions could lead to the corruption of the soul in a detrimental direction.Forgetting was the best memorial.But the situation was still deteriorating, and Dalin could no longer find any additional forces to reinforce.What to do?Just as he was worrying, an order from the highest council of the royal city reached him.After reading the brief order, Dalin immediately stood up and quickly arrived at the main hall of the royal city council.Archbishop Horus, First Elder Amado, Second Defense Chief Zhang Bai, were all already seated there.Dalin rushed in, anxiously asking, "Are we going to use the forbidden method?"Horus said solemnly, "The king has allowed it, we can deploy a forbidden object or person under the Silver Oath."Dalin fell silent."Just one?"First Elder Amado said coldly, "It's best not to deploy the forbidden objects, the corruption of the abyss is too great, they will lose control."Dalin and Zhang Bai looked at each other, and in an instant, they understood each other's thoughts."Only that one.""Yes, only that one."Horus asked solemnly, "Have you decided? This is our last chance. Once the defense circle breaks, all our achievements over the past decades will be destroyed."Zhang Bai nodded slightly, "We have decided."Dalin said solemnly, "We will use it wisely.""Good."Horus said no more and turned to leave."The oath of the forbidden one, Wolfgang von Mephisto, is about to be lifted."
