Netheril’s Glory - Chapter 138: Incompetent City Guards.
The trainee-level divine spell, Secondary divine ascertainment, was a common divination spell among priests as it could give them a general understanding of a situation in the specified area.
“How…how could it be? Why did the refugees suddenly riot! And why did the city gate be blown open?”
Bishop Huo Delai’s eyes were full of shock. The timing of all this matter was just too coincidental. After all, when the main force of Dolez city had just completed their encirclement of the Ti Xiaer church’s strongholds, the refugees on the other side immediately rioted and begun to attack the peripheral nobles. If he still could not figure out that a big conspiracy was in play here, then he could only be called a dull-witted senile instead of an old bishop.
However, the subsequent development of the situation did not allow bishop Huo Delai to be stunned. Because almost at the same time, when he discovered that the situation was not right, dozens of masked men in grayish red robes walked out silently from the houses which the city guards surrounded. All of these people’s masks were painted with a lifelike dark green spider.
These masked men walked out of the surrounded houses and shops and then stood sparsely in a row on the open space while staring silently at the city guards and the priests.
All the city guards nervously clenched the handle of their swords. It must be said that this weird dress-up could really put a lot of pressure on ordinary people.
However, most priests and professionals were still relaxed. In their view, this group of weirdos was just ordinary people without any professional level. So although their appearances were a little mysterious, they didn’t constitute any threat to themselves at all.
Finally, a young priest walked out leisurely and then recited Saint Cuthbert’s creed loudly.
“Sinful men, you have disrupted the order which is an unforgivable sin, but now you are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to redeem your sins. So, give up resistance and give up your unrealistic evil illusions, you…”
But no matter how devoted the young priest’s prayer was, it could not move those masked people. And without warning, they suddenly began to charge toward the Dolez city forces. The speed of these masked men shocked everyone as it could be said to have reached the peak of ordinary people.
The heavy and rapid footsteps of these masked people arouse a lot of dust on the ground, and the noise of their synchronized footsteps sounded like drum beats of a strange ritual.
“Can’t wait to die, hah?”
Seeing a large number of masked people rushing in, several warriors began to rub their hands. The speed of these believers might be fast for ordinary people, but in the eyes of these trainee-level and even apprentice-level professionals, it was really not that impressive. So they simply waited until the masked man rushed in front of them and then slashed hard with their swords.
“Hahaha, I like to cut people in half the most. Everyone is welcome to send them in my way.”
A ferocious-looking muscular man slashed directly on the top of a masked man’s head. He already thought of the scene where the masked man’s head would split into two, and blood and brain-matter splashing everywhere.
But what happened afterward made his excitement freeze on his face. Before the sharp sword hit the masked man, it was bounced off by a strong shock wave, and the man himself was also blown away.
The ordinary masked man exploded himself, and the powerful shock wave instantly killed the nearest warrior. At the same time, a large amount of flesh and blood that was transformed into acidic mucus was spilled on the unsuspecting city guards. The people who were sprayed with the strong acid immediately had their thin armor, and then their flesh eroded. They threw down their weapons and continued to howl and roll on the ground.
“Ahhhhh, it hurts. Help me”!
“Eyes, my eyes! I can’t see anything.”
“Lord Priest, I need treatment. Otherwise, I’m going to die, ah.”
Such scenes could be seen in all of the besieged strongholds. One by one, such human-shaped bombs rushed into the guard’s formation, into the buildings, into the group of professionals, and then self-exploded without hesitation. The terrible shockwave accompanied by deadly acid spray became the nightmare of all the soldiers.
Most of these city guards were just some scoundrel who could only bully the poor, and when confronted with such a deadly and terrifying enemy, almost all of them chose to abandon their ranks and ran. The remaining professional mercenaries also turned around and left without hesitation.
Although the professionals were not defeated, they just didn’t want to take such risks.
As a result, the “elite force” guaranteed by those nobles with their chest clapped, disregarding the commander’s yelling, fled the battlefield without turning back.
In the end, only a few “competent” healing priests, who usually stayed behind the main force to cast their long and slow spells, were left to withstand the bombing of the lunatic believers.
Unsurprisingly only after a few moments, almost all the apprentice-level priests turned into a pile of unrecognizable bone and flesh fragments on the ground.
In theory, thousands of city guards encircling a group of ordinary believers, even if they were human bombs, should have been an easy victory, but they were so frightened by the crazy enemy that they all ran with their tails between their legs.
As the saying goes- “Brutes were afraid of reckless, reckless were afraid of desperate,” and these followers of Ti Xiaer Church were the most desperate.
Minister Hutt, who was in the lord’s castle, almost spit out a mouthful of his old blood when he received the news from the communication crystal. He couldn’t figure out why the mercenaries and the city guards who were usually invincible would retreat so simply, and he couldn’t help but wonder if their undefeated record came from just retreating from battles!
But things had already happened, and minister Hutt could now only find a way to remedy the situation. He picked up the precious communication crystal and roared to the commander loudly:
“Hurry up and notify the nobles, and ask them to send all their private soldiers, death-knights, and professionals they have cultivated. Otherwise, when lord Kang Kai and lord Bahanger come back, everyone will die together.”
At this time, minister Hutt still had some hope. After all, if all the noble families’ private soldiers were to cooperate, they would be a considerable force, and they might be able to make a difference in dealing with the group of suicide-attacking believers.
However, as the saying goes, “When troubles come, they come not single spies but in battalions.”
After hearing the answer from the communication crystal, minister Hutt’s head was buzzing.
“My lord, my lord, the untouchables are attacking the nobles. Private soldiers and family professionals are dealing with the crazy refugees. We, we have no strength to spare at all.”
Hearing the almost sobbing report from the other side, minister Hutt’s trembling hand almost couldn’t hold the communication crystal anymore. He quickly took out a bottle of tranquility potion and poured it down his throat in order to avoid fainting on the spot.
Now Dolez was in such a mess that even an old fox like minister Hutt didn’t know what to do next.
But this was not even the worst news. To make matters worse, at this time, all the masked people were gathering in the direction of the lord’s castle. They ran across the streets silently and separated when they encountered any roadblocks. Sometimes several of their “companions” would blow themselves up to solve the obstacle.
Professionals who had the ability to stop them didn’t want to get into trouble, and the city guards who wanted to stop them couldn’t do anything about it, so they could be said to be unimpeded along the way.
There was no doubt that the goal of the Ti Xiaer Church was the lord’s castle that stood in the center of the city of Dolez, and the lord inside, who was still sleeping on the bed with his wife and concubines.