Chapter 268: Chapter 254: Ambush, Response, Evil Magic

Gunsmoke and the stench of blood hung heavy in the cold air, mixed with the lingering smell of sulfur, acrid and oppressive.

From the distant main road, the deafening roar of battle and clashing metal surged like a boiling tide.

Jon’s ice-blue eyes swept over an alleyway from his memory, one not particularly wide but still able to accommodate two carriages side-by-side. He patted the Mechanical Warhorse beneath him.

"Stay close! This way!"

His voice cut through the din, carrying an undeniable sense of command that reached the ears of every follower behind him.

Leona followed without a moment’s hesitation, leading the Radiant Knights close behind.

The apprentices maneuvered their Mechanical Bodies, careful not to hit the walls. They weaved nimbly through the narrow alley, their machines emitting a dull WHIR-HISS and the faint, sharp scrape of articulating joints.

Dolores perched on the shoulder of a Guardian, her amber eyes warily scanning the tall, filth-stained brick walls and tightly shut, dilapidated wooden windows on both sides, her excitement tinged with a hint of tension.

Esra, meanwhile, clutched the Control Crystal Disc, her gaze from behind her glasses straining to follow Jon’s retreating figure.

Indeed, Jon was leading his team on a detour.

Since their previous move had been a strategic withdrawal rather than a rout, the rebel army had ample time to seize control of the city. They had established multiple defensive lines along the main thoroughfares. For the Resistance Alliance to charge to the foot of Red Crying Castle would be a grueling effort.

And Jon had no intention of smashing his forces against those defensive lines for the Alliance.

Heta County City was vast—so vast that the rebel army couldn’t possibly control every viable passage. And this was where his ’player experience’ came into play.

As a player hailing from Heta County, he was just as familiar with the city as any native. He knew every corner and every high window that could possibly conceal a crossbowman like the back of his hand.

As for why, don’t ask.

The route he chose now was a bit remote, but it allowed them to bypass several mandatory barricades on the main roads.

This didn’t mean it was without risk, however.

Though the Giant God Workshop’s numbers were small, they weren’t so few as to go completely unnoticed by the rebels.

Soon, as the team filed around the corner of the "Traveler’s Home" Inn, a building with a mottled facade and a crooked sign, Jon’s pupils suddenly constricted.

’Killing intent.’

He barked an order.

"Don’t stop! Keep moving! Charge through at full speed—!"

The words had barely left his lips when it happened.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—!

A dreadful whistling tore through the air!

Dozens of arrows, glinting with a cold, ghastly green light and clearly coated in poison, erupted from the rooftops on both sides of the inn and from behind the broken attic windows, descending like a swarm of venomous locusts!

The arrow-fall wove a deadly net, precisely blanketing the middle of their column—especially the apprentices piloting the Mechanical Bodies, whose personal defenses were relatively weak!

In that moment, time seemed to stretch.

With his powerful Spiritual Power, Jon could even see the cold trajectories the arrowheads traced against the lead-gray sky.

But he had told his team not to stop for a reason.

’Integration Seal!’

At the thought, he spread his fingers wide.

VMMMM—!

A complex Dharma Seal, interwoven with ethereal blue and pale gold, instantly materialized and expanded in his palm!

The intricate patterns of light seemed to come alive, spreading outward in layered waves and radiating an irresistible power of order.

The light wasn’t blinding, but it carried a heart-stopping sense of stability, as if an invisible bulwark had been erected from thin air.

PING PING PING PING—!

The crisp impacts blended into a continuous sound, like a sudden downpour on a tin roof!

The venom-laced arrows struck the flowing Light Wall as if they had hit an invisible rampart of Fine Steel.

The ghastly green arrowheads instantly shattered and warped, the poisoned shafts snapped in two by the immense force and sent flying!

Splinters of wood and metal were swept aside as if by an invisible hand, scattering into the mud and rubble on either side of the column. Not a single arrow penetrated the thin curtain of light to harm anyone below.

The entire exchange happened in the blink of an eye; the column’s speed didn’t even falter in the slightest.

After doing all this, Jon kept his eyes fixed forward and gave a low shout.

"Dolores!"

"Got it, Boss!"

The Ranger Maiden replied cheerfully, already guessing Jon’s intent without needing further orders.

Her purple-clad figure launched from the Guardian’s shoulder, her agile body carving a powerful arc through the air.

While still in midair, her bowstring sang with a series of sharp, rapid thrums.

Several glints of cold light tore through the smoke, whistling sharply as they precisely bit into the shadows that had just been exposed on the rooftops and behind the broken windows.

THWACK!

"Aargh—!"

The sickening thuds and short, pained grunts were carried on the wind as several figures swayed and tumbled from their hiding places.

Dolores landed gracefully on one of the filth-stained sloped roofs. Her amber eyes swept the area, and a cruelly excited smile touched her lips. Then, with a flicker, she vanished completely beyond the staggered rooflines.

Seeing this, Esra couldn’t help but feel a pang of worry.

"Mr. Jon! Dolores—!"

"Don’t worry about her."

Jon didn’t even glance back, merely urging the Mechanical Warhorse beneath him steadily forward.

"She can take care of herself. Keep up, don’t fall behind!"

’Are you kidding? With Dolores’s skills, even he wouldn’t dare guarantee he could catch that girl in the complex terrain of the city’s alleys, let alone those grunts.’

’Letting her act on her own was the right choice.’

And his confidence did reassure Esra somewhat.

The meticulously planned ambush, dismantled in an instant, was like a stone tossed into the sea. It caused only a negligible ripple before the group returned to their silent advance. The column’s speed never slowed for a moment, and they soon covered half the distance to the cathedral in the County City.

However, as the column turned onto a long street, the sight that suddenly unfolded before them made Jon abruptly rein in his Mechanical Warhorse.

"Halt!"

Leona pulled her reins at the same instant. Behind her, the Radiant Knights immediately assumed defensive stances, the clang of metal sharp and unified.

The apprentices scrambled to control their Gun Cavalry and Walkers, the heavy steel constructs dragging to a halt with a jarring screech as they skidded across the slick pavement.

Before them lay the final, open stretch of road leading to the Sun Cathedral in the city’s northwest corner.

At this moment, however, the street that should have been filled with otherworldly charm had been transformed into a horrifying, blasphemous path.

The rough brick and stone walls of the buildings lining the street—once, perhaps, homes and shops—were now smeared with twisted, indescribable symbols painted in a viscous, blackened filth that resembled coagulated gore.

What was even more horrifying were the "things" scattered on the ground.

Several bodies in tattered clothes were curled or twisted into extremely unnatural positions, like broken dolls casually tossed aside.

They bore no obvious external wounds, but their exposed skin had a bizarre, ashen pallor, as if it had been drained of all life and color.

What was particularly horrifying were their heads—the tops of their skulls had been crudely pried open by some brutal force, revealing empty cranial cavities. The brain tissue that should have been inside was gone, leaving only sticky, dark-red bloodstains and fragments of tissue congealed around the edges of the wounds, radiating an air of hopeless death in the cold.

And around these husks, which had been "cored," lay the bodies of several dead Soldiers in standard-issue rebel leather armor.

They had died in various ways. Some had their chests pierced by sharp claws; others had their necks twisted and broken by immense force. But without exception, their bodies were all being rapidly covered and corroded by a dim, ashen, moss-like substance that seemed to have a life of its own, as if they were being slowly swallowed by an invisible bog.

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