Chapter 252: Divide and Conquer (2)

As the clouds concealed the moonlight, the vast plains were plunged into darkness. At the center of this alien landscape was a tower that shot strange lights into the air. The strange light illuminated the grotesque forms that roamed around the tower.

“As expected, security is very tight.”

There were people hiding in the grass, whispering in hushed tones. They were Priscilla and her Holy Paladins, tasked with destroying the tower south of Pittsburgh.

They landed their airship a short distance away before approaching the tower. Their troop’s composition solely consisted of knights; without a single magician, their offensive strategies were limited.

Sensing an unusual flow of mana while examining the area, Priscilla looked northeast.

“It seems like the old man has started his battle.”

Massive amounts of mana could be felt all the way from the eastern side of Pittsburgh. The only person capable of wielding that much mana was the Great Sage Zod Exarion.

In time, the clouds slowly parted and the moonlight began to illuminate the area. Priscilla stood up.

“We should get started as well.”

The Holy Paladins started to move. Their movements were deft and well-practiced. Even with numerous people moving at the same time, the area remained silent.

However, something had still managed to notice them. A chimera with enhanced hearing had reacted to the slightest sound, perhaps even their breathing.

Suddenly:

*SLASH*

Blood splattered everywhere. Its head hit the ground.

This heralded the start of the battle.

“KRRAAAHHH!”

Ear-piercing cries rang out from all around the plains as the ground began to rumble. The chimeras that had been scattered all over the place started to charge at the Holy Paladins.

The sight of hundreds of chimeras flocking towards them was extremely daunting, but the Holy Paladins showed no signs of backing down. They calmly advanced with the front and side lines holding up big shields. Surrounded by a wall of shields enveloped in an enormous amount of aura, they were like a moving fortress.

*CRACK*

*THUD*

The chimeras who vigorously charged at them failed to break through the shields and smashed their heads in vain.

The chimeras that approached them from behind tried to jump over their shields, but the Holy Paladins didn’t allow that. Each beast was met with a variety of weapons and struck down with ease.

*SLASH*

*CRACK*

“KRAAAAAGH!”

The sound of bones being crushed and flesh being ripped drowned out all other noise in the area.

“Hrrk!”

But just like how any sturdy wall will inevitably fall, the Holy Paladins’ formation began to waver.

Their injuries continued to accumulate as the chimeras squeezed in through the gaps to claw at them. Though each chimera paid the price with its life, their numbers were endless.

The Holy Paladins were greatly outnumbered by the chimeras, and if this were to go on, then the Holy Paladins would collapse first.

But they didn’t show any hint of despair.

“Second row!”

At the Captain’s command, knights that stood behind the shield lines stepped up to take their comrades’ place.

In a situation where they were surrounded by enemies, a strategy that didn’t solve the fundamental problem was nothing more than a temporary solution to buy time. If they were a normal unit, this would be the case.

“Healing.”

As Priscilla, who had been watching the situation from the rear, reached out, a blinding light enveloped the knights’ wounds.

Moments later, the knights had all recovered completely. They looked no different than when they had started.

“First row!”

The Holy Paladins repeated the same process again. With the Saintess of the Artemis Church supporting the Holy Paladins’ impeccable defense, an invincible formation had been born.

*SLASH*

*CRACK*

They continued advancing at a slow pace, but before too long, they arrived near the base of the tower. As Priscilla looked towards the tower to gauge the distance left, she made eye contact with someone.

At the entrance of the colossal tower, a silver-haired girl stood there, staring at them.

The Holy Paladins, as well as Priscilla, immediately realized that she was a homunculus. The homunculus, as if greeting the new arrivals, quickly gathered a staggering amount of mana.

There was a white flash of light.

It was artillery magic on the level of a Seventh-Circle spell.

No matter how tough the Paladin Division’s shield formation was, it would be impossible to block an attack like that.

Furthermore, Priscilla’s ability was to heal wounds. As long as they were breathing, she could even heal severe injuries, but if one were to be hit directly by that white flash, they likely wouldn’t escape with just a severe injury.

In other words, the strategy they had been using to deal with the chimeras would not work on the homunculus.

Soon, the white flash was launched. Extremely hot energy tore towards the Paladin Division as it obliterated everything in its path.

Just then, something unexpected happened.

The trajectory of the flash suddenly veered to the side dramatically. It drew a curve and exploded in the air.

*BANG*

The evening darkness was obliterated, making it feel as bright as day. And within that light, it was beyond clear that the Paladins were left unscathed.

The homunculus’s eyes flickered. It couldn’t understand what had just transpired. The attack that had undoubtedly been fired in a straight line had suddenly changed its direction. It was a phenomenon that did not exist in the copious data it had received, containing history and battle data of the past hundred years..

To affirm the situation, the homunculus began preparing to launch another artillery strike.

Right then, one of the knights caught the homunculus’s eye. The knight was concentrating aura into his weapon, the density of it so great that it could be felt from hundreds of feet away. But there was no need to be wary. It was clear that the flash of light would be fired before the knight could even approach.

However, that was the homunculus’s miscalculation.

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“… … !”

*CRACK*

The homunculus’s neck snapped with a horrifying sound.

As the homunculus’s line of sight flipped, she saw the same knight swinging his mace.

They were undoubtedly still very far away from each other. Far beyond the reach of any melee weapon.

But the knight ignored that and struck the homunculus as if he stood right next to it.

As the same phenomenon that was unregistered in its battle data happened again, the homunculus fell into a state of confusion and tried to analyze the situation. But no matter how hard the homunculus tried, it was not a phenomenon it could understand.

That was because unlike aura, it was a power beyond the logic of this world.

The Blessing of Light.

Those who received the blessing had powers that, fundamentally, went against the natural order. Like Priscilla, they could be blessed with extreme healing abilities, or an otherwise completely different effect.

Refracting the trajectory of the white flash of light and landing an attack regardless of the distance was just another manifestation of this blessing.

The Holy Paladins that the Artemis Church was so proud of was made up of knights who received the Blessing of Light.

While the homunculus recovered, the Holy Paladins managed to close the distance.

The knight that had been leading the front lines once again swung his mace at the homunculus.

*BANG*

At that moment, the homunculus had no choice but to fall to her knees from the unexpected shock.

This Paladin had been blessed with the power of aggregation.

Any attack he made would have the impact of a weapon over a hundred times heavier, resulting in attacks so powerful that not even a homunculus could withstand it.

As the homunculus was incapacitated, the other knights attacked.

There was an endless wave of attacks.

Repeated synchronized attacks, with each manifestation of their Blessing of Light working together to amplify each other, battered into the homunculus.

The continuous group attacks being made by the Bishop-Class Paladins, supporting each other through varied applications of their Blessings of Light, was extremely threatening. On the receiving end of these endless attacks, the homunculus was cornered into the defensive.

But her ability to manipulate causality was a step above them.

The homunculus approached one of the knights as she took the continuous attacks head-on. And in an instant, she recovered her severed arm and pierced the knight’s chest.

“Hrrrk… !”

The knight threw up blood as he backed away, but the wound lacked depth; he had not stopped breathing yet.

As the homunculus was getting ready for another attack to finish the knight off, another knight’s weapon came rushing towards the homunculus’s head.

The homunculus tried to avoid the attack but was held down by an unseen force.

*CRACK*

Blood splattered everywhere.

The homunculus desperately needed to recover, and the wounded knight took advantage of this gap to step back.

A radiant light then began enveloping the knight.

Even a fatal injury meant nothing in front of Priscilla’s ability, so long as they had not taken their last breath.

The homunculus realized it had been caught in the midst of a meaningless war of attrition.

Breaking through the Holy Paladin’s endless wave of attacks to inflict a killing blow was extremely difficult, and its artillery magic, more than capable of annihilating the Paladins, was easily neutralized by an unknown Paladin’s Blessing of Light. The homunculus was running out of options.

The Holy Paladins, firm in their resolve, continued to pressure the homunculus, inflicting fatal blows time and time again.

As a result, the homunculus’s mana pool gradually drained while the Holy Paladins maintained their strength.

*SLAM*

When the homunculus’s head broke for the fifth time, it decided that enough was enough. The longer the battle went on, the worse the situation would be. Even if it took an enormous amount of mana, using its trump card now was the right call.

The homunculus began to divine the future, quickly calculating every possible situation, and began to follow the steps necessary for it to create the best possible situation.

*Whip*

The homunculus slid and parried, each attack against it was rendered useless or greatly weakened.

*CRAASH*

Just as the homunculus was about to fire a white flash, after barely managing to escape the Holy Paladins’ siege, it was once again struck to the ground by an unseen force.

It did not just end there.

Getting back to its feet, the homunculus saw a Paladin wielding aura on his mace before her eyes.

Realizing that he was the same knight that had ignored the distance between them and struck her, the homunculus rushed to evade the attack. In an instant, she vastly increased the distance between them, hoping to get out of his line of sight.

Even if he were to launch an attack while disregarding the distance, if this attack was avoided, that would be the end of it.

*CRASH*

But the attack landed dead on.

Just like that, the homunculus fell to the floor: its legs were torn off.

“Did you really think you could avoid it, just by dodging?”

Another knight reached towards the homunculus.

That Paladin had the power of decisiveness. Any attack he targeted with his ability would be able to connect with its foe, no matter the distance or obstacles.

“… … !”

The homunculus let out a shallow breath. It had already consumed an excessive amount of mana regenerating from the countless attacks and had blown an equal amount on attempting to manipulate causality to see the future, which had completely failed. The goal of these attacks had been to reduce its mana, as they lacked the decisive strength to finish it off in the one strike, and they had done so successfully. The homunculus was now at the point where it could only recover a few more times.

An animal is most dangerous when pushed to the edge, when its life was threatened. Glaring ragefully, the homunculus turned its sight towards Priscilla.

If the person who had the power to make this war of attrition happen were to be removed, there was still a chance for victory.

Soon after making its decision, the homunculus kicked off against the ground. A freshly regenerated homunculus shot out like a cannonball.

Just as its fist was about to pierce Priscilla’s head…

“… … !”

*CRAAACK*

The homunculus that had been moving rapidly suddenly shattered into bits and scattered to the ground.

“Fufu, I didn’t know Des1r would be this accurate in his prediction in how the situation would play out.”

It was a gentle voice, but not pleasant in any way. Priscilla looked down at the regenerating homunculus emotionlessly.

Only then did the homunculus understand what had happened to her.

The ability to afflict damage regardless of distance.

The ability to directly hit a target.

The ability to attack at speeds beyond recognition.

The ability to maximize impact.

Dozens of applications of the Paladins’ Blessings of Light had been combined into one to create an inescapable attack of pure power.

And to launch this blow, Priscilla had used herself as bait.

She had made the homunculus dance like a puppet in her hand, forcing it to move along a pre-ordained path.

A smile crossed Priscilla’s lips.

The homunculus, barely recovered, attempted to get up from the ground, ready to rush Priscilla once more.

*BABABABAMMM*

Swords, spears, and blunt weapons all pierced, cut, and crushed the homunculus’s body. At some point, the Holy Paladins had surrounded the homunculus.

Looking down at the homunculus, which had become a mess of gore, Priscilla opened her mouth.

“Come on, continue struggling.”

It was not like it would make a difference anyway.

—-

Chapter brought to you by Mokura.