62 Lord Ligh

Lineir was trying to decide what to do. Should he make for the overrun city, or head out directly through the undead? His face turned ashen as he viewed the status of the city. For a second he hesitated, then he smiled.

"Mei, you're part of me right? So if I were to let go of you, you could simply dissipate and reform even if i don't retrieve you personally?"

As he spoke, he began to fly over the burning nightmare of a city. There was literally nothing left of the once famed walls which had guarded the city for so many years. The Death Angel had blasted them clean away, and on the streets, soldiers, paladins, and priests mingled with ordinary citizens at the edge of the water, looking for a way out now that their God had deserted them. The situation looked hopeless, but humans will always fight at their most tenacious when their backs are against a wall. Lineir, however, saw a very different sight from up high. In the distance, beyond the horizon, a fleet of ships filled with banners of other holy cities was sailing at terrific speed, with cultivators holding bags of wind Qi to the sails to increase their speed.

However, they were too far off. By the time they made it, there would nothing left but a drowned city, filled with those whose last breath was a choking mass of undead flesh, or those who would rather chose to fill their lungs with the gentler sea.

"Kiddo, you're right. The price to reform won't be cheap of course, it certainly isn't efficient to ever do such a thing, but yes, I will be able to reform, for a portion of energy. Why do you ask? You wouldn't be planning on..." Mei's voice trailed off as she seemed to remember something. Lineir quickly began to cut along the coast, losing altitude the entire time. He smirked as he looked into the mirror like black blade in his hand, a priceless legendary weapon which was a legacy of one who defied the Heavens. Then he threw it directly into the swarms of undead. Mei shrieked

"KIDDO!!!!! I'll get you back for this!!!!!"

"Sorry Mei-Mei, but I can't let a whole city die when hope is so near!" He turned and kept flying along the coast away from the city.

"I'm sorry people of Lightholme, but this is all I can do by myself! Even if the Heaven's have abandoned you, I can at least try to give you a chance..."

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOO!! BOOM!!!

From the skies, suddenly a mysterious black blade fell down with terrifying speed, blasting an entire group of undead into pieces. In the middle of where the city walls used to stand tall, it stuck into the ground. Lineir, flying away as fast as possible, heard Mei's voice,

"Idiot, if you go that far away, it won't hit me. Slow down!"

He slowed down, and hovered, below the undead were thinner, he had flown over the worst of the horde, which stretched for several leagues. The overwhelmed defenders, were fighting on their last breath. Priests long since out of mana, women, and children had joined in on the fight, throwing rocks, and at times, even forced into heart wrenching close combat. This city, once so proud, was driven to its knees, and gasping for air as the tides of darkness rolled over it.

"There's too many!"

"We're so close but we'll never make it!"

"Lord of Lightholme, deliver us!"

Behind, they had seen the ships, but had long since given up. Though they could see that the cultivators on the ships were frantically coming at all speed, they just weren't going to make it. Suddenly, a small boy picking up rocks to throw at the horde, saw a sight which caused him to stare in confusion. He nudged a girl doing the same next to him, and she too dropped the rocks she was holding and stared. Soon, all the children were staring, and some of the adults, too tired to fight anymore. As they lay there weakly, they stared at something they could not understand. Stretching up towards the sky, was a black line. This black line kept growing and growing, ten meters, thirty meters, fifty, one hundred! It extended into the sky which had grown dark and stormy. This black line was precisely Mei's sword, growing longer and longer.

Boom!

An explosion rang out which shocked everyone present, the rumbling boom made everyone jump, several paladins lost their grip on their weapons, they were so startled. In an instant, a savage bolt of white lightning sprang down and touched the black line. Tribulation lightning! The energy ran across the length, and into the ground.

BRRRRRAAAAAANG!!!

A metallic noise of electricity striking ground came, and a dust cloud plumed up as the hit instantly destroyed hundreds of undead at once. The clouds seemed to gather over the line, and again and again it happened!

BRRRAAaaaaaaang!!

Lightning would strike and the undead below were vaporized. The tides of undead thinned as this black line turned into a pillar of hope!

"Ugh not enough, guess I'll have to take one for these mortals, they don't know how lucky they are that my disciple is so charitable." Mei sighed internally, but she was only feigning it. While she didn't really care about the life and death of those not associated with her, she was still a little inclined to help. Seemingly of its own accord, the black pillar fell over, hundreds of meters long, it created a line which the undead could not pass, on either side the raging ocean blocked off access.

Behind, the inhabitants of Lightholme groaned, this pillar which had seemed to be fending off the undead had fallen! However, a second later, another bolt of Tribulation lightning fell, and cheers rang out as the lightning channeled horizontally across the ground.

KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!

Instead of simply causing a single explosion below, lightning ran across the giant sword horizontally as it lay on the ground, and a line of destruction seared through, creating a wall of electricity which burned everything nearby. Every time a bolt of lightning would hit, it would flare up and eradicate all undead crossing it, cutting off Lightholme from the horde! The defenders inside suddenly saw hope as the tide of undead seemed to peter out without reinforcements. But would the lightning keep coming, and would the pillar hold for long enough? For several minutes, lightning continued to fall, and the bluish wall of electricity incinerated undead. The defenders could only fight on against the undead which had already passed, and glance back nervously at the ships which were speeding towards the port. The children all clenched their fingers, and bit their lips, and their parents were no better.

Those fighting could only keep praying the wall held. Suddenly, the lightning stopped falling, and the wall disappeared, as well as the black metallic line which had held off the horde! The defenders could only bite their cheek until blood ran and heft their weapons one last time, parents gripped their children... if the undead broke through, they would rather enter the ocean's embrace then see their children become undead!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Fireballs fell into the ranks of the undead from the defender's backs, and fiery arrows lit with tar. The first of the ships had arrived! Cultivators leaped off to defend what remained of the city. One, dressed in glowing robes of purple roared out orders,

"On the ships! Children and women first! Defensive arrays up! Damnit, hurry up, can't you see these people are exhausted, evacuate the city now! Go, go! I don't care if you have to throw them on the ships, there's too many to hold!" Soon, the rest of the fleet arrived, and massive defensive arrays were launching fireballs into the horde, wreaking havoc. Fresh paladins poured off and the commander began directing Judgements, cutting into the undead and pushing them back. When he saw that every last citizen left was on the ships, he made a motion, and they fell back. The ships pushed off and launched out with the evening tide, and he and the paladins leaped back on.

"I don't know what expert kindly held off those undead, but thank the God's he did, to think the holiest city of Lightholme would fall, this day is a dark one indeed. Let's go! Lightholme is no more! Back to Farlit City, we need to bring news of this calamity immediately!"

The ships sped away, but every man, woman, and child looking back would forever remember the image of the once glorious city of Light, smoking, its proud, tall walls fallen, and its streets lined with undead, grimly staring directly at the survivors. Lines of fingers like the stalks of a hideous field of weeds in a rotten marsh pointed in their direction, seemingly singling out every person as a target of their hate. However, the crowd felt warmth instead of despair. Though the clear blue sky was no longer mingling with a single dark storm cloud, the people remembered that when the Heaven's had turned away, someone had sent down a black sword, no a pillar to bring salvation. One by one, fueled by stories from a certain squadron and sergeant who claimed to know this expert, the people began to worship a new god. The Lord Light!