Chapter 1456 - 1419: Harmful Peddlers

Besides the embers knights preparing for battle inside High Hill Castle, there were summoned soul bodies; the rest of the servants and staff could not sleep tonight.

They are not part of the knight order’s organization and, by protocol, are just providing amicable assistance from Temeria to this ’Outsourced Knight Order’.

Since Lann brought the news, High Hill Castle has implemented a strategy of sealing itself from outside, so these staff members cannot go out either.

Tonight’s atmosphere is clearly unnerving; how could the knights’ readiness be unnoticed by those living and working in the castle?

So, by dusk, even the staff sensed the tension in the air.

Now, amidst the anxiety, a surge of inexplicable excitement arises, watching the blazing fire outside the walls and hearing the terrifying battle cries and screams.

And the castle’s cook, cautiously steps out of his room, making his way to the castle’s inner courtyard, sneakily finding an observation hole beneath the city wall to peer outside.

The embers knight patrolling the city wall just glanced at him, and the two even nodded and greeted each other.

These staff and servants in the Embers Knight Order are not just nearby hires. Those directly dispatched are basically considered official personnel of Temeria.

Both sides are already aware of this situation.

Well, since stationed in another’s country, accepting a certain level of supervision is a reasonable protocol.

Lann did not specifically command the embers knights to handle these people before he left, so naturally, the embers knights did not interfere and proceeded as normal.

The cook crouched at the observation hole on the inner side of the city wall on the castle’s first floor to look outside.

This time’s observation made the cook exceptionally excited because just this observation report would be enough for him to show his face before the king.

Outside it’s a large area of knights with humans and horses, their siege machinery is crudely made yet perfectly sturdy, meeting the standards of any war.

On the key parts of the machinery, the blue metal is clearly demon-blocking gold, to prevent the machinery from being damaged by potential magic.

But just as the cook confirmed the shine of the metal, it should be demon-blocking gold in the next moment!

"Boom!!!"

An expanding and unstable hot fireball flew from the city wall, hitting the catapult covered with demon-blocking gold!

And when the fireball really hit the catapult, the cook was surprised to discover it wasn’t a ’fireball’ but a large lava ball!

The spherical lava hit the target and suddenly erupted!

Thick and shiny gelatinous fluid flowed down, accumulating in a large area at the catapult’s location!

The sizzling sounds of burning wood, along with the cracking and breaking of collapsing wooden fibers, were endless.

"Ah!!!"

"Witchcraft!"

The spreading lava covered a larger area, enveloping the knights responsible for operating near the catapult in an instant!

Not everyone’s armor could withstand stepping in lava without feeling it.

Their shins and feet were immediately burned, merging with their boots!

Furthermore, the injured tissue was visibly burning and rotting initially, and then the already rotting flesh tangled up as if trying to grow into something not belonging to human form!

[Curse Technique·Chaos Fireball]

This is a technique from the spellbook Komicus found while following the people of Profound Church to Ilyushil, found in the underground spaces of the mountain range.

[Izalis Spellbook], the origin of the curse technique, the birthplace of Chaos Flame.

The external manifestation of Chaos Flame is like erupting lava, yet its internal meaning represents ’life force’.

Just as Lann felt from his curse technique flame.

Izaslis in the Flame World, the homeland of ancient divine beings—the Izalis Witches.

It was because they wanted to create a flame to replace the burning [Primordial Fire] that the experiment spiraled out of control. Thus Chaos Flame was born, twisting all life in Izalis into peculiar creatures.

This is the so-called [Demon] of the Flame World.

[Chaos Flame], the flame that distorts life.

However, since it has been compiled into a spellbook, it signifies that the once chaotic and unordered [Chaos Flame] should be under some degree of control.

The curse techniques recorded in the [Izalis Spellbook] would not create distorted life anymore but instead burn them to death before being distorted.

This is precisely what Komicus wanted to teach Lann as something new; he cared a lot about his identity as a teacher.

And Leonard’s [Giant Soul Arrow] along with Archbishop Klimte’s [Holy Double Spear] may not be impactful against machinery,

but are entirely adequate for clearing the knights operating around those machines.

The magic and miracle that attack directly at the soul, leaving the knights dead around the catapult don’t even show signs of external injury, they just silently perished.

When the [Chaos Fireball] was thrown down, the cook inside the observation port merely had eyes filled with suspicion and confusion.

After all, having stayed in High Hill Castle, he knew Demon Hunters had a thing called Alchemy Bomb.

This thing can be used by ordinary people, it’s just expensive. If this was some kind of Alchemy Bomb, it seemed reasonable that Demon-Blocking Gold couldn’t stop it.

But then, the genuinely glowing giant arrow, and the double-forked spear with angel feathers falling radiantly...

At this point, the cook’s gaze stabilized instead, looking through the observation port at the group of besiegers outside with a hint of pity for fools.

Known: The restraint Magic has on Demon-Blocking Gold has been confirmed countless times over a hundred years of use in various forms.

Also known: This thing falling from the city walls into the enemy formation must be Magic.

Therefore, a conclusion was naturally drawn—

"They’ve been screwed over by swindlers, poor things, tsk tsk."

The cook clicked his tongue constantly and occasionally gasped because he witnessed the destructive effects of Curse Technique, Soul Magic, and Miracles.

"Daring to cheap out on Demon-Blocking Gold for the battlefield? What’s on their minds?"

He tilted his head and spat.

Yet he felt pity for the group outside.

Because he knew, those truly on the battlefield definitely wanted real good equipment, but unfortunately, those handling procurement often weren’t the ones going to battle.

Thus, he only felt it wasn’t worth it for those fools.

Siege battle, there are Mages in the castle. They’ve got so much Demon-Blocking Gold, surely they don’t have Mages at their side.

Then there’s no way to fight at all.

Just a minute into the conflict, even a cook inside High Hill Castle already saw the outcome of this clash.

"Steady!" And outside the castle, the Knight Captain commanding the siege loudly shouted, "We are under the protection of the Eternal Fire! These things cannot harm us!"

Within the army frayed by the sudden attack from above, the lava had just dimmed a bit from its bright red glow.

The remains of bodies and catapults were still in place, yet that’s how the Knight Captain shouted, and that’s how the rest of the people on the periphery took it.

"Don’t be afraid of the witchcraft of mutant monsters! They can’t do anything!"

"Just now the Demon-Blocking Gold was too far from those Mages! Advance! The walls are only over three meters high! Push the gear closer!"

"Only non-believers will be harmed!"

This saying aligns well with the logic of the teachings of the Eternal Fire, you can only be harmed by Magic if your heart isn’t sincere.

Or rather, it aligns with the logic of most religious beliefs.

"It seems," Sirius spoke softly, like moonlight, saying to Leonard, "your Magic did not create enough deterrence, they have wishful thinking."

[Rosalie’s Ring Finger], or now it’s should be called [Gwen Aveya’s Ring Finger].

Leonard smirked unpleasantly, not responding.

"Demon-Blocking Gold can make Warlocks suffer to the point where they can’t mobilize Chaos Magic Power, and can disrupt Magic composed of pure Magic Power." Instead, Stuart interjected at this point to explain.

"But it can’t weaken and interfere with things already created by Magic. Just like stones thrown by Magic, even when the Magic fades, the inertia of the stone is enough to kill."

"They might be considering your Magic as that kind of thing."

"It’s just pointless hope." Sirius said softly, pressing his thorn sword at his waist, "They don’t seem very strong, open the main gate and head out to dismantle those devices head-on."

The Soul Bodies didn’t refute Sirius’s statement.

After all, in the Flame World, any Knight who mastered the [Power of Soul] wouldn’t die just from the aftershocks of a Giant Soul Arrow, the most it would do is deplete their [Power of Soul].

Yet, the current group of besiegers seemed to be this way.

The torches roared under the cold wind, leaving the three who had just used long-range attacks at the top of the city walls, the rest, Sirius, Hazel, followed Maria to prepare to dash directly down through the city gates.

The Ember Knights, who had long been prepared, in the initial frown, quickly followed suit.

Although a defense battle was surely advantageous, since these strong fighters summoned by their lord were willing to lead the charge, they also wanted to end tonight’s battle as soon as possible.

"Wait a moment." Klimte stopped Lincoln, who was also ready to charge, "You haven’t used all the summoning symbols Lann drew, caution is a good habit. Here, take this one and use it now."

Lann had left eight sheets of parchment drawn with summoning symbols, but only five Soul Bodies had been summoned so far. The remaining three were something Lincoln planned to use based on the situation.

And now, Klimte pulled one out from them, handing it to the young secretary.

"It’s him, those few just now weren’t suitable for a frontal assault. I don’t know that Lady Maria, but judging by her gear, she should be similar in type to Sirius. This one is just right, let him lead."