Novel Full Chapter 352: Massacre
Chapter 352: Massacre
The steward’s pupils trembled violently. The world seemed to spin around him.
"Your lord Richard has already had his retreat cut off by me. He’s trapped inside Nightfall Domain with no way out," Phield said calmly. "As for your allies, well... they’ve clearly abandoned you, and are now under my control."
"I’m giving you one final hour to think it over. If you don’t give me an answer, then you can go join the people of Shadow World Sect."
With that, Phield found a patch of shade beneath a tree and waited patiently.
"Do you think they’ll surrender?"
"It’s worth trying. Bull Keep is even more desperate than we are right now. Before this, they were still placing their hopes on the border fortress," Phield replied calmly. "I believe that after Richard killed his own family, the knights under his command no longer have any loyalty toward him, especially when he isn’t even inside the fortress."
As it turned out, an hour wasn’t necessary.
Phield had only been waiting for the time it took to drink a cup of tea when a commotion erupted from within the city.
A small gate in Bull Keep opened.
More than a dozen soldiers fought the defenders while desperately waving and shouting toward Phield.
"Lord Phield, hurry and enter the city!"
"Don’t kill me! I surrender!"
Their fighting, however, looked half-hearted and insincere.
"Oh?"
Phield glanced at them.
"I thought there might be someone intelligent among them. Instead, they’re trying to fool me with a fake surrender. I wonder what kind of nonsense Richard filled their heads with."
He glanced at his minimap.
Every single one of the supposed defectors radiated hostility toward him. Not a single one actually intended to surrender.
A cold smile spread across his face.
Anger surged within him.
Damn it.
He had given them two chances already, and they still refused to appreciate them. They truly didn’t see him as a human being.
"Those bastards."
Rosalia’s chest rose and fell with fury.
"Still, an open gate is better than a closed one."
A smile appeared at the corner of Phield’s mouth.
Leading his forces forward, he sprinted toward the gate.
"Hold on. I’m coming."
"He’s coming! Crossbowmen, get ready!"
When Phield was only twenty or thirty meters away, the crossbowmen hidden behind the gate and atop the walls suddenly revealed themselves and prepared to unleash a volley.
"Third Tier Divine Skill, Endless Severance!"
The moment they exposed themselves, the crossbowmen felt their vision blur.
All they could see was an endless sea of dazzling sword light.
The soldiers hiding by the gate, the crossbowmen, and even the soldiers putting on the surrender act were shredded into pieces by Endless Severance before any of them could leave behind a final word.
The corpses surged through the opening like a flood.
Within moments, the last resistance atop the walls was wiped out.
"My lord, we surrender."
Seeing their final plan fail, Richard’s steward emerged from the fortress carrying a military banner with a pale face.
It was the flag of Bull Territory.
Behind him came the civilians and defenders.
The trembling residents spoke in fearful voices.
"We are innocent. Please show us your knightly honor."
"I’ve already entered the city, and now you’re talking about surrender?"
Phield roared.
"Too late. Kill them all!"
"Rosalia, give this city a proper cleansing. They dared to ambush me."
"Yay."
Rosalia had been waiting impatiently.
The mark of the Corruption Goddess descended onto the ground.
Swinging her greatsword, she charged directly into the crowd.
"Wait! You can’t do this! We’ve already surrendered!"
Terrified screams filled the air.
Regret, resentment, and despair blended together into a chaotic chorus.
Phield merely snorted coldly and led the corpse tide away from the city.
Bull Keep contained a tremendous amount of population and leyline energy.
By the time Rosalia finished corrupting the city, two hours had passed.
"Ahhh, I’m full."
Humming a cheerful tune, Rosalia gracefully emerged from the city, which had transformed into a ghostly realm.
"My Origin Energy increased by ten percent, but the progress of Incarnate Synergy Battle didn’t move at all."
Lifting her skirt slightly, she glanced around and sighed.
"The life energy required to advance to the Fourth Tier is simply astronomical."
"There’s nothing we can do about that. Otherwise, Fourth Tier Divine Chosen would be everywhere."
Phield took out his divine artifact telescope and scanned the borders of Bull Territory.
Enemy reconnaissance knights had already been deployed.
Among them were even corrupted cavalry.
The corpses they had stationed to monitor key roads were being effortlessly slaughtered by enemy riders.
Meanwhile, their own light cavalry had begun skirmishing with enemy scouts while gradually retreating toward the fortress.
"Cut off the steward’s head and the officers’ heads. We’ll send Richard this gift."
Phield immediately issued his orders.
"We return to the fortress at once. We can’t afford to stay here a moment longer. If the enemy surrounds us in the wilderness, we’ll be the ones at a disadvantage."
Upon returning to the fortress, Ashina immediately delivered fresh intelligence.
"My lord, the rebel corpse legions are gathering on a massive scale. Their numbers have already exceeded twenty thousand, and they possess over three thousand heavy cavalry. We have completely lost the ability to engage them in open battle."
"The enemy’s human armies have surpassed ten thousand troops and now occupy every major road."
"Their cavalry scouts are operating in units of fifty. Our cavalry cannot stop them, and our reconnaissance range has been severely compressed."
"Good. I understand."
Taking two deep breaths, Phield maintained his composure.
"Continue reorganizing the army..."
A soldier responsible for guarding the underground ritual chamber came running over in a panic.
"My lord, the resurrection ritual of Destruction is ready."
"Oh?"
Phield’s eyes lit up.
"Let’s go take a look."
He brought Ashina with him and headed underground.
The scholars from the cult looked even weaker than before.
Their faces were sunken, as though every drop of blood had been drained from their bodies.
Each rune carved into the ground seemed to have consumed a tremendous amount of their life force.
"Sir Phield, the ritual is about to begin."
The priest panted heavily.
His body could no longer support its own weight, and he collapsed onto the ground.
His face was filled with urgency and worry.
"I truly want to prove that I was right. But after failing so many times, I’ve begun to despair."
"Were the previous rituals conducted the same way?" Phield asked from a distance.
"More or less."
The priest nodded.
"We simply channel the life energy from the Life Lock, along with the flesh and blood of magical beasts and Divine Chosen, as well as shattered divine artifacts, into the Scroll of World Destruction at the center of the formation."
"The only thing we’re lacking is fate itself. We lack nothing else."
"Enough. Silence. The ritual is beginning."
The priest’s hands trembled.
His eyes shone with anticipation.
He strode toward the edge of the formation and placed his hand upon the emerald-green orb.
"Tide of Life, hear my plea. Grant vitality to the flesh of ancient times. Tidebind Lattice of the Surging Realms, release your seal!"
Rumble!
The earth beneath them shook violently.
For a moment, it felt as though a great river had overturned.
Everyone swayed uncontrollably as though standing atop raging waves.
Streams of emerald light burst from the cracks in the ground.
Thousands of streaks of radiance surged into the Scroll of World Destruction at the center of the formation.
Layers of annihilating power from ancient ages spread outward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The ferocious magical beasts positioned within the magic formation didn’t even have time to scream.
Their bodies exploded instantly, transforming into clouds of blood mist.