Chapter 71: The battle begins

Two days later, Karl, Leon, Mira and the Titan sat high on the branches of a massive tree overlooking Reaper’s Sanctuary.

The Titan who had later revealed he had named himself Galzan was also sitting beside them.

Most of the last two days had been spent on one particular thing and looking at the city below, a small smile appeared on Karl’s face.

The Sun Knight was finally complete.

[Sun Knight Evolution: 100%]

Getting there had taken far more effort than Karl originally expected.

Instead of heading directly toward the Sanctuary, he had spent most of the last two days hunting the other behemoth the Pyrtherapontes had warned them about.

The massive flying creature had turned out to be a magnificent steel-feathered falcon and killing it had been far more troublesome than fighting Galzan.

And it being strong was not the reason at all the reason was it’s aerial superiority.

At their current level, none of them could properly chase something through the sky.

Whenever the bird found itself at a disadvantage, it could simply rise hundreds of metres into the air and leave.

Karl had eventually brought it down after several failed ambushes and a ridiculous amount of preparation.

Part of him had genuinely wanted to keep such a creature as a flying mount.

Unfortunately, his desire to finally complete the Sun Knight had been much stronger.

The Death Energy from the behemoth had been enough.

Mira’s voice pulled him away from the thought.

"Damn... this place is actually beautiful."

Karl looked back toward the city, she wasn’t wrong.

Just as the diary had described, Reaper’s Sanctuary looked nothing like the place Karl would expect to find at the centre of an Insane-grade dungeon.

Stone-paved roads ran between rows of old stone houses while purple lanterns hung from walls and tall posts throughout the city.

Larger buildings rose farther toward the centre, but even those carried the same quiet and almost quaint appearance.

But sadly it was full of just soldiers and mages patrolling the streets.

Dozens were visible even from this distance, walking along the roads or standing near buildings and intersections.

Some wore full armor while others carried staffs and robes, but Karl couldn’t see a single so called grim and nor any shadow of any repears being there..

Leon had been looking long enough.

"Well, let’s not wait anymore, we came all this way already."

Karl nodded before glancing toward Galzan. "You better be useful."

Galzan slowly turned toward him.

"When am I not useful?"

His voice immediately became more annoyed.

"You used me as bait for that fucking bird and it nearly ate half my arm."

Karl glanced toward the arm in question, which had already grown back

"It’s not a big deal, you can just grow another one."

Galzan stared at him in disbelief but Karl completely ignored it.

"Let’s go."

He jumped from the branch while Leon and Mira followed almost immediately while Galzan muttered something behind them before coming down as well.

Karl landed on the stone road in front of one of the city’s outer gates.

The armored guards stationed there reacted immediately.

Several spears turned toward him but before the nearest guard could move, Leon came crashing down beside it with his huge battle axe already raised.

BOOM!

The axe smashed into the guard from above and drove half its armored body straight into the stone road.

Leon pulled the weapon free.

"Well, hello."

Mira appeared beside another guard and both daggers flashed toward the gap between its chest armor and helmet.

But the result was shocking as the blades passed straight through without touching anything.

Mira’s eyes narrowed in shock and the guard twisted toward her and attacked immediately.

Mira pulled back, but Galzan reached it first and one of his hands caught the guard’s arm.

Metal crumpled beneath his fingers and he crushed the armored limb almost flat before driving his other fist straight into the guard’s chest.

His arm went through the armor and for a moment Galzan paused.

When he pulled his hand back, there was something resting in his palm.

A smooth pearl-like object, the guard’s health dropped to zero almost instantly and its armored body collapsed onto the road.

Leon looked toward the pearl.

"What the hell?"

He glanced at the guard he had buried earlier and slammed the axe into its chest again.

The armor broke apart but there was nothing Leon frowned before bringing the axe down on its helmet instead.

The headpiece split open and another small pearl rolled across the stones and that guard also immediately stopped movinga nd it’s health hit rock bottom.

Karl picked up the first one Galzan had found and looked over it briefly.

"So that’s how they work."

Mira nudged the empty armor with one foot.

"They’re hollow."

Karl nodded.

"Something like mechanical golems, the armor is just the body and this should be the core."

Leon looked at the ruined guards. "Doesn’t seem that hard."

"It’s the entrance."

Karl tossed the pearl once before storing it.

"Don’t get cocky."

Leon shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah."

But then they heard a approaching noise, footsteps and not a few but hundreds of em.

The repeated sound of armored feet striking stone spread through the nearby streets.

Karl turned toward the city to see that soldiers were already appearing between the houses.

One group came from the road directly ahead while several more emerged from the side streets.

Armored mages followed behind them, staffs already raised as even more figures began moving on the distant roads.

Apparently, destroying the gate guards had attracted quite a bit of attention.

Leon rested the battle axe across one shoulder and smiled.

"Time to move."

Karl sighed and raised the Death Stick, death Energy spread across the stone road as undead began appearing around them one after another.

Skeletons formed the first lines and beasts emerged behind them.

Within moments, the quiet entrance to Reaper’s Sanctuary had filled with Karl’s Death Legion while the approaching soldiers continued pouring from every street.

Mira spun both daggers in her hands and disappeared into the nearest shadow.

Seraphine stepped out beside Karl with her staff already raised.

Galzan looked at the growing army ahead of them, then he bent his legs and jumped.

His human-sized body shot high above the road and a moment later, heat exploded through the air.

BOOM!

Steam burst outward as Galzan’s body expanded violently, muscle and flesh growing within seconds until the Colossal Titan came crashing down among the approaching soldiers.

The stone road shattered beneath his feet and the battle for Reaper’s Sanctuary began.