NOVEL WEB Chapter 567: The City Falls?!
"DANGER! DANGER!"
A voice called out in the middle of Baltimore, his scruffy face no longer mattered, as a group of innocent people followed him. In his hand, a thick blade, and shield on his back, he guided them towards the citadel.
"Follow me." The slender male, wielding a spear, called out to the group of terrified citizens. He called out to the scruffy man. "Where is Simon?"
"Back at the keep, the moment the bells rang all the maids and knights turned into monsters!"
"Shit..."
***
Asmodeus lifted another maid in the air and crushed her skull with his fist, although he wanted to try to avoid killing as much as possible, she tried to stab Vinea with a poisoned blade.
"Block the windows with the double beds, hold the door."
He could resolve the situation in moments, but unleashing his power right now would allow the actual culprits to escape. Asmodeus knew the mainland would likely use this uprising to get a foothold on the continent.
They would probably refer to it as peacekeeping or humanitarian aid.
Things like this happened in his past world all the time, with countries sneaking into others and trying to spread their culture to wipe out the natives. Then act like victims if the natives try to take back their country or expel them.
The Mainland humans were a disease.
"Vinea, Ygrenna crush the southern entrance. Take the villagers towards the great hall."
"What about you?!"
"Are you really worried about me? Look at how weak these things are." He slapped another against the wall with a thud. A crack travelled up the wall while the female convulsed with blood pouring down her face.
"..."
Vinea reluctantly turned away and headed to the main halls.
"Good, there's only one entrance in that place, we can defend it better... Now I can focus."
Paul headed to meet with the adventurers helping the unturned to reach the castle, meanwhile, Simon helped check the residents around the castle.
Asmodeus snapped his fingers and stepped in front of the door through which Vinea and Ygrenne left.
"Now then, Lumina can you keep up with me?"
Magic circles flooded the narrow corridor filled with the bodies of knights and maids with blackened eyes and demented faces full of drool and madness. "If you can, avoiding killing them."
Red lights covered the door behind him. He stacked traps to avoid the demented possessed from passing through the gate. They still had human minds and wouldn't pass through the gates even if it meant death.
Lumina's huge body hung above them all, its thick golden webbing forming a massive nest in the air.
What they learned was that her webbing contained a faint divine power that managed to dilute and cause the possession to fade after being wrapped inside.
"I can do anything for you." She called back, her mood filled with glee.
"Let's go, I want to finish this up in fifteen minutes."
***
Paul ran through the streets of Baltimore with a group of people following him, including several young women and children. He first headed to the place Asmodeus had asked him to collect the fat merchant and his wife, who, upon hearing Ryuji's description, followed without issue.
To think this fat merchant could gather so many people and weapons...
Brando held a small hatchet with a nervous face, while the beautiful woman beside him, with glossy skin, had a battle axe, protecting her chubby husband with a fierce expression. "Honey, to think that person was a king!"
"I know!" Brando chuckled. "Without him would we be safe?"
Woosh!
Martha's blade cut through a possessed woman's wooden club before she kicked out, sending the person flying.
"My wife... I forgot you were an adventurer once."
"Fufu~ I am just your loving wife, darling."
Paul shook his head at their banter and led them into the citadel, but...
Clank!
An arrow shot past him, nicking his armour.
"Huh?"
On the wall were dozens of knights, all holding longbows, their eyes dyed black.
"Shit!"
With a single breath, he tossed away the shield in his hand, then took out two runes. "Spirit of earth, Lady of arcane! Grant me the power to defend these people!"
- Arcane Barrier
- Ward of Missile Defence
A beautiful purple sphere wrapped around the group of people, its surface resembling jelly as it wobbled—then, a green mist fluttered around the sphere.
"Phew... damn it." Paul cursed, his belt lacking runes, he chose to create a grand barrier in the main hall at the request of Asmodeus, using more than half of his runes... "This will be a test of skill and luck..."
Simon wouldn't be coming, but the other two would eventually reach this place. He didn't know how long he could hold out against arrows, but the thing that worried him most... the huge anti-siege weapons, hot oil and trebuchets on the walls.
"Hurry inside."
He called out to the fleeing residents who came from the slums and dark paths, but if that wasn't enough, Paul needed to fight both the knights and the people outside the walls.
The knights on the walls prepared their bows, their aim focusing on the back of his barrier, where it would be weaker and thinner.
"Damn that bastard!"
If someone knew magic spells well, they could find the parts most delicate...
These attacks would force Paul to use another rune to cover the weak spot of his barrier.
"Listen to me, if you can gather closer together, and keep an eye out for the possessed, please do!"
Paul's hands crackled with mana, something he rarely did... magic without any runes to cover the cost. Even though he gained an improvement thanks to Asmdoeus, he never tested his new limits and now...
Now he would.
-- Chain Lightning!
A fluorescent blue light crackled in an arc towards the first knight, before it burst out in three additional whips of deadly lightning.
"I can do it..."
He looked back, hoping that reinforcements would come and help him.
***
Meanwhile, Simon watched Paul's barrier open and gritted his teeth. "Damn it."
"Is there something wrong, Mister Knight?" A young child asked, wearing dirty clothes with patches and holes.
"N-no... nothing at all, don't worry. I promised to save you all." He looked at the orphaned and homeless children among the poorest members of the city. Although Baltimore didn't have many places with light, it also held darkness. "It's just my friend is fighting over there, can you see the big barrier?"
"Is he a knight like you, Mister?" A cute girl asked.
"Yeah, he's my best friend and is saving other people like me. Do any of you know a way to sneak past those nasty guys up there?" Simon could easily return the path he came, but after killing a dozen possessed, he didn't want to burden the children with him anymore.
Ygrenne would be upset...
Simon gripped his blades and watched the small children, who looked confused, until one of them suddenly changed. "I know a way into the castle... It's"
"Ah!?" The children made a noise as if they remembered something naughty.
"D-Don't worry, I won't tell anyone and you won't get in trouble!"
The young girl looked up at him, chewing her thumb, blinking, but then nodded. "When we are really hungry... sometimes the man at the big door will give us food."
Simon frowned at that, but quickly smiled at her.
"I see... so he knows where the door is, right?"
They all nodded. "He's called Uncle Peter, like you... he is kind to us."
The children who held the secret began to spill the details once one spoke, and all of them did.
Simon put the information together and realised that their special door wasn't the front gate, but the special door at the back of the castle for the kitchen staff, able to lock the lower part so they could toss the old fruit and uneaten food into the compost bed just outside the door.
So the chef gave it to the kids instead?
He had no desire to judge the man.
"Ok, please guide me, we have to save everyone in the city. I will be sure to tell the King about your actions and help."
He wasn't lying; Simon planned to ask Asmodeus to take the children and give them a place in the north, where the enhanced mana water would allow many of those with damaged intellect or scars to heal over time. The image of his daughters and Paul's girls flashed through his mind when he saw them.
"Forgive me this time, Ryuji."
***
Meanwhile, at the edge of the great planes, thousands of knights sat on their horses, as if waiting for a sign. The demon knights remained silent, awaiting their orders, and ahead of them, the wives of their King all discussed the current situation.
"When will we attack?" Sariel lay on her back, the horse neighing because she didn't sit properly.
"We are waiting..." Velvet whispered, her hands crossed beneath her breasts with veins bulging in her forehead, the number of times Sariel had asked the same question in the past hour more than three digits.
"For what?" Riel followed up this time.
BANG!
Suddenly, the entire castle erupted in a brilliant display of flames, as the annexe and eastern wing exploded in a blaze of red, the ground shaking.
Velvet, Alice, Erika, and the other women's lips curled into a malevolent yet charming smile.
"That!" Velvet's voice became low as it boomed through the field. "All Knights charge, kill those with black eyes, protect the fleeing villagers and rush to the citadel gates!"