Chapter 648: Chapter 364: O King...
Upon hearing his words, the young man’s face froze, his complexion turned pale instantly, and he even felt his scalp beginning to itch.
Seeing that his words frightened him, Charles and the soldier beside him chuckled softly.
"Don’t worry, that guy doesn’t like wearing helmets either."
Upon hearing this, the young man suddenly heaved a sigh of relief.
But Charles’s next words made his mood sink again.
"Lance may be an ugly guy, and no woman likes him, but he is a competent warrior."
"When those filthy things surged up from the sewers, he was the first to notice and warn us."
"Of course... he was also the first to die."
Looking at the young man’s gloomy expression, Charles reached out and patted his shoulder.
"Since you’ve become a warrior, don’t shame the helmet on your head."
After saying this, Charles couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
The words sounded nice, but the reality was that even soldiers like them guarding the front lines had difficulty securing weapons and equipment.
Even the recruits’ equipment was scavenged from the fallen soldiers on the battlefield...
But the young man clearly thought otherwise.
Upon hearing his words, the young man immediately stood up straight and exclaimed, "Yes, Mr. Charles!"
"Not so loud, that would attract those monsters."
"And, call me Captain."
Charles frowned slightly, glanced around warily, and then spoke with irritation.
The young man, hearing this, scratched his head awkwardly and whispered, "Yes, Captain Char—"
Thud!
Just as the young man responded, time seemed to stop.
In his vision, Captain Charles, who was unharmed a moment ago, was suddenly pierced through the heart by a dark brown spike.
The perpetrator was a flat monster that had crawled up along the city wall.
Fresh, hot blood splattered onto his face.
Captain Charles’s pupils contracted suddenly, freezing him in place.
But soon, he reacted, enduring the pain and roaring, "Enemy attack!"
Then, the old soldier displayed the final brilliance of his life.
He roared, clutching the spike in his chest with all his might, using his last ounce of strength to fall towards the base of the city wall, preventing the monster’s other spike from reaching the stunned recruit.
He carried the weight of his body, taking the monster down with him.
Accompanied by a dull thud and the monster’s shriek...
... the war began abruptly and without warning!
The roars of monsters and the shouts of warriors filled the entire city wall, blood began to replace the dried streaks of power...
At this moment, the young man’s heart had long lost hope, replaced by endless fear and tension.
Watching the monsters and warriors around him, he felt a profound helplessness.
Until a blood-covered mouth tore through his arm along with his shoulder, the pain awakened his survival instincts.
But realizing it only now seemed too late.
The monster’s jaws were already coming towards his skull.
This time, there was no Captain Charles to block the monster’s attack for him, and no other soldier had the time to warn him.
The battlefield was bloody and merciless.
In the young man’s eyes, endless fear and regret took over...
But, just at this moment.
Buzz—
A dark yellow glow replaced the gloomy sky.
One after another, chains of destructive power locked onto each monster on the battlefield.
Then, they suddenly disintegrated.
Clang!
The blade struck nothing, hitting the broken stones of the city wall, producing a crisp sound.
Only then did everyone wake up as if from a dream, looking around.
The monsters that had assaulted like a tide from the corners had now turned to ash in the sky,
"What’s... going on?"
They looked at the surroundings in disbelief, unable to believe what had just happened.
"That... that is..."
A soldier tremblingly pointed into the distance.
In the distance, on the broken road, a figure in a black robe retracted his hand amidst a group of people, while the nearby dark yellow glow of destruction gradually dimmed...
...
Amidst the shocked and puzzled gazes of the soldiers.
The people of Gelin walked into the Ozurik Royal City, and under the guidance of a member of the Shadow of the Divine Descendant, reached the residential area below the royal city.
This person was named Zidong, the current leader of the Shadow of the Divine Descendant, and from his mouth, the people of Gelin learned about the current situation in Ozurik.
"Lord Karen had long since perished in the Great Tide..."
He smiled bitterly.
When the Great Tide first arrived, aside from the low-level monsters continuously emerging from the sea, there were greater threats.
Those were the powerful monsters appearing from the fog, wandering aimlessly.
They took various forms, origins unknown.
What invaded the royal city was a headless giant bound by bronze chains.
It moved along its fixed route like an unfeeling cold machine, traversing the entire royal city, its massive form nearly destroying everything in its path.
Even though it didn’t attack anyone within the royal city, its progression opened a breach for other monsters to invade.
The entire royal city was nearly completely overrun as a result.
In the end, it was only with Karen and a group of people joining forces that they barely managed to protect this last haven.
Additionally, Ah Zuo also fell in the subsequent battles.
After hearing the tale, everyone remained silent.
No wonder they saw numerous huge pits along the way, even the gigantic buildings of the royal city showed signs of damage.
Originally thought to be traces of battle, it turned out to be just footprints left by a wandering giant...
As they continued forward.
They also saw what remained of the residents of the Five Great Seas.
They were silent, eyes filled with numbness and despair.
They were in pain, unable to get enough food or clothing, and had to guard against lurking monsters.
Even the patrolling soldiers appeared emaciated, their armor scarred and bloodstained.
In the heavy atmosphere, they passed by a square.
In the center of the square stood a statue of a sword-wielding figure, many pained civilians knelt on the ground, praying for safety to the statue.
These people had more or less some horrifying or strange defects on their bodies.
Such as oozing black lumps, falling flesh and skin, inexplicably swollen limbs...
Kneeling before the statue seemed to relieve them somewhat.
This not very large statue was already covered in black cracks from the lower half, almost enveloping it entirely.
The statue depicted a young king wielding a sword.
"Where’s Kadi?"
After a long silence, Mira asked this question.
She was asking Zidong, and also Rogel.
Rogel said nothing.
And it was only after a long silence that Zidong spoke, "Follow me."
...
Following Zidong’s lead.
The group quickly arrived at a palace beneath the royal city.
However, calling it a palace might be a bit of an exaggeration, because compared to a typical palace, this building was rather plain.
Moreover, this palace seemed as though it hadn’t been visited in a long time.
Yet the stern and solemn faces of the tall soldiers standing in front of the palace silently conveyed its significance.
Zidong said nothing, silently kneeling before the palace doors, spoke solemnly after bowing.
"King..."
"Please open the doors..."
"Ozurik’s fire has returned..."
"Your captain and friend... have returned..."
By this point, Zidong was already in tears, his voice choking, overwhelmed with grief.
His voice seemed to penetrate through the heavy palace doors, receiving a response.
Rumble...
The heavy doors slowly shifted open.
At the entrance of the door, there flowed out a dark and slightly scarlet putrid blood.
The palace inside was devoid of any human sound, only the drip of liquid could be heard.
Rogel said nothing, simply stepping forward, entering the palace.
With his advance, the putrid blood began to dissipate.
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