Chapter 1225 - Light It Up (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In the desert shrouded in darkness and mist, the unnamed, abandoned ancient city lay quietly with barren rocks and corroded metal wreckages. They stood silently in the cold, as though they were guarding secrets of the vanished civilization.

A furnace installation, shut down but still erect at the center of the ruins, was surrounded by thousands of monster of Chaos. These violent creatures, usually roaming aimlessly and fighting fiercely, were quiet as if they were a group of pilgrims. They stood still before the furnace tower, watching it silently in the dark.

It was something even the old knight Morris had never seen before; not even mentioned in the ancient books of the royal collection.

Veronica and her knights hid behind a low wall, equipped with full armor and swords, waiting quietly for the moment. Their position was the safest distance determined by Veronica and her old knights. The perceptual power of the festered monsters was tricky. Influenced by Chaos, but not entirely transformed, these festered monsters were different from the Servants of Chaos. Beyond a specific range, they appeared to be deaf, blind, and brainless. But within a particular range (some scholars referred to this range as the ‘defense zone’ of the festered monsters), their perceptual sensitivity was 100 times that of ordinary humans and having the ability to directly sniff out living things just like the Servants of Chaos.

Therefore, when ambushing the monsters, the distance was crucial.

The knights carefully crouched. Though they all were combat veterans, they could not help but still be quite nervous. A glimmer, an almost imperceptible effect of the Amulet of Order, was on each of the knights. The power of the sacred object was like a beacon in the chaos, but they could not bring it there. So, like Veronica, the knights had activated their Amulet of Order. Like astronauts performing space missions in spacesuits, they had to complete the task of ignition in an extremely short time to survive, which put tremendous pressure on them.

The sacred relic was in Hao Ren’s custody for now. It was not that the plate was too precious but hard to resist for the festered monsters. The plan to lure the monsters away would be screwed up if any monsters having a more sensitive nose sniffed out the plate.

As time went by, the knights only became more nervous. As the effect of the amulet only lasted a limited time, this type of ambush was a test of patience, courage, and discipline. The old knight turned his head slightly and looked at Veronica quizzically, his question was clear. “Your Royal Highness, is the Ancient Guardian really dependable?”

Veronica returned an approving gaze, but no one knew whether she was confident as she looked.

She looked up and across the square.

There, the collapsed building wall had an opening, which seemed to be the result of some huge monster rushing through the square, clearing out an unobstructed path. To lure the monsters in the square, that breach in the wall was the best direction. Veronica waited quietly for the signal.

After a moment of unbearable silence, a flash of light appeared at the breach.

“Boom! Boom!”

Two earth-shattering explosions were the signal. The Ancient Guardian seemed to be an expert of fire and storm spells; his attacks were always violent. When the flares of the massive explosions tore the night sky apart, Veronica saw two stone buildings on the edge of the square were blown up and away. The shrapnel from the blasts hit the ugly twisted monsters near the wall opening, piercing through their bodies.

The sudden attack sent the monsters in the square into confusion and horror. Jolted out of their strange state of quietness, they instantly became mad and angry. Roars began to rise in every direction. With a sweep of their paws, a few giant bears blew away the smaller and weaker monsters around them before charging in the direction of the explosions. The monsters of Chaos would not feel fear and had no sophisticated thinking. They acted based on their beast instinct with their destructive strength.

At this moment, a figure suddenly emerged from the smoke. Veronica could clearly hear the angry roar. “Son of a b*tch!”

A series of continuous blasts ensued with the firing of a powerful energy beam, instantly killing the monsters on the edge of the square.

The festered monsters were enraged. Roars of fury resounded through the air while the ground in the square trembling as the monsters charged toward the exit.

Veronica felt that the earth shaking under her feet, and the old buildings were squeaking. The knights looked at each other, stunned. Someone whispered, “May the goddess bless us.”

It was not the first time they witnessed what Hao Ren had done. It was just that they had not gotten used to the actions of the mad bomb man.

Space ahead began to open up as thousands of monsters rushed to the breach. There were no more obstacles between Veronica and the furnace tower, which sat a few hundred meters away from her.

But not all monsters could be duped—just as Hao Ren and the royal princess had expected. Festered monsters were products of chaotic pollution, so random mutations were their primary feature. Some monsters will stubbornly hold their ground even under provocation, while some more powerful ones would appear more vigilant. When nine-tenth of the monsters were lured away, the mutated variants and the smarter ones would stay in their positions, they would run in a circle in confusion and become the remaining threats around the furnace tower.

The princess drew her sword out of the sheath. Follow me!” she shouted.