Chapter 288: The Sun in the Cavern

  He also understood another matter that had puzzled him: how his meticulously planned arrangement could have gone wrong. The area around Othello had long been sealed so tightly that not even a single fly, let alone an elf, should have been able to escape. But later, reinforcements from other Drow had inexplicably charged over, forcing an extremely brutal fight to break out here. Although they now held the advantage, the Minotaur had also suffered heavy casualties.

  It was impossible for a traitor colluding with the Drow to appear among the Minotaur, just as it was impossible for a wolf to collude with a goat in its pack. Therefore, High Priest Tima had been unable to figure out what was going on, but when he saw this Temple Knight, he understood. The Radiant Battleplate on this Temple Knight was no longer faintly emitting the glow of white magic; instead, it had taken on a color similar to the surrounding rock walls. This should be an air-type invisibility spell, a layer of camouflage that was not dispelled until the Beholder Chieftain's gaze struck him.

  Although this Temple Knight specialized in magic—and strictly speaking, should be considered more of a mage—his close combat skills were also far superior to those of an ordinary warrior. A person like this, having cast invisibility on himself, could indeed travel freely through the tunnels of Nighon without leaving a trace. No one else could have detected him, except for the oldest and most perceptive Beholder Chieftain.

  The Drow who went from here to seek reinforcements were definitely let go by him, and this massive melee, which should never have happened, was also instigated by him. Moreover, judging from the Forbidden Spell scroll in his hand, what he wanted was far more than just a melee.

  Minotaur, Drow, Harpy, Evil Eye, and Medusa. Except for the most numerous Troglodyte slaves, the elites of almost every Nighon race had already gathered on these ruins of Othello for a chaotic battle. Now the battle was nearing its end, and the remaining forces of the Drow and Medusa were preparing to retreat from this battlefield. If this Forbidden Spell scroll were to be unleashed here at this moment, the result would go without saying.

  "Slaughter these damned Church pigs, kill them!" High Priest Tima's voice rumbled, filling the entire massive cavern. The feeling of being outmaneuvered made him so angry he was about to go mad.

  At the same time, Moriel's mournful dragon's cry also came, echoing throughout the entire world of Nighon.

  The effect of this incredibly mournful dragon's cry on the ears of every Drow was almost identical. Anyone could tell it was a scream of agony. It was the scream of their deity, their faith, their spiritual pillar.

  The Drow, who had already begun to retreat, fell into even more disarray. It could hardly even be called a rout. Many Drow in the midst of battle even forgot to dodge or parry, directly being hacked down by Minotaurs and Harpies. The Medusa Gorgons also hastily slithered back the way they came.

  Only a few Matrons could barely maintain their reason and will, commanding all their troops to retreat. But even so, their eyes were already filled with despair and confusion.

  "How could this be... Lord Moriel." Matron Choi Hana, who had originally fainted, was also awakened by this sound, but then she almost fainted again.

  After hearing this sound, the anger on High Priest Tima's face subsided slightly, replaced by an even denser killing intent. He understood that as long as he dealt with the Temple Knight here, he would win. Although it would be a tragic victory, it would be a complete and thorough one.

  Moriel would not be something that the cannon fodder warriors he sent could kill. Although the Temple Knight had secretly kept such a trick up his sleeve, Moriel was also someone they absolutely had to kill. So High Priest Tima was not too worried; the main force of the Temple Knights should still be over there.

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  But it wasn't just the Temple Knight who had a secret card; he also had a similar one.

  After the Beholder fired its first ray, all the floating Evil Eyes shifted their attention and gaze to this spot. The mental communication they used with each other was faster than any language. And the Beholder, like Tima, knew the danger of that scroll. In an instant, hundreds of beams shot from different directions in the cavern towards the Temple Knight.

  The scroll was in his hand, but the Temple Knight simply had no time to unroll it. Even if he did, before the scroll could take full effect, he and the scroll would be riddled with holes by the hundreds of rays from the Evil Eyes.

  Hundreds of neat, dazzling rays all shot at the Temple Knight's position. The individual destructive power of these Evil Eyes might not be great, but the hundreds of rays concentrated simultaneously through mental communication were comparable to a Blazing Might Shot.

  There was no violent collision or explosion. The hundreds of rays converged on one point, the dazzling light flashed and vanished, and then the rock wall at that spot completely caved in, revealing a large patch of dark red fluid. The rock wall had been melted by the high temperature of the concentrated rays.

  The Temple Knight was not melted; on the contrary, he was unharmed. At the critical moment, he had activated the Divine Aegis shield on his Radiant Battleplate, hard-blocking the concentrated blast that could have vaporized him with a layer of incredibly strong magical barrier. He then instantly cast a water-based Frost spell to counteract the high temperature that could have cooked him dry.

  But he had just fallen from the rock wall and before he could make his next move, he saw a sky full of Harpies.

  Their actions were a little slower than the Evil Eyes'. Harpy Chieftain Loralei also let out a series of sharp cries, and then all the Harpies in mid-air swarmed towards the Temple Knight like a hive of bees. Although they were not a ranged unit, their speed was not much different from that of an arrow.

  The scroll was still in his hand, but the Temple Knight still had no time to unroll it. The dual-school combined Forbidden Spell, even if cast in the most direct way, disregarding his own safety, would take at least two or three seconds from unrolling the scroll to taking full effect. The swarming Harpies were still some distance away, but the group at the front had already thrown the daggers in their hands. Hundreds of daggers rained down. Even if he could endure these weapons, the scroll in his hand could not.

  The Temple Knight chanted an extremely brief incantation, and a series of dense impact sounds rang out. The hundreds of daggers were all repelled less than a meter in front of him. A force field shield was more than enough to completely defend against the daggers thrown with the Harpies' strength. But because of this delay, the Harpies at the front had already charged in. These Harpies, now without weapons, did not hesitate in the slightest, their giant bird claws clawing directly at the Temple Knight.

  The Temple Knight drew his sword. A silken, sword-like light crisscrossed, weaving into a net of light. All approaching Harpies were shredded into a sky of broken flesh and blood, which fell along with feathers. But under the sharp screams of Chieftain Loralei from behind, this near-suicidal charge did not stop. Harpies continuously dove in, becoming a sky of severed limbs.

  Seeing that thousands of Harpies had already sealed off the space around the Temple Knight, High Priest Tima finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Hundreds of Evil Eyes were drifting towards that spot, and there were more Minotaur warriors. He knew the Forbidden Spell scroll would have absolutely no chance to be used, and the Temple Knight was undoubtedly on a path to death.

  The Temple Knight's hidden card had failed. As long as the card he had left was still effective, he would win.

  But his smile had just appeared when it immediately froze. He abruptly looked up towards the top of the cavern, but as soon as he looked up, he couldn't help but close his eyes.

  It wasn't just him who closed his eyes. Everyone on the battlefield who had sensed the anomaly and looked up also closed their eyes. Even though the burning Othello had made them accustomed to the dark and find the light bright, the light from those flames was nothing compared to the light emitted by the orb that had suddenly appeared above. It was not even comparable to a firefly.

  The sun. Only those subterranean creatures who had been to the surface could find the right adjective to describe this orb. And this orb brought not only light, but also an incomparably hot wave.

  The Harpies in front of him continuously charged, only to be shredded by the sword in his hand, but Harlan felt no sense of accomplishment. On the contrary, his heart was incredibly heavy, because he knew his mission could not be completed.

  An ordinary Harpy was not much stronger than an ordinary human soldier. For him, dealing with these monsters was not much harder than chopping vegetables. But no matter how much he hacked and killed, these Harpies, like flies, showed no intention of retreating. It was difficult to even move, let alone unroll the scroll.

  This was the most dangerous and most important mission. If it were accomplished, all the forces of Nighon would suffer a devastating blow. Even if the Church found it difficult to truly invade this huge underground labyrinth and eradicate it, countries like Erathia would at least be free from worry about monsters emerging from this underground for a hundred years. Most importantly, without this threat from the rear, the Church could truly concentrate all its strength to deal with Oufu.

  To accomplish this mission, Harlan was willing to pay any price. He was already mentally prepared to be melted to ashes in the Purgatory of Paradise. He was forty years old, and almost all of his friends, comrades-in-arms, and relatives had died in the battles between Erathia and Nighon. And his two best friends and comrades-in-arms, Aldric and Christine, had died at the hands of Oufu.

  Even if it weren't for these personal reasons, he would still have to do it. For Celeste, for the glory of the Lord, this was the duty of a Temple Knight.