Chapter 139 — Dandelion [29] - Holy Knight Array

Holy Knight Array—a relatively simple array developed by Liora, using the knowledge she had accumulated during her research on the mysterious blood.

Utilizing the holy nature of the Spear of the Blighted Sun as a medium, it could summon a batch of Holy Knights that could function as combatants.

The inspiration for this array was the various Golem Summoning Arrays that Liora had studied during her time on the Crucible, and it could be considered an evolution of them.

Although each Holy Knight summoned was not very powerful by themselves—only possessing the might of a Little Devil—their large number was their biggest advantage.

It allowed them to deal with enemies far beyond them in power.

Standing on top of the barracks’ walls, Liora silently watched the scene unfolding before her.

Piercing screams and the sound of metal clashing reached her ears from time to time, while the earth beneath her was stained crimson as several rivers of blood washed over it.

Liora’s eyes followed the movements of the Holy Knights as they cooperated to surround the members of the Necronomicon Sect.

The Holy Knights had managed to surprise a large part of the cultists due to their unexpected and sudden appearance, meaning that a lot of cultists had met their demise before the battle even began.

The ones surviving were either those who were lucky not to be targeted or the ones who were quite powerful, mostly being True Knights.

Unfortunately, no matter whether they were lucky or just strong, the cultists soon found themselves facing a grim situation.

The many Holy Knights wandered through the barracks, cooperating seamlessly to slaughter them, unafraid of both pain and death.

Even True Knights found it challenging to confront such tactics.

A True Knight was indeed far more powerful than a Knight Apprentice.

But faced with a large number of Knight Apprentices that neither feared pain nor cared about their own lives, they would still find it difficult to respond.

"It was worth the time and energy I spent developing this array. Though its power is quite weak overall, this array is very suitable for dealing with a lot of enemies that have gathered."

"Moreover, the traces left behind will only end up as further evidence of the Holy Church’s involvement.", Liora whispered, satisfied with her creation and how well everything was going.

After she admired the array’s operation for a couple more seconds, she finally took action.

Although she understood that the Holy Knights would indeed end up killing everyone sooner or later, this was bound to take a lot of time.

And, at the moment, Liora could not afford to waste such time.

Thinking of this, Liora calmly reached out, and a bow made of darkness materialized within her grasp.

Holding onto the bowstring with her fingers, she gently pulled it back while her other hand placed an arrow on it.

Then, she abruptly let go of the string, sending it flying.

With a booming roar, the arrow shot out at an astonishing speed and seemingly teleported before one of the True Knight cultists.

Before the member of the Necronomicon Sect could put up a defense, the arrow pierced his metal helmet and slammed onto his head.

Blood and disgusting brain matter instantly splattered everywhere.

"Richard is dead!", a deafening, panicked voice echoed as one of the nearby True Knights noticed the fall of his comrade.

His words became the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Having experienced the baffling arrival of these puppet-like creatures and having witnessed the deaths of their trusted companions, most cultists were already on the verge of breaking down.

The only thing that kept them together was the existence of the True Knights, who had taken charge of forming a defense against the relentless attacks of the creatures.

But now that one of them had perished in such a gruesome way, the faint courage that they had managed to muster up vanished.

After all, unlike the Holy Church and its grand ideals, the Necronomicon Sect was truly an evil cult. Thus, its members were not as loyal as one would expect.

The first one to react was none other than the True Knight, who had just grieved for Richard’s death.

Instinctively, he poured his Life Force into his sword and swung it in front of him, clearing away the Holy Knights near him.

Then, he didn’t attack any further.

Instead, he took advantage of the tiny gap in his opponents’ formation and rushed through it before running away.

In the blink of an eye, the cultist had reached the barracks’ only entrance and quickly bolted through it.

Glancing at the familiar vibrant field around him and noticing that the howls behind him were gradually becoming quieter, the True Knight couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Still, he didn’t stop running but rather sped up his pace.

Just when he believed that he had successfully escaped, though, he found himself stuck in front of an illusory wall, purely made of golden light.

Initially, the True Knight assumed that the wall was a mere illusion created by the sunlight’s reflection.

Yet, when he attempted to go through it, he found that he couldn’t.

In fact, not only did the wall restrict him, but the moment his body touched its surface, a sharp pain assaulted his mind.

A bunch of burn marks quickly formed on his skin as the temperature around him rose, as if he had been thrown into a pot to be boiled.

Witnessing this, the True Knight understood that there was something amiss with this wall.

Still, knowing that this was his only hope of escaping, he decided to try his luck.

Raising his sword, he swung it directly at the wall with all his strength, only for his attack to bounce back.

But the cultist keenly noticed that a tiny crack had formed across the wall’s illusory surface.

Although the crack was small and it recovered almost instantaneously, it at least offered him a hint of hope.

Decisively, the True Knight urged his Life Force once more and began striking at the wall repeatedly, like a desperate prisoner trying to break out of his cell.

His struggle proved to be worthwhile.

More and more cracks gradually appeared on the wall.

Before long, a small hole that was barely enough for him to pass through had formed.

An excited smile flashed across the cultist’s face, and, ignoring the painful cries of his companions, he was about to leap through it and leave this damned place.

Just then, though, the sound of something shooting through the air echoed in the lively field.

A black, blurry spot appeared in the distant sky and grew bigger at an astonishing speed.

In a split second, it had blazed through the sky and was about to land—right on top of him.

Before the True Knight could as much as let out a scream, the shadowy arrow penetrated the left side of his chest and nailed him to the ground.

Following his death, the cracked wall began to heal.

Holy light fell and wove together like tiny golden threads, slowly filling in the gap.

Soon, the wall had recovered completely.

The only evidence of it ever having been broken was the bloody corpse lying not far away. But soon after, even that disappeared.