Chapter 282
The knight, clad in exquisite silver armor, removed his helmet, revealing dark eyes that fixed on Thaddeus. He spoke, “According to the covenant, I must ask you and your lady to accompany me.”
Covenant?
Duke Thaddeus furrowed his brow slightly but rose directly to stand beside the knight, saying, “What’s going on, Andrew?”
This so-called covenant was something nearly every influential noble had signed.
It was a protective agreement, a mandatory accord between the royal family and the nobility.
Nobles were prohibited from engaging with or accessing extraordinary powers unless their direct descendants joined the "Queen's Blade" (a prestigious order). Even Thaddeus, granted the title of duke, was bound to this covenant.
The covenant served to protect the great nobles from the encroachment of extraordinary forces while simultaneously limiting their own power and influence.
This was a measure that emerged only after the Russell family rose to prominence, as the royal family realized that a single extraordinary family could pose a significant threat to their authority. If even larger families emerged, the situation would spiral out of control.
The Russell family's power was intertwined with "order"; otherwise, they would have been dismantled long ago.
Now, Andrew's mention of the covenant indicated that danger was imminent, likely connected to those perilous forces.
“Let’s talk as we walk, Your Grace.”
Andrew led the way, speaking softly as they moved. “This morning, the entire 'Queen's Blade' was mobilized, and the Russell family received orders to protect the nobles who signed the covenant… Something big is about to happen.”
“Is it those evil forces?”
Duke Thaddeus asked, his tone nonchalant, “Those cultists?”
He seemed unfazed, as if such occurrences were not new to him.
“Uh… yes, but this time it’s different.”
Andrew pondered for a moment, struggling to find the right words, finally saying, “A rough estimate suggests that the death toll could exceed fifty thousand, with towns along the way suffering horrific destruction.”
“This is the largest cultist terror attack in nearly a decade.”
“Fifty thousand?!”
The duke’s eyes widened, momentarily speechless.
That was a terrifying number; it had been ages since Ansu had seen such casualties.
“You said the Queen's Blade was fully mobilized. What about Opode? Has he rejoined the team?”
The duke seemed more concerned about his son, inquiring.
“I don’t know… But when I left the Knight’s Hall, I saw members of Opode’s squad. They mentioned sensing their captain’s token, so Opode might be nearing Ansu.”
“That's good to hear.”
Upon hearing this, the duke’s anxious heart began to settle.
---
Chapter 162: The Taste of the Mother Goddess, I Know.
“God of Order above… what on earth is that…”
At the top of the train station platform, a figure clad in a long, flowing coat stood atop the steel and glass structure.
Her hands were unmistakably human, yet her head was nearly consumed by the steel framework, transformed into a grotesque half-iron helmet, with only her chin and lips retaining a semblance of human appearance.
At that moment, she stared, wide-eyed, at the bloody glow on the horizon.
The station staff had long been evacuated into the city of Ansu, leaving the once-bustling station eerily empty.
Behind her lay a chaotic array of shanties and numerous factories, thick smoke billowing from their chimneys, casting the entire city in a gray haze.
About two or three kilometers away, a flickering, visibly weakened shadow stood in the center of the railway, its strange insect-like wings curled tightly, as if engaged in some painful struggle.
Behind it, a blood-red cloak stretched for miles, its web-like tendrils connecting the cloak to its wings.
That “blood cloak” was adorned with countless bones and corpses, along with some living beings, their bodies seemingly fused with the cloak, howling in a grotesque display of flesh and blood.
“Is this an out-of-control extraordinary being? What kind? ‘The Punisher’? Can ‘The Punisher’ really cause such a commotion…”
She murmured to herself, rubbing her human chin.
Suddenly, the distant shadow seemed to slowly lift its head, gazing in the direction of Ansu, as if drawn by some unseen force.
This motion sent a wave of shrieks and wails echoing in the woman’s mind, an uncontrollable surge of violent impulse rising from her heart.
She quickly turned to a nearby figure and exclaimed, “Hey! The commander over there! It’s time to act! It’s moving this way!”
Ding—
A clear, piano-like note rang out, instantly dispelling the chaos in her mind, but moments later, that chaos began to build up again.
The sound of that note rippled outward like an invisible wave, and about eight seconds later, the terrifying shadow and its blood cloak erupted in a cloud of crimson mist, as if a bomb had been thrown into a sea of blood.
The scarlet glow in the sky shrank almost instantaneously, and even the blood cloak on the shadow began to writhe, continuously merging with the shadow’s body, replenishing the damage it had sustained.
So powerful!
The woman marveled at the sight of the shadow, now severely injured and momentarily halted, her heart filled with awe.
These fourth-tier terrifying abilities never ceased to astonish her; if she were to confront them, she would find no way to emerge victorious.
This was almost beyond human comprehension…
She glanced at the figure beside the railway, a man with long white hair, facing the overwhelming blood-red glow, his right hand resting on an ethereal silver piano.
He elegantly raised his hand, removing the white glove he wore, revealing fingers as delicate as a newborn’s. He spread his hands wide, slowly placing them on the keys, preparing to play.
But just then, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
A massive black spear whistled past the woman from behind, nearly grazing her ear, and crashed into the ethereal piano, shattering it into golden shards.
After destroying the piano, the black spear dissipated into shadowy mist, revealing a figure wearing a black, featureless mask, silver patterns on the mask resembling an angry human face.
Four sharp insect-like wings unfurled from the figure’s back. She raised her right hand, conjuring another black spear, her loose black robes billowing in the wind.
“What’s this? Is this something your Savior Goddess Church conjured up?”
The white-haired man remained silent, but his voice spread like a note, clear even to the woman in the coat atop the platform.
“Your Savior Goddess Church… have you been a bit too active lately?”
Though his tone bore no emotion, the sarcasm was unmistakable.
At that moment, the masked woman, who had thwarted the man’s attack, was replaced by a shadow that twisted and contorted, the shadow now pointing the spear at the man while she herself gazed at the blood-red sky in the distance.
Dark Worm… why?
God above…
The sight of those struggling “people” behind the Dark Worm sent pangs of pain through the masked woman’s heart. Her mind was filled with endless wails, as if she could empathize with those desperate voices.
Why did the Dark Worm appear now? And why did it kill so many? What was happening?
The Dark Worm, the most ferocious of the divine spirits under the goddess, was said to appear only to punish beings who had committed grave errors against her.
At the same time, the Dark Worm symbolized the Court of Judgment, its wings etched into the court’s insignia.
Yet now, the Dark Worm’s appearance and actions left the woman feeling bewildered.
Was this summoned by the Holy Church? Could it be… they had truly done something wrong, provoking the Dark Worm’s wrath?
But why was it so weak?
Was this the goddess’s will? What did the goddess truly mean?
She could not strike at the Dark Worm, yet she had to keep it at bay outside the city… otherwise, all of Ansu would descend into a hellish nightmare.
“I advise you to step aside, Eleanor.”
The man’s voice rang out again, “Casualties have already begun to appear in the city… Can’t you hear those angry notes? That’s Aiden Town, your parish…”
“Shut up.”
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