Chapter 333: Something unforeseen

Dozens of arrows whistled through the air as they hurtled towards Han Shuo like raindrops. However, it was too late, the arrows were only halfway to Han Shuo when the life-reaping light expanded in his palm and shot out once again.

Once again infused with thirty percent of Han Shuo’s magical yuan, the Demonslayer Edge provoked the numerous souls it absorbed to wail in resentment and despair. The fresh souls, that the Demonslayer Edge had just absorbed, still yearned for life. They emitted an air of unwillingness and grievance that rose into the sky.

However, the bandits’ souls were tightly bound by the power of the Demonslayer Edge. They were simply unable to escape this eternal prison. Instead, the resentment and hatred made the “Bloody Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts” even more powerful. Each blade of light sparkled brilliantly, like fireworks that expend their lifeblood in the sky, gloriously beautiful.

The Demonslayer Edge shot out of Han Shuo's grasp and once again began its deadly waltz in the sky. The spinning vermillion sun ground the incoming shower of arrows into dust, losing none of its momentum as it zipped directly towards Fass’ group. The undying resentment and murderous intent of the “Bloody Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts” created a dazzling wake in the sky as it shot forward.

“No! Boss, we need to retreat quickly!” A bandit next to Fass lost every iota of his courage. The shocked scream galvanized the rest as they wheeled on their horses and fled, looking very much like a pack of defeated dogs.

Fass had originally wanted to scold the underling when he saw the latter frantically fleeing. However, he suddenly recalled the brutal scene from earlier that was the work of the grinding crimson lights and couldn't help but tremble with chills. Fass no longer dared to put on a heroic front. He too yanked on the reins of his horse and fled.

The whirling crimson orb of brilliant life descended on the battlefield like an unholy spectre of death. Under Han Shuo’s control, the Demonslayer Edge let out a savage screech and pursued Fass’ group, disintegrating everything in its path. The first to go were the minor bandit leaders, slowing down for no man and letting its roiling murderous aura precede its death dealing light.

The corpses below Brettel City wall were resurrected one by one whilst under the Canopy of Necromancy, blindly attacking all beings in their surroundings. A corpse strutted around with its intestines hanging out, wielding its weapon and madly gushing blood. The sight was obviously a major blow to the bandits, who'd been relentlessly rushing at Brettel City.

A human’s most instinctive reaction in the face of fear would be to escape as far as possible. These bandits fully illustrated the depths of this reaction. The elite bandits on warhorses, under Tuku’s command, fled at a much faster pace than what they’d charged forward with. Some had taken the opportunity to dash out like a lightning bolt even before Han Shuo had created the acid swamps. It was quite the mystery where such potential had come from.

Of course, the majority of the bandits were taken out by the acid swamps. Puffs of deadly air drifted from the swamps, filling the atmosphere with the smell of corrosion. A dozen bandits, who’d risked their lives to rush straight into the acid swamps first, were instantly dissolved into a dozen skeletons. The remaining bandits, who'd yet to escape suddenly came to a complete stop.

In front of them was an impenetrable bog of acid capable of granting an instant death, whilst at the rear, corpses of their former allies drew closer with each step. The bandits very much cherished their lives. They desperately considered which of the two sides would grant them the higher chance of survival.

After a short while, the desire to live won over the fear of corpses. Unlike Han Shuo, the bandits had no way to fly. They could only suppress the fear in their hearts, tightly grasp their weapons, and face the slowly approaching corpses. These formerly dead bodies might have been their good friends in the past, but the bandits knew what had to be done under the threat of death.

“Kill them!” It was unknown which bandit let out this cry, but it served as a rallying shout for the still surviving bandits. No longer hesitating, they hacked away with sharp weapons against the still fresh corpses of their comrades to guarantee their own lives. They cut off the heads of the corpses, letting their comrades die with a complete body.

The combat strength of the resurrected corpses wasn't particularly strong; merely half of their strength while living. They weren't as flexible as the zombie warriors summoned from the other dimension either. These corpses existed only to create fear in their opponents. Once the other party overcame the fear in their hearts and took action against these corpses, they'd discover that, not only were the latter's actions quite slow, but their strength had also been negatively affected. These corpses couldn't feel pain, but as long as their heads and hearts were destroyed, they wouldn't be able to stand back up.

The bandits quickly discovered the weaknesses of the corpses. They were no longer scared after destroying a few of them. Their fear gradually subsiding, the bandits started to act together and annihilated the reanimated corpses.

These corpses no longer seemed too terrible compared to the acid swamps blocking the retreating path. As long as the bandits tried not to think about how the dead were once their friends, they were able to deftly and neatly dispose of the corpses. The bandits weren’t kind folk to begin with, most of them were cruel and unscrupulous. They consoled themselves with the fact that the people facing them were already dead, as they wielded the sharp weapons in their hands to cut off the heads of their former comrades without hesitation.

Standing proudly in the sky, Han Shuo skillfully utilized his mental strength to manipulate the Demonslayer Edge, making it pursue Fass. Looking down upon the bandits, who were slowly calming down, he let out a light exclamation and mumbled, “I've underestimated their ruthlessness. No wonder they could become bandits. Soldiers wouldn't be able to do that to their former comrades in arms.”

After muttering to himself, Han Shuo mused for a bit. A cruel grin split his face as he said, “It seems like I have to give them a strong push!”

When Han Shuo intended to use the bone staff to summon the undead army with his remaining mental strength, he suddenly heard an earth-shattering roar. The entire Brettel City seemed to shake after that huge rumbling sound.

That direction of that sound had come from behind Han Shuo. He blanked for a moment, before lightly exclaiming, “The magic crystal cannons are finally in use!”

Taking in a deep breath, Han Shuo planned to once again chant the lengthy magic incantation when he suddenly caught sight of a group in white right where Fass' group was fleeing towards. It was a team of roughly a hundred people who were slowly approaching. Amongst them was Kosse, who'd once fought against Han Shuo. There were also the Templars of the Church of Light, as well as several others in white ritual outfits.

Han Shuo was inwardly shocked. The Demonslayer Edge originally chasing Fass instantly changed direction to charge directly towards Kosse’s group. The weapon shot out bloody light in all directions as it fiercely targeted the Templars surrounding Kosse.

With his divine weapon “Revelation” of the Church of Light, Kosse could easily turn the tables. Under the holy light of “Revelation”, not only would the corpses, but even the undead army summoned by Han Shuo would become useless.

In the middle of this enormous battlefield, the defenses of Brettel City now completely relied on the undead creatures. Once this support was lost, Brettel City would officially embark down the path of its doom.

Therefore, upon seeing Kosse appear in the distance, Han Shuo was determined to destroy this person above all else. Otherwise, the difficulty of winning once Kosse opened “Revelation” to sing the divine hymns of blessing would be akin to reaching for the heavens.

The “Bloody Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts” spun rapidly and spewed out fatal bloody light straight at Kosse's group, backed by enormous murderous intent. Several low rank Templars at the front had yet to even unsheathe their weapons and make their move when the death dealing orb collided with them.

Thousands of sharp spinning blades were never to be underestimated. The Demonslayer Edge spun right into the middle of the low rank Templars, grinding everything to a bloody paste. Even Templar armor seemed just to pose slight trouble in the face of the overwhelming cutting ability it boasted.

However, the Templars’ armors were obviously much more sturdy than that of the bandits. The bandits’ armor hadn't even made a sound when they were transformed into powder, as if it was as delicate as the flesh of their owners.

These, on the other hand, were Templars of the Church of Light. It seemed that their armor had been forged by the alchemists using special techniques, imbuing a magic resistant effect. It took the “Bloody Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts” five times as long to transform these Templars into the chunks of flesh as it did with the bandits.

It was because this process took five times the amount of time that it gave the six high ranked Templars around Kosse enough time to create a hexagonal formation. They quickly surrounded the rapidly spinning Demonslayer Edge. Their six longswords, which had been blessed by baptism in holy water, burst out with a pure, divine light, entrapping the Demonslayer Edge that was erupting with a thousand crimson blades. The pleasant ringing of metal rang out, sparks showering the cadre of Templars. The longswords possessed a certain purification effect after being baptized in holy water, causing the portion of soul energy that the Demonslayer Edge had just absorbed but yet to fully assimilate to be released back into the heavens and earth.The remaining power of the holy light stopped the Demonslayer Edge from its continued rotation. It seemed that the sword formation of the six high ranked Templars had indeed some miraculous effects. The Demonslayer Edge's speed became increasingly slower, rapidly consuming its supply of magical yuan. Ultimately, drained of energy, the weapon shot out from the sword formation to hover in the sky under Han Shuo’s mental control.The six high ranked Templars with the cross insignias on their chests were panting after the Demonslayer Edge disappeared into the sky. Their eyes followed the weapon’s disappearance, eyes shadowed with a lingering fear, as if afraid that it would return again.Red Archbishop Kosse was inwardly trembling in fear at the happenings before his eyes. He clutched “Revelation” and prayed over and over again. Only when he saw that the Demonslayer Edge had truly disappeared did he turn to speak to Han Shuo, “Heretic, your sins cannot be forgiven! Being burned by the holy flame shall be your final destination!”

Kosse had tried to patiently persuade Han Shuo last time, but he no longer had any patience with the latter today. In Kosse's eyes, Han Shuo was a genuine demon through and through, even more evil than the Calamity Church. He must be exterminated at all costs, so as to free more people from his evil.“I'm actually waiting to be burned by your holy flames, but I'm afraid that you won't have the opportunity to do so!” Han Shuo snorted with disdain. He suddenly set his right hand on fire, the flames licking up to his shoulder. Han Shuo glanced at his blazing right arm before glaring coldly at Kosse, asking, “Isn't the color of your holy flame also something like this?”“Heretic who dares to blaspheme the holy flame? Ye shall be judged by the God of Light!” Kosse held his head high and shouted loudly. He then sang the holy hymn under the careful protection of the six Templars.Along with the melodious hymn that Kosse was singing, the Church of Light’s divine artifact, “Revelation”, began to quickly flip its pages quickly, even though there was no presence of wind. Circle after circle of light spread out into the surrounding with their holy presence. The corpses resurrected by Han Shuo instantly turned to dust under the holy light.Even the green-black Canopy of Necromancy that blotted out the sky was torn apart by rays of dazzling golden radiance, the acid swamps evaporating shortly as well. In just a moment, the vast empire of death that Han Shuo had poured a great deal of mental strength into to build, had crumbled under the enclosure of the holy light.It was indeed correct to say that the Church of Light was the natural enemy of necromancers. Han Shuo obviously didn't think much of low ranked light mages. However, Kosse, who could use the power of the divine weapon “Revelation”, truly posed a great threat to Han Shuo.Han Shuo had originally been certain of his victory, but now had his momentum disrupted due to the emergence of Kosse and his group. If he had no way to use his undead creatures to defend the city, protecting Brettel City with Han Shuo alone would be as hard as ascending to the heavens.“I hate this light!” Han Shuo spoke with disgust when he saw the halos of holy light spreading out. However, his mind rapidly spun to find a way to deal with them.This was because he’d suddenly discovered that upon Kosse’s appearance, the desperately fleeing bandit leader Fass had rallied his underlings to return again.The holy light had cleared away all dangers of the corpses and acid swamps. The several hundred bandits below the Brettel City walls once again began eyeing the sparsely scattered soldiers with avarice.