"He’s Constance’s foster son, Faye’s cousin," Colin added beside Malin. "Harman, weren’t you in the North?"
"My troops and I returned a week ago and are currently regrouping; my men are over there." The young man smiled and pointed to the soldiers nearby. "I was at a villa on the outskirts when I found out something had happened in the city, so I came here. I’ve been fighting and rescuing citizens in the North City District and the eastern districts, battling the Chaos," he continued, spitting in disdain. "The emergence of citizens corrupted by Chaos is in droves; the City Lord of this city is to blame."
When Harman mentioned the City Lord of this city, several young men couldn’t help but chuckle in unison. O’Neil patted his shoulder, "You probably don’t know, but the City Lord went to the Central Administrative Province to recuperate a year ago, and ever since then, the City Prefect has been in charge. I was wondering why that old fox would leave, but now it seems he must have foreseen the advent of Chaos long ago."
"I feel somewhat sorry for that guy named Jamie Sherin," Colin said as he looked at Malin.
At this, Malin rolled his eyes.
Look at me for what – it’s none of my business.
Casaman was crouching in an alley, while above his head, the Chaos Sharpshooter squad on the bell tower was firing rhythmically.
He was near Kanika Market, at the border of the Southern District and the eastern districts, on the second floor of a three-story small bell tower located directly north of the market.
The City Guard of the Southern District and volunteer citizens were battling Chaotic Believers from Nagoth. The Chaos Sharpshooters atop the bell tower had caused significant harm to their side, and after Casaman confirmed the situation here, he was ready to confront those people with a ’personal interaction’ face-to-face on the upper floor.
The only problem was, a group of Chaos, including that Prince, was on the first floor of the bell tower, and his men were carrying that child, who was motionless. However, Casaman was still able to confirm the child’s status through his breathing.
The problem was... Casaman couldn’t risk exposing himself for the sake of one child. He had to get to the third floor to clear out that Sharpshooter squad.
Otherwise, more people would die under their gunfire.
This stoked the flames of hatred in Casaman’s heart.
He swore that if the chance arose, he would hunt down that Prince — the power given to him by the lady ensured he was sufficiently confident.
"Your Highness! We have started digging in the northeast, and according to the feedback from the spiritual energy waves, those Mimicking Bird wastes are right below that area!" a man looking like the leader of the believers knelt on one knee before the Chaos Prince.
Hearing his fawning words, Casaman raised an eyebrow — they found the position.
"Good, secure this area; I will go to the digging site," the Prince finally spoke.
With an unexpectedly standard Pamir accent.
That made Casaman despise the Prince even more.
If it were a Chaos Prince from the Outer Domain, Casaman would treat him as nothing more than a dog under the Evil God’s command. But if he was from this world, it meant he was thoroughly wicked – only the most vile and shameless could receive a ’promotion’ from the Evil God.
Just one more reason to offer his head to the Goddess of Harvest.
Casaman waited for the Chaos Prince to leave with his entourage. After several more minutes to ensure the scoundrel wasn’t lying in wait, he began to push open the small skylight on the side of the alley of the bell tower.
A small skylight, impossible for a human to fit through, but in that moment, Casaman flowed through the skylight like water.
There were no Chaos on the first floor, and considering there was a squad of Chaos forces outside the downstairs entrance, neither the Chaos Sharpshooters at the top of the Bell Tower nor the Chaotic Believers below would have expected that a human could stealthily make it inside the first level.
Casaman placed a tripwire-triggered explosive behind the door and confirmed it wouldn’t be detonated by the door being pushed open. He then carefully made his way up the stairs to the second floor where he spotted a Chaotic Believer with his back turned, rifling through a box and muttering about treasures and riches as he searched.
"Where would the treasures come from? These are all just spare parts needed for the Bell Tower’s mechanisms."
Casaman drew his dagger from his waistband and silently moved behind him. He covered his mouth with his right hand and stabbed the dagger through the Chaos’s heart with his left hand.
With a strong thrust and a twist, the Chaotic Believer immediately lost the ability to resist.
After laying him down on the floor, Casaman drew the Revolver with his right hand, bracing it with the wrist of his left hand that still held the dagger, and leaned against the inner wall of the lighthouse as he climbed step by step to the top floor.
The Chaos Sharpshooter team was a standard trio: one Sharpshooter, one assistant, and one spotter.
The three were engaged in rapid discussion in a language that Casaman could not understand, oblivious to the grim reaper creeping up the stairs behind them.
Casaman carefully stepped over the tripwire and ascended two more steps before opening fire with his Revolver. The bullet pierced the kneeling spotter’s head at the edge of the platform, shoving him off the Bell Tower, and as the body fell, Casaman had already swung the barrel of the Revolver to fire again. The assistant, who was turning around with a short-barreled rifle, dropped dead, his skull shattered by the bullet, turning its contents to pulp.
The Chaos Sharpshooter’s long-barreled rifle got caught up in the Bell Tower’s pillars as he swiveled to return fire, and with an utterly mutated head, he screeched and leapt at Casaman.
Just before it could reach Casaman, the Sharpshooter found the barrel of the Revolver pressed against its chest as Casaman’s left-hand dagger plunged into its forehead. The exoskeleton-like skull, impervious to normal bullets, was as soft as cake under a dining knife against the holy blade.
Extracting the dagger, Casaman raised the Revolver and fired into the open wound.
The Chaos Sharpshooter stumbled backward, fell over, and finally plunged over the edge.
Loud curses came from the Chaos below, followed by the sound of the mine’s fuse being triggered, the explosion, and the agonized screams of the Chaotics.
Casaman turned and leapt from the Bell Tower, landing on the nearby second-floor rooftop.
By the time the Chaos Hounds reached the rooftop, they could no longer scent the assailant.
And on a rooftop far away, Casaman jumped down, crushed a Chaos underfoot, slit his throat, and used his Revolver to shoot another Chaotic Believer who was grappling with a City Guard.
He reached out and pulled up the City Guard, who was still shaken from the encounter.
"What are you doing here?" Casaman looked around; several City Guards had survived. They might well be the last survivors in this chaotic battle zone.
"We were pushing east, our squad got surrounded by Chaos, thank you for saving us," the City Guard said and then cautiously asked, "Are you with the Church?"
"...Yes, I am a follower of the Goddess of Harvest," Casaman replied, "I just found out where the Chaos are digging. Where’s your commander?" He looked at the City Guard, waiting for an answer.
"He’s to the north, our commander is with several Bishops from the Church," said the City Guard.
"Then I’ll go find them," Casaman replied and turned to leave.
"Thank you!" the voice of gratitude came from behind him.
Casaman waved his hand, "Take care of yourselves," he said and slipped into an alley.
He had to report his findings to the Bishop of the Goddess of Harvest Church... hoping he would be believed.