Chapter 95: Chapter 95 The Power of the Holy Knight
On the plains outside Leidun City.
Agna was shocked when he first saw me appear with a pair of huge panda eyes. To demonstrate his profound respect for his friend of the Light God, he immediately came up and asked with concern, “Was it that the accommodations I arranged for you didn’t let you rest well?”
In his eyes, it was perfectly normal for a ruler of a powerful civilization who sits on an equal footing with the gods to feel uncomfortable in the dwellings of mortals. What puzzled him was why I was the only one sporting huge dark circles while the other girls seemed full of energy.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” I laughed heartily looking at the sky before waving my hand dismissively and saying, “I just had a bit of insomnia, that’s all.”
Insomnia, ah, I did not sleep well all night!
Perhaps it was the surge of goodwill from suddenly receiving a gift that made the already clingy Little Baobao even more attached. After playing with a crystal decoration for half the day, she decided to my surprise that she wanted me to accompany her to sleep that night. This decision naturally met with strong opposition from Qianqian, but to everyone’s surprise, the usually well-behaved Little Baobao, once she made up her mind, proved to be the toughest little one to deal with. No matter how much anyone tried to persuade her, she refused to go to sleep by herself as usual. Finally, considering that Little Baobao was just a child who had been separated from her mother, and that it was understandable, Qianqian reluctantly agreed. But just as Little Baobao’s issue was resolved, a second trouble emerged.
It was the least likely Pandora to cause trouble!
This felt like a poorly made drama with idiotic plots where a character, who previously seemed inconspicuous and inactive as a passerby in the first half, suddenly becomes the ultimate villain in the second half that causes the world to tremble and heroes from all over to converge—the kind that leaves both the audience and the protagonist flustered.
If there was anyone in the world that could make the typically indifferent little Pandora feel jealous, it was the sudden appearance of Little Baobao, who had snatched half of her lollipop quota and half of her brotherly hugs.
With quite a determined stance, Pandora forcibly brought her bed to my room and entered a “no persuasion” mode that blocked out all outside information.
Even Qianqian and my sister were at a loss for what to do.
Neither of them had the heart to speak harshly to either Pandora or Little Baobao. In other words, the only one they were willing to bully was actually just me…
Although both of them were little lolis who had not really developed, although they were just like little sisters to me, although one of them was not much smarter than a three-year-old child, although… despite so many althoughs, I still couldn’t fall asleep all night long!!
It wasn’t that I had any indecent thoughts about them, but rather that Pandora and Little Baobao kept fidgeting all night. First, Little Baobao insisted that I tell her a story, then Pandora insisted on telling me a story (about military affairs…), and then they started arguing over who should get more lollipops, and then… it was just unreasonable bickering between two little girls. Although it was just a playful conflict, it was enough to completely obliterate my need for sleep…
So now, here I stand before everyone looking like a national treasure.
Little Baobao and Pandora seemed to realize that their temporary squabbles had caused adverse effects and now stood quietly behind me, looking like good babies. To be honest, I didn’t mind at all and was actually delighted to see Pandora suddenly exhibiting the childishness that a normal little girl should have—of course, it would be perfect if they could find another way to play and fight in the future.
Hearing that I was not in any serious trouble, Agna didn’t press further and ordered his experts to prepare accordingly.
Before this, Agna had already taken care of the necessary confidentiality on-site. Not only did he dispatch the army to thoroughly disperse any civilians who might be passing by, but he also had over a dozen court mages, skilled enough to be magic masters, create a huge illusion barrier that enshrouded the whole plain. Therefore, he wasn’t at all worried that the military exercise would disturb the civilians.
However, I do doubt whether that rudimentary illusion barrier could withstand the impact of space guns and the various Xyrin energy weapons…
It was said to be an exchange of strengths, but the main goal was to demonstrate the most powerful combat capabilities on each side. The superficial explanation was to facilitate mutual combat support, but at its core, the ruler of the Auduo Empire desired to witness the formidable strength of a Xyrin Apostle with their own eyes. After all, without seeing for themselves, the ruler of the Auduo Empire couldn’t possibly fully believe that we were capable of repelling tens of thousands of demonized creatures and a Source of Demons that could annihilate a small nation. Even if Agna himself was willing to trust us, without demonstrating sufficiently mighty strength, it was doubtful his officers and ministers would agree to entrust the future of the entire country to a group of strangers with questionable identities.
Under the command of several orderlies, the Auduo Empire’s most prized military force—the Iron Cross Holy Knights—swiftly completed their assembly and formed a neat square formation in front of us.
I must admit, to be called the first military power of the Auduo Empire, the Iron Cross truly was a well-trained elite troop. The two thousand men assembled in front of us all donned thick silver full-body armor that only left their eyes exposed, holding half-body shields fashioned entirely from Ao Tie in their left hands, and silver Ao Tie hammers that were one and a half meters long in their right hands. Given Ao Tie’s higher density compared to ordinary steel, this full set of equipment was rumored to weigh a whopping half-ton. If it wasn’t for the Iron Cross warriors’ mastery of Holy Light Power, which they could use to greatly enhance their physical strength through the Holy Light’s reinforcement, it would have been impossible for any human to wield such powerful yet incredibly heavy gear.
That was also where the Iron Cross’s strength lay—every one of them wielded Holy Light.
Although the Holy Light’s healing abilities were far inferior to the Life Divine Power, it was still a power capable of reviving the dead. Despite spending most of their time on physical training and thus unlikely to master advanced Light Magic, the mere ability to use the simplest Enhancement Technique and Healing Technique enabled an ordinary warrior to demonstrate astonishing strength on the battlefield.
Think about it—a troop entirely equipped with plate armor, giant hammers, and heavy shields, every one of them possessing remarkable close-combat offensive and defensive capabilities. And just when you finally manage to inflict some damage through their steel armor, they could swiftly recover from injuries using the Healing Technique. When you plan to engage them in a war of attrition, they simply use the Holy Light Power to restore their physical strength. What’s more lethal is that the Holy Light Power is a force derived from faith, with negligible mana consumption. An Iron Cross warrior with firm belief could even fight intensely for three days and nights under the Holy Light’s blessing…
Able to deal damage, heal, and tank—DPS, nanny, and tank all in one, what a… cough cough, formidable troop indeed!
At the signal of the orderly, the Holy Knights first demonstrated the most basic formations and hand-to-hand combat skills. Their half-ton heavy equipment in no way hindered their movements; the massive hammers and shields swung in their hands with a vigorous whoosh, as light as a feather. The white glow of the Holy Light that fluttered over their armor made these towering warriors seem as fierce as War Gods.
Next, thousands of captured demonized creatures were released.
Thousands of demonized creatures, although it did not include formidable units like the Corrupted Dragon, were all middle-rank monsters. In front of any other army, without city defenses and the assistance of mages, they could easily wipe out tens of thousands of elite warriors. But in front of these Holy Knights, they merely lasted less than 30 minutes!
With every swing of their heavy hammers, a demonized creature was smashed into severe injury. Then the ensuing powerful Holy Light Power would enter their bodies through the wounds, completely purifying the Abyss Power from within and reducing the demonized creatures to clouds of black ash amidst their wails.
Simultaneously, the Ao Tie heavy armor, already resistant to the Abyss’s corruption paired with the reinforcement of Holy Light, fully withstood the attacks of the demonized creatures. The Abyss Energy, which could corrode both body and spirit simultaneously, had no effect on the Iron Cross Holy Knights. If a dozen demonized creatures had attacked simultaneously, perhaps they might have managed to corrupt a Holy Knight. However, these monsters, whose brains had been burned out, clearly did not possess such intelligence.
It wasn’t until all the monsters had been wiped out that Agna finally nodded towards me with a proud expression.
No wonder the Auduo Empire was able to resist the Abyss’s invasion. Compared to the Life Divine Power, which has greater supportive than offensive properties, Holy Light was indeed more suited for use on the frontline. I roughly analyzed the situation; these mighty Holy Knights already had the qualifications to contend with ordinary Xyrin Warriors. But that was about it. They couldn’t hold a candle to the Xyrin Empire’s army. After all, training a Holy Knight is quite difficult and time-consuming, whereas ordinary Xyrin Warriors can be produced on an assembly line. More importantly, those mindless Xyrin Soldiers are like disposable bullets for the Empire, while the Holy Knights could be considered the pinnacle of combat force in this world, aside from the Holy Rank monsters.
Nevertheless, the strength of these Holy Knights still deserves recognition. They were already capable of contending with ordinary Abyssal forces, and after all, those depths of the Abyss that required the deployment of the Xyrin Empire’s grand army were rare.
What’s more gratifying is that due to Alaya’s “guidance” (I still feel quite uncomfortable when mentioning this…), the stubborn old Pope Melon finally agreed to form a strategic alliance with the Life Goddess Sect to jointly resist the invasion of the Abyss. It turns out that the Holy Knights’ overpowered profession wasn’t wasted after all.