radicalducati Chapter 1901 - 2000: A Desperate and Tragic Battle
Chapter 1901 - 2000: A Desperate and Tragic Battle
The most terrifying thing was that bandits were forming Hand Formations in the distance, blasting Ice Arrows, Fireballs, and Wind Blades at the Barrier.Priests—there were actually more than a dozen Priests among these bandits. She had long known that many Priests who committed crimes would, after their deeds were exposed, betray the temple and fall to banditry, but overall their numbers were not that large, and they were scattered across the Divine Continent. Yet this bandit band actually had more than a dozen Priests at the same time. What on earth was their origin? No one had ever heard of such a powerful bandit force near Huayu City before.
More than a thousand bandits whose bodies were slightly weaker and who were not good at close combat spread out dozens of zhang away, bending their bows and nocking arrows with lightning speed, hurling one powerful arrow after another toward the Barrier.
Under the constant bombardment of Priests, archers, and Red Charcoal Cloud Smoke Beasts, that Barrier kept trembling, and the mysterious, fantastical halo around it grew ever dimmer.
By the railing on the second floor of the temple, An Xiaxin, temporarily serving as Main Priest, kept forming Hand Formations, driving the temple’s Defensive Array. Her Divine Sense was being used up nonstop; her face was deathly pale, and stabbing pain kept lancing through her mind.
Her eyelids were so heavy that if she lost focus even slightly, she would fall into deep sleep. An Xiaxin bit hard on the tip of her tongue; the heart-piercing pain and the salty tang of blood cleared her head a little. She mechanically continued forming Hand Formations, chanting under her breath.
She knew she wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer, but as long as she had the tiniest shred of clarity left, she had to keep going. Besides the several thousand Priest Guards and commoners holding the earthen wall, there were tens of thousands of defenseless old, weak, women, and children hiding near the temple. If she gave up, maybe those Priest Guards with decent strength would still have a chance to cut their way out and save their own lives, but those old, weak, women, and children were doomed.
For those civilians, and also for Mu Hanyan’s entrustment, she absolutely could not give up!
However, she also knew that no matter how she held on, that Barrier wouldn’t last much longer. The remaining Meteorite Gold was already running low.
A wave of desolation surged up in An Xiaxin’s heart. She looked down at the crowd below fighting in blood, and felt a faint hint of comfort.
Fortunately, fortunately there were the Mu Family Members Mu Hanyan had brought. Although the Priests and guards of Huayu Temple were fairly strong, and the Refugee Tribe that later moved into Huayu City had its own clansmen of outstanding martial valor, overall their numbers were still too few. The Mu Family, though only numbering a few hundred, each possessed astonishing strength and formidable combat skills, even the half-grown kids were the same. Without them, the bandits would long since have broken through that hastily-built inner wall and charged into the temple, and they would never have lasted until now.
If Master Priest were here, they should be able to pull through this, right? Looking at those burly figures of the Mu Clan, An Xiaxin couldn’t help thinking.
Earlier, through several letters, Master Priest had already set out on the road back. She didn’t know if she could make it in time. An Xiaxin looked again toward the endless wasteland outside the city, her eyes filled with her last shred of hope.
By rights, no matter how strong Han Yan was, with her strength alone she couldn’t possibly contend against these several thousand powerful bandits. But An Xiaxin still stubbornly believed that as long as Han Yan could rush back in time, she would definitely be able to drive off the bandits and save Huayu Temple. Not even An Xiaxin herself realized how blind, how fanatical, this kind of trust was.
"I didn’t expect Huayu Temple, fallen so far, to still have such a powerful Defensive Array." In the distance, a man whose whole body was wrapped in a black robe gazed at Huayu City, which they had been unable to take despite a long assault, and spoke with emotion.
"My lord, if this goes on our losses will be too great. Why don’t we pull back first?" a bandit said uneasily.
As bandits, they always held a certain awe toward temples. Seeing that they still hadn’t breached it after so long, bandits all around were starting to grow thoughts of retreat, and morale was sinking.
"We’re about to take it. If we retreat now, wouldn’t everything so far be wasted?" The black-robed man said blandly, reaching back and taking the long bow off his back.
The bow was jet-black all over, gleaming with the unique icy sheen of metal, but no one knew what material it was forged from. It carried a strange sense of oppressive might.
Arrow nocked, waist twisting, bow drawn like a full moon.
On the equally pitch-black long arrow, a cold star suddenly flared to life.
A shrill sound of tearing air rang out, stabbing people’s eardrums with pain. The black long arrow ripped through the sky; wherever it passed, a half-transparent black flame-shadow surfaced, as if space itself were being torn apart.
Above the temple, An Xiaxin also heard that piercing sound of rupturing air. She saw a tiny black light point rapidly enlarge before her eyes, and her heart instantly plunged to rock bottom.
She bit through the tip of her tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood mist. An Xiaxin rapidly formed Hand Formations, pouring everything she had into activating the Array. The Barrier shrouding the outside of the temple suddenly flashed with dazzling radiance.
Unfortunately, the Meteorite Gold of the Defensive Array had already been completely used up, and after holding for so long the Array was riddled with damage. Even if An Xiaxin spent the very last of her strength, she couldn’t raise the defense to its peak.
"Boom!" The black long arrow struck the Barrier. By rights, with that kind of power, it should have pierced straight through, but the arrow only shuddered violently and then stopped. After that, under An Xiaxin’s astonished, bewildered gaze, it suddenly shattered.
A thunderous crash; heaven and earth shook. The entire Barrier exploded violently along with it. A chaotic air current surged like a hurricane, and even Huayu Temple, which had stood for nearly a million years without falling, rocked and quivered like a small boat in a storm, helplessly bobbing and shuddering.
With the Array’s defensive Barrier broken, An Xiaxin took the full brunt of it. Her Mental State felt as if stabbed through by a sharp arrow; a rending agony burst in her mind. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
Below, as the Earth quaked, everyone was thrown sprawling. Whether Priest Guards and civilians of Huayu City or the attacking bandits, all wore looks of sheer horror.
The protective Great Array that had guarded Huayu City for a whole day was broken just like that. How terrifying a power was contained in that single arrow?
One ruined building after another, already scorched by lingering flame, crumbled to rubble under the Earth’s tremors, clouds of dust and black smoke billowing high.
Only after a full seven and a half minutes did the dust slowly disperse, and the dazed, horrified crowd finally come back to their senses.
"Kill!" The black-robed man pointed his long bow forward, his icy voice echoing through heaven and earth.
"Kill!" Below the temple, the bandits’ morale soared to the heavens as they surged toward the temple like a tide.
Having lost their final line of defense, even with those few hundred Mu Family Members, Huayu City absolutely couldn’t withstand the enemy’s assault. In just moments, more than a dozen Priests and guards lay dead in pools of blood.
Seeing the situation turn grim, the Mu Family’s old Clan Leader hurriedly led his clansmen, along with the other Priests and guards, shielding the crowd of civilians as they retreated to the rear.