Chapter 346: The Town's Situation
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Hearing the breach of Leyton defense, Big Beardy's utmost concern was about whether the sacred lake had been attacked, after all the rock monsters had already come near to the lakeside. Though no one really knew what the rock monsters were going to do to the lake, they must be stopped from marching forwards. When the knight leader heard Big Beardy's questions, he reacted with a strange expression on his face. "Well, we really don't know yet. It's still a mystery of where the rock monsters want to go. For now it appears that their destination is the sacred lake, but when they reached and gathered there, they were just loitering in the Gnarled Grove and at the lakeside."
"They didn't try to contaminate the lakewater?" Big Beardy said, perplexed. He couldn't think of any other reason for the rock monsters coming to the sacred lake other than spoiling the lake. "Is the sanctuary in the centre of the lake safe?"
"It's safe." the knight leader said, shrugging. "The Lake Sanctuary wasn't affected a bit. But Bishop Gelton opined that it did not matter what the rock monsters wanted to do, they must be stopped from gathering. So we were ordered to clean them up in the area."
Big Beardy nodded, as if saying he had no more question.
There were more pounding sounds of the hooves heard in the forest as the group of knights summoned to escort the Orb were arriving. Hao Ren looked ahead and saw a sea of torches everywhere, and was amazed by the sheer number of knights. It seemed Beinz diocese had committed a significant part of their forces and was determined to clean up the rock monsters which had breached their defenses.
The knight leader was frank to tell them that area surrounding the sacred lake wasn't safe. Battles were going on in Beinz diocese. He suggested everyone retreated back to Leyton through the Gnarled Grove, and returned the Orb as soon as possible. Though there were other monsters in the Gnarled Grove, they looked less a problem than the rock monsters which were still loitering around. The four ascetics were desperate to return the Orb, so they agreed at once.
Everyone except Y'zaks hopped on to the horses which the escorts had brought. Hustling through the Gnarled Grove on the path to Leyton, the church's and the kingdom's knights were escorting them all the way. As a mercenary for all her life, Becky had never been so proud of this moment. She felt like she was coming home from saving the world like a hero under the escorts of so many knights. She hurled the horse in front of the group, working hard to make herself looking like a returning hero. But she realised no one was seeing it after almost two hours into the journey, she felt dejected. She slowed down her horse and strode side-by-side with the knight leader, asking loudly, "Would there be welcome party? Would there be a parade? What about the award ceremony back at the royal city?"
The knight leader looked at Becky as if she was missing an eye, stomped for a long while before turning his head away. "How do I know?" Then his mouth twitched and said, didn't bother to lower his voice. "Tsk tsk, just like a typical mercenary that I know—all they care is about money. You should pray more, pray that the Goddess will cleanse you with her holy will."
Becky didn't get it. Instead, she shouted happily. "I want be rich!"
Hao Ren had been observing the escorting knights; they were going through a long path through the Gnarled Grove, passing by a couple of patrol posts, and different groups of knight had been escorting them, but almost eight out of ten of the knights were church's knights in gown. There were just a small number of kingdom's knights, which mostly patrolling on the side as if they were just ornaments. So he was particularly curiously. "Why most knights pursuing the rock monsters were from the church? Aren't the kingdom's knights the main forces?"
The knight leader answered, "The soldiers under the command of Marshal Opra are responsible for defenses outside of Leyton and in Dragonspine Ridge, getting rid of the rock monsters which came off the mountain to prevent them from coming inland, and at the same time giving instruction to the mercenaries on the outer denfense positions. Area within Leyton defense belongs to the church, naturally the church's knights are the main forces. Don't worry, the church's knights are capable to defend the sacred grounds. Our unswerving faith is the guarantee."
True to form, the knight of the Goddess would always sway the conversation to his faith. Hao Ren nodded, agreeing with what he said; two different kind of knights were responsible for two different layers of defense was totally understandable.
No one was talking since then. Under the escort of an army of knights, they didn't bump into any Gnarled Grove monsters. By the time they were finally out of the forest and arriving at valley where Leyton was at, it was already dawn.
As the sun climbed slowly, the first light of the day shone on the land from behind the Dragonspine Ridge, waking up the sacred grounds from the rocky nightmare. The protective shield shrouding Leyton could be seen from afar glowing under the morning sun. They knights' spirit were visibly lit up as many of them breathed a sigh of relief. The battle here had been raging on for half a month with defense breaches, surprise attacks, outposts destroyed, and even a whole battalion of knights was sacrificed. Those left standing were worn out and suffering great mental stress. The glorious glow of the fortress of Leyton was their only strength they could draw on to keep fighting.
The convoy slowed down. Hao Ren went to a side and scan the surroundings. He noticed marks of battle were everywhere: there were large rock pits and burned bushes outside the Gnarled Grove; makeshift structure of stainless steel and stones which had clearly been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times lined the road; protective slates carved in runes could also be seen strewn along the way, this rune slates were magic barrier used to block the advancing rock monsters, the magic power had been exhausted and the runes were broken, it told how brutal the defeat was. Of course, they were signs that told the rock monsters had also suffered a fair share of the destruction; the lifeless black rocks piling up around the forest, some of which were cut, dug, and used as construction materials by the defending soldiers.
The knight leader sighed. "We don't know when it will end. The bishop has been studying the secrets in Dragonspine Ridge but so far he still couldn't figure out how the rock monsters split from the mountain."
They had arrived at the entrance of Leyton as they talked. The tall wall of the town was still standing but had got some damages.
"...look like there has been a brutal battle." Seeing the conditions of Leyton, Y'zaks couldn't help whispering. "The rock monsters went straight through the town?"
Though Leyton was a town, it was practically the biggest military fortress on the edge of Beinz Blood Lake. It had very thick wall and strong inner wall buildings. But the fortress had suffered huge damage. Everyone could see large cracks were on the outer wall, even the wall facing the Gnarled Grove had gotten its gate missing replaced by a hundred-metre wide gap. Debris was everywhere which no one had cleared up. Groups of soldiers were seen patrolling the inside and outside the wall as if another battle was about to ignite.
Hao Ren could see most of the destruction in Leyton town. Collapsed buildings were everywhere.
When recalling about what happened that day, the knight leader was still visibly terrified. "Yes. We couldn't believe that we could actually keep the town intact. At that time, Dragonspine Ridge had another collapse, thousands of rock monsters came down from the mountain. Half of the defense forces were in another battle with the monsters in the north and couldn't come back in time. The rock monsters had soon breached the outer shield, and stormed straight through the town towards the Gnarled Grove."
The knight leader spread out his hand and said, "Fortunately, Marhal Opra had come back with a reinforcement. She went straight to the back and cut off the advancing rock monsters from behind. Then we were only able to keep the town under the command of Bishop Gelton. But like what you've seen, the destruction is pretty massive."
The patrolling units at the town gate had spotted the returning forces. A muscular man on horse who appeared to be an officer came out. "What happened?"
The knight leader said solemnly, "Inform the bishop quickly, the Orb of the Holy Synod has returned."