Black-feathered birds landed on the rooftops, their eyes reflecting a group of Hands of Tyr climbing over the wall.
There were too many pursuers; they decided to take cover for a moment.
“Huff… huff…”
Aurina, riding on Richard’s head, was panting, her cheeks sore.
“Why are there so many buggy little bugs in shells? Why are they so hard to burn?”
With that, Aurina casually tossed away an arrow stained with her own blood.
A Hand of Tyr lay on the ground, a hole torn in the chain mail skirt over his buttocks, twisted and bloodied chain rings dangling from it.
His companion reached out with an iron-gauntleted hand; white light flashed briefly on it before fading.
“My holy healing is used up. What about you?”
“Mine’s gone too.”
Finally, he turned his head toward Sophia, who was pulling arrows from her tower shield.
“In a moment, I’ll channel the Lord’s grace to heal everyone,” Sophia said.
“We’re closer to the temple district now; we’ll all make it back alive.”
No sooner had she spoken than the once-bright sword blades and axe edges dimmed one after another.
They could channel divine power into their weapons, letting the god guide their cuts to make them more lethal and fearsome—but only a limited number of times, and only after rest could they do so again.
“Can we take a moment to rest?”
Richard asked while using his greatsword to force back soldiers trying to climb the wall.
The sound of soldiers hitting the ground came from the other side.
Then, half a crossbow bolt fired from a ballista suddenly protruded from the wall beside him, shattered stone fragments pinging off his plate armor.
Rest was impossible; securing even a few minutes to catch their breath was already a luxury.
The commander of Haisha City was writing an IOU on paper, pressing the emblem of the Hands of Tyr Knight Order onto it with blood.
A window was cracked open a sliver; the male homeowner quietly peeked through the gap.
Seeing a group of blood-soaked iron-clad figures, he immediately shrank back in fear.
The commander slipped the completed IOU through the window as compensation and said: “Don’t be afraid. We are the Hands of Tyr who believe in justice. In this emergency, we had no choice but to enter your courtyard. In the future, take this IOU to the Hands of Tyr Knight Order, and we will compensate you for your losses.”
The family trembled as they watched the paper fall; no one dared to pick it up.
“Richard, you still have holy healing left, right?”
The commander turned to Richard.
“I noticed you haven’t channeled divine power, nor used Holy Severance.”
“I have an idea,” Richard said.
“They’re driving ordinary men forward, using their flesh and blood to exhaust our resources. Before long, those nobles will surround us when we lack Holy Severance.”
“What do you mean?”
“Please take care of Sophia for me,” Richard said.
“I want you to swear in the name of the God of Justice to escort my fiancée and Aurina on my head out of this city, to treat them as importantly as the cause of justice itself.”
“Richard!”
Sophia’s face paled—partly from her hemophobia flaring up; everyone was covered in blood, especially the greaves.
“Why are you saying such things? We’ve already crossed the bridge, and our spell resources are barely depleted.”
“No,” Richard shook his head.
“This is just a common attrition tactic; the books are full of such cases. I’m guessing they’re still in the banquet hall—the place where they murdered the hostess—and the Emperor is there too…”
“What are you planning to do?”
Richard said: “I remember the layout. There’s only one exit. If I block that exit, the time it takes for pursuers to catch up to you will be greatly delayed, giving us more time to defend.”
A black-feathered bird leaped from the rooftop, flapping its wings to take flight.
But a cat-like paw swatted it down; an orange fluffy shadow crashed onto it.
The bird died instantly, the orange dragon’s mouth clutching a bird as large as itself while pinning another beneath its feet.
Sophia’s face grew even paler: “Then what about you?”
“I don’t know,” Richard said.
“Perhaps you’ll hear rumors that I killed the Emperor. If I can’t keep my promise to return home with you and marry, I’m truly sorry. I hope you’ll find someone dear to your heart in the future.”
“I don’t agree!”
“My mind is made up.”
A bottle of alchemist’s fire was thrown over the wall, smashing on the ground and instantly igniting.
The paladin it burned lifted his foot and shifted position.
The firelight fell on Richard’s tense profile; his face was etched with the resolve to sacrifice himself.
The same light also illuminated two slender white silk-clad legs “draping” from his shoulders.
Sophia had wanted to look stern, but she could never quite manage it.
Richard said: “May I kiss you?”
“Let Aurina get down first.”
Aurina said: “Mount beast, you didn’t even ask for this king’s opinion.”
“For the sake of our time together,” Richard said. “Please find an opportunity to fly away with Sophia.”
“Dragon-slaying sword hilt,” Aurina lowered her head, her red hair falling across his cheek.
“Since you’re going to die anyway, the dragon-slaying sword hilt belongs to this king.”
“Let’s all leave together,” the commander said.
“I don’t think it’s a good thing for a dragon to have the dragon-slaying sword hilt.”
“Better than falling into the Emperor’s hands,” Richard said.
“He’s the true evil dragon. Listen, Aurina—if I die, the dragon-slaying sword hilt is yours. We can write a contract now; I’ll have Sophia hold the hilt. This is a transaction.”
“No need,” Aurina waved her small hand confidently.
“You wouldn’t dare defy this king’s majestic and domineering presence anyway.”
With that, she jumped down from Richard’s shoulder.
“Commander…”
Sophia looked pleadingly at the commander.
The commander shook his head: “Seven years ago, he was no longer the little boy whose arm I swelled with a feathered training sword during sword practice.”
Richard said: “May I have a kiss?”
Because of her innate “condition,” Sophia rarely allowed intimate contact with Richard.
“Alright.”
She permitted it.
As they opened their arms to embrace, to awkwardly share a gentle kiss, Sophia closed her eyes and pursed her lips, leaning in.
A gust of wind slapped her face; she kissed only air.
Opening her eyes, she saw Aurina’s two claws gripping Richard, wings flapping as they flew away.
“Gagagaga, faster, faster!”
Aurina flapped her wings with all her strength, impatient to claim the hilt of the dragon-slaying treasure sword.
Sophia stood frozen, watching the dragon carry Richard into the distance.
A bolt from a dragon-slaying ballista shot toward her; Aurina excitedly flung Richard aside.
Clang!
A burst of sparks flashed in the air as the thick bolt was deflected.
With unprecedented speed, Aurina flew toward the banquet location.
The Emperor of the Yanting Empire, clad in purple robes and surrounded by more than a dozen Varangian Guards, held his wine cup and poured the wine onto the ground: “This cup commemorates the soldiers who died at the hands of a murderer. The fallen pedophilic paladin Richard and the treasonous cult have slaughtered them.”
All the military nobles stood up.
Fully armed and poised, they waited only for the Emperor to finish speaking before setting out to bring him honor.