The next day.
Game time PM 1:15.
Dagger Sheath Bridge, northern Misha County.
A rather Pang Da team was slowly advancing.
Over a hundred Holy Knights rode at the very front of the team, their armor covered in bloodstains, and some of them bore obvious injuries.
Although these individuals still stood as straight as javelins, a faint, undeniable weariness hung on the face of everyone, including the Holy Knights walking on foot at the rear of the team.
This was their fifteenth day since leaving Mida City with Holy Maiden.
For half a month, this team had been cycling through the process of 'exterminating Mutant, rescuing civilians, escorting civilians, and exterminating Mutant'.
In addition, they also liberated two cities, like Mida City, where a large number of Mutant had been created out of thin air, and operated from those two locations for several days.
Under Xia Lian's leadership, the Knights continuously left the city to search for survivors in nearby villages and towns.
Although in most cases they ultimately found only ruins and a large number of corpses, they also saved hundreds of lives and killed over a thousand monsters that were beyond salvation in the process.
They continuously dispatched personnel to escort civilians, protect cities, and maintain order.
The original force of over four hundred people was now less than half its size.
Among them, one hundred Holy Knights were stationed in Gland City City and New Bud City, where the threat had not been eliminated.
After all, Xia Lian no longer had the strength to cast High-Rank divine spells to create a blessed land as she had before, so she could only leave some Holy Knights behind as a precaution after doing her best to alleviate the condition of those infected with the Plague.
As for the remaining one hundred Holy Knights, some of them escorted civilians to the nearest cities during the journey, and some maintained communication between the strongest local armed force, the blockade, villages and towns where people were suspected to still be alive, and Mida City.
And the rest of them…
Had all died in battle.
Although Xia Lian possessed overwhelming combat power, this elven Holy Maiden, suffering from divine power backlash, found it difficult to cast many divine spells.
So, even if she could still bludgeon seven or eight Mutant to death with a single cross, and carve a bloody path with a fearless charge, she was ultimately just a powerful super-soldier, and there would always be times when she couldn't take care of everything.
She appeared powerful with no weaknesses, yet she was far from comparable to her former self.
One must know that during her prime, Xia Lian Zhuye could blast away at least a double-digit number of Mutant with a casual Condensing Light Arrow, and a single 【Mass Healing Prayer】 could heal most of the warriors' external injuries in a short time.
It was no exaggeration to say that even if all ten thousand Mutant in Misha County were gathered together, as long as Xia Lian had enough time, she could even annihilate them all by herself.
But that was all based on the premise that she hadn't been confronted by Darkness Goddess…
However, the reality was that when Xia Lian was fine, there was only the Plague, and as soon as something happened to Xia Lian, the Mutant appeared.
From any perspective, it was a rather terrible coincidence.
“Is it really just a coincidence?
First, several Plague sources mysteriously Disappearance, then Darkness Goddess descended when I was casting a great divine spell, and finally, those Mutant suddenly appeared when I was almost crippled.
Is all of this really just a coincidence…?”
Xia Lian, walking in the center of the team with dozens of refugees, tugged at her ear, thinking with some distress.
She held the weighty Star Gold Cross in one hand and cradled an elven little girl who looked to be only twenty or thirty years old in the other.
The child's small hand had a gruesome wound.
Although the bleeding had stopped, it still caused the child, who was in a deep sleep, to frequently let out dream-like moans.
Xia Lian sighed, cast a nearly ineffective Holy Healing to make the young girl in her arms sleep more comfortably, and then continued her thoughts…
No matter how she thought about it, she felt that this series of events was not simple.
Thus, based on Holy Maiden's thoughts, we can draw the following three conclusions:
First, Xia Lian is a very perceptive person.
Second, there indeed exist many terrible events in this world that are caused by chance, and their terrible degree is even more severe than various planned, organized, and premeditated malicious events.
Third, it's very uncomfortable without a script.
Getting back to the main topic…
A few minutes later, a Female Knight who had been sent out to scout the situation half an hour ago returned to the team.
After dismounting, she quickly ran to Xia Lian and said in a deep voice, “Holy Maiden, as before, there are no signs of Mutant activity in this vicinity.”
“Still none?” Xia Lian was startled, and then couldn't help but worry.
Their returning team had not encountered a single enemy for more than half a day, and this result often meant a large-scale gathering of Mutant nearby.
This was not good news.
One must know that there were dozens of civilians rescued along the way in this team, and once they encountered a large number of Mutant, no one was confident they could take care of everyone comprehensively.
However, there was another possibility…
That was, the Mutant nearby were attacking cities!
And the closest city to here was Mida City!
“I understand.” Xia Lian suppressed the unease in her heart and nodded to the Female Knight in front of her.
“Tell everyone to increase their marching speed slightly, and give the warhorses to the civilians who are exhausted.
We will try our best to return to Mida City before dark.
Additionally, organize some people to be on alert near the team.
If you encounter enemies, report back immediately.”
“Yes!”
The Female Knight gave a simple salute and then ran back to the front of the team to relay the order.
Xia Lian, on the other hand, gazed in the direction of Mida City, silently praying for the people in the city and her disciples.
…
Game time PM 2:10.
Mida City, Holy Church United Chapel, Mo Tan's room.
“Are you sure?”
Mo Tan leaned over the table, hands propped on it, looking down at the map, and asked without raising his head, “Are you really sure?”
Yu Ying, leaning by the window, nodded seriously, “I'm sure.”
Mo Tan gently tapped the table, then looked up and confirmed even more seriously, “Are you really, really sure?”
Yu Ying nodded even more seriously, “I'm absolutely sure.”
Mo Tan widened his eyes, “Are you really, really, really…”
“Alright, you've confirmed many times.” Yu Cheng, standing across the table, interrupted Mo Tan, spreading her small hands.
“There shouldn't be any more mistakes.”
The latter exhaled a long breath, then picked up the quill by his hand and drew a large circle on the upper part of the map, before flopping down onto the chair.
“We succeeded.”
“Strictly speaking, it should be you who succeeded.” Yu Ying pouted, walked to Yu Cheng’s side, and looked down at the map on the table, which was densely marked in the north, shrugging.
“You successfully rescued over a thousand civilians in such a short time, cleared all Mutant centered around Mida City and Hofur City, from the Dodo Town blockade in the north to Blackwater Lake in the east and Cold Ridge Village in the west, almost creating a safe zone.
You can totally show off in front of us.”
Mo Tan shook his head and smiled, “Haven't you already helped me show off?
And this was never my achievement alone.
Whether it's Yu Cheng and Luna, who have been helping to treat those civilians, or you, who are responsible for communicating with all players, you've all been busy during this time.”
Yu Cheng shrugged a little shyly, “Mainly because I couldn't be of much use elsewhere…”
Yu Ying, however, nodded contentedly, “Hmm, I was quite tired.
Mainly, it was difficult to teach people how to trick those Knights at the very beginning, but later everyone became proficient in their tasks, and the Holy Knights also adapted to 'Tairo's arrangements', so it became less worrisome.”
“But then again…”
Yu Cheng nervously twirled her fingers, and whispered, “Is it not a little bad that we have been hiding this from Tairo?
He still thinks the Knights are just carrying out reception missions as before.”
“There’s no other way.” Yu Ying rolled her eyes and chuckled dryly.
“He was already unwilling enough to have those players assigned to him.
If he knew that Black Vatican had even used healthy civilians… Heh heh, it would definitely be endless.”
“But I also didn’t expect us to be able to hide it from Tairo for so long.” Mo Tan smiled, casually fiddling with the chess pieces on the table.
“Neither the civilians and NPCs I additionally arranged, nor the unauthorized changes in routes and personnel reorganization were discovered, which is incredible…”
Yu Ying chuckled, “Those Knights aren’t bigmouths, and the other players also said it was a ‘secret arrangement’.
As long as it succeeded, no one would think too much.
The Holy Knights in this world wouldn’t actively seek out their leaders to claim credit after making achievements.
Of course, the most important thing is that every time everyone returned, Holy Maiden would find Tairo to talk about life and faith, so it hasn't been exposed until now~”
Mo Tan was stunned, “Talk about life and faith?”
Yu Cheng smiled faintly, “Just trying to distract him.
I thought it might help.”
“Well, it certainly helped a lot.” Mo Tan gave a thumbs-up, stretched where he stood, and then looked at the map in front of him again.
He tapped a few times on three chess pieces gathered together and asked Yu Ying, “How are the three teams heading towards Dagger Sheath Bridge?”
The Female Knight glanced at her friends list, then spread her hands, “No big problem.
They messaged me half an hour ago saying they had converged and started their return journey, and then there’s been no further contact, so it should be going smoothly.”
“That’s good.” Mo Tan nodded slightly, picked up the teacup on the table, took two sips, and chuckled, “This way, the vicinity should be completely safe.
We’ll tally the low-rank professionals and civilians recruited from Hofur City later.
Next, I plan to expand the safe zone to the south, but before that, we need to say hello to Tairo, otherwise it would be a bit too unkind…”
Yu Ying widened her eyes, “You call this unkind?
You did all the dirty and tiring work yourself, then handed the credit over to others, cleared the threat of Mutant in the north in such a short time, saved so many lives, not to mention the Holy Knights’ casualties were completely controlled.
How big of a hole must Tairo’s brain have to think you’re unkind?”
“That’s not how it works.” Mo Tan shook his head and smiled bitterly.
“Besides, the north of Misha County was originally the safest place.
When Yu Cheng and the others first arrived, they were in this vicinity, and many people rushed there upon hearing the news.
Most of the civilians who could potentially turn into Mutant were concentrated around Hofur and Mida cities, and Hofur City was later completely purified, so the remaining small groups of monsters were not many.
Achieving this extent with our players' cheating-like communication abilities wasn’t very difficult.
The focus is on the central and southern regions, where Xia Lian and her group are; that’s the truly dangerous area…”
Just then, Yu Ying, who was trying to clip her nails in the game with a small dagger, suddenly let out a soft exclamation, “Wait!
The three teams in the south seem to have encountered something!”
“What situation?” Mo Tan, without a word, directly injected a wisp of magic into the three chess pieces in front of him, turning the faint white light on them deep red.
Then he quickly looked up at Yu Ying, “Please be more specific, what exactly happened?
There shouldn't be any Mutant on their return journey, logically.
Could they have wandered over from the south?
What's the exact number?”
Yu Ying paused (communicating with a certain player) for about 1.5 seconds, then shook her head with a wry smile, “No, they didn’t encounter Mutant.”
“Hmm?” Mo Tan blinked, confused, “Then the situation you just mentioned is…”
“They encountered Holy Maiden.” Yu Ying clicked her tongue, and reached out to tap the three alchemy chess pieces in front of Mo Tan.
“Xia Lian Zhuye and over a hundred Holy Knights, they’re back.”
Yu Cheng's mouth opened into an O-shape in surprise, “Holy Maiden is back?!”
Mo Tan was also greatly surprised, “So many people died!?”
“No, no!” Yu Cheng glared at Mo Tan, not too harshly, and mumbled, “The last time Holy Maiden's Holy Knights returned, you weren't online.
I heard that one hundred Holy Knights were left in the two cities to the south.
Uh, I also forgot to tell you later… I’m sorry.”
Mo Tan immediately shook his head, “It’s fine, it’s fine, I was just startled.”
Thump thump thump!
Yu Ying patted the table, “I’m not finished yet!”
Mo Tan, “Huh?”
“The three Holy Knights leading the team have basically told Holy Maiden Xia Lian about their recent achievements.” Yu Ying chuckled, lowering her voice, “Guess what?”
“What?”
“Holy Maiden is extremely happy and is now happily rushing into the city, preparing to praise our Commander Tairo.
Do you think the latter, who has been continuously deceived, will be utterly bewildered then?”
“Holy crap!!”
…
Ten minutes ago.
North of Dagger Sheath Bridge, unnamed small plain.
Xia Lian stared blankly at the Female Knight in front of her, her entire being frozen as if under a petrification spell.
After a good while, Holy Maiden's exclamation suddenly rang out.
“What did you say?!
A small team, less than a fifth of our size, composed of Holy Knights, low-rank professionals, and even civilians, is protecting over a hundred refugees and returning to Mida City?!
What the #$%@ idea was that?!
Quick, expand the alert range by double, let’s hurry and rendezvous with those %#!”
Chapter 240: End