Chapter 1199: Quite unexpected
When the leopard gecko stepped out of the stellar gate, the Kingdom of Sorcerers’ residents at the southern gate of Ghent City could no longer restrain themselves.
When the Knights of Tudor and Knights of Radiance entered the city, the residents did not flee. That was because everyone felt that the battle would not affect them. As long as they stayed at home obediently, there would be no problem.
During this period, there were even quite some people secretly watching from their windows to see what was going on. It was even weirder for some of those watching as they felt an inexplicable sense of participating in history as it was written.
But the moment the creature appeared, everything changed.
That was because this was a fear of the unknown.
In their eyes, the leopard gecko was more like an evil dragon that had emerged from Hell.
The Knights of Tudor might not casually involve the innocent, but what about the unknown lizard creature? The answer on most people’s minds was, “The lizard doesn’t care whether you’re a subject of the Tudors or the Normans.”
The commoners screamed as they fled from their houses. Their fancy array of attire was in stark contrast to the dark armor the knights had on.
As some people fled, they turned around and were surprised to see the mysterious young man at the city gate touching the lizard’s snout gently.
That lizard was probably several hundred times the size of the young man, but at this moment, it obediently and affectionately lowered its body and head for him.
All of a sudden, there was a stark contrast between that young man’s “diminutiveness” and the lizard’s “enormity.”
But be it the young man or the lizard, neither of them felt like they were threatened much by the sorcerers.
In this chaotic situation blaring with screams, the man and the lizard appeared so peaceful and harmonious.
Before the people fled from their houses, everyone thought Ren Xiaosu and the lizard were emissaries who had escaped from Hell and were ordered to destroy their divine kingdom.
But many of them suddenly felt that this was probably the true God, while the sorcerers were demons who pretended to be the messengers of God.
“You’re ‘Midnight,’” Ren Xiaosu said as he touched the lizard’s snout affectionately.
He could feel the creature’s warm breath next to him. There was a small, black crescent birthmark on the left side of its snout, which was how Ren Xiaosu differentiated between “Midnight” and “Dusk.”
In the past, he always felt that Midnight and Dusk were a little silly-looking. Now that they had grown to such size in a volcanic environment, he was a little unused to it.
However, it was always a good thing to be reunited with an old friend.
It was no wonder the summoning spell had become lost. If it were any other archmage who summoned such a monster through the stellar gate, they would probably be dead by now.
Just like how Melgor was attacked by the goats after summoning a few of them.
If an archmage practiced the summoning spell to the 90,000 proficiency of Ren Xiaosu’s spell, they would just serve as Midnight’s snack after they summoned it.
Therefore, Ren Xiaosu was the only person in the world who was suited to learn the summoning spell. That was because he now had the most fearsome pets in the world.
The appearance of Midnight sent all of the Knights of Tudor and Knights of Radiance into a panic.
Even the Tudor family’s patriarch stood dazed and speechless in his palanquin.
The warhorses started retreating involuntarily from the fear they felt deep inside, as well as the instinctive oppression carnivores enacted on omnivores. It wasn’t only the warhorses; even the knights riding on them were frightened!
A hubbub of exclamations could be heard in the crowd, and even the knight commander’s angry roars to control the troops were drowned out.
The surging torrent was starting to recede as it retreated several hundred meters away.
It was not that the elite knights were mentally weak, but that they did not know how to defeat the monster in front of them.
Farther behind this torrent, Chen Jiu’s jaw dropped as he stood on the high observation deck. What else could he say?
Initially, the Sanctuary was debating whether to save Ren Xiaosu. But he was surprised to discover the other party did not need to be saved at all!
Dark clouds seemed to loom in the night sky, and the stars also appeared to be eclipsed by the ongoings. Chen Jiu stood high in the air like a spectator watching an exciting stage play.
Tonight, regardless of where the story led, this performance would no longer have anything to do with the Sanctuary.
This was a war between several people and a 10,000-strong army.
Only a few people were standing behind Ren Xiaosu, making him look helpless in the face of a tsunami. However, everything would turn around tonight.
In this world, there was no such thing as the weak defeating the strong. There was only the truth that someone stronger was always out there.
“So this is the descendant of that Rider?” Chen Jiu muttered.
…
On the battlefield, Ren Xiaosu was catching up on old times with Midnight like no one else was there. Then he patted Midnight affectionately on its snout and said with a smile, “Go on, I’ll leave the incoming enemies at our rear to you. You’re only allowed to kill them, not eat them.”
Midnight roared at the sky. Suddenly, a dark cloud was seemingly pierced apart as the starry sky behind it came into view.
The huge red lizard turned around and rushed towards the southern city walls. When the magnificent walls of Ghent City appeared in its path, Midnight smashed right through a section of it.
Everyone in the Kingdom of Sorcerers used to be proud of their majestic Ghent City. The towering walls symbolized the rule of the Magi and the authority of the Houses of Tudor and Norman.
Someone once boasted that no matter how majestic the goshawk in the sky was, it could not soar past the crossbow bolts fired from the battlements of Ghent City.
But now, a creature had suddenly knocked down the thing they were most proud of.
Then Midnight headed south into the wilderness without looking back.
Zhou Qi, who was standing atop the walls, felt lingering fear. “We were fortunate we weren’t standing right behind Ren Xiaosu. Otherwise, that lizard would have crashed right into us!”
Luo Lan hesitated for a long time before saying, “Cool!”
Luo Lan and company had been scattered across the top of the city walls. The lizard named Midnight did not know them at all. If they had somehow stood in its path, they might really have ended up dying a baffling death.
The Great Hoodwinker praised, “Future Commander is the Stronghold Destroyer, and this pet of his is just like its master.”
Wang Yun ridiculed, “Why’s there a tone of pride in your words?”
“Of course there is.” The Great Hoodwinker said with a grin, “I definitely have to brag about my future commander since my pay raise depends on him.”
“Hey, where did that lizard go?” Ji Zi’ang wondered.
P5092 calmly explained, “The Knights of Tudor and Knights of Radiance have suddenly returned to reinforce the Magi, but there’s still the Berkeley family in the south who has their eyes on us. The three clans must have reached an agreement, so the Knights of the Inferno are probably on their way to Ghent City. I think Future Commander sent that leopard gecko south to intercept them.”
In fact, P5092 had accurately guessed Ren Xiaosu’s thoughts. Be it the Great Hoodwinker or Wang Yun, although they had their own unique skill sets, they were not good at observing the big picture on the battlefield.
The reason Ren Xiaosu did this was because he knew full well that even though Midnight was massively large, it was not immortal.
If the battle were to escalate, archmages like the Tudor family’s patriarch and the Norman family’s patriarch who possessed the black Eye of True Sight could very well pose a threat to Midnight. Moreover, the ice spells the Tudor family’s patriarch was most adept in happened to be Midnight’s bane.
But if Midnight were to face the House of Berkeley, it would be completely different.
90% of the Berkeley family’s exclusive spells were related to fire. Be it the Berkeley family’s patriarch or their archmages, almost all of their spells were fire based.
And why should a creature like Midnight that could bathe in a magma pool be afraid of fire?
…
The Knights of the Inferno in the south were advancing northwards. For the sake of this encirclement, they had even broken ahead of their supply corps and directly led their troops towards the battlefield in light gear.
As they advanced, the sounds of armor clashing rumbled like a thunderstorm.
But while their horses were galloping, an even louder explosion suddenly boomed ahead that slowly drowned out the commotion caused by the Knights of the Inferno.
With a wave of the Knights of the Inferno’s war banner, tens of thousands of elite soldiers immediately reined in their horses and stilled.
The St. Berkeley Knight commander rode forward. He lifted his helmet visor and listened carefully to the distant noise.
The sound was getting closer and closer. The ground was also rumbling like it was beaten ruthlessly like a drum.
“Footsteps?” The knight commander frowned.
But he immediately felt that something was off. How could there be such a huge creature in this world whose footsteps sounded like beating drums?
But a moment later, a red figure sped over like lightning from the horizon.
The knight commander’s expression gradually changed. He suddenly drew his sword from his hip and roared at the top of his voice, “It’s the enemy! Form up!”
Dozens of golden Garudas with hawk faces and human bodies suddenly soared out from the formation of knights. They flapped their flaming wings and set off a scorching heat wave.
The Garudas flew over the Knights of the Inferno and pounced ferociously at the oncoming Midnight.
However, just as the Knights of the Inferno thought the terrifying lizard creature would be burned to death, they realized it was not afraid of the high temperature at all. Instead, it became even more excited!
The gold-winged flaming Garudas in the sky were all scooped into Midnight’s mouth one by one with its tongue.
“Ready your arrows!” the knight commander roared. The soldier holding the war banner next to him immediately waved it.
In that instant, the Knights of the Inferno drew their bows and nocked their arrows.
“Loose!” the knight commander ordered.
The war banner on the warhorse pointed at Midnight from afar as tens of thousands of arrows were released at the same time, blotting out the sky.
But just as everyone thought that Midnight would get pierced by the countless arrows, they landed on its body like matchsticks hitting a rock.
Midnight seemed to be getting a little impatient. It was still licking its tongue after devouring the Garudas when it looked towards the Knights of the Inferno.
The knight commander shouted, “… Protect the patriarch! Retreat!”
But it was too late.
…
In Ghent City, the flustered knights and sorcerers gradually calmed down. It was not that they were good at adapting their mentalities, but that Midnight had left after breaking through the city walls.
Everyone looked at the huge breach in the walls of Ghent City and felt an indescribable sense of shock.
Many people thought to themselves, ‘The calamity of the gods was probably nothing compared to this.’
In the myths and legends of the Kingdom of Sorcerers, the Cataclysm over 200 years ago was the Calamity of the Gods.
As the gods were angry at the crimes committed by their subjects, they activated their destructive power.
In that calamity, the Tudors’ and the Normans’ patriarchs received the Mandate of Heaven and led those who did not commit any crimes to live on.
These legends were not derived from folklore, but from the literature that had been specially revised by the magus order.
Since gods were a thing, they would need to have an entire set of evidence to support it.
At this moment, the people from the Houses of Tudor and Norman knew very well that the behemoth had probably gone south to intercept the House of Berkeley. Thinking of this, they heaved a sigh of relief.
If the House of Berkeley could kill that monster, that would be a bonus. But if they could not, they could at least take some pressure off Ghent City.
After the monster battled with the Berkeley family’s patriarch, it should get exhausted, right? After all, the Berkeley family’s patriarch was a rare genius in the Kingdom of Sorcerers. The Tudor family’s patriarch knew full well that since the Berkeley family’s patriarch had the courage to incite a civil war in the north, he naturally would have some aces up his sleeve.
However, the Tudor family’s patriarch could not possibly know Midnight had actually climbed out of a volcano’s crater and was not afraid of fire-based spells.
“How long are you going to hide for?” the Tudor family’s patriarch said loudly from behind his armor. His voice was transmitted a long distance through the use of sorcery. He was not speaking to his own clan but to the Norman family’s patriarch.
On the other side of the battlefield, a grand and distant voice exploded in the air. “Let’s join forces. Activate your Tudor family’s bloodline spell.”
With that, the Tudor family’s patriarch held his Eye of True Sight in his steel-armored hand.
The archmage who was shot out of the sky by Yang Xiaojin was bleeding profusely from his wound.
When the surrounding Knights of Tudor heard the bloodline spell would be used, their eyes lit up. Importantly, the archmage who had just died was the son of the patriarch. As the second-in-command, he would definitely be extremely powerful if he were used as the medium for the bloodline spell!
After Archmage Kayle perished in the south, they heard their patriarch had descended upon Sun City and destroyed nearly half of the city.
Therefore, the reason the House of Tudor had always been feared on the battlefield was because they could exploit the full worth of their dead!
However, after waiting for a long time, everyone realized there was a problem. The blood under Archmage Beck’s corpse did not form into the familiar magic circle of the bloodline spell. There was no reaction at all!
The Knights of Tudor looked at each other. Many of the House of Tudor’s sorcerers also looked at each other. No one knew what was going on. Why was the patriarch still not making a move?
The angry and trembling voice of the Tudor family’s patriarch came from behind his visor. “He’s not my son?!”
When he said that, everyone around him was stunned.
After all, Archmage Beck was trained by the Tudor family’s patriarch as his successor, so it could be seen just how important this person was to the Tudor family’s patriarch.
When Archmage Beck died just now, the Tudor family’s patriarch could still control his emotions. But now that he knew the son he had placed all his hopes on was not his own, he could not hold it in any longer.
The bloodline spell was indeed powerful. It could even be used as a paternity test on the battlefield!
Although it was only a one-use paternity test, it was definitely precise!
The Tudor family’s patriarch fell backwards. The knight commander beside him quickly caught him and lifted his visor so he could take a breather.
But right as he lifted up his visor, the knight commander realized the 97-year-old patriarch had fainted from anger!
“Retreat! Adjust formation to protect the patriarch!” the knight commander roared.
Even Ren Xiaosu and the others who were still on full alert in the distance were dumbfounded.
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. “Uh… that was quite unexpected.”
