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Chapter 218 The Knight with the Lantern and the Storm of Iron Fans
Chapter 218 The Knight with the Lantern and the Storm of Iron Fans
"Go tell those useless sheriffs that if they don't make a move, they'll have to hand over all the bows and arrows!"
"And the legion's giant crossbows—seize as many as you can!"
"You said those giant crossbows were destroyed by lightning—"
Interspersed with a string of local profanities from Twin Harbour, the speaker's voice rang out again.
"Organize all the guards of the members of parliament's families and place them under the unified command of this Lord Lantern Bearer."
"If anyone dares to object, we should directly question them: do they want to watch Twin Harbors perish?"
Once the city is destroyed, the entire Twin Port will no longer be able to provide any benefits to the various families!
On top of the tower.
After witnessing the colossal elephant destroy the pontoon bridge and buildings with its massive body, the speaker immediately issued a series of orders to the soldiers behind him.
He then turned around, looked at the figure standing in the shadows, and said, "Lord Lantern Bearer, I have fulfilled all your requests."
"Now, may I ask your subordinates to take action and deal with that damned demon?"
"No problem at all. Several Lantern Bearer squads are already in position and ready to launch an attack at any time."
The speaker's expression softened slightly, but he was still full of concerns and asked, "Just now, a sheriff attacked that giant elephant demon with a crossbow, but not only did he fail to cause any damage, his attack was directly devoured by it."
How do you plan to respond?
"We are acting with discretion, so you can rest assured and just wait for us to make our move."
Seeing the speaker's hesitant expression, the figure in the shadows smiled faintly.
He stepped forward, slowly removed his hood, revealing his full appearance.
He had brown hair and a hooked nose, and his appearance should have been very handsome, but there was a strange sense of incongruity about him.
The left half of his face was covered with hideous burn scars, while the right half was perfectly handsome, creating a horrifying contrast.
He carried an old lantern in his left hand, the wick of which emitted only a faint, dim light.
The firelight flickered, as if it might go out at any moment.
Upon seeing the disfigured man's appearance, the speaker suppressed the unease surging within him.
The man bowed slightly and said in a deep voice, "In the name of the Knight of the Lantern."
As he finished speaking, he slowly raised the lantern in his left hand.
In an instant, the lights suddenly flared up, and a chilling, scorching aura surged forth.
Along the riverbank, Kane reached the center of the water in a small boat.
He successfully rendezvoused with another ship filled with academy monks.
"Dean Kane, your clothes are torn."
Logan Susas spoke casually, taking a robe from someone nearby and draping it over Kane's shoulders.
The surrounding monks had various expressions, but none of them said a word.
One of them is the acting dean of the Prophecy Branch, whose actual combat strength even surpasses that of the previous official deans;
The other person is the strongest second-tier mage in the Necromancer Division. As a relative of the Susas clan, he has a noble bloodline and a special identity.
Kane nodded his thanks, straightened his robe, and asked in a deep voice, "What is the current situation?"
"The battle remains deadlocked. The colossal elephant demon continues its relentless pursuit of the Lantern Bearers' ship, wreaking havoc along its path and ramming it..."
It destroyed numerous pontoon bridges and boats of all sizes.
Fortunately, the other party has not been caught yet, and we have arranged for someone to monitor their movements in real time from a high point on the clock tower.
A monk stepped forward to report.
Logan looked puzzled, frowned, and asked, "Isn't this giant elephant afraid of revealing its location and attracting the royal army to hunt it down while it's causing such widespread destruction?"
Kane's expression was solemn as he slowly replied, "Perhaps that duke has enough means to cover everything up; he only needs to fabricate an excuse to deceive everyone."
Or perhaps, he had already accumulated enough power to tear through the disguise.
Have you accumulated enough power?
Upon hearing this, everyone present's expression suddenly darkened.
Everyone present was intelligent and instantly understood the meaning behind the words.
This is a warning signal that war is imminent.
The academy has long been constrained by the royal court and the council of nobles, leaving it restricted and constrained.
But the Duke, lurking in the shadows, was using the Demon Cult to continuously accumulate strength and expand his influence.
Kane gently raised his hand to reassure everyone: "Don't worry."
Upon hearing the dean's words, everyone's tense expressions finally eased somewhat.
"Immediately cast speed-enhancing spells on yourselves, everyone get ashore, and head to the clock tower to meet up with the surveillance personnel."
At Kane's command, various magical lights lit up one after another.
The group of monks quickly landed and headed straight for the bell tower not far away.
The security officer on duty downstairs was already terrified by the chaos. He was about to shout and stop the group when he saw them approaching.
Before he could react, he was precisely stunned by several spells.
The group walked straight over the fallen sheriff and made their way to the top of the clock tower.
Looking out from the high vantage point, Kane quietly surveyed the scene below, watching the colossal elephant wreak havoc on the city's waterways.
The hooded mage nearby added a timely report: "The lantern bearer's small boat deliberately circled around the floating bridge area, suggesting that another team was secretly providing support. They also cast concealment spells to temporarily hide their presence."
After losing its target, the giant elephant vented its anger on the entire city.
Within just half an hour, a large number of civilians, scattered sheriffs, and local mercenaries had been brutally murdered.
"Now the city's order has collapsed, chaos is spreading, and most residents have spontaneously fled or moved to sturdy buildings to avoid the disaster."
Kane's eyes flickered slightly as he stood atop the clock tower, continuing to survey the entire Twin Harbor.
As night fell, the entire port was plunged into a deathly silence, with every household's doors and windows tightly shut.
No building dared to light up, for fear of attracting the devil's covetousness.
Even so, the giant elephants wreaked havoc, setting many buildings ablaze, and leaving streets and riverbanks littered with corpses trampled and wrecked.
The giant elephant kept crashing into buildings, waving its trunk, and frantically destroying everything in its path.
Just then, Kane's gaze locked onto the surface of the river.
On the water, a small boat appeared out of thin air and slowly emerged in the firelight.
Upon seeing the ship, the giant elephant in the distance immediately let out a deafening roar.
"Damn bugs, how dare they play tricks on me again and again!"
On the bell tower, the monk in charge of surveillance frowned and muttered in surprise, "They actually showed themselves on their own initiative, instead of taking the opportunity to break through and retreat?"
"This is bait," Kane said calmly.
Knowing the Lantern Bearers' modus operandi well, he slowly revealed the truth: "Their backup plan is about to be unveiled."
The monks present were all taken aback.
The next second, the giant elephant abandoned the wreckage scattered everywhere, trampled through the ruins of buildings, and rampaged wildly, its huge feet stepping into the river, continuing its relentless pursuit of Shar's team's ship.
But the moment its massive body leaves the land and steps onto the water, its speed suddenly decreases sharply.
At the same time, countless scattered voices suddenly rang out from every corner of Twin Harbor, men and women intermingling, orderly and solemn.
"By the light of our lamps, let us burn away the abyss!"
As the oath was uttered, numerous figures emerged from the rooftops, river docks, and hidden corners of abandoned boats.
The numerous lantern bearers drew their bows and arrows, tilting their heads back to gather their strength.
In the next instant, numerous arrows, gleaming faintly, shot out from all directions, flying in parabolic trajectories towards the body of the molten wax giant elephant.
The moment the white arrow touched the waxy body, a fine, corrosive sound immediately rang out.
A single arrow deals little damage, but when hundreds of arrows hit in succession, the damage accumulates layer by layer.
The severely damaged elephant let out a mournful roar, the enormous sound waves sweeping in all directions, and a clear look of pain finally appeared on its face.
"What kind of magic is this?" Logan asked, his face full of confusion.
Kane shook his head slightly: "It should be a special attack spell designed to counter demons."
"Special attack spell?"
The group of monks looked on with strange expressions.
Special attack spells are mostly aimed at humanoid creatures, beasts, or undead; spells specifically designed to counter demons are extremely rare.
After all, in this material plane, demons and ancient gods had long since vanished, remaining silent for countless ages.
After a moment's thought, Kane continued to explain: "The Lantern Bearers were originally established to fight against demons and all kinds of monsters from the lower realms. In its early years, it also cooperated deeply with major churches."
Even as the gods retreated and times changed, this organization, whose mission was to eradicate the scourge of the abyss, still retains the ancient methods of the creatures of the lower realms.
The crowd suddenly understood, and their gazes toward Kane held a newfound respect.
Just then, Logan warned in a deep voice, "It's going to fight back."
The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw the giant elephant frantically shaking its body, using its trunk to lift up the shipwrecks beside it and smash them hard against the lantern-bearing ranger on the rooftop.
With a deafening roar, the heavy wreckage crashed into the wall, splattering blood everywhere.
One of the rangers was hit head-on, screamed in agony, and flew backward, dying instantly.
A mournful cry from his companion immediately rang out from the shadows.
The giant elephant, seemingly in a frenzy, continuously whipped up ruins and debris, smashing them into various parts of the city.
Several ranged Lantern Rangers, along with a few civilians who had just breathed a sigh of relief, were instantly crushed by the heavy object and turned into mincemeat.
It roared and howled again, crashing its head into a building facing the street, and then used its long nose to grab a lantern bearer who was looking at it with hatred and trying to stop it, stuffing him directly into its huge mouth.
The sounds of tearing and chewing were deafening; limbs were torn apart, and blood dripped continuously from the corners of its mouth.
"Mortals, this is the fate that awaits you who rebel against me!"
The roar of the ferocious elephants echoed across the sky.
At the same time, sounds of fighting and destruction echoed throughout Twin Harbors.
"They are mercenaries from the Duke's Merchant Guild."
Logan frowned. "It seems their scheme involves far more than just the army."
"Should we split up and stop their sabotage?"
Kane frowned slightly and slowly shook his head: "No need. I need everyone's cooperation to cast the Restoration Spell together."
As the two were talking, the clock tower where they were located was already locked onto by the giant elephant.
With a deafening roar, massive debris, accompanied by a fierce gust of wind, crashed against the outer wall of the clock tower.
A mage immediately raised his hand to cast a spell, activating a second-level protective spell to forcibly deflect the trajectory of the debris, barely managing to avoid the crisis.
Kane's expression was solemn.
A single act of obstruction would consume the spell slot of a second-tier mage.
His mind raced, wondering what tricks these lantern bearers were up to and what they planned to do.
He looked at the still rampaging giant elephant, which had once again targeted a lone civilian.
He stomped on both of the opponent's legs and then used his long nose to lift the opponent up, preparing to repeat the same trick.
Just as tragedy seemed about to repeat itself, a cold, resolute vow suddenly pierced the chaos: "In the name of the lantern!"
Several figures suddenly leaped down from the sky, and one of them, a long sword gleaming with white light, slashed down fiercely.
Wax splattered everywhere as the front of the giant elephant's trunk was severed, and the intense pain caused it to let out a mournful roar.
The lantern bearer, carrying the injured civilian, caught him with one arm, leaped lightly, and landed on the rooftop on the other side, handing the wounded man over to the waiting ranger.
"Such terrifying jumping power—"
Logan's expression changed drastically, filled with apprehension.
The lantern bearer in front of them could leap from the ground to the top of a tall building simply by using his physical explosive power.
Kane's gaze was fixed on the figure moving between the buildings.
The other person held an enchanted longsword in one hand and a lantern tightly in the other, with a prominent burn scar on half of their face.
"The Knight with the Lantern"
Kane whispered the other person's identity.
Logan looked puzzled: "What kind of profession is that?"
Kane patiently explained, "Like the Silent Assassins of the Dark Brotherhood, the War Mages of the Free Cities, or the exclusive faction mages of each of our colleges."
Lantern bearers have been hunting monsters from the lower realms for years, which has naturally led to the development of their own advanced professions, one of which is the Lantern Knight.
These knights are highly dependent on enchanted equipment, namely the lanterns they carry.
By harnessing the power of the lamplight, they can burn their own life force to break through level barriers and fight beyond their level.
Even a second-tier professional can unleash third-tier combat power.
"Burning life?"
Logan looked up abruptly and saw the Lantern Knight charging forward, wielding a white-glowing longsword as he crashed into the giant elephant.
The giant elephant roared in pain and launched a fierce counterattack, sending the warrior flying.
But after landing, the other party immediately got up from the ruins, as if he were unharmed.
Only the burn scars on his face quietly expanded, and his skin tone became increasingly dark.
Witnessing this scene, Logan felt a deep sense of respect. Those who risked their lives to go to the battlefield, regardless of their stance, deserved utmost respect.
Kane stared intently at the eerie lantern, his eyes deep and unfathomable.
With the help of this exclusive equipment, even those with second-tier combat power can forcibly cross ranks, trading their lives for damage.
As long as the life force has not been exhausted, it can maintain the combat power of the third tier.
Even if they die in battle, as long as the wick of the lantern remains intact.
As long as it is passed on to a second-tier professional with the same philosophy, a powerful combatant can be created again.
To fight against the undead abyssal demons, humanity has no choice but to resort to such a brutal method.
"There's no time to waste, Logan."
"Immediately lead men to dismantle this cast-iron bell and collect all iron objects from the bell tower."
"Prepare sturdy cloth bags to hold large amounts of iron powder."
"At the same time, compile a list of everyone's spells, and list mages who are proficient in wind magic, air manipulation, and fire magic separately."
""
"clear."
The situation was critical, and Logan dared not delay, immediately issuing orders to carry them out.
Soon, the heavy iron bell was disassembled and removed.
Kane cast spells continuously, crushing and breaking down the entire piece of cast iron into fine iron powder, which he then put into a cloth bag.
The unrestrained release of spells shocked the other mages.
Only Logan, already used to it, remained calm.
Having completed his preparations, Kane looked down at the fierce battle between the man and the elephant below and said in a deep voice, "The scourge of Twin Harbors should be ended by the people of this land themselves."
Everyone, in turn, cast the spell as instructed.
Upon receiving the order, the mages immediately began to unleash their magic in unison.
"Expelling Dark Clouds," "Updrafts," "Powder Adhesion," "Wind Generation Techniques" —
Several spells took effect in succession, and the iron powder in the bag slowly rose and drifted with the airflow to the front of the clock tower.
Black dust swirled slowly, then spun at high speed.
It carried countless iron filings, forming a chilling storm.
On the river, Shar, who was temporarily safe, stood at the bow of the boat, anxiously watching the deadly battle between the Lamp Knight and the giant elephant in the distance.
As the war spread, buildings collapsed, pontoon bridges broke, and ships were destroyed.
The entire port was in a state of chaos.
Shar looked at Serena beside her and couldn't help but say, "Captain, our original plan was just to draw them away and coordinate with that Drow warrior's actions."
Even if it's necessary to buy time, there's no need to use all the manpower at Twin Ports for a full-scale battle.
She watched with deep concern as the Knight with the Lantern's burns continued to spread.
"The plan changed midway through."
Serena frowned and said in a serious tone, "I just received a secret report that the local speaker is willing to accept the Lantern Bearers to permanently reside in Twin Harbor."
This is an excellent opportunity for us to break away from the old powers and expand our bases outside the Nord territory.
As you know, our relationship with that queen is inherently delicate, and we desperately need a stable foothold.
"Therefore, this matter is far more than just assisting Zhuo'er."
Shar fell silent, unable to refute.
The balancing act of political maneuvering is never something a frontline soldier like her can control.
Just then, the half-elf Pippen widened his eyes, pointed at the clock tower on the opposite bank of the river, and exclaimed in surprise, "Look over there!"
Sagan immediately turned her head and saw a black vortex of iron powder rapidly condensing in front of the clock tower.
The next second, the storm, carrying endless iron filings, rushed toward the core area where the giant elephant and the Lantern Knight were fighting.
The Lantern Knight sensed the danger and decisively used the momentum to leap away, avoiding the storm's area.
The massive, clumsy elephant demon couldn't dodge in time and could only take the impact head-on, roaring in anger.
In a critical moment, the wax flowing on its body surface quickly solidifies, forming a thick, hard shell that barely withstands the tearing of iron filings.
A black storm completely enveloped the giant elephant's body, tightly binding its movements.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone in the city, a blazing flame shot out from the clock tower.
It precisely pierced through the black storm, instantly igniting the entire cyclone.
Flames engulfed the giant elephant, and the extreme burning pain caused it to let out a heart-wrenching roar.
In the blink of an eye, an extremely dazzling white light shot into the sky, piercing through the deep darkness.
The bright light swept in all directions, and everyone instinctively closed their eyes to avoid the light.
The pitch-black night sky was completely illuminated.
As the bright light faded, everyone slowly opened their eyes.
"Was it that drow who made the move?"
Shar opened her sore eyes, which were red-rimmed, and looked toward the center of the battlefield.
The air was filled with a strong, burnt, and waxy odor.
The giant elephant demon that had ravaged the entire city had vanished.
"The enemy escaped?"
Serena's eyes were also red. She slowly shook her head and pointed to the river: "Look at the water."
Everyone looked down and saw the entire riverbed.
A thick layer of solidified wax floats on the surface, as if covering the entire waters of Twin Harbor.
"That demon has been completely destroyed."
"7
Her voice was filled with shock.