Chapter 238: A close call
The Corrupted Greatsword Warrior was not so fortunate. He could only reinforce his arms with mana and struggle upward.
The walls of Starnight City had even the gaps between the stones sealed with special materials, making it extremely difficult to drive in any sharp object.
Rosalia flipped onto the wall. A rotting corpse clad in decayed plate armor stood there, its eyes gleaming with ravenous hunger as it howled and lunged at her.
Her gaze swept over the corpse, catching sight of the family crest on it. Rosalia’s expression shifted slightly. She let out a silent sigh of regret, then her longsword turned, and in an instant she cut the corpse into three pieces.
"I will restore my family’s glory."
Swearing to herself, Rosalia unleashed a storm of sword shadows and charged along the city wall, cutting down everything in her path.
"Be careful, Miss Rosalia. There are many powerful corrupted auras inside the city. Quite a few of them are ranked monsters."
With a single beat of her wings, Tisiana continuously fired feathers. Wherever the monsters clustered, bursts of blood mist erupted instantly.
"I’ll handle the high-level enemies. Just take your time dealing with the trash."
Rosalia did not use Endless Severance to clear out the weaker foes, keeping herself in peak condition at all times.
Although she possessed the ability to recover health through killing, the consumption of a divine skill was immense. It would take killing a large number of lesser enemies to recover, making it impossible to sustain indefinitely.
"Oh right, you don’t have much combat experience. Don’t forget to conserve your stamina and divine power. If the army can handle it, don’t act recklessly."
"Alright." Tisiana was a little confused, unsure why she suddenly brought it up.
The Grand Cathedral of Starnight City was built from top-grade stone. Its roof was adorned with three thousand small spires, intricately carved and decorated, one of the finest masterpieces among medium and small Gothic cathedrals.
Now, the top of the cathedral had turned into a nest.
A corrupted bull with several heads was impaled on one of the spires, looking like skewered meat, while several bat-like banshees surrounded it, gnawing at its flesh.
These bat-like banshees had once been female citizens of Starnight City, transformed after being infected by corruption.
A smaller banshee flew in from afar, letting out two anxious shrieks. Hearing the sound, the leader of the banshees slowly extended her head.
"What?"
Her mouth, coated in disgusting slime, opened as she let out a piercing shriek. Without needing to ask, the leader could already see Tisiana flapping her wings in the distance. Letting out an excited screech, she shot into the sky.
As the banshee leader took flight, dark masses surged from the rooftops of every building in Starnight City.
On the city wall, with the addition of the Corrupted Greatsword Warrior, Rosalia advanced like a bulldozer, completely clearing the corpses from the wall.
"You twenty, clear the enemies in the towers. The rest of you take the stairs and eliminate the corpses layer by layer inside the wall."
After issuing her orders, Rosalia moved alone, heading toward the lower levels to block the entrances where the corpses were climbing up.
"Good. Next time, we’ll just send the soldiers directly onto the wall."
Phield watched the entire battle through his divine artifact telescope and snapped his fingers in satisfaction.
"Wait, what is that?" Phield was startled. He immediately channeled mana, causing the air to hum. "Tisiana, watch out for the banshees. Don’t engage head-on. Get inside the walls or the towers."
A dense swarm of banshees surged forward. The leader at the front erupted with peak third-tier strength, moving so fast she became a blur.
Tisiana was startled. With several sharp sounds cutting through the air, the powerful banshee leader lunged at her, her claws carrying fierce momentum as they slashed down.
With a violent beat of her wings, Tisiana’s speed surged. She twisted her body and dodged the fatal strike at an impossible angle.
At the same time, a flash of sword light burst forth, releasing a powerful ripple of energy that struck the ambushing banshee.
Her longsword slid across the neck of an ordinary banshee. Filthy blood sprayed as a head was flung into the air.
Once a divine artifact was obtained by a Divine Chosen, its inheritance was automatically mastered. Even though Tisiana had never practiced swordsmanship, the moment she obtained The Silver Iris Longsword, she had already grasped its essence completely.
Her swordsmanship reached its peak, piercing into the surrounding banshees with cunning precision and overwhelming force. As both sides chased and clashed, dozens of monsters fell from the sky from time to time.
"No, there are too many. I need to break through."
The enemy held a massive numerical advantage. The constant attacks from all directions drained a large amount of Tisiana’s divine power.
"Divine Wing Assault!"
Tisiana thrust her wings forward. The feathers stopped trembling and instead gleamed with a steel-like texture. Empowered by divine power, her speed skyrocketed. As she swept through the air, a series of violent sonic booms erupted.
The banshees blocking her path were smashed into pulp. The leader’s expression changed drastically as she immediately dodged, but the second-tier banshees nearby could not react in time.
Her wings became like battering rams, each feather striking like a blade as they pierced into the bodies of the second-tier banshees.
"Die!"
Tisiana let out a cold shout and tore the monster before her into two halves. Filth rained down, causing the corpses on the ground to stir violently.
With the exit cleared, Tisiana flashed forward and rushed into the cylindrical tower that the Corrupted Greatsword Warrior was clearing.
The banshees went mad, ignoring the disadvantage of the terrain as they forced their way inside with bloodshot eyes.
What awaited them was the gleaming greatsword of the Corrupted Greatsword Warrior.
"Phew, thank you."
Only then did Tisiana realize her back was soaked with sweat. She had never expected the number of corrupted creatures to be so overwhelming, nor so fearless of death.
No wonder the Church’s expeditionary army had failed to reclaim the northern province.
If she had been alone, she would have likely been dragged down and killed by those banshees. She retracted her wings, holding only her longsword, and wiped the sweat from her brow as she asked the Corrupted Greatsword Warrior, "How did you survive here?"
"I am already dead."
One of the greatsword warriors turned his head, his pale gray eyes devoid of emotion.
"..."
Tisiana awkwardly stepped back. "Sorry to bother you."
Even in death, they still had to work. No wonder Phield could establish himself in a place like this. For a moment, Tisiana did not know how to comment.
Just two greatsword warriors were enough to block the entrance, and both sides fought fiercely for half an hour.
Seventeen banshees were slaughtered, while one greatsword warrior was torn apart. Only then were the banshees forced to retreat unwillingly.
Meanwhile, relying on her overwhelming strength, Rosalia charged alone to the base of the city wall.
The corpses at the bottom surged like a flood, clinging together so tightly that an ordinary person would not even have the chance to raise a hand.
Rosalia continuously used chains to bind and crush the corpses, swinging her sword wildly to maintain her space for attack. Though an ordinary corpse could be killed with a single strike, the constant swinging consumed an immense amount of stamina.
"This won’t work. There are too many. I’ll have to use a divine skill."
Among the horde were also powerful ranked corpses. If she were caught off guard by one of them, she could be seriously injured.
Charging forward fiercely, and mindful not to shatter the wall, Rosalia slammed into the entrance.
"Second-tier Divine Skill, Endless Severance!"
Layer upon layer of sword energy surged forth, interweaving as they slashed outward. The incoming corpses rushed in like moths to a flame, only to be annihilated by the sword waves.