Radiant Era Chapter 62-64

Chapter 62 Dead End

The flying speed of the two lumps of flame was far greater than a person's running speed. It was basically comparable to the speed of a normal horse. Especially the flying sparks within the two lumps of raging flames, their high temperature prevented the thugs hired by the Black Tiger Family around them from drawing near. The thugs could only pathetically evade to the sides.

Baltic, who had successfully landed a blow, started to sneer, "Two little spirit practitioners dare to run amok here!"

After effortlessly breaking Ya and Ling's spirit protection magic, Baltic accurately determined their cultivation. Corresponding with a knight's Nine Layers of Heaven, the Church's spirit practitioners were also divided into nine ranks. The first to third ranks were called 'Mundane Rank' by the Church, the fourth to sixth ranks were called 'Spirit Rank', and the highest three ranks were called 'Senior Rank'.

During the long war with the Five Dalian Islands, in order to unify the perception of the people of the continent towards the different occupations, spirit practitioners, even those of magician rank, were the same as a knight's nine major ranks: they used nine different colors to clearly symbolize each rank. Furthermore, like knights, when spirit practitioners and magicians took action, a distinctive color corresponding to their ranks would always appear, regardless of what type of magic they used.

When Baltic's sickle shattered the two girls' spirit protection magic, within the collapsing flames, there was a hint of dark-green halo flickering. This proved that the two girls only had strengths equivalent to that of middle-stage Earth Knights. They simply couldn't withstand a single blow from Baltic, who already stepped into Heaven-rank.

Seeing the two girls fleeing and the hired thugs incapable of approaching them, Baltic showed a cruel smile. He treaded in strange steps as light as a ghost and rapidly approached the two girls. The long sickle was brandished once again. This time, Baltic aimed to chop the two girls' waists.

"Young Master said you have to die, so you must die!" Baltic was so excited his eyes reddened. A pair of beautiful twins, furthermore, they were the Church's spirit practitioners, to be able to kill this kind of enemy with his own hands was such a wonderful pleasure. Countless vengeful spirits had died under his blade, even including terrifying creatures like Frost Titans, yet it was still a first for him to encounter such lovely and beautiful prey.

The long sickle brought with it a soul-stealing sharp whistling sound. A layer of dark-blue halo was revolving around the blade. Early stage Heaven Knight, this was Baltic's genuine strength. Without such strength, how could he control the tens of thousands of food-begging sailors, rogues, bullies, scoundrels, and those extremely poor and vicious criminals at Dunerk Harbor?

Ya and Ling felt the cold wind of the attack behind them. The black-robed Baltic whose complexion was as pale as the devil already arrived behind them. They could even feel his breath. Like his figure, his breath was piercingly cold; it was even colder than the cold wind coming from Odin Ice Origin.

With a sneer, the spirit protection magic the two girls just barely reinforced was shattered again. However, this time, without waiting for Baltic's sickle to chop at their bodies, the two girls already simultaneously crushed small red scrolls inside their sleeves. They shouted in unison, "With the assistance of the Fire God, those who disregard God's glory, suffer His punishment!"

A lump of reddish-gold flames like colored glass shot out from the two girls' sleeves. It revolved rapidly around their bodies, forming a firm protective shield. Baltic's sickle heavily struck the protective shield, yet only a loud sound could be heard. His sickle jolted violently, and the glittering protective shield was split into countless cracks. Then a lump of dazzling flame that brought with it a long dragon cry transformed into a wyvern around 34-centimeter-long. It violently launched itself at Baltic's stomach.

Baltic's expression changed. He cast his sickle aside as a layer of black mist began to cover his hands. A faint red color was flickering at the edge of the mist while countless dark-blue rays of light were mixed within it. Baltic's hands grasped forward like iron hooks, firmly grabbing the entirely pure wyvern-shaped flames made of spiritual force.

"Vicious girls! With this magic power, you think you can injure me?" Baltic's hands were burned by the wyvern-formed flames with 'chi-chi' sounds. He resisted the pain on his hands with great difficulty. His body abruptly spun at high speed, sparing no effort to throw the wyvern into seawater.

As the wyvern entered the water, a loud sound could be heard. A part of the sea with a radius of around one hundred meters exploded with a thunder-like bang. The wyvern created a ten-meter-tall water stream. The rising wave made the boats in the vicinity shake violently.

Following the loud sound, not only the residences at the Coastal Avenue, all of Dunerk was roused.

Urgent sounds of gongs could be heard from all directions, and sharp siren sounds could be heard from within sentry posts all around Dunerk. The century Land Island War had already ended thirty years ago, yet Dunerk had been maintaining wartime standards, only the level was lowered slightly. Now, such a huge explosion roused the whole city's residents, the defensive army in the barracks, as well as the copper hats of Dunerk Guardian Office and the People's Alliance of Defenders established by Dunerk itself. They all dispatched troops one after another, resulting in countless torches rushing towards the dock.

Lin Qi already ordered several bodyguards to rush to the dock. He shouted in a stern voice, "Quickly, power crossbows, shoot and kill them!"

Tooth-aching sounds of steel upon steel rose, and the 'ka-ka' sound of engines running could be heard from the darkness. Baltic snorted coldly. He endured the burning pain on his hands as he grabbed his own sickle back from the air. He brought with him a gale as he once again rushed behind the two girls' body and once again chopped at the two girls' backs.

The spirit protection magic shield that was just chopped into countless cracks exploded with a bang. The two girls cried out in alarm. Their fingers moved slightly, going to break another powerful spirit protective talisman stored inside their sleeves.

But the hired thugs that had always been trained by the Black Tiger Family didn't give them the chance. Thirty hired thugs carrying power crossbows appeared from the darkness. They aimed at the two girls whose figures shone brightly in the darkness, and simultaneously loaded their crossbows.

Strange whistling 'ga-ga' sounds could be heard as thirty 67-centimeter-long and thumb-thick 'killer crossbows' were shot with a speed invisible to the naked eye and ruthlessly penetrated the flames protecting the two girls. These crossbows were made of a mix of black steel and volcanic red silver and were specifically used to kill Rhinoceros Knights who had the thickest skin and the most coarse flesh among the different tribes of the Five Dalian Islands.

Killer crossbows could penetrate even the thick body of Rhinoceros Knights. Their power was terrifyingly high, simply not what an ax thrown by a man could compare with. The two girls' flames could resist the attack of those axes, yet were unable to resist the might of these crossbows' arrows.

Under the illumination of the flames, the thirty arrows rapidly approached. The two girls were so frightened their minds blanked. They only instinctively made all the spiritual force within their bodies burst forth. Raging flames formed a hurricane that engulfed everything around them. Their bodies also moved along with the hurricane's high rotational speed.

With miserable shrieks, blood sprayed as far as dozens of paces from the two girls' bodies.

Ya and Ling's bodies were simultaneously hit by several arrows. The pure steel arrows pierced their bodies, punching fist-sized holes through their shoulders and thighs. What made them more desperate was that Ya's lower abdomen was also pierced by an arrow and fresh blood was constantly flowing from the wound.

The two girls wailed in despair.

Chapter 63 Assistance at Death's Door

Ya and Ling powerlessly fell on a pool of filthy snow. It was exactly the place where the stray cats ate their meals. The snow was black, full of the fishy smell, blood, and bodily fluid with strange colors of fish organs. With the pungent smell assaulting their noses, Ya and Ling who had never fallen into such a circumstance almost cried.

Pain was all over their bodies and muscles and bones as if they were completely broken, yet the parts of their bodies pierced by the killer arrows were numb, without the slightest feeling. Even Ya's lower abdomen that was penetrated was stiff. Fresh blood flowed constantly, yet she didn't feel anything.

=Rhinoceros Knights, not only was their strength tremendous and their defence astonishing, their vitality was also extremely strong. So the arrows of killer crossbows had all been dipped into poison, a kind that was fermented from 18 types of poisonous grass. Just a drop of this poison could paralyze a buffalo, so after an ordinary human was poisoned with this, even their heart would gradually paralyze and they would die.

The feeling of paralysis was like the shadow of death, gradually spreading from the wound to the whole body. The two girls lay on the pile of filth. There was still some heat remaining rising up from their bodies. Their bodies were surrounded by a nasty odor, the kind that was nauseating, something they had never touched before in their lives. They had noble backgrounds in the Church and lived lives of luxury since childhood, even their fingers had never been tainted with unboiled water.

Now they lay here, quietly feeling death's arrival. They wanted to cry, but the strict education they had received since childhood kept them from shedding tears. Weeping, shedding tears, those were negative actions for lowly ants, how could nobles like them cry?

During their infancy, when they were still babies, they were trained not to cry using a special method. Now when they wanted to cry, they had forgotten even the instinct to do so. They had the urge to cry, but couldn't no matter what.

A heavy and orderly marching sound could be heard in the distance. The port's defensive army was rushing over.

The sounds of hurried horse hooves rapidly approached. The patrolling Dragon Cavalry of the Guardian Office were coming.

Sharp sirens also constantly rang from all around. They grew nearer and nearer. The secret police of the Guardian Office was dispatched.

But the sounds of messy footsteps and weapons ramming against one another were even more numerous. The current regular army of Dunerk only consisted of one thousand men, the Dragon Cavalry and Copper Hats close to one thousand men, yet Dunerk's militiamen numbered more than ten thousand men. Any random man of Dunerk was a burly fellow, so tens of thousands of militiamen out of Dunerk's population of hundreds of thousands were sufficient to deal with the threat from the Five Dalian Islands in the north.

The previous explosion sound of the fiery dragon alarmed all of Dunerk, resulting in almost the whole militiamen of Dunerk marching out. The sounds of urgent footsteps and the berserk barks of various kinds of ferocious large dogs could be heard everywhere. On the roofs of several tall buildings, some people had lit large oil lamps and were pointing the lights to this side of the port using reflectors. Dozens of thick hazy lights were randomly flashing on the surface of the sea.

Ya and Ling quickly experienced blood loss. They only felt coldness from head to toe and their visions darkened. All of the activities drew nearer like a nightmare. The activities of the defensive army, Dragon Cavalry, and militiamen were like mutterings of demons, constantly pouring into their ears, so pressuring they nearly died.

Lin Qi rushed to the dock. He berated in a low voice, "Quickly, their golden notes! Also their necklaces! Rings! Ah, their hair clips as well, their hair clips are all inlaid with gems, damn it, at least three karat of highest quality gems! These two dead girls are too wealthy!"

Baltic had already arrived next to Ya and Ling with a cruel expression. He brandished his long sickle, about to chop off the two girls' heads. However, he suddenly heard Lin Qi's shout. He was slightly distracted, hastily squatted down, and roughly tore the two girls' clothes, pulling out two brocade purses from the secret pockets on their chests.

Baltic had excellent eyesight even at night. Under the dozens of dusky and faint lights that were constantly flashing past at random, he tore the purses open and looked inside. Inside each purse was a thin pile of golden notes. There weren't many golden notes, only around twenty sheets altogether, but the amount written on them simply dumbfounded Baltic. He hurriedly swept a glance, the smallest denomination was five hundred thousand gold coins, while the biggest denomination was impressively as huge as three million gold coins!

"Damn it, they're practically two walking gold-transportation ships! Are they truly the members of that idiotic Vias? Damn it, they couldn't be Vias Business Union's people, the daughters of those nouveau riche could only be married off or learn how to take care of the family business, they couldn't be spirit practitioners!"

Coldly snorting, Baltic quickly stuffed the two purses into his sleeve. He swiftly stripped clean the two girls' necklaces, rings, hair clips and other accessories. When he was young, Baltic had been Dunerk's most well-known golden fingers. He once set the highest record in Dunerk that no one could break — in the time it took to smoke one cigarette, on the most bustling commercial street in Dunerk, he stole 78 purses in succession.

So it was as if Ya and Ling were robbed by 36 thieves at the same time. Any valuable jewelries on them disappeared in moments, even the fine broken rubies inlaid on their boots were stripped clean by Baltic. These tiny rubies were dark-red like pigeon blood, filled with a powerful life aura. Although these rubies were only as big as a grain of rice, one piece was worth ten gold coins. If they fell into the hands of a magician, these rubies could be optimal mediums to cast fire-related magic.

"Big fat sheep, two big fat sheep! Practically comparable to that two gold-transportation ships!" Baltic plundered all the valuable goods on the two girls bodies in great delight, then jumped up and brandished his sickle to behead the two girls.

These were two big fat sheep, but they could also be two huge disasters. Even thinking with one's butt, one could realize, with their huge sum of money, mysterious origin, identities as spirit practitioners, and high-level spirit magic scrolls, the background of these two girls was extremely strong. All traces of them had to be wiped out as soon as possible.

They could be swallowed by magical beasts, robbed by brigands, or pillaged by pirates, but couldn't be killed by the Black Tiger Family in Dunerk.

The family wasn't afraid of challenges, but it also disliked mysterious and unnecessary enemies. Might as well destroy their corpses and wipe out all traces!

As the sickle came down, Ya and Ling desperately closed their eyes.

The sickle brought with it a curving shadow as it chopped down. When it reached around 34 centimeters from Ya's neck, a huge human shadow suddenly rushed out from under the seawall. An oddly-shaped and heavy bent-sword brought with it a mournful whistling sound, hissing wildly like countless demons being cooked in sulfur. The sword ruthlessly swung at Baltic's neck.

If Baltic continued to chop down, his neck would take the blow!

Baltic helplessly breathed out and changed the direction of his sickle to face the bent-sword.

Chapter 64 Dark Spirit Sacrifice

Baltic's sickle was long and slim shaped weirdly like a viper's tongue. It brought a distorting black shadow in the air. The bent-sword attacking from behind him was huge and heavy, like the tooth of a giant creature.It made a berserk hissing sound as it was swung. .

The thin sickle and the huge bent-blade ruthlessly clashed against each other. The dark-blue halo around the sickle flashed and died out like a clear ray of light on the water's surface. In contrast, the surface of the bent-sword flashed with a huge dark-green halo. The blades of the two lethal weapons knocked against each other, producing countless sparks and a loud, ear-piercing sound.

The pitch-black sickle unreasonably cut into the bent-sword, splitting nearly half of the thick blade. Accompanied with a screeching sound of metal friction, Baltic's eyes shone with indistinct cold rays of lights. His hands rapidly turned, making his sickle rotate rapidly like a windmill.

The man grasping the bent-sword and who had been mounting a sneak attack on Baltic gave a muffled snort. His strength lacked one rank compared to Baltic's. He merely had the strength of a middle-ranked Earth Knight, miles away from the early-ranked Heaven Knight Baltic. The man's wrists were hurt. The sickle forced the bent-sword, his wrists, and his arms to spin.

Dozens of continuous 'ka-ka-ka-ka' sounds of bones breaking could be heard. The man's hands shattered inch by inch as he refused to let go of the sword. Baltic laughed cruelly and he easily brandished his sickle. A thin blade light flashed past and the man's arms, up to his shoulders, fell. Fresh blood sprayed. The man roared to the sky in pain. A thick light beam from a distant high building coincidentally swept over, illuminating the man's body.

He was tall and majestic like a lion, with a smooth scalp and pitch-black skin. The only white color came from his eyes. He was an aboriginal of the Dark Spirit Continent, to be exact, it was the man who had been standing behind Arthur's sofa in the Green Rose Hotel.

Fresh blood sprayed like spring water from the place where the arms were cut, yet it was as if the man felt no pain. His eyes wide, an intimidating and odd smile was on his face. Baltic waved his sickle, about to behead the man when the man's body suddenly collapsed backwards. His powerful legs that were thicker than an ordinary human's waist, were raised and firmly wrapped around Baltic's waist like two devilish pythons.

Baltic was rendered defenseless by this strange move. An unreasonably huge strength was transmitted from the man's waist, nearly dragging him to the ground. Fortunately, Baltic had incomparably rich experiences in hand-to-hand combat. His legs stabilized his body before a dark-blue halo circulated around him, with a layer of black qi faintly rising outside of it. He exerted force to his waist, wanting to fling the man.

The man started to laugh strangely, "Thank you master for saving my life and redeeming our honor, for master, I dedicate my soul and my flesh, I dedicate my everything, only for my devoted master! Ancestral spirit, please lend your great power to your devoted descendant!"

The strange prayer came through the man's mouth. The rough voice brought with it an ancient and demonic power. Baltic's expression changed. He berated in a low voice, "Warrior of the Dark Spirit Continent, who is so worthy of your devotion that you are willing to sacrifice your soul and life for him?"

The black man already stopped talking. His skin started to shine with white flames without any temperature, and a distorted red inscription appeared with it. His seven apertures shone with dazzling lights, A powerful and irresistible willpower dug into his body from the space between his eyebrows.The man's sturdy body that was originally a head taller than Baltic suddenly swelled, becoming twice as large as an ordinary human.

A terrifyingly huge power could be felt from the man's legs, abruptly making a crunching sound rise from the muscles and bones in Baltic's waist because of the unbearable load.

Dark Spirit Continent, the wildest and most dangerous continent in the world, with dark elves and dark spirits as well as countless places wrecked by magic. Yet those dark-skinned aboriginals of the Dark Spirit Continent could live and multiply on such a dangerous continent. The most outstanding elites of these aboriginal warriors were known as ancestral spirit warriors. They could sacrifice their own souls or longevity to rouse the power of the ancestral spirit, thereby letting them display astonishing destructive power.

Any ancestral spirit warrior was a protector god of the aboriginal tribe. They enjoyed lofty positions on the continent. Now Baltic actually came across one, furthermore he had chosen to completely burn his soul and all his longevity to call forth the most powerful ancestral spirit residing within his body.

Baltic felt like a bean under a millstone. His waist was nearly crushed, yet the strength in the man's legs was still continuously increasing. He produced a low and painful shout. It was his first time experiencing the terrifying strength of an ancestral spirit warrior.

A trifling middle Earth Knight could actually explode with power that could suppress an early Heaven Knight, what a terrifying strength.

Baltic sank into a predicament. He no longer had the time to pay attention to Ya and Ling who was laying of the ground unmoving.

The sound of water could be heard again as dozens of tall and black men came out of the sea. Their honest eyes were filled with tears as they looked with grief at the armless black man who burned his soul and longevity to tenaciously restrain Baltic. Tears streamed across the dozens sturdy men, mixed with the sea and disappeared without a trace.

They noiselessly rushed to Ya and Ling's side. Two men picked up Ya and Ling, used a piece of thick tower shield to cover their petite bodies, then stepped in large strides towards the nearest alley.

The thugs hired by the Black Tiger Family cursed angrily. They quickly tightened their killer crossbows, and thirty arrows were shot at great speed towards those men. Ten double-edged axes also whistled through the air followed by cold wind and violent snowfall, bringing with them the sickening smell of death.

The two black men carrying Ya and Ling covered their heads and focused only on moving forward. In front and behind them, there were four half-armored comrades with three flails in their hands protecting them. They broke through the obstructions made by several experts of the Black Tiger Family at the mouth of the alley like mad lions and rapidly entered the black-walled alley. The remaining several black men covered their backs, using circular shields with diameter around 34 centimeters and the battle-swords in their hands to block the incoming arrows of the killer crossbows and the hurling battle-axes.

The arrows tore open the circular shields made of animal skin in their hands and stabbed into their bodies.

The battle-axes destroyed their battle-swords and embedded deeply into their chests.

Seven black men stood at the mouth of the alley side by side. Blood was spraying from their whole body like spring water, yet no one retreated.

Their gazes were locked on the man who burned his soul and longevity and whose body was releasing white soul flame. The seven black men suddenly sang loudly at the same time. Their bodies also released white soul flame. The song they sang was of a totally different style from those of the West Continent, a simple and primitive battle song. They strode in a lively and heroic pace and charged towards the warriors of the Black Tiger Family.

Lin Qi's expression changed. He grabbed a killer crossbow and easily lifted it. An arrow pierced the temple of the man who was restraining Baltic.

"Retreat, these warriors of the Dark Spirit Continent, when they burn their souls, even various gods have to temporarily withdraw, retreat!"

Throwing the killer crossbow to a subordinate next to him, Lin Qi pressed his right hand on his stomach and bowed deeply towards those seven men who had burned their souls, then quickly retreated into the darkness of the port.

Chapter end