Chapter 19: Messiah (Frontline Arc) — End

As the light of healing faded, the holy knight finally stood up, carrying the hopeful expressions of the people around him.

His helmet turned left and right as he surveyed his surroundings.

Raising his thick arm, the sharp gaze beneath his helmet took in the unbelievable scene.

The final ray of healing light landed on him, completely mending the scattered injuries on his body.

It felt as though he had been reborn.

Suo Lun still couldn’t believe it.

He had never felt so refreshed.

Not only had his wounds been healed, but he had also shattered the bottleneck that had plagued him for years.

‘Eighth rank!’

After so many years, he had finally broken through!

Now he could finally claim a spot among the truly elite combatants.

He looked down.

The golden-haired girl lay collapsed in the arms of the nuns, unconscious from the backlash of her fourth-rank healing spell.

The nuns surrounded her, carefully tending to the little heroine.

“This city was saved because of you. I will report this truthfully to His Holiness the Pope.”

A low voice came from within the helmet.

If Selina had been awake, she probably would have joked about whether all these tin cans sounded the same once they put on their helmets.

Having been healed and promoted, the holy knight Suo Lun walked out of the church.

The first problem he had to deal with was the Demon Lord who had severely wounded him.

A foul burning smell hung in the air.

On the church’s spire, a flock of crows had gathered.

This battle seemed to have already reached a conclusion.

Kante exhaled a mouthful of foul air.

He took off his helmet and spat a bloody wad onto the ground.

The armor of heavy knights was usually made of silver-steel, incredibly tough.

But now his armor was full of scars.

His two brothers wielding battle-axes stood guard in front of him.

Their axes already had visible nicks, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably.

All of them were the same type of warrior.

A sixth-rank fighting a near-eighth-rank—no matter how you looked at it, there was no chance of victory.

The fact that they were still standing here thanks to their sturdy armor, not having been one-shotted, was already impressive.

By all rights, there should have been another order knight.

Suo Lun looked around and spotted a severed shield on a pile of rubble.

“Don’t lose heart, brother! I’m here!”

Suo Lun shouted as he charged forward.

The axe-wielder threw his battle-axe, and Suo Lun caught it, immediately slashing at the Demon Lord.

The runes on the axe glowed, and holy flames intertwined with the Demon Lord’s trident as they clashed.

“You… recovered? And reached eighth rank? How is that possible!!!”

The Demon Lord’s face was full of disbelief.

But his condition was indeed astonishingly good.

His strength and speed were on an entirely different level from before.

“Time to settle the score between us!” Suo Lun did not hesitate.

He continued swinging the battle-axe, his movements fluid and each strike incredibly heavy.

He forced the Demon Lord back step by step.

The Demon Lord barely managed to parry.

After a few exchanges, he realized that if he kept fighting, he would be the one to die.

He understood that he was no longer a match for the eighth-rank Suo Lun.

‘As long as the green hills remain, there’s no need to worry about firewood.’

His two pairs of demonic wings spread from his back.

He quickly distanced himself from Suo Lun and then took to the sky at top speed.

Suo Lun knew that once the Demon Lord flew far away, he would lose the chance to kill this creature.

He raised the battle-axe and hurled it in the direction the Demon Lord was fleeing.

The axe spun in midair, emitting a dazzling golden light.

The runes on it continuously enhanced the axe’s attributes and properties.

Finally, the Demon Lord’s wings were severed, and his body was struck by the battle-axe.

Critically wounded, the Demon Lord lost his balance and plummeted.

Near the church.

The barely alive Demon Lord crawled toward the church.

If he could eat the living humans inside, he could recover and might still be able to fight Suo Lun again.

Suo Lun looked at where the Demon Lord had fallen and sensed trouble.

He immediately sprinted toward the church.

After entering the church, he saw the Demon Lord crawling toward the survivors.

Unfortunately, today was his death day.

Even if a demon god descended, it wouldn’t help!!!

Without a word, Suo Lun drew a dagger from his waist and stabbed it into the Demon Lord’s vital point.

Unfortunately, the dagger’s sharpness and length were insufficient.

This strike couldn’t kill him outright.

For Suo Lun, the outcome was already decided.

The Demon Lord’s death was all but certain.

It was just a matter of a few more stabs.

The Demon Lord was pinned beneath him.

The situation was settled.

But Suo Lun forgot one thing: any creature facing the threat of death would put up a desperate final struggle.

Even a weak rabbit, when cornered, would kick at an eagle.

“Don’t… be arrogant!!! You… all… will die here!!!”

“Damn! It’s a self-destruct! Everyone, fall back!!!!”

Suo Lun immediately moved away from the Demon Lord, but he glanced at the civilians in the church.

And Selina, cradled in the nuns’ arms.

In the place he didn’t notice, the shield of the fallen shield-bearer was quietly picked up by someone.

“Everyone, stand behind me!”

Kante said urgently, raising his shield to block the nuns.

Suo Lun had no other choice.

He ran to the front of the civilians and spread his arms.

Soon, the Demon Lord’s self-destruct came.

The explosive demonic flames clung to their armor.

The shield-bearer’s shield rapidly dissolved, and the blast headed straight for Kante’s body.

At that moment, Selina slowly opened her eyes.

The blinding light made her instinctively raise her hand to shield her eyes.

As her senses gradually returned, she opened her eyes wide and saw this scene.

Kante was using his body to protect them.

His armor was dissolving, and his body was gradually fading away.

Under her gaze, Kante turned his head and smiled at her.

Even if our armor is battered and broken, in the face of our oath to protect, we will never retreat.

“An order knight never breaks his word.”

The violent explosion directly shattered the church.

Miraculously, most of the people inside survived.

Pushing away the stone slab that had fallen on her, Selina anxiously looked around.

She saw a charred black statue standing in place.

The banner-spear fell from its body and rolled to Selina’s feet.

A tall figure stood up from the rubble.

Just his presence was enough to make people feel at ease.

Suo Lun’s armor had not dissolved like Kante’s.

It only had a few scorch marks on the surface.

Selina was a bit dazed.

She looked at Suo Lun, then at Kante in that state.

“Most heavy knights’ armor is made of silver-steel. Only a few commanders’ armor is made of gold-steel, which is stronger and more heat-resistant.”

“As luck would have it, I’m at the lowest position that qualifies for gold-steel armor.”

Selina said nothing.

She bent down to pick up the banner-spear.

The banner on it had long been burned away.

The two axe-wielders gathered around.

Suo Lun had now become the highest-ranking commander here.

“What are the casualties of your squad?”

The axe-wielder looked around, was silent for a while, then hesitated a moment before saying, “Order Knights, Sixth Regiment, Third Company, Liuli City garrison squad leader Kante Airuiba, shield-bearer Aolan Balisi, shield-bearer Keluoge Pake, deceased. Vice squad leader Dilandu Agelaisi reporting to you, sir.”

“Hm.”

Suo Lun nodded. Suddenly, he looked up.

Several airships had arrived over Messiah City.

Mixed units of the Death Temple and Order Knights were parachuting in, numbering over a hundred.

The magic cannons on the airships bombarded the monster forces outside the city, especially the mage units in the rear.

Unfortunately, the enemy quickly generated magic shields.

Continuing the bombardment would just be a contest of mana reserves.

The descending heavy knights split into two groups.

One went straight to the damaged section of the city wall for emergency repairs, while the other cleared out the monsters inside the city.

Already at eighth rank, Suo Lun felt a sense of pressure.

He looked at the airships and murmured.

“I didn’t expect a ninth-rank existence to show up.”

He thought for a moment, then ordered the remaining crowd to leave the area for now.

Selina stood in front of Kante, unable to let go for a long time.

“Child, we need to go…” A nun tugged at Selina’s sleeve.

She nodded, clutched the banner-spear, and left.

Messiah City.

It had held.

Our mission was complete.