Chapter 137 – Outbreak

The situation had escalated beyond anyone’s expectations!

Bilan and Dichiduo watched in stunned disbelief, but there was no time for hesitation. While the refugees remained dazed and the flames raged on, dozens of figures suddenly surged from the crowd.

These figures included the old and young, men and women, but in that moment, they all erupted with speeds completely unnatural for ordinary people, charging headlong toward the city gates!

The incident was too sudden for anyone to stop these frenzied “sprinters.” They reached the city gates almost unimpeded and then—detonated themselves!

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The relentless explosions perfectly illustrated what it meant to shake heaven and earth.

Doleiz’s city gates were made of ordinary hardwood, at most reinforced with a layer of sturdy iron plating. How could they withstand such concentrated self-detonations, comparable to a barrage of rocket fire?

Unsurprisingly, when the smoke cleared with the breeze, Doleiz’s gates lay in charred fragments on the ground.

“The gates are broken! Hurry and grab food! And don’t forget to screw those damn Noble bastards!”

Amid the refugees’ and the few City Guard’s stunned silence, an Old Man standing among the refugees produced an Enchanted Megaphone. His robust, resonant voice immediately “guided” the bewildered refugees. His attendants promptly echoed loudly:

“Yes, hurry and take all the treasures! Then we’ll head to Kewei Territory—the Nobles of Doleiz won’t catch us!”

“No time to waste, everyone move! The Nobles’ wealth, grain, women—it’s all ours now!”

“Your families, sold off, are still locked in the Nobles’ Dungeon! Save them quickly, or it’ll be too late!”

The protesters’ declarations struck a chord with the refugees without exception. They had just endured the despair of watching their life-saving grain burn, the fury of being insulted by the Nobles, and the helplessness of being exploited to the point of “selling” their loved ones. Now, the protesters’ inciting words were like a blazing torch tossed into hot oil, instantly igniting the madness suppressed in the refugees’ hearts.

When pushed to the brink, people care about nothing. Add the torment of hunger, and rationality becomes utterly disposable!

Starved, enraged, and driven to desperation, the refugees went completely mad. They had no time to consider the obviously manipulated situation, the consequences of their frenzy, or alternative solutions. In their hearts, only two words remained—plunder!

“Damn Nobles, I’ll slaughter all your families too!”

“Right! And seize all their treasures—leave nothing behind!”

“Everyone hurry! After this, we scatter and run—those useless City Guard bastards won’t catch us!”

“Bastard Nobles, give me back my granddaughter…………”

A massive wave of refugees surged madly through the gates. They tore apart the dozen or so City Guard who tried to stop them with their bare hands, then swarmed into Doleiz like locusts.

Even the once most docile refugees now had twisted faces, shouting, “Kill all the Nobles!”

“Chaos, chaos, total chaos!”The captain of the City Guard on the city wall didn’t even bother to drag away the still-laughing “Zweig.” Frantically, he grabbed a nearby scout, his eyes bloodshot, and roared:

“Hurry up and call for reinforcements! Where are those useless idiots who never do any real work? And those esteemed professional masters—do I have to personally invite them?”

The young scout, sprayed with spit, was on the verge of tears. Gasping for breath, he reported:

“R-report… One squad, two squads, three squads… up to the seventh squad of the City Guard, and all the hired professionals are… are busy hunting down the remnants of the Tisha Xia’er Church.”

“Damn it! Then hurry and seek help from the three Formal-Level masters!”

“This… Report, Lord Punk, Lord Bahanger, and Lord Kangkai have… have also left Doleiz City to pursue the remnants of the Tisha Xia’er Church!”

Hearing this, the City Guard captain’s face turned ashen. He released the scout and slumped to the ground.

His mind spun with dizziness. Even if he wasn’t a strategic expert, he could see that Doleiz City had fallen into a major conspiracy, yet he was powerless to stop it.

The tide of refugees was not something a small squad of City Guards could hold back. Moreover, many professionals who had once been ill but were now recovered had decided to “seize the opportunity” during this chaos. With all of Doleiz’s forces unable to return in time, twenty thousand refugees turned into demons were simply unstoppable!

Meanwhile, trapped within the crowd were Dichiduo, Bilan, and Lotalan. What did it look like when twenty thousand people desperately surged toward a small city gate? Caught in the midst of the refugee wave, they couldn’t break free and could only helplessly follow the flow, squeezed through Doleiz’s gate like toothpaste.

Even more terrifying, Lotalan had become separated from her knight and the Old Butler. In the vast sea of people, only the three teenagers—holding hands—remained together. But aside from Bilan, who knew a few spells, Dichiduo and Lotalan had no combat ability to speak of!

“What should we do?” Lotalan was so anxious she was nearly in tears. Usually clever and quick-witted, she now had no ideas left.

“What did you say?”

“I said, what should we do next?”

This time, Dichiduo finally heard her clearly. Clutching Bilan and Lotalan’s hands tightly to avoid being separated by the crowd, he shouted in response:

“We have to go save people. These refugees might harm the innocent—we can’t just stand by.”

Hearing this, both Bilan and Lotalan nodded firmly. Their minds were in complete disarray, and they had no judgment of their own left.

“Alright, we’ll listen to you,” they said in unison.

—————————

At the same time, in the center of Doleiz City, several usually inconspicuous civilian residences were surrounded by layers of City Guards. Several priests and professionals stood at the front, fully alert.

Similar scenes were occurring all over Doleiz City. These encircled residences, shops, and even noble mansions were the “Tisha Xia’er Church strongholds” that Hett had revealed.When first hearing the news, the high-ranking officials of Doleiz City were struck speechless with shock. They could never have imagined that Doleiz City, which had always been perceived as “impregnable” in their minds, had actually been infiltrated as thoroughly as a sieve.

Currently, almost all of Doleiz City’s combat forces were deployed to surround the Tisha Xia’er Church strongholds. They were waiting for Punk and his companions to attack the first stronghold, at which point Doleiz City would simultaneously launch their assault.

At the largest encirclement point in Doleiz City, Hodlai, the Tyr Church bishop stationed in Doleiz City, sat ready on his horse. Firmly believing in the blessings of Tyr, the God of Justice, and under his own leadership, he was convinced that insignificant clowns like Tisha Xia’er would prove utterly powerless against them.

However, just as the sun Mila had risen halfway and he was about to issue the attack command, thick columns of smoke suddenly billowed from the direction of Doleiz City’s main gate.

“What’s going on?”

Hodlai frowned, initially thinking it was someone disobeying orders by attacking prematurely. Although an early attack wouldn’t fundamentally change things, as a devout follower of Tyr, Hodlai deeply disapproved of such undisciplined behavior. He decided to use divine magic to investigate and identify who was so blatantly disregarding “order”!

“Order is the most important thing in the world. Those who defy order must be taught a lesson!”

“Apprentice-Level Divine Magic – Minor Divine Investigation”

(End of Chapter)