Chapter 190 – The Old Lanterns of Mimeige City

Mimig City was a frontier settlement even smaller than Doleiz. Nestled in the barren lands of the Kingdom, frequently dependent on aid from wealthier territories, and lacking both strategic importance and natural riches, it should have remained perpetually overlooked—or at least enjoyed uninterrupted peace.

But ever since Princess Trelinka launched her uprising, this small city found itself unable to stay detached from the war for the first time. Due to its proximity to a major northern transportation artery of the Dillon Kingdom, it now faced military lockdown and the arrival of a formidable, aggressive army!

On this day, a figure of such authority arrived that the entire city dared not breathe too loudly. It was a Formal-Level cleric clad in pristine white robes, adorned with the gleaming emblem of the Church of Dawn. Though he appeared young and delicate, there was not a trace of gentleness or compassion in either his demeanor or his actions.

From the very first day of the so-called “Iron-Faced Cleric Erok’s” arrival, Mimig City was plunged into an unprecedented state of martial law. Not only were outsiders barred from entering, but residents were forbidden to leave. Even the curfew was moved up from late night to early evening.

The neighborhood surrounding the Church of Dawn’s chapel was completely cleared of all non-clerical personnel. Every impoverished resident was driven from their homes, and the entire district was enveloped by a massive detection barrier. Low-ranking clerics stood guard at intervals of fifty meters, never leaving their posts.

It could be said that, around the chapel in the Old Lantern District at this time, no living being visible to the naked eye could possibly infiltrate the area!

“I mean, has the Church of Dawn gone mad? A few bottles of ‘High-Concentration Holy Water’ may be valuable, but surely they don’t need protection this… terrifying, right? That barrier is powered by ‘Energy-Storing Gems,’ isn’t it? And those patrol clerics have alarm Divine Scrolls strapped to their belts, don’t they? How much must that cost? It’s probably more expensive than the five bottles of ‘High-Concentration Holy Water’ themselves!”

Bloodclaw lay prone on the roof of a residential building about two hundred meters from the Church of Dawn’s barrier, gazing into the distance while marveling at the church’s extravagant “financial recklessness.”

“There’s nothing strange about it!”

Punk sat beside Bloodclaw, not even lifting his head as he spoke:

“This time, the Church of Dawn has the support of the Noble faction led by the King. Essentially, they’re directly using funds from the national treasury. Whatever isn’t used up after the war has to be returned, so of course they’re spending without a care!

Moreover, the Church of Dawn has dispatched five Formal-Level clerics and twenty-five bottles of ‘High-Concentration Holy Water.’ They’re practically throwing out more than half of the assets they’ve accumulated in the Dillon Kingdom over the past few centuries. This might very well be the final decisive battle—why wouldn’t they worry about the Glory Army risking everything to cause destruction?”

Punk easily discerned the purpose behind the church’s massive mobilization: either they were weary of the six-month-long war or anxious about the threatening presence of the Kamos Kingdom, and thus sought to eradicate the “doomed yet disgraceful” Glory Army in one fell swoop.

Having seen enough of the low-level yet highly effective detection barrier, Bloodclaw brushed the dust off his clothes and stood up, grinning as he said:”Would you say this counts as rescuing a damsel in distress? I dare say, if our ‘Nightwalker Alliance’ hadn’t intervened to eliminate those high-ranking priests and that batch of ‘High-Concentration Holy Water’, if such overwhelming force had reached the battlefield, that Trelinka probably wouldn’t last three days. She might not even manage to escape, most likely captured alive? Ah, what kind of desperate hell would a beautiful princess, fallen into enemy hands and unable to resist, encounter? Just thinking about it is exciting, isn’t it?”

Hearing Bloodclaw’s improper teasing, Punk sneered and replied:

“I must remind you of three points:

First: The civil unrest in the Dillon Kingdom is clearly being manipulated. The ‘Glory Army’ is merely a pawn. The player won’t allow key pieces to be easily destroyed. If you didn’t rescue her, someone else naturally would!

Second: No matter what, the Church of Dawn is still a member of the good alignment. Even if that naive princess were captured, they’d have to consider the royal family’s dignity. They might execute her by a thousand cuts, but the probability of ‘encountering’ something is very low!

Third: This is simply robbery, not rescuing a damsel in distress!”

“Ah, you really don’t understand ‘art’. Rescuing a damsel in distress sounds much better than robbery, and you have no idea about the perverted methods of those nobles. If a beautiful princess were truly captured… hehe, hehehe!”

“What do you mean? Are you very familiar with nobles?”

Punk immediately caught the only meaningful piece of information in Bloodclaw’s entire ramble. From Bloodclaw’s words just now, Punk immediately judged that this vampire sorcerer might have had a noble background.

But Bloodclaw also realized he had leaked information and quickly changed the subject:

“We need to hurry. It wouldn’t be good if that damned Erok runs off with the ‘Holy Water’, right? We’d better quickly plan the attack.”

Punk gazed intently at Bloodclaw’s grinning face for a moment, then stopped dwelling on the noble topic. He frowned slightly in thought before stating his conclusion:

“My plan is to launch an immediate assault, charge straight in from the front, and kill Erok and the others as quickly as possible. I imagine those priests will expend great effort guarding against ambushes and sneak attacks. A frontal assault might catch them more off guard than a covert assassination. Most importantly…”

Here, a cold smile spread across Punk’s face.

“…We are the arrogantly extreme ‘Nightwalker Alliance’ that dares to openly provoke the Church of Dawn. Wouldn’t sneaking around damage Lord Silver Staff’s imposing manner?”

Hearing Punk’s plan, Bloodclaw also expressed agreement:

“Exactly! The ‘Nightwalker Alliance’ is the most vicious criminal organization. Sneaking around is too boring. We must be arrogant, we must be high-profile! It’d be best to make the Lord of the Dawn himself spit blood in anger!”

By now, a cold and eerie smile also covered Bloodclaw’s face.

When all was said and done, although Punk and the others had nominally joined the “Nightwalker Alliance”, they weren’t necessarily very active in making “contributions”. But when it came to stabbing people in the back, they were only more adept.According to the profit-first mindset of Punk and Bloodclaw, the blatant provocation against the Church of Dawn and the open “terrorist attacks” in the Dillon Kingdom would naturally be pinned on the “Nightwalker Alliance” or “Silver Staff”—preferably with no connection to themselves whatsoever.

Moreover, they were quite wary of this mysterious “Nightwalker Alliance,” which clearly reeked of conspiracy. This was the perfect opportunity to use the Church of Dawn and the Dillon Kingdom to test the waters.

“How will the ‘Nightwalker Alliance’ and the enigmatic ‘Silver Staff’ react when faced with the furious Church and royalty who have lost vast wealth and manpower?

Amidst this internal turmoil and with the Kamos Kingdom watching covetously, how will the ‘patriots’ of the Dillon Kingdom respond to the sudden emergence of the Nightwalker Alliance? I’m truly curious…………”

While expressionlessly preparing his spells, Punk coldly pondered these thoughts!

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(End of Chapter)