Dozens of arrows whistled through the air as they rained down on Han Shuo. However, the arrows had not yet arrived when the life-taking light in his palm expanded and shot out once more.
As the Demonslayer's Edge was infused with another thirty percent of Han Shuo's magical yuan, countless resentful screams hissed. The fresh souls that the Demonslayer's Edge had just absorbed were still yearning for life. They emitted an aura of reluctance and resentment that rose to the sky.
But the souls of the bandits were firmly bound by the power of the Demonslayer's Edge. They could not escape this eternal prison. Instead, the resentment and hatred made the Bloody Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts was even more powerful. Each blade of light shone like a blooming, colourful firework, charming and beautiful.
The Demonslayer's Edge shot out of Han Shuo's grasp and once again waltzed through the sky, creating a spiky, glaring red sun. None of the arrows reached Han Shuo as they were reduced to dust by the 'Bloody Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts'. The attack didn't lose an iota of momentum. It stretched the endless resentment and murderous intent into a dazzling, beautiful arc in the sky, aimed directly at Faust' group.
"No! Boss, retreat quickly!" A bandit beside Faust shouted loudly. As soon as the shocked yell was heard, everyone turned their horses around and fled with their tails between their legs like defeated dogs.
Faust was tempted to scold his subordinate as he watched him flee desperately. But he suddenly remembered the brutal scene from earlier, created by the slashing, bloody lights, and couldn't help but shake with cold shivers. Faust no longer dared to put on a heroic front. He pulled on the reins of his horse and fled.
The spinning, brilliant, bloody light was a ferocious, life-destroying specter to anyone it shone on. Everything disintegrated. First, six lesser leader bandits were shattered. Then the Demonslayer's Edge swirled forward with its billowing murderous aura, spinning in mid-air with a ferocious screech under Han Shuo's control. The weapon chased after Faust' group, slowing down for no one.
The corpses beneath the wall of Brettel City were resurrected one by one under the canopy of necromancy, blindly attacking all beings in their vicinity. One corpse strutted around with its guts hanging out, brandishing its weapon and dripping with blood. This was obviously a major blow to the bandits who'd been relentlessly attacking Brettel City.
A human's most instinctive reaction in the face of fear would be to flee as far as possible. These bandits demonstrated the depth of that response. The elite bandits on warhorses, under Tuku's command, fled at a much faster pace than they'd charged forward with. Some had taken the opportunity to make a lightning dash out before Han Shuo had created the acid swamps. It was quite a mystery where such potential had come from.
Of course, most of the bandits were taken out by the acid swamps. Puffs of deadly air drifted from the swamps, filling the atmosphere with the stench of corrosion. A dozen bandits who'd risked their lives to rush straight into the acid swamps were instantly reduced to a dozen skeletons. The remaining bandits who hadn't escaped suddenly came to a halt.
In front of them were a multitude of acid swamps capable of inflicting instant death, while behind them the corpses of their former allies drew closer with every step. The bandits valued their lives highly. They desperately considered which of the two sides would give them the better chance of survival.
After a short while, the desire to live won out over the fear of corpses. Unlike Han Shuo, the bandits could not fly. They could only suppress the fear in their hearts, clench their weapons tightly, and face the slowly approaching corpses. These former corpses might have been their good friends in the past, but the bandits knew what to do under the threat of death.
"Kill them!" It was unknown which bandit had shouted this. The surviving bandits did not hesitate. To protect their own lives, they turned the sharp weapons in their hands against the corpses that had just been their comrades. They cut off the heads of the corpses, leaving their comrades to die without their bodies intact.
The fighting power of the resurrected corpses wasn't very strong; it was half of what it was when they were alive. They also weren't as flexible as the zombie warriors summoned from the other dimension. These corpses existed only to strike fear into their opponents. Once the opponent overcame the fear in their hearts and took action against these corpses, they'd find that not only were their actions quite slow, but their strength had also been negatively affected. These corpses couldn't feel pain, but as long as their heads and hearts were destroyed, they couldn't get back up.
The bandits quickly discovered the corpses' weaknesses. After destroying a few, they were no longer afraid. As their fear gradually faded, the bandits began to act together, destroying the reanimated corpses.
These corpses no longer seemed so terrible compared to the acid swamps blocking their retreat. As long as the bandits tried not to think that the dead had once been their friends, they would be able to dispose of the corpses neatly. The bandits weren't kind people to begin with, most of them were cruel and ruthless. They took comfort in the fact that the people they faced were already dead, as they wielded the sharp weapons in their hands to cut off the heads of their former comrades without hesitation.
Standing proudly in the sky, Han Shuo skilfully used his mental power to manipulate the Demonslayer Edge, and sent it after Faust. Looking down at the bandits, who were beginning to calm down, he let out a small exclamation and muttered, "I underestimated their ruthlessness. No wonder they could become bandits. Soldiers couldn't do this to their former comrades-in-arms."
After muttering to himself, Han Shuo thought for a while. Then he revealed a cruel grin and said, "It looks like I need to give them a strong shot!"
As Han Shuo was about to use the bone staff to summon the undead army with his remaining mental strength, he suddenly heard an earth-shattering roar. The entire Brettel City seemed to tremble after that huge rumbling sound.
The direction of the sound had come from behind Han Shuo. He faltered for a moment before lightly exclaiming, "The Magic Crystal Cannons are finally in use!"
Taking a deep breath, Han Shuo was about to recite the long magic incantation once more when he suddenly caught sight of a group dressed in white in the very direction that Faust' group was fleeing. It was a team of about a hundred people slowly approaching. Among them was Kosse, who had once fought Han Shuo. There were also the Templars of the Church of Light, as well as several others dressed in white ritual robes.
Han Shuo was inwardly shocked. The Demonslayer's Edge that had originally been chasing Fass suddenly changed direction and charged directly at Kosse's group. The weapon shot bloody light in all directions as it fiercely targeted the Templars surrounding Kosse.
With his divine weapon, the Church of Light's Revelation, Kosse could easily turn the tables. Under the Revelation's holy light, not only would the corpses be rendered useless, but so would the undead army Han Shuo had summoned.
In the midst of this vast battlefield, the defences of Brettel City now relied entirely on the undead. Once that support was lost, Brettel City would officially be on its way to destruction.
Therefore, when Han Shuo saw Kosse appearing in the distance, he was determined to destroy this person above all else. Otherwise, the difficulty of winning would be akin to reaching for the heavens once Kosse opened 'Revelation' to sing the divine hymns of blessing.
The Bloody Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts spun rapidly, spewing a deadly bloody light straight at Kosse's party with enormous murderous intent. Several low-ranking Templars at the front had yet to even draw their weapons and make their move when the large, spiky orb collided with them.
The Demonslayer's edge was like thousands of spinning, sharp blades. It swirled into the midst of the low-ranked Templars, once again demonstrating its destructive power as it reduced everything to dust. Several of the Templars at the front had their armour shattered, and even the bodies inside were crushed.
However, the Templar's armour was obviously much stronger than the bandits'. The bandits' armour hadn't even made a sound when it was turned into powder, as if it were as fragile as the flesh of its owners.
But of course, these were the Templars of the Church of Light. The alchemists must have forged their armour in a special way, adding a magical resistance effect. Although the Templars also turned into a bloody rain like the bandits when they were crushed by the Bloody Radiance of Ten Thousand Cuts, it actually took five times longer than the bandits.
Because this process took five times as long, it gave the six high-ranking Templars around Kosse time to form a hexagonal formation.
They quickly surrounded the rapidly spinning Demonslayer Edge in the centre. Their six longswords, blessed by the baptism of holy water, erupted with a pure, divine light and shot at the Demonslayer Edge at once, erupting in a thousand rays of bloody light.
A series of pleasing metallic sounds rang out, followed by sprays of flying fireballs. The longswords had a certain cleansing effect after being baptised with holy water.
The portion of soul energy that the Demonslayer's Edge had just absorbed, but not yet fully assimilated, was actually released back into the heavens and the earth.
The remaining power of the holy light stopped the Demonslayer's Edge from continuing its rotation. It seemed that the sword formation of the six high-ranking Templars had indeed had a miraculous effect. The speed of the Demonslayer's Edge slowed as it gradually depleted its supply of magical yuan.
Finally, the weapon shot out of the sword formation into the sky under Han Shuo's mental control.
The six high-ranking Templars with the cross insignia on their chests gasped a little after the Demonslayer's Edge disappeared into the sky. Their eyes followed the disappearance of the weapon with a lingering fear in their hearts, as if afraid it would return.
Red Archbishop Kosse trembled inwardly with fear at what was happening before his eyes. He held the Revelation in his hands and prayed over and over again.
Only when he saw that the Demonslayer's Edge had truly disappeared did he turn and speak to Han Shuo: "Heretic, your sins cannot be forgiven! To be burned by the holy flame shall be your final destination!"
Kosse had tried to persuade Han Shuo patiently last time, but he had no patience with him today. In Kosse's eyes, Han Shuo was a true demon through and through, even more evil than the Church of Calamity.
He had to be destroyed at all costs, so that more people could be freed from his evil.
"I'm actually waiting to be burned by your holy flames, but I'm afraid you won't have the opportunity!" Han Shuo snorted coldly with contempt. He suddenly set his right hand on fire, engulfing his entire right arm in flames. Han Shuo glanced at his burning right arm before he coldly glared at Kosse and asked, "Isn't the colour of your holy flame something like this?
"Heretic who dares to blaspheme the holy flame? You shall be judged by the God of Light!" Kosse held his head high and shouted loudly.
Then, under the careful protection of the six Templars, he sang the sacred hymn.
Along with the melodious hymn sung by Kosse, the divine artefact of the Church of Light, the Revelation, began to rapidly turn its pages, even though there was no wind. Circle after circle of light spread out into the surrounding area with their holy presence. The corpses resurrected by Han Shuo instantly turned to dust under the glow of the holy light.
Even the green and black canopy of necromancy that had darkened the sky was torn apart by rays of blinding golden light, and the acid swamps evaporated as well. In an instant, the vast Empire of Death that Han Shuo had spent so much mental energy building had crumbled under the holy light's encirclement.
It was indeed true that the Church of Light was the natural enemy of necromancers. Han Shuo obviously didn't think much of low-ranked light mages.
However, Kosse, who was able to harness the power of the Divine Artefact 'Revelation', was truly a great threat to Han Shuo.
Han Shuo had originally been certain of victory, but now his momentum had been disrupted by the appearance of Kosse and his group. If he had no way of using his undead creatures to defend the city, protecting Brettel City with Han Shuo alone would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
"I hate this light!" Han Shuo spoke with disgust as he saw the halos of holy light spreading out.
However, his mind quickly spun to find a way to deal with them.
For he had suddenly discovered that the desperately fleeing bandit leader Faust had led his subordinates to return after Kosse's appearance.
The holy light cleared away all the dangers posed by the corpses and the acid swamps. The hundreds of bandits beneath the walls of Brettel City began to eye the scattered soldiers once more.