Chapter 1422 - 1387: Counterfeit Demon-Blocking Gold?

One hand was pressing against three White Rose Knights who were squeezed to death by the pressure from front and back, while the other hand was skillfully, even carelessly, defending against the chaotic attacks continuously coming from the opposing rear ranks.

No matter if it was the opponent’s long weapons from the back hitting down or the arrows shot from the crossbow on the stairs further back, Lann perfectly blocked them all with just a standard hand-and-a-half sword.

The ’linear defense’ formed by that iron rod, under extraordinary technique, almost transformed into a ’area defense’ like a shield.

Amidst the noisy battle cries and curses, the sound of flying crossbow arrows was barely audible.

Yet Lann still slightly flicked the sword tip, easily deflecting the arrows without leaving any afterimage detectable by the naked eye.

"Break the witchcraft! Break the witchcraft!"

The knights stuck at the back shouted angrily yet couldn’t advance an inch, while continuing to push forward.

"Use the Demon-Blocking Golden Arrowhead, you damned fools! Let the Eternal Fire take you away!"

But the crossbow men at the rear, his face showed a complex mix of anger and fear.

His anxious, terrified gaze shifted between his bow, quiver, and the figure blocking everyone.

"What do you think I am using?! It’s the Demon-Blocking Golden Arrowhead! It’s demon-blocking gold! But...but there’s no reaction!"

The narrow staircase only allowed three armored knights to barely stand side by side, and the gathering of dozens of knights’ curses and shouts made this echoing staircase even more chaotic.

Yet even so, the constantly incredulous cries and curses from the knights holding crossbow arrows still cast a heavy shadow over the hearts of the White Rose Knights.

"Fraud! Swindler!"

"These demon-blocking golds are fake!"

Even as they continued pushing with all their might, the knights instinctively shouted angrily.

The interference of demon-blocking gold against chaotic energy is unquestionable; numerous warlocks have tested it with their lives over the past two hundred years.

This naturally blue anti-magic metal was discovered in Kovir and instantly became a strategic resource.

Moreover, the related mineral veins were continuously found, but Kovir still controlled three-quarters of the continent’s production of demon-blocking gold, which was a vital financial income for this northernmost country.

The effectiveness of demon-blocking gold is beyond doubt.

And the swordsmanship and strength exhibited by the enemy before them is surely wicked witchcraft!

Since this is the case, obviously, the knight order’s procurement of demon-blocking gold has issues! Either it’s counterfeit that has been dyed, or it’s inferior goods with insufficient purity!

The demon-blocking gold trading business is lucrative; metal transactions have always been priced by weight from ancient times.

Mixing ordinary metals into raw demon-blocking gold and smelting it results in increased weight being priced as demon-blocking gold.

This isn’t new, but the White Rose Knights clearly didn’t expect that the knight order’s procurement of demon-blocking gold and the Eternal Fire Church’s resources could be adulterated to this extent!

Hitting the sword of the witchcraft user, there’s no reaction at all?!

But as the White Rose Knights cursed the inferior demon-blocking gold, they gazed at that one figure blocking the entire staircase, remaining unmoved despite tons of impact.

The deep darkness beneath the cloak made them shiver, involuntarily jumping to one absurd thought—

Is the current situation really due to... the demon-blocking gold?

Lann didn’t care whether it was the demon-blocking gold issue, he just felt like advancing further.

The hand at the front slowly emitted a series of ’clattering’ sounds amidst the original standoff.

That was the noise from the armor’s clasps and belts being stretched by gradually tightening muscles!

Sweeping power was mobilized, and as Lann stomped the ground, one could almost hear the boots crushing and grinding large stone slabs!

The staircase, in terms of design, never considered such a level of power struggle and crowd density!

The large, long stone steps, constructed and fitted together, emitted an ominous sound of stone rubbing!

The stones were squeezed and displaced!

The entire granite staircase seemed ready to collapse under the force!

But Lann continued to exert force!

Dozens of armed knights crammed full against the staircase could not resist retreating under the pushing of the lone opponent!

The armor clanged as they collided, veins bulging under their helmets, blood rushing, yet they could not help but retreat!

With a single hand, a longsword casually blocked strikes from long spears and even hammer swings.

Lann’s hand remained steady, though the longsword often couldn’t withstand the stress.

After all, the longsword compared to a long spear or hammer inherently has structural disadvantages.

But it didn’t matter.

As the sword got damaged, Lann completely ignored the forest of blades above the enemy crowd, casually discarding the warped and chipped sword, reaching into the opposing ranks to grab a new weapon.

Finally, after squeezing the knights up the middle of the staircase...

Lann glanced down at the stairs beneath his feet amidst the chaotic barrage of swords, guns, and arrows.

His heavy, powerful boots first lifted slightly, then stomped down hard!

"Boom! Crack!"

The calculated stress point by Mentos directly broke the stability of the stairs!

Beginning with the crisp sound of stone shattering, the cracking sounds continued without end!

Without giving the crowd any time to react, in the next moment, amidst the heavy crashing sounds, the dense crowd in front of Lann vanished.

The stone composing the stairs collapsed completely, falling and smashing onto the ground.

The height was not much, merely between three and four meters.

But the heavy stair stones still cracked in the collision, spewing fine stone dust.

And those knights wearing plate armor, heavy due to their weight, suddenly became much quieter after falling.

A knight in full plate armor already faced the risk of breaking their neck or a whole side of ribs on a simple fall from a horse.

In this situation, below was not soft buffering ground or grass but sharp-edged stone fragments constituting a hard surface.

Lann glanced down briefly and saw several knights already protruding a sudden blunt angle from the middle of their back forward to their chest.

Even when practicing yoga arching backward, at least the back forms an arc; this has protruded into an angle...

These people lay crushed upon the jagged stone, internal bleeding causing blood to seep from their mouths, nostrils, and ears.

The previously noisy and congested shouts of battle seemed to hit a stop button in an instant.

Only the faint moans of impending death remained.

At the top of the stairs, unaffected by the recent destruction, two White Rose knights holding crossbows who hadn’t rushed forward, stared blankly at this scene.

But shortly thereafter, they saw the large cloaked figure who had just glanced down, raise its hood and look at them.

Instinctively, they immediately ran upward.

But before they could turn around, after a series of mechanical clicks, as if pulled by something, the two flew backward, leaving two dull thuds.

-----------------

This wasn’t the first staircase Lann dismantled; he had actually dismantled all the stairs in this tower. Earlier, he simply dealt with a wave of frontal assault due to an accumulation of knights.

Now, there’s no way to descend smoothly within this tower.

Luckily, it isn’t the chaos described by the frantic cries within the castle as a fire disaster. Thus, the flames won’t spread upward level by level.

However, unluckily, it isn’t a fire; what the White Rose knights face cannot be restrained by fire.

"What’s going on?!" Rudolph Valaris, the current captain of the White Rose Knight Order, at this moment wore not the usual inner layer beneath his chest plate, but a clearly temporarily donned nightgown.

With bulging eyes, he loudly demanded, "Who are the intruders? How many are there?"

"By the Eternal Fire, it’s been ten minutes! Do you still know nothing?"

"It’s not a fire!" Meanwhile, in the chaotic running hall, at another side, an Eternal Fire missionary loudly proclaimed, "The Eternal Fire protects us! Flames cannot harm the good!"

Holding religious texts and wearing a distinct red felt hat, the missionary stood out.

"Knights united under the Eternal Fire! Brave the enemy! The flames will only consume the impure!"

"We don’t know how many there are, Captain!" A knight reported to Rudolph Valaris, nervously swallowing his saliva, "But it definitely won’t be few!"

"I peeked down earlier, those who rushed are... not appearing in the castle courtyard, where the recruits are still in chaos."

The knight’s pupils trembled, but he tried to calm himself when reporting to the captain dressed in armor over a nightgown.

"Not a single one appeared."

He stammeringly repeated.

Thus, the captain who had been panicking from confusion moments ago, now seemed to calm down.

It wasn’t calm born from good mental fortitude, but ’seemingly calm’ nearly collapsing from being pressed by unforeseen circumstances.

He knew too well what this situation implied.

Now, not a single White Rose knight inside the tower has appeared in the castle courtyard to control the chaotic recruits, which means—no one has made it out alive in these sudden ten minutes!

Upon realizing this point, both Captain Rudolph and several knights vaguely hearing the news beside him involuntarily swallowed their saliva, stiffly turning their heads in one direction.

—Toward the location of the tower hall’s main door.

And, as if responding to their gaze.

"Boom!"

The loud and intense explosion sound! Accompanied by the shock of the iron-clad wooden door, it abruptly erupted!