Chapter 863
Chapter 863
A few minutes later, the breathtaking flight came to an end.
*Thud!*
Princess Dora was the first to land safely. She shed her gliding suit and drew her scimitar.
“Die!”
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*
The large bows used previously were too cumbersome for a surprise attack like this, so they had brought crossbows instead.
*Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.*
More and more Amazon warriors descended from the sky, leaving the servants and guards of the Duke’s estate completely dumbfounded.
‘Wha-what is happening? Who are these women? How did they come from the sky?’
The middle-aged eunuch, Taren, stood outside Dybas's residence, idly gazing up at the sky—not to study the stars, but out of sheer boredom. The world was, in a word, boring. Perhaps capturing that Eastern clown and having him drawn and quartered would add a little excitement to his life. Just then, he noticed something falling from the sky.
‘What… what are those?’
He then witnessed a sight he had never seen before in his life.
‘People are flying down from the sky? One after another? It’s an enemy raid!’
“Quick, ring the bell! Ring the bell!”
But it was already too late. Someone had already seized the bell tower, and any guard who tried to ring the bell was shot down with an arrow. The middle-aged eunuch Taren shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Enemies, it’s an enemy attack! Protect the Duke, protect the Duke! Guards, assemble!”
Since they couldn't ring the bell, they banged on various metal objects. The beacon tower had also been captured, so they lit torches everywhere.
“Guards, assemble! Warriors of the Cult of the Fire God, assemble and protect the Duke!”
Taren quickly rushed into the bathroom and shouted.
“Your Grace, the enemy is here!”
Duke Dybas, still seated in her bath, asked in disbelief.
“An enemy attack? How many? Where did they come from?”
“I don’t know how many. But they came from the sky. I know it sounds unbelievable, but I saw them with my own eyes, flying down from the heavens. It was shocking.”
“I see.”
The eunuch Taren hurried out. Dybas’s incredibly alluring body rose from the water. A nearby handmaiden quickly dried her off before hastily dressing her in undergarments and a long robe.
***
“Protect the Duke, protect the Duke!”
The Duke’s estate was thrown into chaos. The elite Amazon warriors began to assemble according to their signals after landing, killing anyone they encountered along the way. In a situation like this, the only safe person was a dead one. Besides, servants were expected to hide in their rooms, trembling. Any slave who rushed out at a time like this, intending to show loyalty to the Duke by fighting the enemy, could hardly be said to have died an unjust death.
Princess Dora and her warriors were far too powerful. The guards in Duke Dybas’s estate were no match for them and were easily cut down. The one hundred and fifty elite warriors under Princess Dora’s command advanced relentlessly, assembling with incredible speed.
“Duke Dybas is over there.”
Princess Dora pointed toward a red chapel. How did she know? Because the elite warriors of the Cult of the Fire God and the Duke’s guards were frantically rushing toward it. Anyone could guess that Duke Dybas was there.
***
The red building was where Dybas and Shen Lang had held their wedding ceremony, newly built specifically for her worship of the Cult of the Fire God. Dybas had spent a great deal of time there ever since. Now, the building’s doors were shut tight. From the outside, Princess Dora could feel the dense collection of heartbeats and breaths within. It was obvious that Duke Dybas was inside, along with most of the estate’s elite guards and the warriors of the Cult of the Fire God.
“Open the doors!”
Duke Dybas’s voice rang out from within, and the main doors of the red building swung open. Princess Dora located Dybas standing on a balcony inside the chapel, about thirty meters above the floor. Below, a thousand men were packed tightly together to protect her. Duke Dybas was truly remarkable, to have assembled so many people in such a short time.
Duke Dybas stood on high, looking down at Princess Dora and her one hundred and fifty warriors. She spoke slowly.
“You think you can kill me with so few?”
*Boom, boom, boom.*
Several flares shot into the sky, signaling the defense forces. In an instant, the entire city of Goldfall could see the signal from the Duke’s estate.
*Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang.*
Sharp bells rang out incessantly. The sound echoed from the docks and every corner of Goldfall City. From every military camp, men poured out like a tide.
“The Duke’s estate is under attack! Protect the Duke! Protect the Guardian of the South!”
Soldiers swarmed from their barracks, rushing toward the Duke’s estate. Countless cavalry and infantry poured out in a frenzy.
***
Duke Dybas asked.
“You came from the sky? Truly a miracle. Where is that Eastern clown? I imagine that Eastern clown, who doesn’t even have the strength to wring a chicken’s neck, wouldn't dare participate in such a dangerous game. You came from the sky with the intent to kill me, end the war, and conquer Goldfall City, didn’t you? I must admit, it’s a very imaginative plan. But the miracle you’ve shown ends here! Shoot them down with arrows!”
At Duke Dybas’s command, the thousand soldiers inside the building drew their bows and unleashed a volley of arrows at Princess Dora and her one hundred and fifty elite Amazon warriors.
But what followed next nearly shattered their worldview once again. Instead of breaking through the door, Princess Dora and her elite Amazons bent their knees, then leaped powerfully into the air, clearing the nearly forty-meter-high wall of the building and descending from above. One hundred and fifty warriors charged ferociously into the thousand men.
*Swish, swish, swish, swish.*
It was a frantic slaughter, a one-sided massacre. The guards of Duke Dybas’s estate were elites, but who were they facing? These one hundred and fifty women were the strongest of the Amazon warriors, carefully selected elites from among all the Amazon tribes. Their combat prowess was nothing short of astonishing. They were like one hundred and fifty Tyrannosaurus rexes, simply trampling over everything in their path.
*Whiz, whiz, whiz, whiz.*
With their scimitars in hand, they cut down enemies with single, fluid strokes, cleaving them in two as they passed. With shields in their left hands and swords in their right, they were unstoppable in their slaughter and invincible in their defense. It was a one-sided massacre. In the blink of an eye, the thousand personal guards in the estate were cleanly butchered. It was an insane sight. None of them had ever seen people die so effortlessly. After the thousand guards were all dead, several hundred men stood arrayed before the Amazon warriors. Dressed entirely in red, they had to be warriors of the Cult of the Fire God.
*Whiz, whiz, whiz, whiz.*
The warriors of the Cult of the Fire God before them suddenly threw a series of iron balls, each one spewing flames.
“Block!”
At the command, the Amazon elites swung their shields with great force, deflecting the three hundred iron balls. At the same time, they quickly retreated several dozen meters.
*Kaboom!*
The Cult of the Fire God’s iron balls began to explode, filling the building with thick smoke. The smoke had a pungent smell; was it poisoned? It was likely a poison gas from the Cult of the Fire God, but it seemed to attack the respiratory system rather than penetrate the skin.
“Masks on.”
Princess Dora gave the order, and the one hundred and fifty Amazon elites quickly donned simple gas masks.
‘Throwing iron balls? We can do that too!’
Dozens of the Amazon elites also threw iron balls. They were grenades weighing over a pound each, and they timed the throw perfectly, tossing them at the cult’s priests just before they detonated.
*Kaboom!*
A tremendous explosion erupted. The power of these iron balls was ferocious, enough to pulverize a person upon detonation. Exploding inside the building, the powerful shockwave swept through the walls and windows. Even the powerful Amazon warriors had to shield themselves with their shields, lest they too be injured. But the warriors of the Cult of the Fire God were highly experienced; they quickly dodged at the moment of the explosion and dropped to the ground. They were clearly elite warriors with high martial skill, their evasive maneuvers incredibly swift.
The Amazon warriors had expected to kill most of them with dozens of grenades, but in reality, only a few dozen died. The remaining survivors leaped up from the floor and drew their scimitars in unison.
Was it now a battle between masters? But just then, Princess Dora saw the beautiful silhouette of Duke Dybas, who had been sneering at her, disappear from the balcony. She was trying to escape.
“Go!”
Princess Dora commanded. She led a dozen of her best warriors, leaped into the air, and scaled the chapel wall with incredible speed, reaching the balcony where Dybas had stood in an instant.
Inside the building, over a hundred Amazon elites faced off against more than two hundred warriors of the Cult of the Fire God. In the chapel, Princess Dora and her dozen warriors pursued Dybas.
***
Duke Dybas fled with incredible speed, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.
*Boom, boom, boom, boom.*
Simultaneously, more of the Cult of the Fire God’s poison gas bombs exploded within the chapel. They weren't lethal, but they were enough to disrupt their sense of smell and vision. Princess Dora and her dozen elites quickly searched the entire red chapel, but there was no sign of Duke Dybas.
Outside the chapel, the fierce battle was still raging, and it was only intensifying. The hundred-plus Amazon elites had to fight not only the warriors of the Cult of the Fire God but also the endless stream of guards from the estate rushing in.
Time was running out for the Amazon warriors. For now, it was only the estate’s guards, but soon, tens of thousands of soldiers would swarm into the estate. If they couldn't capture Duke Dybas immediately, these hundred warriors wouldn't be able to escape even if they had wings.
But a thorough search of the chapel revealed no trace of Dybas, nor could they find any secret doors. It was impossible for Dybas to have vanished without a reason. After a careful search, Princess Dora found herself standing before a strange room. Inside, there was nothing but a large bed. This was the very room where Shen Lang and Duke Dybas had spent their wedding night—where they had made love after performing their strange ritual. Princess Dora approached the large bed, gripped it, and lifted it with all her might before quickly retreating.
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*
Just as expected, as soon as the large bed was lifted, hundreds of sharp arrows shot out. Had Princess Dora not been prepared, she would have undoubtedly been hit by them. Moreover, all these arrows were coated in poison. Indeed, there was a secret door beneath the large bed. Upon inspection, the door required a password entered into a mechanism. Besides Dybas, no one knew the password, so it was impossible to open. Princess Dora approached the door and took out a special piece of explosive. It was shaped like clay, designed to be stuck to the door.
“Fall back!”
*BOOM!*
A fierce explosion roared, and the door was blown open. Who needed mechanisms or passwords? Brute force was enough to open the door. As the aftershock of the explosion subsided, a secret passage was revealed. Princess Dora led her dozen elites into the passage.
“Be careful, there might be traps.”