Chapter 979: Chapter 552: Battle for Wealth

The sunlight dispelled the darkness and drove away the pigmen who were familiar with the darkness of the underground Beast Lair and hated the light.

Light represents hope, suppressing the beasts, just as humans drove away beasts with firelight countless millennia ago.

In the battle just now, many people were injured, or rather, accumulated injuries that hadn’t received proper treatment.

They had all learned battlefield first aid, but were powerless, as the bandages and herbs had long been used up in the battle.

And Alhazred encountered problems; the continuous spellcasting had weakened the distance between him and the Void, making it difficult for him to display true prowess, even controlling his own body was challenging, let alone saving others.

Thus, Junia basically took on the heavy burden of healing, leveraging the holy relic, the Iron Torch, to achieve initially effective results, but soon her strength was drained.

Devout faith could hardly bear such intensity of consumption; a spellcaster who loses casting ability becomes powerless.

But Junia charged ahead with a Holy Canon in one hand and a torch in the other, swinging the iron-forged, sharp-edged torch like a warhammer.

It was in the heat of battle that Junia discovered the true use of the Iron Torch: judging monsters, with the returned divine power reigniting this holy relic.

After understanding this, Junia’s combat power was enhanced, the torch ignited with an indestructible Holy Flame.

Her attacks directly inflicted burning effects, and those pigmen dared not approach.

Simultaneously, she leveraged the torch’s revived strength to continuously perform Divine Arts, healing the injured.

After using it, she’d go and judge a few pigmen, then come back to continue healing.

She didn’t possess the mighty strength of a Mendicant Monk, but she still had many maneuvers thanks to the relic.

Yet, this equally indicated the eerie nature of the divine power — in certain circumstances, isn’t this a kind of sacrifice?

Junia raised her hand, casting several Divine Arts to lift the health lines of the wounded, fully curing was impractical, only stabilizing the injuries as much as possible.

Not long after the battle ended, even those who were standing momentarily sat down, some even lying flat, gasping, eager to recover quickly. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

At this time, maintaining a basic formation was difficult for everyone — they were simply too exhausted.

But the good news was, from the recent situation, those pigmen likely wouldn’t come out, allowing them a chance to rest a bit.

Yet it was all just their wishful thinking; the cruelty of Hamlet wouldn’t fade with the rising sun— quite the opposite, it was only just beginning.

The Ascent Sect Base Old City Ruins were right before them, and even the heretics understood the principle that "One’s own bed cannot tolerate others sleeping soundly."

They could endure the Hamlet’s occupation of the outposts, withstand the heretics in the wild being besieged, but not target number three.

The tranquility of last night was not applicable as the calm before the storm elsewhere, that was because Balistan and his men defended target number three throughout the night, keeping the enemy out.

After a night of preparations, more heretics answered the call, launching a holy war belonging to the Sect of Ascension!

"Flesh is weak, only Ascension is strength!"

"Ascension Pathway, undying and eternal!"

"Blood sacrifice..."

Among the wilderness came frenzied shouts, those heretics recklessly revealing their presence.

Because they had fought to the doorstep, there was no embellishment, it was life or death.

The morning wilderness was so silent, even at a distance, the people atop target number three felt all of this, seemingly understanding that the real battle was just beginning.

"Retreat, let those pigmen and heretics fight first — maybe we still have a chance." Geralt remained quite calm.

"What if they merge and then rush the wilderness?" Barrett supported his battle-scarred musket and stood, raising objections. "We chose this place because the passage controls the number of monsters emerging from underground. Likewise, holding here means the heretics can only attack here, otherwise if they bypass us into the wilderness, what’s the point of our actions?"

These heretics entering the wilderness would usher in a new wave of guerrilla warfare; once bogged down, Hamlet’s army would be dragged into a quagmire, rendering previous efforts futile.

"My Lord’s task for us is to hold here; unless I die, fleeing is impossible."

The trusted aides expressed similarly, but Balistan had a different opinion.

"I agree with Geralt; this isn’t fleeing but conserving strength. Don’t make unnecessary sacrifices; it’s meaningless." Balistan stood with shield and dragged the Morningstar Hammer, saying, "I’ll hold them off; let my old bones play a role again."

"I’ll stay to help you," Dismas toyed with the Short Sword in his hand, his coat torn to tatters. "You still owe me two bottles of wine."

"I’m no coward, I won’t run!" Boudica stood up, shouting passionately, the meaning clear.

Yet what’s more suffocating was the sharp, pig-like squeals echoing from the passage again just after momentary calm.

Endless evil... within this hell, there was no hope, not even a fragment of hope.

At this moment, compared to the noise, a wordless silence enveloped the camp, everyone felt tremendous pressure — for this unit already at its limit, even escape was a luxury.