Chapter 66: Scouting and RescuingThat’s it, then?

Old Jimi’s mind flashed through his entire life.

He was a true native of the Royal Capital.

He’d heard his ancestors were nobles, but by his grandfather’s generation, the family fortune had declined, and all that was left by the time it reached him was this one house.

What had noble life been like?

He’d been too young back then to remember clearly.

All he could recall was the worry etched into his father’s and mother’s brows when they moved him into this house.

Now no one needed to worry anymore.

Old Jimi closed his eyes, ready for the impact.

He’d been bracing for a long while, trembling, but instead of pain, what rushed past his ears was the sound of wind.

Then came his grandson’s voice.

“It’s the knight brother!”

Old Jimi struggled to open his eyes.

The long hours in armor had left him nearly exhausted.

What filled his vision was a shadow.

Only after Old Jimi took a deep breath and steadied himself did he see what was actually happening.

A tall knight in blue armor with green patterns stood there, a longsword in hand.

“Heal.”

Astraea’s gentle voice rang out, and Old Jimi felt his strength slowly returning.

Old Jimi trembled as he fell to his knees, overjoyed that his neighbor was a knight.

In a shaky voice, he called out respectfully, “My lord!”

Luo En gave Old Jimi a brief glance.

He flicked his longsword, burning away the black blood clinging to it with golden flames.

Since Astraea didn’t want to show her face before the royalty, building her image in front of the Royal Capital’s citizens worked just fine.

After all, the Church held immense power over public opinion.

As long as Astraea performed deeds that saved the people, the Church could sing her praises loudly.

As for Maximus, he was even more generous.

With a wave of his hand, he assigned Luo En a full company of Royal Capital Guard soldiers.

The Royal Palace needed saving, and so did the rest of the Royal Capital’s citizens.

His hands were already stretched thin with available forces, so giving some to Luo En was no loss.

Besides, in Maximus’s mind, Luo En had already been marked as his man.

This was also a chance to cultivate Luo En’s ability to command troops.

A full company of Royal Capital Guard consisted of forty shield swordsmen, thirty halberdiers, twenty crossbowmen, twenty musketeers, and ten greatsword warriors—a total of one hundred and twenty men.

For the son of a baron, this was truly a challenge.

But Luo En was coordinating things well now.

With his enhanced brain backing him, commanding the Royal Capital Guard—which had a complete chain of command—was second nature.

Even with the Church’s priests and war clerics mixed in, he wasn’t flustered.

He could even find time to feed Astraea intel, letting the little elf happily act as an artillery mage.

“Uncle, you’re safe now.”

After briefly reassuring Old Jimi, Luo En turned and left.

In his view, Old Jimi’s family was still alive and well, which meant he’d arrived just in time.

However, Little Jimi’s sister’s eyes dimmed slightly when she saw Luo En leave without any lingering attachment—especially when she saw Astraea, who had casually cast a healing spell on her too.

That was when she knew she had no chance at all.

But she quickly perked up.

Not falling into goblin hands was already good enough.

The priority now was surviving.

Though the tear tracks on his face were still wet, the boy’s spirit and the excitement of surviving by the skin of his teeth surged through him.

At that moment, he was more determined than ever to become a knight.

At the very least, joining the Royal Capital Guard like his father would work too.

Just look at that armor—how cool would that be?

The one-hundred-twenty-man force was split into ten squads, each led by a veteran greatsword warrior.

Under Luo En’s unified command, they were reclaiming goblin-held territory at astonishing speed.

Even if they ran into a Hobgoblin, it didn’t matter.

The two musketeers in each squad would teach it what “All men are equal below the extraordinary” meant with gunpowder.

If that wasn’t enough, they could directly call in Luo En or a war cleric.

If someone got hurt, Astraea, the Saintess, was there to cast healing magic.

So far, this detached force hadn’t lost a single combatant.

“Gaa!” This tough nut had irritated the hidden Goblin Mage lurking here.

As a noble spellcaster, it was the commander of the goblins in this area.

It tentatively sent out more ordinary goblins, mixed with quite a few hobgoblins, yet those human troops still advanced steadily.

It risked a close-range observation and nearly got killed by a reflected shot from Astraea.

That was how it discovered the reason this force was so formidable.

Luo En at the front was radiating golden light from head to toe, like a god descending to earth.

How was an ordinary Goblin Mage supposed to fight that?

Ordinary goblins could be thrown away without concern, but Hobgoblins were true elite forces.

It only had twenty it could command.

Locking horns here clearly wasn’t the answer.

The Goblin Mage’s eyes darted around wildly, as if weighing whether to abandon its target here but soon, it sensed guidance from the being it worshipped.

The black-robed Goblin Mage’s whole body stiffened, and the Black Qi around it suddenly thickened.

By the time it reacted, it realized a massive figure had been teleported into the room where it was hiding.

This was a monster—a beast over three meters tall.

Just standing in the room made it feel cramped.

Its twisted features still vaguely showed goblin traits, but its body was covered in hard scales, and behind it hung a lizard-like tail.

Its hands bore sharp claws, and its whole body radiated an inexplicable pressure.

A Goblin Dragonblood Warrior—a monster unit carrying a trace of dragon blood.

Quite a few of these creatures could be seen among the forces besieging the Royal Palace.

As for where goblins got dragon blood from, that was another strange story.

Dragons always seemed to find beauty in the oddest places.

Feeling the pressure radiating from the monster before it, the Goblin Mage let out two “gaa” cries.

The monster answered with a low growl from its throat, as if displeased with the Goblin Mage’s attitude.

Even if the dragon blood within it was thin, it was still dragon blood.

This Goblin Dragonblood Warrior had its pride.

But the top brass had spoken.

No matter how dissatisfied it was, it had to listen to the Goblin Mage in front of it first.

After confirming its target, the monster smashed through the wooden door that was far too low for it with one swipe of its paw, then crashed through the wall and charged toward its goal.

Suddenly exposed to sunlight, the Goblin Mage angrily waved its Bone Staff twice at the departing monster.

But then it sent out a large wave of ordinary goblin cannon fodder to follow.

“Alright, that’s this area cleaned up.”

Astraea finished off the last clustered group of goblins with a wide-area Ice Spell, and they had finally cleared out the street they lived on.

Fortunately, even though it was close to the Duke’s Mansion, this wasn’t the goblins’ main attack direction, so her neighbors hadn’t suffered too many casualties.

The survivors were celebrating each other with the joy of having escaped death, while a few families who had lost loved ones were gathering the bodies with the soldiers’ help.

It was early afternoon, but the sky didn’t hold the usual blazing sun.

Instead, there were thick clouds and the occasional flash of multicolored divine light.

The gods were fighting something unknown, and so far, their power hadn’t reached the mortal world.

Half a day had passed, yet it felt as long as several months.

The citizens of the Royal Capital had plummeted from their previous decent lives into a chaotic abyss.

Luo En stood at the entrance of his own yard, quietly watching it all.

Astraea, having just finished dealing with the goblins, leaned against Luo En.

Through the contract between them, the little elf could feel that her knight was in a sorrowful mood.

Men aren’t made of wood or stone—who can be without feelings?

Luo En had lived here for months.

He could name every single neighbor.

And now, watching those familiar faces pass away, Luo En suddenly realized he was still just a seventeen-year-old boy.

So what if the gods had blessed him?

Could he bring these people he knew back to life?

“At the very least, you did your best to reduce everyone’s casualties.”

Astraea comforted him softly.

The goddess bell hanging from her collar swayed gently, letting out crisp, clear chimes.

Under that ringing, Astraea and Luo En could see the souls of the departed being guided toward a peaceful, joyful land.

It was a god’s divine realm.

For those citizens whose deaths Astraea had witnessed, their souls were being brought into the Elven Goddess’s divine realm.

Though the Church of All-Father wanted to be the sole dominant faith, the Four Gods’ Cults were also legal in the Kingdom.

But the Elven Goddess was using the God of Love and Beauty’s persona here, so the All-Father priests didn’t react defensively.

Though they did have some complaints about their Saintess using another god’s power.

“Don’t pile all that pressure on yourself. Even the gods can’t be omniscient and omnipotent, and besides, you’ve already done your best, haven’t you?” Astraea coaxed Luo En. “You’re already much stronger than before. The old you wouldn’t have even thought to come save people, right?”

“You’re right, Aya.”

Luo En knew he couldn’t wallow in grief.

He needed to move quickly—the Royal Capital was still in chaos.

He couldn’t save everyone, so he’d save as many as he possibly could.

He patted the little elf’s head and pushed the sadness down.

He needed to reorganize the troops.

He needed to reinforce other areas.

Luo En’s pupils contracted.

Like lightning, he drew his sword and blocked behind him.