In the past few days, Tony was far from the only one who came to Midar City for help; in fact, the Holy Knights under Tairo had already brought back over five hundred people, most of whom were civilians from surrounding villages and towns, and many situations were similar to Erbazi Village.
Some had sent advance personnel to the city to report during their escape, while others were informed by Holy Maiden Xia Lian during her Mutant clear-out operations along the way. The former's situations were largely similar to Teacher Tony's, while the latter group was informed by Xia Lian about the cause of the Mutants and traveled to Midar City in an organized manner. The latter usually had three Holy Knights accompanying them; one would set off first to deliver the message to the city, and the remaining two would be responsible for protection. The common point between both groups was that they needed support or assistance, so Tairo had been continuously sending people out since two days ago...
Batch after batch of refugees were continuously brought into the city, while the Holy Knights, apart from thirty permanent guards, took turns rushing to various places around Midar City for support. To ensure combat effectiveness against the Mutants, Tairo usually had the Knights act in groups of ten. This strategy proved correct because Mutants posed a significant threat to civilians, so whether they were wandering outside or suddenly transforming during migration, they put a lot of pressure on the Knights. Sometimes, when a large wave... I mean, a large wave of them appeared, even a ten-person escort team could easily suffer casualties.
As Xia Lian's main force continued to advance and the number of Mutants surged, Midar City's manpower began to become increasingly strained. Although a few Knights who went out with the Holy Maiden for sweeps occasionally returned, it was ultimately just a drop in the bucket, so...
"Impossible!" Tairo shook his head at Mo Tan and asserted in a deep voice, "There are only thirty-six Holy Knights left in the city; we cannot afford to lose any more. Midar City is a large target, and those monsters seem to have the ability to sense the aura of living beings. If our defensive strength is insufficient, it could easily lead to a major disaster. What if something happens to Holy Maiden Xia Lian..."
"I'm fine." Yu Cheng softly interrupted Tairo, saying gently, "Mr. Tairo, since we have the ability to offer a helping hand to the innocent, we should not stand idly by."
Tony immediately looked at Yu Cheng with grateful eyes. If Mo Tan hadn't been supporting him, he might have directly knelt down.
But...
"I must refuse, Holy Maiden." Tairo, however, uncharacteristically rejected Yu Cheng's point of view and asked with a solemn expression, "Please imagine, under what circumstances would you encounter danger?"
Yu Cheng blinked, asking somewhat perplexed, "Under what... circumstances?"
"The city being breached." Mo Tan, who was beside them, answered the question before Tairo, then shrugged at the latter, "The Knights will certainly prioritize Wang Yu's safety, which means if Wang Yu encounters danger, then Midar City is finished, right, Sir Knight?"
Tairo nodded slightly, then explained to Yu Cheng, "That's right, just as Priest Black Vatican said, the likelihood of you encountering danger is the same as the likelihood of the city being breached. And the fall of Midar City would mean tens of thousands of civilians would face a devastating disaster, so... even from the perspective of the innocent, please understand my decision."
Tony's hopeful gaze immediately dimmed. He felt that he was destined to fail in completing this responsibility...
"We still have those professionals, and Lord Soar's guard, and the possibility of a sudden large number of Mutants attacking here is not very high." Yu Cheng had not failed to consider these points, but she still insisted to Tairo, "I think your judgment just now, Mr. Tairo... was unfair."
Tairo slightly turned his head away.
Yu Cheng smiled softly and said gently, "Are you overly worried about my safety? Do you feel that as long as I, the Holy Maiden, am here, not even one percent of risk can be taken, so even if the possibility of something happening is almost non-existent, you still can't completely relax, right?"
Tairo was stunned. He hadn't expected the usually timid girl in front of him to think so much, almost perfectly articulating his thoughts.
The God-blessed one of the Dawn Goddess, one of the only two Holy Maidens of the Dawn Sect, her life is irreplaceable. Every devout follower would make the same judgment. This is why Tairo dared not take the risk, even if the possibility of that risk appearing was indeed very low.
"Alright, you don't need to say anything more." Tairo, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly smiled at Yu Cheng and said softly, "No matter what, I will not let you fall into danger."
"But!" Yu Cheng still wanted to say something, but Tairo raised a hand to interrupt her.
"But I am not only a devout follower of the Goddess, your follower, but also a Knight." Tairo patted the longsword at his waist and said in a deep voice, "I do not wish for you to be in danger, but I have also sworn an oath to help anyone who asks for my help and to fight for the defenseless. Therefore, I have already made preparations; I will go to that village to fight for those innocents."
Tony was just an ordinary civilian; he didn't understand the previous conversation, but he understood that the formidable-looking Holy Knight in front of him was preparing to personally go to the village for rescue. He was overjoyed and gratefully said, "Thank you, Sir Knight!"
Yu Cheng also looked at him in surprise: "Mr. Tairo, you..."
"Are you going to die?"
Mo Tan suddenly asked lightly. He stared at Tairo's calm and determined eyes and repeated again, "Are you going to die?"
Tairo just calmly asked in return, "Why do you say that?"
"Tony said there were over thirty Mutants in their village last night." Mo Tan shook a finger, then spread his hands and said, "At least ten hours have passed since then, and during this time, unavoidable casualties will certainly occur. Never mind how many people died, the probability of those injured transforming into Mutants is very high. How many do you think you can handle alone? Ten? Or fifteen?"
Tairo replied indifferently, "Without companions coordinating a Charge, Fourteen or fifteen is probably the limit. If I can't fight on horseback, it might be even fewer."
"So you've decided to go to your death?" Mo Tan sighed, staring into Tairo's eyes and asking, "When there are other options?"
Tairo shook his head, turned, and walked toward his warhorse: "There are no other options."
"Three Knights."
"What do you mean?" Tairo turned back to him, narrowing his eyes slightly: "What three Knights?"
Mo Tan smiled: "Including you, a total of four Holy Knights will temporarily leave Midar City. The defensive strength here should still be sufficient, right?"
"If it's just to contain those Mutants and buy time for the civilians to escape, adding three more people will yield the same result." Tairo thought Mo Tan just wanted him to bring three more Knights, so he replied indifferently, "If you want to ensure everyone survives, at least a ten-person squad is needed, so the difference is not significant. There's no need to let others risk their lives with me."
Mo Tan blinked: "I have no intention of dragging more people to die with you."
"Then say no more." Tairo waved his hand and smiled, "If I don't return, Knight Robert will take over the command of the Holy Knights. I hope you will cooperate well with him then."
"You, plus three Holy Knights, plus me and ten low-level professionals." Mo Tan completely ignored Tairo's words, just muttering softly to himself, "This configuration should be able to solve the problem."
Tairo furrowed his brows: "Plus you and ten low-level professionals? Each of them can at most handle two or three, and even if none of those villagers transform into Mutants during this time, it's still very dangerous. I disagree."
Mo Tan rubbed his forehead helplessly: "I have confidence."
This was the truth. He had previously witnessed the strength of those low-level professionals with Yu Ying. Although none of them were considered powerful, if he selected ten good ones from them, as long as they cooperated well, dealing with dozens of Mutants shouldn't be a big problem. And with four Holy Knights, including Tairo, it would be even more secure.
But Tairo had clearly just simply calculated their average combat strength, and thus the conclusion naturally wouldn't be very optimistic.
All in all, although Mo Tan wasn't 100% confident, and although he felt a little chicken-hearted before saying that, he felt he could do it...
These past two days, he had put a large part of his energy into those low-level professionals, and he had also organized two small-scale combat training sessions among the recruited volunteers while Yu Cheng was resting. The results were not bad.
Perhaps Mo Tan himself hadn't noticed, but after fighting alongside the Fenrir Squad several times, he had changed a lot and discovered many things that even his current self could do. The previous thought of 'there are too many things I can't do right now' had also quietly disappeared.
"If I try, perhaps even my current self can do it."
"If I try, perhaps my current self is enough."
He had thought this when contemplating the situation in Misha County in the chapel before, and he still believed it now, so...
'Help me convince Tairo. My plan should be feasible. You go and persuade him~'
Mo Tan winked at Yu Cheng and quickly typed and sent a message.
"Priest Black Vatican, I think even if..." Tairo's words were cut off halfway when his Holy Maiden gently patted his shoulder, causing him to choke.
"Mr. Tairo." Yu Cheng took a hidden deep breath, then straightened her face and said seriously, "I think Black Vatican is right. Uh... what I mean is, I just felt the Goddess's will and believe this is the right thing to do. If it's to minimize or avoid casualties, it's worth a try."
'I'm already incoherent (=﹏=)!!'
Mo Tan glanced at the message Yu Cheng sent, then shook his head slightly and quietly gave a thumbs-up.
As expected...
"Alright, since Holy Maiden has said so." Tairo struggled for a moment, but ultimately listened to Yu Cheng's persuasion and said in a deep voice, "Then without further ado, you go organize the people. We will meet at the South Gate in ten minutes. However, Priest Black Vatican, you must promise me that you will obey my orders when the time comes."
Mo Tan nodded readily: "I promise."
...
Three hours later
North of Misha County, Erbazi Village, 'Luna Alchemy Workshop'
"One... two... three... throw!"
Two panting young men simultaneously threw out a handful of crushed crystals, then immediately dodged to either side of the door. The next second, several bright purple flames suddenly ignited outside, followed by a series of painful roars.
"It's working! Their movements are slowing down!" A small boy, unnoticed by his family, quickly ran to the door, craned his neck to look outside, then excitedly turned back and shouted to a blonde girl in a crimson-purple robe in the corner, "Sister Luna, you're so amazing!"
Then he was dragged back by his father, who was pulling his ear.
"Thank you, Little Dennis." The human girl, who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen, gently shook a crystal bottle and replied without lifting her head, "But please be a little quieter now, please."
Luna Linqi was a slender girl with soft features. She was small and thin, always wore a necklace that seemed to be made of beer caps, had a ethereal and gentle voice, and a pair of unusually hazy light blue eyes, often giving people a feeling somewhere between laziness and sleepwalking.
Even now, sitting in front of the alchemy table making tools, even now, being trapped in this three-story building with over eighty other people, she still looked languid.
"Hmm, seems like something's still missing, let me see~ let me see~"
The girl glanced at the pale pink liquid in the crystal bottle, casually placed it on the wooden shelf next to the alchemy table, then slowly flipped through the notebook on her lap, muttering softly, "Two black fish eyes, three scoops of dream dust, half a scoop of diluted fire demon pollen, three drops of potent harmonizer, one energy-storing crystal, two colorful frog venom glands... Uh, how many did I put?"
Luna shook her head, then pulled out a metal box from under the alchemy table. After opening the lid and peeking inside, she mumbled, "Five less... Haha... Because it's colorful frog venom glands, I accidentally remembered five? But it probably doesn't matter, hmm, probably."
She stretched, then picked up the previous crystal bottle and poured the liquid inside into the row of diamond-shaped molds in front of her, extending her hands and softly chanting as if in a dream, "Silver of essence, left of the balance, surging wind, right of the balance, swaying ice, mold into... mold into... mold into what was it? Never mind, just like this, high-speed alchemy!"
Only to see streaks of light blue magic power spread out from Luna's hands, then quickly merge into the several symbols carved on both sides of the alchemy table. Immediately after, a hazy black mist rose in front of her, emitting a few burnt smells...
"Very good, someone come throw these out, hmm, preferably far... Yes, the farther the better..."
Chapter 196: End
