Chapter 927: The Defeat of the Church
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It felt as though a pause button had been hit on the entire battlefield for three seconds.
They were not shocked by Benjamin’s sudden appearance. In actual fact, from many points of views, most people were unable to see Benjamin, who was riding on the back of the Griffin King. Whatever everyone could see, however, was that humongous, fierce behemoth that seemed to cover the skies and blot out the sun.
This was already a creature that was beyond their comprehension.
"Good, good heavens..."
The priests and the mages had stopped; all the soldiers below them had halted as well. Other than the few people who knew the inside story, practically every face was filled with a look of disbelief. The residents of the Town of Crewe hid in their homes, so frightened that they did not even dare move. This included the few soldiers of the Wood army that was guarding the Crusader Gateway in the distance, who were dumbfounded after seeing this sight.
A griffin... How could it be so big?
There was no way around it; the gigantic beast that dominated the sky almost caused the battlefield below it to darken by a few shades. Under such an alarming shock to the sight, it seemed extremely normal instead for their brains to crash. Furthermore, in to be honest, if their brains did not crash, the royal army would have probably already begun to scatter and flee in all directions under their current condition. The Holy Knights would not be able to block them even if they tried.
However, by the time they slowly reacted to it, there was already no one who wanted to continue fighting. Forget the ordinary griffin cavalry; now, a Griffin King as big as a castle had suddenly emerged in the sky. Why would they still be fighting?
Although barely a few seconds had passed, the footsteps of many soldiers stepping backwards were beginning to slowly increase.
"You’ve also been moving slowly enough." Even Miles was dumbfounded for quite a while before he came back to his senses. He smiled helplessly, and said to Benjamin, "Was it necessary to spend so much time bringing this big bird here from the mountain?"
Benjamin shrugged, answering in a righteous and matter-of-fact manner. "It was necessary."
Miles shook his head with a wry smile.
At the same time, Grant had come back to his senses. He looked at Benjamin, who was riding on the back of the Griffin King, and then at the royal army below which had already begun to disperse. At that instant, numerous complicated emotions flashed through his eyes. He gritted his teeth and suddenly turned around, shouting out those words in a very disgruntled manner.
"All units, retreat!"
Saying thus, he increased his speed in a sudden burst as well; with a flash of Holy Light, he escaped towards the west in the blink of an eye.
The collapse happened within a mere instant.
The royal army threw off their armor and took to their heels; no one could care less about the will of God or whatever that was. The priests began to retreat hurriedly as well; those few bishops flew the fastest and did not even look back. They did not bother at all with the remaining battalion of priests. As for the priests who had just be forcibly recruited recently... They were quickly left behind in the distance, trembling as they struggled with the light wings that they were still not used to yet. Some of them even panicked so much that they could not maintain their balance. They fell straight to the ground, to be trampled on by the fleeing soldiers and turned into meat paste.
The battlefield that had originally been considered intense, had been turned upside down in the blink of an eye due to Benjamin appearing on the back of the Griffin King; everything fell apart faster than a landslide.
Seeing that, Benjamin narrowed his eyes. All of a sudden, he said, "After them!"
In actual fact, the soldiers of the Black Nightmare Army were already giving chase without his commands being necessary. The battle had come to an abrupt halt before it had heated up, so the mages were obviously somewhat unsatisfied. They immediately pursued those priests. The Runic Combat Team began to run wild as well, changing the weapon in their hands into runic handguns. As they jumped and suspended themselves in the air, they aimed at those priests and shot at them, one at a time. Dead bodies fell continuously from the sky.
Meanwhile, Benjamin sat on the back of the Griffin King and urged the two siblings to increase their speed, giving chase towards Grant’s direction.
He did not intend to let them get away like this.
The Church had decided to retreat the moment he emerged; Benjamin had not even moved his hand. Furthermore, he had only been able to make a public appearance of the Griffin King that he had captured with so much difficulty; its combat abilities had not yet been unleashed. He should at least let them experience the fun once.
"Want to escape? It won’t be this easy!" He shouted at Grant’s back, which was flying fast.
Grant turned his head and gave him a resentful glance. Suddenly, he pulled out a cross and crushed it. Following that, a strong light enveloped his body; right then, two more wings grew on his back, where there had originally been six light wings. There was also a sudden doubling of his speed, as he fled into the distance like a shooting star.
Seeing that, Benjamin frowned. He used his hand to pat the Griffin King’s back; following that, numerous flows of water vapor suddenly surged up. As though a violent wing had emerged out of thin air, they blew on the Griffin King from behind, until it also began to speed up abruptly. Once again, they caught up with Grant’s flight.
"Damn it..."
Grant turned his head back for the second time. The disgruntled look in his eyes had lessened; anxiety had increase.
Suddenly, as though he had made up his mind about something, he touched a sapphire ring on the ring finger of his left hand, before crushing the sapphire on it with a burst of energy. Following that, a strange energy covered him. Within the next second, he disappeared into thin air, before everyone’s eyes.
Benjamin halted in his pursuit, frowning.
"Where did he go?"
The System answered, "According to a determination of the ripples just now, he should have activated some sort of Magical Instrument that carries out transmissions over distances. However, that ring is much stronger than the woodpieces you guys produce. By now, he should already have been transmitted to an immediate location more than a dozen miles away. I’m unable to track him."
Hearing that, Benjamin clenched his fists tightly. After that, he relaxed.
"...Forget it."
There was nothing he could do if he could not find him.
Moreover, even if Grant could escape, those priests and soldiers that were left behind would not have as many tricks. Looking down, Benjamin saw some thinly scattered figures. The royal army had been completely dispersed by now; many people had chosen to surrender. The team of priests had also scattered, and were fleeing separately at the moment. The mages dispersed as well, to pursue them. They had already caught many captives.
This battle... Not only had they managed to defend the Town of Crewe, they had also completely defeated the royal army.
Benjamin knew what this meant.
The turning point in history. From this point onwards, the Church would be walking towards destruction.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly calmed his own agitated emotions. Before the battle had begun, he had not known how this battle would turn out. However, thinking back... he had done well by blocking the mudslide and defending against the onward charge of the royal army. He had not disappointed the subordinates that had trusted him, and had also successfully accomplished all the extravagant promises he had set before the Wood army.
They... had finally reached this step today.
"Hey! Where’s he? Why are you guys just standing here?" All of a sudden, a figure dashed up from below and stood on the back of the griffin. It was Miles. He gave a few suspicious glances around their surroundings before turning his head and directing the questions towards Benjamin.
Benjamin came back to his senses. Shrugging, he said, "Ran off."
"Ran off? It’s been so difficult to get this chance, chase them quickly! If we let them escape and go back, that bunch of chaps are going to resurface from the ashes."
Benjamin shook his head, however.
"If they’ve run off, then so be it. They’ve already squandered off their last bit of substantial resources. It’s impossible for them to rise up from the ashes again." Saying thus, he lowered his head and slowly took the transmission woodpiece out from his pocket.
Fifteen minutes ago, the woodpiece had vibrated once. However, he had been busy bringing the Griffin King to the town at the time, so he had not had time to listen to it. Nevertheless... After some calculation, it was almost time. He could roughly guess what the content inside would be.
Seeing that, Miles was stunned at first. After that, he immediately understood what was going on. Calming down, he looked at the woodpiece.
Thus, Benjamin tipped his forefinger upon the woodpiece lightly, activating it. Elizabeth’s voice rang out from it slowly.