He is the source of the storm

Chapter 178 He is the source of the storm (Part 2)

"kill!"

"Oh no, the orcs have gotten in!"

"The inner city can't be held either! We're finished, we're finished!"

Seeing the brownish-green orc warriors emerging from the city walls, the human soldiers who had been trying to defend were completely dumbfounded.

"No! I don't want to die!"

The small squad of soldiers responsible for defending the flank, the ones closest to the orcs, didn't even put up a fight; they turned and tried to run away.

This outbreak is contagious.

Seeing this, the other guards on the city wall also began to waver.

In the blink of an eye, Isabella, who was originally standing in the middle, quickly ran to the side, drew her two-handed greatsword, and blocked the leader of the fleeing squad.

The man was a minor baron who knew Isabella somewhat.

He cried out in despair, "Your Highness, everything is ruined! We must hurry—"

brush!

Without a word, Isabella swiftly beheaded her opponent.

Immediately afterwards, her entire body shone with a chilling black and red aura.

The commotion among the surrounding soldiers immediately subsided.

Isabella, with Clara and Amélie shielding her behind her, turned to the remaining soldiers and said bluntly, "The inner city cannot be defended, but the east and north gates remain!"

"We can still retreat that way, but only if we maintain discipline! If we scatter here, we'll all die!"

"I swear in the name of the paladins that I will lead the charge to the city gates, and then cover the rear until everyone is out!"

"In exchange, you must obey my every command. If you desert without permission—don't blame me for punishing you!"

After saying that, she swung her sword forcefully, flicking the blood off it onto the ground, and her sharp gaze swept over all the soldiers present.

After a few seconds of silence, Bob, the tour guide from a few days ago, spoke up first: "You gave me money to live, so my life is yours!"

Following this, more soldiers who had received Isabella's pay also expressed their support.

Finally, all the soldiers, noble officers, and even the scattered adventurers present bowed to Isabella, placing their hands on her chest and swearing allegiance.

Isabella kept a straight face and a stern expression, but inwardly she breathed a small sigh of relief.

As long as people are still willing to listen to her, there is hope!

But in any case, they couldn't stay in the inner city any longer.

I don't know if Jonas has left or not.

And Marku, damn it, is that guy still in the ruins? Has he gone mad?

Finally, there's Richard and Grace. You two—sigh, I hope you've already escaped the city. With just the two of you, you're less of a target, and your chances should be better.

Isabella bit her lip lightly.

At this point, she was too exhausted to think of anything else.

She composed herself, stopped wasting words, and began issuing orders directly.

soon.

She led the revitalized inner city garrison, like a gleaming spear, bursting out from the city wall, piercing through the encircling orcs, and rushing towards the nearest north gate.

Isabella kept her promise, standing before everyone, and with each swing of her sword, she inevitably beheaded an orc.

Before long, she was covered in blood again, the crimson stain covering her entire body, so much so that the paladin aura emanating from her, which enhanced her intimidating presence, was completely obscured.

But no one stopped respecting her because of this.

After all, the blood of the orcs is more powerful than any spiritual light.

Halfway there.

As the group charged forward, they suddenly noticed that the number of orcs in front of them had drastically decreased.

Isabella was wondering what was going on when she saw yet another human army charge out from the diagonal front!

And the one leading the charge was none other than Richard!

After killing William, the poet led his mercenaries on a fighting run, constantly recruiting remnants of the army and capable civilians and adventurers along the way. Now, his force has snowballed into a force of about a thousand men.

Although Richard's army was far more disorganized than Isabella's, it still managed to survive the orcish siege and reach its current position.

"Richard—"

"Isabella!"

Although they had only been apart for a few hours, at this moment, after looking into each other's eyes, a strong sense of joy at their reunion welled up in their hearts.

The next second, Isabella could no longer hold back. Regardless of how many people were watching, she rushed forward, opened her arms, and hugged Richard tightly!

"That's wonderful! You're still alive! You truly are my poet!"

"Hmph, then you see~"

Richard smiled and hugged the princess tightly.

Although both of them were covered in blood at this moment, they did not feel dirty at all, and focused all their attention on feeling each other's body temperature.

Unfortunately, this beautiful moment was destined to be short-lived.

The battle cries of the orcs drew near once more.

The poet and the princess were forced to part ways.

Isabella said, "Let's rush out together!"

Richard nodded vigorously.

Isabella then took command of both sides, quickly reorganized the troops, and marched toward the north gate.

With the help of Richard's remaining troops, everyone's progress became much smoother.

Half an hour later, they finally arrived at the city gate.

At this time, the north gate remained open, and citizens with their families continued to flee through it.

But the orcs have also set their sights on this place, and are gathering forces to besiege the defenders at the city gate, making the city teeter on the brink of collapse.

Seeing this, Isabella quickly led her army to provide support.

After a fierce battle, they finally regained control of the city gate.

At this point, the princess finally felt relieved.

Although it couldn't save the city, at least—at least it gave the soldiers and civilians who had always followed them a chance to evacuate.

She kept her promise, leading the knights to guard the city gates, resisting the constant attacks of the orcs, while organizing the others to leave the city in an orderly manner.

Richard stayed by her side, glancing at the sky every now and then, hoping to see a red figure appear there.

However, after a long time, he only saw a few griffin riders being surrounded and killed by a group of wyverns.

Ugh.

Soon, under Isabella's organization, most of the soldiers and civilians who followed her successfully left the city.

Only Richard, Isabella, and their retinue remained at the entrance, along with a portion of the Night's Watch who had volunteered to cover the rear in gratitude to Isabella.

Isabella looked south, at the burning city and the cries for help echoing everywhere, and sighed deeply.

She knew she couldn't do any more, and she deeply resented that she couldn't do any more.

She will remember this debt and settle it with the beastmen sooner or later!

"We should go too."

She turned to the person still beside her and said this.

Everyone immediately agreed and prepared to evacuate.

"what!"

However, a wail interrupted everyone's actions.

Richard turned his head and saw several figures leap down from the city wall, transforming into monsters in mid-air. After landing, they launched a surprise attack and killed the knights guarding the gate.

Immediately afterwards, others followed behind them, seized the mechanism controlling the city gate, and slowly closed the originally open city gate.

"That's the Butcher form of the Killing Samurai!"

"They're from the Killing Order!"

"Damn it! Are they even involved in this war?!"

Everyone immediately recognized the newly appeared enemy group.

Upon seeing this, Richard suddenly found the answers to some of the questions in his mind.

Although it is still unclear how the orcs evaded Ludwig's army, their ability to infiltrate Iron Abyss City undetected must have been aided by the Killing Order!

There's a traitor among the human faction!

"A scumbag covered in evil!"

Among the crowd, the vice-commander of the knights was closest. After figuring out the situation, he shouted and tried to step forward to take back the city gate.

However----

A long sword suddenly pierced his chest from behind.

Everyone who witnessed this scene was stunned.

Because the one who betrayed them was none other than Robert Kidman, the Grand Master of the Knights!

Why—

The deputy commander couldn't believe it; his eyes widened as he breathed his last.

Clara, standing next to Isabella, was equally stunned and shouted, "Captain! What are you doing, Captain?!"

Richard's Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he forced himself to calm down. He then questioned the knight commander, with whom he had once gotten along quite well: "Robert, you—you have betrayed the faith of the God of War and become a lackey of the Order of Slaughter?"

Robert sheathed his sword, knelt down, closed the vice-commander's eyes, and waved towards the city gate, signaling the cultists to...

Please be patient.

Then, he turned to look at the crowd.

He remained calm, as if he were simply talking about his breakfast.

"Betrayal? Lackey? No, I will not betray anyone nor become anyone's lackey. I will only create my own path."

"create?"

This word puzzled Richard even more.

But a few seconds later, all the questions were answered.

Robert's body suddenly went limp and he collapsed to the ground. Dozens of translucent threads, like those used by puppeteers to manipulate puppets, detached from his limbs, gathered in mid-air, swirled like a vortex, and finally transformed into a spatial portal.

A tall man walked out of the door and stood beside Robert's body.

Clearly, the real Robert was long dead.

The one who had been communicating with everyone before was merely a manipulated corpse, while the person before them was the one who controlled everything.

Richard looked closely at the man and saw that he was nearly two meters tall, with a beard and a long ponytail, but his face was... indescribable.

His fierceness, however, was tempered with a scholarly air amidst his dignified presence.

He was dressed in a black and red knight's heavy armor with spikes, holding a book in his right hand and a sword in his left, and smiled at the crowd.

Richard activated his Eye of Insight and saw a screen full of question marks.

No, not all of them are question marks; at least the names clearly show it.

But Richard refused to believe it was true.

"Your Highness, and Richard, as you can see, I am not Robert Kidman, nor am I a member of the order like Harald or Berengar that you have met before. On the contrary—"

The man said slowly, "I am the source of everything, I am—Aidan."

"!?!"

The simple name shocked everyone present once again.

Aidan?

The former chosen one of the Lord of Radiance, the founder and supreme leader of the Slaughter Order, one of the most heinous criminals on the entire Primordial Continent?!

Richard had heard the name several times over the past year, but he never imagined he would encounter it here and now!

This guy, no matter how you look at it, should be a boss-level character, right? Logically speaking, shouldn't we only encounter him in the very late game?

Damn, novels and anime are definitely lies!

Not only Richard, but everyone else around them also realized how bad the situation was.

Especially the young people in the Knights, who had grown up listening to the terrifying stories of Edain, were immediately filled with tension and fear upon seeing him in person, and even their hands holding the swords trembled slightly.

"I don't care who you are, Aida or Dan, you bastard, you dared to kill the captain and vice-captain! I'll kill you!"

At this moment, Clara shouted angrily.

Under her voice, the knights gradually shed their fear, and flames of courage and anger ignited in their hearts.

They gripped their weapons tightly, ready to rush forward at any moment to avenge their commander and deputy commander.

"Everyone, calm down, follow my instructions, and gather around me—"

After a long silence, Isabella finally spoke.

She outwardly stared intently at the smiling Aidan, but behind her back, she secretly opened her dimensional bag and took out several teleportation scrolls.

Snapped!

At that very moment, Aidan clapped his hands lightly.

The cultists at the city gate immediately lit four dark gold candlesticks.

As the candle burned, a probabilistic arc of electricity shot out from the teleportation scroll in Isabella's hand, rendering it unusable.

Isabella frowned and whispered, "Isolate teleportation?"

"Indeed," Aidaen replied. "I've been pretending for so long, and it's only now that I'm finally being honest with you all, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

If I'm not in a hurry to leave, do you expect me to treat you to a meal?

Richard thought to himself, while his mind raced.

Given the current situation, everyone will definitely have to leave, but there aren't any good opportunities.

The man before them, Aidan, though an incredibly powerful enemy, did not seem to want to kill them all immediately.

Perhaps I could talk to him first to buy some time and look for a better opportunity.

Thinking this, Richard gave Isabella a wink, then took two steps forward, facing Aidahn directly, and said, "You've been disguised as Robert for so long, and now you're forcibly keeping us here. What exactly is your purpose? Do you just want to have more of a chat with us?"

"The purpose is obviously something else, but I do want to communicate."

Aidan scanned the crowd and said, "I have been observing you all for a long time and have seen your enormous potential. I think you are worth my time to talk to."

Isabella chimed in, "Alright then, let's talk. Can we start by talking about why you're here?"

Aida smiled and said, "That's not what I wanted to say, but it's a good question, and good questions always lead to more positive conversations, so—the answer is yes, Your Highness."

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