Our Family Has Fallen

Chapter 1143: Chapter 631: Assault

”So what do we say now?” Dismas was the first to react, and began seeking everyone’s opinions.

”Our people haven’t even gone near the ruins, and something this big happens—maybe it’s some terrifying monster. We have to get back and inform My Lord as soon as possible, and have Barton transfer the Artilleryman over, instead of taking risks.”

Balistan seemed to notice what Dismas was trying to do. Although he also wanted to fight on the very front line, you couldn’t delay military intelligence.

And someone who could cause such a commotion was no ordinary person, which inevitably reminded him of the last time the high walls of the forward outpost were smashed; he himself had almost died.

He wasn’t afraid of dying, but the loss of the position and the chain reaction it caused nearly led to the fall of the outpost, which would have affected the entire battle situation.

Now too, he was worried that the advancing front might run into problems because of their rash actions.

However, compared to the cautious Balistan, Dismas was far more aggressive.

”Precisely because it’s dangerous we need to quickly grasp what exactly is happening up ahead. Right now the unit closest to the ruins is us.”

Dismas naturally had no intention of dragging everyone into risk with him, and immediately added an explanation. ”Here’s what we’ll do: you head back first, I’ll go ahead and scout the way.”

William did not really approve of this somewhat hero-playing individualism.

”First of all, if we can see it, that means others can too. Right now the most important thing is indeed to scout the situation at the ruins; you know that place is full of Undead.”

The reasoning was sound; out in that wilderness, many people were sure to have noticed this disturbance as well, and those Cavalry and trusted aide were probably already on the move.

William’s logic was still correct, but the last line he added was the real key.

”Second, we’re not the closest to the ruins. Those road-building convicts are already almost there, and they only have a few soldiers guarding them. If something really happens...”

His words did remind them. There wasn’t the slightest hesitation on Junia’s face, and what she said also made Balistan agree.

”Stop wasting time.”

”Move, let’s act quickly.”

”Woof!”

They didn’t waste any more words, and rushed toward the ruins at speed.

......

They were indeed not the only ones in the wilderness who were alarmed. Those Heretics hidden within, locked in a tug-of-war with Hamlet, were all dumbfounded as well.

What in the world had happened?

Only, unlike them, the Heretics had felt that endless fury erupting from Flesh even before the collapse.

Guided by that power, the scattered Heretics quickly gathered together, and within the ruins they saw a priest wrapped head to toe in a Gold-Embossed Black Robe.

The priest spread the god’s wrath to the believers, bidding them annihilate those who obstructed Ascension.

”Now, go and seize your Ascension!”

The priest let out a sound unlike any human tongue, yet it was not through language, but through something like a resonance of souls that he proclaimed the god’s wrath to the believers.

”Blood sacrifices to the Blood God, Flesh offered to the throne!”

”All beings suffer; only we Ascend!”

”...”

Though they didn’t know why, they could feel the god’s anger, and so it had to be washed clean with Flesh and blood.

Gathering several hundred Heretics, they prepared to launch another counterattack against that Hamlet!

And then... the collapse happened.

The ground shuddered, and before they could react much, it sank down in a wide swath. Those buildings whose construction date no one knew, long in disrepair, collapsed along with it, triggering a chain reaction.

The already dilapidated ruins on the side close to the wilderness instantly turned into rubble, dust soaring into the sky, and you could just imagine the range of the impact.

But honestly, this scope really wasn’t much for the entire old city; you could tell that what the old ancestor had modified back then was just the fringes.

It’s easy to talk like that because you weren’t inside. The several hundred Heretics who had gathered were caught by the sudden disaster; some were buried by the falling buildings, others dropped straight into the fissures of the sinking ground. The scene was chaos incarnate.

It took quite a while before things calmed down, and when they looked, over half were dead or wounded on the spot, with another portion crushed underneath.

Their surging Life Force kept them from outright death, but don’t expect these Heretics to dig them out.

It was their turn to Ascend first.

The Ascension priest immediately began Casting Spells, and that sinister, uncanny power directly tore the lives from those Heretics, completing a ritual that took death as its price.

That was the god’s blessing!

The surviving Heretics felt a powerful force surging up from within their bodies, and with the naked eye you could see that they all underwent varying degrees of mutation.

The power of Flesh had already somewhat surpassed the limits a human could bear, and began to sprout warped tissues and Flesh.

Popping out two extra eyes was nothing; more extreme ones grew an extra face somewhere on their body, and sprouting tentacles wasn’t strange at all.

Yet at the same time, it granted them even greater strength.

A host of Heretics whose numbers had been halved, but whose power had greatly increased, set off toward the wilderness.

What was even more terrifying was that the collapse of the ruins had also roused the Skeletons that had lain dormant for many years. Their slumber was broken, and they began to climb to their feet, wandering through the ruins and even spreading outward.

The gathered Strengthening Heretics had no intention whatsoever of skirting around areas where Hamlet’s People were concentrated to cause harassment like before. Instead, they headed straight for that road under construction.