Chapter 1 Almost at the Same Time

Almost at the same time as the female knight gave her warning, Lily felt a murderous aura rapidly approaching, thanks to her beastly instincts!

She howled and jumped back more than ten meters, and the others who had come along also retreated and raised their weapons. Kara Shius instantly activated a holy amulet hanging on his chest, and milky white light of order quickly enveloped the Black Crow knights closest to the gate – the next second, the gate of the Hogus abandoned house was blasted open by a dark magic! Accompanied by a loud bang, the shattered door panels and corrosive shadow energy exploded!

The shattered fragments of the door panels hit the knights' shields with a crackling sound, and the shadow power seeped into the earth, emitting bursts of black smoke. Although Kara Shius had activated the holy shield as soon as possible, it was after all a hasty casting, and the people ambushing in the abandoned house had obviously prepared this spell for a long time, so its power was extraordinary: two careless knights were hit by shadow arrows and screamed as they flew out!

Several black shadows took advantage of the explosion to rush out of the abandoned house, crashing into the ranks of knights and monks, launching a frenzied suicidal attack. Lily saw at first glance that these men in black had bloodshot eyes and distorted faces, as if they were suffering from drug withdrawal.

"Annihilation Cultists!" The high-ranking monk was furious at the sight. He waved his hand to cast a spell and roared, "There are heretics here!"

"Knights, defensive formation!" Cui Di Si also waved two two-handed greatswords to meet them. "Don't let them run away!"

The Black Crow knights and Sanctuary warriors hated the Annihilation Cultists to the bone. As soon as they met, they launched a desperate fight to the death. The direwolf personal guards brought by Lily were not to be trifled with either. These guys, who were considered fierce even among the sub-races, howled in a chaotic manner when they saw their direwolf being attacked, and then rushed up like furious beasts.

More cultists poured out of the abandoned house.

The light of magic crisscrossed, swords and armor collided with bright sparks, and shouts of killing and explosions instantly enveloped the entire hill. Lily heard a sharp whistling sound from above. She looked up and saw a fireball the size of a washbasin flying out of the window on the second floor!

Lily grabbed a cultist from the side, swung him around in the air like a stick for two laps, and knocked the big fireball away. The fireball exploded violently dozens of meters away, and the shattered rocks and mud raised a pillar of dust ten meters high.

"Watch out for the top!" Lily shouted loudly, while throwing the cultist in her hand at the window. "They're casting spells up there!"

With a loud bang, the cultist thrown out by Lily smashed a big hole in the house, carrying a large piece of broken bricks and tiles from the other side of the house – however, after one firing point was taken down, every window on the second floor began to pour down magical explosions.

This time, even Lily had to retreat with a howl – the sorrow of a pure strength warrior encountering a mage's bombardment.

The number of cultists hiding in the "Hogus Cabin" was completely beyond everyone's expectations. In addition, this place was a Chaos Tear, and at least one-third of all the power of order was suppressed, while the cultists could draw a constant stream of power from the primeval magical energy, so the battle quickly turned into a mess: the Black Crow knights, Sanctuary warriors, and sub-races relied on the direwolf's force field of order, with more than enough defense but not enough offense. The cultists used the abandoned house as a stronghold, throwing out all kinds of spells as if they didn't cost money, while at the same time there were fearless suicide soldiers charging around the field, making it difficult to break through, but they were invincible for a short time, and the situation was extremely deadlocked.

Lily didn't know where she had grabbed another unlucky black warrior. She used him as a weapon to smash away all the enemies who approached her, and then she retreated to Kara Shius' side while waving the "human hammer" in her hand: "Uncle! Who are these people?! Do you know them?!"

"They are Annihilation Cultists!" Kara Shius' eyes twitched as he looked at the "weapon" in the direwolf's hand. He hated the Annihilation Sect the most in his life, but after seeing this black warrior being used as a club to smash through mountains and rocks while still hanging on with half a breath, he couldn't help but feel a pang of pity. He knew how powerful the vitality of an Annihilation Sect black warrior was: this kind of vitality was enough to allow this unlucky guy to continue being wielded by Lily for at least thirty minutes without dying. "They are heretics who worship the power of chaos – I didn't expect them to be hiding here! Could they be trying to do something unfavorable to the Black Crow Fortress?"

Cui Di Si also came to Lily and Kara Shius. This female knight, who was known for her strange strength, was skilled in using two two-handed greatswords. At this time, her two swords were already stained with the blood of cultists, but after seeing the direwolf's fighting style, this "strange strength female knight" was still inevitably stunned. She silently put her two swords behind her and said to Kara Shius in a hurried tone: "High-ranking monk, I feel that something is wrong."

"What's going on?" Kara Shius asked immediately. He knew that Cui Di Si was a professional soldier, and professional soldiers could see many things on this kind of battlefield that he, a scholastic monk, could not.

"Their efforts to break through are not strong enough," the female knight said quickly. "These cultists are not weak in combat power. If they are determined to break out, they should be able to explode with greater power, but now they are more holed up in the buildings, as if they are stalling for time – this goes against common sense. People trapped in a desperate situation would not do this. This is a waste of energy and a missed opportunity to break through."

Kara Shius frowned, and he realized that the female knight's judgment was correct.

But what exactly were those cultists stalling for?

People with normal minds cannot fathom the logic of cultists, but at least one thing is certain, and that is that whatever those lunatics are doing, they cannot be allowed to get their way – thwarting any plan of the cultists in any situation is the only principle to deal with them.

"Attack," the high-ranking monk gritted his teeth. "The fighting here should also affect the boundary of the Tear. The people guarding outside will soon realize that something is wrong, and they will come in to support us."

From outside the Chaos Tear, all that can be seen of the "Hogus Cabin" is a chaotic shadow shrouded in purplish-black smoke, but now that the power of order and the power of chaos have produced such a large-scale conflict on the hill, the flashes of light that have erupted are enough to penetrate the fog. Although the men and horses guarding outside have received orders to stay where they are, several of them are veteran monks from the Sanctuary. They can sense the aura of the Annihilation Cultists from the energy fluctuations. In this case, they will definitely choose to come in and support them.

But plans cannot keep up with changes.

The cultists inside the Hogus "Cabin" seemed to have completed their "work" ahead of time.

A darker magical power than before erupted from inside the building. The magical power overflowed, forming a short, dark canopy almost outside the Hogus Cabin. In the midst of the chaos, inhuman roars and frantic shouts that seemed to come from the depths of sin could be heard. This dark canopy lasted only a few seconds, and then all the magical power instantly contracted.

The three parties surrounding the outside were briefly stunned.

The next moment, an explosion came from the side of the "Hogus Cabin." At a weak point in the encirclement of the Knights, the cultists blasted open the wall, and a group of Annihilation believers in black armor and black robes suddenly rushed out from inside!

Lily saw that in the very center of the cultists was a one-armed man in noble attire and a freckled girl with a tattoo on her arm. The freckled girl was holding a disc-shaped object that was emitting a faint glow. The moment she saw the disc, Lily's eyes narrowed.

The dog has discovered that someone is stealing things from her house.

The dog is accumulating its rage bar.

The dog chooses to bark and pounce.

Kara Shius only felt an astonishing murderous aura suddenly rise up beside him. This murderous aura made him feel as if he was standing in front of a ferocious beast ready to devour someone. He turned his head and saw the direwolf glaring at the group of cultists trying to break through. A pair of flaming, frigid ice-fire claws had appeared on her hands at some point, and the fangs in her mouth were lengthening at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Direwolf?!"

"Awoo – that's my house!!"

Outside the hills, at the end of the green fields, Hao Ren, who was raising a bonfire outside the living pod to grill meat, suddenly looked up to the south.

An looked at him. "What's wrong?"

"I heard some sounds..." Hao Ren frowned. The purplish-black shadow mass in the south hadn't changed at all, and in fact, no sound had been transmitted at all.

"I didn't hear anything," An said without looking up. "Your illusion. Humans often have all kinds of illusions."

"No, I wouldn't have an illusion," Hao Ren shook his head after a brief moment of thought. He stood up and patted the dust off his body. "I'm going to go see what's going on."

Faced with Hao Ren's sudden decision, An didn't show any extra emotional fluctuations, but quietly asked: "Do you need any help?"

Hao Ren glanced at the "camp" beside him, hesitated slightly, and then shook his head: "No, you stay here and watch over things. Don't let any wild beasts make trouble. I'll be right back."

"If you're going to the Chaos Tear, I suggest you take me with you," An actually showed his willingness to volunteer this time. "My skills won't be worse than yours."

Hao Ren looked at this gloomy woman with some surprise, but he obviously didn't quite trust this new "teammate" with a body full of mysteries, so he shook his head in the end: "No, I won't act rashly."

"Suit yourself," An said in a low voice, then turned around and looked at the bonfire without saying another word.

Hao Ren shrugged his shoulders, walked towards his Big Dipper, and activated the transformation function of this high-tech gadget for the first time: "Switch to chariot mode."