Read Novel Full Chapter 508- Crusade
Chapter 508: Chapter 508- Crusade
"Dame Vanessa of the Guardians of the Divine Radiance, Dame Leona of the Knights of the Lunar Veil, Sir Herman of the Royal Lion Guards, Sir Conrad of the Knights of the Enduring Spirit, and Sir Zargues of the Thunderstorm Brigade"...
"From this moment onward, you are to purge every trace of demonic corruption from the capital. I grant you half a day. By nightfall... not a single demon shall remain."
Her decree echoed through every corner of the hall, sharp and absolute.
The Seven Commanders dropped to one knee in perfect unison and pressed their right fists to their hearts in salute.
"Understood." Their voices rang out together like a single drawn blade, firm and disciplined.
After they were dismissed, they exchanged brief glances before turning toward Reinhardt, for once, all six of them were on the same page.
"Sir Reinhardt," Conrad began, "since you came up with the trial, we have no objection to letting you command this crusade."
As they could not reproduce the Fire of the Willows or the Fairy Lake Water, it was only natural that the Divine Paladin took the lead.
Vanessa nodded. "Your judgment is sound. Tell us how to proceed."
Reinhardt took a moment to think before speaking. "Gather every member of your Orders. All of them. Have them assemble at the Central Plaza within the hour."
"Alright." The Commanders turned sharply and marched out without hesitation.
As for him, he shifted his gaze to the Royal Guards lining the hall. "You all. Bring buckets and vials, hundreds of them. Fill them with clean water. Fetch firewood. And prepare torches. As many as you can find." By the Queen’s decree, he could command them for the crusade.
"As you command!" The Royal Guards saluted and rushed to carry out his orders.
Reinhardt did not stay still. As he turned toward the exit, he sent a silent command to Karina to guard and protect the Queen.
The awakening of the Abyssal Compass and the calamity that befell the capital had only been possible because the demons reached the Queen once; now that he was about to take such a drastic step, knowing a Heavenly King was lurking somewhere, he could not risk leaving her unguarded.
His loyal shadow understood. The dark shape beneath his feet quivered, then slid across the floor and latched onto the Queen’s shadow, merging with it.
With her safety secured, Reinhardt strode out.
.
Back at the Arcknight base in the capital, the moment he stepped through the door, he was surrounded by the members of his Order.
"Commander, what’s going on?"
"What happened in the Assembly?"
"Did you find the demons responsible for plunging the capital into chaos?"
Still largely unaware of what had transpired, they bombarded him with questions. He briefed them on the most important points before cutting it short with a command.
"No more questions. I’ll explain the rest on the way. Don your armour and weapons and get ready to move out. We need to head to the plaza right this instant."
At his order, they all straightened their posture, their faces turning grave.
Why the plaza? Why fully armed? No one asked. It was their Commander’s will, and that alone was enough.
.
By the time the Order of the Temple of Light arrived, the plaza was already bustling. Several of the Seven Great Orders had gathered, and the Royal Guards had assembled everything he had requested.
In one corner of the plaza stood towering piles of sturdy firewood, alongside cauldrons and barrels filled to the brim with water.
"Sir Divine Paladin, we brought everything!" a captain reported.
Reinhardt inspected the preparations and nodded. "Good. Begin."
He handed out orders one after another, and guards and knights, whether from his own Order or another, moved without hesitation.
First, he dipped the branch of Yggdrasil into the nearest barrel.
Whoosh...
A soft shimmer rippled through the water; every drop turned into Fairy Lake Water, clear and pure, faintly glowing emerald. Guards immediately began scooping it into buckets and fitting simple sprinklers onto their rims.
Next came the fire. At his instruction, the knights erected a narrow corridor of firewood, two parallel rows forming a passage, with interwoven wooden arches overhead. From those arches, they hung bundles of thin, dangling branches like a tunnel of wooden willows.
Reinhardt touched the structure with the Yggdrasil flame on the branch’s tip. The fire caught at once, racing along the wood, but instead of erupting wildly, it flowed downward in soft, swaying strands.
The flames hung like luminous willow vines, cascading from the arches and filling the corridor with a crimson glow tinged in pale emerald. Thus, the Trial of Burning Willows was born.
Anyone passing through would be brushed by those flame tendrils. For the innocent, it would feel like a warm, cleansing breeze. For demons... it would mean instant annihilation.
Once the structure stabilised and the Fire of the Willows burned steadily, Reinhardt stepped back.
"All units, fall in."
At his command, hundreds of knights formed ranks, a sea of armour filling the plaza. Temple of Light, Blazing Sun, Divine Radiance... the full strength of Solaris’s elite stood assembled. At each formation’s head were the Seven Great Commanders.
Reinhardt walked before the flaming corridor and raised his voice so all could hear.
"First to take the trial will be the members of the Temple of Light."
A murmur rippled through the crowd. They had been briefed about the situation in the capital, about the Assembly, about the nature of the trial. But knowing and seeing were different things.
Reinhardt had chosen his own Order to walk first through the flames, leaving no room for doubt or accusations of favouritism.
The knights of the Temple of Light saluted and stepped forward without fear, ranks of two and three entering the corridor of burning willows. Logic said they should be writhing in agony inside. Yet when they emerged on the other side, not a single one bore a scorch mark.
If anything, they looked renewed... their eyes clear, shoulders lighter, breaths steady and strong.