Read Novel Full Chapter 1472: Six Statues of Flesh
Chapter 1472: Six Statues of Flesh
No one wanted to launch a crusade blind.
"The Andor Diocese has already fallen. The enemy won’t stop there; they’re coming for Dolame Square."
"Exactly. The battle at Dolame Square is our litmus test. It will reveal the enemy’s true depth. Only then can we decide if the situation warrants the heavy blood price required to summon the Holy Son."
Silence followed the Inquisition Commander’s assessment. All eyes turned to the scrying mirror suspended above the dais. The invasion force was on the move, closing in on Dolame Square.
To the faithful, the holy war had begun.
Dolame Square was the radiant heart of the Holy Order. Yet, in this moment, it was choked by darkness and slaughter.
The towering Goddess statue in the plaza’s center—usually a silent recipient of prayers and wishes—began to hum with a soft, milky luminescence. Basking in this radiance, the believers felt their fear curdle into fanaticism. A collective will, a desperate fortress of faith, began to take shape.
ROAR!
SCREECH!
The sky tore open with the high-pitched shrieks of dragon beasts and the eerie chittering of the winged undead. The sheer sonic force shattered the fragile morale coalescing in the square. Massive shadows swept over the crowd, bringing with them a suffocating pressure.
Chaos took hold.
Crossbow bolts, shafts of holy light, and arcane spells erupted from every corner of the city. They clipped the wings of diving dragon beasts, sending massive carcasses crashing down into the screaming throngs, crushing buildings and believers alike. But for every beast that fell, two more broke through the barrage, diving straight for the city center.
"PURGE THE INTERLOPERS."
"PURGE THE INTERLOPERS."
The chant boomed six times—mechanical, grinding, absolute.
A hexagram magical formation ignited beneath the central statue. The Goddess’s light vanished instantly, siphoned into six stone figures standing guard at the perimeter.
Strictly speaking, these six Templars were statues. But as the magic took hold, the stone shed its grey pallor, flushing with the color of living flesh. Their auras surged, hitting the threshold of a lower-tier Archlord.
"The Templars from the frescoes!"
"The Goddess sees us!"
"Purge the invaders!"
"Let the glory of the Holy Order illuminate the four corners of the world!"
The awakening of the Templars sent the zealots into a frenzy. They fell to their knees, bowing and praying, pouring their psychic energy into the guardians and the Goddess.
Thrum-thrum-thrum!
One of the six Templars raised a stone longbow. Without nocking an arrow, he released a volley of pure radiance. The shafts of light scoured the sky, obliterating the dragon beasts and gargoyles circling above the plaza.
On a ridge outside the city, Elara, Makareth, Isabella, and Kaedros watched the scene unfold.
"I wondered why a key district like Dolame Square lacked walls," Makareth grunted. "The defense isn’t masonry. It’s those golems."
Makareth might have been a brute, but he wasn’t a fool. The initial wave of dragon beasts and undead had served its purpose: a sacrificial probe to force the enemy’s hand.
"Six constructs. Archlord-level signatures," Elara observed, her eyes narrowing. "They’re running on the Holy Order’s stockpiled faith energy for now. Whether they can tap directly into divine power remains to be seen."
As a disciple of Deputy Commander Edward, Elara was the authority on magical constructs.
"Sister, do you sense anything else?" Makareth asked.
Elara shook her head, giving him a look of assurance.
That was all the permission Makareth needed. Excitement flared in his eyes.
"I’m going to test their mettle."
He vanished before Elara, Isabella, or Kaedros could react.
"We should—" Kaedros started, his instinct to support his ally kicking in.
"Hold," Isabella ordered. "Don’t rush. Makareth has his own way of doing things. We watch and wait. But signal the general assault. We’ll drown them in blood to fuel Makareth’s momentum."
It dawned on Isabella that command had seamlessly shifted to Elara. Even the heavy hitters like Makareth and Kaedros looked to the young girl for approval before acting.
Is she really just Orion’s adopted daughter? Isabella wondered. Or is she being groomed as a child bride for the Titan?
Her mind wandered down a cynical, petty path—a habit she couldn’t quite break. Looking at Elara’s delicate features, Isabella felt a sudden, inexplicable pang of inadequacy.
Even that shameless giant’s adopted daughter is an Archlord now. I’m still stuck at Peak Legend. The gap just keeps widening.
Far away, in the center of the plaza.
While Isabella wrestled with her insecurities, the brute Makareth collided with the six Templars. The impact shook the foundations of the city.
Simultaneously, the Undead Legion—the vanguard of the coalition—surged into the outer districts. The earth trembled, and buildings collapsed like houses of cards. With the faith energy diverted to the constructs, the massive Goddess statue began to crack and sway under the shockwaves of war. The holy light that had once bathed Dolame Square was gone, extinguished the moment the Templars ascended.
In the blink of an eye, the prosperous streets became a charnel house.
The roar of dragon beasts, the wail of the undead, the thunderous charge of Skeletal Knights, the hissing of cave spiders weaving their webs, the screech of Raptor cavalry... Death came from the sky, from the ground, and burrowed up from the earth.
Shattered glass, cracked flagstones, charred timber, crumbled masonry, and broken blades... this was the true face of war. The air didn’t smell of incense anymore; it smelled of death.
"Caesar, take point. I’ll handle crowd control. Aurora, keep your summons tight around Caesar to cover him. Scarecrow, watch our flanks."
"Steady. We aren’t the vanguard. We don’t need to be the first ones through the gate."
Behind the main wave of the Undead and Dragon Beast legions, Orion’s elite strike team moved in under Tangere’s command.
They moved with a heavy escort: Plague Zombies formed the outer perimeter as meat shields, followed by the agile and heavy-hitting Brawnbull knights, with the Scarecrow unit securing the team’s immediate vicinity.
Truth be told, not even Orion or the Kraken in their prime operated with the level of cynical caution and calculated prudence that Tangere displayed.