Chapter 94 Chapter 95 Jumping Back
The next day, in the evening.
The booming sounds were incessant, as the castle walls groaned under the impact of the giant stones.
The counterweight trebuchets made by the goblins approached the castle, while the orcs dismantled stone buildings, continually transporting bricks and stones to the trebuchets to bombard the castle.
With no extra space left inside the castle to set up trebuchets, they were unable to retaliate. The crossbows on the towers were ineffective against the makeshift yet resilient trebuchets, as their projectiles scattered under the stones.
At this rate, the walls would eventually crumble. Morale would collapse even faster than the walls.
Just the occasional goblin diving down from the sky or bricks crashing into the castle was enough to make the people seeking refuge inside the castle anxious and unable to sleep.
What was terrifying was not death itself, but the process of waiting for death.
George decided to wait for nightfall to take the initiative, personally leading a group of mounted attendants to set the counterweight trebuchets ablaze. Since Drew had already healed and been “influenced,” he stood firmly on George’s side, and the mounted attendants had to obey George’s orders.
The wait for night was far too long.
The rumble of the walls echoed through the thick wooden doors, reaching the sickroom, which had been set aside for Jenna to rest.
This was both a privilege and a form of isolation; in case Jenna lost control or went berserk, it could minimize the damage.
George sat on a stool, appearing relaxed, but actually he was squatting, as the stool was designed for mortals and couldn’t bear the combined weight of George and his armor.
Jenna lay on the bed, tightly gripping his steel gauntlet.
George said, “She agreed to stay at the castle.”
“Is she angry with me?”
“Yes,” George replied. “But she just vented a bit; after St. John spoke to her a few times, she agreed to stay at the castle. She’s always like that.”
“I feel like I’ve recovered a bit,” Jenna said. “I can go treat some of the wounded; I can hear people sobbing when they get hit by stones, and they need a healer.”
George asked, “Can you guarantee it won’t affect your mental state?”
“I can’t,” Jenna said. “But I’ll be careful.”
“Then just stay and rest properly,” George said. “Once you recover, you’ll be able to heal more people. Promise me, okay?”
Jenna’s pale face nodded slightly.
“Alright, I should go prepare the troops.”
George stood up, and as he put on his helmet, he couldn’t help but turn back to look at Jenna, worriedly saying once more, “Rest well.”
“Okay,” Jenna replied.
He picked up his massive sword, pushed open the wooden door, closed it behind him, and locked it, telling the guard outside, “Absolutely no one is to enter, and do not open the door.”
The guard, though puzzled as to why he was locking the kind-hearted saintess inside, fearing she was some sort of monster, dared not ask and replied, “Of course, my lord.”
With that, George finally felt reassured. After walking a few steps, he saw the dark-haired succubus leaning against the wall. She pulled back her hood, revealing one pointed horn, and was trying to swat a mosquito.
In the distance, St. John and Drew were chatting.
George walked up to her, and Jima flicked the flattened mosquito corpse in her palm, saying, “You finally decided to leave the sickroom.”
“Should I take that as you being jealous?”
“Pfft, I’m not some petty girl who gets jealous at the slightest thing,” Jima said, pulling out a yellowed parchment scroll from her bosom and handing it to George. “Here, don’t be shy; consider it a mother’s love.”
This was the previously given teleportation scroll for emergencies.
George smiled and said, “Aren’t you going to keep it for your own safety?”
“I have plenty of escape methods. I don’t need this thing.”
George frowned slightly, saying, “You’re lying again.”
“Fine, I do need it, Mr. Bigwood.” Jima said, “Just don’t die on me. Come back alive; remember, we need to get married.”
“Thank you for your blessing.”
“It would be perfect if you tucked a couple’s photo in there too.”
“A photo?”
“Like a hyper-realistic oil painting, one that looks just like a real person.”
George nodded somewhat understandingly, though he always felt that Jima’s blessing had other implications. Regardless, he was still quite pleased and casually tucked the teleportation scroll away.
Jima glanced at the two people in the distance, confirming that they had all seen her noble action of giving George a valuable item for escaping.
This was a commendably virtuous deed.
Jima almost felt moved to tears, imagining her sacrifice deserving of a large red banner and the populace lining the streets to welcome her with bouquets from several little girls.
As George and Jima bid farewell, she waved and said, “Travel safely!”
George rode the celestial warhorse he hadn’t seen for a while. The horse, while trotting, kept looking around for the mare’s figure, but all it could see were countless people, which made it let out a disappointed sigh.
The sunset in the distance gradually sank lower, and the night finally enveloped the sky. It seemed like heaven was watching; that night, the clouds gathered thickly, the starshine faded, and darkness blanketed the world, making it perfect for a nighttime raid.
Jima was standing on the castle’s rooftop, gazing at the situation inside the castle.
There was a missing segment of the rooftop. A stone the size of a millstone had struck it during the day. Very few people were there, as everyone feared being hit by stones.
Outside the castle, countless angry roars and the neighing of horses suddenly erupted. A flash of white light exploded in the darkness, piercing through it, illuminating George’s figure along with a swarm of green-skinned creatures around him.
The green skins, as if they had received a tip-off, had long been lying in ambush, just waiting for George to burst in.
As the light flickered, George’s battle with the war giant resembled a stop-motion animation, as he struggled to carve a path through the green-skinned throng.
“Could it be I’ve raised too many flags?” Jima, steady as an old fisherman on a pier, rested her chin on her hand while watching the distant battlefield. “Eh? George actually wants to fight his way in.”
Although the green skins had been prepared, in the dark, they became disordered. Although George led the assault team in a charge from the front, the orcs at the back roared and surged backward, unable to surround George.
This provided George with an opportunity. He repelled the already-injured war chief again and charged toward the trebuchet positions, igniting them.
Under the night sky, the burning counterweight trebuchet resembled a blazing torch.
Jima clapped her hands and said, “Impressive, impressive.”
“George is deep in enemy territory now.” A voice came from behind, an elderly tone said, “Miss Jima, come with me to help.”
Jima turned her head and found it was St. John, dressed in gray robes with a blank expression, his milky-white eyes fixated on Jima.
“No thanks; I’ll hold the fort here,” Jima replied. “If anything happens to Sister Jenna, I can assist her.”
St. John stepped closer, his tone firm:
“Were you lying to us? You feigned staying behind just to give George a false sense of security.”
“No,” Jima squinted, staring at St. John’s face. “I remember very clearly that George told me he could survive and return without help.”
“The situation is different now.” St. John’s hand unconsciously touched his nose. “He is in great danger; we should at least go to the castle walls in case we need to support him.”
“You are absolutely right.” Jima said, “First proposing a very unreasonable request, then following up with a more reasonable one, makes it easier for people to accept. But you rarely lie; your facial expressions are quite unnatural.”
“Unreasonable?! Lying?” St. John’s tone escalated, “So you really are an evil succubus.”
With that, he spread his hands, chanting, “Net!”
A net of light rapidly formed in his hands.
Jima was on the balcony, her only escape route blocked by St. John, seemingly with no way to evade. She remained calm, directly pulling out a glass orb and throwing it behind her.
The bright net surged toward her, tightening around her, the lines piercing into her flesh, leaving Jima resembling a mummy as she leaned against the balcony to maintain her balance.
The glass orb shattered on the ground, a blinding light bursting forth sequentially, as if fireworks were piercing the night.
On the distant battlefield.
George, as he chopped down an orc’s head, noticed the “white flowers” blooming on the castle. He immediately jerked the reins of his celestial warhorse, shouting, “Retreat! Support the castle!”
Meanwhile, inside the castle, Jima was like a silkworm in a cocoon. She attempted to twist her body, but the net binding her was incredibly tough, causing her pain.
St. John approached, saying, “You cannot escape; George cannot possibly return in time.”
Jima laughed, saying, “The renowned saint is actually a spy for the green skins. Tsk, I wondered how the green skins seemed to have such well-informed sources; turns out it’s you signaling them. So, they were incredibly generous to let you be a human toady?”
St. John yanked the thread of the net binding Jima, forcing her to stand up, saying, “Don’t think you can provoke me. Those green-skinned beasts are merely tools.”
“The village named after you deserves to shame you.” Jima said, “I didn’t expect a saint to be reduced to this.”
“They?” St. John’s beard twitched slightly. “I don’t care about those greedy and lazy farmers; I never agreed to let them change the name. They fear I’ll leave, and without free service, they spread rumors that to thank me, they renamed the village St. John’s Village.”
Jima purposely said, “What a petty person; I thought they had raped your wife staying in the village, but it turns out to be just this matter?”
“Just this?” St. John drew his long sword from his waist, saying, “If I didn’t need to keep you alive, I would have already decapitated you.”
Jima defiantly replied, “You have no right to fall from grace; if this gets out, who knows how many will die laughing.”
No sooner had she spoken than St. John smashed the hilt of his sword into Jima’s mouth. She turned her head, felt a wave of dental pain, and began to lick her injured lip, the metallic taste of blood spreading in her mouth.
St. John coldly said, “Although I can’t kill you, I can cut out your tongue.”
As he spoke, his gray beard began to turn black, scars on his face spreading, the skin sagging to reveal prominent cheekbones, his eyes shimmering with flickering white light.
“You are losing control.” Jima said, “You have violated your oath and cannot control the extraordinary power within you.”
A mature woman’s voice came from behind St. John: “Don’t worry about him; I have already given him the way to eternal life.”
The green dragon, Siris, floated in. She was increasingly beautiful, her fair skin emanating a faint green glow, and long green hair adorned with colorful flowers, with a cloak made of flower petals cascading down to her ankles. A swirl of green mist surrounded her beautiful body, filling the entire room with green fog.
Siris touched St. John’s forehead, and the signs of his loss of control immediately eased considerably. Gratefully, he said to the green dragon, “Thank you, teacher.”
Siris’ smile deepened as her dragon eyes turned to Jima, saying, “Things are even smoother than I imagined; little succubus, let’s go with your sister.”
“You want me to brew potions for you?”
“Clever, too clever people suffer particularly painful deaths; what a shame your extraordinary ability is of the same type as mine; I’m taking your extraordinary essence.” Siris raised her hand, robust thorns tightly bound Jima, “I know you’re stalling for time, but you can’t delay.”
Jima felt herself getting suffocated; she forced out two words from her throat: “Goodbye.”
No sooner had she spoken than her body shattered into smoke, and the thorns that had entwined her suddenly constricted, leaving only a crudely made doll with black hair on the ground.
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I already have a chapter ready. In the future, I will strive to set the update time at 11 AM.
