The [Blessed Seal] above continued descending.
But the rats had already scattered far beyond its range.
The giant holy seal managed to trap only a fraction of them.
As for the rest, they moved towards the knights like a black carpet.
"Stop them!" Vanessa shouted immediately, her voice containing genuine alarm for the first time.
Not a single one of these could be allowed to walk alive from here.
If even a single one of those plague-carrying abominations reached the camps of the Dawnbringers or, worse, reached human civilization, the consequences would be dire.
The battlefield descended into chaos.
SCREEEEEEEEEE... The plague rats surged like a black tsunami across the mountains.
There were too many.
If previously knights below level 9 were kept as reserve to hold formation and watch out for enemy reinforcements, then this time they had no choice but to get involved.
The Fourth Division no longer had the luxury of standing back.
Every knight drew their weapon and fought bravely.
The battlefield quickly became a brutal grinder of steel and blood.
BOOM!! Kevin swung [Tiamat] horizontally, crushing a giant rat mid-leap.
The force shattered its body apart violently.
"That’s the fourth one!" Kevin muttered.
Before the corpse even hit the ground, three more rats lunged at him.
Kevin adeptly maneuvered his sword and, having mastered numerous sword styles, he easily cleaved the head of the first rat, split the second in half, and kicked the other brutally.
Nearby, Gwen’s skill froze entire clusters of rats solid before shattering them apart into crimson ice fragments.
Rolan spammed [Radiant Ascension] to intercept rats trying to slip past their formation.
Delicia’s warhammer roared across the battlefield repeatedly.
Every swing crushed three or four rats.
Vangeance grabbed one giant rat by the tail and smashed it against another like a weapon.
Yet despite the bloodbath, not a single bloodstain marred his clothes.
As the leader of the squad, Silvia watched her teammates while simultaneously reducing the numbers of the rats.
All around, the sounds of battle echoed.
Rats the size of lions lunged toward the knights with grotesque screeches.
Their claws shredded stone like paper.
Their infected saliva melted armor upon contact.
Yet the Dawnbringers were not deterred.
To be capable of joining the Allied Knight Order, each of these knights was not ordinary.
They were the elite chosen from all across Valdonia, the finest humanity had to offer.
Even against such horrifying creatures, they did not break.
"Die!" "Don’t let them surround you!"
Steadily, the plague rats began falling one after another beneath the might of the Dawnbringers.
It was then...
[This is bad.]
[Tiamat] spoke in an unusually grave voice.
"What’s wrong?" Kevin asked.
[This plague, it reminds me of... No, at this rate you all will be wiped out.]
Kevin frowned instantly.
"What?"
At that moment, his eyes widened.
He spotted several knights nearby, staggering on the ground.
They dropped to their knees and started coughing black blood onto the ground.
That was not all; something more horrifying was occurring right in front of his eyes.
Dark purple patches began growing on their skin, veins bulged unnaturally, and their faces paled.
Unable to endure, some of the weaker knights coughed blood violently while clutching their throats.
It was not just the weaker knights; as time passed by more and more knights were inflicted with dark purple patches.
Even Kevin could feel himself growing weaker, purple patches crawling on his skin.
However, before they could bee evident, they were suppressed by his red dragon aura.
Meanwhile, Vanessa looked across the battlefield and immediately understood everything.
Every knight fighting the rats had been contaminated.
These rats are the carriers of diseases and plague.
Every splatter of their blood, scratch, or even breathing the miasma they exuded was contagious.
What’s more, this was no ordinary disease.
This was the plague that once destroyed an entire kingdom, the Nightmare of Baccarat.
Vanessa clenched her staff tightly.
If this continued, the Fourth Division would collapse from within.
Humanity had only just begun their expedition into the Tainted Lands.
And if news spread that the Dawnbringers suffered catastrophic losses in just two weeks into their expedition, the morale of the Allied Knight Order would suffer a devastating blow.
Not to mention the hope that every nation on Valdonia pinned on them.
More importantly, her gaze swept across the young knights fighting desperately: Silvia, Vangeance, Kevin, Gwen, Delicia, Rolan and countless others.
These knights had been entrusted to her mand so they could gain experience and grow stronger.
She could not allow them to die here.
Steeling her mind, she closed her eyes.
At that moment, a mark appeared on her forehead, between her brows.
Then... WOOOOOOOOONG... An enormous wave of holy power erupted from her body.
Vanessa rose slowly into the air. Her silver hair floated upward like moonlight.
Radiant holy energy burst from her body in endless waves.
At that moment, she looked like a goddess supporting heaven and earth.
"Ultimate Skill — [Sacred Purification Domain]."
As those soft words left her lips, blinding holy light exploded outward across the battlefield.
BOOOM!! Waves of sacred energy swept through the battlefield continuously.
When the plague rats came in contact with these waves, they screeched intensely.
Dark smoke erupted from flesh, turning many of them into ashes.
Most importantly, the infected knights who were weakened suddenly felt rejuvenated.
Impurities poured out from their wounds like sludge before dissolving pletely.
With the plague gone, the purple patches disappeared and their skin returned to normal.
Under the wave after wave of purification, not only did the knights quickly recover from this devastating plague, but a large number of rats were also reduced every time.
Vanessa continuously released purification pulses without pause. Her face visibly paled from the strain.
Yet she did not stop.
Realizing the danger to its existence, Baccarat huddled together once more.
Although many had died under the waves of purification and many more continued to die, its numbers were still overwhelming.
The countless plague rats merged into a single towering mass.
Thousands upon thousands of crimson eyes opened simultaneously across the colossal arm, all locked onto a single woman amongst the humans.
Although it did not possess high intelligence, the creature understood only one thing: that silver-haired woman was dangerous.
Its greatest weapon, the plague that had once erased an entire kingdom from history, was being purified before its eyes.
It was the power of that woman.
SCREEEEEECH!! Issuing a loud screech, Baccarat moved.
The giant hand exploded forward with terrifying speed; the sheer pressure was like that of a collapsing mountain.
Vanessa felt the killing intent of Baccarat lock onto her.
Nevertheless, she did not move.
Her silver hair floated upward amidst the waves of holy light and the mark on her forehead glowed with brilliance.
[Sacred Purification Domain] as one of her strongest Ultimate Skills, was a large-scale purification miracle capable of cleansing even the most terrifying of curses, poisons, corruption and plagues.
That said, such a power had its own drawbacks.
The mana consumption was monstrous and depleted her both physically and mentally.
More importantly, it was a channeling-type skill.
If she moved now, it would interrupt the flow of the skill.
If that happened, the entire skill would fail and the plague would spread again.
"As humanity’s Saintess... I cannot retreat." Her voice remained calm despite the approaching catastrophe.
Behind her were thousands of knights still being healed: young knights and future heroes.
If she moved now, many would die. Thus, she stood her ground.
The powerful knights who noticed the situation turned pale from realization.
The ining force behind that attack was terrifying.
The colossal fist descended from above like a falling mountain, carrying enough destructive force to flatten the entire battlefield.
The previous defensive barriers that had somehow endured until now shattered instantly against this attack.
Yet the Saintess still did not dodge.
Was she planning to endure it head-on without any defensive skill?
Many knights rushed desperately to assist her.
But Baccarat was too fast. The giant fist crashed downward.
Just when it looked it would squash Vanessa... "Bastard! Don’t look down on us!!" Two voices shouted.
At that instant, two terrifying auras erupted simultaneously.
The two Heroes who had been restraining Baccarat unleashed their power without hesitation.
Ultimate Skills were activated and the atmosphere exploded.
[Sky Splitter Lance], the spear in one of the hero’s hands, was hurled towards Baccarat’s descending arm with enough force to split the sky.
[Twin Moon Severance]. The other hero drew his sword in near blinding speed.
Twin crescent slashes crossed through the battlefield in blinding silver arcs, cutting directly into Baccarat’s flesh.
BOOOOOOM!! The force behind the two ultimate attacks was no joke.
The colossal hand was sent flying.
Chunks of plague rats blasted apart into the sky while black blood rained down across the battlefield.
The enormous body skidded across the shattered terrain, uprooting cliffs and crushing mountainsides before finally stabilizing itself.
The bined strike of two Heroes had actually blown the Disaster-Class entity away.
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