Chapter 1050 A Monster
The countless people struggled within the sand, but none of them could break free. The giant still had its form with hands bigger than the rest of its body. Each strike he wielded both harmed its hostages and one receiving them.
"These people believed and followed you," said Dorian with a frown as his spear rea.s.sumed its form. "How could you treat them in this way?"
"Humans have a great weakness, young lord," said the priest with a sinister grin. "Their compa.s.sion and empathy toward others cripple their progress. If you cared less about these cattle and dove straight for my head, you might stand a chance."
"Even with handicaps, I can still take out the trash," said Dorian with arrogance dripping from his eyes. If one did not know him, he might think he was the embodiment of G.o.d with this amount of arrogance.
"Foolish brat," spat the priest before he moved the golem again, launching another attack. "Suffer my judgement and the price of your arrogance!"
As the giant sandy fist rushed to slam him, Dorian threw the spear in a different direction. Nothing was in the place he aimed for, making the priest laugh at his foolishness. After the spear left his hand, he turned toward the golem and spread his arms to hold back the incoming attack.
"Perish before my strength!" roared the priest as Dorian stomped the ground and received the arm with his entire body. His shout was low and m.u.f.fled as the fist slammed into his body and straight to his face.
BOOM!
The ground shook as the attack landed, but Dorian did not move an inch. His eyes were bloodshot, and veins popped on his forehead as his entire body shook. Dorian used the perfect strength to make the fist stop without hurting the innocents inside. As he held it down, his eyes turned toward the child stuck above.
"Impressive, but you are no more than a sitting duck now, Dorian Stormblade," said the priest with a grin as the golem raised its other fist. "Don"t blame me when you revive, idiotic child!"
RUMBLING!
The priest was about to launch his second attack when a large chunk of the temple fell down. It was far away from him, but something unimaginable happened. The spear that had been going aimlessly struck the falling chunk and changed its direction.
"What the—!"
BOOM!
The giant boulder struck the priest before he could react and sent him flying off his golem. He slammed into the walls before falling to the ground, where he started coughing blood. Even now, he did not understand what happened.
"Just luck or…?" he could not think this was on purpose, because it would be scary for such a man to exist! Did he foresee the falling rubble and throw his spear in their direction? Even if he saw the fissures in the ceiling, how did he know how long it would take for them to crumble?
"Don"t blame me when you revive, trash," said Dorian with arrogance that could topple the heavens. Hearing his words, the Red Priest snapped his neck upward. His golem was dazed since he lost control over it for a split second. "It is quite ironic that your own temple would kill you, wouldn"t it?"
Hearing his words, the priest was confused. Did this man think he won? Letting out a snicker as he rose from the ground, the priest wanted to show him his real abilities. However, something cast its shadow over him. As he looked above, the priest"s face paled.
A fissure was created by his body slamming the walls, leading to the floor above them to crumble down above him. In the split moment before it buried him underneath it, the priest understood how Dorian achieved this feat. He did not foresee anything but simply made the ceiling fall!
The moment his body was struck by the fist, it shook the entire temple. Dorian knew this attack was what would trigger the falling rubble. He then calculated the loosest part of the ceiling and threw his spear in the perfect timing before the golem slammed him.
Even the angle the priest was thrown in was calculated, all to make him slam the weakest part of the walls and land in the perfect spot. Before his death, the priest let out one final shout of indignation. "A monster!"
BOOM!
Those were his final words before the ceiling crashed down, flattening him with the ground. Dorian was huffing as he watched the golem crumble into sand, releasing the rest of the peasants. They rose with confusion to see themselves sprawled on the ground.
"Ah!" shouted the child as he sank into the sand. Dorian bolted toward his side and s.n.a.t.c.hed him out, making the child gasp for air. Even now, the child did not speak. He only looked around weakly before grinning at Dorian.
"You are one tough kid," laughed Dorian before lowering him to the ground and letting him rest. "Stay here while I check for the others."
Even after the priest died, the fight was still ongoing. Dorian walked toward the giant hole in the wall from which the priest came through. He knew that Alexie was still fighting on the other side… or so he thought.
After going through multiple falling walls the priest used to escape, Dorian found a giant treasure room. Red lights filled the giant altar as corpses filled the ground, soon to turn into red lights themselves. Sitting in the center of the altar, above a stand blessed by light, was a figure he knew too well.
"Good fight, Dorian," said Alexie with a grin as he sat back with leisure. The other two squad members finished the last of the guards they fought before falling to the ground, drained. "I saw everything that you did."
"…how many soldiers were here?" asked Dorian with confusion as he looked at the countless artifacts and items lying around. "How many did you kill?"
"There were a little over a thousand," said Alexie as he looked around and then his eyes landed on his comrades. "My comrades helped me take care of them."
"No need to cover our failure, teacher," said the mage on the ground as he huffed for air. "Combined, we took out a little over a hundred. The rest was all you!"
"Numbers don"t matter," said Alexie as he jumped down from the stand and started walking toward Dorian. "An easy victory is not something I would be proud about, but a smart one like yours… it was beautiful."
"You knew I would meet the priest," said Dorian with a frown. "You just watched as he took the peasants hostage?"
"I did not think you cared about them that much," said Alexie with visible surprise. "Does it make me a villain to use them in order to see what you would do?"
"Would you have let them die?" asked Dorian after a momentary pause. Alexie was silent before a smile appeared on his face, and then he shook his head.
"I would have saved anyone who was about to die, but I trusted that you would win before any of them does," said Alexie as he patted the man"s shoulders. "You finished your task. You can challenge me any time you feel like you can win."
After that, Alexie left the altar and went to the place where the priest perished. Dorian watched as his squad members rose to follow him, despite barely standing. The mage was strong enough for Dorian to acknowledge, so it made him wonder what a monster Alexie was.
Dorian followed them and found the collapsed ceiling rising in front of Alexie. On the ground was an eyeball made from metal and a few other artifacts that fell from the priest. After pocketing the eye, Alexie threw the rest of the loot to Dorian.
"You earned this."
"What about the eyeball?"
"That is the artifact we came to the Red Temple for," said Alexie with a grin. "I"m going to hand it over to Jonathan. Don"t worry, he will be informed about your achievements in protecting these innocents."
"…I would rather no one knows about it," said Dorian as he pocketed the artifacts. "Let the events that took place here be a secret among us."
"You don"t want others to know of your heroism?" asked Alexie with raised brows. "They would treat you better if they see this side of you."
"The arrogant young master should always be that," said Dorian without a change of his expression. It was at that moment the child from earlier climbed him. Dorian looked at the child perch himself on the broad shoulder. "Let me find this child"s mother and get back here."
As Dorian turned to leave them, the group was surrounded by the masked priests and the commoners. They formed a barricade around them with faces of uncertainty and fear. However, as he looked at their faces, Dorian saw something else.
"What can we do for you, ladies and gentlemen?" asked Alexie with a smile. "Your faces don"t seem like we have liberated you, so I"m a.s.suming you blame us for the destruction of your haven."
"…even if the priest used and controlled us, we had good lives most of the time," said a man wearing priest"s clothing after having taken off his mask. His face seemed lost and angry. "How are we going to live now after you destroyed our home?"