Chapter 391: The Holy Son's

As the Great Prince of the Roxez Empire finished speaking, the curtain of that golden carriage was lifted, and a tall, handsome man with a refined appearance stepped out. He wore extremely splendid, gold-and-white attire, with gloves woven from gold thread on his hands, and a head of short golden hair glistening brilliantly in the sunlight.

This was the Holy Son of the Holy Light Church - Lyons.

His expression was calm as he looked at the prince who had specifically come out of the city to greet him, his face even carrying a hint of arrogance, as if all of this was only to be expected.

Lyons waved his hand, not even greeting the prince, and strode straight into the city.

Behind him, the Great Prince of the Roxez Empire's face turned somewhat unsightly.

Although this Holy Son of the Church did indeed hold a noble status, even comparable to the Empire's Emperor, he was still the Crown Prince of the empire! He had come out specifically to greet and pay his respects, yet the other party didn't even bother with a greeting?

Wasn't this far too arrogant and dismissive?

Yet even so, even when being treated like this, no matter how dissatisfied he was in his heart, he ultimately did not dare to point it out to his face.

After all, his position as Crown Prince was not all that secure; there were many people watching him closely. In contrast, the Holy Son before him had a very stable position that no one could replace.

If he offended this Holy Son and incurred his displeasure, with the latter's influence, if he publicly expressed his disapproval, it would undoubtedly be an unbearable blow to the prince. Those brothers and sisters eyeing his position would also mercilessly seize this opportunity to attack him.

So no matter what this Holy Son of the Church did, he had to serve him obediently like a grandson.

Endure!

At this moment, inside the Imperial Palace, the Emperor of the Roxez Empire and his ministers were heatedly discussing the invasion of the Gnome Kingdom. The two factions had their own arguments, arguing fiercely and at loggerheads.

Lyons pushed the door open and strode into the palace, accompanied by the Knight Commander of the Holy Light Church, Harvey.

"Boom—"

The loud noise of the door opening immediately drew everyone's attention. The ministers, who had been arguing fiercely and were steaming with anger, glared over. Then the fury on their faces melted away like snow under a warm sun, quickly dissolving, as they all bowed in greeting.

The Emperor, seated on his throne, also rose and nodded. Lyons met his gaze and nodded back, his expression still stern and cold.

"The reason I have come to the Roxez Empire this time, I believe everyone is already clear..." he said slowly.

"So, I wonder what plans all of you present here currently have?"

The two factions whispered among themselves for a moment, but no one dared to speak up.

Lyons didn't care either way. Even if they spoke, he had no intention of listening.

He directly drew the longsword from his waist, its pale golden blade cutting through the air with a buzzing sound.

"Since no one wants to talk, then don't bother. I don't want to hear your nonsense anyway... My visit this time represents the will of the Church, and I have only one thing to say..."

"Within ten days, quell this disaster. Otherwise, the Holy Radiance Army would not mind helping you deal with the problem."

On the throne, the Emperor of the Roxez Empire furrowed his brow deeply.

Those words were anything but polite; it could not even be called a threat.

The so-called 'help' was far from simple assistance.

Once the Church deployed its forces, besides eliminating the threat posed by the Gnome Kingdom, they would most likely also take the opportunity to station troops within our Roxez Empire...

The Church's ability to stand at the pinnacle of the continent, with a status surpassing even the Three Great Empires, did not rely solely on the name of the Goddess of Holy Light, but on true, solid strength.

The Church's Holy Radiance Army was incredibly powerful. Though not large in number, every single one was an elite.

This highly versatile Holy Radiance Army possessed extremely strong offensive capabilities. If the entire army were deployed, they could potentially break through the Imperial Capital of any empire!

If such an army were allowed to be stationed within the empire, or even near the Imperial Capital, he wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully!

The Church's power didn't end there. In terms of top-tier experts, the Church also held a unique and unrivalled lead.

Among the Three Great Empires, while they all had Legendary-level experts, and more than one, they were all at the early stage of the Legendary Realm, meaning levels 41 to 43.

The Church, however, was different. The current Pope of the Holy Light Church, when he last acted over a decade ago, was confirmed to possess at least level 45 or above.

Even if two Legendary-level experts joined forces, it would be difficult to contend with him.

What's more, within the Holy Light Church, the Pope was not the only Legendary-level expert...

There were also the very mysterious "Divine Radiance Guardians", their number unknown, but at least two confirmed, both of Legendary level.

Furthermore, many of the Church's Cardinals were top-tier experts at the Heroic Realm's upper levels, and the four Archbishops were even at the peak of the Heroic Realm.

This included the Knight Commander Harvey before him, who was also a peak Heroic Realm expert.

And then there was this mysterious Holy Son... Although he looked very young, only in his twenties, this was not his true age.

He had been the Holy Son for almost ten years now. He looked exactly the same over a decade ago as he does now. To this day, their understanding of this Holy Son was still very limited.

In short, a single empire would find it very difficult to contend with the Church.

Unless the Three Great Empires joined forces, which could firmly suppress the Church, but that was clearly unrealistic.

Frowning, he pondered for a moment. He couldn't yet grasp the intentions of the Church and this Holy Son before him. But regardless, he could not let them find an excuse to station the Holy Radiance Army within the Roxez Empire's territory.

Since the Emperor said nothing, the ministers below naturally did not dare to speak freely, and so the entire palace fell into a dead silence.

Holy Son Lyons was not in a hurry either, merely looking at the assembled crowd with a slightly mocking expression, including the Emperor on the throne.

He was far too arrogant. This was an empire!

This was the sentiment of most people present.

Yet not a single one dared to voice it.

After all, as the Church's Holy Son, he truly had the capital to be arrogant.

After a long while, the Emperor of the Roxez Empire finally took a deep breath. "There's no need to trouble the Church with such a small matter. The Roxez Empire will handle it itself... Within ten days, this war will definitely end."

Lyons smiled. "I hope so."

With that, he turned and left directly.

After the Holy Son had left, the many ministers in the palace immediately erupted in righteous indignation. "Excessive! This is far too excessive!"

"The Church's reach is extending further and further! This is our Roxez Empire's own affair. What business is it of theirs?"

"This Holy Son is truly arrogant and insolent to the extreme!"

"..."

The Emperor on the dais watched these ministers' performance coldly, glancing at the few dukes and grand dukes standing not far from him, who had remained silent throughout, and felt a surge of anger in his heart.

Why didn't they dare to say any of this just now?

And these bastards, are they all waiting to see me make a fool of myself, huh?

Damned! They're all damned!

Regardless of the process, under the influence of this external pressure from the Church, the Roxez Empire ultimately dispatched reinforcements. This time, it was no longer just defensive forces, but truly large-scale armies intended to completely end the war.

Most of the army was already near the Imperial Capital, having been pre-emptively assembled beforehand. Additionally, some troops from surrounding areas were also conscripted on a temporary basis. The total number reached the millions.

With millions of troops suddenly pouring in, although their average strength was not high, most lacking a profession level, they were still elites among ordinary people, well-trained. Dealing with the common goblins was relatively easy for them.

This greatly relieved the pressure on the defensive lines. The original allied forces no longer needed to worry about large hordes of ordinary goblins exhausting their stamina; most of this work was now shared by the newly joined armies.

The adventurers and major powers, in turn, could devote more energy to handling the more powerful goblins.

The Gnome Kingdom naturally noticed this as well. Their original tactics and intensity were clearly no longer sufficient to put pressure on the allied forces.

Therefore, on the very night after the Roxez Empire's grand army joined the war, the goblins appearing on the battlefield changed once again.

They still used the same tactics, but this time, the number and quality of the powerful goblins hidden among the goblin hordes had undergone a huge transformation.

They were no longer limited to Bronze-rank goblins; Silver-level and even Gold-level goblins began to appear!

The quality of the goblin army itself also kept increasing, with many Goblin Guards appearing amongst them.

These creatures were also a variant among goblins. They were not weak in strength and were also numerous, possessing intelligence far higher than ordinary goblins.

Besides their formidable power, they wielded fine weapons and wore decent armor. For ordinary soldiers, they were undoubtedly difficult opponents to contend with.

Even for adventurers, these guys were very troublesome.

More importantly, they didn't just recklessly charge around. They could execute tactics, cooperate and cover for each other, and had many common goblins acting as meat shields for them.

The intensity of the battle had instantly escalated by more than one level.

It was very clear that the Gnome Kingdom was starting to get serious. They no longer intended to fight a war of attrition but were truly increasing the intensity to break them.

Faced with this situation, the allied forces naturally had to change their strategy.

The main targets of the stronger adventurers and members of major powers shifted to quickly eliminating the Silver and Gold-level goblins that emerged on the battlefield.

The situation at the front was already quite difficult. Once these guys appeared, they would deal a devastating blow to local battlefields. If allowed to rampage freely, the casualties would be extremely severe.

Therefore, they had to be found quickly and eliminated quickly!

Everyone was also happy to do this, after all, the rewards and points from killing low-level goblins were too meager.

But the things obtainable from killing high-level goblins were much more substantial.

For example, killing 100 ordinary goblins would only grant 1 point, while killing a variant goblin only required 2 for 1 point. Bronze-rank goblins would grant 1-5 points depending on level, and Silver-level goblins would give 10-50 points!

Gold-level was even more.

The level of Gold Goblins was 15-20! Killing one Gold-level goblin could yield up to 100 points, with a minimum of 500 points, equivalent to killing seventy thousand ordinary goblins.

In terms of point-earning efficiency, killing low-level goblins was undoubtedly far lower, and the lower the level, the lower the efficiency. This truly reflected one's strength, not who could "mow the lawn" faster.

It was the same for Lin Mo.

The war had been going on for so many days. Now, except for some special skills that couldn't gain proficiency directly through kills, he had no low-level skills left on hand.

At this point, killing ordinary goblins suffered from severe proficiency decay, making it highly inefficient.

In fact, during the day, he had been troubled by this very issue, only for the problem to solve itself by nightfall.

Those Gnomes were actually quite nice... offering him a pillow just as he was getting sleepy.

It was worth mentioning that, following the Gnome Kingdom's strategy, Lin Mo had also adjusted his rest time from night to day,

keeping the night, when goblins launched their main attacks, free to be used.

Although everyone's target had shifted to hunting high-level goblins, for many geniuses, this wasn't so simple. The main issue was that, under the cover of night, it was hard to judge a goblin's level just by its appearance. Looking around, there were goblins everywhere, dense and numerous. Most of the time, they had to rely on intelligence being relayed, rushing over only when something happened, and even then, someone would often get there first and snatch the kill, making the trip pointless.

This was when the value of high Spirit and reconnaissance skills became apparent.

Rangers and Assassins were thriving, their efficiency greatly boosted. Their points were skyrocketing, rapidly catching up from the deficit they had due to their professional disadvantage earlier.

For Lin Mo, spotting those Silver and Gold-level goblins was naturally much simpler.

Not only did he have a high Spirit attribute and extremely sharp perception, but he also possessed night vision skills. This skill had now even evolved into [Far Sight]. Not only did it grant him vision close to daytime levels at night, but it could also magnify distant, localized areas, much like a telescope.

This skill was simply perfect for the current situation.

With a single glance, he spotted a Silver Goblin.

Checking the distance, it wasn't too far, but not too close either. Lin Mo didn't plan on wasting time traveling there. He took out the Ice Soul Bow from his Portable Space and drew the bowstring taut.

With a whoosh, the arrow flew, precisely piercing and instantly killing it.

Next.

Lin Mo shifted his gaze, continuing to scan the surroundings. He quickly found another target. This time, it was a Gold-level Goblin.

Lin Mo drew his bow and nocked an arrow again, the arrow flying out swiftly.

However, during the arrow's flight, the Gold-level Goblin seemed to sense something and dodged out of the way preemptively.

The distance between them was considerable, after all. The arrow also needed time to travel, so this shot actually missed.

The Gold-level Goblin immediately panicked and hurriedly fled elsewhere.

Lin Mo frowned. The next moment, he moved swiftly, closing the distance before using Flash to appear behind it, killing it effortlessly with a single blow.

But this still wasted a fair bit of time.

Lin Mo suddenly recalled experiencing something similar before and quickly figured out the reason.

Goblins that reached a certain level could perform "shared perception" with their kin, sharing their vision and hearing.

When he fired that arrow, it naturally had to pass by many other goblins along its path, allowing this Gold Goblin to sense the danger in advance and dodge the attack.

Still, it wasn't a big problem.

Lin Mo smiled slightly. It just meant expending a bit more Qi and Blood.

Before long, he locked onto another target. But this time, the arrow he fired seemed soundless and formless!

The Night Hunter profession could combine Assassin and Ranger skills.

After some research, Lin Mo had mastered the method of precisely applying the Assassin's stealth skills onto the arrow, achieving this effect.

This time, his arrow effortlessly pierced the goblin's head, also piercing through many goblins behind it.

His skill proficiency soared.

The proficiency gained from Gold-level goblins was quite substantial, even for Exceptional-Grade and Epic-level skills.

Meanwhile, the Gnome Kingdom, wanting to give the allied forces a taste of their power, had dispatched a very large number of high-level goblins this time. Lin Mo couldn't even kill them all fast enough, with prompts for skill level increases appearing one after another.

For the general allied forces, however, the current situation was rather dire.

Whenever a high-level goblin went unnoticed for even a moment, it would cause severe consequences. By the time powerful support arrived to kill it, tens, hundreds, or even more soldiers or adventurers could have already perished.

This made the situation on the front lines extremely difficult.

Luckily, the main force on the battle lines had now been replaced by the Roxez Empire's army, rather than scattered adventurers. Otherwise, such casualties could have led to a collapse on certain fronts.

Even so, the situation on the battlefield was quite dire. Many areas were forced to pull back their lines, retreating step by step...

However, the allied forces also had many tricks left up their sleeves.

For instance—

Slender figures with long, pointed ears – Elves – appeared on the battlefield.

Before this, although the Elven race had been on the front lines all along, they hadn't actually participated deeply in the fighting. Just like those experts in the main command tent, their time to shine hadn't come yet.

But now, it was clearly the right moment.

The Elves were not afraid of the night. They naturally had eyes like hawks, able to see clearly over long distances even in the dark. Moreover, they possessed very keen hearing as a supplementary aid.

Furthermore, the most mainstream and common profession among the Elven race was the Ranger profession, which was perfectly suited for the current situation.

Although the Elven race was few in number compared to the entire battle line – only a few thousand – each Elf was incredibly powerful, enough to stabilize a large area around them.

And the battle line wasn't collapsing completely; it was only in crisis in certain areas. What the Elves needed to do was to support these more difficult local sectors.

The addition of a few thousand Elves, while not completely solving the problem, at least greatly alleviated the pressure, allowing the battle line to achieve overall stability and preventing the goblin tactics from creating a breakthrough.

Thus, the battle situation fell into a stalemate again, lasting until dawn.

But unlike the previous days, this time, even after dawn, the goblins' offensive showed no signs of slowing down. The frequency of Gold Goblins appearing seemed to have decreased slightly, probably because Goblins that reached the Gold level were rarer.

Yet the remaining Bronze-rank and Silver-level goblins were still enough to pose a significant threat to the weaker adventurers and soldiers on the front lines.

So they still couldn't relax. The time for rest and rotation was also greatly shortened compared to the previous days.

The war was about to enter an even more difficult phase.

Furthermore...

Inside the command tent, everyone's expressions were grim.

"How were the casualties last night?"

"According to rough statistics, the losses last night... military casualties exceeded fifty thousand! Adventurer casualties also exceeded twenty thousand... At the same time, even more adventurers chose to withdraw. The number of adventurers still on the defensive lines is now only half of the initial count."

"Sigh—"

The old man who asked let out a long sigh, his face grave.

Among those present, especially the people from the Roxez Empire, their brows were also tightly furrowed.

Although what they valued most were naturally their families and their own interests, being people of the Roxez Empire, they weren't completely devoid of feeling for the empire.

In particular, many among them held or had held important military positions, having close contact with those soldiers.

What they heard was a cold, hard number. But within that number were perhaps many people they had met and spoken with before.

Yet they could not afford to wallow in this grief. The current battle situation still required their planning and command, so they had to hurry up and discuss tactics.

In the early morning, Lin Mo brought everyone back into the Portable Space for a brief rest.

The intensity last night was far higher than before. Even Ellie and the others felt some pressure.

Those Gold-level Goblins were certainly no match for them, but dealing with them was much more troublesome than the small fries before.

So after returning, taking a shower, and quickly eating something, they all went back to their rooms and collapsed onto their beds.

"Sherfilia, aren't you going to rest too?"

Lin Mo looked at Sherfilia, who was massaging his shoulders beside him.

The little maid didn't say anything, just looked at him.

It was that same cold gaze, but her hands didn't stop.

Lin Mo smiled. After spending so much time together, they all knew each other well by now. Pushing the issue further wouldn't help. He would let them rest a bit longer.

Then, he organized the vast and miscellaneous information from the past few days, confirming his gains so far. The results were very pleasing.