Chapter 274: Raid Complete

Because Tristan had used all buffs she needed on her way here, she just needed to activate her last skill before releasing the arrow.

Her MP was drained slightly as she narrowed her eyes in concentration.

"<Meteor Shot>"

Pang!

The red arrow was released with a loud sound, traveling toward the middle of the city while leaving a red trail like a meteor. It lit the city brightly, and everyone stopped to look at it and landed right at the factory.

It was then a bright light suddenly covered the whole city. The light engulfed everything, followed by an explosion sound.

Booom!!!

The earth quaked, and a shockwave kicked everything out of the way. Small buildings were knocked out; people were flying from the shockwave alone. Debris flew around everywhere as black smoke filled the area.

And the factory that stood in the middle disappeared, leaving nothing but black, scorched ground.

At the same time, loud footsteps arrive from the entrance behind her. Tristan turned around and saw their surprised gesture, as she couldn't see their expressions behind their helmets.

Casually, she raised her hand and pointed at the city below, which was left half destroyed.

"I will leave the rest to you guys."

Rania recovered fast after she heard Tristan's voice. She looked at the girl and nodded.

"Yes. You've done enough."

Inside, she had a different thought. 'So this is Tristan's strength? Arthur said he knew her from way before, but... I don't know if she is this strong. Thankfully, we will do the duel on the bed, and Arthur will decide the winner. If we have an official duel, I might probably lose before I can move.'

Gulping, Rania composed herself and raised the [Fairy Longsword].

"Let's punish the Sinner! Paladin Knight Squad, follow me! The rest will follow Sir Gerald!"

"Yes!"

"This way!" Gerald commanded and jumped down the elevated ground toward the left while Rania went to the right.

And they began to send the remaining people to the revival chamber in Bluerose Duchy one by one.

***

In a small path hidden beneath the crumbled factory, a man was crawling slowly while holding a case filled with Gold.

Due to his drug usage, this man had a sharp jawline, thin hairline, and sunken eyes. An unpleasant aura escaped his body, more than what Duke Blacktomb exuded. That meant this man, the one known as Tyrant, had more Sins than even a Duke of the Sin Kingdom.

He was really lucky because his subordinates informed him that there was someone who made a ruckus in the flower fields. With his instinct honed as someone working in the underworld and the fact his subordinates, who had an average Level of 30, didn't inform him, he decided to flee.

Who knew that his decision would save him?

"Damned Castitas Church! I thought we were safe because they did nothing when we first spread the lotion, but to think they would launch a raid like this... Where did the information leak? I made sure the merchants didn't sell anything to people from the church and evade them!"

That wasn't important. The most important thing was that the church had found his hideout and destroyed his most important factory!

His business was over. There was no hope for recovery.

"Shit, shit!"

Tyrant kept crawling, ignoring the ground shaking. He moved faster, afraid of getting buried alive. That would be bad for him and the case he held in his hand.

After a few while, he managed to see a wooden door connected outside. A smile bloomed across his face as he crawled faster. Then when he reached it, he pushed the wooden door and exited the small tunnel.

However... he wasn't alone.

"Hello there. Quite a good day, huh?"

In front of his face was a young man with handsome features and blond hair that was slicked back. He smiled at him like a sun, but it sent a shiver down Tyrant's body as he remembered the news he received.

Without saying anything, he raised his arms high, kneeled, and asked for forgiveness, "Please let me go! Forgive me!"

Usually, this kind of tactic would work in front of people from the church, especially those whose faith couldn't be shaken and who believed that Virtues are just. In front of him was someone they called Paladin. The person who reached that rank should be a pious believer, no?

Or so was what Tyrant thought as he hid his smile. But...

"No."

"Huh?!" The answer wasn't what he expected, and his vision suddenly turned around.

The world was spinning, and he could see his own body still kneeling in front of the handsome boy with his hand covered in a blue aura. The headless body slowly fell as it dyed the green grass with red color from the blood, and there was a vicious smile on the blond-haired boy.

'Mons...ter...' It was what Tyrant thought before he fully lost consciousness and died.

***

As I had expected, there was a secret path to escape from the Pleasure City.

After running around the area and checking my radar, it seemed like there was only one secret path. The other was either sealed or destroyed by the explosion.

If I didn't notice a red dot suddenly popping up and crawling slowly toward one of the secret entrances, then I wouldn't notice that this guy was trying to run.

With a quick <Appraisal>, I found out he was Jack, someone who was often called Tyrant. He also brought a case full of Gold coins and bars, the profit from selling drugs, and the pink lotion.

Of course, I took it with me in my inventory and left the area. He would probably be resurrected in the Bluerose Duchy or the church in the area, as I bet even if they had a revival chamber, it was now in a mess.

The cleanup squad seemed to have done their job too. For some reason, I couldn't detect any dots in the Pleasure City, but when they got out, I could see their dots again. Was it because Pleasure City was considered 'another area' and thus couldn't be scanned from outside like a dungeon?

That was possible.

Maybe it was also applied to other Underground Cities, making me unable to scan them from outside.

'Now it makes sense. That explains why I can't find them using my radar, as they are considered a 'different area' from the surface. And because they are away from each other, I can't find the others even if I am inside that area.'

Well, as long as I had Alesia with me, I didn't need to find the Underground Cities manually if I needed to. I could just ask her.

Walking toward the friendly dot, I wore a smile on my face. The knights had done with the cleanup and were now gathering near the entrance that Alesia told us.

After a while, I could see them. They seemed to be dispirited. Figures, they just massacred an entire city. However, they shouldn't feel bad. Everyone could revive, and we could find the innocents among the criminals.

Adam didn't seem to be strange. His gaze was still empty, and he followed Gerald's order obediently. Using <Appraisal>, I found his status was the same as before but without Controlled and Confusion, only Charmed and Fallen. Good.

Also, the knights didn't need to feel bad. The people they killed were bad people who created drugs and aphrodisiac lotion. They deserved to be punished.

But, as the church knights' leader, I also had a duty to appear fine even if I wasn't. So I smiled, reassuring them that I was fine, and greeted them with a wide smile.

"Good job, everyone. Let's go home and take a nice bath!"

They turned to me at once and saluted. Their faces were hidden behind their helmets, but I knew they felt reassured by my presence.

Tristan was smiling while crouching on top of a tree. She grinned and waved her hand softly. Her mouth moved, and she muttered in a low voice, 'Good job, leader.'

'No. Good job, Tristan. I know that you destroyed the city so the others won't feel bad about killing the rest of the people there in the name of punishment.'

Playing to be the devil. That was just like her that I knew.

'Let's give her a rest tomorrow and bring her to a nice place. Yes, that's at least what I can do to make her relax again.'

So the raid ended in under 2 hours, with the Paladin Knight Squad playing the most important role. One Underground City, Pleasure City, was destroyed, and everyone was killed. This news would spread all over the Virtue Kingdom tomorrow to show the strength of the church knight in destroying evil.