Chapter 37: The Reversal of Attack and Defense

The melodious hymns echoed above the church, intertwining with the chaotic scenes within the seaside town, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Adrian, amidst it all, found his soul seemingly cleansed by the hymns, recalling the teachings in the Bible.

Life and death are actually unimportant; everywhere is the Lord's pasture. These sacrificed townsfolk have merely returned early to the Lord's embrace.

After the hymns ended, Anluoke surveyed the crowd and softly spoke.

"The great Eternal God 'Ella' will be with you and me!"

Perhaps it was the Archbishop's words taking effect, or maybe it was the light of 'Ella' that had already shone upon this remote small town. Outside the church, the chaotic scenes were rapidly calming down.

Slightly surprised, Anluoke walked to the window and looked down at the entire northwest side of the seaside town. The flames that had been burning over the granary were extinguished, and the townsfolk were being orderly evacuated from the combat area.

He couldn't see the figures of the two Wizard Apprentices directly, but judging by the trajectory of the gray crows in the sky, Anluoke quickly deduced that the two had fallen into trouble and were being chased out of the densely populated area.

The endpoint of their route seemed to be the harbor of the town?

"Who is currently commanding the front line?" Anluoke asked in astonishment.

"It should be Priest Danny and Albert," Adrian replied.

The Archbishop thought about the usual performance of these two priests. He didn't remember them having such outstanding command abilities. Could it be a judgment made by some captain of the town's guard?

Thinking of this, Anluoke couldn't help but feel a sense of talent appreciation and sent the gate-keeping guard to inquire.

A few minutes later, a guard pushed the door open and came in, glancing vaguely at Adrian beside him with a strange expression, then responded.

"Reporting to Your Grace, according to the militiamen responsible for evacuation, it is currently..."

"It is currently Priest Adrian giving orders!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present turned their gaze to Adrian. The latter was also puzzled, as he had been in the church all along and had never gone out.

Anluoke's face immediately turned grim. In his decade and more as a bishop in the Nordland Territory, he had not encountered Wizards adept in Shaping Magic and was well aware of how much trouble these people could cause.

Under the questioning gazes of the crowd, Adrian seemed a bit flustered and took a step back, but he quickly reacted and extended his hand to cast a first-circle Divine Art, "Holy Word: Shield."

Witnessing the divine shield radiating Divine Radiance and condensing in midair, the priests present immediately dispelled their doubts.

But then a chill shot from their feet to their brains.

If the real Adrian was here, then who was commanding the front line now?

...

The commander whom the priests were longing for was currently sitting in a temporary stronghold in the northern part of the seaside town, sipping tea while listening to the 'subordinates' reports.

"Lord Adrian, according to your instructions, the newly formed militia group has been evacuating the townsfolk. It won't be long before a clear area is cleared. Also, the fire at the granary has been controlled; the isolation method you taught us is very effective..."

Priest Danny quickly described the current situation in the seaside town, looking at Lynn with eyes full of admiration.

Those damned devil worshippers had been setting fires everywhere, wandering through the dense alleyways, and even set the granary on fire, causing them all sorts of headaches.

To know, Archbishop Anluoke had only given them an eight-hundred-man garrison, these people had to capture two witches, evacuate the townsfolk, and extinguish the fires—it was a severe shortage of manpower.

Several requests for deploying elite guards were rejected by Anluoke, leaving Danny with no choice but to continuously draw personnel originally meant for firefighting and rescuing to chase those devil followers, lest they escape.

However, this chaotic situation immediately turned around after 'Adrian' arrived.

First, he commanded them to use Divine Arts to comfort a batch of fleeing townsfolk, forcibly drawing out strongmen among them, then dispersing a small squad of regular troops to form temporary militia units with them, instantly multiplying the available manpower several times over.

These untrained militiamen would likely crumble in battle, but for firefighting and rescue work, they were barely suitable.

The isolation method and the sand extinguishing techniques the other had spoken of were also very effective...

Thinking of this, Priest Danny felt a bit ashamed. Previously, he had complained that Archbishop Anluoke had given him too few people, completely inadequate for dealing with the complex situation.

Now, however, he no longer thought so, because with the same resources, 'Adrian' easily quelled the chaos.

It could only be said that 'Adrian' lived up to being the Archbishop's right hand!

Sitting in the chair, Lynn listened to the priest's words with a smile and spoke appreciatively. "You did well, Priest Danny. After tonight, I will commend your achievements to Archbishop Anluoke."

"Thank you, Lord Adrian. I only did what little I could; it's all thanks to you!" Priest Danny responded excitedly.

Lynn waved his hand, skipping over the topic, and turned to ask, "Alright, enough of that. Did you convey the instructions I gave earlier?"

Danny nodded. According to 'Lord Adrian's' plan, they were now to force the two witches to the open space at the harbor. The church had ambushed a thousand crossbowmen there, and a volley would turn the witches into hedgehogs.

This would minimize casualties.

Given 'Lord Adrian's' previous excellent command, Danny had no doubt about this plan.

"Then, Danny, your task is perfectly accomplished." Lynn stood up, patted Danny on the shoulder with his right hand, and said with feeling, "Now it's time to send you to meet Priest Albert!"

Albert? What happened to him?

Danny paused, but before he could figure it out, a dazzling silver light slashed across his neck. Bright red blood spurted from the wound, and the young priest covered his opened neck, his face full of disbelief, then fell heavily to the ground.

Lynn looked helplessly at the corpse before him, shook his head, and picked up a piece of cloth from the table to wipe the blood off his dagger.

Thus, the two lackeys sent by Anluoke to fish him out had been resolved, but Lynn's face didn't show much joy.

After all, his opponent wasn't a fool. Using Adrian's identity to give orders would quickly alert Anluoke, making him realize Lynn had the ability to disguise as someone else.

Fortunately, this was precisely Lynn's goal!

Because ordinary priests couldn't break this kind of magic, Anluoke would have no choice but to step in personally!

Though he had taken a roundabout path, Lynn ultimately used the enemy's own forces to draw out the Archbishop and shift the battlefield back to the harbor of the seaside town!