The news from the rear was a mix of good and bad.
The good news was that the team protecting the children had stopped in the Central District; the area was now swarming with Chaotic Believers who had fled from the south of the city, featuring Mimicking Birds and fat corpses. The two sides were fighting fiercely, completely oblivious to the living team hiding nearby.
The bad news was that The Temple District was also under attack, and the Mage confirmed that believers from two sects were passionately slaughtering each other in front of the Harvest Church, intent on being the last one standing.
So, Malin proposed that he should return to the Church first to assist with its defense.
"Go ahead." Constance and old Hoffman discussed it briefly and agreed to Malin’s request.
They also gave Malin two squads of Punishers and handed over the Orc Assault Team to him.
Although the Orcs claimed they didn’t recognize human assignments, they frankly expressed that it was a great honor to fight under Malin’s banner against Chaos.
"To fight alongside the new master recognized by the legendary weapon Blood Roar, I, Oliver—a bear man from the bear tribe—find my life fulfilling. My father and grandfather never had such an honor!" The big bear, representing the Orc Assault Team, voiced the feelings of his fellow Orcs.
"Is it alright even though I’m not an Orc?" Malin had once asked these young men.
"No problem, Blood Roar was lost by a bear tribes’ legendary hero in a battle against Chaos. Now that it has returned here and once again starts to quench its thirst with the blood of Chaos, and it seems to follow you, sir, as long as Blood Roar can feast on the blood of Chaos, you are the most suitable master for it!" said the oldest member of the bear men from the Orc Assault Team.
The young bear men also nodded in agreement, "Yes, sir, we all think so."
"Then follow me, and let’s kill those Chaotic Believers," Malin raised Blood Roar in his hand and shouted.
"The youth are so spirited," Camilla walked up to her peer; the young Paladin had swollen one eye. In the recent battle, pus from a cystic being had splashed into his left eye, blinding it—of course, this kind of blindness only needed treatment and repair to be restored. Knowing there were more seriously wounded who needed treatment first, Camilla, who did not ask for immediate care, was well aware of the situation.
After all, having passed the fortitude check, Camilla was fearless.
"When did you learn to play the old man?" Colin remarked, then noticed his left eye: "Got splashed by pus?"
"Yeah, just my bad luck," Camilla sighed with a laugh—he had been injured while saving a teammate, no need to boast about it in front of an old friend.
"Damn, you’re such a noob," Colin laughed and teased.
"Noob? What does that mean?" Camilla was puzzled.
"Ah, it’s a slang Malin learned from the Thainans, meaning you’re incompetent, getting hurt like that, it’s just embarrassing," Colin transformed into a conscientious young Historian at that moment.
"Stop it, let’s have a duel right now," Camilla rolled his eyes.
"Alright, mate, just kidding. But seriously, our Church’s Malin is really action-oriented; if he can do something with his hands, I’ve never heard him plead or nag," Colin spoke as he offered a cigarette from his case to his old friend: "Here, take this. It’s a local specialty I found on some unlucky guy."
"Wow, nice smoke, thanks," taking the cigarette, the two young men found a corner. Camilla plopped down on the rubble and then indulged in a satisfying drag.
"Damn, save some space for me," Colin cursed playfully while noticing that the beam propped against the rubble that his old friend was sitting on had lost balance due to the seat shift and was tipping towards the old house.
"What are you looking at?" Camilla noticed her old friend’s gaze and turned her head to see the beam that was slowly falling under the force of gravity.
The two watched as the beam struck the old house, causing the wall to collapse and revealing what was left of a kitchen that had lost half of itself.
"Tough luck for the owner, the repair costs are going to explode," Camilla had just finished speaking when she and her old friend saw Chaos emerging from the hallway.
"Chaos!" Colin grabbed his old friend and ducked behind the ruins, meanwhile pulling a grenade from his belt, biting the pin with his teeth to pull the safety and then tossing it into the house.
The scene was in total disarray, those who were resting rapidly searched for cover, while those already in cover began to aim their guns, and the Chaos screamed and poured out through the corridor.
At that moment, Colin’s grenade hit a Chaos carrying a bunch of explosive fishing tools, the impact grenade’s mechanism of operation caused the heavy, 500-gram device to activate, first breaking down the Chaos it directly encountered into components and then triggering the explosion of the fishing tools it held, blasting the entire Chaos group away.
Two seconds later, Colin poked his head out, and his friend Camilla’s head peeked out beside him, "Where’s the Chaos?"
"All blown away! Damn it!" A dwarf pulled intestines off his head, "Disgusting!"
"I can’t hear anything!" A Werewolf Punisher raised his hand, "Damn it, I was in the cover! Can I get up now?!"
Another Werewolf went over to help him up.
Old Hoffman came over, looking at Colin in surprise, "What the hell do you have in your hand, a Flame Burst Fireball?"
"It’s from Malin, he gave it to me, said it was a Defensive Grenade, just throw it at the enemy from a distance when using." After speaking, Colin touched his ears, "I was wondering why your voice is so soft, my eardrums must be injured."
"But at least we survived," looking at the house not far away that was starting to collapse due to the explosion damaging its structure, Camilla patted Colin’s shoulder, "Can you guys sell some of this stuff to us? It seems more practical than the Flame Burst Fireball scroll, anyone can use it."
"Malin’s workshop is selling these, I feel we also need to purchase some, by the way, should we not find Malin to get a production license?" Colin said, cautiously taking the grenade from his waist, "Just thinking about hanging these deadly little things on my belt makes my scalp tingle."
"Mentioning this makes my scalp tingle too, I can’t believe I stood so long next to you, a self-detonating man," Camilla retorted.
"No problem, you discuss this with Malin, tell him to offer a discount," Old Hoffman said, taking a piece of liver off his shoulder with disdain and tossing the black organ aside, "It’s good stuff, even an Apprentice can use it, and it doesn’t require Spiritual Energy, indeed much simpler than a Flame Burst Spell Formation, just not sure about the cost."
"Hmm...Malin said, if the cost can be controlled, one Flame Burst Fireball scroll could buy a box of these things," Colin said.
"A box, ten? Twenty?" Camilla quickly asked.
"No, Malin mentioned a box is eighty, just the right weight for Dwarves to carry one box with one hand," Colin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Eighty, my god, this is really a little device that could change the pattern of war," Camilla wiped his forehead, "I now hope that our two Churches can manage the production and sale of these things."
"I feel the same way," Colin said with a wry smile, looking towards Old Hoffman, "What do you think, teacher?"
"Of course, but this matter is for you to discuss with Malin. Tell him, if he’s willing to make the Church and military the designated buyers, we can band together to protect the blueprints for this type of grenade, its original model and all modifications, with each unit produced, Malin’s family can receive a portion of the profits, I will negotiate this matter with the Sect Hierarch, the Church of Justice, and the royal family," Hoffman stated.
Now with his teacher’s authorization, Colin began to worry about his little Apprentice—would Carterburg’s number one miser agree to this?