Elder Bartholomew retreated step by step.
Jones and Adelle were still wildly pursuing him, so he could only defend while retreating.
"I swung my sword at Elder Bartholomew, and he gathered Magic Power into his palm to form a Longsword to block. I used all my strength, the most I had ever used in my life, for that swing. I thought my hand would hurt. But it didn’t. Because I gripped the sword with all my strength too, so my hand didn’t hurt, and instead, I felt a special sense of fulfillment. My whole body just trembled, a heavy tremble." Adelle became more excited as he spoke, "At that moment, in my eyes, the whole world only had me, Jones, and Elder Bartholomew. We charged at him repeatedly, and he would counterattack, which hurt. But... it was exhilarating. Never had I felt so free. Hahaha."
Morca frowned at Adelle, then smiled, "And then?"
"We kept chasing him."
"Later he turned his back on us, and we rushed at him again. He spun around and slashed a heavy horizontal stroke at us, roaring... " Adelle suddenly laughed, tears coming out.
"What did he say?" Morca asked.
"He said, ’Do you want to chase me all the way to the High Court?’"
"Yes. We realized we had already chased him quite a distance from the battlefield. Probably several kilometers, and we didn’t even know it." Adelle kept shaking his head, laughing. Helpless yet delighted.
Yes, the Elder Council chose to retreat. When a war, even if won, cannot achieve their desired goals and requires great sacrifices, it loses its meaning to continue.
The funny thing was that the frenzied side of Giant Snake City didn’t even realize the enemy was retreating. Not just Jones and Adelle, no one noticed.
Erin barely managed to conjure up the legendary Forbidden Technique, preparing a big hit. Then she was surprised to find that the Blood Clan Elders were gone, leaving her only to strike the unlucky zombies who couldn’t retreat in time.
William hovered in the sky, looking around to see the corpses everywhere and the zombie army retreating in panic across the mountains and fields.
The Elder Council members were already gone, and the Blood Clan had fled to the horizon. Airships swayed as they disappeared into the distance.
The Hydra stood in the center of the battlefield, a bit at a loss.
Dora was still guarding that flag.
Jones stood on a hillside, watching Elder Bartholomew’s figure disappear into the horizon, looking bewildered. Until a ray of sunlight broke through the clouds, shining on his face, burning him, he suddenly snapped awake.
"Aroo! We won! We actually won! Hahaha! Aroo!"
"Time flew by so fast! We fought the whole night!"
"Aroo! Stop talking! Find a place to hide! Hahaha!"
In the end, Jones and Adelle could only huddle in a tree hole in an unknown forest, shielding the sunlight with nearby leaves, waiting for rescue.
Normally, Holy Light was much stronger than sunlight. They could fight under Holy Light, so they could naturally withstand the sunlight to return. However, that was only when their nerves were tense. Now that they suddenly won and relaxed, they couldn’t bear it anymore. Moreover, their own Magic Power had been exhausted. Check latest chapters at novel{f}ire.net
Forcing themselves to run back might really turn them into dried-up bats.
They hid for over four hours, long enough that Jones thought they would have to wait until night to return. Finally, Belle, in Silver Moon Armor, opened the branches covering the tree hole entrance and pushed in two sets of Silver Moon Helmets from outside.
"Sorry, just got here. The battlefield is still a mess, and it took a while to find you. I thought you were captured by the Elder Council."
Putting on the helmet, Jones immediately asked, "What about Dora?"
"She was panicking, but she went the wrong way. I’ve already sent someone to inform her." Belle secretly opened a slit in her mask and stuck her tongue out at Jones.
"When I get back, I definitely need a hot bath, just too messy, not my style at all." Adelle, wearing armor, climbed out of the tree hole, stumbling.
The wind blew across the land, shaking the branches, making the forest ripple like the sea.
In the sunlight, Adelle and Jones, wearing new Silver Moon Helmets, supported each other as they walked from afar.
On the other side of the mountain, the plain was full of scorched earth and corpses everywhere.
The bone dragon roared past in the sky, and the Liches gathered to discuss something.
The hardworking goblins were clearing the battlefield, trying to find something from the zombies as spoils of war.
The Yadesi River was blocked, and the water overflowed the banks.
The Hydra slowly lowered its nine heads and carefully watched Jones. Jones reached out and patted its head.
A bone dragon flew from afar, and Dora jumped down from it, throwing herself into Jones’s arms and burst into tears.
In the distance, the dwarves and elves also smiled. Each one was covered in wounds, yet they smiled so brightly.
In the sunlight, on the devastated land, the tattered Nine-petal Snake Flower flag still stood tall, fluttering. Bits of debris floated into the distance.
In the quiet room, Morca and Adelle silently stared at each other.
The surroundings were still pitch black.
"Yes, a bitter and somewhat unbelievable victory. I still don’t know how to describe my feelings at that time. Jones is destined to become a legend, his name destined to be sung by bards repeatedly. The Nine-petal Snake Flower flag is flying. He proved to everyone that he is no less than his adopted father, making all the forces on the continent re-examine Giant Snake City, including the Elder Council. For this, we paid a price."
"Do you think it was worth it?"
"Why do you ask such a question?"
"Well..." Morca stroked his beard and frowned, "There’s no doubt, Jones’s justice is not entirely the same as his adoptive father’s. From what I know, the battles Gray experienced almost never resulted in deaths. He always showed mercy. But in the Battle of the Yadesi River, many people died, not just the undead. Many of the Blood Clan Elders and Blood Clan Nobles also died."
"His adoptive father was a fairy tale, Morca, you should know this better than me. Gray Gruggle’s justice was a fairy tale." Adelle smiled and replied, "The fairy tale inspired us, but we can’t live by fairy tales alone. Jones’s feet are on real ground, moving forward bit by bit. He is real. I prefer his way. On the road ahead, there will be sacrifices, there will be costs, every victory will come with a price. When sacrifices are needed, Jones is the first to rush forward. He is earnestly practicing everything he can."
"Perhaps some people will interpret it differently?" Morca pursed his lips and said, "For example, I’ve heard some opposing voices. They believe Jones will never reach Gray Gruggle’s heights. There will be many interpretations of his actions..."
"It doesn’t matter, Morca," Adelle interrupted Morca.
"Then what does matter?" Morca asked.
Pointing to his own heart, Adelle softly said, "What matters is the ’heart.’ ’Follow your heart,’ isn’t this what Gray Gruggle taught Jones? Follow your heart and do what you think is right. To seriously practice the knight’s spirit is the most perfect interpretation of the knight’s spirit. We don’t need to care about what others say, that doesn’t matter. We only need to have a clear conscience."
"A clear conscience?" Morca gazed at Adelle.
"Yes, a clear conscience." Adelle also gazed at him.
It was a while before Morca helplessly spread his four hands, "Alright, you’re right. Adelle. Thank you for the material."
Saying this, he reached over the desk to shake hands with Adelle.
"You’re welcome." Adelle politely smiled and shook hands with him.