At this moment, Cerydra's mood was terrible to the extreme.
Anyone awakened from a deep sleep by malicious intruders would inevitably be full of anger.
She rubbed her slightly throbbing temples, cold anger gathering in her icy blue eyes.
'In the middle of the night, insisting on disturbing others' rest...'
Immediately after, a majestic voice echoed throughout the church.
"In this place, fleeing is forbidden!"
"Intruders shall be judged by the Law!"
The Trunsoest Brass Book materialized in her palm, and an invisible power of rules instantly enveloped the entire space.
"Ah—!"
"Urgh...!"
Mournful screams erupted from three directions almost simultaneously.
The four fleeing individuals were like their heads had been viciously smashed by an invisible heavy hammer, their movements abruptly stalling.
Poisonweed was the first to succumb. He hugged his head, curling up painfully on the ground, his body twitching violently.
The lump of shadow enveloping Formless distorted for a moment before rapidly solidifying and collapsing. Shadow and Formless tumbled out of the shadow wretchedly. Similarly clutching their heads, they let out painful groans.
Ghost was also forcefully forced out of his stealth state. He pressed one hand tightly against his forehead, his expression extremely pained.
But unlike the other three, his spiritual power was significantly stronger than theirs, so he endured it forcefully without crying out.
Subsequently, three wisps of freezing cold air escaped from his body, accurately sinking into the bodies of his three companions, beginning to help them heal this mental trauma.
After receiving relief from this chill, the pained expressions of Shadow, Formless, and Poisonweed settled down slightly.
"Fuck! What the hell kind of intel is this?!" Formless struggled to prop his body up, his face somewhat twisted from pain and fear. He stared fixedly at the blue-haired figure in the room exuding terrifying majesty, roaring hoarsely, "They didn't say... the target had an AoE mental attack of this level!"
At this moment, Cerydra looked at these four wretched intruders with indifferent eyes, then spat a command from her mouth:
"Soldiers, kill all these intruders."
"As you command!"
The eight spear-wielding soldiers responded in deep voices. Their steps were uniform, their sharp longspears flashing with lethal cold light under the illumination, launching an attack on the four without hesitation.
"Retreat! Scatter and run! I don't believe she can..."
Seeing this scene, Shadow endured the residual pain in his head and roared, attempting to organize a retreat again.
"We can't run!" Ghost's cold and rapid voice rang out in everyone's minds once more. "I can sense it. A rule has been established here. As long as we run, we will suffer a mental attack!"
"What?!" Hearing this, Shadow's expression became even uglier. But his instinct as a commander made him decide immediately. "Then don't run! Don't confront them head-on, fight a guerrilla war!"
After saying that, his body transformed into flowing shadows again, attempting to wrap around the ankle of the nearest soldier. At the same time, several sharp spikes thrust out from the shadows, attacking the soldier's joints.
Clang—!
The longspear swept horizontally, and the soldier easily deflected the shadow spikes. Following that, the heavy spear shaft smashed toward Shadow's main body using the momentum.
But Shadow quickly used his Superpower to turn into shadows and scatter, causing the longspear to strike empty air.
"Fuck! Summons and mental rules! How can one person possess two Superpowers?!"
Formless roared in anger. His body rolled wretchedly to dodge under the soldiers' spear tips, not daring to take them head-on at all.
His transformation Superpower was originally only adept at disguise and assassination, so he appeared extremely passive in this kind of frontal entanglement.
And Poisonweed was even more miserable. He desperately released various lethal poison mists and corrosive acid liquids. However, when those colorful poisonous substances came into contact with the soldiers' armors emitting a faint blue light, they had no effect whatsoever.
If it weren't for Shadow's frequent help, he would have long been stabbed into a sieve by the soldiers' longspears.
Inside the room, Cerydra watched the four people below who were still putting up a stubborn resistance and slightly knitted her delicate eyebrows.
"Troublesome."
After murmuring a word softly, she slowly raised her right hand. Subsequently, a "Knight" piece emitting a pale blue light silently appeared in the palm of her hand.
Clack—
Accompanied by the sound, the piece landed gently on the exquisite chessboard.
In the next moment, two figures, a man and a woman, silently appeared by her side.
They wore masks covering half of their faces and were dressed in quaintly styled uniforms adorned with dark red patterns.
And lingering around them was a faint aura of murderous intent.
After the two appeared, they knelt on one knee in unison, respectfully asking Cerydra:
"Lady Imperator, what are your orders?"
"Senate Cleaners..." Cerydra looked at them and muttered to herself in a low voice, then raised her hand to point at the chaotic battle below. "Go, find an opportunity, and clean them up."
"As you command!"
After receiving the order, the two figures didn't hesitate at all, instantly vanishing from their spots.
(PS: Cerydra has two sets of chess pieces. The set being used now is for dealing with small-scale battles, so the Rook represents cavalry (moving straight corresponds to charging), the Knight represents assassins (moving in an L-shape corresponds to agility). The other set of chess pieces is used for dealing with large-scale battles, corresponding to the original prototypes of each chess piece. So there's no need to wonder why the Rook is cavalry instead of a fortress. After all, you can't bring out an entire fortress for a small-scale or even indoor battle, the venue isn't large enough.)
...
"Shadow! Quickly think of a way! If this continues, we'll be worn to death sooner or later!"
On the battlefield, Formless narrowly avoided a spear thrust toward his throat. Afterward, he shouted anxiously at Shadow.
Hearing Formless's voice, Shadow clenched his teeth. His shadow-transformed body fluctuated violently, seemingly having made up his mind.
Immediately after, a hint of madness flashed across his eyes, and he began to roar hoarsely:
"Now is the time! Go all out!"
Before his voice faded, countless twisted and ferocious shadow tentacles violently shot out from the ground, tightly wrapping around all the soldiers' limbs, temporarily restricting their movements. At the same time, two swirling shadow vortexes abruptly opened beneath the feet of Formless and Poisonweed!
Upon seeing this scene, the two's eyes turned sharp, immediately understanding Shadow's tactic—to catch the bandits, first catch the ringleader!
Without hesitation, Formless and Poisonweed instantly threw themselves into the shadow vortexes.
In the next moment, two figures filled with intense murderous intent surged out from the shadows beside Cerydra like arrows released from a bowstring!
One person's arm transformed into a sharp spike, while the other's blade tip was coated with lethal poison.
Their only target now was the vitals of Cerydra right before them.
Faced with this desperate attack, Cerydra's face still didn't show the slightest ripple. Her lips even curved into a mocking arc.
"Naive."
Before her voice faded, Cerydra vanished instantly under the astonished gazes of the two.
Replaced in her spot was a heavily armored soldier who had been swapped over.
Meanwhile, outside, Shadow, who was exerting all his strength to maintain the shadow binds, was horrified to discover that the blue-haired girl who was supposed to be in the room had suddenly appeared right in front of him.