The situation had spiraled beyond anyone's expectations.
Bilan and Dickey were momentarily stunned, but there was no time for hesitation. The refugees stood in a daze, the fire continued to rage, and then—dozens of figures suddenly burst from the crowd.
These individuals were old and young, male and female, yet they all moved with an unnatural swiftness, sprinting toward the city gate with all their might.
The attack was so sudden that no one had time to react. These "runners" reached the gate almost unopposed—then detonated themselves.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The successive explosions tore through the air, a devastating force that rattled the very ground.
The gates of Dolez, made of mere hardwood reinforced with thin iron plating, stood no chance against multiple self-detonations equivalent to a barrage of rockets.
When the dust and smoke finally cleared, the once-imposing city gate had been reduced to nothing more than scorched rubble.
A stunned silence fell over the refugees—until a familiar voice shattered it.
"The gate is broken! Take everything! And don't forget to slaughter those noble bastards!"
The elderly protest leader, now wielding an enchanted loudspeaker, bellowed the words with commanding authority. His associates immediately echoed him, riling up the stunned crowd:
"Yes! Hurry, loot everything! Afterward, we'll flee to Kweig! Those Dolaz nobles won't be able to catch us!"
"There's no time! Grab their treasures, food, and women—everything belongs to us!"
"Your loved ones, the ones they forced you to sell, are still rotting in the nobles' dungeons! If you don't act now, it'll be too late!"
Their words struck deep into the hearts of the desperate refugees. They had just watched their last hope—food—burn before their eyes. They had been humiliated, crushed, forced to sell their own blood and kin. And now, with the nobles nowhere in sight and the city gates lying open, the fire of madness roared to life within them.
When men are starved to desperation, reason becomes an afterthought. Add to that the agony of injustice, and restraint becomes a forgotten concept.
The refugees, once a trembling mass, were now a raging tide of madness.
"Damn these nobles! Kill them all!"
"Take everything they have! Leave nothing behind!"
"Hurry! Loot now and escape later—those useless city guards won't be able to stop us!"
"Those bastards took my granddaughter! I'll burn them alive!"
Like a swarm of locusts, the refugees surged into the city, trampling over the dozen guards who stood in their way. They shredded the soldiers apart with their bare hands, then poured into the streets of Dolez, howling for blood and vengeance.
Even those who had once been the most timid among them now roared in fury, their faces twisted with hatred.
"It's over! It's all over!"
On the city wall, the commander of the guard trembled as he watched the chaos unfold. His grip tightened on his subordinate, his voice ragged with desperation:
"Send for reinforcements! Where the hell are all those damn noble-backed professionals? Where are the so-called elite forces?"
The young scout, his face pale, stammered:
"S-Sir! The first, second, third… all the way to the seventh division of the city guard, as well as every hired professional—they're all engaged in suppressing the remnants of the Tishachar Church!"
The commander's blood ran cold.
"Damn it! Then call for the three formal-rank mages! They must intervene!"
The scout's lips quivered as he delivered the final blow.
"Master Punk, Master Bahang, and Master Kangkai… have already left Dolez. They're in pursuit of the main force of the Tishachar Church remnants."
The commander's knees buckled.
His mind reeled. Even if he wasn't a master strategist, it was painfully clear that Dolez had fallen into a massive trap.
A wave of twenty thousand rampaging refugees—without reinforcements, without suppression—was an unstoppable force.
Amidst the chaos, Dickey, Bilan, and Luo Taran found themselves trapped within the frenzied mob. The stampeding refugees crushed in from all sides, forcing them forward like a relentless tide. There was no escape.
Their small group had already been separated from Taran's knight and old butler. Now, only the three of them remained, clinging desperately to each other's hands.
And of the three, only Bilan had a few spells at her disposal. Neither Dickey nor Luo Taran possessed any combat ability.
"What do we do?" Luo Taran's voice trembled as she struggled to keep her footing. She turned toward Dickey, her usual wit and confidence utterly gone.
"What?" Dickey barely heard her over the deafening roar of the mob.
"I said—what do we do?!"
Dickey gritted his teeth, squeezing the hands of Bilan and Luo Taran tightly to keep them together.
"We have to save people! If we don't act now, innocent people will die!"
Bilan and Luo Taran both nodded without hesitation. Their minds were a mess, but they instinctively trusted his judgment.
"Alright! We'll follow your lead!"
Meanwhile, at the center of Dolez…
Across the city, makeshift barricades had been erected around seemingly ordinary homes, shops, and even noble residences. Guards stood on high alert, their gazes locked onto these buildings with unwavering focus.
These locations were the so-called "Tishachar Church Strongholds" identified by Hutt.
The revelation had stunned the ruling nobles of Dolez. They had believed their city to be an impenetrable fortress, yet it had been riddled with hidden factions all along.
Now, the full might of the city's forces had been concentrated on surrounding these strongholds. They stood poised for attack, waiting for the signal from Punk and his party, who had already begun the assault on the first major stronghold.
At one of the largest encirclements, Bishop Hodley of Tyre sat atop his horse, ready to give the order.
He believed, with unwavering certainty, that under the divine blessing of the God of Justice, Tishachar's cultists would crumble like insects before him.
But just as he was about to issue the command, he noticed something unsettling.
Thick smoke.
It billowed from the direction of the city gate, darkening the sky.
"What is happening?" Hodley frowned. His first assumption was that some fool had disobeyed his orders and launched an attack prematurely.
Though not an issue in itself, such disobedience was unacceptable. A true follower of Tyre must uphold order above all else.
With a cold glint in his eyes, Hodley activated a divine spell to investigate the disturbance.
"Order is the foundation of all things. Those who defy it must be corrected."
"Apprentice-level Divine Art—Lesser Divine Detection!"