009、Maiden's Radiance

  Behind the strange rock, in a place that can't be seen from afar, there is a group of knights, holding weapons and forming a battle array, ready to strike at any moment. Next to them are dozens of horses with no riders, some carrying supplies necessary for traveling through the desert, but most are warhorses whose owners had just perished in that brutal encounter.

  "Impossible!" muttered the fiscal, Morton. "One person, a woman, has annihilated all our best men in ambush! And Jeremiah, the high priest, is also slain!... Governor, we had too few men in this ambuscade!"

  Xiao Mozhou's face was extremely unsightly: "We can't mobilize the City-State Legion to openly attack Dick's convoy, that would be equivalent to declaring war on the Egu Empire. We can only use the identity of Asur border bandits as cover. Moreover, mobilizing a large army is also impossible, and receiving the news and leading the personal guard team to rush here to set up an ambush has already exerted our greatest strength."

  Kausman, the high priest, looked at Xiao Mozhou with some dissatisfaction, his eyes seeming to say, "Is this really a well-trained elite bandit?" Then he turned around and gazed into the distance, his face gloomy as he said, "This person must be one of the twelve guardian warriors of the Isis Temple in Memphis. I never thought it would be him!"

  The financial officer said reluctantly: "She is strong, but after all, she is just one person! You see, she is now exhausted and seems to be injured. If we launch a sudden cavalry charge, it may still be possible to seize the Tears of the Gods."

  As they spoke, Gabriel had already walked back to the front of the chariot, knelt down on one knee, and inserted the long sword in his hand into the sand, with a pale face and a thin line of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, silently praying. The divine stone on the hilt of the sword emitted a soft white light that enveloped her, which was a low-level healing spell. Gabriel had indeed been injured in the intense battle earlier, especially when he used his shield to withstand the giant hammer's blow and was shaken.

  Dike has sent his servants to sweep the battlefield, and the broken limbs are buried in the sand. The weapons and armor have been collected and taken away, which are spoils of war and important evidence for tracing the origin of these bandits in the future.

  Upon witnessing this scene, General Xiao Mozhou hesitated and said: "Although that warrior was injured, the elite guard of Lord Dick has not suffered any losses. Look at their cavalry still maintaining their combat formation without moving, while we have already lost half of our manpower, including High Priest Jeremiah."

  The financial officer urged: "Kausman, the high priest, is still here. In addition, we have two low-ranking divine masters. If we go into battle in a formal formation, the heavy cavalry will protect the divine masters in the center of the array and assist them. We will definitely win."

  Kausman, the high priest, gritted his teeth and said: "The failure of the ambush was unexpected. I didn't think they would produce such a great warrior. Decades ago, that magical disaster brought by the magician, the holy maiden of the Isis temple fell, and even the tears of the gods on the sceptre were unclear. For a long time, their authority over Egypt will be questioned, which is what we most want to see.

  "The tears of the gods are so important to them, and even more so to us. Don't forget the ancient legend, the descendants of Hatti also believed that the tears of the gods were a blessing from the divine. If we get it, it won't be Isis' blessing to Egypt, but Enlil's great god's blessing to Hatti, which can gather more power to resist the Egyptian Empire."

  Xiao Mozhou's tone was still hesitant: "I'm certainly aware of these things, otherwise I wouldn't have brought the elite guards to set up an ambush here. But you also saw the battle just now, unless we can be sure of success and not leave any clues for pursuit, it's not possible to act rashly again."

  Kausman, the high priest, frowned and said: "Your Excellency, today Jeremiah, the high priest, is dead, and we have lost so many people. If we fail, how can we explain it when we return?" Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly turned his head and exclaimed with surprise and joy: "Your Excellency, don't worry anymore! Our noble god of magic, Glore, has arrived!"

  Several people turned their heads to look into the distance behind the hill, and saw a figure in white robes walking towards them. He seemed to be walking, but his body was stuck to the sand dunes, flying swiftly, and every now and then he would appear in front of several people. This was an old man with a white goat beard, not tall, wearing a headscarf, with deep wrinkles on his face, but his eyes were clear and sharp, completely unlike an old man.

  The elder's name was Galen, and he was the High Priest of the Temple of Syr in the city-state. In most city-states, the lord of the city would also serve as the high priest, but Syr was different. Located at a strategic border crossing, the kingdom of Baren had sent a high-ranking divine magic user to serve as the high priest of the temple, along with three deputy priests: Xiao Mo, Jeremiah, and Cosman.

  Xiao Mozhou is also one of the three high priests of the Xiaoya City-State, and High Priest Jeremiah was just killed by Gabriel's sword.

  High-ranking mages are superior in status wherever they go in the kingdom. Gao Lie is an eighth-level great mage who doesn't care about daily affairs and often travels between Xuya City-State and the Imperial Capital, also holding a part-time position at the Kingdom's Main Temple of the Gods. This time, when Xiaomo Prefecture's governor launched a surprise attack, it just so happened that Gao Lie wasn't there, but unexpectedly he arrived right now, how could this not make people overjoyed?

  The knights, not dismounting, bowed their heads and greeted with weapons in hand, while the three above also bowed respectfully and asked: "Most esteemed great magician, have you arrived? All difficulties will be resolved. Please let us explain everything that has happened here."

  Ge Lie glanced at the distant battlefield and waved his hand, saying: "I already understand what happened here. After we go back, you can explain it to me slowly."

  Treasurer Morton was taken aback and knelt down, saying: "Noble great magician, with your power, we can completely seize the Tears of the Gods."

  Kausman, the high priest, also knelt down and said: "Honorable chief priest, we are fighting for the fate of the Hatti kingdom, but Jeremiah is dead, and more than half of the governor's personal guard have been lost. If we can't get the Tears of the Gods, how will we explain it when we return?"

  A hint of regret flashed in Gale's eyes, and he sighed, "I'll try to help you get out of this as much as possible. I understand the value of the Tears of the Gods, but now is not the time. Look at them, they have such a large merchant caravan, and Roddick with his personal guard. Let's just say that if we were to kill that Isis Temple guardian warrior and Roddick, do you know what that would mean?"

  Seeing that everyone remained silent, Gale continued: "Don't think no one knows it's you who did this. In this place, who can mobilize such power? Besides the Hattie officials, there is no other possibility. Hattie is secretly accumulating strength and currently needs to maintain a superficial peace. The Egu Empire is probably worried that they don't have an excuse to eliminate this force. What you're doing may trigger war prematurely, but the Kingdom of Hattie is not yet prepared, and the time for Enlil's great god to grant victory has not arrived."

  At this point, Gale's voice suddenly stopped, looked up at the distant Lord Dick's convoy and exclaimed in a low voice: "Magic!"

  Kausman, the high priest, turned around and said with some surprise: "It looks like that's just a low-level blessing spell. Why are you so shocked, great sorcerer?"

  ……

  Only in the distance, Maria was already standing on the first carriage, looking up at the sky and murmuring something, her hands clasped to her chest. A faint golden glow emanated from her palms, as if her entire body was covered in a thin layer of holy light. The golden glow illuminated the air, then strangely reflected and scattered, enveloping Gabriel who was kneeling in front of the carriage.

  This is the simplest and most profound divine technique of the Isis Temple priestess, "Isis' Blessing", which can only be performed with the help of the tears of the gods. It is also a test for selecting priestesses in the Isis Temple. This is a blessing technique that not only heals wounds but also eliminates pain, washes away fatigue, restores physical strength, and gives people confidence, strength, and courage. In short, it is equivalent to the comprehensive effect of eliminating any negative influence.

  Maria barely managed to cast it with the help of the gods' tears, but it was only a simple and low-level divine technique, very weak and almost negligible, just a symbol, but this symbol was the most important.

  Everyone around bowed to Jin Hui, including the knights who were about to put on their armor, praising the miracle given by the goddess Isis. Rodick was overjoyed in his heart, and he finally understood what Gabriel had done by leaving Maria in Duke Town for three days, and Maria did it, she really is a saint!

  ……

  In the shadow of the hill, the great magician Gale said with emotion: "Perhaps it's too far away, your puppet eye technique can't see clearly. That is indeed the lowest-level blessing technique of the gods, but it is 'Isis' Blessing' that only the guardian saint of the Isis Temple can use, and it can be summoned with the help of the tears of the gods. The girl in the carriage is the guardian saint of the Isis Temple, I didn't expect them to have a saint already!

  Kausman's eyes widened in an expression of utter incredulity: "How is this possible! My intelligence reports indicated that the Tears of the Gods were only excavated three days ago and hadn't even been sent to Dreamflight yet, so how could the Holy Maiden have appeared already?"

  Ge Lie shook his head and said, "I'm not all-powerful or all-knowing, perhaps only the gods are clear. But to display such divine magic, it can only be the Guardian Holy Maiden of the Isis Temple, so she is the Holy Maiden! We have no way to take action, if we were to snatch the Tears of the Gods from the Holy Maiden's hands, it would provoke the hatred of the entire Lower Egypt, and the Egyptian Empire would have to declare war even if they didn't want to."

  After saying this, Ge Lie let out a regretful sigh: "This Holy Maiden is still quite weak at the moment, what a pity, I wonder how strong she will become in the future."

  Xiao Mozhou's eyes narrowed as he considered the problem very realistically and immediately asked: "Great Divine Master, what should we do now? Withdraw immediately?"

  "No, quickly send a horse to inform the city-state to add supplies and then clean up the traces of the battlefield. Wait until tomorrow and then lead the cavalry to catch up, saying that we've heard rumors of a powerful gang appearing in the desert recently, so we're here to protect them, and then escort them out of the border."

  Xiao Mozhou nodded and said, "In that case, I'll send someone to deliver a generous gift to the several high priests of the Meng Fei Si Temple. Even if they want to investigate today's matter on us, it would be good to have someone to mediate for us."

  Ge Lie looked at him and showed a satisfied expression: "This is what a governing official should think about."

  Character Appearance Table for This Chapter

  Fermyan-Shao Mo: The ruler of the city-state of Xuya, governor, and one of the three high priests of the Temple of Xuya.

  Kausman: One of the three high priests of the Temple of Syria.

  Jeremiah: One of the three high priests in the Temple of Solomon, killed by Gedaliah's sword.

  Kale: 8th-level Archmage, Chief Priest of the Syah Temple, Elder of the Hatti Kingdom's Academy of Magic.

  Mister Morton: Xiao Mo's deputy, financial officer of Xia City Gang.

  This chapter introduces the pantheon of gods —

  Enlil: The chief deity of the Hittite and Assyrian pantheons, grandfather of Mesopotamian goddess Ninlil in myth, seen as a symbol of kingship, equivalent to Horus in Egypt.