A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 994 - Chapter 994 Chapter 686 Entering the City

Chapter 994: Chapter 686: Entering the City Chapter 994: Chapter 686: Entering the City “Sigh…”

Watching the corpse of the green dragon being dragged away, Emilia breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed her grip on the hilt of her sword.

The girl beside her, however, had her eyes wide open in disbelief.

“Em, Em, Miss Emilia? They, they killed a dragon?”

“Mmm… it’s surprising, but since it’s the Tribunal… it doesn’t seem that surprising.”

As she spoke, Emilia sighed.

“Also, don’t call me ‘lady’.”

“But…”

Looking at the girl beside her, Emilia felt that life was unpredictable. Just less than a year ago, during the cold winter, she had been a new god-favored sacred knight, following Duanmu Huai like an ignorant puppy. Now, in less than a year, after adventures in Neverwinter City and the Dark Region, she had become the Chief Knight of the Tyler Church in Neverwinter City–taking over Eribeth’s position.

And the girl, the new god-favored knight, had become her subordinate.

Did Mr. Duanmu look at me the same way?

Looking at the naive and pure girl before her, Emilia was suddenly filled with emotion. Barely a year had passed, so how had she become so old-fashioned…

“I’m only a few years older than you. It’s fine to just call me ‘miss’.”

“Ah, okay, Miss Emilia.”

“Let’s go inside.”

Having followed Duanmu Huai everywhere for a long time, Emilia had become resistant to shock and had managed to quickly regain her composure.

After all, in the Dark Region, the Tribunal had ruthlessly pursued and exterminated the Drow Elves, even taking down their guardian deity, Rose. What was a mere green dragon compared to that? Even if a red or black dragon came, it probably would meet the same fate.

As for the Queen of the Five-colored Dragons… well, to put it bluntly, Emilia thought that if Tiamat dared to cause trouble, she might end up just like Rose.

After all, Duanmu Huai was not an easy person to deal with.

Emilia led the sacred knights of Tyler away, while the others did not have such strong composure. In fact, they were all standing still, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, staring at the scene in front of them, their mouths agape, wider than a chicken egg. This was normal, as they all had felt the terrifying power emanating from the green dragon. Of course, among those present, there were those who could deal with a giant dragon, but…

Thinking this, the onlookers looked at the Night Guards who had returned to their posts with complicated expressions. Among them were veterans who naturally understood the entire process of the battle. Usually, to deal with a giant dragon, special means or magic targeted at the Dragon Race were used, as fighting a giant dragon was genuinely very dangerous and difficult.

However, these men did nothing of the sort, they just overpowered it head-on, simply put– they were stronger than the green dragon, so they treated the dragon as if it were a grandchild, easily disposing of it.

Such powerful guards, just guarding the door here?

Just how strong is the Tribunal?

At that moment, everyone’s expression became solemn.

Clearly, they were dealing with a force far beyond their imagination.

Although Emilia believed she had grown accustomed to Duanmu Huai’s crazy actions, the view that awaited her when she passed through the porch and came inside still took her breath away.

Because she had been here before with a survey team, Emilia remembered that just a few months ago, this place was desolate. Although the black armored warriors were indeed building, she thought that the construction of the territory would take at least three to five years.

But it turned out that Emilia’s thoughts were wrong.

Passing through the porch of the side door, the first thing that struck Emilia’s eyes was an impressive bridge; it was wide enough for dozens of people to walk shoulder to shoulder, and the bridge extended forward with the river flowing beneath it, making a clear “gurgling” sound. Across the bridge was a circular public square, from which three main roads spread out to the left, center, and right.

What was most memorable were the numerous buildings across the way, appearing luxurious, elegant, and exquisitely constructed of stone. Their most prominent feature was the long spires at the tops of these buildings. These round spires were thin, tall, and high, like upright knight’s longspears pointing straight into the sky.

The grand exterior of these buildings, with their towering spires bathed in sunlight, filled with an indescribable sense of sanctity and majesty. So much so that even from a distance, simply looking at this complex of buildings instinctively evoked a sense of awe.

Further in the distance, the Metal Cathedral of the Tribunal stood proudly above these buildings, like a temple on Heaven Mountain overlooking the mortal world.

Sacred, majestic, mysterious, grand, terrifying.

This was Emilia’s first impression upon seeing the city–a feeling hard to describe in detail. As a sacred knight, she had never seen such a style of architecture, nor had she encountered such a magnificent complex, not even the palaces of the lords or the royal palaces could compare to this city.

And Emilia was not the only one with such feelings.

Turning to look beside her, she saw several others not far away who had already passed through the gate, now kneeling on the ground with tears streaming down their faces, clasping their hands in front of their chests in prayer, as if they had witnessed a miracle. Others too lowered their heads, proceeding with slow steps, as if making noise in the presence of such a grand and beautiful city was a sin.

“So, so beautiful…”

Emilia’s apprentice was also stunned, standing still on the spot, motionless.

“Alright, let’s go,” Emilia whispered, then pulling her slightly dazed apprentice along, they followed the priests and moved forward.

However, for them, this was just the beginning.

When Emilia and her companions crossed the bridge and arrived at the circular plaza, suddenly, several shadows descended from the sky, slowly landing in front of them. They were clad in armor, wielding sharp blades, with wings extending from their backs…

“Angels?!”

Not only were her own little followers stunned, but Emilia herself was greatly surprised. Angels, the spokespersons of God, always resided on Heaven Mountain, and except for urgent occasions, rarely made appearances on the Plane of Major Material. And in this city, there were actually angels responsible for guarding?

But wasn’t the Tribunal non-believing in deities?

Emilia also hurriedly lowered her head to pay respect to the angels before her, while her heart was secretly filled with doubts. After all, Duanmu Huai had previously told them about the faith and doctrines of the Tribunal, and according to the education Emilia had received, angels generally served deities… But the Tribunal had no deity to believe in…?

“Mortals, what business brings you here?”

“Greetings, noble angels.”

Neither Emilia nor her little followers spoke, while the old priest by her side hurriedly replied.

“We are the guardians of Tyler, invited here to meet with Your Honor, the Great Judge.”

“I see, follow me.”

Hearing the priest’s answer, the angel nodded at them, then looked towards the others.

“Representatives of the temples, please follow me to the Tribunal; the rest are to proceed to the civic center to complete your formalities.”

After saying this, the angel flapped its wings and turned to walk down the middle road, and the representatives from the various temples, including Emilia and her companions, hurriedly followed.

As they followed the angel forward, Emilia also carefully took in the surrounding architecture–the characteristics of the city were very distinct. Along the sides of the streets stood numerous statues, all of which had basically the same form–these warriors wore armor similar to that of the Night Guards, wielding longswords and shields, with wings on their backs and helmets on their heads, standing silently on both sides of the street, resembling rows of sentinels.

Besides that, what caught one’s attention the most was the pattern of skulls.

Almost every door displayed the pattern of skulls and war hammers, equally silent, emanating an indescribable oppression and sense of fear.

However, for Emilia, she noticed another matter.

That was–the buildings here were very large.

Indeed, Emilia saw clearly that even the outer door of an ordinary building was quite tall. Although they did not compare to the size of the main doors of a church, they were still nearly two meters high. Moreover, one could not see the dark narrow alleys typical of other cities; even the narrowest streets here were as wide as the main roads in other cities…

Hmm… Could this have been Mr. Duanmu’s request?

For some reason, Emilia suddenly remembered how, back at Heim Fortress, Duanmu Huai had struggled to fit through doors, to the extent that later he simply started breaking through the walls. Of course, considering his height and build, that was unavoidable. And in Neverwinter City, he had also complained several times about the difficulty of navigating the streets and passing through doors.

Could it be because of this that Mr. Duanmu requested that the doors and windows of this city be made so large?

“Pfft.”

Thinking this, Emilia couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle, and hearing her laughter, her curious little follower looked at her, but fortunately, Emilia quickly restrained her smile.

When they reached the Metal Cathedral of the Tribunal, the representatives all uttered exclamations of amazement, but Emilia breathed a sigh of relief.

After such a long walk, she finally saw something familiar.

“Please, representatives, go inside; the others wait outside.”

The meeting place was still that hall, but this time, Emilia did not enter. According to the angels, only the temple representatives were eligible to do so. Thus, she could only stand in the corridor with her little follower, who gaped, looking around, clearly dazzled by everything before them.

But what exactly was Mr. Duanmu planning to do?

Emilia gazed at the door, lost in thought. She did not know what was happening, only that Duanmu Huai, in the name of the Tribunal, had extended an invitation to the Church of All Gods, and the temples that received the invitations had sent high priests or priestly officials. Even some who would not attend a king’s banquet also came to the Tribunal at the invitation.

What exactly did Mr. Duanmu want to do by convening these people?

In fact, this was a question on everyone’s mind.

“We have arrived, Sir Judge.”

In the hall, representatives from various temples stood there, watching Duanmu Huai seated in a chair.

“May I ask, what is the matter that you have summoned us for?”

“Everyone is here?”

However, Duanmu Huai did not intend to answer their questions. Instead, he stood up, his gaze fixed on the representatives below, and then he spoke.

“Since you’re all here, let’s reveal ourselves. Wasting time isn’t very meaningful.”

“——————!!”

As soon as Duanmu Huai’s words fell, suddenly, dazzling streams of brilliance descended from the sky, shining upon these high priests and priestly officials.

When the brilliance faded, figures shining with radiance slowly appeared before Duanmu Huai.