Chapter 145: The Fruit That Courted Death

In the City of Goblins, building after building collapsed from a distance amidst loud, rumbling sounds. Huge boulders crashed to the ground, kicking up billowing clouds of thick smoke.
Amidst the explosions, flames burned fiercely across the streets.
Lance stood upon a pile of rubble, holding his gold-inlaid sword high above his head. Under the glow of the fires of war, he radiated an extraordinary majesty.
"Brothers, the commander can no longer fight! We must avenge him!"
He let out an angry roar: "I, Lance, am willing to take over the commander's duties and lead everyone to defeat those werewolf scum!"
The Paladins of the First Knights of Victoria cast their gazes over. According to the regulations of the Order, in the event of an unexpected tragedy befalling the commander, Lance was indeed qualified to assume command.
However...
"The Lord Prophet is over there!"
A Paladin suddenly spotted Lin Lei. The Paladins of the First Knights shuddered uniformly, and then surged forward in a mighty horde in that direction.
"Quickly find Lord Prophet!"
"We need his leadership!"
In an instant, the Paladins surrounding Lance had all run off.
Amidst the thick smoke, Lin Lei and his companions dodged bombs while successfully rendezvousing with the Paladins.
"Where is Brooke?"
Not seeing the Second Knights anywhere, the Paladins replied, "Lord Brooke is up ahead, fighting the werewolves."
Lin Lei looked around. Through the heavy smoke, he vaguely caught sight of the fires of war raging on the other side of the city.
However, the path leading over there had already been blanketed by iron cannonballs. These terrifying goblin bombs posed a massive obstacle to the elves.
"Hold the line for now!"
Lin Lei shouted aloud, "Find out who is launching those bombs!"
The Royal Mages immediately began chanting incantations. Streams of magical radiance gradually took shape, transforming into a stable protective barrier all around them.
Inside the barrier, all was calm; even the shockwaves of the explosions were successfully blocked.
"Eve, pinpoint the direction of those goblins!"
"Understood! There is one three hundred meters to the left!"
Eve's lantern flashed brightly. As she pointed a finger, the elves drew their longbows. The humming of bowstrings echoed across the heavens, and a torrential, overwhelming volley of arrows completely blanketed a goblin base.
The iron balls flying from that direction vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Well done!"
Lin Lei praised Eve, telling her to continue guiding their direction.
Archers began to dominate this battlefield, gradually drowning out the sounds of the explosions.
"Why were you separated from the Second Knights?"
Lin Lei inquired of the Paladins.
"We were searching for the teleportation array in this area!" the human Paladin replied. "To prevent the goblins from activating any more teleportation arrays, we must inspect every nook and cranny."
Hardly had his voice faded when a plaza at the end of the street suddenly lit up. The ground flashed with the light of teleportation, and batch after batch of werewolves materialized there.
"There's a teleportation array over there!"
The expressions of the human Paladins shifted drastically as they gripped their longswords tightly.
"Food! I want food!"
"I haven't eaten a thing all day!"
Howling, the werewolves rushed out of the plaza and immediately began scavenging for something to eat.
The elves were dumbfounded.
These werewolves, having just emerged from the teleportation array, swept through the streets like a plague of locusts. Wherever they went, not a single morsel of edible matter was left behind.
A little bat hiding beneath the eaves of a roof sensed something was amiss and tried to flee, only to be snatched up by a werewolf and swallowed alive on the spot.
"Hiss..."
Every single elf drew a sharp breath.
They were even eating bats—just how starved were these creatures?!
"These werewolves aren't the ones we encountered yesterday!"
Lin Lei reminded them. Although they wore the same armor, the aura emanating from these werewolves was far more terrifying than that of the two troops he had encountered yesterday.
The two batches of werewolves they met yesterday had both been detachments—one tasked with cutting off reinforcements, and the other with assaulting a satellite city.
As for this current force, it was undoubtedly the main invading army of werewolves targeting Sloka.
Regrettably, these main forces seemed completely unaware of Lin Lei's terrifying reputation. After briefly filling their bellies, they brandished their weapons and charged directly toward the elves.
The next moment, Lin Lei's holy light slashed across the street.
"...Finish them."
He used but a single sword strike, then put away the Blue Sky Song. The White Lady led the Paladins in a charge with an utterly expressionless face, leaving only a single Paladin behind.
"Great Prophet!" This young Paladin ran up to Lin Lei, fervor gleaming in his eyes. "Can you teach me this sword technique?"
This was the first time Lin Lei had ever heard of a Paladin wanting to learn swordsmanship from him, rather than inquiring into the secrets of the holy light.
"What is your name?" Lin Lei asked.
"Lance," the Paladin replied with utmost enthusiasm. "My name is Lance, Lord Prophet!"
Lin Lei felt the name Lance sounded somewhat familiar. He patted Lance on the shoulder and said, "Very well. If you can manage to survive this war, I will consider teaching you!"
It was merely a blank check, but it was enough to leave Lance ecstatic.
"Lord Prophet, rest assured! I guarantee I'll survive!"
Radiating golden light from head to toe, he scampered off toward the werewolves. Lin Lei raised his head to look at the sky.
The offensive of the iron balls had become negligible. The elven arrows had not only slain the goblins but also carried flames with them, triggering violent detonations across various parts of the city—Lin Lei couldn't help but wonder what thoughts went through the minds of goblins blown up by their own bombs.
The thick smoke slowly dissipated. By the time the Paladins shut down the teleportation array, the roaring noises in the city had also vanished.
Lin Lei led his troops sprinting toward the front lines, and the scene that greeted him on the battlefield left him dumbfounded.
"Yiyaaaaaah!"
"No, stop it, aaahhh!!"
"Little Prince, save us!"
On one side of the battlefield was a ferocious brawl between the Paladins and the werewolves, while on the other side, four pieces of fruit were running around in circles while crying.
A mighty horde of werewolves was hot on their heels, chasing them with red eyes.
"Don't run!"
"We really aren't going to eat you!"
"Just join our legion!"
"We don't believe you at all!"
While fleeing for their lives, the fruits continuously hurled fruit bombs backward, remarkably managing to bog down all of those pursuing werewolves.
"How did they get here?!"
Lin Lei asked in astonishment, "Didn't I leave them in the royal palace?"
Considering that Banana's illness had just recovered, Lin Lei hadn't wanted it running around everywhere following him, so he had deliberately left the fruits behind in the royal palace when he came out today.
That should have been the safest place possible; how on earth had they ended up here, and why did it look like Brooke had used them as bait to lure away the werewolves?
"Lord Prophet, I know." Lance eagerly ran over. "They claimed they were experts at dealing with goblins, so Commander Brooke brought them along."
"Then why were they being used as bait?"
Lin Lei continued to question.
"This..."
Lance couldn't come up with an answer.
Lin Lei was somewhat displeased. He decided to teach the four fruits a lesson so they would understand what courting death truly meant.
They were indeed adept at dealing with goblins, but they were only specialized in dealing with those two particular goblins who had tried to traffic them, quite unlike the goblins found here.
Furthermore, aside from the fruits themselves, Lin Lei was even more infuriated by the Knights' actions of bringing them along without consulting him first.