Chapter 293: Reduced to Ashes

Chapter 293: Ashes to Dust

“All units, launch an assault on the Holy Saint camp at any cost.”

“The mission: eliminate every active target.”

“Now, move!”

At Zhou Yan’s command, the Blood Saints, already primed, surged into action at once.

In that instant, the Blood Saints, whose very nature was high mobility, pushed their advantage to its zenith.

They vaulted across rooftops, slipped through the ground, and at a speed beyond belief seized every critical point.

Meanwhile, the Holy Saint troops, hearing the gunfire, had not yet managed a reaction.

Only a handful of vigilant scouts slipped out of the barracks, each bearing a bowl brimming with food.

Seeing the scene, Zhou Yan felt, in the vague shadows of his mind, that this raid was already secure.

Such laxity could never be compared to the zeal of the Chaplain Guard and the Blood Saints, who plotted to snatch their lives.

He already drew the long blade at his back, and simultaneously hurled a grenade from his hand.

“Boom!”

A deafening crack— the grenade struck the ground and detonated.

Within two meters, a scout rolled to the earth, while Zhou Yan leapt forward.

“Swoosh!”

The blade sliced down, blood spraying in arcs.

The first casualty of this rebellion fell, and in the same breath the remaining scouts were cut down one by one.

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”

In his dying breath, the Holy Saint scout shouted a desperate warning.

One could not deny that this elite strike team possessed considerable tactical acumen; upon encountering the ambush, they did not flee in panic nor charge blindly.

They simply reformed their formation, withdrew into the Mechanical Cult’s cathedral, and tried to use it as a fulcrum for a sturdy defense.

“Bang bang bang bang bang—”

The first gunshot rang out.

Immediately after, the Type‑75 rifle unleashed a torrent of fire.

Bullets rained like droplets, sweeping the open ground outside the cathedral clean in an instant.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

Zhou Yan knew he could not possibly stand against such ferocious firepower.

The next breakthrough would have to be left to the Chaplain Guard.

His own task was to lead a force that would sever every line of communication the Holy Saints had with the outside world, and, at the right moment, strike in to finish them off.

His order issued, the Blood Saint squad fell back swiftly.

And then, four detachments of the Chaplain Guard advanced.

“Bang!”

“Bang bang bang bang—”

The crack of automatic rifles, single‑shot rifles, and flintlock breech‑loaders intertwined.

The cathedral’s outer wall was pelted into splinters, yet it was clear such bombardment could not inflict effective casualties on the Holy Saints within.

“Throw grenades!!”

Zhou Yan heard Li Xian’s voice issuing the command from afar, and a heartbeat later, dozens of grenades were lobbed.

“Boom!”

“Boom boom boom boom boom!”

Most grenades exploded outside the Mechanical Cult cathedral; only a few slipped through the windows and fell inside.

The defensive grenades, carefully selected by He Shuo, burst inside the cathedral, scattering hundreds of steel beads that swept across, toppling the lightly armored Strike Team soldiers to the floor.

The scent of blood instantly filled the entire cathedral; amid rising smoke, Li Xian gave another order.

“Advance! Seize the cathedral!”

Two hundred Chaplain Guard soldiers marched in perfect step forward, still holding a decisive advantage in this battle at that moment.

Yet Li Xian knew such superiority would not last long.

And, as expected, when the Chaplain Guard closed to within fifty meters of the cathedral, the Strike Team’s counter‑offensive erupted.

Dozens of grenades were hurled, their explosions echoing.

Immediately after, a handful of Strike Team soldiers surged out of the cathedral, taking cover in pre‑arranged positions and, armed with the powerful Type‑75 rifles, opened fire.

“Bang bang bang bang—”

Where the bullets passed, the densely packed Chaplain Guard fell like wheat reaped by a scythe.

The formation collapsed in an instant; aside from a few exceptionally cool‑headed guards who found shelter, the great majority fled in terror. The first wave of attack had been shattered.

Watching the soldiers scatter, Li Xian felt no stir in his heart.

He stood aloof, cold and almost indifferent, atop a rise, observing the battlefield, waiting for the crucial moment.

By then, the initial two‑hundred Chaplain Guard had lost over fifty men, and most of the rest had fled.

Only a meager thirty remained on the field.

Gunfire grew denser as the Strike Team spread outward.

They refused to hoard themselves inside the cathedral—partly to avoid the danger of heavy‑caliber artillery, partly to end the fight swiftly and wipe out these “rebels” in one sweep.

Under this mindset, the Strike Team’s tactics began to mutate.

When two Strike Team soldiers first became isolated and were hit by hidden Chaplain Guard fire, Li Xian realized the time had come.

“Reserve unit! Forward!”

At the shout, the reserve force lying in ambush at the perimeter surged forward.

As Li Xian had anticipated, after witnessing comrades fall and the attack stall, only one hundred and fifty men were willing to heed the redeployment.

Yet that was enough.

Among those 150, a full thirty wielded automatic rifles!

The firepower edge was instantly leveled; amid the chaos of countless grenades detonating, even though their shooting accuracy lagged far behind the Strike Team’s, the reserve unit, in the first thrust, almost annihilated more than a dozen isolated Strike Team members at minimal cost.

Their numerical superiority swelled further.

Though both sides suffered losses, the ratio had ballooned from ten‑to‑one to fifteen‑to‑one!

Once an advantage is forged, reversing it becomes a near‑impossible task.

“Spread out! Do not clump together!”

“These traitors are about to be finished! Press the attack!”

Li Xian shouted hoarsely, issuing his command; at that moment, the besieged Holy Army could scarcely comprehend how they had become the so‑called “traitors.”

Yet they had no time to ponder.

For the most elite veteran unit of the reserve forces had already surged to the church’s threshold.

“For the Holy Trinity!”

“For Han River City!”

With two thunderous roars, the veterans hurled the grenades clenched in their fists into the sanctuary.

“Boom!”

After the explosion, a dozen veterans surged forward, storming the church.

They possessed no tactics, knew nothing of CQB, could not flank, and had no concept of fire‑resource management.

Yet they charged in, their automatic rifles trained on every moving target.

“Rat‑tat‑tat‑tat‑tat—”

Gunfire echoed through the nave, answered by an even fiercer volley from 75‑type rifles.

The veterans fell in an instant.

But their bravery forged a path for those who followed.

More and more guardians of the faith poured into the church, and when the Holy Army’s numbers dwindled below twenty, they finally declared themselves incapable of resistance.

Li Xian advanced steadily, his hand gripping a pistol now re‑loaded to the brim.

“Zhou Yan, it ends here.”

“Organize the troops, and, according to the list I gave you, eliminate the key figures within the city.”

“Remember my principle.”

“No explanations—no mercy!”

“Understood!”

Zhou Yan’s reply crackled over the radio, and the Sanctified Blood‑bearers withdrew and scattered.

At that moment, Li Xian had already stepped inside the church.

He moved with practiced ease toward the subterranean chamber beneath the nave, pulling from his coat a bomb he had prepared long ago—a cluster of more than ten grenades.

“Let this all come to an end.”

Li Xian swung open the iron door sealing the underground room.

Then he tossed the bomb out.

“Boom!”

After the colossal blast,

the old order of Han River City was reduced to ash and smoke.

(End of Chapter)