dtnovels Chapter 636 Embers Knight
Chapter 636 Embers Knight
At this moment, there were no miracles, no divine figures, only a group of ordinary people who had lost the protection of their bloodline, singing the same simple song with the power to block the wind.
They called this joint team - Bright Embers.
The embers are small, and if you hold them in your hands, they will scatter with the wind. But if you have many hands, the wind will not be too strong.
At night, Carron planted his flag beside a pile of stones. Under the gravel, Celine quietly buried a fragment of the holy emblem, scraped from the ruined city wall. She told no one, only thinking to herself: Witness it.
The next morning, the first rays of sunlight pierced through the gray clouds, illuminating a thin glimmer of light at the end of the flag. The glimmer didn't grow, but it remained steady—as if telling everyone who looked up: Go north. Sing as you go. Don't stop.
When the Bright Embers gathered in the North, a secret spread in the dark:
——Under the ground of a ruined city, the remaining archbishops of the Holy See of Light restarted the "Trial of the Stigmata".
This ritual is not one ordinary person could endure. Legend has it that this is a forbidden ritual passed down from the ancient God of Light himself. It requires a sacrifice of flesh and blood, an offering of pain, in exchange for the inscription of holy light upon one's bones and blood. The chosen one will have stigmata burned upon their bones, their combat power skyrocketing, but they could also die from the incineration of the holy light.
When the Embers, led by Carron and Celine, reached the ruins of an ancient monastery, they encountered the first group of people returning. That person radiated a faint golden light, his skin cracked and streaked with blood, but his eyes shone brighter than fire. Half of his arm was gone, but he could still lift his sword.
"I...I passed."
He cried out these words, and then collapsed like a burnt-out torch.
Sister Mara examined his remains. When her fingertips touched the streaks of blood, she felt a faint remnant of holy power. She whispered, "It's true. The Stigma Trial is real."
Everyone was silent. The wind rustled through the rips in the armor, a whisper of a reminder: if you want to rise again, you must pave the way with pain.
The Embers of the North built a makeshift altar amidst the rubble. Atop the stone platform sat a shattered holy symbol, rusted yet still gleaming faintly. Brother Avero placed his hands on the symbol and read aloud from the incomplete tome:
“If blood can purify the soul, then offer blood sacrifice;
If pain can generate strength, then offer it with pain;
If the body can ignite, then burn it."
Every word was like a hammer hitting my heart.
Ilio's face turned pale as he muttered, "This isn't cultivation, this is suicide."
But Carloen said coldly: "The difference between cultivation and suicide lies in whether others can remember your light after you die."
His wooden leg landed with a thud in front of the altar, and he was the first to kneel, with his arms outstretched, exposing his scarred chest.
"Holy Light, grant me the mark."
At the start of the trial, Mara used the fragment of the holy symbol to carve runes into Kaloun's chest. The sharp edges sliced through the flesh, and blood flowed along the lines. Each line pierced his bones, like a raging fire boiling beneath his skin.
Carlon's face was pale, but his eyes were firm. He even laughed in pain: "Haha...it turns out that pain is also a kind of prayer!"
After the rune was carved, blood and the remaining light of the holy emblem intertwined. Suddenly, a fierce light burst from his chest, as if to burn him to ash. Celine reached out, but he stopped her, "Don't touch it! This is my sacrifice!"
After a moment, the light faded. A burning six-pointed stigmata appeared on Carron's chest, and his wooden leg shone silver under the holy light. He stood up suddenly, his entire body like a burning mountain.
"I'm alive!"
He raised his sword high, and his voice was like thunder.
The knights instantly knelt on the ground and shouted in unison: "The Holy Light is immortal!"
However, not everyone succeeded. The second young knight who attempted this had his entire body exploded during the process of engraving the stigmata, turning to charcoal.
The third sang an entire hymn in agony, and at the end his heart stopped beating, but a smile appeared on his lips.
Mara wiped the blood from her hands and said in a hoarse voice, "Their souls will turn into the flames of holy light."
That night, the entire altar was covered in blood and holy fire.
Some die, some rise.
Those who survived had stigmata on their bodies, and their eyes were sharper than steel.
Celine whispered to Ilio, "Did you see that? Once the mighty of blood lose their divine glory, they become like swaying duckweed. Yet, these ordinary knights, through suffering, have forged an unbreakable faith."
Ilio fell silent, thinking of the former demigod army, those proud figures long since reduced to ashes. And these "embers" before him, though scarred, were reborn in the flames.
"Perhaps," he murmured, "they are the true children of light."
In the distance, Brother Avero raised his empty chalice and declared:
"After tonight, we are no longer remnants!
—We are the Embers!"
After the Stigma Trial, there were not many survivors, but the eyes of every surviving knight were like burning charcoal.
Their chests were bloodied and mangled by the stigmata, yet they remained upright. The blood did not weaken them, but instead seemed to infuse them with a new strength.
Carron led the thirteen Stigmata Knights at the front of the group. Every time his wooden leg struck the ground, a dull thud echoed. That sound was different from before—it carried a rhythm, a power that made everyone's heart beat in unison.
"Ember Knight—forward!"
The horn sounded beneath the gray clouds, rough and hoarse, but it moved the remaining soldiers to tears.
A roving mercenary force - they took advantage of the defeat of the Holy See of Light to plunder villages and towns in the north.
"Reclaim the temple they burned down."
"Rescue the enslaved civilians."
This is Embers Knight's first goal.
Celine raised the scorched flag again, sewing a patch of cloth with the holy emblem on it. The white piece fluttered in the wind like the flame of a burning candle.
In the mist of dawn, the Embers slowly approached the enemy camp. The mercenaries laughed heartily as they saw a group of shabby knights, their armor in disarray and their horses few and far between.
"Hahaha—the stray dog of the Vatican!"
"Holy Light? He's already dead!"
Their jeers were like stings, but the Embers Knight did not respond.
All the knights knelt at once, their shields nailed to the earth, their swords across their knees.
They prayed in unison:
“If blood can be sacrificed, let it be offered with blood;
If pain can offer, I will offer it with pain;
If my body can burn, I will burn it."
The mercenaries' laughter gradually faded as they saw pale golden holy marks appear on the bodies of the remaining soldiers, burning beneath their skin like flames.
In the first wave of charge, the Embers Knight did not raise his sword, but raised both hands at the same time, allowing the light of the holy marks to gather in the air.
The light condensed into an illusory giant statue, as if a paladin walked out of the flames, holding a huge sword, and crossed the battlefield.
The mercenaries retreated in horror: "What the hell is this!"
The shadow stepped on the ground with a loud bang, and the front row of the enemy was shaken to pieces.
Carlon's wooden leg landed on the ground with a thud, and he shouted, "Forward!"
The Embers Knights charged in unison, the sound like a rolling iron stream.
The battle didn't end with the illusion. The Embers were merely remnants, and the enemy vastly outnumbered them. The mercenaries' arrows rained down like a storm, leaving many knights wounded and falling to the ground.
However, the fallen man did not groan.
Blood flowed from their mouths, yet they continued to sing hymns.
"The Holy Light is Immortal! The Holy Light is Immortal!"
The song is like an iron nail that pierces everyone's heart.
The children in the back row saw the knight singing in a pool of blood, and they also clenched the stones in their hands and shouted: "The Holy Light is immortal!"
The mercenaries began to panic.
They killed dozens of them, only to find that the enemies were still laughing before they died and still praying after they died.
"Mad men! They are all crazy!"
With one blow, Celine lifted the enemy general's shield, and the broken blade slashed down diagonally, severing his helmet. She turned and thrust her flag into the center of the enemy formation. Blood splattered on the white cloth, only making the flag shine brighter.
"Ember Knight, follow me!"
The knights roared in anger, the light of the stigma gleaming with every swing of their swords. Even with their bodies broken, each of their strikes carried an unstoppable momentum.
The mercenaries' lines were finally breached, and the Embers Knights took advantage of the situation to charge in and rescue hundreds of imprisoned civilians.
The victory was not complete. The Embers suffered heavy casualties, with one-third of their number falling on the battlefield.