PS: Thanks to the readers "Mysticism is all European lies," "Qianxun's Shadow," "Crying Bean," "ndjlcyx," "Only for the Common Folk," "Xiaofei Fei" for the generous rewards, much appreciated!

Wielding Mjolnir and clad in Grey Knight Spiritual Power Armor, Laine was the first to charge in, his warhammer crushing the skulls of five or six Clan Rats in quick succession. Shield or not, Laine shattered them all.

The rodents, high-spirited one moment, crumbled the next, fleeing with screams toward the distance.

The area was temporarily safe.

"Lord Laine!" Abel holstered his fire cannon. "What happened? Why are there suddenly so many Ratmen?"

"I don't know." Laine shook his head repeatedly. "Abel, we need your strength."

"But the people here?" The Demon Hunter hesitated, looking at the survivors in the inn.

"Do you know where the Justice Church is?" Laine shouted to the survivors.

"We… we know." The survivors in the inn answered softly, "Holy Grail Knight, please save us!"

"We've cleared the nearby streets; all of you, retreat to the Justice Church!"

"Understood."

The survivors slowly retreated towards the high walls of Hemgart, where some defenders were still putting up a desperate fight.

Ahead lay the Von Kenesen Residential District, where gunshots could still be heard! Laine immediately signaled everyone to head toward the back of the residential area; Hemgart was filled with thick smoke. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The entire city was gradually collapsing, cries for help and shouts of battle echoing endlessly. The Ratmen were simply too many, their waves overwhelming the entire city, and the scattered resistance could not stop the tide.

In contrast, countless Slave Rats and Clan Rats charged into human settlements under the command of Storm Assault Rats. Adults caught alone were devoured by the hungry Ratmen, reduced to indistinct masses of flesh and blood. The sharp fangs of the Ratmen devoured human flesh, extracting innards and intestines, reveling in a terrible feast.

For those humans barricading their doors and hiding behind cover, the Ratmen had their methods.

Poison Gas Rats hurled poison gas bombs, Fire Rats used dimensional stone flamethrowers to spew fire, and Hook Rats and Assassin Rats savored the humans' desperate screams, whether they were burned into festering masses by green flames or covered in sores and reduced to pus by the gas.

Only a dozen survivors remained in the inn, with half having inhaled the gas and their bodies were deteriorating. Laine found the situation difficult. These people had inhaled the Ratmen's poison gas, and clearly had little time left. They should not be with healthy people!

But to abandon them outright would be against the Knightly Spirit.

Should they risk spreading a plague to all survivors or abandon these people to ensure the plague doesn't spread among them?

As Laine hesitated, Abel had already taken action. The Demon Hunter calmly pointed to the survivors who hadn't inhaled the gas, "You few, come with us. As for you, wait here for reinforcements."

After saying this, the Demon Hunter raised his hand cannon.

The atmosphere was extremely tense; the survivors, barely saved from the inn, realized they might not be greeted with salvation.

"Demon Hunter! You're a scum of the earth, a cannibalistic devil!" a man who had just resisted the Ratmen's attack with all his might cursed bitterly. "I thought you'd protect us! Turns out, it's not the Ratmen that doom us, but you!"

His face was already covered with red spots and sores.

"Bang!" The hand cannon fired, and the man was shot dead on the spot. Demon Hunter Abel calmly pointed the fire cannon at the remaining survivors. "Anyone else have an opinion?"

Eight of the survivors who hadn't inhaled the gas stepped forward, while the remaining ones glared at Abel with hateful eyes, daring not to speak and remaining in place.

Abel didn't care. The Demon Hunter said to Laine's group, "Let's go quickly!"

The group rushed towards the Von Kenesen Residential District. Thanks to Laine and the others' earlier battle, there were temporarily no Ratmen on the road.

"What you did was wrong, Mr. Abel." Surya hesitated for a long time before speaking softly to Abel: "You didn't have to… shoot."

"We can't save everyone, Lady Surya." Upon hearing this from the female knight, Abel nearly laughed. If it weren't for Surya's serious expression, he wouldn't have bothered to respond: "If time allowed, I would have tied them all to stakes and burned them."

"But…" Surya still felt uneasy.

"Mr. Abel did nothing wrong, Lady Surya." The sweet-looking Veronica spoke, holding Yundi's Staff, her slender figure hidden under her fiery red leather outfit. The Jialan Witch said somewhat absently, "If it were His Grace the Duke Francois, he would do the same. We can't save everyone."

"Surya, Abel did nothing wrong," Laine added, shaking his head. "There are gunshots ahead!"

In the distance, on Von Kenesen Street, a terrible battle was underway. About a hundred soldiers were leading over a hundred militiamen in fighting against the Ratmen tide surging from all directions.

An Imperial Captain was commanding the battle. He was badly wounded, with half his face bearing the marks of burns, making him look extremely ferocious. The Ratmen tide surrounded the army from all sides like waves, isolating them as if they were an island in the ocean.