Praise of the Light to the Dark Knight

——The knight who was killed was telling the truth, Yalan is in this city!

The Lich Asius was hiding in the bushes outside the fortress. As soon as he arrived, he clearly saw the radiant magic barrier in the air—in the eyes of humans and even elves, spiritual power has no special light effect Yes, not as brilliant as some massive elemental spells, but in the eyes of the dead lich, the spiritual power of a holy tree elf has a very magnificent color, layer after layer like the reflection of the sun on the water, colorful and beautiful. Not dazzling, it seemed that all the beauties he had seen in his life were projected from his memory.

He could find Yalan's location almost at a glance—it was the only holy light his dead eyes could see in the gray world.

Dazzling, as if returning to the old days when holding a sword in the palace of God.

It's just that I can still hear a few annihilation priests singing weird spells, and the fantasy is fleeting. I don't know where these priests made such a spell from a broken book full of unsightly spells. Although Hughes was a serious paladin leader before his death, he had been dead for 20 years. He had a lot of time to adapt to his new identity, and he also made up spells that he couldn't learn when he was alive. Hughes unexpectedly discovered that he still has a bit of talent for being a mage-he memorized the awkward ancient spell after listening to it once.

— but no one knew he learned it, did they?

So Asius stopped far away in the shadow of the woodland, and looked at the annihilation priests with their feet on the back of their heads very indifferently, leaning against the tree with their shoulders in their arms, as if feeling unwell due to the too strong holy light in front of them , the annihilation priests didn't have any doubts, because the other undead creatures in the team would indeed shy away because of Yalan's spiritual power soaked in holy power-not to mention that they already knew that the three high-level undead were folded in the hands of the high priest, The one that survived was also destroyed.

Their task is not to fight head-on against the forces of light in front of them anyway, but to let the spirit bodies recalled by these spells consume the group of people who threaten them the most in the fortress, and then it is the turn of the undead army to attack.

"What if the Silver Heart Fortress lights a beacon and warns the surrounding main cities and even the whole of Oslant?" Asius didn't care if the priests wanted to concentrate on singing, he asked whatever he wanted, but these priests No one dared to ignore him.

An annihilation priest who took a rest on rotation said: "Of course it's impossible. How long has it been since these beacon towers have been lit?"

"Hundreds of years." Arthur said.

"That's it. Even though the war between the Northwest Territory and the Orcs had never been lit 200 years ago, there was no need to light the beacon at that time. The ancient magic empire has been strong for a long time, and it has developed a stable and peaceful state. Confidence, this is equivalent to the south gate of the hinterland of the empire, the commander of the fortress will not light the beacon lightly, the Catilla family has used hundreds of years to win honor in the northwest battlefield, more than ten generations, they will not let the hundred years of fame Destroyed once."

"Oh?" Asius looked at this well-mannered priest differently, "You actually know the thoughts of the nobles of the empire clearly."

"Of course, how many exceptions are there for all the nobles in the world? They live and dream in these false names, or even in the prosperous world they imagined. The fact that they are slapped on the face may not wake them up. The decadent, old worldly world Kingship."

Asius listened noncommittally.

The pastor suddenly smiled: "But you should be familiar with it, even the Temple of the God of Light is not immune to these things, right?"

The Lich's face changed very slightly, and he heard the priest continue to say in a joking tone: "Did your lord go through things that were inconsistent with the paladin's standards before finally giving up and standing in the current camp?"

Asius moved obviously, his fingers curled up unnaturally, and the sharp claws seemed to be stretched out, but he moved his knuckles, and those fingers still maintained their human disguise.

The pastor laughed confidently: "My lord, you are not allowed to lay hands on believers."

For a moment, Asius really wanted to break the priest's neck, to let him know what it means to speak without restraint, and to speak out from the mouth.

But the annihilation priest didn't seem to have much fear of the master behind the lich. When he looked at Asius, he didn't have the same respect as other priests. Even Ashus suspected that he was being provoked - a big living person is fine with provocation Lich, how much do you dislike your longevity?

It's just that the pastor was right about one thing, Asius couldn't kill him, no matter how much Asius wanted to scratch his neck with his claws, twist his spine, or dig out his heart and throw it into the fire.

The lich's master would not allow him to do so.

"You have to know that the master ordered me not to harm the priest of Annihilation, but an order is never perfect logically." Asius stared at the blood on the priest's neck, pulling the epidermis of his face, revealing a row of paleness the teeth of.

"Of course." The priest nodded. His black hair was long and straight, hanging on the sides. Compared with other annihilation priests, he had the temperament of a black mage. tip.

Then the pastor raised his head and said, "My lord, although what I just said is true, don't take it to heart."

... The focus of this sentence is actually the first half, right?

Asius and him stared at each other for a long time. The priest faced the soul fire in the lich's eyes, but his eyes never flickered.

"What's your name?" Arthur asked.

The pastor grinned, "Sissel."

The lich snorted coldly in a very human way: "Well, may your god bless you, Sissel."

"My God, of course He will, and He will bless more people." Sissel showed an inexplicable smile.

The beautiful spiritual power in the distance is still flowing in the air, like the morning light over the white spire of the temple every morning. Asius has not thought of that scene for too long.

Sissel was right.

Asius is now a lich walking on bones, but he still feels that even when he was a paladin, he could not be considered a completely stalwart paladin.

Arthur was already 32 years old when he became an apprentice knight.

Now this Holy Lord named Mino became an official Holy Knight at the age of 17. Everyone commented that he is worthy of being the Holy Lord in the future. This kind of glorious feat is unparalleled. It is almost broken to be a knight at such a young age. According to the records of the temple, although normal paladins are not so young and promising, they can still be a paladin squad leader at the age of 25 or 32. Asius, who is only [-] years old and becomes an apprentice knight, is basically equal to a miracle in the eyes of everyone. .

On the school field where the paladins were selected, a man who could be seen no longer in the ranks of teenagers was beaten so helplessly by teenage children that he rolled left and right on the ground in a state of embarrassment, and some onlookers even shouted booing.

"Wow, grandpa, can you do it!"

"Hey girl, be gentle, respect the old and love the young!"

Asius took a mouthful of dirt, got up silently, continued to grab the sword on the ground with trembling arms, and the 14-year-old girl who was fighting him looked at the paladins on the viewing platform as if asking for help, with a face It was written clearly asking for help, she really couldn't do anything, but this "grandpa" just wouldn't surrender.

Most of the candidates who came to participate in the selection were teenagers and girls, and the youngest one was only eight years old. Suddenly, a 32-year-old Asius, who had never learned martial arts, appeared out of nowhere. They were all very surprised, the children chattered around him and looked at him curiously.

The girl was finally saved, and a knight commander in the stands signaled to stop here, and announced that the girl named Moiraine was selected as an apprentice knight.

The selection of knights in the central main hall is still very strict. This year, less than [-] children were selected, and those who were not selected left disappointed, but many said they would come again next time, or go directly to the branch hall to try their luck.

But who doesn't know that the real paladins are all concentrated in the Knights Templar.

After the crowd dispersed, there was still one person standing in the empty space.

"You are already so old, why do you suddenly want to be a paladin?"

Asius, who was standing here blankly, suddenly heard a gentle greeting from behind, and at the same time a ray of light lit up on him, and his wound slowly felt a little comfortable.

Asius' eyes widened in surprise. Behind him stood a priest, a very young, good-looking...and an elf priest.

The elf tilted his head, a pair of pointed ears were exposed in his light golden hair, and he shook slightly, looking at Asius's bleeding wound, he said apologetically, "Ah, I'm so sorry, my healing technique is too much. No, I'm a sword-wielding priest."

Asius nodded half-understanding. At this time, Asius still didn't understand the meaning of the sword-wielding priest. He looked at the elf with a blushing face. The elf was very young, and his face was between a teenager and an adult. In the meantime, compared with the elves with almost eternal elegance in the legend, they have a little more youthful feeling of secular teenagers.

"Are you 32?" the elf asked.

Asius nodded, and then the elf asked, "What did you do before?"

"I... used to be the footman of the squire's family in the town."

"Then why do you come to be a paladin now? You can't escape because the squire oppressed you? You have suffered and want revenge? Fleeing in an accident? There are sick people in the family who need money? I still wanted to come to the Holy Light City because I was too poor before. ?” The elf immediately imagined many kinds of miserable life experiences, which made Asius stunned for a moment, feeling that he was really not worthy of the stage.

He blushed even more, and said, "Because before, I didn't know there were paladins in this world."

The elf clearly showed a dull expression.

... For this reason, if the bard arranges such a past for the hero in the song, the audience will throw rotten eggs.

"In the countryside, I thought that the squire was the best and most powerful person in the world. That adult is really nice and often helps the poor in the town, so I served him at his house. A few days ago, a paladin came to his house As a guest, I realized that I can still be a paladin, and then the adults gave me a sum of money to help me come here." Asius scratched his head.

"Then why do you want to be a paladin?" The elf's voice was a little floating.

Asius had a thoughtful answer to this question, and he answered decisively: "Because the paladin is a good person, he must be a useful and good person."

This kind of simple answer impressed the elf priest by accident. Ashus soon discovered that the elf's status in the temple was not low. Because the elf said a word, Asius was elected as an apprentice knight. You know, He is older than the junior martial arts instructors.

After a long time, Asius didn't know whether he was a good person or not. On the surface, of course he was, but he was referring to his own definition of the word "good person".

Six years later, Asius became one of the two Grand Commanders of the Knights Templar, and he set another record—the latest to become a Paladin, and the fastest to become a Paladin Commander.At that time, everyone didn't know that in a few years, Mino would become the Holy Lord in only two years at the age of 19, so Asius still held the record for the fastest promotion of the Paladin at that time.

On the eve before Asius accepted the position of the Grand Commander of the Holy Light Knights, the then Holy Lord Davida was a woman, a thoughtful but a little oversensitive woman. She secretly summoned Asius at night and handed him A task that made him wonder in what mood to complete it.

"You are very close to the chief priest of the ruling group, Yalan Diliansi."

"Yes." Asius resisted not blushing, and answered the Holy Master's question frankly, "Without Lord Yalan, I would not be able to become a paladin."

From a simple and ignorant manservant from the countryside to an excellent and dignified paladin commander, in a sense, Yalan is the guiding light on his growth path.

Lord Davida nodded and said, "I am facing a difficult problem now. I realize that there is some kind of crisis hidden inside the temple... I am worried that something will happen one day that we are caught off guard."

Asius' eyes widened, and he wanted to say something, but was stopped by the Holy Master.

Davidia continued: "I know you don't know much about these dim things, but I can't teach you now. I need you to do one thing for me, and you can't tell anyone."

"...The subordinates must do their best."

"Very good." Daviya nodded with satisfaction, "I'm sorry, but I may ask you to do something inappropriate... Asius, if there is any crisis in the core of the temple one day, neither the high priest nor I can take care of it. You also know that there is no candidate for the Holy Son. At that time, the chief priest of the ruling group of the temple will have the right to exercise the highest power of the temple, but you know, he is an elf, he is a high elf, a person who in the eyes of ordinary humans is almost The perfect and eternal high elf, I need you to be his concern in the secular world, I need you to use secular means to assimilate that elf, so that he can really be used by the temple wholeheartedly, and will not be in danger in the future. Run back to his elf sanctuary."

Asius was astonished: "No... no, Master Yalan will not be in a crisis..."

"You don't have a family, and your background is ordinary or even low, so you haven't realized the price you need to pay to master the temple. As a human being, when you become a holy master and sever ties with the secular family, you still hesitate and feel sad. , What I am saying now is that in the future, if that elf faces a situation where he needs to choose between his elf status and his duties in the temple, you need to be a bargaining chip on the side of the temple."

Lord Davida showed unprecedented worry and anxiety about the future. Although later facts would prove that she was a holy master with a keen eye, Asius at the time did not quite understand where her worries came from. Maybe it was As she said, the newly appointed Knight Commander didn't know much about those tricks, so Asius remained silent for a long time, but still agreed.

So later Asius felt that he was not a good person, he was a bargaining chip.