Before the night blizzard fell, the legionnaires finally set up a rudimentary makeshift camp - there was not enough wood, so they built a makeshift fence out of snow and ice water, found some dry branches to prop up their tents, and hurriedly built a few campfires for heating.

The battle is over.

The black-haired wizard snuggled up by a campfire looked out at the battlefield not far away, the legionnaires had returned to the barracks one after another, and only the soldiers of the church continued to clean the battlefield, removing the bones of the robes... Or rather, collect the pieces.

But Loren saw more than that.

He had dealt with the priests countless times during his time in Lothair, in the Woods and Ebolden, he sensed their fear of the Holy Cross in Asriel's words, and in the Nine-Pointed Star Wizards' Tower, he could sense the deep fear of the wizards of the Church......

Although all indications indicate that the power of the Holy Cross is terrifying to the point of being beyond measure, for the Church of the Holy Cross... Loren regarded it as a religious organization with a large amount of power and strong capital, which was no different from the various powerful and well-capitalized church organizations in the previous life.

I didn't think about it at all, if there were no real "miracles", if there was no power enough to defend their position or prove the existence of the Holy Cross, why did the Holy Cross Church become the only faith in the Empire, and let the deep-rooted devil like Asriel die out so that almost no one knew about their existence?!

The Knight of the Oath is the "power" of the Holy Cross.

Loren had already seen it once in the battle between the Crucible and the Guardian Knights, and this was the second time.

With just "prayer", they can recover from their injuries, block spells, and even become more courageous - this kind of "unreasonable" power is completely beyond the imagination of the black-haired wizard, and even feels seriously unbelievable.

With the so-called "power of the oath" alone, seven Church Knights were able to lead more than a hundred lightly armed infantry against the werewolves of the Ice Plain, who were four times their size, and still had the strength to break out and join the incoming reinforcements after the fierce battle.

Is there anything more incredible?!

Of course, the knights of the Church who have received this power are not without a price - the "Sword of Oath" needs to give up their identity forever, and the "Shield of Defense" needs to stay in the north for the rest of their lives, and they all need to pay sacrifices.

Therefore, it is not so much power as an "identity", a kind of "shackles", which imprisons these powerful church knights, so that they must wholeheartedly fulfill the "mission entrusted by the Holy Cross" for the rest of their lives.

But there is no doubt that it is still a powerful force, and more powerful than any high-level spell or alchemy - magic always has a price, and the "oath" does not.

In other words, the firmness of their own beliefs determines the strength of their own beliefs, so how should we judge whether their beliefs are firm or not? or......

"Your Excellency Loren Turin!"

A bell-like voice sounded behind him, and the black-haired wizard didn't have to look back to know who it was, and without asking for his opinion, the heavy-faced church knight Naze sat directly beside him.

Pretending to be surprised, Loren looked at the chief knight with the corner of his gaze - at the end of the battle, he saw with his own eyes that Naze was covered in wounds, his waist, chest, shoulder blades, and face, all of which were deeply visible, and the slightest deviation was enough to be fatal, and now ......

Intact as new.

"You've arrived just in time, and we're about to be wiped out. Naze stared at the church knights who were still cleaning the battlefield in the distance, and said slowly, "Is it because you made a statement to His Highness Brandon that he was immediately opened?"

"No, the rangers who delivered the message for you arrived just in time. ”

Loren replied expressionlessly, glancing at him calmly, "As for the person who sent us to march north, it was you—we couldn't risk half of our army being wiped out. ”

"Your reckless move without thinking about the consequences leaves us with no choice!"

Naze frowned, but then let out a long sigh:

"You know... I didn't believe you at first - even though it was ordered by His Highness Conod, I still saw it as a mistake. ”

"And then, we paid the price. ”

"It was an accident, no one could have guessed. Loren said lightly: "And the warriors of the Holy Cross are indeed very brave, otherwise it would not have been possible to hold out until we arrived." ”

"I know that might be very inappropriate... But without their sacrifices, we wouldn't have been able to sit in front of each other so calmly, understand each other, and let us really work together, instead of fighting each other and constantly making trouble for each other!"

"Let me repeat, Lord Naze, we are not here to trouble you, we have come to the north for the sole purpose of dealing with this invasion that threatens the security of the Empire at any moment!"

"It is very inappropriate for you to say that, Lord Loren Turin!"

Naze, who raised his head, had a gloomy face and stared coldly at the black-haired wizard in front of him: "But at least you are right about one thing - for the sake of the faith of the Holy Cross and the safety of the Empire, we must put aside the contradictions and suspicions between the two sides, and truly work together, even if... Even we each still hate each other. ”

A sincere smile appeared on Loren's face.

Believe these fanatics? That's impossible... Especially if there is a high probability that there is a certain time bomb buried among them.

For the sake of the Holy Cross's faith and the safety of the Empire, they can choose to cooperate with themselves and Brandon, so for the same reason, they will not have a moment of hesitation, not even the slightest mercy, when it comes to killing the killer.

Then again, for the faith of the Holy Cross and the safety of the Empire......

It's always the "Holy Cross" in front.

"That's right, Lord Naze. With a formulaic smile on the corner of his mouth, Loren took the initiative to stretch out his right hand: "I promise you that from today onwards, I will definitely listen to your suggestions as much as possible, and I will try my best to persuade His Highness Brandon not to continue to embarrass you." ”

"Persuade His Highness Brandon?"

A hint of uncertainty flashed in the eyes of the knights of the church, and he shook his head: "It is impossible for anyone but themselves to persuade a descendant of the de Salion family, it is their nature. ”

"There is only one thing, you must convince His Highness Brandon that we of the Holy Cross are not his brother's lackeys, that the Broken Mountain Fortress is not his brother's domain, and that we are fighting for Crown Prince Connad because of his loyalty to the Holy Cross and to the Empire. And he did gamble everything to protect the empire!"

"So I want you to tell His Highness Brandon that - to tell him that if he can stand firm in defending our faith, defending this hard-won, powerful and fragile empire, the Holy Cross Church will never mind handing him our allegiance!"

Standing up slowly, Naze indifferently pointed to the blood-stained scorched earth:

"If you can do that, their sacrifice won't be wasted!"

For a moment of tranquility, a little light burst out of the bonfire, like the shape of a holy cross.

The black-haired wizard who raised his head still stared at each other with those calm black eyes: "I will do my best." ”

"I hope so. ”

The church knight who turned around turned his head suddenly: "And... That one of your guards, the bastard son of the House of Wirtz, is called the son of Lusen. ”

"He certainly doesn't look like a deserter, and he certainly isn't a deserter - when he returns to the Broken Mountain Fortress, I will vouch for him as your witness, and let His Highness Connad reinstate his legion and give him a promotion, all of which he deserves, the Broken Mountain Fortress needs a warrior like him!"

"There's nothing disrespectful to you, but such a good soldier shouldn't be just a wizard's guard. ”

"Thank you for your kindness, but Lusen doesn't need to prove anything anymore. Loren replied indifferently: "He decided to leave the Broken Mountain Fortress and never come back." ”

"yes, that's a shame. ”

By the time the black-haired wizard looked up again, Naze had already turned away, walking towards the blood-stained battlefield without looking back, leaving only an extremely lonely back in the dark night......