"Actually, the term 'cultist' is very general, and there are several subdivisions. Although the current riot was very serious, it was only in the essence of the cult, and it was not the worst and most dangerous devilish cultists, but only a kind of false worship of gods. Even if your compatriots are involved, it's not a big deal. As long as they can find their way back, with the guarantee of our Nikko Temple, the other temples and the castle lords ...... Even if it is the renewing city lord, it will not be pursued. ”

On the way out of the tavern and back to the temple, Feng Yinqiu had been looking a little dull, barely speaking. Pastor Arnold felt that Feng Yinqiu must be worried about those people who were missing, so he opened his mouth to explain to him.

Although Feng Yinqiu didn't really think about it, he also turned his head and smiled at him: "Thank you so much." ”

"The sun shines on your heart. Your ability to accede to Lord Gawain's request to help them track down the Outsider Mage and investigate the Cultist incident would be of great help to Osstar City. Pastor Arnold let out a long sigh. "It is the common responsibility of all the temples to destroy the evil who blaspheme the gods in the name of false gods in order to satisfy their selfish desires, as well as those who are even more evil and twisted demons. On this point, everyone's position is the same. But when it comes to matters related to noble mages, basically everyone will exercise restraint, and no one wants to have any conflict when there is no obvious evidence. The wrath of the gods more than fifty years ago brought disaster to the entire continent, and no one wanted to provoke a conflict between the nobles and the temple again. Therefore, for the affairs of foreign mages, our temple is really difficult to interfere with. Until there is enough evidence, the most we can do is to make suggestions to those mage nobles, and only if they take the initiative to invite us, we can help. ”

Feng Yinqiu nodded. In the past two days, he has been reading the classics in the temple to learn about the history of civilization in the European continent, and the most important event is the great war that directly destroyed the Magic Empire more than fifty years ago. Its effects continue to this day, and it can even be said that the current continent of Europe is nothing more than the wreckage of the Great War more than 50 years ago.

More than fifty years ago, when the Magic Empire was at its most glorious, the magical civilization bloomed with the brightest light ever, illuminating almost every land on the continent. The dwarves in the northern mountains, the orcs in the southern steppes, and the elves and gnomes scattered in the depths of the forests, these alien races that once coexisted with humans, and even needed to look up, were all forced by the invulnerable golems and the earth-shattering spells of the archmage, and the living space was compressed to the limit, and many could only be reduced to slaves and low-level vassals. At that time, every mage was so arrogant that it was as if the whole world was just the fruit of a fruit tree in his back garden, and he could pick it when he wanted to. More and more powerful golems are coming out of the alchemy workshop, three floating cities are rising, and the emperor has planned to start his journey to conquer other continents after perfecting the final step of the magic net.

But no one could have imagined that the most majestic and massive building in the history of Europe would collapse completely after a wave of a wave like a castle built on the beach.

In just a few days when the Emperor was preparing to put the finishing touches on the net, almost all of the temple's high-ranking priests received oracles from their gods in their sleep and in contemplative prayers. The content of the oracles varies, but the general content is the wrath of the gods, angry at the Oyoro Empire's spreading the magic net and plundering nature with impunity. It is a great blasphemy against the gods, an oppression of other beings, and an enemy of all life. So in a very short period of time, a huge wave of opposition to the Empire, the expansion of the magic web, and the mages swept across the entire European continent.

Such a swift and huge response is, of course, not only the role of the oracle. As the empire grew stronger, the actions of the noble mages did become more and more extreme, and it was only the mage class that followed the empire to get glory and great benefits, but the lives of the middle and lower class people did not change substantially, the farmers still worked hard to cultivate the land with simple farm tools, and handed over more than half of the grain to the noble mages to raise various experimental animals, and the desperate homeless people had to risk their lives to mine the rare metals needed by the golems deep underground. The glory of the empire has nothing to do with them, but the temple that can provide them with medical care and spiritual sustenance is a place where they feel more at home. The oracles handed down by these gods spread faster and made waves among the lower populaces far greater than anyone could have imagined. Even the Imperial Mages, who had already begun to use the magic net to teleport across the continent instantaneously, were caught off guard by this speed and power.

Compared with the resistance and resistance of the middle and lower classes of the people in the empire, the reaction of those alien races was countless times stronger. Elves, orcs, dwarves, gnomes, and even kobolds and goblins have gathered all the forces they can muster to form a huge coalition to attack the empire from all sides at once. Under the influence of the oracles of the gods they believed in, even the weakest young children and dying old men became fearless warriors, and captive orc laborers, dwarven miners, and elven slaves revolted.

In the beginning, for the Imperial mages, this sudden riot and war was just an accident, far from a threat. To them, the alien coalition was nothing more than a bunch of angry beggars struggling before they died, no more difficult to deal with than an animal waiting to be slaughtered in the face of legions led by golems and the omnipotent arcane. But they soon found out that things were not as simple as they thought, because the resistance and rebellion of the middle and lower classes of the people actually led to the empire to the point of semi-paralysis.

The demonic civilization has indeed developed to an unprecedented level, and even the gods are just some high-dimensional aggregates of pan-conceptual consciousness in the eyes of many archmages, even if they are now above all beings, sooner or later they will lie on the test bench for their dissection and analysis like those experimental animals. More than 118,000 kinds of arcane arts engraved in the magic web involve all levels and aspects, and are almost omnipotent. But when more than eighty percent of the people, miscellaneous servants, merchants, nearly half of the soldiers and middle- and lower-level officers refused to serve the Imperial mages anymore, and continued to cause trouble, they realized that the original magical civilization and arcane arts were really not omnipotent.

More than half of the golems are not functioning properly due to lack of maintenance, replacement parts and lack of power. And the war cannot rely on the Golem, those things that need elemental crystals to drive can only be used as the main force for attacking and decisive, without the assistance of soldiers and officers, it can only be some bulky and expensive waste, and transportation to various battlefields is a big problem in the absence of logistical support. This is only the most direct manifestation on the battlefield, and in the wider social strata, all production and circulation links are completely paralyzed. Many mages have begun to specialize in psychic spells, just to be able to manipulate more people to do things, but this has further led to the loss of manpower and escape, and no one wants to become puppets controlled by spells.

The forcible capture of civilians and the conscription of soldiers provoked fierce resistance, and the empire fell into the abyss of internal and external difficulties in an instant. The alien alliance gathered on the Great Plains of Oro, and the front of the army was directed towards the imperial capital of Oroyusta. But even at this time, the empire was far from despair, and they used the last killer weapon to activate the three floating cities that had just been trial-produced, which were not only the highest crystallization of the magical civilization, but also the ultimate war fortress that the empire planned to use to conquer other continents, and the most powerful arcane annihilation shockwave was enough to turn everything within a radius of a hundred miles into dust powder. But at this time, the high priests of the elves, orcs, and dwarves all burned their lives and used the ninth-order divine magic divine presence technique, fully manifesting the power of the gods in this world. The root law deprivation could not resist even the constant number of ten-ring protective arcane arts on the core power furnace of the floating city, two power furnaces exploded out of control, one was completely disabled, and at the same time, it was accompanied by thousands of mage spells on the entire Oro Great Plains, and tens of thousands of spell items were destroyed.

The collapse of the three floating cities marked the complete collapse of the Imperial army, and the coalition forces invaded Oroyosta, smashing the most brilliant pearl in the history of European culture. They destroyed the Magic Web Nexus located in the Imperial Palace and the Academy of Magic, destroyed all magical devices and spell items they could see, killed all the mages they could see, burned down the library, and almost completely reduced the centuries-old city to ruins. Fortunately, except for some red-eyed orcs, the nature of the other aliens is not violent, so there are no large-scale civilian casualties.

But this war was not a complete victory for the coalition forces. Before the crash of the floating city, tens of thousands of allied troops were turned into various corpses with several wide-area attacks, and there were not many golems and mages stationed in Oroyosta, and less than a third of the alien coalition forces could actually return to their habitat after victory.

And the most fundamental damage is that the entire continent is implicated. In the next ten years, the followers of the three gods who showed the majesty of the gods on the battlefield, the gods of the earth element, the god of the wind elements, and the beast gods, almost completely lost the ability to obtain the gods, and the root law turmoil was also a great harm to the gods themselves. Then came the frequent occurrence of geological disasters on the continent, landslides, and earthquakes increased by at least ten times, and suddenly the unpredictable extreme weather turned the southern prairie inhabited by orcs into a small half, and turned the northwest wasteland into a flooded country, and the crops of the entire continent were all lost, and there was a famine in a small area every year. The habits of many animals began to change, some became extremely ferocious, others rapidly degraded, and it was finally under the control of elves and druids that did not cause a large-scale ecological disaster. The destruction of the Demon Net Hub, although it did not collapse the Demon Net, which had been fused with the laws of the world, caused by the turmoil that increased the probability of animals and plants on the entire continent turning into monsters dozens of times, and the originally peaceful and peaceful wilderness became dangerous.

For any living beings on the continent, this battle has brought unparalleled disaster.

The Emperor and the direct royal family are all dead, the most brilliant archmages are basically all dead, countless arcane research has been destroyed, and the great magic empire of Oyuro seems to have been completely destroyed. But then, the civil strife in various places quickly subsided, and the nobles everywhere suddenly realized that they had no object of allegiance, and there was no need to entangle with the low-level people and the temple, and the temporary concealment of the three gods also made all the temples shake, and before there were further oracles, they also stopped harassing the local noble mages. The badly damaged alien coalition quietly disbanded and quietly returned to their respective habitats.

The turmoil across the continent suddenly stopped, and the heart and mind of the giant Oroyo Empire were crushed to pulp, but the limbs and torso survived almost intact.

This strange peace of mind did not last long before it was shattered by the ensuing succession of natural disasters. In the face of a huge existential crisis, the temples representing the middle and lower classes of the people and the aristocratic mage class quickly reached an understanding, although the major temples have a huge low-level cohesion, but there is no fine execution, adhering to the will of the gods, they have no impulse to govern, and the status of the noble mages is still irreplaceable.

The natural disasters that lasted for more than ten years had reduced the population of the empire by more than half, and after exhausting everyone, it had miraculously brought the originally divided mage class and ordinary people together again. The rule of the mage nobles everywhere was renewed, and the nobles carefully maintained their hard-won status. Taxes were drastically reduced, no one was spending a lot of resources on arcane research, and even unearthing the imperial legacy beneath the ruins became an unwelcome and dangerous move.

This delicate balance has endured. The noble mages were careful not to touch the sensitive lines of the temple, and the temple and the church tried not to interfere in the affairs of the nobles.

The temple texts are very detailed about the most important change in the history of Europe, and Feng Yinqiu has read it very carefully, so now Pastor Arnold understands it as soon as he says it. As for the changes at the level of noble mages, the major temples will never interfere in them. As for Gawain's attitude, he stood on the basic position of the doctrine of the Guardian Hand, feeling that this was a dangerous factor that threatened the safety of many people, and if there was evidence to disprove this inference, then he would definitely stop.

In Feng Yinqiu's view, this is somewhat like the relationship between the Jianghu sect and the government above Shenzhou, in principle, the two sides are opposites, but in essence, they cooperate with each other and tolerate each other. However, the situation in the Euro continent is more deformed, the cohesion of the temple is undoubtedly stronger than that of any gang mountain gate, and there is no conflict between them, but the noble mages do not have the righteousness of the court, and the power in their hands is not enough to overwhelm people, they can only rely on social inertia and the tacit understanding between them and the temple to maintain a position that does not seem to be very stable.

However, the tacit understanding and unspoken rules honed in the disaster have binding force beyond the imagination of ordinary people, because it is filled with countless human lives. In the absence of external blessings or accidents, this seemingly foundationless balance is not so easy to break.

"It's okay, I'm very interested in this alien mage myself. Feng Yinqiu replied lightly. "And the cultists. Even if Mr. Gawain hadn't made such a request, maybe I'd have looked into it myself. ”

"But I must warn you, if this mage is really the type who is good at fighting, then he must be a very dangerous, very difficult guy to deal with. Pastor Arnold's face was solemn. "Arcane is far more diverse than all other divine arts, and it is said that there were more than 100,000 arcane arts in the Imperial Age, and even if many of them are no longer known, they are still a very large and complex system. A mage who is good at using it flexibly and has rich combat experience, even if he only uses one or two rings of arcane art, is much more dangerous than those nobles who only know how to smash people with four or five high-level arcane scrolls. What's more, it is unlikely that a mage with rich combat experience will only use low-level arcane. ”

"Thanks for the reminder, it's okay. Feng Yinqiu nodded and agreed casually.

This nonchalant attitude made Pastor Arnold a little worried, and he couldn't help but raise his voice: "This is a very important thing! But as long as you start looking into this, I won't be able to stay with you......"

"Don't worry. Thank you for your concern, it really doesn't matter. Looking at Pastor Arnold's anxious appearance, Feng Yinqiu couldn't help but smile. The two had only been together for two days, but even if the mission of the temple was abandoned, the priest of Oro was obviously genuinely worried about himself. "If it's just combat, that's fine, because I'm also a combat mage. ”

"I know, I know. With Lord Gawain's affirmation, and seeing your previous battles, I know that you must be a good fighter...... Well, mage. But fighting with mages is not so simple, there are many tricks in the arcane, and many times it is not even a frontal battle, all kinds of illusions, all kinds of conspiracy traps are the way those cunning guys like it..."

You can rest assured of that. Conspiracy or something, I know those tricks very well. Feng Yinqiu smiled meaningfully. "For example...... Maybe you'll figure it out in a little while. ”

"What do you mean?" Reverend Arnold really didn't understand.

Feng Yinqiu stopped talking, and just continued to walk forward seemingly nonchalantly.

It was getting dark, the number of pedestrians on the road was decreasing, the lights were already turning on in some places, and the narrow street where the two men walked seemed quiet. It is a convenient side road built on the hillside to the Temple of the Sun, and there are many people passing by during the day, but there are not many people at this time.

There was a constant commotion at the intersection ahead, as if a group of people were arguing over something, and then a fight broke out in a short time, and one of them was so outnumbered that two people on the other side were holding their heads and running away, and they fled towards the hillside path.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!" the two men fled quickly, and soon rushed to a short distance in front of Pastor Arnold and Wind Yinqiu, shouting at them who were in their way. Both were sweating profusely and panting, and one of them had his head broken and blood all over his face. The group of people in the back had weapons such as clubs and daggers in their hands, shouting and chasing after them with murderous violation.

Pastor Arnold frowned slightly, hesitated slightly, and then turned sideways to get out of the way, waiting for the two to pass by. The Sun God Priest advocates light and justice, but it is not a pure belief in goodness like the Guardian Hand that writes salvation into the teachings, and the key point is that it is obviously a bit like the infighting between the gangsters and thieves in the port, which happens almost every day, and it is difficult to say who is right and who is wrong, or basically dog-eat-dog-eat-black. So he didn't mean to shout out about these people, at most, when those people caught up, he would stand still a little and stop them, so that they wouldn't cause any trouble.

But when the two of them had just passed by, and Pastor Arnold had just turned around, the two sweaty men who looked extremely embarrassed quietly turned around, and the pitch-black daggers in their hands stabbed silently into their vests.

Of course, the dagger didn't stab, and Feng Yinqiu just turned around as if he had expected it, and stretched out his hands to hold the hands handed over by the two of them.

When Pastor Arnold turned around when he was alert, he could just see Feng Yinqiu smiling at him, "Look, yes. ”