In the wee hours of the morning, the sky of the Red Blood Fortress was high in the night, and the dawn that tore through the darkness was still not visible on the eastern horizon.

Or... This is the darkest time of the day.

The fire in the cathedral showed no signs of end, and even intensified, turning from a few places into a sea of fire, covering the entire cathedral and the surrounding houses.

Standing with her sword in hand, Charlotte Turin silently gazed at the burning cathedral in front of her, as if she wanted to engrave the scene in her heart and in the deepest part of her soul.

As the lord of the Red Blood Castle, he sat back and watched the Basilica of Byrne be destroyed by the Heresy Order... This stain, which had never happened to the head of the Turin family in the past, appeared on his body.

What a loss of face?

What will the knights of Byrne say about themselves, and what will the descendants of the House of Turin say about themselves a hundred years from now?

Clenching the hilt of the sword in her hand, the pale Charlotte exhaled deeply.

"Earl......" Behind Charlotte, Charles, who was in a hurry, stepped forward, and there was a tiredness that could not be concealed under the corner of his eyes: "It's getting late now, you better go back to the palace first and then ......."

"How's the situation?" Charlotte, whose sword eyebrows were raised, was still as majestic as ever, but the same tired voice was also a little unconfident: "Are the priests and nuns of the cathedral settled?"

"Most of them were temporarily placed in the Red Blood Castle Palace, and a few of the injured were given a place to recuperate for a while. Charles replied unhurriedly, sighing slightly:

"As for the rest, we can only wait until the fire in the cathedral weakens a little before we can think of a way and send people to search and rescue. ”

Charlotte bowed slightly, but she also understood that Charles's "search and rescue" was just a euphemism for "collecting the body" - after a surprise attack and a fire, the possibility of anyone in the entire cathedral surviving was absolutely slim, and even if there were, I am afraid that no matter how desperate the situation is, I am afraid that I will already find a way to kill myself.

"What about the archbishop, has anyone found the archbishop?"

"The archbishop... Before escaping, one of the priests claimed to have heard His Excellency the Archbishop praying at the altar. Charles bowed slightly: "For now, I'm afraid I have returned to the arms of the Holy Cross." ”

Charlotte nodded, but didn't say anything—no need to think about it, knowing that when this matter was over, the Turin family would face the harshest rebuke of the embarrassed Holy Cross Church.

Of course, compared to the problems she is facing at the moment, the church's reproaches can only be relegated to trivial and trivial matters, which are only to be considered later.

"Then he... What about Loren Turin, is there any news of him?" the countess groaned, her gaze a little evasive.

"I'm sorry, but as far as I've heard, Lord Loren is probably still in the cathedral. The steward of the Red Blood Castle said very tactfully: "As for the current situation... It should be life and death unknown. ”

Life and death unknown......

Hearing this reply, the countess tried her best to calm her expression as much as possible, and pretended to speak indifferently: "Yes, what else do I need to know about the current situation in the Red Blood Castle?"

"At the moment, there is still no stability in the city, although a few of the nobles of the Red Blood Castle who participated in the heresy and rebellion have been eliminated as much as possible, there are still many fish that have slipped through the net, I am afraid they have ......"

At that moment, a cacophony of shouts and footsteps came from behind the countess, and dozens of figures with weapons and torches could already be seen at the end of the street.

They wore a variety of armor and weapons in their hands except torches, and even kitchen knives in the kitchen and rakes and ploughs in the households.

The group was flustered and disorganized, and almost all of them, with the exception of a few dozen people at the front, who were "in order", could barely keep up, and wondered if they would have been able to run from one end of the street to the other if it weren't for the torches and a few old swallow-tailed flags.

Looking at the posture of this group of people, even the conscripted peasant soldiers in the countryside of Red Blood Castle are more like an army than them.

"They... Is this rioting?" Charlotte did not hide the contempt in the corners of her eyes, her expression was like looking at a group of ants: "Are you going to take the opportunity of the army to be under martial law on the city walls to overthrow me, the criminal Earl of the Red Blood Castle?"

"I'm afraid so, Lord Count. The gray-eyed young man on the side pulled out his twin swords, and also showed a sarcastic sneer: "What are you going to do with them?"

"Do you need to ask?"

Charlotte snorted coldly: "Charles, you take someone to take charge of the search and rescue work of the cathedral - Loren Turin, I want to see people alive and corpses when I die, no matter what, I have to find this guy, burn him to ashes and bring him to me in a box!"

"As for these deceitful people... Deadly in the name of Turin, the Earl of the Red Blood Castle will not be left behind!"

..........................................

The flames were gone, and only the smoke remained.

Brünnhilde bowed his head silently... The dragon's teeth shattered the ornate armor and pierced her body from her lower abdomen, the tip of a blood-stained silver spear peeking out of her back.

Her slender body trembled slightly, she slowly raised her eyebrows, the star greatsword in her left hand was stuck in the black-haired wizard's shoulder, and the spiral spear that was supposed to also penetrate Loren's body was dodged by him at the last moment.

It's a little "hovering spell".

The frowning brow showed her pain at the moment, but Brunhilde's face did not show much struggle, as if she was finally relieved, as if... No, that's exactly what she was expecting.

"Loren Turin, congratulations... Passed this test that belongs to you. Brünnhilde spoke slowly, his voice extremely gentle.

"Actually, if you want to, there's still a chance to kill me. The black-haired wizard smiled self-deprecatingly, and couldn't help coughing up blood: "I don't think a small 'hovering spell' can really deflect the edge of the Valkyrie." ”

"It doesn't matter, it's important that you start from the front... Defeated me with dignity. Brunhilde said softly, "Worthy of... The Shackles of Fate. ”

"Don't praise me like that, I'll be proud. Loren breathed a long sigh of relief and shrugged his shoulders indifferently: "Valkyrie's personal praise... It shouldn't be something that ordinary people can easily get, right?"

Slightly stunned, Brunhilde suddenly showed a smile:

"You... Not Roland's descendant, right?"

Loren shuddered.

"You're two different kinds of people from him - there are similarities, but there's very little in common, a guy who is really always self-centered, who always says strange things, who always feels like he's different from everyone else, and deserves to be the protagonist of some saga. ”

"That's right, that guy is a real idiot, but it's a stupid guy who can't help but want to protect him and believe him. ”

The dark-haired wizard's emotions were a little complicated, and his throat twitched: "I'm sorry... I lied to you. ”

"Why apologize?" Brunhild chuckled, "Clever little one... You noticed it from the beginning, right?"

After a slight hesitation, Loren nodded.

That's right, he found out... The Valkyrie, who seemed invincible in front of her, had already lost most of her strength, and it was probably all done to maintain her two weapons alone, and it was impossible to maintain a long-term frontal high-intensity battle.

So the positive side that seems to be certain to die is her most vulnerable side.

"Smart, sensible, calm, unmoved by what is in front of you, but able to stick to your heart... You're the exact opposite of Roland, and maybe what he can't do, you'll have the opportunity to do. Brunhilde, who looked soft, sighed softly:

"To become stronger, to become stronger than we once were, and then to break the destiny that was originally destined... I'm sorry, but that's all I can do to help you. ”

"The next road is for you and your companions... Hopefully it will be a little different from ours. ”

Loren nodded solemnly and looked at the female knight standing dead in front of him.

"Take care, there's ......" Brünnhilde looked at him, his eyes suddenly becoming a little more solemn:

"Beware, beware of Asrael!"

These were the last words left in this world by "Black Duke" Roland's best friend, "Valkyrie" Brünnhilde.