Faced with an ancient rebel who is full of mysteries and has an unclear purpose, and controls the Cathedral of the Holy Light, Carmel, who is also a rebel, advises Gawain to be vigilant and keep his distance, while Wright, as the Patriarch of the Southern Church and a strong advocate of promoting the new doctrine of the Holy Light, thinks that the other party can cooperate, such a situation that Gawain did not expect before.

He looked at Wright, "Tell me your reasoning." ”

"From a practical point of view, we can't leave the Northern Church alone," Wright said seriously, "The question of faith can easily turn into a fierce conflict, as exemplified by the conflict between the Holy Light Church and other denominations in the past two years in the process of expansion, which is the problem at hand." Leaving aside the purpose of Her Highness Veronica, the fact that she currently holds the Platinum Scepter, as well as the fact that the Pope and the Bishopric of the North have all fallen, makes her worthy of cooperation - she can help us control the situation, otherwise the turmoil in the Northern Church could turn into a catastrophe. ”

"Is it just about value?"

“…… No, there's a second point," Wright continued, "and if her identity is true, then whatever her purpose, at least she's a 'disobedient to the gods.'" There are not many like-minded people we can find on this path of renunciating the gods, so even temporary fellows are very precious. ”

After a short pause, he continued: "We need to convey the right beliefs to the world, and this process may be inevitable, but it cannot rely on violence. There are many people in the world, faith comes from the heart, and we have to turn most people into friends, not mortal enemies, so we must distinguish who can be won over and who cannot be won over - in my opinion, Her Royal Highness Veronica, or Ophelia?? Norton is one of those people who can be wooed, at least at this stage. ”

Gawain glanced at Wright in surprise.

It is clear that contradictions are prioritized and that the nature of opposing groups is clearly distinguished, and that it is clear who must be defeated and who can be fought for...... He had indeed mentioned this knowledge to everyone around him, and Wright had clearly used it skillfully and easily.

It seems that after sitting in the position of the Patriarch, this "priest" has really grown a lot, and when the goal of his mission has changed from a sporadic individual to a whole group, his perspective has become very different from before.

Gawain pondered.

Veronica/Ophelia, the potential hidden danger of this "inhuman person", he is very clear, and it must mean a certain risk to lure such a mysterious person into his career, but her value is also obvious, and the reception and transformation of the Northern Church are even more imminent, and he needs to balance between interests and risks.

In the end, he nodded slightly: "Perhaps, we can cooperate with her in a limited way." ”

After all, it is impossible for Gawain to trust a mysterious rebel in such a short period of time, with only limited information, but he also has no way to directly reject the other party without insufficient information, and after thinking about it again, he decided to talk to Ophelia?? Norton had a limited deal of cooperation, if the rebel was willing to cooperate, if he was willing to act under a certain level of surveillance, if he was willing to share some knowledge and intelligence.

After all, Gawain himself was full of curiosity about Ophelia, he was curious about what this ancient rebel had been doing in the Church of the Light all these years, and he was curious about how much of the vast disobedience plan was unknown to Kamal, and such a once-in-a-lifetime source of information was in the Cathedral of the Light at this moment...... He really didn't want to miss it.

……

The fighting on the front lines in the far west has subsided slightly, but the war itself, which has spread across a third of the plains of the Holy Spirit and devastated the heart of Ansu, is far from over.

On the edge of the plain, east of Solinburg, in the mountains and passes, the thunder of war roared incessantly.

This pass, made up of several ridges and a large number of terraces of varying heights, is the largest gateway to the East, and was once owned by Silas?? Duke Loren, the Guardian of the East, broke out of this barrier and began the Kingdom's civil war with a thunderous blow to Solinburg, now owned by the Cecil Legion, a powerful magical mechanized force that occupies the ridges and platforms, and uses steel to meet the frenzied crystals that try to break through the blockade and enter the East.

Between the ridges, thunder roared, and in the rock bunkers created by engineering spells, the Crystal Railguns were poking out their accelerating tracks from between the rocks and trees, accompanied by flashes of light, sending deadly cannonballs into the distance; On the high ground, tongues of fire erupted, and heavy burners in the bunkers burned the mountain paths, turning the crystalline monsters that had escaped the artillery bombardment into ashes.

And in the center of the pass, between the layers of pillboxes, walls, and watchtowers, is the core fortress and command post of this defense line - the powerful armored train, the Iron Throne-Zero.

The mobile fortress, covered in black armor and heavy shields, was slowly approaching its intended position, and with the sound of mechanical devices, the repulsive nodes of the train were locked one after another, and the entire train was firmly parked on the track, while the main guns of the train's arsenal section opened fire at the same time, accompanied by several sharp whistles, and the magic crystal cannonballs fired by the heavy railguns whistled through the air and fell into the distance.

Iron Throne?? In the tactical section of Zero, Commander Maryland is standing in front of the terminal of the magic net, reporting the battle situation to Gao Wen in the picture: "A new batch of combat vehicles has arrived at the front line, the defense line of Fort Solin has been consolidated, and the eastern border is safe. ”

Behind the commander, a scorched earth scorched by artillery fire and burners was taking on the crystal window covered with reinforced shields, the watchtowers and armed platforms were glowing with the texture of metal and cement, illuminated again and again in the flash of the magic crystal railgun fire, and the transport device of the armed platform had been connected to the Iron Throne, and a new batch of combat vehicles transported from the White Sands region to the front line was unloading from the carrying section of the Iron Throne, ready to be adjusted by the Mechanics and put into battle, and a large number of soldiers drawn from the Kant region also got off the cars, The heavily armed black-armored warriors were assembling on the armed platform for inspection by their respective commanders.

The holographic image above the magic network terminal glowed, and Gawain's voice sounded slightly disturbing: "Have you noticed any large-scale anomalies on the plains?" ”

"Not yet discovered - we have advanced the northern line of defense to the area of the Xielin crossing, and set up observation posts along the way, but we have not found any anomalies," Commander Maryland replied solemnly, "Now that we are opening up the southern battlefield and are building a second railway line, maybe there will be some discoveries." ”

Outside the Iron Throne, between the mountains and rocks, a metal rail with an elegant arc suddenly poked out and pointed towards the battlefield, accompanied by a low humming sound, a dazzling and terrifying white beam of light pierced the dusk sky, crossed the Iron Throne, armed platforms, front-line ramparts, and pillboxes, and slowly swept across the plain, strafing the battlefield.

The powerful flash of light penetrated the window and reflected on Maryland's cheeks, and at the same time illuminated the interior of the compartment of the tactical section extremely brightly, and Gawain in the communicator frowned: "That was the rainbow cannon just now?" The monster attack is fierce? ”

"Yes, I was about to report - this is what happened in the last two days. The frequency and intensity of the attacks of the Crystal Cluster Monsters increased, and there was even a large army charge, which could only be eliminated by relying on the four calibrator beam cannons set up on the mountain—a kind of large army that had rarely appeared before after the Crystal Cluster monsters had gone into a frenzy. ”

"This may be some kind of omen, the strongest 'monster' that will be created and out of control by the end of everything should have already started to move," Gawain said quickly, "Continue to pay close attention to the situation on the plains, and report any anomalies as soon as they find them - and remind the armored commandos who have entered the war zone not to fight to the death once they encounter a strangely powerful and irresistible enemy, and to retreat as soon as possible, and ensure that intelligence is the highest priority." ”

"Yes."

At the end of the communication, Maryland exhaled slightly, then came to the shield-covered window, staring at the steel line, and at the scorched earth plains beyond the line.

The Iron Throne's orbital system has extended to the edge of Thollin Castle, and the line has advanced to the edge of Thollin Castle, where countless makeshift bunkers, watchtowers, artillery emplacements, and the Iron Throne form an impregnable line of defense, but this line of defense is not a strong wall and shield to defend against the enemy, or rather, more than a strong wall and shield to defend against the enemy.

Its main defense is to crush anyone who comes close to it.

Maryland, who had been a commander at Rock Fortress for many years, had always been quite confident in the field of defensive warfare, but it was not until he came into contact with the Cecil that he found the true meaning of defensive warfare as if opening the door to a new world-

The best defense is offense, as the White Knights say goes: the best cure is to take out the attacker early.

Behind the "platform" where the Iron Throne rests, on top of a stone ridge, a watchtower made of metal frame stands in the wind, the glimmer of the shield floats around the watchtower, the crystal device used for communication and relay signals on the top of the watchtower rotates slowly under the mechanical structure, and below the crystal device, in a hut covered with steel plates, the sentinels are vigilantly observing the direction of the plain.

The sentry holds a military telescope in his hand, this new telescope has added a magic state to enhance the field of vision on the basis of the original optical structure, further improving the effect of ordinary people when using it, in the clear field of vision produced by the telescope, the sentry's gaze is slowly sweeping over a ruin in the distance.

Except for the occasional scurrying monster in the field of vision, everything seems to be normal.

The sentry withdrew his gaze and rubbed his eyes, but just as he was about to turn his gaze in the other direction, a strange flash of light suddenly reflected in his vision.

The flash of light lit up from a great distance, not bright, but as if it had some kind of magical presence, and the sentry thought at first that he was delusional, but soon he saw a second flash appear, and then the flash turned into a constant light, rising in the distance......

In a war zone filled with all kinds of magic, the mere appearance of some light was not worth making a fuss, but the sentry suddenly felt a palpitation after staring at the light for a moment—he actually felt a real malice in the light!

Without the slightest hesitation, the sentry immediately snapped the nearest button.

The piercing alarm bell instantly sounded in the tactical segment of the Iron Throne, and Maryland suddenly raised his head and heard the communication from the sentry at the top of the mountain: "Sir! An unidentified flash of light was observed in the southwest direction! Glitter with extraordinary power! ”

Maryland soon observed the light on the plains, which was now completely constant into a hazy beam of light, and exuded a strong sense of presence, and in the midst of the floating light, there was a strange sense of malice and madness.

That illusory aura didn't have a real effect, but it was enough to make Maryland instantly more vigilant—he realized that it might be the "vision" that Gawain was referring to.

"Immediately connect with St. Sunil," the commander exclaimed, then turning to his subordinates, "Knight Ampel, send a reconnaissance force at once to check on the situation where the light rises—don't be careless!" ”

……

To the southwest of the Iron Throne line, near the ruins of Fort Thorlin, which were covered in scorched wasteland, the earth had cracked, and a behemoth figure shrouded in holy light, but full of chaos, slowly walked out of the crack in the ground and stood silently in place.

It was a huge deer, with antlers cast like light and eyes made of crystal, and a pure light surrounded it, and there was a faint sound of holiness floating in the light, but the body of this giant deer was terrifying and terrifying: its fur was cracked in large swaths, and the filthy flesh wriggled between the furs, and a large number of scorched or festering scars were all over its limbs, and swollen and deformed structures could be seen around the wounds, and every muscle and every inch of skin was constantly agitating and trembling. It was as if those flesh and blood structures had been forcibly pieced together by countless derangement factors, and they were struggling to split at the moment.

But the giant deer itself didn't seem to notice the terrible wounds and mutations, and just stood silently at the edge of the ruined town, like a soulless body.