In the dark.

Faint artificial lights flickered in the dark alleys.

The cold night breeze passed between the buildings, carrying the rancid smell of the gutter corners through the streets and alleys, and the ancient buildings stood in this dead and cold night, and the starlight shone from the eternal sky, sprinkled on the roofs, spires, and walls, so that these dark and dull things revealed a hazy and vague outline in the dark night, and in the gap between the outlines, a figure flashed from time to time.

The figures who took advantage of the flash of the stars had a nervous and resolute aura, and they walked in a slightly panicked step in the darkness, passing a message to neighbors, relatives, and friends, which needed to be silenced: "Wait for the first bell of dawn to ring." ”

Bloom, the turbaned cobbler, walked down the dark streets, and the night breeze in the early hours of the morning seemed to carry a malice, and he could not help shivering slightly—he did not know whether the tremor was due to fear or exuberance, or just plain cold, but he felt as if a flame was burning in his chest, and with this flame he dared to leave the door and go out into the street.

The curfew orders issued by the clergymnasians in the church district are long gone, the soldiers and papal knights who patrol the streets are gone, the outer city has been out of control for days, and a dark tide that had been hidden in the darkness has been rising in the past few days, and now it is finally time for it to wither and decay.

A new figure appeared on the dark street, and the cobbler's footsteps hesitated slightly, but he quickly recognized that the figure was a weaver he knew, and the two people quickly approached, and they looked at each other's faces in the dark, and asked softly in a low voice, "Wait for the bell?" "Wait for the bell to ring."

A flickering fire moved from a nearby corner, and the cobblers and weavers looked immediately in the direction of the fire, and they saw men with torches—a blacksmith who was known for his boldness approaching them, and behind the blacksmith were women with oil lamps, farmers with pitchforks, and apprentices with clubs.

The blacksmith handed the torch in his hand to the cobbler: "Don't hide it, it's a capital offense to go out." ”

More and more people came out of their homes, some craftsmen, some farmers, some apprentices, these scrawny people seemed to have come out of hell, but there were flames beating in the eyes of each of them, they gathered between the streets, and more and more torches and oil lamps gradually illuminated the streets and alleys as the crowd gathered, and in the flickering firelight, there were still chaotic, but unusually determined eyes.

"Wait until the bell rings." "Remember, it's a friend with a white cloth belt tied around his arm." "What about friends outside the city?" "They've ......"

No one can say who started the news, and no one knows who is driving everything tonight, but everyone knows - they have eaten the last of their family's food, gathered the last of their strength, they may not survive tonight, but as long as the sun rises tomorrow, everyone will be free.

Bloom, the cobbler, held his torch and looked to the west of the city, where a little fire flickered on the dark walls.

The soldiers guarding the city gates looked nervously at the situation under the city walls with oil lamps, and beside him were two other soldiers who were just as nervous as himself, and in front of him were a crowd of black oppressors in the vast field outside the city, and countless shaking fires in the crowd.

The commotion of these people from the villages and towns near Lu'an, the neighboring cities, and even from the next territory was gathering in the wilderness, and the commotion from them was getting louder and louder, and behind the procession, more people were coming along the gravel road, and the light of the torches stretched over the wilderness, like a burning serpent that was gradually trapping the city of the Church that had stood for hundreds of years.

And in the wilderness, the most striking are those who stand at the front of the crowd, wearing heavy white armor and carrying a giant hammer on their shoulders, and their bodies are surrounded by light.

Those were the White Knights from Cecil.

They represent not Cecil's armed forces at this moment, but the new Order of Light.

"Open...... Do you open the gates? The soldier asked the veteran beside him with trepidation, he touched the white cloth belt tied around his arm, and his voice was full of fear, "Will they ...... us too?"

The veteran soldier was also dazed in fear, but he knew that there was no choice, and that the soldiers who had been stranded in the outer city and on the city walls had been completely abandoned after the priests had completely closed the doors of the church district, and that after losing the support of the church, the soldiers who still had the brains voluntarily lowered their swords and became accomplices in this chaos - or rather, allies in this righteous deed.

"Open the gates," said the veteran, "let the Cecil in, and the blockade of the city will end." ”

The iron-clad winch began to turn, the chains drove the bearings to creak and rattle, and the heavy gates of Lu'an City finally opened again after being closed for dozens of days, and the crowd gathered in the wilderness watched the gate gradually open, and then countless pairs of eyes fell on the front of the group.

The white knights, dressed in heavy armor, were the first to step forward, and these men covered in steel gave people endless courage like a lighthouse in the night, and the huge procession moved, following the white knights and rushing towards Lu'an City.

The soldiers who opened the gates trembled and hid in the shadows beside them, watching the heavily armored knights silently lead the crowd, watching the large and chaotic procession pass through the gates, in which they saw almost any profession they had ever seen in their lives—farmers, blacksmiths, leatherworkers, stonemasons, poor men in tattered clothes, well-dressed merchants, some carrying only pitchforks and sticks, others carrying swords and spears, some ordinary people, Some are like mercenaries who have just stepped off the battlefield......

The soldier even had the illusion that it was as if the entire southern border had gathered here.

……

Half an hour before the first rays of sunlight rose, there was a large and chaotic sound of heavy and chaotic footsteps in the streets paved with gravel and a small number of stone slabs, which even made the whole ground tremble slightly, and with these movements, the light of countless torches appeared from all directions, and in the shaking light of the fire appeared countless strange but friendly faces.

Warriors dressed in strange white armor and dressed as if they were cast in light came out of the crowd, and these warriors came to the restless citizens of Luan, and from under the helmets decorated with wings and inscribed scriptures, a low, friendly voice came: "We are the White Knights under the command of the Patriarch, and we have come to help the people of the Light. ”

As described in the news that has been circulating in the city since a few days ago, the allies of the Light have appeared in the darkness, and the powerful White Knights have led the people of the Light from far and wide to come to the rescue of the Holy City that has sunk in the darkness.

The two teams quickly merged, and with some guides, the huge procession began to move in the direction of the cathedral.

There were dozens of white knights surrounded by holy light, they were only a small part of the whole group, but they walked in the front like arrows, and among these knights, a hazy shadow did not attract anyone's attention to approach the leader of the Knights.

Amber's figure emerged from the shadows, and she looked up at the burly white knight: "I didn't expect so many people to gather......"

The burly white knight was none other than Wright, he was not wearing a helmet, his scarred face was full of resolute expression, he looked down slightly at the petite half-elf: "They come from the whole Luan region and the neighboring city of Carol, and the team has been gathering in the wilderness for several days - this is your credit, without you, people would not have seen the truth about the decay and depravity of the Church of the Light, and they would not have been able to gather so consciously with righteous indignation. ”

"I'll take the compliment," Amber said with a slight smugness, and then there was a hint of curiosity in her tone, "but I didn't expect you to come in person—as the Patriarch of the Protestant, you didn't stay behind...... Old rice dumplings...... The Duke sent you? ”

"My own decision," Wright said lightly, then paused for two seconds, his tone more serious than usual, "this is our mission." ”

Amber blinked, listening to Wright's solemn voice continue to sound in the night:

"Cecil's roots in the Dark Mountains have made it face to the threat of the wasteland, and whenever Cecil is attacked by aberrations, the lord will always stand on the defensive line, and I have learned one thing from him - a leader's decision may cost hundreds of people, sometimes it is necessary, sometimes the sacrifice of the people is voluntary, but the leader can never accept these sacrifices with peace of mind, he must stand with those who sacrifice, and be ready to shed blood together.

"This is a war of the Light, for the change of the Light, for the freedom of faith, the unarmed ordinary people have to challenge the transcendent who are far more powerful than them, this change will inevitably have bloodshed, this bloodshed is necessary, but as the leader of the Protestantism, I cannot just let them shed blood.

"That's why I'm here."

Wright carried the mechanically powered warhammer wrapped around the belt of St. Job, and walked forward with a firm step, while Amber was slightly stunned in place, and after a few seconds, the half-elf shook his head: "There are really some weirdos around that guy......"

Ten minutes before dawn, the crowd gathered in the large fan-shaped square in front of the church district.

The place that had once been used for heresy trials and burnings at the stake was now crowded with people, and the smell of burning grease of the flames permeated the entire square, and more and more people were still pouring in from all directions, but the limited square was no longer able to accommodate more people, so those who came from farther away had to assemble in the nearby streets.

As the crowd grew, and as time went on, louder and louder noises began to sound from everywhere, and even strangers began to shout angry slogans in the crowd, some sword-wielding mercenaries shouted curses at the cowards in the church, some merchants brandished their canes angrily denounced the injustice of the Church of the Light, and some people stood on several high platforms on the edge of the square, waving their fists to denounce the priests in the cathedral as villains, butchers, and man-eating devils—this fierce anger even shocked the people of Luan in the square. They couldn't imagine why these allies from afar could be so angry with the priests in the cathedral.

This anger even surpassed them.

The terrible commotion in the square reached the church district, and the priests, who had been locked up in the inner city walls and pretended to be deaf and dumb for many days, could not sit still, and climbed to the walls and towers of the inner city in amazement to see what was going on outside—and then the surprise turned to horror.

Person.

The square was full of people.

It was a crowd that would terrify both priests and knights with extraordinary powers.

At the same time, in front of a key magic array in the inner city's chapel district, Severn Terry confronted a black-robed priest with a tattoo on his head.

Looking at his fellow church members in front of him, Severn Terry sighed, "Stand down, Alcott, there is no other way. ”

However, the black-robed Monk of the Order only stood motionless in front of the Divine Array, and it took him a long time before he broke his silence: "The Knights and other Monks of the Order will soon notice the anomalous ...... in the chapel area."

Severn Terry couldn't help but take a step forward and said in an excited tone: "Can they resist here for a while, for a lifetime?!" ”

The black-robed priest looked into Severn Terry's eyes and said with a calm expression, "...... But my mission is to hold the barrier of the chapel district—unless death ends my mission. ”

Looking at the calm expression of the clergyman in front of him, Saiwen suddenly read the true message from it.

He frowned, his voice full of sorrow: "Alcott, I know, in that heresy trial...... Although you hide well, you are also the one who wavers in your faith. Don't hold on any longer, I know who you are, you know what the church has done over the years, and you know how much they have done in the last year......"

"I am a priest of discipline, and the maintenance of order in the Church is my everything, and this is the vow I made before the Light," the black-robed monk interrupted Severn Terry calmly, "Do you remember the vow you made before the Light?" ”

The ordination monk was responded to by a ten-second silence and a firm word: "...... Of course remember, never forget. ”

"Very well," the Monk of the Precepts sighed softly, showing a relaxed expression, "Priest, do what you have to do." ”

Severn Terry was at a loss, and he walked towards the black-robed priest in front of him, but he seemed to have forgotten what he had to do.

"The bell is about to ring."

The black-robed priest's words suddenly sobered him up.

He looked at the black-robed priest in front of him in astonishment, and heard the other party say quietly:

“…… I'm a precept monk, I know all the secrets in these churches, it's my job...... Priest, do what you have to do, that fragile door can't stop the angry crowd, and if the magic circle is still running after the bell rings, many people will die. ”

Severn Terry felt his blood curdle, a cold sensation spreading from his heart to his limbs, and he heard the faint first bell ringing in the distance, the last request of a pious one:

"Kill me, save the Light."

A warm sensation spread through his fingers, and Severn Terry felt his coagulated blood regain its warmth, and he saw a dagger in his hand, the tip of which sank into the Monk's chest.

The Monk of the Precepts fell, and the Divine Array in the Chapel area lay silently on the platform behind him, where holy runes shimmered slightly.

Severn Terry rushed to the node, and the black-robed Monk of Discipline fell to the ground staggeredly, and in the low hum of the Divine Circle, he heard the bells ringing from afar become clearer and louder, and heard the door of the church area collapse with a bang.

He exhaled, and with his last breath came a soft murmur:

"Lord......"