As it darkened, snowflakes fluttered and fell softly on the corpses of Doyle's soldiers. On the wooden stands, the corpses of all the soldiers that could be found on the battlefield were neatly arranged. Their nameplates have been removed and will be returned to their families, and a duplicate of the same nameplate will be created, and will be permanently stored in the towers of Wolfsburg along with those of the soldiers who were alone and without their families, and will be remembered by the Doyle for generations to come, along with those who died in the Darktide War.

The soldiers piled up firewood under the supports, and twenty soldiers lit firewood at different positions at the same time, and the flames gradually rose to ignite the corpses in the bottom row.

"Your life is like a meteor in the northern sky, short but brilliant, and glory accompanies you until the end of the world. Byron's trembling voice still exuded majesty.

The fire grew larger and larger, gradually engulfing the second layer of supports, the wooden supports and firewood crackled, and the cold wind blew through the flames and whirred. All the surviving Doyle soldiers put their left hands on their chests, clenched their fists, and bowed their heads to mourn the loss of their comrades.

"Death is not the end, but another beginning, and in another world, you are still heroes. Byron silently bowed his head and placed his left hand on his chest.

The flames scurried up to the highest bracket, and Maurice's body was placed in the center of the third bracket, and the armor that had been completely dyed black and red shone in the firelight, and the knight captain's face was serene, and the flames gradually drowned him. Nerfi fell to his knees, crying silently, Stan handed his handkerchief, and the mage took it and wiped his tears, but more tears came out of his eyes.

"Maurice, my dear brother, I swear to you that we will defend the fruits of this victory with our lives, that the war is not over, and that more severe tests are coming, and that you and the dead warriors will be with us in the light of light. Byron fell to one knee, his sword deep into the earth, and bowed his head to say a final goodbye to Maurice and all his dead compatriots. All the Doyle soldiers followed the king and fell to one knee in unison, silently bidding farewell to their departed comrades.

As the fire dimmed, the Doyle continued their journey, the armory not far ahead, and the soldiers dragged their tired and aching bodies toward the woods where the armory was. Stan looks back at the end of the line, which can be seen clearly even in the dark of night, through the aurora lights, and is filled with emotion. According to the preliminary statistics of Officer Doyle, the expeditionary force originally had a total of 2,060 men, and now there are less than 600 people left who can still march, plus more than 50 wounded people who were lying on stretchers and carried by their companions, more than 1,400 people were killed in this battle. Two-thirds of the officers and soldiers were killed, and Stan was no longer lucky enough to find Ramsey in the crowd, and he was saddened by the death of Maurice, a knight he had been a hero in his heart since childhood, dying in front of him.

Stan followed the group on foot in a daze, and all the horses that survived were given to the wounded, even Nerfi, who gave up his mount to the wounded after regaining some strength to walk on his own. Stan still clings to the mage, thinking about Morris's posthumous entrustment.

Before midnight, the party reached the woods, which were still leafy even in such a cold climate, in stark contrast to the other bare woods around them. Unlike the previous time, Stan notices that most of the fallen leaves on the ground have been turned up, and some of the bushes have been uprooted.

"Dark Tide has come here, and they tried to destroy the holy water before us. Stan stepped forward, muttering to himself.

"Yes, this forest is so different that it's impossible not to get the attention of the dark tide. Byron urged the procession onward, and the king looked nervous in a rare way. "I hope our people don't die in vain. ”

Stan walks through the woods from memory, and some of the tallest trees around him are cut down and fall to the side. The knight became increasingly worried that if the tree was cut down, he would never find the entrance to the armory again. After ten minutes of continuous walking, Stan stops in front of a very ordinary cedar tree, and the knight closes his eyes and exhales a long breath. "The seven gods bless, the tree is still there. ”

Byron caught up and looked at the cedar trees in front of him. "The people who built this armory were really thoughtful and didn't mark it with the tallest tree. The king walked under the tree and stroked the trunk, and even the king of Doyle gave up his mount to the wounded soldier, and Byron looked at Stan. "How do you find the entrance?"

Stan slowly walked ten steps with his back to the south side of the tree trunk according to the method Fern had used to find the entrance, and then stood quietly in place, and it wasn't long before the earth where the knight had walked had sunk and the entrance to the armory was once again in front of Stan's eyes.

"Good, Stan. Byron patted the knight on the shoulder, turned to the rear and ordered, "Brewster, you lead the soldiers in the rear to camp here, and I will take the rest of the men down to find holy water, remember, we will leave tomorrow before dawn." ”

"Yes. It was the first time that Brewster had received an order directly from the king, and he was so excited that he almost forgot to salute the military salute, and the knight gave the order loudly to the soldiers in the rear, his tone was full of astringency and nervousness, he had never given an order to so many soldiers, but after the death of his boss and his superior's superior, he had to take on this responsibility.

Byron led more than a hundred soldiers, guided by Stan, to the room where the holy water was stored, and the entire warehouse shone with a holy blue glow in the light of the torches. "The Seven Gods are with us. Byron exclaimed in amazement, and the Doyle soldiers cried out in amazement. Nerfi clasped her fingers together, her lips pressed to her hands, and she prayed silently.

Stan emerges from the tunnel, greedily breathing in the fresh, cold air of the woods. The tents had already been erected, and according to Byron's instructions, Brewster had not built too many stake walls, and the Doyles had already learned their habits in their centuries-long war against the Dark Tide, and having just gone through a great battle, and their commander had been killed, and in a few days, the Dark Tide had absolutely no chance of returning. But Brewster still placed some stakes on the north side of the camp and sent ten archers to guard them.

The soldiers continued to carry the wooden fence containing the holy water from the armory, and then turned back to carry the rest of the holy water, and after a day of extreme fatigue, the Doyle people continued to do what they had to do without complaint.

Finally, in the second half of the night, when all the holy water had been removed, Byron himself pressed the formation, followed a few soldiers and finally returned to the ground, and saw dozens of baggage carts filled with holy water neatly arranged in a circle around the tent, and the king looked up at the sky, gesturing on his chest, and silently reciting something in his mouth.

That night, Stan was so tired that the knight's head touched the stiff pillow and fell into a deep sleep. In the dream, Maurice's heroic figure kept appearing, and finally, the knight captain walked into the distance, and his back gradually faded away. "Stan, promise me to protect Nerfi. ”

Before dawn, Stan is woken up by Brewster, and the new commander is so conscientious that he barely sleeps all night, his eyes bloodshot. "We've got to go, Stan, and wake up the mage. ”

Stan pats Brewster on the shoulder. "Don't be nervous, you're doing a great job. ”

The Commander nodded gratefully at Stan, turned and walked out of the tent. The knight walked towards Nerfi's tent, but found the mage standing outside the tent and she had woken up. The girl nods at Stan and begins to pack her things with a blank face. Stan had thought that after yesterday's battle, Nerfi would change a little, but the mage in front of him remained indifferent, and the knight frustrated picked up his luggage and walked towards the assembled team.

For the next four days, Byron gave everyone only five hours of rest each day, marching late into the night and then departing punctually five hours later. The result of the king's reluctance to make such a great sacrifice may have been safe for a day or two, but it is difficult to say for four or five days, with the presence of dragons, if the demons chase them on horseback, they will be able to catch them before they return to the realm of Doyle.

Every day, Nerfi healed the wounded soldiers with a little recovered mental power, and under the magic of the mage, miraculously no wounded died on the way home. This was almost impossible in the past, with at least a third of the wounded after each battle dying within two days of the end of the battle, and half of the wounded dying within a week. Nerfi's status rose among the soldiers, and the wounded who saved their lives almost called her a saint.

In the early hours of the fifth day, the expeditionary force finally saw the lighthouse-like Ferrer Fortress on the other side of the border, and the cavalry in the barrier quickly came to meet the exhausted expeditionary force. When the two groups of soldiers met, everyone erupted in deafening cheers, and the soldiers hugged and celebrated each other, some of whom were already in tears. Byron's stern and resolute face finally relaxed, these four days were still not easy for him, and he was always worried that the dark tide would come from behind and snatch the fruits of their countless lives. Stan looked at the boiling crowd and smiled silently, and Nerfi turned around in front of the knight and smiled at the knight. Stan froze, this was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen in his life, and he was convinced that he would never see a more beautiful smile in his life, this moment was forever engraved in the knight's heart.

Three days later, Byron returned to Wolfsburg with holy water, and the king gave a speech in the square in front of the castle in memory of all the soldiers who died heroically in the territory of Sarah, and all the name tags were hung high and shone brightly in the sun. The Doyle, who had lost their loved ones, did not weep, they buried their grief in their hearts, and all of them raised their heads in the direction of the king, their faces full of determination.