The cold wind has stopped, and the warm sun is shining.

But the long journey to Silverblade Castle seemed to be getting colder.

Lance rode side by side with the Count and walked at the front of the group. Knights and Rangers followed, wearing black cloaks and armor embedded with fur.

"Have you seen the new pastor?" said Jacob. Already tall and burly, he washed and put on the burqa, which was said to have been cut and designed by Angel for the Templars, and looked even more handsome and extraordinary.

"Well, I did. ”

Martin nodded, and couldn't help but take a closer look at his old friend.

He looks good, the original unkempt has become now high-spirited, not only shaved beard, but also a few pigtails mixed between the buns, I don't know which naughty girl's masterpiece, I think it's his favorite one.

Martin had heard a lot of rumors about Jacob, and it was said that he had walked very close to the girls in the castle tavern, and that after Lord Reims had rewarded Dinar with a lot of flowers, they all affectionately called him "the generous knight", and they all scrambled to climb into the soft bed...

"Hey!"

Jacob seemed to be a little uncomfortable by his red eyes, and his leather-gloved hand let go of the reins and waved at Martin.

"What's wrong?" he asked curiously.

"Ahh

"I say, how does that guy look?" Jacob didn't get angry, but just winked at him teasingly, and smiled with an expression I understood, "Still reminiscing about your little maid?"

"Hey!" this time it was Martin's turn to feel uncomfortable, and he quickly changed the subject, "His name is Brown, and he used to be a farmer, but apparently the Earl and the adults think a lot of money about him, and we had breakfast together." ”

"Oh, is there anything special about him?" asked Jacob, puzzled, this aroused his curiosity, and there were not many people who could get the affection of two adults at the same time, and he had basically never heard of it.

"It looks like that, but who knows?" Martin tapped his horse's belly and sped up a bit, they were already a little out of the group.

"At least he passed the test of the god of Nidaye..."Martin's voice drifted into Jacob's ears far away, he shook his head, and also chased after him: "Test?"

Yes, the test!

The more you have, the more you fear losing.

Lance is like this, he and the Earl can't say who wins or loses, although he became the first apostle, the Count also became the chief knight as expected, so one level lower than himself, it seems that the goal has been achieved.

But so what!

Not to mention that the power of the leaders was divided among the twelve apostles, since Nidaye's order, Lance no longer had the right to appoint knights in the same way as Martin and Jacob, including priests.

God said: From now on, all followers must pass His test in order to be eligible to join the Temple of Order.

This restriction can be said to have put an end to Reims's illusions once and for all.

Originally, in his plan, he would be the sole leader of the Temple of Order, secretly propagating the formation of an army of fanatics who obeyed his orders, and then swept through the kingdoms to wear the crown.

At that time, whether it is the glory of the falcon or the dream of oneself, it will come true.

But the plan can't catch up with the changes after all!

First, the battle to rescue the Count exposed the existence of the Temple of Order, and in order to cover up, he had to pull the Count into the gang, but then the god of Nidaye was dissatisfied with his confrontation with the Count and sent an oracle.

This made Lance feel a deep malice from fate...

Should I give up?

Of course he had to say no to himself!

Although the leaders of the Temple of Order will be twelve, fortunately, the Apostles are very powerful, and according to Nidaya, they will each select talents from the temple and form their own teams to harvest souls and faith for him.

Yes, the souls of sinful people and the faith of believers. As can be seen from the way he made his charism, the love and justice of Nindaya does not seem to be opposed to bloody and violent wars, and even has some desire.

But these are not the focus of Lance's attention for the time being, but the power of the apostles is.

He has the right to appoint and dismiss archbishops and knights below the rank of chief knight, and to form his own forces from there. It's just that the trial of the gods is too harsh, and it can be seen from the fact that only the Earl and Brown passed the assembly of hundreds of people, and there are too few people who can join the Temple of Order, which is why he and the Earl are vying to win over Brown.

After all, the Count didn't want to be just a knight, and he was convinced that one of the eleven remaining apostles would eventually belong to him.

And that just needs to satisfy His desires.

Involuntarily, the eyes of the two of them became more eager to look in the direction of the Silverblade Castle, and for the nobles who were familiar with diplomatic rhetoric, it was also an instinct to find the original meaning hidden under the flowery words.

Ye Ming's careful thinking did not escape the conjecture of the two.

Although it is not clear why, it is enough for the Earl and Lance to understand what he wants, faith is the business of the priest, and the soul...

Both of them had seen the strange point of light, and all they needed now was a war!

As if to fulfill their wishes.

One of the scouting rangers turned back.

"My lord, there is a trace of the Misty Mountain people ahead!" he reported eagerly, looking a little uneasy.

"How many?" asked the Count first.

He was dressed in heavy armor, riding on a majestic warhorse, and on his back was a man-long two-handed sword hanging diagonally, setting off the whole person like a mythical giant.

"The size of the team is about two thousand people, and the number of barbarians is about five hundred. The Ranger hastened to tell what he had found: "Most of the rest are women, and I see that there are..."

He paused, glanced at the knights behind the Count, and whispered in a voice that only he and the Count could hear, "Some women in aristocratic attire, I think it might..."

"Okay, good luck. The Count nodded, interrupting in a low tone. The Ranger was right, those were the families of the knights.

Even though he had analyzed the results with Lance before, he was still a little incredulous when the facts were laid out in front of him.

Silverblade Castle has been breached!

Are the guards and adjutants who have arranged by themselves all rice buckets? It has only been a few days since they left, and they can't even hold a group of barbarians who don't have siege equipment! You must know that although the most elite infantry brigade was taken away by himself, except for one brigade left behind, the rest were militiamen and rangers, but there was still a regiment or so of the establishment!

More than 1,000 people, just gone?

And that's not counting the people who are destined to end no better!

The Count's hand holding the reins clenched into a fist, and the lines of muscle were faintly visible from the gaps in the gauntlets. Even the war horse under the crotch snorted twice as if sensing the anger of its master, and raised its front hooves restlessly.

If his lieutenant was still alive, he would have ordered that guy to be hanged, definitely!

The Count stroked its neck and quieted the horse. Realizing that it was obviously unnecessary for him to be angry with the dead, he had to step forward in frustration and discuss it with Lance, who was puzzled.

"How's it going?" Lance asked, looking at his iron-blue face, knowing in his heart that the answer would definitely not be too good, but it was time to test his suspicions.

"Silverblade Castle is lost!" the Count whispered through gritted teeth.

"Sure enough..."Lance didn't have much mood swings, he nodded with an unchanged expression, raised his hand to signal the team to stop, and ordered: "Dismount, everyone rest!"

"Yes, sir. ”

The knights and rangers answered. Obviously, they also understood that this was all because of the news that the Rangers had probed and returned, and they all pulled him to ask.

Lance didn't bother, after all, they always knew. He led the horse, tied the reins to the trunk of a tree beside him, and motioned for the Count to go over to the forest to talk.

After a little farther away from the team, the Count couldn't help but talk about the current situation: "The Silverblade Castle must have been breached, and the Rangers have found a team transporting prisoners, about five hundred barbarians, and the rest are all women..."

"Families of knights and soldiers?" asked Lance with a serious expression.

"There must still be a leader. "The Earl looked a little lost, if Silverblade Castle was not lost, he would have more capital to compete for the title of Apostle.

"Also, those barbarians won't let go of the surrounding villages and manors. Thinking that he was feeling remorse for those who died tragically, Lance relieved, "It's not your fault, Carolus, the guy who hides in the shadows will always pay!"

"Hmm. ”

Earl Muna nodded, looking a little harder, but not what Lance thought.

Perhaps the previous Earl would have grieved for the suffering of these people, but since he had seen the power of creation and experienced the fear of death, he had changed.

As Nidaya said, mortals are so fragile and life is so fleeting, even if you are the count of the kingdom?

Mortals are gone!

And the gods are immortal...

His goal has changed, he no longer cares about the so-called glory, the title, the land, the people...

The things that had given him a sense of accomplishment could no longer impress him, and perhaps this state might be somewhat similar to that of the fanatics of the New Empire's Goddess of Creation cult, all of whom were trapped in dreams woven by the gods.

"Don't be too upset," Lance continued to reassure, and was about to say something more when the knights not far away were already making a noisy noise.

Thinking that the ranger couldn't withstand the pressure, he had already breached the news that the Silverblade Castle might be breached, and the Misty Mountain people were rushing to the lair with the captives.

"Let's go, Carolus. Lance beckoned to the Earl, "We'll have to keep your knights in check." ”