Three hours later, majestic mountains appeared on the northern horizon. During this journey, Richard's party encountered only one group of horse bandits, and easily repelled them.

The next day, Richard and the others came to the foot of the mountain safely.

"Let everyone rest on the spot, and we will wait for the enemy. Hearing Richard's words, the soldiers dismounted and sat on the ground. The casters seized the time to meditate in order to regain their mana.

Gazing at the bloodstained lands of the south, Richard fell into deep thought.

Ever since Reilly left the group with the Knight of Aurora, the Red Cossacks have behaved very strangely. The number of encounters is decreasing, and the enemy's will to fight is getting weaker and weaker, as if he has lost his backbone all of a sudden.

Thinking of this, Richard's face showed a hint of joy: "It seems that Reilly's surprise attack has been successful. ”

Since discovering the wolf pack tactics of the Red Cossacks, Richard and Reilly have developed a new strategy. Their plan was to consume a large number of Red Cossack forces in a campaign war, and at the same time have the dragon flies scout in the air to find out the opponent's headquarters, and then smash the Yellow Dragon to eliminate the opponent's leader in one fell swoop.

Two hours later, Richard's soldiers had rested and had even taken time to eat. Only now, a puff of smoke and dust rose from the distant horizon, and a brigade of cavalry rushed out.

However, these people did not come straight in the direction of Richard, but seemed to be looking for something. After a while, a sharp-eyed cavalry saw the anomaly here, and the cavalry roared over. Seeing Richard's legion in formation, they stopped a kilometer away and confronted Richard from afar.

Seeing what these cavalrymen were doing, Richard once again confirmed his conjecture. So, he pointed to the enemy on the opposite side and said, "Let's go get rid of these guys!"

The infantry formed a tight formation and pressed towards the opposite cavalry without hurry. Although this would have given the opponent a long time to react, the tight formation and calm momentum soon oppressed the Red Cossack cavalry and shook its morale.

The Sand Cavalry on both flanks began to outflank their opponents to the left and right, and at the slightest opportunity, they would bite their opponents to the death, slow down the enemy, and then crush them with the infantry that caught up.

The cavalry on the opposite side quickly became flustered and eventually gave a whistle before coming into range, turned around and fled. What they saw was no longer a tired prey, but a pack of ferocious beasts ready to attack. Based on past experience, a cavalry force of 500 men faced Richard in formation, and the end would only be a rout without suspense.

Only a day had passed, and the gap between the Red Cossacks and Sarenville was revealed. At the same time, the blow to morale from the large proportion of battle losses began to erupt.

Next, Richard headed north with a well-rested team, ready to explore the mountains on the border of the Iron Triangle Empire.

After a series of harsh battles, Richard's heart and will were strengthened. Now, the young man's words and deeds began to reveal a faint majesty, and his originally somewhat immature face also had a taste of iron and blood.

After entering the mountains, Richard asked Quicksand, "Now, how do you feel?"

Quicksand opened the book of time, and a pale golden hourglass appeared in the air, spinning slowly. She stared at the hourglass for a moment, then pointed to the northwest and said, "There used to be strong space-time fluctuations there. ”

"Alright, let's go check it out. Richard nodded, and disappeared into the vast mountain forest with the team.

Five days later, Richard was guided by quicksand to find the Mensa family's forward base.

It was a huge base comparable to a small city, and the open gates were engraved with the signs of the Mensa family. However, there is not even a single pedestrian in this base, which is large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people.

Richard did not enter the base directly, but stationed a large army in the distance, and then searched the surrounding area with a group of men who were good at fighting in the mountains and forests.

After a while, Richard spotted a small military camp a kilometer away. More than a hundred soldiers were stationed here, including five Templars and a young priest. Judging by the insignia on the clothing, these were servants of Xerxes, the god of stability.

Some time ago, Richard spent a lot of time gathering information about the gods of the Faro, so he recognized the origin of these people at a glance. After getting the information he wanted, Richard quietly returned to the camp.

After nightfall, Richard led his troops to surround the garrison's garrison, and then waited until two o'clock in the morning to confirm that most of the people in the camp were asleep before taking the stronghold in one fell swoop.

Compared to the hard battles of the previous days, this raid was as easy as an outing. As soon as the ordinary soldiers crawled out of the bed, they saw the swords dangling, so they surrendered decisively. The morale of the five Templars was very high, and even if they only had underwear on them, they had to fight their enemies to the end with their fists. However, the will of these people is not strong enough to turn the tide of battle.

When Richard walked into the young pastor's tent, he had just sat up from his bed. As soon as he looked sleepy-eyed, Richard knew that the guy hadn't figured out the situation yet.

Eventually, the defenders' camp fell completely, with ten ordinary soldiers killed and all the rest surrendered, three Templars killed and two knocked unconscious. As for the priest, he surrendered even more simply than an ordinary soldier.

Richard handed over the task of cleaning up the battlefield to his men, and he sat in the young priest's tent and began the interrogation.

A priest who surrenders without a fight will certainly not have any strong will, let alone the idea of dedicating himself to the god of stability. So, he was very cooperative in answering all of Richard's questions. As a priest, his behavior would definitely affect the deity and might even lead to a lower rank. However, compared to precious lives, rank is not so important.

The man's name was Cass, he was twenty-two years old, and he was a fifth-level priest.

According to Cass, during the first battle at the Invaders' Portal, the forces of the Church of Courage and the Church of Stability were wiped out, and the Battle Priests and Knights Templar were lost, leaving the two churches devastated.

Later, the temple of Xerxes joined forces with several lords of the Iron Triangle Empire to prepare for a second expedition. However, the alien invaders have long since disappeared and have only found a base from nowhere.

On that day, the coalition forces sent a team of knights, clerics, magicians, and high-ranking officers to the base to investigate, only to find them trapped.

Due to the chaotic power of time in the base, deadly traps can appear around every corner. At the cost of thirty lives, the team finally withdrew from the base. Eventually, the accompanying high priest designated the place as a forbidden place and sent a team of soldiers to garrison it nearby.

Guarding a base in the middle of nowhere, deep in the mountains, is a chore, almost like exile. Cass's popularity is obviously poor to a certain extent, so he was put on such a task. The reason why he wanted to set up the camp a kilometer away was actually because he was afraid that the chaotic power of time would overflow and spread to the camp.

After Cass finished explaining everything he knew, Richard said lightly: "My name is Richard, and I am the pioneer knight of the Sequoia Kingdom. ”

"Sequoia Kingdom!" Cass exclaimed, immediately aware of the crisis. The situation in the Kingdom of Sequoia is chaotic, with three gods spreading their faith in the territory, but most of the nobles above the earl level have chosen to worship their ancestors. What's more, Xerxes wasn't among the three gods who had successfully established themselves in the Redwood Kingdom.

A large part of the reason why Cass is so cooperative is that he sees Richard's aristocratic status and wants to pay a ransom in exchange for freedom. But he didn't expect that Richard was not from the Iron Triangle Empire, which complicated things.

Richard pondered for a moment and said, "You should understand that I don't want others to know my whereabouts, and I don't want today's events to be spread. So, if you want to live, you have to convert. ”

"Convert! Are you a believer in the evil god Gattuso?" At this, Cass's face turned very pale.

"When you change your faith, you'll know who the god behind me is. ”

Cass's Adam's apple rolled up and down, revealing a frightened expression, and said with difficulty, "Do you want to burn divine power?"

Richard nodded and said, "You can only live if you become a fallen priest." ”

Cass closed his eyes, struggled mentally for a moment, and then nodded vigorously.