Mercenaries - no, the knights of the crows spread out to the sides, drew their weapons, and ran in an inverted triangle towards the men who were close at hand,

They put their left hand on their chest and prayed short, forcefully. The dark purple glow of the pen %fun %pavilion www.biquge.info appeared out of thin air, like a condensed mist, enveloping their hands. The ghostly light slowly flickered on and off, like a beast that chooses people to devour.

Yuffie recognized that it was the divine art given to his followers by Mal, the god who was in charge of "extinction". It can turn any substance it comes into contact with into a wisp of worthless dust.

The knights surrounded the man from three directions, their blades shining with cold light, and attacked the man's neck, right rib, and left leg. The young Kamal did not join the fight. He glanced at his companion, walked quickly around the man with the heavy sword, and ran straight for the fortress.

Despite being surrounded, Barak remained unmoved. He squatted slightly, twisted, stepped and swung his right arm out. Even in the eyes of Yufie, who is not skilled in swordsmanship, the man's body, arms and heavy sword seem to be perfectly integrated. The sword is him, and he is the sword.

A sword sweep.

With a dull cracking sound, the heavy sword sliced through the body of the man on the far left, then the two on the center and the right. Their eyes were amazed and a little reluctant, and their arms still tried to reach forward, but they couldn't touch Barak's body.

Yuffie quickly turned his head to look at the young man who was running as hard as he could. In just a few seconds, he had run more than 30 meters, and he turned his head to look behind him from time to time. She saw that the young man's expression suddenly became frightened, and leaned to one side as best she could.

But something broke through the air and slashed deep into his neck.

It was a sharp hand axe. The young man covered his wound with both hands, but it did not have any effect at all. He tried to keep running, but the gushing blood took away the last of his strength. Yuffie watched as he lay prone on the ground forty meters away, until he was dying, his right hand still pointing in the direction of the castle.

She heard the noise of the mercenaries behind her, and Barak's orders.

"Keep training." The man said calmly, as if nothing had happened just now, "The team that lacks a captain will choose a member of the team to take over." Then, the detachments obey the order-"

There was another slight commotion, and then the shouts of the command rang out one after another, drowning out the faint chatter.

It seemed that someone had tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around to find that Lily had posted it at some point. Bell wasn't with her, but probably volunteered to participate in the training - seriously, in Lilianor's regiment, it was the seemingly nervous Peronite who revered Barak's reputation the most.

"Is this war, Lilianor?" Alphonse's question came from beside him.

"Probably, huh?" The mercenary licked her lips, "Killing, plundering, and deceiving - at this time, any means are acceptable?" ”

"But why is there a war?" The agency people still don't seem to understand, "Isn't it nice that everyone is together and harmonious." ”

"Then we don't know." Lily spread her hands, "This kind of question, you should ask Yufie to ask, right?" ”

The girl felt the machine's gaze on her, but she didn't know how to answer the question. She shook her head slightly at Alphonse, then lowered her gaze.

"Speaking of which...... Yufy, you think, he really has a way to take this place? The mercenary seemed to sense her feeling a little depressed, and tried to change the subject, though not very well. Yuffie understood the other party's kindness, and she pursed the corners of her mouth slightly in reply to Lily's words.

"I don't know." She shook her head, pointed to the ditches and obstacles on the hillside, and looked at the mercenaries who were training, "However, it seems that Mr. Einhardt did not intend to fight in the field from the beginning. ”

"The tactics they practiced earlier were obviously to engage inside the castle. But I couldn't guess how he was going to get these soldiers into the city. Her voice carried a hint of doubt, "If it's Dean Correns, he can destroy this wall with powerful spells, even if he can't teleport. But Mr. Einhardt...... Just a swordsman, after all. ”

"But surely he has a way?"

"I think so." Yuffie said with certainty. She believed that the "wolf herdsman" would never do anything useless, but for some reason, she suddenly became a little uninterested in the future victory.

She took Lily's hand, and the two of them walked along the edge of the woods.

"I have some bad feelings...... Sometimes I think that maybe we shouldn't be involved in this war. After walking for a while, Yuffie whispered.

She didn't think Barak had done anything wrong, and she didn't feel sorry for the dead Crow Knights, who didn't know her well. She just had a vague premonition that things would turn out a little differently than she had expected. She had always trusted her instincts, but this time, she couldn't understand her thoughts.

Because that hunch told her that this incident was just the beginning, and its follow-up might affect the entire empire, and even the entire El continent. Whether it was a bright future, a revolution of blood and fire, or the deepest darkness - she could not see.

"Just don't think too much, okay?" Lily patted her on the back, "We're mercenaries. Although mercenaries will also pay attention to the legitimacy of the commission, there is no right or wrong in this kind of thing. ”

"Maybe." Yuffie bit her lower lip lightly and looked up at the fortress that towered over the hillside in the distance. Holly Castle has stood here for more than 170 years, and thanks to the protection of the magic and the careful maintenance of the members, despite several battles, there is still no obvious damage. The south wall of the castle is covered with verdant creepers, covering half of the entire wall, giving this isolated fortress an air of nature.

She closed her eyes and remembered what it looked like.

The castle is inhabited by so-called 'cultists' - that's just another name for heretics. Yuffie does not believe in any gods, and the title naturally does not mean anything.

She had never come into close contact with a member of the Crow Knights - not counting the ones just now. From the rumors we've heard, the Knights aren't all wicked, at least not as brutal as the commission says. They are also human, perhaps like her, with friends and family, happy and sad memories, likes and hates. The only difference is that they have faith, and she doesn't.

Faith, what does it look like? Yuffie thought silently in his mind.