Phoenix felt a slight pinch of his nose and opened his eyes. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

"Well...... What are you doing, Amilia?" he sat up slowly with one hand in the harsh sunlight as he propped up the carpet beneath him. He looked around and saw Emilia sitting with her legs crossed, quietly watching him.

"The sun is up, Phoenix. She shook herself and touched her bare feet, "How long do you want to sleep?"

Phoenix pressed his temples, and his head still hurt slightly, probably because he had drunk too much yesterday. He looked at the bamboo basket beside him, the empty bottle still smelling of wine.

"What, you didn't drink enough last night?"

"How could it be ......?"

Phoenix looked at the blue lake in front of her, where the silver-haired girl had danced a beautiful dance to the tune of the wedding feast in the distance last night. The lake breeze is gentle, and the air smells of jasmine. The moonlight shone on the hem of her skirt and danced to her dance steps. Silver hair swept across her cheeks with ruby earrings, and emerald eyes were tender as water. She reached out to the paladin and pulled him up, "Let's jump, my knight." With her help, Phoenix danced awkwardly, swinging his arms uncoincidentally.

"Haha, yes, yes. Emilia laughed and praised, patiently leading her clumsy male companion to a clumsy moonlight dance in the lakelight. At the end of the dance, when the two sides bowed to each other, Emilia accidentally tripped and fell into the arms of the paladin.

Then, a sweet kiss ensued.

That's right, just a kiss. Later, they lay head to head on the carpet, looking at the stars and the moon, telling jokes to each other, amusing each other, and pouring out their hearts to each other.

He touched his lips, which still smelled of jasmine.

"Let's go, it's time to go back. He stood up and said.

"Okay. Emilia sat still, smiling at him.

The two of them walked together to the village stable, and Emilia leaned over and grabbed Phoenix's arm. "Is she the girl who catches the flower ball?" and "Yes, she looks so happy." The early risers threw envious and blessed glances at Phoenix and his female companions. Emilia smiled and happily waved her hand in thanks.

"What do they mean by talking about flower balls?" asked the paladin.

"Hah, don't you know?" Emilia leaned on his shoulder, "It is said that the girl who receives the flower ball thrown by the bride will be the lucky one to get married." ”

Phoenix nodded thoughtfully, and the helpless sigh of his female companion could be faintly heard in his ears.

"Are you ready?" said Phoenix, patting the horse's back.

"Of course, who do you think I am?"

The neighing of horses sounded in the silent air, and the two of them hurried out of the town as they had done when they had arrived. This time, the two sides swapped mounts, and instead Phoenix rode the unruly horse, still riding behind Emilia, for fear that something might happen to him.

But the paladin's fears proved to be unfounded, and the silver-haired girl sat firmly on the gray sideburns horse, not giving the paladin any chance to get up and rescue him.

"Come on, Phoenix, try to catch up with me!"

"Slow down, Amilia!"

"Hey, where did you ride a donkey yesterday, or did you freak out because you fell into the mud?"

"Damn it, Amilia, don't mention yesterday!"

Emilia's laughter in front of her evokes Phoenix's harrowing memories of yesterday - he was confident riding the stupid donkey, only to be thrown off before the finish line, splashing mud and causing the farmers to laugh.

"But I have to say, Phoenix, you're pretty good at water. Emilia was referring to him going down into the pool to help her pick up her shoes, and Phoenix had grown up by the river as a child, so it didn't take much trouble to find Emilia's water-filled boots. He declined the reward, and Emilia nearly smashed the heel on his head in anger - but she later made up for it.

"Anyway, what do you think of those jugglers?"

"Nothing special, just simple tricks. Take the fire-breathing man and drink a little special alchemy alcohol and spray it on the fire. And the magician, I goversay, there are a lot of people in Sun City who are better than him, and you can see them all when you get back. ”

"You mean, I can go to Sun City with you?" Emilia slowed down to parallel to Phoenix and winked at him.

"Maybe, maybe. "Phoenix deliberately sold a pass.

"Hey, you liar!" said Emilia, and ran forward without looking back. The paladin had no choice but to whip his whip and catch up.

The two of them chased after me like this, noisy and noisy, and returned to Lu Wen.

"I don't know how Liddy handled it. ”

"Don't worry, Mr. Liddy is certainly much more efficient than you. Emilia stuck out her tongue.

However, when he arrived at the gate of the train station, Phoenix saw restless knights. "It's the paladin Phoenix! he's back!" the guard on duty shouted to the people in the room when he saw him. Then a heavily armed knight ran out, and Phoenix recognized him as Liddy's lieutenant.

"Alan, what's going on, you look so flustered?" Phoenix asked, confused.

"Thank you, God of the Sun, that you are finally back. I thought you and the High Knight were missing along with ......"

"Missing?!" Shocked by the news, Phoenix jumped off his mount and asked further in detail, "What's going on?

"Yes, that's right. The young lieutenant nodded, he still looked like a child, and the Knights of the Sun could join the Order at least 12 years old as long as they had the right qualifications. "Last night someone came to His Excellency Liddy and told him important information about the disappearance. After they had been upstairs for a while, the paladin went out on his own, and he never returned. ”

"What about the visitor?"

"His Excellency Liddy had instructed us to keep an eye on her, but when the guards went to check on her this morning, they found that she was gone, probably having escaped through the window. ”

"Is she a woman?"

"That's right, she wears a brown robe with a hood. ”

It's exactly the same as the madman described by the Fog Chaser. He bit his fingers, and secretly felt that things were going in an unpredictable direction. "Any clues to the whereabouts of the High Knight?" he asked.

"When we searched the command post, we found a dot on Luwen's map. ”

"Where?"

"Abandoned factory ......"

Factory? Phoenix remembered that he had indeed led a team there to investigate, but found nothing. But now that was the only clue Liddy had left, he had to go there again. He gave the order to assemble all the Sun Knights except the garrison, while he himself went to the command post and changed into his own golden armor.

"Phoenix......" Emilia gave her a worried look, Phoenix knew that his face must be terrible now, but he really couldn't amuse her happily right now.

"I'm sorry, Amilia, you should go back first. He put on his helmet and removed his saber from the wall.

"No, I want to ...... with you"

"Don't be stupid, Amilia. This is not a wedding party. ”

"Who do you think helped you so much when you first arrived?" said the girl forcefully.

"Amy....." He leaned over to Emilia's lips and gave her a kiss. "Please, don't worry me. My instincts tell me that Liddy is not doing well right now. I don't want you to put you in danger......" He looked at the girl sincerely, telling the truth.

Emilia couldn't get enough of the stubborn paladin, so she gave him a hug and whispered in his ear, "Don't forget, there's a wedding waiting for you." After saying that, she grimaced, making it impossible to tell whether she was joking or not.

But for Phoenix, that's enough. He patted the girl on the shoulder and walked resolutely towards the door, just as he had on the battlefield. A simple task, why make it look like life and death? He thought to himself, but a smile still appeared on the corner of his mouth.

When he came to the door, he saw a whole team of well-trained Sun Knights. They wore golden robes and armor, spears pointed to the sky, and shields tattooed with the sun were strong. The sun bathed them like a gift from the god of the sun. Based on these alone, Phoenix can't think of a reason to lose.

The lieutenant took his mount, and Phoenix leapt forward, swinging his blade to make an arc in the air, "Let's go, Sun Knights, go with me to win glory!"

The crowd erupted in cheers, and Phoenix took the lead, leading hundreds of knights to their destination. Everywhere the iron hoof went, countless clouds of dust were raised, and the people in the bazaar avoided it when they saw it, and the cloth of the fruit they threw was trampled to pieces. People complained, and Phoenix could hear the insults and humiliations of the adults. But there were also people who cheered them on, but mostly children, who admired the sun as much as young Phoenix.

"Lord Liddy told me that the people of Luwen are haunted by the disappearance, and that this is the result of the weakness and incompetence of our Knights of the Sun. Adjutant Alan leaned over and said to the paladin.

"What nonsense, without us, they are still in the cold underground. Phoenix was shocked and outraged, "They turned a blind eye to our sacrifices?"

"Good people are quickly forgotten, but bad things are passed on...... This is what this era is like. ”

"What the hell is that...... Phoenix cursed under his breath, not thinking about it anymore. Reality will shut them up, and the Paladin is convinced that the factory will be the source of it all. When he catches the culprits, the fools will shut their mouths, and of course the old man in the Senate.

The woods and the sand flew before his eyes, and only the eternal position of the sun, which hung at the end of the road, barely thought of it, and firmly regarded the sun as his signpost. He rejected the adjutant's map, rejected the advice of his compatriots, "The sun is the target!" he shouted to the team, asking them to keep up with him. The forest grew denser, and the winding path was long gone, and the knights plunged headlong into the dense forest that saw no day. He heard someone start complaining, someone started scolding, and even Adjutant Allen began to doubt his judgment. But he didn't refute, he didn't reprimand, he just crouched on his horse and went at full speed. He told himself that those who fell behind should be left behind, and those who did not believe in the sun were not qualified to call themselves knights.

Finally, at the end of the darkness, he saw the dawn, and the sun was there. The knights were boiling, and they followed their paladins towards the light, and countless horses leaped and leaped, stepping over a long chasm, and a huge factory with chimneys appeared in front of them.

The knights cheered again, singing the praises of their leader and the sun.

"It's hard, it's unbelievable...... Excellency. Alan gasped for air, the frantic march seemed to have drained him a lot of energy. "It only took us 20 minutes...... You know, last time we rode for an hour. He pointed in the direction they had come last time.

"Praise the sun. "We took a shortcut and crossed that dangerous chasm. With that, he looked at the two-meter-deep rift behind him.

"Let's go, knights, see what's waiting for us there!"

So, after settling the horses, the Sun Knights surrounded the entire factory and formed several squads to advance towards the massive building from different entrances.

Phoenix and dozens of his compatriots entered through the main entrance, and the paladin pushed away his companion who wanted to protect him in the middle and stood at the front. The Sun Knights live and die together, share honor, and he hates to use his subordinates as shields.

As soon as they entered the gate, they saw several large black furnaces and conveyor belts covered with cinder and dust. He brushed the cinders with his hand-clad hand, the same relic of the so-called "Golden Age" as the last time. It was a time when technology, money, and vanity were over-inflated, and the end was today's devastated wasteland.

He gestured to move on. They searched the boiler room, the smelting hall, and even the basement, but found nothing, just as they had last arrived. Phoenix decides to wait for news from the other squads, but when he joins up with all the squads, he gets no clues.

"Could it be that we are mistaken? Lord Liddy may just be drawing ...... casually"

"No, it can't be. Lyddy wasn't that boring, and what he did had to have a purpose. Phoenix interrupted the frustrated young lieutenant, "Besides, there's something strange about this factory...... "He closed his eyes, looking for something in the dark."

"There's something else in the dust......

"Jasmine? no, it's not...... It's not cloves either. ”

"Roses, no, a little lighter than roses, just a little ......"

"Yes, it's Rose. He opened his eyes and looked at the source of the smell.

On the high platform, a woman sits. She was dressed in pitch-black leather armor, and her black hair was scattered over her shoulders. Her feet were dangling in the air, and she was fiddling with a delicate dagger in her hands. Phoenix had seen the dagger, and the High Knight Liddy had used it to save his life more than once.

"Hello, Sun Knights. "A woman's voice is like a thorny rose, full of charm and danger.

"Hello, ma'am. Is there anything you have to do in this ruined factory?" said Phoenix, coldly, "strange to say, I seem to have seen that dagger in your hand somewhere. ”

"Oh, you must be the Paladin Phoenix, the youngest Knight of the Sun ever. I'm your admirer...... As for this dagger, it's a gift from a friend, and I think you and I know each other. She flipped her palm, gently rested her chin, and narrowed her serpent-like emerald green eyes.

"Without further ado, I don't know who you are, but you'd better get off there quickly and inform us of the missing townspeople's whereabouts, or I'll cut your head off. Paladin Phoenix pressed the golden hilt of the Sun Sword with his left hand and roared threateningly.

"Oh, sorry, sorry. The dark-haired woman stood up and bowed to the paladin, "I really should introduce myself: my name is Aredia, maybe because I'm beautiful and everyone around me calls me a princess." I come from some unknown small organization that is much smaller than the great Knights of the Sun. However, we still have our own set of principles, such as seeking happiness for the people......"

"How many townspeople do you think you have kidnapped and how many ......families you have broken up?"

"I have to say that it is not gentlemanly to interrupt a lady. And for you, I can only say that we have different definitions of people. I'd like to ask, how many families have you Sun Knight broken up?"

"Not a single one. ”

"Nonsense. The woman looked at him in disgust, "What do you do with those who come back from the fog and behave strangely?" Of course, you will say that they are no different from monsters, and that they were killed to keep the rest safe. But, perhaps you don't know, there are people in this world who can merge with the fog and still maintain their sanity and morality......"

"We cannot judge that the doctrine of the Sun Knight is to expel all darkness. ”

"Darkness? How can you tell what darkness is? Did the sun god give you a pair of bright eyes?" said Eredia, taking a sip, "the darkness you destroyed may be the sun of some people. ”

"It is impossible to achieve light without sacrifice. Phoenix retorted coldly, "It is impossible to take the lives of the many for the sake of the happiness of the few." ”

"Oh? maybe. But what would you do if you were your lover, coming back from the fog, something strange had happened. But she is still sensible, and loves you as always, helping the weak...... What are you going to do? Draw your sword, or give me a kiss?"

"Your question is pointless. A strand of silver hair flashed through the paladin's mind.

"Answer me, Paladin Phoenix. Answer me. Eredia was aggressive, and the other Sun Knights looked at him, expecting his answer. He had no choice but to give his compatriots an answer.

"I choose to draw my sword, this is the doctrine of the sun. He looked up and said firmly.

As if anticipating his answer, Aredia applauded. "You seem to be no different from those butchers. She turned to someone hiding in the shadows, "Sister, I'm sorry...... Looks like you're going to be disappointed. ”

In the air, the smell of jasmine wafted through.

"He's no different from the executioners. Aredia's eyes were full of contempt, and she kicked the iron fence lightly.

"No, it's not your fault, sister. A man all too familiar with Phoenix stepped out of the shadows and looked at him sadly.

"Amilia, why are you here?" the paladin was taken aback.

"Oh, dear sister. He actually asked why you were here. Eridia feigned grief and stroked Amilia's silver hair.

That's when Phoenix understood what was going on. "Sister, this can't be...... You deceived me?" said the paladin indignantly, his eyes full of doubt and pain: "You asked me to go to the wedding feast to lure me away and then to ...... Liddy"

Emilia didn't say a word, and her sister Aridia sputtered, "Please, Phoenix, you've broken my poor sister's heart." She took Emilia in her arms, "Emilia loves you with all her heart, and I just took advantage of her date with you a little to visit your friends." It's none of her business, but you're slandering ......" Aredia shook her head and patted her sister on the back, whispering to comfort her.

"That's enough, sister. Emilia broke out of her arms and looked at Phoenix from afar. "I'm sorry, Phoenix......" she said with a pained expression. Then she turned to Aridia and whispered something in her ear, but the paladin couldn't hear anything.

In the end, like the race, the silver-haired girl did not look at the young paladin again, disappearing from his sight and returning to the shadows. "Amy......" Phoenix clenched his fist and released it, trying to say something, but his throat seemed to be stuck in something, and finally he didn't say a word.

In the distance, he heard Aredia sigh. "If it were a normal day, I would suggest you chant her name and go after the girl you broke her heart for. But today......" her sad expression was suddenly swept away, replaced by a vicious smile, "you all have to die here." ”

A burst of white mist enveloped Aridia, and the woman vanished into thin air. The next moment, there was a scream from the ranks of the Sun Knights, and a heavily armed knight fell. Before Phoenix could react, the screams rang out again, and he saw a cloud of white mist weaving through the crowd, and he could almost see the snake-like eyes of Aredia.

"Gather around, raise your shields, don't let her take advantage of them!" he shouted, and the knights immediately formed one circle after another, raising their shields and staring at the white mist.

"You can't defeat us all!" Phoenix shouted to the other from the center of the circle, "Sooner or later you will run out of energy, and then die by my sword!"

"The Children of the White Mist live forever!" a woman's sneer came from the air, "I could play with you for a long, long time. I'd like to see how long you can hold that shield!"

"But I don't want to bother with that, I'm going to wipe out you hypocritical butchers. Arithia said viciously.

"What do you use to defeat a hundred knights?White Mist?or those monsters?" Phoenix remembered what the Fog Chasers had said to him: they could summon a thick fog and attract fog beasts.

"Which juggler did you hear this from the mouth?" Aridia denied, "no one can control the god of fog and its people!" she shouted.

"But at least I can handle explosives. ”

The next moment, Phoenix heard a loud sound that almost tore through his eardrums, and the earth began to shake with it. He hurriedly looked around and saw that the pillars supporting the building were slowly crumbling, and dust and stones were falling from their heads. "It's explosives!," he shouted, telling the knights to disperse and avoid falling rocks. However, the moment the formation collapsed, Phoenix heard the sound of a dagger stabbing into his back, and a Sun Knight fell to the ground in agony.

"Damn it......" But that's not the worst. Someone had their legs crushed by a fallen column, and someone had their heads crushed by falling rocks. The wails of the people, the roar of explosives, and the sound of rubble falling on the ground irritated Phoenix's ears and almost made his head burst. The knights were routed before his eyes, fled, and finally died.

Aredia's vicious laughter mingled with the chaos, mocking the tragic fate of the Sun Knights.

It's like hell.

The sight nearly broke Phoenix, and he fell to his knees amid the debris and falling rocks, his eyes losing their sparkle as he watched as countless knights collapsed in front of him. Adjutant Allen ran over and tried to pull him away, but his throat was slit by a dagger stab, and the smell of blood mixed with the smell of roses and rushed towards Phoenix.

One of them pressed a cold dagger against the paladin's back, and he subconsciously reached for the hilt of his sword, but stopped in mid-air.

The man's hair smelled of jasmine, and a slender white hand held him, trembling slightly. He could hear sobs behind him.

"You will not die well. Phoenix said expressionlessly, "I will cut off the heads of each of you with a sharp sword, burn your bodies to ashes, and present them to the sun......"

"The sun will consume all your ......"

"Do it, Amilia. Just like you and your sister do to everyone else......"

He could feel the man nod slightly, the sound of a dagger piercing through armor and tearing into his skin. The pain struck suddenly, and he wanted to scream loudly, but the girl covered his mouth.

"Sorry, Phoenix ......"

She spun her dagger and stabbed into the depths.

"I love you. ”

Then came darkness.

The sun has finally set.