What kind of nonsense is this, that you'd be chosen by the gods and favored by all the gods?

The blessed Colvin was radiant with golden light, just as Timo had said, able to dispel all impurity and darkness.

With the blessing, Colvin became even bolder, relying on his heavy armor and the blessing to ignore all obstacles and clear them away with his sword.

Little did he know that Timo was silently maintaining his distance from the other person behind him.

At that moment, something seemed a little out of place in the surrounding environment.

In the dense forest, tiny specks of light shimmered out.

Here it comes!

Timo was mentally prepared in an instant, but dozens of whooshing sounds rang out as the conjured arrows attacked once again.

But just as Timo had anticipated, the arrows targeted Colvin, who was heavily armored.

"Clang clang clang!"

All the stray arrows were blocked, and the evil power could not penetrate the protective golden light.

"Sir! Be careful!"

As soon as Colvin finished speaking, he turned around but could no longer see Timo and the slave.

this--

Before he could react, thorns bursting from the soil blocked his path. The flying branches were full of immense power and could easily knock Colvin away.

However, Colvin was a seasoned veteran and quickly regained control of the aircraft in mid-air, wielding his longsword to cut down the attackers one by one.

However, as time went on, he began to find it quite tiring.

These thorns seemed endless, relentlessly attacking him, making it difficult for him to cope.

Meanwhile, Timo led the slave in the other direction.

He held the talisman in his hand and prayed softly.

"The goddess of fate illuminates my path."

Immediately afterwards, a shimmering road unfolded before him, a road leading directly to the attackers.

Divination is a form of prayer in the Covenant Church that is simple in principle but quite difficult to use.

The principle is simple because no preparation is required; one only needs to directly consult the deity of the realm of destiny, namely the goddess of fate. This is different from other schools of divination.

The reason it is difficult to use is that the goddess does not always respond to the prayers of those who pray.

In any case, Timo had never seen anyone in his life who could easily perform divination using the goddess of fate.

Timothy's situation was special; he would never dare to ask the goddess questions unless absolutely necessary.

Fortunately, this time Timo succeeded.

"Found you!"

He led the slave and ran quickly toward the end of the road, which was illuminated by light.

At the end of that road stood a large tree.

Another illusion—

Timo gave a cold laugh and raised the tally.

"discipline!"

The golden light transformed into a sharp sword and struck the giant tree.

Just as the sword blade reached the tree roots, a flash of white light appeared, the tree collapsed with a deafening roar, and a person dressed in black robes and holding a heretical talisman emerged from it.

He nimbly dodged, causing Timo's attacks to miss.

"We've finally met, heretical assassin."

Looking at the man's clothes, Timo paused for a moment, then sneered:

"I see... We didn't know you had infiltrated the prison wagon of war slaves. It's a pity we didn't have time to check a few commoners and missed you."

"I've put you through the wringer to infiltrate the rear and then set up an illusion to attack me here. I suppose that's quite a feat for you."

Timo looked solemnly at the other man, holding the talisman, and let out a contemptuous sneer.

The other person gently removed their cloak and looked at Timothy.

"You shameful scum, I have nothing to say to you."

Without hesitation, the other party drew a recurved dagger, with strange blood-red patterns, and charged towards Timothy.

He glided through the air, and one after another, sharp, blood-red blades detached from the swords and flew out, incredibly sharp and unstoppable—

Timo didn't overestimate himself, because the spells of the Covenant were not very powerful in a direct confrontation at such a distance, so he had to focus on dodging and defense.

"You can't hide for long!"

The assassin held a talisman in his left hand and a recurve dagger in his right, muttering something under his breath. In an instant, a brand new blood-red glow erupted from the earth.

The red light shot towards Timo like a fountain, but instead of causing harm, it imprisoned him in place.

not good--

Timo was sweating profusely and had no choice but to use another layer of divine power to protect himself.

The assassin rushed forward, his dagger aimed at Timo's throat.

The blade pierced his body, and blood spurted out.

Timo's eyes widened, his gaze full of mockery.

"How...could this be..."

The northern assassin lowered his head in terror as his blade became deeply embedded in the chest of a filthy war slave who had appeared out of nowhere.

From his bewildered and pained eyes, it was easy to see that he seemed to have been bewitched and stood in front of Timo in a daze.

Even more terrifying, countless bursting bone spurs pierced through the slave's chest, piercing the northern assassin and preventing his escape.

"Bloody secret techniques... Timo! You!!!"

Timo looked cold and reached out to remove the hood from the Northern Assassin's head.

Below him was the face of a handsome boy he recognized.

He paused for a moment, then sighed helplessly:

"It was you... Sigh, I never thought that the believer I took good care of and personally promoted from the slums would not die on the battlefield, but instead use heretical witchcraft to attack me."

You have disgraced me.

Even as the handsome boy lay dying, his anger did not lessen in the slightest.

"Traitor...scoundrel! You, a follower of the goddess, have instead practiced heretical witchcraft..."

"You killed my lover! You killed my family! And you did this to me..."

They were able to finish speaking because Timo had already grabbed him by the neck and roughly ripped him off the bone spikes that had become the corpses of the war slaves.

"Perhaps suffering can teach you humility and repentance for your sins."

"Keep silent, that's the goddess's advice to you."

Timo reached out and touched the boy's wound, the waves of pain making the boy feel even more miserable.

Seeing that he was not going to survive, the latter laughed maniacally:

"Hahaha...hahaha..."

"What right do you have to call yourself a follower of the goddess...you piece of shit! You don't even dare to pray to the goddess much, for fear that the gods will find out about the filthy things you've done!"

"You despicable wretch! I curse you, the goddess curses you!"

"You will be crushed into a mangled pulp by a giant hammer in the enormous mortar of hell, just as the covenant foretold!"

It seemed that the boy's taunts angered Timo, and he threw the boy to the ground and stomped on his head.

"You have no right to yell!"

"I am the one favored by the goddess! You—"

"Neither!"

In his agony, Timo cruelly executed him, ending the life of the northern boy.

call--

Timo let out a long breath, and as the caster died, the darkness in the writhing forest gradually dissipated.

Moonlight streamed through the woods, finally making the road visible.

Turning to look at the guy whose flesh and blood had been turned into bone spurs by the secret technique, he was still alive, his internal organs scattered all over the ground, yet he was still breathing.

However, judging from his expression, he was clearly not comfortable.

Timo coldly ignored the unfortunate fellow and walked toward the other end of the forest.

There, Colvin was exhausted, his radiance dimmed.

Turning around, he saw Timo walking towards him.

"My lord...I..."

Before he could speak, Colvin suddenly saw a flash of golden light, followed by a burning sensation between his brows and a sharp pain.

He stared with difficulty at Timo, who had attacked him, at the blood on the man's body, and staggered backward in disbelief.

Why...?

Exhausted, Timo turned and looked around after killing Colvin.

The attacker is dead, and all the witnesses are dead.

Without divine protection, those soldiers would most likely not be able to leave the dense forest.

As for the slaves, and that Lyle... after resting for a while, I can get rid of them. Letting these guys live is always a threat to me.

Take Lyle for example... his luck is truly enviable. We might as well take this opportunity to kill him all at once.

Although the rest of the journey back to the capital is one I must walk alone without anyone to assist me, it's still better than having my heretical identity exposed.

However, I need to rest first...

Just then, Timo felt a gust of wind flash past behind him, followed by a sharp pain in his lower back and abdomen.

"puff--"

He looked down and saw a spearhead piercing his abdomen.

He turned his head with difficulty, only to see Lyle standing behind him, his expression calm.

"you--"

How is this possible?!

How could this guy still be alive?!

"How come you're not dead—"

Before he could finish speaking, the injury to his waist and abdomen caused him to lose his balance and fall to the ground.

Lyle had only pierced Timothée's head once when he rushed forward, threw down his spear, and began to smash Timothée's triangular shield against his forehead.

No... Goddess, protect me! Goddess, protect me!!

He roared inwardly, but he couldn't change the fact that his head had been completely deformed by the tip of the triangular shield.

In his despair, he even saw Lyle's other hand still fiddling with the buttons.

He was even doing divination...

The goddess isn't protecting me...

"...Why—"

Lyle did not answer, but simply kept swinging his triangular shield, repeatedly striking the opponent's head.

"Bang, bang, bang—"

The bones and flesh were shattered, making one's teeth ache.

Blow after blow, with the sharpest edges, Timothy's head was smashed into a bloody pulp, a mixture of red and white flesh—

The eyes, bulging out of their sockets, were filled with disbelief and despair.

he died.