How can you become stronger if you don't build up bonds?

Papf's vigilance and mental fortitude were much stronger than Lin Wei had imagined.

Lin Wei only accidentally bumped into a tree branch, making little sound, but Bapf immediately noticed and decisively launched an attack.

His dagger was blocked by Eugene, and his subsequent reaction completely enraged Eugene.

Eugene never expected that the captain who used to obey him would suddenly show such a completely different face.

He was trying to frame me... How dare he say such a thing!

If Lin Wei hadn't emphasized that these ten people must be captured alive, he would have already taken out his longbow and shot an arrow through Papf's head.

Lin Wei stood quietly not far behind Eugene, pondering some questions.

Papf's appearance clearly indicates that he had mentally prepared himself for today's situation.

However, the contradiction in him is that he only has psychological preparation but has not built up a substantial buffer space for struggle.

Lin Wei also agreed with Eugene's words, that is, Papf could not escape from him alive, let alone dare to fight to the death.

How can he ensure his survival?

In Wallis, the soldiers who killed innocent civilians would certainly die, not to mention that these ten men had also committed the heinous crime of concealing the truth and claiming credit for others' work. The death penalty and the execution of their families would not be an exaggeration.

How could he possibly save his life from Eugene just by relying on his influence accumulated over the years?

If you're going to run away, run away sooner rather than later; if you're going to gamble, gamble to the end; and if you lose, accept your fate cleanly. That's the normal logic, right?

Therefore, Lin Wei found it difficult to understand his wavering logic of half running and half gambling.

"You think I wouldn't dare kill you?!" Eugene's killing intent surged once more.

Papf silently removed his armor and took the long axe from his back.

It means that one should accept being shot by Eugene in a fit of rage, but one should never accept being arrested without cause.

"Please, Your Highness, do not insult my dignity as a soldier!" Papf roared angrily.

"You dare mention a soldier's dignity to me?!"

Eugene took the arrows from the guard beside him, nocked them, and drew the bowstring of the longbow that had been with him for more than ten years to its limit.

The magical runes on the longbow shimmered, this was undoubtedly the culmination of Eugene's lifelong training and all-out attack.

At this moment, a large number of soldiers had arrived after hearing the news and surrounded the area. But when they saw the scene in front of them, everyone was dumbfounded.

……

To avoid alerting the enemy, Eugene did not issue many orders after arriving at the camp. He simply asked for the specific location of the first vanguard team's encampment, and then, with Lin Wei and two others and more than ten personal guards, he pretended to be on a regular night patrol.

There was no one in Papf's command tent, and the night watchmen did not know his whereabouts.

Eugene didn't say much, he just told the soldiers to stand guard as usual.

Later, with the help of the giant wind eagle, Eugene quickly found the two people talking at the edge of the forest.

Strictly speaking, the two men's solo actions were good news for the arrest plan.

But Eugene didn't expect that Seldon would be able to use two kinds of magic so skillfully.

The signal magic with an extremely wide warning range immediately threw the situation into chaos, and chaos is the last thing the army wants at night.

Even without Lin Wei's order to capture him alive, Eugene had no choice but to prioritize controlling the situation.

"Your Highness, what...what's wrong?"

The commander of the second and third battalions rushed to Eugene and cautiously asked questions with a mixture of nervousness and confusion.

"Maintain order. Also, take control of Russell, Ulric... and the other eight!"

Eugene didn't bother to explain the tense situation, which only made the two of them more puzzled.

It is rare for superiors to punish subordinates without cause within Wallis's army. Just a few days ago, the Duke was acting normally at the border, but suddenly he received an order to return. After marching for two days, things turned out like this. Without an explanation from the Duke, the commander-in-chief, no one could understand it.

At this moment, perhaps only Lin Wei could accurately know the reason why Eugene didn't explain a word—he couldn't save face.

Eugene's shamelessness in front of Lin Wei doesn't mean he acts the same way outside.

Especially in the Third Army's absolute dominance, his image was quite formidable.

This was Lin Wei's first time visiting the Third Legion outside the Royal City area, and Eugene instinctively wanted to show his son the most brilliant and powerful side of himself as the Legion's commander.

There's no need for that.

Lin Wei didn't care about these empty words at all; Eugene's dragging things out would only make the situation worse.

As expected, Lin Wei was right again; Papf spoke first once more:

"Your Highness, are you not yet prepared to accuse me? I am utterly perplexed. What shock has Your Highness suffered? Has some emergency occurred within the capital?"

This Pavf is trying to extract information!

Lin Wei suddenly realized something.

At the same time, his remarks also guided the thinking of others around him.

What could have caused the Duke's personality to change so drastically?

The commanders of the second and third detachments thought more deeply than the others.

Because, like Bapf, they both witnessed Eugene receiving a magical message three days prior.

Such long-distance communication could only originate from two places.

Royal palace, or ducal residence.

But if it were from within the palace, from His Highness's brother, His Majesty the King, His Highness would not have acted so urgently and without giving any reason.

After eliminating that option, the only remaining option is for the message to come from within the Duke's mansion.

"If I remember correctly, Your Highness returned to Fengdu alone on the Giant Wind Eagle at 3 PM, and upon your return, you attempted to capture me. I am truly baffled by the reasoning behind this!"

Lin Wei then realized that Eugene had completely failed to fulfill the instruction he had specifically given in the message: "Do not arouse suspicion among your subordinates."

But what does this have to do with what Papf wanted to say?

Lin Wei felt he was about to grasp that last thread.

This stalemate can't continue indefinitely.

Since the "dignity" aspect of "no damage + dignity" is no longer achievable, let's try our best to achieve "no damage".

Lin Wei didn't want to drag it out any longer; a retrial would be much more efficient than this ongoing riddle-and-answer exchange.

Lin Wei pulled Yare to his side and whispered a few words in his ear.

At the same time, Lin Wei patted Eugene on the back twice, indicating that he was going to take over this mess.

Eugene's reaction was somewhat aggrieved, but it had all been agreed upon beforehand that Lin Wei was the supreme commander for the night.

After quietly arranging everything, Alec removed his cloak, drew his spear, and slowly walked from the shadows toward the light ahead.

"Are Chris—!"

Seldon, who had been malfunctioning for a while next to Bapf, was suddenly activated by the sudden appearance of Aray.

His sudden cry caused a stir throughout the surrounding area.

Not everyone may recognize Aray's face, but the name Aray Chris, the witch-hunting hero, is known to everyone.

How did he end up here?!

Compared to Seldon's absolute shock, Bapf's reaction was far more interesting and complex.

His expression was initially one of confusion and doubt, then he seemed to suddenly realize a possibility, revealing a fleeting look of surprise, which he quickly concealed, and shouted at Ale:

"Lord Yare, why are you here? Has something happened to Prince Lin Wei?!"

These words caused an uproar in the surrounding area.

Everyone knows that Ale is Lin Wei's top knight, and all his actions represent Lin Wei's will.

However, Ale ignored Bapf's words completely; his eyes were fixed only on the outline of the enemy before him.

Without any hesitation, Yare charged toward Pav with his gun.

"clang--"

Papf precisely parried Aray's first thrust with his long axe, and the surprise in his eyes flashed back once more.

He sensed that Ares's attitude was exactly the same as Duke Eugene's—they both wanted to capture him alive.

This further confirms the fact he was thinking.

Lin Wei Kreddy is in big trouble!

He has even...

Once the sword of Lin Wei Kreddy hanging over his head loses its power to fall, no one in the world will be able to shake his heroic reputation!

Even the mighty Ale Kreddy, a god of war, was nothing special after losing the protection of his master!

Papf swung his axe with all his might, deflecting the spear tip that Ale thrust at him time and time again.

Putting aside the mysteries surrounding his motives, Papf's individual strength is undeniably formidable.

Lin Wei's orders to Yare were simple: no talking, control your emotions, and even if you really wanted to kill Bapf, who was obeying the lich and attacking civilians, you had to stop.

Yesterday, Lin Wei's test not only revealed the influence of the "Holy Judgment Warrior" synergy on the Giant Wind Eagle, but also revealed the inherent mechanism of the "Holy Judgment Warrior".

Combat strength is strongly correlated with beliefs and a sense of mission. The most direct reflection of this in Yare was that when Lin Wei told him about Bapf, his anger and killing intent surged instantly, and then, as his anger and killing intent rose, all of his attributes improved.

Yes, all attributes.

According to Lin Wei's analysis, there may be no limit to this kind of improvement.

This might explain why he was able to escape from a fourth-tier lich back then, and also why, despite his average stats not being particularly high, he always managed to demonstrate exceptional combat power when fighting liches.

Hatred itself is an extremely powerful belief, and in the three years since he came to Wallis, Lin Wei and countless people he saved have given him a strong sense of mission. It is only natural that he is fearless and invincible when facing the lich.

Bapf was stronger than Aray, who was suppressing his strength, and the long axe he wielded was more suited to the clash of forces than Aray's spear.

In every head-on confrontation, Yare usually comes out on the losing end.

One-on-one duels between warriors often require breaking through enemy defenses to inflict effective damage, while collisions between weapons usually only result in minimal impact damage.

In layman's terms, it means both sides are losing blood, but it's only at the level of minor scraping.

Both are clearly skilled at parrying. If they continue fighting at this pace, it will really come down to who has the stamina and whose condition drops faster.

But obviously, real combat is different from that in games, and experienced warriors usually seek variations.

After another head-on clash, Jare briefly distanced himself from Pavf.

He then removed his heavy armor, and now he, like Bapf, is in an "armorless" state.

Arre will have to rely on speed to overwhelm his opponent.

While Ale was adjusting, Papf suddenly burst into maniacal laughter:

"Since His Highness Eugene and Lord Aray are unwilling to tell me the truth, then I will take this as a test for me!"

No matter what changes occur in the capital or the ducal mansion today, I, Papf Fisher, will always have a clear conscience!

His words caused another uproar among the surrounding soldiers.

The previous questions resurfaced in everyone's minds—what exactly happened in the capital, or what changes occurred to Prince Lin Wei?

No, no, something's not right with this Papf.

Lin Wei initially thought he was simply guilty about what happened in Leica Town, but now it seems there must be other problems with him!

Why do you always try to pin the problem on me?

And what exactly are you excited about?

It's like if something happened to me would be of immense benefit to you!

Lin Wei's suspicions had reached their peak.

The duel ahead has begun again.

After removing his heavy armor, Are's attack frequency was noticeably faster than Bapf's.

Correspondingly, Papv, with his extensive combat experience, also changed his approach.

Strength-based warriors should never try to parry every attack from agile enemies.

Faced with an increasingly rapid attack from the enemy, there is only one optimal solution—abandon parrying and choose to trade damage!

The damage from an axe blade is always more direct than that from a spear tip!

Wounds began to appear on both of them simultaneously, and all the soldiers present could sense a basic fact—Are was still at a disadvantage.

But unfortunately, feelings can be deceiving.

On Lin Wei's data panel, Yare's health never dropped below 90%.

Soon, Papf sensed that something was wrong.

Was the wound on Aare's shoulder this long before?

He felt that there might be something wrong with his vision, and that the wounds on Yare's body seemed to be healing.

The next second, Papf paid the price for his brief lapse in concentration.

Ale's extremely tricky shot pierced his shoulder.

At the same time, a scene that terrified him appeared.

A scratch on Yare's left cheek healed instantly under his intensely focused attention.

No scars were left.

It just disappeared like that.

It was as if it had never existed.

This is absolutely not a healing spell used by a priest!!

This is... the power of protection.

Linwei Creddy is not dead.

He didn't die.

The immense fear made Pavf feel as if he had fallen into an extremely cold ice cave.

It’s over.

……

and many more.

Bapf's sudden loss of fighting spirit gave Lin Wei the most crucial clue.

Lin Wei could roughly guess why Papf was so desperate.

Because Are's health bar is full.

The physical life steal provided by '2 Holy Judgment Warriors' has a very logical additional effect—it heals wounds while restoring health.

Fully restoring health means perfect healing.

With sufficient blood absorption, the wound heals almost instantly, much faster than advanced healing spells.

Such a stunning visual effect would lead Papf to mistake it for some kind of magical blessing.

The magical blessing that appeared on Alec Sue is generally believed to have only one source.

You get excited when I'm in trouble.

My presence makes you panic.

So you really wanted me dead, Papf.