Guild Boss's Ambition

Sophie murmured in a hateful tone, her delicate shoulders trembling.

I was concerned about her mood and explained, "It may not be a war, it could be something else that requires the use of the Paladins' force. The gathering time is 12 o'clock tonight at the Temple of Light. Since the bishop wrote so close to the gathering time, it must be a very urgent situation. I should report to the gathering place early."

"Do you have to go?"

"Ah."

"Aren't you my knight?"

"I am first and foremost a knight of the God of Light."

At this moment, Sophie showed a resigned smile, her eyes flashing with sadness, and she sighed, "If everyone was like you, there wouldn't be so many struggles in this world, right?"

I could only continue to say such irresponsible words: "I'm sorry, Sophie, for making you worry about me again."

The girl shook her head calmly, and as she moved closer to me, she whispered, "Sister, you don't have to apologize, because your ideals and your actions are correct, but since you hope that I can accept your willfulness, then I also hope that you can tolerate my selfishness. Raftan, remember the way home, I will wait for you here."

Gradually, the scent of the young girl lingered on my nose, and her face became larger and larger in my eyes, large enough to clearly see every tiny pore on it, until the soft petals touched my lips in a moment of surprise──

I should have pushed her away. I shouldn't have made this mistake.

How can a desperado like me bring happiness to others?

……

……

35. Demon King (Raftan)

(Raftan-Fritze)

For the sake of my duties at the Church, I had to forget Sophie for the time being.

No matter from which angle you look at it, the scene just now was too exciting.

"I didn't expect my first kiss would be taken away by my little sister like this..."

"No, no! Stop thinking about it, we're almost at church!"

With a face still burning hot, I managed to maintain a serious expression and arrived at the Temple of Light.

After noticing my Paladin attire, an old nun who was in charge of the gate came up to me. She first confirmed the original copy of the Paladin's badge and conscription order with me, and then asked me my name. After completing a series of identity verification procedures, she led the way for me from the chapel to a basement in the monastery.

The location of this basement is very secretive, probably one of the secrets of our church.

The layout of the basement is similar to that of the chapel on the ground, but the area is smaller and can only accommodate about 200 people. There are benches inside. When I came to the basement, there were about fifty paladins sitting on the benches. Everyone had a solemn expression and most of them were discussing in low voices.

"Please go ahead, Miss Fritz. The Bishop will explain the arrangements for the holy war tonight."

After briefly introducing the facilities in the basement, the old nun walked down the dirt stairs back to the ground. I couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed as I was alone. Looking at these completely unfamiliar colleagues in front of me, in order to avoid showing uncomfortable enthusiasm, I chose an unmanned area in the middle left and sat down.

It was eight o'clock in the evening, four hours before the agreed meeting time.

Everyone waited quietly for the agreed time to arrive.

I had just sat down for a short while when the entrance to the stairs was opened again.

Several nuns came in with food. Unlike me who arrived late, some paladins might have been waiting here for more than a day. Even if we claim to be the sword and shield of the God of Light, we are still mortals who need to eat.

But I had already eaten in the stone house, so I declined the meal brought by the nuns.

The meals prepared by the nuns were very simple. I had already experienced these foods with almost no seasoning when I was receiving training in the academy, and the paladins present seemed to have had similar experiences as me. But unlike the academy days, we now understand how much delicious food the gods have prepared for us in the colorful world outside.

In an instant, the paladins who received the food all looked conflicted.

Compared with a powerful enemy, poor quality rations may be more likely to undermine the morale of the soldiers.

"Haha, it's on Sunday's menu! How lucky!"

"Well, at least it's Sunday food... You're really optimistic."

"Potatoes, spinach and pork, very nutritious, aren't they?"

“But they are all leftover goods from the market that don’t look good…”

“Don’t they taste the same?”

"Are you a foodie? How are they the same? The taste is completely different, okay?!"

There was a quarrel with the knights because of the nuns' dishes. Although it was a quarrel, it made people think of the time in school. Six years since graduation, the classmates have gone their separate ways. Except for the occasional correspondence with the two best friends, the rest of the classmates have completely lost contact. Even if they met on the road, they could hardly recognize each other.

But it is precisely because of these sad memories that I am more determined to protect others.

"If I have the ability to completely control the bloodline in my body, then maybe Ebi still has a chance to live in this world?"

I shook my head vigorously to get rid of the phantom that came from nowhere. If I blindly desire power, I will be devoured by it. True justice requires both strength and wisdom. I cannot run fast due to mistakes and regrets. The so-called jogging is to maintain my own rhythm to achieve the best results. This is also the way our knights should run.

By the way, if you look closely, the paladins sitting in the same room with me are also extraordinary characters.

Although appearances are not the best, their equipment and weapons are all valuable swords and armor. If you don't have a certain amount of financial resources and strength, it would be impossible to buy and use these equipment. If you look closely, the total of 79 paladins are probably all strong men above the gold level. Judging from this, our enemies are probably also very powerful.

Another half an hour later, I took the initiative and finally struck up a conversation with two female knights. I learned that not all of the paladins here were from Mopolis City. Many of them had traveled overnight from nearby cities. And according to their guess, it wasn't just us paladins who were recruited this time, but also white mages.

The White Mage is a higher rank of the Priest. In addition to being proficient in light magic, he is also a scholar with great learning.

According to historical records, 80% of the cardinals of the Church are succeeded by the elite among the white mages, the remaining 15% are us paladins, and the final 5% are certain special cases.

In the system of the Church of Light, the cardinals hold the fourth rank of power, seven in total.

To give a brief introduction, in the Church of Light, the first position of power is the "Pope" of each generation. Unless there is evidence that the Pope has lost the ability to manage the Church, this position is lifelong. Once the Pope dies, the Church will hold a secret meeting, and the bishops will elect the next Pope.

Below the Pope are the Scapular Cardinals, who, like the Cardinals, are advisers who assist the Pope in governing and managing the Church, but have actual power higher than the Cardinals. They are given the task of approaching the gates of heaven and communicating with angels. They are also the Pope's supervisors and have the important function of proposing the removal of the contemporary Pope.

There is a privileged class between the Cardinal and the Cardinal, that is Her Highness the Saint who is personally chosen by the God of Light. The Saint has the power to appoint believers below the level of Cardinal to execute any orders. What is puzzling is that the Church has never given a clear positioning for the existence of Her Highness the Saint to the believers.

We don't know why the saint exists.

We also don't know the rights and obligations of the saint.

But even with many uncertainties, the title of Saint unexpectedly received unanimous praise among the believers of the God of Light. Compared with the Pope and bishops, there is very little negative news about the Saints of all generations.

Holy, diligent, faithful, kind, strong...

Almost all positive adjectives can be used to describe the Saint.

When it comes to discussing model believers who worship the God of Light, the Saint and her companions always easily take first place.

However, in reality, most of us do not know the Saint and have never seen her.

But that’s what faith is all about. Because you believe, you believe, and then you remain faithful until you die.

Rustle!

Click! Ding-dong-ding!

At 10:30 in the evening, as the door of the basement opened, the knights who had been a little relaxed began to perk up, causing a series of scattered sounds of armor colliding and footsteps to be heard in the basement, but these chaotic sounds soon returned to disciplined silence, and the originally scattered seating arrangement was transformed into a square array that would please people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Needless to say, this change was naturally due to the arrival of a big shot.

An hour and a half earlier than scheduled, Cardinal Bartholomew, dressed in red, arrived at the basement, guarded by four paladins and a green-haired man. Without much ceremony, he stood on the podium in a hurry and said to us with a serious face, "Thank you all for coming here. But if you are not prepared to die, please go back."

The voice of persuasion fell loudly, and none of the paladins in the basement moved. The air was so quiet that it caused people to hear hallucinations and tinnitus.

Seeing our reaction, Cardinal Bartholomew showed a very satisfied expression and said loudly: "Due to the urgency of the situation, this cardinal can only be brief. In short, the reason why the Church summoned you today is very simple, that is, it hopes to use your strength to fight against the devil who has reappeared in the world and stop his immoral plan."

"Immortal."

Bishop Bartholomew's choice of words here is clever. He did not explicitly say that the other party is evil, but only pointed out that the enemy's behavior is against morality. Unlike the knight novels on the market, we in the Church of Light rarely use the word evil in formal occasions, because evil is an extremely serious accusation and an object that must be fought with all our strength.

Strictly speaking, the demons living in hell are not the embodiment of evil.

In the mainstream concept of our Church of Light, the seven deadly sins and the forty-nine devils are just the embodiment of sin.

Sin can be redeemed and purified, but evil must be destroyed.

There are rumors that inside the Temple of Light, in that secret room that only the Pope and bishops can enter, there is a list with several names on it. These names are the names of evil people. Since the founding of the religion, the God of Light and his believers have been secretly trying to find the whereabouts of these evil people, trying their best to eradicate them completely.

However, rumors are just rumors, and I myself cannot tell whether they are true or not.

"Well, may I ask, Your Excellency the Bishop, which demon king is that?" asked a one-handed sword paladin.

Bishop Barsalom raised his arm slightly to show that he had received the question, and slowly replied, "The demon king is the fraudulent demon king Leia who caused chaos in the church twenty years ago. That period of history should have been completely eliminated, but Leia has now been resurrected. In order to fight him, we must rely on your strength, and as participants in the holy war, you have the right to know about this history."

In the following period of time, the bishop explained to us in detail the turmoil in the church that year.

……

……

36. Difference (Raftan)

(Raftan-Fritze)

After listening to the old stories about Demon King Leia and the internal strife in the Church, I couldn't help but feel sad.

Whenever I thought about having to go to the front line to deal with this cunning demon, the gloomy feeling instantly turned into a real headache, forcing me to secretly cast a purification magic on myself, and then I felt a little better.

After the bishop finished telling the story, we officially set out on our journey to the assigned mission location.

Our mission this time is to protect the magic weapon that controls the lust of the seven deadly sins - the Ring of Madness.

Since the location where the magic weapon was collected was a long distance away from the monastery, our group of 65 people traveled by carriage in groups of eight to nine people. In order to cover up our tracks, a total of eight carriages took different routes to the target location.

What surprised me was that the bright moon tonight had mysteriously turned into a red moon.

The red moon has always been a symbol of bad luck. Whenever a red moon appears, demons will become more active.

"What's with the red moon in the sky?"

The sound was not made by me, but by a female knight who was sitting in the same carriage. As the carriage was not large and most of the knights were wearing heavy armor, even though most of the people sitting in the carriage with me were women of smaller stature, after nine people were squeezed in at once, the awkward situation of shoulder armor touching shoulder armor was inevitable.

Actually, the female knight who made the sound was not talking to anyone, but because everyone was very close to each other, the knights in the same car could hear the whisper clearly, and then they started a low discussion.

I did not join the discussion of the knights. Most of their speculations about the red moon in the sky were groundless. I thought that delving too deeply into it would only lower morale and make each other feel uneasy about the unknown. Precisely because of this uneasiness, the knights quickly directed their doubts to a green-haired man in the same car.

The green-haired man came to the basement with Bishop Barsalom. Probably because the bishop's carriage was full, he got on our carriage alone. After the initial self-introduction, we learned that he was an exorcist named Green Willow. Then he, like me, curled up in a corner of the carriage like an autistic patient and didn't speak.

But unlike me, his peaceful time was soon shattered by the curiosity of the knights.

"Mr. Green Willow, do you know anything about the red moon in the sky?" a female knight asked with a smile.

Whether it was because of the beauty of the female knight or out of social courtesy, the exorcist Green Willow turned her head from silence, gave everyone a smile, and replied in a friendly manner: "The red moon in the sky is part of the demons' plan, but we have now reduced its danger to the lowest level. If possible, please leave me alone. I am feeling a little unwell."

At this moment, I can't help but think of a rumor.

When I became aware of it, I had already asked, "Did the red moon stimulate the demon blood in your body?"

The exorcist scratched his messy hair, smiled bitterly and nodded, "Yes, there are some problems, but it's nothing serious."

Seeing Mr. Lvliu's face full of menstrual cramps, even though he said that he was fine, the paladins in the car naturally did not force him to communicate with everyone. The topic then turned from Red Moon to the Demon King Leia, and then to the gossip that exists in every circle, but they were not talking about scandals, but the strength and reputation of each paladin.

If they hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that all the paladins summoned here are platinum level.

The four knights who followed Bishop Barsalom to the basement were even more powerful than legendary warriors.

Perhaps in the next holy war, our platinum-level fighters will only be high-level cannon fodder.

"So modesty is indeed a virtue..."

"I hope we can get through this battle without any trouble, right?"

Finally, with the coachman driving, we stopped the car in a delicate position.

Unexpectedly, the place where the magic weapon Crazy Love Ring was collected would be the territory of other religions.

Temple of Life and Death!

To be precise, it should be the Temple of Life and Death that is being rebuilt.

After looking at each other for a while, Mr. Lvliu led us into the Temple of Life and Death in silence. As believers in the God of Light, we all instinctively hated this temple that had not yet returned to its original appearance. The cycle of life and death is an unchanging cycle. It is a cowardly way of thinking that is greedy for life and afraid of death, stale and unenterprising.

Perhaps because the temple has not yet been built, or they have long been expelled, there is no trace of any life and death believers here.

Due to confidentiality arrangements, we were not informed of the location of the magic weapon and were only assigned guarding posts.

The defense line is divided into two layers, the outer layer is mainly composed of a larger number of paladins. Their main job is to patrol at fixed points within the temple and serve as a warning. The order given is not to fight to the end. After discovering the enemy, they will try to lure the enemy to retreat to the main force inside to avoid being defeated one by one.

I was assigned to the inner line of defense. The second line of defense was located in the sacrificial hall of the goddess of life and death. Senior clergy including Bishop Barsalom and Mr. Green Willow were consolidating the front line here. According to the tactical arrangement, this was probably the final location of the decisive battle. Everyone was actively building some small defensive fortifications here.

Even in a battlefield as strong as platinum level, a thin earth wall may still save our lives.

The task assigned to me was to protect one of the twenty-four white mages.

Although we didn't know each other, we were from the same school and were all experienced warriors. Even if Bishop Barsalom didn't deploy the tactics in detail, as long as we followed the general combat principles, we could still quickly formulate strategies and divide and define each other's responsibilities based on the equipment and expertise we carried.