They recognized their feelings, but the knight had been reincarnated as a fox cub

In fact, Fate also had many doubts about this matter. Why would the cultists, who had been suppressed to the point of not daring to show their heads, make a comeback? And why did they choose to attack the place where these temporary recruits were stationed?

Could this be a coincidence?

But if this was not a coincidence, it would not just be a problem for the local court. A small court has no power to conscript civilians without instructions from above.

In other words, if this incident is not a coincidence, it is very likely that the military is involved.

It's okay for a local court, but it's unlikely that even the military is involved.

After all, the strength of the empire consists of the imperial military, in addition to the family soldiers under the command of the nobles and royal families, and the command of the military is in the hands of the Knight-General of the Nation.

After he resigned as Grand Knight and left the Empire, command fell into the hands of his favorite student, Arins.

Among all his disciples, the one Fate trusted the most was Alins, who was a qualified knight with integrity, so much so that Fate could always see his own shadow in him.

So after Fate left, he returned the power of the court to Beatrice, but only gave the military power and his own position to Alins.

He believed that with the assistance of Alins and Beatrice's hard work, the empire would prosper.

Well, it must be just a coincidence.

But this matter is serious enough to attract attention.

Many years have passed, but the empire still has the hidden danger of cultists, and even claimed so many lives.

"Have those cultists received the punishment they deserved?" Fate asked after a long silence.

"Military documents indicate that they have all been executed for endangering the personal safety of the imperial people and the lives of soldiers, and destroying imperial property." Nia responded.

"Does Alins know about this?"

"Lord Alins knew about this, and he held a mourning ceremony for these soldiers who died in the battle, posthumously awarding them the title of 'Imperial Warriors'."

Fate frowned.

If you take it so seriously, why haven't you even arranged for the pension? Why do you have to ask someone to come and urge them in person?

Could it be that this kid Alins has too much to do and is overwhelmed by his work?

Human life is more important than anything else. Even if you are extremely busy, such mistakes should not occur.

For a moment, Fate was somewhat dissatisfied with Alins's behavior.

"......When something like this happens, you should reflect on yourself, don't be careless in the future, and take precautions before it happens." Fate knew that he had no power to control these things now, and he shouldn't comment on these things, but he still spoke.

The implication is that he is dissatisfied with Alins's careless behavior.

"Besides, the military is responsible for the unexpected attack on the cultists that resulted in the deaths of soldiers. The pensions have been delayed for so long, and the military and the local court are also responsible for not reporting the matter. They should provide higher standards of compensation to the families, such as lifelong support." Fate said these words to Nia, and of course Nia understood what Fate meant.

"In a peaceful era, the Empire doesn't need this little money, right?"

"I understand, Master. When I see Master Alins after I go back, I will mention this to him."

"Ah."

After Nia left, Fate took a deep breath, still showing no emotion.

He stood up, picked up the bags of gold coins of various sizes, and walked out of the church while thinking about his words.

He should think about how to explain it to Reed and to the families who had lost their breadwinners.

He is retired and no longer a knight, so he has no obligation to take care of these things. But now, faced with these complicated "trivia", he still has to take action.

"........It's so troublesome." Fate's thoughts were a bit complicated, and he shook his head. "Arins, boy, can't you be more reliable?"

"Even if someone is 'dead' they still have to crawl out of their grave to clean your ass."

Chapter 43: 42~ Monsters Attack the City

After organizing the words and thoughts in his mind, Fate prepared to set off for the outskirts of the city.

It was already afternoon, and there were not many people in the church today. Rowling seemed to have gone out for something, leaving Fate alone.

As soon as Fate walked out of the church, he heard a sharp noise, followed by people's panicked screams.

The cry of fear and despair triggered Fate's instinct, and he ran towards the source of the sound without thinking.

Such a loud explosion seemed to be caused by the collapse of a house. I'm afraid the matter is not simple.

Could it be that the cultists attacked the city again? But how did they sneak into Batti City, and why did they choose a marginal city that was very inconspicuous in the entire empire? ?

Fate could not draw a conclusion. The behavioral logic of cultists could not be guessed by ordinary people's thinking and logic. Some cultists were methodical and purposeful, but some were more like a group of thugs than cultists. There was no logic in their actions, and the evil they did to others was harmful to others and not beneficial to themselves. They were just a group of lunatics.

Although he had once subdued these mentally abnormal and twisted lunatics, he could not rule out the possibility that some of these guys were still alive and had made a comeback.

Fate ran all the way to the city center and found that the place was in chaos. Several houses had collapsed and flames were burning in the ruins.

People ran out in a hurry without any care. For ordinary people who were used to living in peace, this scene was tantamount to hell on earth.

The people on the periphery didn't know what was happening. They stood there in a daze and were pushed aside and knocked down by the panicking crowd.

The scene was in complete chaos and order, and the people from the court and the public security office seemed to have not arrived yet.

Was it really an attack by cultists?

Fate frowned.

Now that he is not a knight and has no knighthood certificate, he cannot exercise the powers of a knight, and the masses naturally will not listen to his evacuation order.

A sharp and piercing sound rang out like thunder piercing through the clouds. Fate heard it clearly. It was not the sound of an explosion. It contained an uncontrollable emotion. It was more like the hysterical roar of some indescribable creature.

Fate noticed a pitch-black human figure standing on the collapsed beam in front of him.

This humanoid monster was taller than an adult, half the height of a house. Its wrinkled black skin was covered with sharp barbs, and its jaws were like a crow's beak, with many sharp and irregular teeth hanging upside down inside. Its huge eyes were red without pupils, and its fingers were covered with sharp claws.

The monster was incredibly strong, and even the muscles on its limbs were moving flexibly like flowing lake water.

"This monster........." For some reason, Fate had never seen this monster before, but he always felt that the monster seemed familiar.

The monster stood there in a daze, staring at the endless stream of people without moving, its eyes wide open, as if it was enduring something. It stretched out its hands to grab forward and roared with its dry throat, but the sound that came out of the roar was like that of a broken accordion.

There seems to be more than one monster.

Among the collapsed houses in the city center, Fate also saw other black figures, which were frantically destroying the houses in the city center. Some citizens who did not have time to run out of the houses were hit by the collapsed house parts and died on the spot.

In addition, a monster targeted the people who were fleeing and rushed towards them like a madman. Its sharp claws easily tore open the bodies of two innocent passers-by.

Oops......

Casualties have already occurred. Seeing the monster approaching the crowd, Fate no longer cares about anything else and rushes into the crowd and squeezes in.

"Make way, please make way."

However, the crowd was so crowded and noisy that the people who were fleeing in panic could not hear Fate's voice at all.

Compared to the speed of the monsters, the crowd was like crawling ants.

In just a few breaths, the monster rushed to the end of the crowd, but Fate was still squeezed in the middle.

The cries of children and women suddenly arose. Fate gritted his teeth, clutched the necklace in one hand, and was ready to release his determination.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, the knights of the Inquisition finally arrived.

A knight holding a heavy crossbow raised it and aimed at the monster's back. The sharp magic-breaking crossbow arrow pierced the monster's heart, and after throwing its body forward for a distance, it fell to the ground and became motionless.

Seeing the Inquisition coming, Fate breathed a sigh of relief and put down the pendant.

"Don't panic, everyone! The knights are coming! We will kill all the monsters, please don't crowd! You will all be safe!" shouted the knight in charge.

Hearing that the knight had arrived and a monster had been killed, the people at the scene felt reassured, but the crisis was not completely resolved.

The knights began to fight the monsters on the scene.

Led by a knight, three to five guards from the police station form a group to protect one monster.

Although these knights all graduated from regular academies, this was their first actual combat, so they were inevitably a little nervous.

Fate also understood that what he learned in the academy was dead, and only how to flexibly apply knowledge and combat skills was alive and belonged to him.

Inadvertently, Fate glanced at the monster in the corner, whose heart was shot out by a heavy crossbow and should have been dead. His pupils suddenly shrank.

The monster's body was still shaking slightly, and it was slowly standing up with one hand supporting the ground!

The local troops of the Inquisition are equipped with an enchanted magic-destroying heavy crossbow, which is a powerful siege weapon of the Imperial Legion. It can easily penetrate five layers of plate armor and even slightly thinner city walls. Even if it fails to penetrate, the enchanted inscriptions on it can remain in the shell of the object and continue to cause damage to the object. It is a weapon with extremely terrifying lethality.

Being hit by such a weapon, he didn't die?

Fate was somewhat unable to describe the vitality of this monster.

Chapter 44: 43~That's my mother!

Seeing the monster staggering to its feet, while the other guards and knights' attention was on the remaining monsters, Fate continued to squeeze out towards the crowd.

It was indeed the first time for these little knights to go on the battlefield, and they didn’t even know how to finish off the enemy.

Faced with inhuman supernatural monsters, they still made the most common mistake made by novice knights, which is to judge monsters with human thinking.

In their opinion, these monsters were just like humans. They would definitely be dead after being hit by this blow, so there was no need to observe them and then finish them off.

But how can non-human monsters be judged by human standards?

Not only these knights, but even the crowd did not notice that the monster was not yet dead. It was crawling up from the ground little by little, and showed a resentful and vicious look to the few people who did not have time to run to the safe area.

They have extremely strong vitality and seem to have a natural hatred for all living things.

"Ahhh!" A mother holding her child was covered by a black shadow in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, the hideous monster was only an arm's length away from her. Its sharp claws that could easily tear metal apart emitted a cold murderous intent. She could feel the breath of death coming towards her.

The woman closed her eyes and held the child behind her. Her maternal instinct prompted her to protect her child first.

Before she closed her eyes, she vaguely saw a tall figure suddenly appear and block her way, followed by a violent sound of metal clashing.

The cold wind blew across the hem of her skirt. When she opened her eyes again, a man wearing a closed helmet stood in front of her like an iron tower. The sword in his hand collided with the monster's sharp claws, sparks flying continuously.

"Go." The man's voice was flat and he spat out two words sparingly.

Hearing this, the woman came back to her senses from her trance, said thank you, moved her weak feet, and left tremblingly.

Fortunately, I made it in time, but...

"Crack!" Fate took a step back. She was at a disadvantage in the wrestling with the monster.

She was in poor condition, mostly due to the loss of muscle mass after her gender transition, and a small part due to the lack of training during her retirement years, which made it difficult for her to even deal with this small monster.

Although he is not so delicate that he can be easily pushed down, his strength is probably only much greater than that of an adult male, and is far less exaggerated than before.

The monster in front of him was much stronger than a normal adult male. In terms of strength, Fate was completely at a disadvantage.

Fate was forced to retreat continuously, and he didn't expect that one day he would become so incompetent.

Without the use of mental skills, he couldn't even deal with a monster of unknown origin with just strength.

Fortunately, what he was most proud of was not only his mind skills, but also his swordsmanship.

[Swordsmanship: Force Release]

The hilt of the sword swayed in his hand, and the monster, whose fulcrum was gone, fell forward uncontrollably.

Fate raised his foot and kicked the monster's lower body with his heavy boots, causing the monster to completely lose balance and fall forward.

"Stand back." Fate shouted to the onlookers around him, then raised his sword high and swung it down with overwhelming force, hitting the monster's crown like a heavy war hammer.

[Swordsmanship: The Watcher's Wrath]

"Boom boom!" A dent was smashed into the ground under the monster's head, and the people around were stunned.

Fate shook his head.

His Watcher's Wrath used to be able to create a dent in the ground, but now it can only create a shallow dent.

The strength has dropped by more than one level.

Obviously, such a blow was not enough to kill the monster, but only made it lose consciousness for a short time.

Fate is not like those inexperienced knights. He will not stop until he is sure that the monster is dead.

He held the sword and chopped the monster wildly, like chopping meat and vegetables, and every move was aimed at the fatal part, without any delay.

Soon, Fate was exhausted and had to lean on the sword. He was tired from chopping and his whole arm, including his fingers, was trembling.

He stepped aside and watched what happened. Not long after, the monster moved again. Its body trembled a few times and it tried to stand up. However, this time, its injuries were very serious. Although it was still alive, it was quite difficult for it to stand up again.