Vultures occasionally fly across the sky, seemingly waiting for the "sinners" to fall quickly so that they can have a chance to feast.
Muqlin Hafed saw his dead companions being eaten by vultures, and heard the laughter of the Crusaders.
This is a bunch of religious lunatics!
The harsh laughter that echoed in his ears and the mean faces that appeared in front of him were the only impressions that the Crusaders and the Church of Light had on Muqlin Hafed these days.
They had no sympathy for the civilians who were pecked by vultures. Instead, they attributed the deaths of the civilians to too serious sins, and therefore were not forgiven by the God of Light.
but……
The old man who was pecked by the vulture was actually Mukrin Hafed's neighbor. Even in the troubled and difficult Augures area, the old man always maintained a kind heart and was willing to help those who had been affected.
Harm friends and villagers.
If Muqlin Hafed had a dagger in his hand at this moment; if he was not bound by shackles at this moment...then he would definitely choose to pick up the dagger and fight against the heavily armed Crusader soldiers!
However……
As time goes by, Muqlin Hafed realizes more and more that any resistance is in vain.
The wind in the desert is not just a simple wind, it will roll up the sand and gravel on the surface and slap it on everyone's face mercilessly, like a rough and rusty dagger, leaving streaks on the face
Scratch.
Even when he opened his mouth to speak, wind and sand would be poured into his mouth, causing a dry cough.
Even the Crusader soldiers wearing turbans and riding camels felt uncomfortable under the blowing sand, not to mention the civilians who had experienced countless devastations due to the huge temperature difference between day and night.
But no one dared to stop, because if the wind continued to increase, the dust would be enough to annihilate them and then bury them in the constantly moving sand dunes.
I don’t know how long we walked, maybe five days, maybe seven days, maybe even longer.
In the confusion,
Muqlin Hafed seemed to hear the surprised shouts of the Crusaders soldiers.
"It's here...it's finally here..."
finally……
Have you arrived at the destination mentioned by the Crusaders?
Muqlin Hafed almost exhausted the last bit of strength in his body,
He raised his head with difficulty and looked into the distance...
In the desert not far away, a fortress built with stone walls and wood can be seen in the distance.
And further away,
He seemed to be able to see several conical spiers with four corners and square bottoms, located in the endless sea of sand.
Under the blazing sunshine,
Those huge square-bottomed spiers seemed to be dyed golden yellow and looked extremely majestic.
There……
Is this the place where you can get salvation from that damn God of Light...
While thinking about it, the civilians, including Muqlin Hafed, who had long been exhausted, finally fell to the ground one by one.
only……
Muqlin Hafed did not know, nor did he want to know, what was waiting for him?
…
If Bruno were here at this time,
Then there is no doubt that he will look at the distant buildings in the distance and spit out the quintessence of the Chinese nation... Damn it!
because……
If we use shorter words to describe it, then the four-cornered square-bottomed conical minaret that Muqrin Hafed saw can be popularly called...
pyramid!
…
When they saw the pyramids in the desert in the distance, the Crusader soldiers riding on the camels all showed a sense of awe. They quickly got off the camels and crawled on the hot sand.
"Hill of Light..."
Although they are all Crusaders, the Crusaders stationed in the Augure Desert are completely different from other Holy Religions.
They must have absolute loyalty to the Church of Light, and a large part of them are religious lunatics who have been raised by the Church of Light since childhood and have been brainwashed countless times.
They have no parents, wives, children, relatives or friends. The only thing they know is the Church of Light, and the only thing they have to do is to complete the tasks ordered by the church.
In their view, only the church, and only the great God of Light they worship, can wash away their sins and gain the opportunity to lead to the Kingdom of Heaven.
so……
It is precisely because of their paranoia and fanatical beliefs that these Crusader soldiers stationed in the Augures area are often able to access deeper religious secrets.
The pyramids in front of them were called "Hills of Light" by the Crusaders in front of them.
It symbolizes the creation power possessed by the God of Light, and also represents the immortal gods in their hearts.
The soldiers don't know what is in the Hill of Light, and their mission is also very simple, that is, to protect these buildings and bring the sinners here, so that those survivors who can cross the desert can have the honor to experience the magic from the Hill of Light.
God’s “care”.
…
This fortress, located not far from the Hill of Light, is the base camp of the Crusaders in the Augure Desert.
This is an extremely vast fortress. The city walls made of bricks and stones are strong and compact, enough to withstand the erosion of wind and sandstorms. Although it looks a bit crude, but... this is in the desert!
You must know that even the Principality of Idar, which is proud of its speed of infrastructure construction, wants to build such a city in an uninhabited desert, it will require unimaginable manpower and material resources, as well as a lot of time.
But……
With decades, even hundreds of years of accumulation and construction, the Church of Light relied on the lives of countless soldiers and workers and hundreds of thousands of tithes to build this fortress in the boundless desert.
among.
"A dozen are dead, but there are thirty-two alive."
The Crusader soldiers responsible for the escort were reporting the harvest of this trip to the Crusader who looked like a commander.
The man's face and body were shrouded in white robes, and no expression could be seen. Even when he heard the death toll, he was indifferent, as if... the person who died was not a person, but just something.
Dispensable livestock in general.
"That's all?!"
"It is the windy season after all, and the survival rate is indeed much lower than before." The Crusader soldier looked embarrassed.
Hearing this, the man in white robe frowned slightly and said: "All of them will be escorted to the cage. If it were in the past, these people would have been enough, but... the whispers of the gods have become more frequent. Please prepare in the past few days.
, we must gather at least one hundred people."
"But Fengji..."
"Feng Ji? We worship the great God of Light! If you can't even do these little things, how can you win the favor of the God of Light!" The man in white robe said sternly.
"clear!"
The soldier left, but the man in white robe turned around and looked at the towering golden spire not far away.
Before this, only one sinner needed to be sacrificed to allow a Crusader to receive the gift of the God of Light, but recently...
If you want to obtain the gods' gifts, the number of sacrifices has been doubled...
but……
This seems to be a good thing.
Because this means... it won’t take long to realize the great cause of the Church of Light and make the Church of Light great again!
Thinking of this, the man in white robe couldn't help but raise his head, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. Under the cover of white robe, a faint smile appeared on his face.
…
When Muqlin Hafed woke up in a daze and wanted to open his eyes again... the blazing sunlight suddenly pierced his eyes.
He quickly turned his head with all his strength, and then...a dark, large face plate covered with wrinkles and dust suddenly came into view.
"Are you awake?" the man asked.
"Where is this?"
"Augure Desert, Crusader Fortress."
Seeing that Muqlin Hafed had woken up, the man sat back again, leaned against the bars of the cage, and answered weakly.
"Who are you……"
"Just like you, he was captured by them..."
"I mean the name."
"We are all here...does it matter what we call it..." The man looked a little lonely.
As he spoke, Muqlin Hafed finally managed to support the ground with his hands and reluctantly sat up from the ground.
He didn't seem to be used to the strong light in front of him, so he could only squint his eyes slightly and look at the environment he was in now with difficulty.
Then...he was shocked.
The place where Muqrin Hafed is now is probably a huge square in the center of the fortress.
only……
There were dozens of huge iron cages placed in the center of the square, and he himself was in them!
There are about twenty or thirty prisoners in each iron cage. The villagers who were escorted here together with Muqlin Hafed were separated and detained in different iron cages.
The blazing sunshine baked the ground, which was covered with stains of blood that had long since solidified, making it look particularly scary.
"What on earth is going on? What on earth are these Crusaders doing?!"
Although Muqlin Hafed was extremely weak at this time, he still staggered to the man's side and asked nervously.
"What are you doing? Of course you want to send us to see their great God of Light!" The man's tone seemed to be full of resentment. Even though he was already weak, he could not hide the hatred in his eyes.
"Then let's..."
Muqlin Hafed looked around, looking at the people huddled in the cage, their eyes either filled with resentment, or cowering, or even looking a little crazy, and wanted to say something.
but……
The man seemed to have lost interest in continuing the conversation with Muqlin Hafed. His eyes flickered for a moment, as if he remembered some experience that made him feel extremely painful:
"Oh! Respectable God of Light, if I still have a choice, I swear I will kick Will Roach's ass! Let him swallow the dirty and smelly food on the table of those damn untouchables.
Brown bread!”
"And damn Mac! What he said stinks like Pete's boots at the gate! If he falls into my hands, I'll make him squeal like Bishop O'Connor's dog! I swear.
!Definitely!"
Ever since the news of the formal establishment of Protestantism in the Principality of Idar reached the ears of Cardinal Camus Blanchard, this powerful Cardinal was furious.
In addition, the commander of the Crusaders he sent out actually fell into the arms of the Protestants, which made him feel even more insulted!
Therefore, cursing Mike for his betrayal and Will Roach's backstabbing has almost become Camus Blanchard's most important pastime in his spare time.
not to mention……
The letter from Bruno Stuart, Duke of Idar, made the cardinal archbishop almost breathless with anger.
Will Roach? Or Mike?
Who revealed the internal information of the Church of Light?
How did this news reach the hands of Bruno Stuart, Duke of Idar?!
In fact, as early as when the Principality of Idar was negotiating peace with the Odin Empire, the Red Archbishop had already anticipated that the transactions between the Church of Light and the Odin people might be known to the Idar people.
But what caught him off guard was that in addition to these, Bruno Stuart, Duke of Idar, even knew the truth behind the death of Emperor Raphael Alexander!
Bruno's letter alone is enough to prevent the Light Church from directly taking action against the Protestants on many matters.
And all this showed him...
There are huge problems within the church!
And...does the holy city of Bethlehem still hide secrets from other forces?
Cardinal Camus Blanchard realized this extremely serious problem almost immediately.
but……
Fortunately for Cardinal Camus Blanchard, the internal cutting of the Church of Light has already been completed.
The deepest secrets were hidden in the boundless Augure Desert many years ago.
Therefore, even those at the level of cardinals have little knowledge of many of the deeper secrets of the Holy See.
Even Cardinal Camus Blanchard himself does not know everything about the church.
Just like the money and grain supplies that are transported to the Augure Desert every year.
Even as a powerful red archbishop, Camus Blanchard only knew a rough amount. As for what exactly the money was used for, and where the food was used, he had no idea.
.
after all……
A person who can become a cardinal archbishop and assist the church in handling the daily affairs of the Church of Light is definitely more than just a believer.
Camus Blanchard knew very well that in many cases, the more you know about some things, the better.