At this time, the dusk was getting darker, and the gray-blue sky gradually turned into indigo, and then merged into the dark night.
The blue crescent moon rises, and the sparkling stars rise, dotting the deep night and making the thick snow on the ground sparkle.
Delphi, the high priest of the Dark Temple, always prefers the night to the day.
The light in the ice field during the day was so dazzling that he often couldn't open his eyes.
But at night, whenever he looked at the night sky like a black velvet curtain, the high priest Delphi would feel that the great god of darkness was silently overlooking him in the kingdom of heaven, always protecting his devout believers.
.
Today is the fifth day since the followers of the Dark God left the Temple of Darkness and marched on the Arctic Icefield.
Just five days ago, they used their long-cherished wildfire to destroy the Guardian Knights of the Church of Light who came to encircle and suppress them.
At the same time, High Priest Delphi also learned from the leader of the Guardian Knights that Saint Isabella of the Dark Temple was currently imprisoned in the cell of the Northern Tribunal of the Church of Light, suffering torture that was worse than death.
torture.
"We need to rescue Isabella from the clutches of the Church of Light as soon as possible," Delphi once said to the believers that day. "As long as she delays for one more day, she will suffer one more day of pain."
"But, High Priest," after hearing this, someone retorted below, "Didn't you say that our 'wildfire' has been used up today? Without 'wildfire', what can we use to fight against the Church of Light?"
That is not to save people, that is to die!"
The person who spoke was called Refant, and he was a tall, muscular knight.
Over the years, he has been holding a two-handed heavy sword and loyally guarding the door of the Dark Temple, never failing in his duty. And his style of speaking and doing is the same as his sword, which can't be more upright.
Most of the time, the high priest Delphi admired his character and felt that this young man was loyal and practical, and was a good example for believers.
But sometimes...such as now, Delphi really wants to slap away this guy who boosts others' morale and destroys his own prestige.
"Everyone, as the people of the great God of Darkness, is it true that the only thing we can rely on is 'wildfire'?" Delphi raised his voice and asked, "Have you forgotten that not long ago, our Lord had emerged from his deep sleep?
Have you awakened and given you the power of God’s favor again?”
"But" the upright knight Refant still wanted to refute, but as soon as he spoke, he was interrupted by Delphi.
"What my lord needs is a group of brave warriors who are not afraid of sacrifice, not a group of cowards who only hide behind wildfires. If you are afraid, you can stay. I will take the other warriors to the Northern Tribunal.
"This time, Delphi's words revealed a trace of undoubted anger.
Refant lowered his head and stopped talking.
Next, Delphi relied on the authority of the high priest and reasonable reasons to convince other opponents, and decided to set off as soon as possible to go to the Northern Tribunal to rescue Saint Isabella.
As for why Delphi insisted on doing this in a hurry, the reason is simple:
Just as Lin Bilton, the leader of the Guardian Knights of the Church of Light who died that day, said, Saint Isabella knew an important secret about the God of Darkness itself, a secret that could completely destroy the Dark Temple. Moreover, she was very likely to be this person.
The only person in the world who knows this secret.
Whether she died miserably in prison with her secret, or she couldn't bear the torture and told the secret to the Church of Light, it was a loss that the Dark Temple could not afford.
Delphi must take a desperate risk.
In this way, for the first time in decades, the remaining believers of the Dark Temple mobilized all their members, and in a calm and sacred attitude, left the Dark Temple where they had stayed for many years, the sanctuary where they had placed their deep feelings.
Then, like a dark cloud on a capped glacier, it slowly moved toward the southeast.
The wind was freezing along the way. The howling wind carried a biting chill and passed between their collars and sleeves, making their skin particularly stinging.
But with the power of faith, they never complained and their eyes were as firm as before.
"There is a small village not far ahead," Delphi narrowed his eyes slightly and pointed ahead and said, "Let's rest there tonight!"
Everyone agreed and even looked forward to it.
After all, in the past few days after leaving the Dark Temple, they had been sleeping rough and living on black bread and bacon. A village that could provide them with supplies was still very tempting.
With this idea in mind, their progress speeded up a lot.
They shuttled between the mountains, climbed over the rolling hills, and finally walked into the small mountain village under the starlight.
However, the scene that caught their eyes surprised them.
There was no one in the small mountain village, and there was deathly silence.
In addition, the granaries were empty, the livestock pens were empty, and the wine cellars were empty.
But seeing the messy footprints on the snow, the high priest Delphi understood that there were still residents living in this place just a few days ago.
Apparently, due to some force majeure factor, they were forced to leave home with all possible supplies.
Thinking of this, the High Priest of Delphi shook his head and sighed silently.
"Alas, the Church of Light has done better than I imagined..."
…………
At the top of the mage tower, Merlins' office.
When the sky darkened and night fell, Howard's glow finally faded away and he returned to his former appearance.
He opened his eyes, picked up the monocle from his side and put it on again, then stood up and walked to Merlins.
"Have you made up your mind?" Merlins asked slowly, the expression on his face was more serious than ever before, "You have to know that if you make such a choice, you may lose a lot of things."
Howard pondered for a moment, then nodded firmly.
"I've thought about it," he said calmly, with no emotion in his light brown eyes. "I have nothing, and I'm not afraid of losing anything.
"But...I have a request."
"What request?"
"I want to go and explain to Alan York. I'm afraid he will misunderstand."
"Go ahead," Merlins smiled. He didn't expect that the "request" he solemnly made was such a trivial matter. "But you're not afraid of him stopping you?"
"He's not going to stop me," Howard said with certainty, "I'm going to convince him."
…………
The next morning.
The Archbishop of the Church of Light, Aknelga, received the Pope's reply early in the morning.
The letter was sealed with wax, and there was still residual heat on the envelope. The stamp on the postmark was a badge of intertwined icons and scepters, which as always demonstrated the authority of the pope.
Bishop Nerga solemnly opened the envelope.
Then he saw that in this strictly confidential urgent letter, there was only one sentence written:
"Recruit Howard at all costs."
…………
ps: Sorry, I worked overtime until late last night and was a little stuck. I didn't write a satisfactory plot until four in the morning, so I postponed it until now.
ps2: Thanks to the hall master Qian Houxue for another 10,000 reward, and more will be provided within this week. In addition, thanks to the book friend named Ziya for the 500 reward, wsy Yimeng, Li, Zhai Zhongzhong for the 100 dozen