Church Representatives

Chapter 31: 29. Church Representative

In a forest southeast of Mane Wolf Castle, Baron Jeor Mormont of Wild Bear Ridge was walking alone. He continuously swung his sword to clear branches with his right hand, while his left hand tightly gripped another accessory – the sword of his eldest son.

His son, Winks Mormont, had been gone for four days. Four days ago, his son's condition had improved, and the two had ridden their horses towards Bristle-Wolf City.

Winks had even said that after this battle, he would gather his courage and write a love letter to the Mane Wolf Flower in Bristle-Wolf City.

However, everything had come to an abrupt halt four days ago. That night, after Jeor and his son rested in a shady spot in Epo, a small group of six barbarians suddenly appeared beside Jeor and Winks.

The sudden barbarians gave the two no chance to fight back. They were almost as fast as lightning, closing in to capture them.

At the critical moment, Winks used all his strength to push Jeor down the slope. Although Jeor sustained some abrasions while rolling, he managed to save himself. The next day, when Jeor cautiously returned to find Winks, his son had already been beheaded.

Jeor didn't know how he had buried his son. His heart was now filled only with hatred, unwillingness, anger, and humiliation.

The Baron of Wild Bear Ridge now only wanted to fly to Bristle-Wolf City immediately, join the Earl's knight order, and perish with those barbarian beasts on the battlefield.

Distant houses were burning, and the sounds of women screaming, metal clashing, and barbarian cavalry roaring reached the Baron's ears.

Less than a kilometer outside the forest, a knight's territory had been breached by barbarians. Tall barbarian cavalry rode their horses directly into the knight's castle, abducting their chosen prey.

A troop of twelve barbarian cavalry could raid multiple knightly territories in a single day. They would steal gold coins, beautiful women, and sixty percent of the magic-users from the knight's castle.

The barbarians swept through like a whirlwind; unless a territory was established on a high mountain or in a forest, it was impossible to resist the barbarian cavalry.

Jeor stood in the forest, numbly watching the flames outside the woods. But in these four days, he had already witnessed three similar scenes.

In Jeor's heart, his past belief in the knightly code now felt like a knife piercing his chest and a branding iron searing his face.

At this moment, Jeor had no choice. If he went, he would only provide the barbarians with a little more spoils. Yet, Jeor was unwilling to continue on his way as if he saw nothing, because indifference was a greater betrayal of his beliefs.

When the sun rose again, Jeor continued his journey. Now without a horse, he walked only through the mountains and forests, avoiding open areas as much as possible, and approaching Bristle-Wolf City circuitously.

The constant detours brought him to the east of Bristle-Wolf City. He could now see the outline of the distant city walls, and before him lay a mountain path that formed a V-shaped bend on the hill where he stood.

Jeor first looked to one side of the hill and saw a patrol of 13 barbarians on the road, heading this way.

So, the Baron hurried to the other side, only to see a group of humans on the other side of the mountain, also on the road. The barbarian cavalry and the human group would meet in less than ten minutes.

At this moment, Jeor could no longer stand by and watch. He rushed directly towards the human group. In this group of ten horsemen, the two leading figures were magic-users, both taller than the Baron, and both riding white horses.

Everyone wore coarse linen cloaks that nearly touched the ground, and wide hoods concealed their faces.

"Run! ... Hurry... Get out of here!" the Baron shouted as he approached, "Ahead... there's a barbarian patrol ahead!"

The human group stopped, all looking at the Baron running towards them, but no one moved.

"What... are you waiting for? They, those beasts... they're coming, hurry and leave!"

"Brother? Are you injured?" the second magic-user in the group said in a very kind tone.

"I... my injury is not important... hurry and run... don't... confront those barbarians head-on." The Baron was panting, spreading his arms to block the group, wanting them to hide in the nearby mountainside, or at the very least, for the two magic-users to get away.

"Nikola, you go heal this brother, I'll deal with the barbarians." The foremost magic-user in the group glanced at Nikola, nudged his horse, and rode forward alone.

Looking at the human magic-user before him, Jeor realized this must be a knight. In that instant, Jeor felt immense envy. He wished he could face an enemy several times stronger than himself with the same composure as the knightly code dictated.

He even wished he could wash away the shame of his inaction with sacrifice, but he could not die yet; he had not yet avenged his son.

The knight in linen robes advanced alone. On the distant path, 13 barbarian cavalry appeared.

The barbarians roared with excitement upon seeing the three magic-users. The leading barbarian shouted, and the cavalry, in groups of three, advanced towards the human group. The barbarians left no reserves; they charged forward as one.

The knight stood in the middle of the path. He shed his linen robe, revealing silver-white armor that shimmered like white fish scales, forcing Jeor to squint as he looked ahead. A short spear was strapped to the scale armor. The Paladin removed the short spear, twisted a mechanism, and the spear extended, becoming a long spear.

"God Emperor who governs the human empire, the great God of Knights and Mages, your devout follower Nikola White prays to you.

Please bless your loyal follower, Paladin Bert Kaul, as he upholds your holy will, charges forward, and is invincible!" Nikola White prayed loudly, while the non-magic-users behind him chanted softly.

As the verses were recited, the armor worn by Paladin Bert Kaul and the long spear in his hand began to emit a holy radiance. He stood in the middle of the road without advancing, lowering his head in prayer. At this moment, he ignored the approaching cavalry.

Bert Kaul was not in a hurry, nor were the barbarians. Their horses advanced slowly. The leading barbarian looked at the Paladin with amusement. They had been taught from a young age not to provoke human Paladins and mages, but the barbarian cavalry, who had already swept through the northwestern territories of the entire Dragon Kingdom, were blinded by victory.

In their eyes, mounted combat was all about horsemanship. This golden-shining human might be different, but if he couldn't make his horse accelerate, he couldn't possibly defeat 13 barbarian cavalry...

When the cavalry carelessly rode to within 200 meters of the Paladin, they froze.