Goodwill of a High Cleric

Amidst prayers, Holy Knight Bert Kaul unleashed a radiance from behind him, within which flickered the phantom of a great being. The Holy Knight suddenly looked up, his eyes blazing as he glared at the barbarian cavalry and let out a roar.

The barbarians couldn't see the Holy Knight's face clearly, as golden light emanated from his eyes and mouth.

Behind Holy Knight Bert Kaul, a bright light pierced through the dark clouds in the sky and fell upon Nikola White's head. The short path ahead seemed to suddenly darken, with only the two holy servants illuminated by divine guidance.

These are priests and holy knights personally blessed by the God Emperor! Jeo's heart surged with emotion. This was the God Emperor's favor upon the Northwest Territory, sending divinely appointed holy servants to save its nobles!

The Holy Knight suddenly spurred his horse, which transformed into a streak of white light. The knight, like an afterimage, suddenly appeared before the front rank of barbarians. Before the barbarians could react, he had already slain two of them.

The last barbarian looked at the rows of barbarians before him being sent flying in an instant. Daring not to advance, he immediately turned and fled. The three barbarians tacitly spread out, avoiding being wiped out simultaneously.

A spear pierced the body of one fleeing barbarian. The Holy Knight hooked a barbarian's scimitar and flung it towards another, while he himself rode his horse towards the third barbarian.

The Holy Knight's fist suddenly exerted force, crushing the barbarian's iron armor. However, after this punch, Bert Kaul felt himself on the verge of collapse.

"Is this Magic Turbulence? It's already this potent just arriving at Bristle-Wolf City. Then if we enter Gallop Plains, won't it be..." Bert muttered to himself, having underestimated the peculiar magical environment of Gallop Plains due to his long stay in the Holy See and the Imperial Capital.

Simultaneously fighting thirteen barbarian cavalry had consumed too much of his battle qi. Now, Bert Kaul dared not easily use divine arts or skills.

The farthest barbarian was grazed on the back by the flying scimitar, but the black horse beneath him was already galloping. Shouting, he steered his swift steed around a small path and vanished in a flash.

Bert Kaul knew he couldn't catch up to that rider. Although he didn't participate much in battles, he understood the importance of controlling the situation for both sides. Therefore, upon seeing the barbarians, he strove to kill them all, preventing the risk of his small team being exposed.

Of course, Bert had underestimated the Magic Turbulence and overestimated the barbarians' fighting spirit.

From the retinue behind Holy Knight Bert Kaul, Baron Jeo stared blankly at the Holy Knight who had dealt with twelve barbarians in two minutes. In truth, for humans, barbarians who were merely physically strong posed no real threat.

A single high-level knight could suppress a barbarian squad. If it were in the human heartland, let alone a few hundred barbarian cavalry, even thousands or tens of thousands wouldn't be enough for a legendary expert to handle.

However, the barbarians on Gallop Plains were protected by intense Magic Turbulence, which was the greatest obstacle for human experts to reclaim the plains.

For example, Holy Knight Bert Kaul's corresponding professional ranks were High Knight and High Priest. This meant Bert Kaul could fight using the battle qi within his body and also cast divine arts through divine blessings.

But all these extraordinary means required the body to continuously absorb magical elements from the environment.

The body of a magic-wielder was like a reservoir of magic. The muscles, meridians, and blood vessels were constantly absorbing the magical elements most compatible with them from the environment. As a divine servant, Bert could recover battle qi and magic power faster in temples and ritual areas.

However, as he approached the Gallop Plains, the Magic Turbulence greatly reduced his battle qi recovery speed.

After the frequent use of skills just now, he already felt significant discomfort, a mixture of muscular weakness and mental fatigue.

With his battle qi completely depleted and the environmental magical elements unable to replenish it, the Holy Knight would be unable to exert his full strength for a considerable period. For any extraordinary professional, prolonged insufficient battle qi could even lead to demotion or a drop in rank.

The more powerful the professional, the more severely they were affected by Magic Turbulence. The Magic Turbulence acted like a precise sieve, blocking high-level human extraordinary professionals from Gallop Plains.

"Brother, what should I call you?" Seeing that the Holy Knight had dealt with the barbarian cavalry, Priest Nikola White asked Baron Jeo, "I see you are injured."

"Why?" The Baron did not answer the Priest's question, but stared blankly at Bert Kaul ahead, muttering softly, "Why did you only come now?"

The Priest heard the Baron's words, remained silent, and dismounted his white horse. His expression was solemn as he softly recited an incantation, emitting a warm white light.

The Baron, drawn by the white light beside him, looked at the Priest. The Priest's eyes met the Baron's for a moment, and emotions of distress, unwillingness, grief, and despair were instantly released and transmitted.

The Baron could no longer hold back. Tears rolled down his cheeks, mixing with the black mud. "Ahhh..." the Baron roared, releasing the emotions buried within him since the loss of his son.

Nikola also shed tears. In that instant, he had released a divine art to soothe the Baron's emotions. He hadn't intended to read the Baron's memories, but the Baron's emotions, carrying memories, directly flooded Nikola's mind. "I am truly sorry, my Lord Baron, that we could not reach your side."

"My Winks, he... he didn't even have a funeral..."

"My Lord, please take me to where your Winks rests. Please allow me to preside over his funeral. He sacrificed himself for the entire Northwest Territory in defiance of the barbarians. We will inscribe his heroic deeds on his tombstone and record them in the annals of the Bristle-Wolf City temple."

The Temple Alliance, as the official religion of humanity, was not the temple or church of any single deity but a religious alliance of all human-worshipped deities. Every certified deity within this alliance had recognized divine positions among humans and received official sacrifices from the Human Empire. Not only in the Holy See of the Holy City but also in every city's temple, shrine, and church, sacrifices were offered to all deities worshipped in that region.

These deities were either ancient gods whose power returned to themselves throughout the river of history, or ancient beast gods who gained the faith of intelligent beings in the age of ignorance, or new gods who ascended to divine positions. All these deities had personally appeared in Alivia, becoming the most dazzling driving forces in the long river of history.

The Temple Alliance served as the liaison office for these deities within the Human Empire. Not only those who became Orthodox Gods and influenced the entire world, but also local demigods, heroes, and legends were worshipped in the Temple Alliance of every human city. Therefore, city temples also bore the responsibility of collecting and compiling local hero stories and legends.

"I'm afraid we'll have to postpone our visit to Blue Magpie Castle by a few days," Nikola said to Bert.

"Blue Magpie Castle? Shouldn't we be going to Bristle-Wolf City?" Jeo had always aimed for Bristle-Wolf City. Wild Bear Ridge was a relatively unique barony within the Northwest Territory, unsuitable for knightly combat. The knights of the barony were skilled hunters, so the Count would overlook Wild Bear Ridge when conscripting knights.

Baron Jeo's arrival at Bristle-Wolf City was not due to conscription but because he discovered barbarians outside the castle. Therefore, Baron Jeo was completely unaware that his Count had already taken the city's priests to Blue Magpie Castle.