Because they used the same "system," the 20 silver coins disappeared from the [ Good Times Don't Last ] account the moment the employment was confirmed.
He couldn't wait for the employment to take effect. Seeing the payment successful, [ his Good Times Don't Last ] he quickly ran to the young half-dragon who had turned to kneel, grabbed his arm, and said:
"You must be pretty good at fighting, right? I've already hired you. Come fight us now!"
The young Dragonborn Village guard, whose arm had been grabbed, was completely bewildered. As Dragonborn, he certainly had a warlike gene flowing in his blood, but what time was it?
I'm in the midst of an audience with the emperor, how can this person be so rude? What if my master blames me...?
At the same time, the voice of the person behind the bank counter was already echoing in the Dragonborn's mind:
"Go with him."
Having received permission, the young guard bowed respectfully, then looked intently at [ the Good Times Don't Last ]:
"Tell me, who should I hit?"
[ The Good Times Don't Last ] Not knowing how to describe the monster he'd never met before, he simply patted him on the shoulder:
"Come with us, he's a formidable enemy!"
The young guard clashed his fists together at his chest, and sparks flew as the dragon scales struck.
"I can't wait!"
Several hundred meters from the Upperstream Village, five priests of the Tree Worship Church, led by Duolin, were riding their Hoofed Beast at a normal pace.
Duolin was walking at the front, wasn't thinking about cycling. He kept replaying the strange things that had happened in the village, and he couldn't help but feel very confused.
What exactly happened to this village?
Is what I know truly the whole truth?
He was puzzled by this; the villagers in Midstream Village, regardless of age or gender, all looked excessively haggard, which was unusual for believers of the Tree Worship Church.
But these residents all looked like they were about to die. Could this also be the work of the apostates?
That stolen relic was actually that powerful?
Thinking of this, Duolin reached out and looked at his wrist, where a surging dark green color was present. This came from the symbiotic plant on his body, which was also a standard feature of the Tree Worship Church priests and believers.
All humans who have embraced the Tree Worship Church, whether actively or passively, bear the traces of the Symbiotic Tree. When a believer becomes a priest, an additional " Soul Tree " is added, planted in the enormous greenhouse of the Verdant Holy See.
Duolin comes from the heart of the Tree Worship Church — the Verdant Holy See, while the naturally formed communities of devout believers outside the Holy See are generally referred to as the Holy City.
The residents there all seemed perfectly normal. Even though they were a little thin due to food shortages, they would never starve to death thanks to the protection of the Symbiotic Tree. They were completely different from these guys who seemed like they wouldn't live to see tomorrow.
Thinking this, Duolin's hatred for the apostates intensified.
This despicable traitor should be burned at the stake!
Indeed, for the Tree Worship Church, which lives in symbiosis with trees, burning at the stake is the cruelest form of punishment, and slow roasting over a low flame is the most extreme form of torture.
He had witnessed the burning at the stake of some apostates; the flames, adjusted to the right temperature, would continuously bake the bodies of the condemned, causing their bodies to constantly lose moisture as sweat.
After a certain degree of dehydration, the victim's Symbiotic Tree will respond to stress, forming a bark-like tissue that completely envelops the victim's body.
Protected by this layer of bark, the dehydration rate of the victim will be slowed down, thus indirectly prolonging their survival, or rather, extending the duration of the torture.
Just then, a scream shattered Duolin's reverie. He found himself at the entrance of the Upperstream Village, and the scream came from the end of the village near the riverbank.
"Alert!"
Duolin shouted, and the dark green growth on his right wrist immediately burst forth, transforming into a sturdy wooden sword.
At the crossroads ahead, villagers of varying degrees of Aberration were fleeing out. Duolin shouted into the crowd:
"Get out of the way!"
He then rode his Hoofed Beast against the flow of people.
The other four priests did the same, then followed Duolin along the only road in the village to the end of the village to check the situation.
Before he had gone far, Duolin saw a headless body lying by the roadside. It was the most normal person he had seen in both Upperstream Village and Midstream Village combined. Unfortunately, the neck was now completely empty, and the person was clearly dead.
After passing an old man with a worried expression, Duolin and his group of five saw the battle scene in the open space at the end of the village.
Three men wielding short axes were fighting a movable wooden house. Their tactical coordination was excellent; they could switch between luring monsters at any time, even without verbal communication.
The wooden house monster continuously launched sharpened wooden spikes from the ground, or hurled moss-covered broken planks at the enemy, and every now and then it would lift the four thick wooden pillars high and slam them down to trample them.
Duolin watched this scene in silence. It wasn't that he didn't want to join the battle, but rather that the open space in front of him was limited. Let alone joining the battle on Hoofed Beast, even if he chose to dismount and fight on foot, he wouldn't be able to coordinate well with the three without any prior understanding.
He made the most rational decision at that moment, observing the monster's fighting style while also memorizing the three's fighting habits.
The wooden house monster lashed out with a vine whip, but [ Howling Pothos ], with an agility of 7, nimbly dodged it with a roll.
Duolin secretly applauded this scene, and the next moment he saw a flash of red light disappear through the window of the wooden house.
Duolin's left hand and arm also rapidly changed; he raised his left arm, which had Alienation into a spiral shape, and aimed at the red dot in the window.
"Call out!"
A heavy hardwood arrow, propelled by the Alienation muscle tissue, shot through the broken window and struck the red dot hiding behind it.
"Awoooooo!"
All of the wooden house monster's attacks stopped instantly. It used the two wooden pillars at its back to forcibly raise the front half of its body, and the wooden door opened wide like a gaping maw of an abyss, from which painful howls came.
"Holy crap, who caused that stun? Awesome! Quick, get in a few more hits!"
Words he could roughly understand but couldn't comprehend reached Duolin's ears. He raised his right hand, which had transformed into a longsword, and commanded:
" Holy See Guards, join the battle!"
At his command, five knights who had been waiting in ambush joined the battle.
The man who had nimbly dodged the vine whip attack looked in this direction with a puzzled expression:
Who are you people?
Duolin, the leader, pierced one of the wooden pillars serving as the forelegs of the monster in the wooden house with a single sword strike. The monster's immense strength made his face contort in a ferocious expression.
"The Vatican's Guardian of the Tree Worship Church Holy See!"
The young man immediately beamed with joy and shouted to his two companions:
"Friendly troops! Friendly troops are here!"