Paladin

In the church, someone began to cry bitterly.

The cloud of death seems to hang over this sacred place.

The monk prayed louder.

Cesis led the people to kneel in front of the statue and said hoarsely: "Don't be afraid, my brothers and sisters! We stand together at this moment, unite together, and pray together! Despite the difficulties and dangers outside, but Think of our Father in heaven! He sees all, sees all! Above those dark clouds, above our heads, is our Father, the Highest, the Goodest, who taught us love and hope !"

The irony is that it was in this kind of prayer with all one's strength that people suddenly realized the seriousness of the matter.

The curse has just appeared in the crowd, and human beings have not had time to examine and resolve the crisis from within them; but a new catastrophe is imminently appearing in front of them.

The endless appetite of thousands of flying foxes after being cursed can easily kill the old and weak women and children who have never experienced fighting here... They will eat all food and flesh and blood until they die.

The wind and rain were like darkness, and the black shadows outside the church flew past the painted glass one after another.

The paladin silently walked through all the places in this auditorium, before all the desperate or numb people, remembering everyone's faces one by one.

Finally, he stopped in front of the pulpit, looked at Sethis's sweaty face, and Hewitt who was standing quietly, stern and silent, and after a long time, he suddenly turned around to face everyone.

"Can you hide in this place for the rest of your life? Answer me." Evan said in a deep voice, "Even if the bat swarms outside are driven by the curse to grab all the life materials you depend on? Even if your relatives and you Friends, are you suffering from the curse, calling your name? Even if you have been blessed by the Lord and escaped here peacefully and happily for a lifetime, you can bear the devastation of the homeland where you once lived, while your compatriots are still in purgatory Struggling?"

In the deathly silence of the church, a soldier whimpered: "I want to find my father... I want to know how he is, and whether he is hiding at home..."

"Don't cry! Soldier," Evan snapped, "You are a man! You should be the pillar of your family! You have no such thing as tears!"

The sobbing gradually died down.

Evan walked to the window, pointed to the dense skylight outside the blurred stained glass, and the shadow of bats that kept flying past: "Look here, look at your home. Let me ask you: the fertile area outside Didn't you guys cultivate the land you own? Didn't you guys plant and cultivate those enclosed pastures and fruit trees that are bearing fruit? There are also tens of thousands of herring caught every year, which feed Half of the people here, as well as this self-sufficient town, and this piece of land that has been passed down from your fathers and ancestors, didn't you build this homeland? Aren't you rooted here, great and Tough, someone who will never be defeated?!"

"Yes, hide here, or escape, leave this place, hide away from the curse here, or you can survive." Evan said in a deep voice, "And then? Even if these bats can't chase They will catch up with you, but they will catch up with the old, weak, women and children you left behind, they will eat your family and your children, and destroy everything that you have managed until now. You will throw it all away, become refugees, become beggars, tossed and tossed, and then to spend a lifetime in safety—

"And then - die - go -?! Answer me, do you want to die in a foreign country, or die in this land!"

The soldier with tears on his face suddenly raised his head and looked into Evan's eyes. At that moment, he seemed to feel: He is looking at me, and the paladin is looking at me.

The room was silent.

Someone stood up quietly, and he looked at Evan.

The second stood up quietly.

All the soldiers stood up in silence, and then Sethis stood up.

"I don't want to die..." a fisherman choked out, "but my daughter... only my daughter, I don't want to leave her outside."

He took off his hat and stood up after him.

After a few seconds, his companions stood up one after another.In the entire church, no one sat down and prayed with peace of mind.

Evan looked around at everyone, and everyone felt that he saw himself, and saw the fear and longing deep in his heart.

Those were a pair of eyes that were purer than emeralds, without the slightest haze.

He is empowering people.

Evan said in a slow and powerful voice: "Everyone will die, and I can't avoid it. Look at my blood, see my blood."

He drew out the double phoenix blades, held the blades firmly with his left hand, and then ruthlessly drew out the big sword.The blood gushing out of his palm immediately splashed out, flowing down his elbow, and flowing on the red carpet of the church, staining bright red traces.

"My blood will be with you, and my life will be as rotten as yours. Everyone will meet this end, but only a part of me will die-I will leave this world with courage and glory, Not fear. And you—”

The paladin looked at the men, his bleeding hand clenched vigorously, and everyone he looked around looked up at him.

Evan said: "If you are destined to die, please die here!"

……

Lightning flashed across the silent sky, and then thunder rumbled in the distance.The intermittent flashes of light illuminated the whole town by accident, and then disappeared in the gradually gathering black clouds.

The sky darkened, and the sound of the rain quickly changed from a slight movement to a pouring rain.The raindrops fell densely, covering almost all the villages on the seashore.

inside the church.

"This is our best chance." Hewitt said in a deep voice.

Then he briefly introduced himself: "I am Yinhuo, a demon hunter."

He spread out the precious map he got from the merchant on the pulpit, drew traces on the route of each village with one hand, and then clicked on the location of the town: "Here, the nearby mountains hinder the way of the flying foxes." , such a large group of people, if they suffer from the curse of hunger and thirst, they cannot be supported by a small area. The food here is far from enough, but there is no place nearby for them to forage. Now the heavy rain has hindered Because of their ability to fly and see, they are likely to retreat temporarily, but once the rain stops, these bats may attack humans."

As he spoke, he took down the body of a dead flying fox from the side.

When the corpse was brought over, many people took a step back, as if frightened.

Hewitt was unmoved, and slowly nailed the dead bat to the wooden table, pointed at it with a knife and said, "The flying fox is about the size of your palm, but its bite Its ability is astonishing, it can directly tear a piece of flesh from a human being—and there are holes in its sharp teeth. If it injects bat poison into the body, it is likely that the curse will also be brought into the human body, and then continue to spread the curse. So we must be careful not to get hurt - to protect your exposed skin, mail mail, of course, boards, and heavy clothing."

Hewitt took a short break after speaking, and everyone looked at him in awe.

The mage continued to fiddle with the bat's wings with a knife, and said: "Their wings have sparse fluff and grease, which are used to prevent them from being completely wet by the rain or after entering the water, and the weight overload makes it difficult to fly. So fire is for them. Effective means. Go get the accumulated fish oil and vegetable oil, and I will lead a team to make flame traps."

Everyone looked at Evan, and the paladin nodded calmly and said, "Who is a carpenter or a craftsman?"

Someone raised their hands, and Evan checked the number of people with his eyes, and said, "A few more guards to protect them."

The mage was noncommittal, and turned to say: "We need enough archers, who must be skilled and able to use rockets. We also need a batch of bait so that the bats can enter the trap."

Evan whispered: "Archers can ask Corbett, as for the bait... I will come."

Hewitt paused after hearing the words, looked up at Evan, and the two looked at each other in silence—there was no quarrel or any unnecessary communication, and then Hewitt acquiesced in the matter.

They determined the next course of action in the church, when the movement outside the window had gradually weakened.

Bat swarms are evacuating the town in large areas, going to nearby caves or under trees to take shelter from the rain.

But they will make a comeback soon. Both Evan and Hewitt have seen people affected by the curse: they are hungry, thirsty, tireless, and when the desire to eat exceeds the rationality of creatures, they will even attack their relatives...or gnaw Eat your own flesh and blood.

Brother Cesis asked, "Mr. Silverfire, is there anything I can do?"

"Friar, what do you know?" Hewitt asked mercilessly.

Sethis replied: "I will pray, bless, baptize..."

"Then you stand by and pray."

Sethis said again: "I once practiced some magic in Moa City, which can treat minor injuries, and I have a chance to cast a spell every quarter of an hour."

Hewitt paused, and Evan looked at Sethis in surprise.

Priests who can learn divine arts have a very high status. There will only be one or two people in a church, usually priests and deacons; Cesis is just an ordinary monk, and he is too young.

But no matter what, it is good to have a divine spellcaster available, and now is not the time to think about other issues.

"The next time you make an introduction, let's talk about your magic first," Hewitt said lightly, "You can follow the bait and make sure he doesn't die on the way."

Evan let out a bewildered uh, not knowing how to politely decline the proposal.

Hewitt glanced at him, which seemed to let Evan see his dissatisfaction with himself, but soon Hewitt said nonchalantly: "I was just joking. Sexis, you go and follow the guards, Get out the people who are trapped in other places first, check if they are injured, and then come back to me."

Cesis also looked at Evan, who nodded and said, "Follow his plan."

The sky is still gloomy, the rain is not stopping, and night is coming.

Evan walked to the door with the oil lamp, and used a knife to pry open a small opening in the tightly sealed door. From this gap, he saw the situation outside——

It was a mess, the bats ate or took away all the food they could find, and even some cellars were knocked off a large piece of wood, and the fish, vegetables and fruits inside were emptied, leaving only barrels of poor-quality beer .

Evan explained the situation one by one, and then he heard Hewitt say: "Act immediately after you go out... Evan, those wines belong to me too."

This was the first time Hewitt called his name.