Alien Knights

Sitting behind Ashley, Randall looked at the people on the ground who were fleeing like ants, and asked loudly in the strong wind: "If we fly to Taylor City like this, won't we be discovered? "

"All the enemy troops leading to the city are running away. The surveillance towers and watchtowers are all abandoned. Even if the enemy sees them, they will not attack us because they are too busy to take care of themselves."

Ashley controlled the griffon and flew quickly through the mountains, flying straight towards the end of the forest.

After more than two hours of flight, the Valkyries selected a quiet forest in the northwest of Taylor City and slowly landed on the ground.

As soon as he got off the back of the gryphon, the tauren Bulwer fell on all fours on the ground, his throat retching and his body trembling.

Kellogg glanced at Bulwell, turned around, climbed to the nearest tree canopy, and began to explore the surrounding terrain and movement.

Carroll took everyone's equipment and rations from the gryphon and asked Randall: "Where should we go next?"

"There is a small church in the northwest of Taylor City. Let's go there first to find our contact person. He will take us into the city."

Aldenan asked in surprise: "Going to church? Are you serious?"

Randall nodded: "Not everyone in the church hates the Dragon Kingdom."

After waiting for all the luggage to be unloaded, Valkyrie Ashley turned over and mounted the griffon again, and said: "Okay, we can only send it here, and then it's up to you."

Aldenan suddenly remembered something: "Wait a minute! I have a question!"

"What?"

"After our rescue operation ended, Taylor City should have received news of the frontline's defeat by then. How can we escape from the city when the entire city is under martial law?"

Randall explained: "There are two situations. The first is that the Alien Association has prepared a safe house in the city. We and all the scholars just need to hide there and wait for the war to end."

"What's another situation?"

"If the war enters a tense state and the situation in the city is not optimistic, the Alien Association will prepare a secret landing site in the city. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Valkyries will use the cover of night to pick us up out of the city."

Ashley took the reins of the griffin: "Let us all pray that the second scenario will not happen. Riding a griffin into a city at war, the probability of leaving alive is very small."

Ardenan opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but the Valkyries were already flying into the sky on their respective mounts.

Randall carried his luggage and said to the other team members: "Let's go. If everything goes well, we can enter Taylor City tonight."

Walking past Aldenan, looking at the other person's hesitant look, Carroll asked calmly: "What's wrong? Do you regret it?"

The werewolf gritted his teeth and said, "Do you know? When I was playing black boxing in the underground boxing ring, a respected senior once told me that if a newcomer wants to gain fame and power quickly, the best way is to choose And defeat a formidable opponent.”

"If this mission can be completed successfully, my status in the Crusaders will undergo earth-shaking changes..."

Carroll interrupted Aldenan: "I also heard the sailors say something on the dock. Before going to sea, instead of dreaming about the legendary treasure, it is better to sharpen your sword first."

Aldernan rolled his eyes and shrugged helplessly.

Kellogg climbed down from the tree and said to the others: "I saw the church, not far from here, but there was thick black smoke in the sky in that direction."

Barbara wrapped her ears and light pattern with a cloak and turban, and asked doubtfully: "There is a battle taking place there?"

Kellogg said, "It doesn't look like that."

Randall tied up the dagger he carried with him: "Anyway, from now on, everyone should be more vigilant and try to avoid unnecessary conflicts."

In this way, the six-man team slowly approached the small church built on the outskirts of the city. The black smoke in the sky became thicker and thicker, but they could not hear any strange sounds.

Aldenan twitched his wolf's nose vigorously as he walked, frowning and said, "I have an impression of this smell, it seems to be..."

Carroll stood on a low mound, looked forward, and said: "Burn the corpse."

Randall pushed aside the branches and tall grass in front of him and saw a small church sitting alone in the deserted village at the end of the woods.

A huge cremation platform ten meters square made of trees was built at the back of the church. A middle-aged man wearing a priest's robe held a Bible in one hand and raised the other to the sky, reading prayers loudly. There were many villagers who came to pray around him.

"You stay here, I'll go there alone."

Randall put on his hood and walked slowly towards the priest from the edge of the woods.

Walking to the back of the crowd, Randall waited quietly for the priest to finish the ceremony. Watching the crowd slowly disperse, he approached the priest.

Wearing a black robe that had already been stained gray, the thin and lifeless priest looked at Randall, who was slowly approaching, and asked feebly: "My child, how can I help you?"

Randall said softly: "I come from the west to follow the footsteps of God."

The priest suddenly raised his head, opened his eyes and said: "No matter whether it is east or west, north or south, when you call God's name in your heart, God will come to the world with the meaning of redemption."

Randall nodded, and then took out the cross token that Yarbrough had given him before leaving.

The priest stretched out his hand to cover the token, then looked around nervously, and then said, "Are you Randall Quincy? Why have you not come here until now?"

"The access road to Taylor City has always been blocked. It was just opened yesterday."

The priest sighed: "Let me guess, the church lost."

Randall nodded.

"Where is Lord Bromo Heshmond?"

"Fight to death."

The priest made a sign of the cross on his chest: "That old gentleman seems to have expected everything. I heard that before setting off for the expedition, he even prepared the coffin... Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, Pedro Wu Leta, I used to be Bishop Yarborough’s assistant priest..."

"Then why did you come here?"

"Well, in short, it's hard to describe in one word."

Randall stopped asking and said, "I still have some partners."

Pedro nodded: "I know, I know, let them come in through the back door of the church, someone has been waiting for you."

Randall looked back at the woods, stretched out his right hand and made an obscure gesture.

Carroll, Aldenan, Bulwer, Kellogg and Barbara carefully walked out of the woods.

Seeing his companions approaching, Randall turned his attention to the cremation table next to him: "Who are these dead people?"

Pedro turned back to the church and said: "Civilians, craftsmen, craftsmen, church personnel and even some nobles..."

Carroll looked at the corpses slowly disintegrating in the flames and asked in a deep voice: "What happened in the city?"

"Religious trial, an unprecedented religious trial." Pedro patted the dust on his body and said softly: "Those who are involved with Protestantism, those who study heresies, and those who do not believe in God... After they were all hanged, they were sent here to be burned.”

"At first, the scope of the judgment was limited to these people. Later, fear and prejudice prompted the church to expand the scope of persecution. Talking nonsense about the church, absence from meetings, ignorance of the scriptures, and even weird appearance can all be grounds for judgment."

"More and more people are being executed. Now only the die-hard believers of the church are left in the city. Even these people live in fear all day long."

Aldenan shrank his head: "So, you are saying that Taylor City has now become a veritable city of lunatics?"

Pedro didn't answer. He walked to the back door of the church, took out the key, opened the lock and walked in.

Lighting a candlestick, Pedro said to the person outside the door: "Come with me, the room is a bit dark, watch your step."

Randall crossed the threshold, followed the priest, and walked along the narrow passage at the back to a small room similar to a shrine.

Pedro first made a cross salute to the cross statue in the center of the room, then put his hands on the base of the statue, trying to push it away with all his strength.

Seeing the pained look on the priest's face, Carol pushed him away, then pushed gently with his right hand, and the statue was pushed aside, revealing an entrance to the underground.

Kellogg glanced at the dark passage, spit out the letter towards Pedro and said: "Hiss... please go first."

Pedro raised the candlestick and carefully walked down the stairs.

Everyone walked down the spiral staircase for about fifty steps, and finally arrived at the bottom room.

A slender young woman wearing a black tights stood in front of the dark porch, leaning against the wall and saying softly: "I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Randall looked through the faint firelight and recognized the woman for a long time before finally recognizing the woman's identity.

Karin Forman, the current president of the Alien Association.