Chapter 696 The Blade of Judgment


    Heavy rain poured down.


    Gray lurked in the bushes, holding his breath carefully. He held his longbow in his hand and covered his traces with the help of the forest.


    However, a hand suddenly appeared from behind and pressed on his shoulder, almost making the ranger scream. He turned around and saw an old bearded face looking at him with a slanderous smile.


    "Hey, Ben! Don''t **** scary, okay! I almost called out!"


    "That only means that you are not home yet, child."


    Ben curled his lips and quietly walked to Grey with the unique agility and agility of the wanderer. This old man seemed to be showing off his abilities, but Grey was speechless about it. The ranger and the wanderer were both good at concealment, but in fact... his skills were indeed not good at home.


    “How is the situation?”


    “No one came out.”


    Gray lowered his voice and spoke.


    “Where are the others?”


    "I''m standing by behind. I just checked around and no one noticed us. It seems that we can really catch a big fish this time."


    Ben covered his mouth to prevent the white air from overflowing, and answered almost in a muttering way. His voice was mixed with the sound of the cold rain in early autumn, making people unable to hear it.


    This Judgment Blade Squad set out a week ago. The Judgment Blade Squad is similar to the adventure squad. It is basically a team of five people. Their main task is to investigate the commissions and requests received by the Court from all over the country and complete it.


    For example, if a village suffers from goblins, or if a ghost in the swamp steals a child, similar situations are within the scope of the court''s attention.


    Although there is no problem within the territory of the Court, it is another matter outside the territory. After all, most of the villages in this world are remote bases. For example, some villages are built in a simple way and are not within the scope of any territory. Moreover, because these places are generally remote, the lord''s guards will not travel long distances to help. Therefore, once such remote villages encounter any problems, they can only rely on themselves.


    But now that there is a courtroom, the situation is different.


    The Inquisition is an organization that exists to protect humanity. As long as everything that threatens humanity is under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition. The Judgment Blade Squad was born, and they were flexibly organized and operated like adventurers, mainly responsible for reconnaissance work. It was like this team that the Inquisition received a request from a village in the nearby Lost Mountains, saying that a goblin attacked the village recently and hoped that the Inquisition could send someone to support it.


    Therefore, the team set out from the city and went to the village to investigate the situation.


    Unfortunately, they were one step late. When they arrived, the village had been destroyed, some of the villagers were killed, and the other part was missing.


    Fortunately, goblins are not a smart race that can erase their footprints. As a ranger, Gray caught their footprints, then found the goblins'' camp and launched a successful raid.


    The goblin camp was defeated, but the battle did not end there. According to the goblins, the villagers had been sent as prisoners to an existence called the "Supreme True God". Their souls would be integrated with the Supreme True God and become a stronger existence.


    At the beginning, Gray did not take this so-called supreme true **** seriously. Goblins are a weak, evil, and very rogue race. As long as they see a powerful existence, they will think of each other as a god. Maybe today their so-called **** is a giant dragon, and tomorrow they will become a wizard... But no matter what, they have to save the villagers, so they are moving forward and coming here.


    Although they were mentally prepared, the scene in front of them still surprised them.


    In the valley, a dilapidated fortress was standing here. It seemed that it should be the fortress of the dwarves, but it was abandoned at this moment. But even so, the fortress is roughly well preserved. However, the problem is not here, the problem is the existence of this fortress - hundreds of goblins, mountain giants, and even half-orcs gathered here. They formed an army, and it is not known who led these guys.


    But it is certain that being able to gather these barbaric monsters together and make them obediently exist is definitely not a small character.


    So the team encountered a problem. They began to think about what to do next. Should they sneak in, figure out the other party''s situation before giving back, or immediately respond, and wait for the rear to come to support?


    "I have to apologize to you first."


    Ben curled his smile and stared at Gray.


    "What''s wrong?"


    “I have sent a report to the court.”


    “Just……!”


    Hearing Ben''s answer, Gray was shocked. He subconsciously reached out to grab the other party. Fortunately, the remaining reason made him know the consequences of the incident here, but even so, his anger was still burning.


    "Why didn''t you discuss it with me?"


    Gray is the captain of this team, and Ben is the deputy captain. Although Ben is about ten years older than Gray, Gray is young and strong, and has rich experience as a ranger. In addition, it always feels a little wrong to make the Wanderer a captain, so in the end the captain of this team was Gray, and Ben becomes the deputy captain.


    "Don''t rush to get angry, young man."


    Ben seemed very calm, even if his clothes were grabbed. He stared at Gray and shook his head.


    "You know why I did this, too."


    “………………”


    Gray let go of his hand, then turned his head angrily, looked at the fortress below, and remained silent.


    And Ben has sorted out his clothes.


    "Believe me, boy, I have seen many young people like you. I have heard many heroic epics, thinking of turning the tide alone and saving the world like the Four Mithril Friends or the Hero of Wudong. But figure it out, we don''t have this ability, and we can''t deal with so many goblins and mountain giants. I know that you are eager to make meritorious achievements. Being ambitious is a good thing, but not knowing that life or death is another matter."


    “…………”


    "Are you married?"


    Hearing this question, Gray nodded depressedly.


    "My daughter is one year old."


    "Then you should also understand that for your wife and children, you must also work hard to survive. The court gave you such good conditions, and it is not something you can do to die."


    Hearing Ben''s words, Gray was speechless for a moment.


    Gray was a ranger. He and his wife lived a peaceful life in a small village, but later the village was attacked by robbers. Although Gray protected his wife, the entire village was destroyed. For Gray, it was the most painful day. They were homeless and could only sleep in the open, and their wife was even more pregnant. In this case, Gray was even more powerless.


    In the end, they chose to go to the court.


    In Arkham City, Gray decided to give up his identity as a free ranger and join the Blade of Judgment to become a soldier.


    The treatment of the Inquisition Court was beyond Grey''s imagination. After becoming a Judge''s Blade, he obtained his own house, which was simply unimaginable for Grey. Generally speaking, soldiers basically live in a large bed, a large room, and then squeeze in more than a dozen people to get on and off the bed, and a group of stinky sweaty men rest in it. Only those with some spare money can rent a house, and it will be even more difficult to buy a house.


    In fact, when he first came to Arkham City, Gray wanted to use his savings to rent a house here and find a way to live. But to his surprise, after he finished the procedures, the staff who handled the procedures for him gave him a brand new choice. “If you want, you can rent it in an apartment building.”


    According to this employee, the so-called apartment building is a high-rise building. As long as Gray is willing to sign an agreement, they can move in. Of course, the monthly rent will be automatically deducted from their salary. But compared to the rent outside, it is already quite cheap.


    Gray didn''t have many choices, so he could only nod and agree.


    I have to admit that at the beginning, Gray was not used to this weird architectural style. In the world of Feilun, every household builds a piece of land, basically building whatever they want. Especially in those remote villages, if you have the ability, you can circle the entire mountain and no one will care about it.


    But it is different in Arkham City. Grey rents a standard room with two bedrooms and one living room. Although there is no furniture, the kitchen and bathroom are equipped with equipment. It is quite convenient. When you wake up every day, you can even enjoy the view outside through the colorful floor-to-ceiling windows in front of you.


    However, as a ranger, Gray still prefers a house with his own yard. Although the apartment is fully equipped and comfortable to live in, it always gives him a feeling of living in a luxurious bird cage.


    Of course, Gray knew that he was too greedy. Being able to treat a newly joined soldier so well was enough to prove that the court was very good to them, so he wanted to make achievements as soon as possible and repay the court...


    "Don''t think too much, boy."


    Ben slapped Gray on the back of the head, interrupting his thoughts.


    "Remember, we are soldiers and soldiers now. You are no longer that free and casual ranger. Do you still remember what the mission we received before we set off?"


    “………Investigating the specific situation of the villages attacked by goblins can respond to them as appropriate and report them.”


    "Yes, after we have investigated this step, everything we should do has been done, so we have to report to the court and wait for the next step of action. This is the responsibility of the soldier."


    Ben reached out and pointed to the ruins of the fortress below.


    "Do you know? Gray, I have explored similar ruins fortresses several times before, and I often see some corpses inside, and then I wonder who they are, where they come from, why they are here... but I can''t find the answer because they are dead and there is no record of any record."


    I spread my hands.


    "Look, we don''t want to end up with the same fate. When we go in, we may find something, maybe not. Maybe we will be killed and then leave the body, and then the later generations stand in front of our corpses, wondering why we are here, but we are dead, and the dead will not speak."


    “………………”


    Gray didn''t speak.


    "Remember, Gray, it is a good thing to make achievements, but first of all, you have to figure out your responsibilities. We are the Blade of Judgment. On the day we joined, we were told that we are the mortal troops of the Judgment, we fight for the Judgment, to protect humanity, or do you think your body is not cool enough now and plan to become that kind of iron shell?"


    Speaking of this, Ben patted Gray on the shoulder. Almost no one in Arkham City didn''t know about the situation of the guards of the dark night. They were the most loyal soldiers of the Inquisition during their lifetime. After their death, their souls were possessed on the steel armor and turned into immortal soldiers to continue to serve the Inquisition.


    Of course, if it were other places, even if it was said so, it would not be recognized by most people, let alone how evil the armor of the Dark Night Guard looked. If this is the necromancer who used spells to extract the souls of the living person and put them in the steel armor to seal them as slaves, it would be easier to accept.


    The reason why everyone accepted the guards of the dark night is that even during the day, these steel guards would patrol tirelessly on the streets and not care about the sun at all. And people often see scenes of them talking to the priests or paladins in the church. It is precisely because of this that everyone accepted the statement of the Inquisition.


    After all, so many churches of gods are here, among them, there is the Lord of Dawn, Losandar, who hates the most immortal creatures. If it is just a certain church, it can be said that it may have been deceived or bribed by the Inquisition, but it is impossible that all gods are blind.


    "It''s good, too."


    Hearing Ben''s joke, Gray reached out and touched the court sign worn on the collar.


    "If I die, my soul can be placed in the courtroom and then come back to see my daughter grow up, get married, have children, I think it''s good."


    "So you don''t want to leave your daughter even if you die. Your daughter is so miserable..."


    “————!!”


    However, before I finished speaking, suddenly, a black shadow suddenly passed by in the sky, and the howling wind blew. In just a moment, an indescribable sense of fear and trembling in their hearts suddenly burst out, making them feel that they had lost all their strength and could only sit on the ground like a pool of mud, staring at the shadow that flew across the sky and landed in the fortress.


    That was a giant dragon.


    "Oh my God, God, the gods are above, what exactly have we seen?"


    Ben widened his eyes, trembling and almost started shouting. Fortunately, the goblins and giants in the fortress were not much better at this moment. They knelt on the ground with trembling and no sense of the two people watching not far away.


    "Hurry, get out of here!"


    Ben bit his tongue hard, and a severe pain came, diluting the fear. He grabbed Gray and wanted to take him away.


    However, Gray shook his head.


    "No, I can''t leave."


    "Are you crazy? That''s a giant dragon!"


    "I know it''s a giant dragon."


    Gray turned around and stared at Ben.


    "But this is an opportunity. Where is this place? Why does a giant dragon appear? What do they want to do? I don''t believe that these people went through a lot of trouble to catch the villagers just to fill the dragon''s stomach."


    Speaking of here, Gray stood up again.


    "I want to investigate the situation, maybe I can get some valuable information."


    "you………"


    Ben reached out and pointed at Gray.


    "You don''t want to die? That''s a giant dragon!"


    But Gray didn''t say anything anymore, just stared at Ben, and the latter shook his head.


    "I won''t go to die, and there are other people who want me to take care of you. If you want to die, go... Anyway, the pension from the court is enough to raise orphans and widows."


    After saying this, Ben snorted coldly, turned around and disappeared into the bushes. Gray withdrew his gaze, looked at the fortress in front of him again, and took a deep breath.


    Then he bent down and touched in the direction of the fortress.


    (This chapter ends)