Eboden Cathedral, prayer room.


    The guard Knight kept his eyes on the fascists kneeling under the statue of the Holy Cross in front, waiting silently, like a stone statue in armor.


    Nearly three hours have passed since dawn. The fascist kneeling on the cold slate still had no movement. The drooping head and folded hands, the solemn atmosphere, and the candlelight reflected on his cheeks seemed to stagnate at this moment.


    "Bang --!"


    The panicked servant knocked open the door and rushed into the quiet Temple: "bishop Francis, I have something to tell bishop Francis..."


    The words and people stopped in half. The servant who had just put one leg into the door stayed in place trembling. The bright sword edge stopped in front of his neck, and there was no shaking on the narrow sword body.


    "The bishop is praying for eboden. No one can disturb him." under the helmet, the voice of the guard knight was as cold as ice: "who allowed you to come in?"


    "I, I..."


    "Never mind, let him in." Francis slowly got up and his gentle voice echoed in the narrow prayer room: "we are all sinful mortals. We can live in the world only by relying on the forgiveness of the Holy Cross. Tolerance is not only a gift, but also a virtue taught by the Holy Cross."


    The guard Knight bowed his head and took back his sword. The relieved servant hurried to the front of Francis, and a "puff" knelt on the ground: "I''m sorry, but... This matter is very important. Bishop Francis, I tried my best to escape and report to you!"


    "And you are safe now. Evil has nowhere to hide under the light of the Holy Cross." the gentle Francis patted the servant on the shoulder and wiped the blood on his face with his palm: "say, what happened?"


    "I... the priest of our church..." the frightened servant swallowed his saliva tremblingly and looked at the bishop with soft light in front of him with pleading eyes: "there are two trainee priests in the church, a new nun, both children, twelve or thirteen years old, one of whom is a relative of the priest.


    The younger priest is usually not obedient and likes to bully people and tease believers who refuse to donate money, but he is actually a good child; the older one is very sensible and the priest likes him very much. He often teaches him to read and tells him stories about church saints;


    The girl is the father''s niece. The poor people nearby know her. She has a good heart. She always goes to the relief center to visit the homeless poor and often asks us to look for her everywhere. The father has told her several times, but she always doesn''t listen. She doesn''t want to make a noise when she is beaten... "


    "They are all good children, and the Holy Cross will protect them." the smiling fascist patiently stroked his cheek and listened to him muttering these trivial things: "take them to the cathedral when you have a chance. I want to see them."


    "You''ll never see them again."


    Francis''s smile froze, but the trembling servant still said, "they were eaten by the priest... By our fat, greedy priest who always likes to drink red wine!


    Before that, he had a big mouth full of fangs, eyes on his face and six arms... Then he ate the children one by one!


    I still remember him... How he pried open the child''s head shell and drank the child like soup... "


    "Stop talking! You''re tired and need a good rest." before the servant fell into fear again, Francis quickly interrupted him: "I''ll prepare a room for you, rest in peace, and then pray to the Holy Cross!"


    "Yes, yes!" the servant, who was about to be frightened and silly, looked forward with his eyes blankly and nodded his head.


    "Before that, tell me, how is the priest now?" Francis asked softly.


    "I killed him," the servant recalled, "before he rushed out, he smashed his head with the sculpture of the Holy Cross and the eyes full of his head!"


    "Well done, the Holy Cross will reward you for your bravery - who else knows about it besides you?"


    "No one." the servant shook his head, "I''m the only one, so I dare to come in and report to you, so that you can..."


    The cold and painful touch came from his heart, and there was a dagger on his chest!


    "You, why are you..."


    "Go and report it to the Holy Cross... No." when the servant looked up again, he saw the frost faced Francis: "you will take this secret and go to hell together!"


    The dying servant raised his trembling hands, seemed to want to grasp the throat of Francis, desperately opened his mouth, and shouted ferociously: "you, you... You should go to hell!"


    "I am the servant of the Holy Cross, and my fate can only be judged by him."


    The indifferent fascist stretched out his right hand, slapped the dying servant down in a pool of blood, watched him stare at himself angrily, his body gradually paralyzed and no longer twitched.


    From beginning to end, the loyal guard Knight always guarded the gate without saying a word.


    "You seem surprisingly quiet this time." Francis, who took out his handkerchief, wiped the blood on his hand and looked at his guard Knight indifferently: "I thought you would be like the wandering wizard last time. What''s your name..."


    "Karan."


    "You warned me not to trust him that time - why didn''t you advise me or stop me this time? I can see that you didn''t want me to cooperate with the Bellini family from the beginning, and now something like this has happened... The Holy Blood potion is not a miracle to cure all diseases."


    "It''s a curse that can turn human beings into monsters." the guard Knight slowly raised his head: "and you spread this curse throughout the city, and sooner or later it will be scattered to more places."


    "You think I''ve done something wrong, but you''re not going to stop me?"


    The guard Knight shook his head: "you are not a person who is keen on unnecessary killing. Since you are unwilling to correct your mistakes, perhaps it is because you have a higher purpose - I am your knight, and my task is to serve you."


    Francis smiled slowly, but there was a bit of fatigue in that smile.


    "You''re right. The whole thing was a mistake at the beginning, a big and irreparable mistake." it seemed that the absent-minded Francis looked into the distance: "but in fact, it''s because you don''t know a lot of things.


    Within the Holy Cross Church, there are many truths that have not been told to the world. Even ordinary priests and priests know nothing about them. They can only get a little touch of them after becoming a bishop.


    For example, why must a cathedral be built in the capital of each principality - really just to ensure the authority of the church, or to highlight the glory of the Holy Cross?


    No, not only that, those churches are not just the pillars of our faith, they are fortresses, the front line of war, and the last refuge for defending faith and our humble human beings!


    The bricks and stones of the chapel, the walls of the town can''t resist those ancient evil gods, and the swords made of steel and the burning flames can''t do the same - only those cathedrals that have been poured for decades or even centuries and shrouded by the will of the Holy Cross can stop their footsteps!


    In our eyes, preaching is just a sacred cause; but for the priests hundreds of years ago, it was a war! "


    The guard knight was slightly shocked:


    "So... Now, are you ready to fight a war?"


    "Of course, since it is a war, there is no need." Francis stared at his guard Knight closely: "the corona family and the nine pointed star wizard tower think they are very smart, but they forget where they took that thing - every church in lottel is the eyes of the Holy Cross, monitoring these people who never know how to be grateful!


    Since they have their little abacus, we will purify the city when they are proud, and then take the opportunity to destroy their holy grail!


    I have a very clear hunch that this must be the real goal of the wizard Tower! "