Benjamin did not hide behind the rock any longer. He walked out, walked to the center of the mountain path, and looked directly at the other party.
"…Andre."
Andre stood in front of him, spread his hands, laughed jokingly, and said, "Are you surprised?"
Regardless of their movements or expressions, they are like two people.
Benjamin was silent for a moment, shook his head, and suddenly said: "Actually, I should have thought of it earlier. The books on making magic props in the kingdom have been collected by the church. It is too difficult for mages to learn this aspect. What's more, you gave me Others made interconnected beads that were too similar to the Church's 'Eye of God.'"
Now that I think about it, Andre disguised himself as a stuttering mage who was proficient in magic tools and lurked among the mage group in Crewe Town. There were indeed a lot of small flaws exposed.
It's just... He always refused to believe that he was obviously a mage, why would he seek refuge with the church
"Really?" The smile on Andre's face disappeared and he regained his composure, "If you really wanted it, you shouldn't be here."
Along with his words, footsteps gradually came from far and near, as dense as the sound of rain hitting the roof at night. Soon, groups of people began to appear in the dark mountain roads on both sides.
The first thing that appeared was a group of priests wearing clerical robes. Counting, there were about ten of them. But the one standing at the front was dressed differently from the others. His red robe looked even more solemn under the cold moonlight.
are the bishops and priests at the gates of Crusad.
The bishop and more than a dozen priests blocked both sides of the mountain road and surrounded Benjamin.
"I don't understand." Benjamin's eyes were still on Andre, "You are obviously a mage, why do you want to work as an undercover agent for the church?"
Andre turned around, first bowed to the bishop who appeared, and then looked over with side eyes.
"Because the church is the future." There was piety and indifference in his eyes, as if he was not answering Benjamin's question, but talking to the divine will in the dark, "I just chose the right path."
Hearing this, Benjamin snorted coldly.
"Then we have nothing to say."
To this day, there are still mages who don't understand this truth - the church is their life and death enemy. Only one of the two parties can destroy the other, and the winner can completely rebuild everything. There is no other possibility.
The mages who take refuge in the church can at best become sheep under the shadow of the cross, shaving their wool and milking the sheep. Eventually they lose their usefulness and will be made into delicious meals and brought to the table of gods.
"Grant Reese." The bishop glanced at Andre indifferently, then turned to look at Benjamin, "When I first met you ten years ago, I really didn't expect that today we would be in this kind of situation. Place reunion.”
Benjamin wanted to laugh a little.
Is this the first time he has been recognized as Grant
Apparently, the news that he was burned on the scaffold in Grant's place was well sealed in St. Peter's Cathedral. Not even the bishop stationed at the border knew about it, let alone outsiders.
"Mr. Bishop." Thinking this, Benjamin looked around and asked, "You have worked so hard to lure me out and want to surround me. There should be more than just these people, right?"
Hearing this, the bishop showed a slightly surprised expression, and chuckled a few times, saying: "Yes, for being able to cause such a big chaos in the capital, I should give you more for the notorious water polo demon. respect."
As he spoke, he snapped his fingers.
Along with the calm smile on his face, countless footsteps soon came. But what was different from before was that these footsteps sounded neat and loud, like the rhythmic bass at a rock music festival.
Then, countless soldiers stepped forward from the darkness behind them. They stopped behind the priest and moved in unison, forming a solid backing for the entire encircling camp and making the narrow mountain road even more crowded.
"There are enough of these people." The bishop waved his hand, as if to show Benjamin his grand ambush, "Except for them, I have sent a priest and a team of soldiers to guard every intersection around here, just to Make sure you never escape from this place."
Yeah…
Benjamin looked at the soldiers who could see endlessly in front and back and said nothing.
It's not that he was too panicked, but he suddenly remembered that at the beginning, he used the water element induction method to explore the inside of Crusad's gate and stayed on the bishop for a few seconds, but the bishop discovered something strange.
"So...you noticed that I came to Crewe Town at the very beginning?" Therefore, he asked.
At that time, Benjamin thought that the bishop was just having a sixth sense and didn't care much. Unexpectedly, the other party discovered him from that moment on.
The bishop also nodded and said: "Yes, but at that time, I was not sure of your identity, so I asked Andre to guide you from behind and pulled you into the small group of mages. It wasn't until you followed We met Andre, and that’s when we really confirmed your identity.”
...a small team of mages
After hearing this, Benjamin was silent for a while. Suddenly, his face changed slightly and he said, "You have known about the existence of the mage group for a long time."
As soon as this was said, not only the bishop, but also other priests present gave a somewhat mean smile.
"More than just knowing." The bishop shook his head and said, "It's like killing rats. We will drive them together and raise them there. If we save enough, we will kill them all at once. Every two years, we will They will guide the mages who are stuck in the town of Crewe to form a group of mages, and then eliminate them together at the right time. In fact, this group has also reached the day of harvest, but I guess you may and want to escape from here. So I kept them a little longer as bait to attract you.”
Hearing this, Benjamin couldn't help but take a deep breath.
… Therefore, the existence of this small group is actually just a trap for the church.
No, it can't even be called a trap, at most it's just a convenient little trick for them. Just like sowing seeds every spring and harvesting food in autumn, how can something as simple as this be considered a conspiracy
Yes, it is simply impossible for a group of half-baked mage apprentices to establish a mage group under the nose of the church.
Benjamin sighed in his heart.
He didn't feel surprised, only sad.
People like the landlady, Augustine, and the old blacksmith have all stayed in Crewe Town for almost a year and opened their own shops. They even gave up on escaping abroad and just thought about living here anonymously. Everyone also felt that it was very happy to find so many similar people in the town, as if the wandering mage career had finally found its destination.
They would discuss meditation and magic together, as well as their respective parents' affairs, and the latest gossip in the town. No matter who is in trouble, others will find a way to help - they are not just strangers in this town, in fact, they are each other's family.
But... what's the result
In the end, everything they belong to and identify with is really just a mousetrap for the church.
They don't even realize it's a conspiracy.
Even if in the end, the church closes the net and kills them all, their deaths are just a biennial routine, not even unique, special, commendable and memorable - they died very old set.
After all, this old-fashioned deceptive death has been experienced by countless hopeful mages before them.
"You don't have to be afraid. If I wanted to kill you, I would have already done it." Seeing that Benjamin had remained silent and had not spoken for a long time, the bishop continued, "You can also see that there is a mage who is helping us. My attitude towards doing things is different from that of the bishop of St. Peter’s Basilica.”
Hearing this, Benjamin came back to his senses, sneered a few times, and said: "Yes, you have been unwilling to do anything, and you have to lure me to such a wilderness before you show up. You probably don't want to be in the royal capital." Let the church know about me.”
Otherwise, the bishop could have taken action long ago, and there would be no need to go to such trouble to make up some "soldiers escorting the cross" to lure him here.
However, after hearing this, the bishop did not mean to be annoyed at all, but instead showed some admiration.
"You guessed it right, I can't let others know that you appeared in Crewe Town." He nodded and said, "If people in the royal capital know about it, they will definitely be alert and tell me what to do next. What you want to do is unfavorable. So at the beginning, I sent a quartermaster to give you the key, and specially asked people to buy food from the merchant mage, trying to lure you into the gate. As a result, that guy was too drunk and could not I almost ruined my big deal by getting the key into your hands."
… I see.
At this moment, Benjamin was a little surprised.
He didn't expect that the drunk quartermaster who dangled his keys in front of him was actually just a bait sent by the bishop. The food order Wallis received was just a trap that the bishop wanted to lead him into.
What a big game of chess.
Thinking of this, Benjamin could only say that fortunately the bishop was more anxious than he was and threw this move before he was about to sneak into the door. Otherwise, Benjamin might really be blocked inside the gate and unable to fly.
but…
The bishop wanted to hide everything and prevent people in the royal capital from knowing. This point is quite worth pondering.
"You want to rebel? Aren't you afraid of your so-called divine punishment?" Thinking of this, he said while glancing at the other people behind the bishop. However, both the other priests and soldiers looked indifferent, as if they were not surprised by this.
… Interesting.
It seems that the entire Crusad Gate now belongs to the royal family and the church in name, but in fact, it only belongs to the bishop.
"Under the will of God, no one can rebel." A solemn look appeared on the bishop's face. "His Majesty the Pope did not show up for eight years. After showing up, he went into seclusion again two months later. There are too many doubts in this. . I just want to know whether His Majesty the Pope is dead or alive. You came from the Royal Capital, and you were responsible for the chaos before His Majesty the Pope went into seclusion. You must know something that was concealed by the Royal Capital."
Benjamin shook his head indifferently.
To be honest, he was no longer listening to what the bishop was saying next. Isn't it just that the Pope is in retreat? This bishop has the power, but that bishop does not. As a result, suspicion arises within the church, which leads to internal strife... Benjamin really doesn't care at all who will hold the cross of power.
Although he didn't want to admit it, he cared about the stupid mages in Crewe Town.
He just wanted to take them away from the hellish Kingdom of Hori.
"Shake your head? Is it because you don't know, or you don't want to tell me?" The bishop narrowed his eyes, and a faint murderous intention emerged from the slits in his eyes.
Andre was also on the side, helping in a threatening tone: "You have no place to escape. If you tell me, you can have a bright future like me. If you don't tell me, you will know nothing but death." End."
Hearing this, Benjamin shrugged helplessly.
A bright future?…
Suddenly, he sighed, touched his forehead with his hand, and began to mutter to himself: "There are more than two thousand defenders at the Crusad gate, and there should be more than a thousand people surrounding here now." There are people. I don’t know the number of priests. There are more than ten here, plus the ones guarding every intersection on the nearby mountain road, it should be about the same. If you count it like this... "
As he spoke, his voice gradually became softer, his eyebrows furrowed, and he muttered some strange numbers, just like a student who was called by the teacher in math class and had to start doing mental arithmetic.
Seeing this, the bishops and priests looking at him all had strange expressions.
"What do you want to say? You... how do you know the number of people at the gate?" Andre hesitated and suddenly asked.
He seemed to be flustered for no reason. He stuttered when he spoke, but compared with the stutter he had pretended before, this stutter sounded much more natural.
It also seemed much more comfortable to Benjamin’s ears.
"If there are only a few people left in the gate, then it should be almost the same time." At this point, Benjamin stopped talking to himself without meaning. He raised his head, faced the boundless crowd surrounding him, spread his hands, and showed a somewhat innocent smile.
He was as innocent as a short-haired cat who deliberately knocked over a vase and then blamed it all on the husky sleeping next to him. He showed that innocent and ignorant look when facing his owner.
"I just think you should look back and take a look." He reminded kindly.
Hearing this, all the priests were stunned. Then, with doubtful expressions, they turned back slightly and looked at the town of Crewe in the distance behind them.
It was originally so dark that they couldn't see anything clearly with only the moonlight. However, at this moment, a fire rose above Crusad's gate. It was that fire that made the outline of the town appear vaguely in their eyes.
"That, that's..."
Except for Benjamin, everyone present looked shocked.
The fire looked strange. It was not the kind of fire caused by natural combustion, but a flame floating in mid-air out of thin air. If you look closely, it looks a bit like countless fireballs gathered together, pieced together into a specific shape under the deliberate command of humans.
The night was pitch black, and the fire became the only bright color nearby. It was like a ghost floating in mid-air, showing its smile to the town of Crewe, to the thousands of people on the mountain road in the distance, and to the entire Kingdom of Horli.
Those firelights gathered into a rather simple short sentence. It felt like someone had written a line of words with flames above the Crusad gate, or a slogan, a banner or something like that.
That's a really simple sentence.
It was so simple that the people in the town of Crewe understood it, the travelers on the nearby road understood it, and the thousands of people who surrounded Benjamin on this narrow mountain road also understood it. There were hundreds of people within a radius of Crusad's gate, even if they were about to go to sleep, they were all attracted by this light of fire and looked over with curious eyes.
Looking at it, some people showed expressions of astonishment, some people exclaimed in panic, some burst out laughing, and some people stamped their feet in anger. But no matter what, at this moment, it became the protagonist of the night. Soon, this picture will spread throughout the Hori Kingdom and the entire continent, becoming a hot topic in everyone's mouth.
The fire didn't last long. It disappeared after about two minutes, but the excitement it caused did not subside. In fact, the lively discussion has just begun, and the sentence written by the flame in mid-air has already left a very deep impression on people's hearts.
It was like turning on a repeater machine, everyone was silently reciting this sentence, or couldn't help but read it out. It seems to have become some kind of strange mantra, repeated over and over again by people in different places, different identities, and different countries, and it just blurted out so simply and crudely:
“The church is so stupid.”