Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 906 888. Flame and Loyalty

"There are so many things that I can't figure out."

Priest Emma's voice began to reveal a hint of determination.

"The important thing is how to face and solve it!"

"Lorenzo, you are right. We are the pillars of Lothric's royal power, and we naturally respect the power of the royal family. But at the same time, we must also do something in this world that is walking on the edge of the abyss."

"Now there is clearly a way to solve the problem without harming the royal authority. It would be foolish for us to wait and not take action."

She rubbed a ring on her hand, which had a white image of the priesthood engraved on it.

"Take your evidence and follow me to go directly to the head of the knights. These matters cannot be delayed any longer. The more chaotic the world is, the more chaotic people's hearts will be. Who knows what troubles may be caused in the end?"

"And this kind witness, please repeat what you just said in front of the head of the Lothric Knights."

With that said, Priest Emma led the two of them towards the outside of the church with a vigorous pace that was not suitable for their age.

"Towards the high wall?" Lorenzo asked doubtfully. "Is the leader at the high wall now? Shouldn't he be?"

"What's the point of guarding the dragon training ground now?"

Before Lorenzo could finish asking, Priest Emma interrupted him vigorously.

"I originally invited him and Knight Commander Maluk to come out of the inner city and have a frank talk with me."

"It's just right now, they're still here."

"Brother Maruk?"

Lan En glanced to the side, Lorenzo's voice clearly revealed a solemn tone just now.

It seems that the Lothric knight captain, known as 'Brother Maruk', is not regarded as a companion to him.

The Emma priest remained silent and just led the two of them on the high wall of Lothric's outer city.

Lan En originally wanted to reveal his purpose to the priest Emma.

That is, about [Angel Daughter] Ge Cide.

When the witcher was discussing with others in the Nether Church how to retrieve Gertrude, both Leonard and Klimt said that Priest Emma was a trustworthy candidate.

Rosalia, who was once the princess of Lothric, was understood and sympathized with her plight by Emma's chief priest, and was willing to help.

However, because Lorenzo followed him all the way, Lan En did not find the right time to reveal the situation to this trustworthy officiant.

After all, I only said that the 'priest' was trustworthy, and it was unclear whether the 'knight' would help.

The three people walked along the road with their heads buried in the high wall.

The outer city wall of Lothric is almost so wide that in addition to being used for military purposes, it has also been transformed into residential buildings, markets, and taverns by some people.

The city occupies an entire side of a mountain range, and it's incredibly broad.

You can see confused and skinny people everywhere on the road.

These people's hair was messy and their steps were staggering. It was obvious that they had been affected by the increasingly weak First Fire.

But when Emma, ​​the priest, passed by them, these people would still cast their last hopeful eyes on this priest.

Hopefully the clergy can once again bring light to the world.

Lan En's eyes were deep. Even the holy city that was known as 'guarding the fire ceremony' has now become like this.

These people are not immortal yet, otherwise they would have been cleared out long ago.

But how far are these people from becoming immortal?

As the First Fire wanes, the curse of the undead continues to spread.

This is a curse that comes from a world on the verge of collapse. It is far more powerful and has a wider scope than any curse Lan En has seen or heard in the Magical Middle Ages.

Even the 'Black Sun Curse' proposed by [Mad Mage] Etibad said: It will cause the return of Lilith, the God of Darkness who brings destruction to the world.

The omen is the appearance of "sixteen maidens wearing golden crowns, born during the eclipse, filling rivers and valleys with blood", preparing for Lilith's second return.

Compared with the 'immortal curse' that Lan En has seen with his own eyes, this curse can be called 'gentle and cute'.

The alienation of the souls of these Lothric residents has begun to manifest itself in the physical body: they are gaunt and lanky, and their hair is messy and luxuriant.

Just waiting for the ring of darkness, the symbol of the undead, to select them, they will probably turn into wandering spirits who kill everyone on sight in a short time.

At this time, as if to reflect the low and desperate atmosphere, flaky floating objects like snowflakes and white ash after burning paper began to faintly fall down from the sky.

Lan En stretched out his hand in confusion and caught a piece of falling white ash from mid-air.

Inexplicably, he felt that the darkness deep in his 'vision' was about to move.

"This is."

Lan En looked up.

I saw this kind of flaky white ash floating over the entire huge city of Lothric.

"What's this?"

Lan En murmured.

At this time, Priest Emma and Lorenzo in front also noticed something floating in the sky.

"I've never seen it before." Lorenzo also took a piece of it in his hand. He was confused at first, then shook his head and crushed the piece of white ash on his iron glove.

“Let’s study this kind of thing later.”

They didn't have much energy to pay attention to this insignificant phenomenon at this time.

The First Fire has weakened to this point, and the order of the world is collapsing. It is not impossible for any vision to occur.

The most important thing now is to advance the progress of the Fire Passing Ceremony.

The intelligence brought back by Lorenzo confirmed that at this time of decline, a group of forces was uniting to target Lothric.

This became the last straw that overwhelmed the heart of Emma's chief priest.

Previously, in order to maintain the majesty of the royal family, she had always followed the rules. No direct statements or statements were made.

After all, she was once Prince Lothric's wet nurse. The prince has been frail and sick since he was born, and it was her constant [miracles] that allowed him to grow up.

Whether it was out of emotion or duty, she should not disobey the royal family.

But now, the situation is tense after all.

Soon, flakes of white ash from the sky continued to fall, falling on the already confused residents and soldiers of Lothric.

And the three of them also arrived at the place where they agreed to meet on the high wall.

The two Lothric knights were standing opposite each other in that position, and the atmosphere seemed unharmonious.

One of them was dressed exactly like Lorenzo, with a flaming crimson blouse and cape over the armor.

But for the other knight, the shape of his armor is no different, but the color of his blouse and cloak is blue.

Both of them are wearing swords and shields. At this time, the swords are in sheaths on their waists and the shields are on their hands.

Lan En looked at this scene and narrowed his eyes slightly.

In the tradition of knights, red represents bravery and fearlessness, and in this world it also symbolizes being ‘protected by fire’.

But blue represents loyalty from beginning to end.

Loyalty to the master you serve.

Generally speaking, only the personal guards of lords and generals will be awarded this color.

Just like Vernon Roche, who had met Lan En before, his blue suit was put on by Foltest.

But now, the confrontation between red and blue is like 'maintenance of the flame' confronting 'loyalty to the master'.

Lorenzo was the first to step forward and salute to the Lothric knight in the red smock.

"Captain."

He greeted, and then stood on the red side of the two knights.

"Hello to you too, brother Maruk."

After waiting for the station to pass, Lorenzo greeted the knight opposite, and his voice was cold, almost entirely out of etiquette.

The knight in blue smock on the opposite side didn't seem surprised by this situation.

Priest Emma coughed and intervened in the conversation.

Lan En looked at the conversation that represented the two pillars of Lothric and stood by himself against the wall.

But from time to time his eyes would slant through the silver hair on his forehead, looking in the direction of the conversation.

The witcher's extraordinary hearing allowed him to easily hear conversations at this distance, even though those guys thought they were not loud.

Priest Emma began to tell the knight leader about the riot on the bridge not long ago, as well as the anomalies discovered by Lorenzo and the others.

"We can't wait any longer."

Priest Emma made the assertion.

"As long as the First Fire does not resume burning for one day, the world will be closer and closer to collapse! Think about it, Your Excellency, Captain! Even in the Knights of Lothric, there are undead people who have been removed from their knighthood by your own hands. How much?"

".Nearly a third."

The pain of the knight leader could even be heard in the dull sound under his helmet.

"That's what you want." Suddenly, Knight Commander Maluk on the other side interrupted and choked. "Should we ignore the royal order and forcibly carry out the fire passing ceremony?"

"With all due respect, Your Excellency the Captain, and Your Excellency the Chief Priest, are you planning to rebel?!"

"You are indeed a bit out of your mind when it comes to being 'outspoken', Knight Commander Maruk!"

The knight leader suddenly turned his head from facing Emma's priest, and a stern voice came from under his helmet.

"How dare you accuse me! Accused Emma of treason?!"

"If you really plan to do that, then I will really do that, Your Excellency, Captain."

The Knights in Blue faced their leader tit for tat without giving in.

"We are loyal to the royal family and swear an oath to King Osroais. Later, in the war to destroy the demons, we followed the great prince Lorian to defeat the group of filthy creatures who tried to get involved in the First Fire."

"Prince Lorian single-handedly defeated the Demon Prince, the last hope for the continuation of that filthy species. Since then, we have also sworn allegiance to the great prince Lorian."

"Don't forget this, Your Excellency, Captain. Because at least half of the knights today remember the oath we swore like me and are ready to sacrifice their lives for it."

The words of the blue knight caused the knight leader to tighten his iron glove.

But he still tried to calm his voice so as not to become a trigger in this tense atmosphere.

"But Lothric is the country of the Fire Passer! The fundamental reason why we established our country is to maintain the Fire Passer Ceremony!"

"King Osroais must also hope that the fire transmission ceremony will start as soon as possible to stabilize the world that is sliding into the abyss!"

"Then bring out the order from King Osroais." Knight Commander Maluk said coldly.

"We are loyal to the royal family. If you have an order from His Majesty, of course we will comply with it. But the problem is..."

"do you have?"

The knight leader could say no more words.