Hearing that the monsters had broken through Leyton's line of defense, Big Beardy's first concern was whether the sacred lake was under attack. After all, the rock monsters had rushed to the shore. Although no one knew how the rock monsters planned to attack the lake, it was obvious that they could not let them go. The knight captain had a strange expression on his face when he heard Big Beardy's words. "Well... we don't know what's going on. The ultimate goal of the rock monsters is a mystery. They seem to be aimlessly gathering at the sacred lake, but after gathering, they did nothing. They just wandered around the Gnarled Grove and the lakeside."
"They didn't try to pollute the lake?" Big Beardy was surprised. He could not think of anything else that the monsters gathered at the sacred lake other than to destroy the water. "The Lake Sanctuary is fine?"
"Everything is fine." The knight captain shrugged. "The Lake Sanctuary is not affected at all. But Bishop Gelton thinks that no matter what the rock monsters want to do, we can't let them gather like this. So he sent us to this area to clean them up. "
Big Beardy nodded, indicating that he had no more questions.
At this time, more hoofbeats came from the forest. The other knight squads that were summoned by the signal flare had gathered. Hao Ren saw the light of the torches in the Gnarled Grove like a river of fireflies. He was surprised by the number of knights. It seemed that the Beinz Diocese had invested a considerable amount of troops to clean up the rock monsters.
The knight captain admitted that the area around the sacred lake was not safe. The entire Beinz Diocese was full of battlefields. Therefore, he suggested that everyone retreat from the Gnarled Grove to Leyton and return the Orb as soon as possible. Of course, there were still a lot of monsters in the Gnarled Grove, but compared to the wandering rock monsters, it was not a big problem. The four ascetics were also eager to protect the Orb, so they immediately agreed.
Hao Ren and the rest rode on the horses brought by the knights (except Y'zaks) and went straight to Leyton along the official road of the Gnarled Grove. Along the way, they were escorted by the Church Knights and the Royal Knights. Becky was really excited. She was just a small mercenary and had never been so glorious in her life. At this time, surrounded by a group of knights, she felt that she had saved the world. Becky rode at the front of the team, trying to keep a straight face and adjust her posture to look majestic. It was not until two hours later that she suddenly realized that no one would be looking at her in the middle of the night. Frustrated, she slowed down to keep pace with the Knight Captain and asked loudly, "Will there be a welcome party when we get back? Will there be patrols on horseback? Will the appointment ceremony be held in Royal City? "
The knight captain looked at Becky with a strange expression. After a while, he turned his head back and said, "How would I know?" Then, he smacked his lips and said without lowering his voice, "Tsk, tsk, mercenaries … You really only care about money. You should pray more and let the Goddess' holy thoughts wash your mind."
Becky was not annoyed at all. Instead, she cheered even more excitedly, "I'm going to be rich!"
Along the way, Hao Ren had been observing the surrounding knights. The official road through the Gnarled Grove was a very long road, passing through several patrol points. So, the knights on horseback on both sides of the road had changed two or three times. He found that 80% of the knights were members of the Church Knights in robes. There were only a few Royal Knights, and they were only patrolling outside. Not only they were not the main force, but they were even a bit forced to serve as a foil. Hao Ren was a little concerned. "Why are the knights of the Church here killing the rock monsters? Isn't the Royal Knights the main force here? "
The knight captain replied, "Marshal Ophra's soldiers are mainly guarding outside the Leyton defense line and patrolling Dragonspine Ridge. They are responsible for cleaning up the monsters that have just split off from the mountain to prevent the monsters from invading inland. They are also responsible for commanding the mercenaries outside. The Leyton defense line is an important place for the Church. Our Church Knights should be the main force. Don't worry, the Church Knights are enough to guard this sacred place. Our strong faith is the guarantee of all this. "
The man was indeed a divine warrior who believed in the Goddess. He could always talk about his own faith. Hao Ren listened to the knight captain's explanation and nodded. What the knight captain said made sense. It was not surprising that the two groups of knights would set up two layers of defense according to their nature.
The journey was quiet. With a large number of knights escorting them, Hao Ren and the others did not encounter any monsters in the Gnarled Grove. When they passed through the forest and arrived at the valley where Leyton was located, it was already early the next morning.
Along with the rising sun, the first ray of morning sunlight shone through the gap in Dragonspine Ridge onto the earth, awakening this mysterious holy land with a long history from the unstable night of last night. The light emitted by the protective barrier of Leyton could be seen from afar. When the knights saw the light, they all breathed a sigh of relief. The battle here had been going on for half a month. During this period, the defense line had been broken, the troops had been attacked, the outpost had been destroyed, and even the entire knight team had been removed. The warriors standing here had been through many battles, and they were all exhausted and under great mental pressure. The brilliance of Leyton Fortress was one of the biggest motivations for them to continue fighting.
The horses slowed down. Hao Ren observed the surroundings as he walked. He noticed that there were traces of fierce battles everywhere in the area. Huge stone pits and scorched bushes could be seen everywhere on the edge of the Gnarled Grove. There were many temporary fortifications made of steel and boulders on the roadside. Almost all of these fortifications were damaged. Hao Ren did not know how many times they had been destroyed and rebuilt. Protective stone slabs engraved with runes could be seen everywhere along the way. They should have been used to set up a magic barrier to resist the stone giants, but now that the magic power had been exhausted, the runes had been shattered, and these stone slabs could only be used as a proof of failure. Of course, there was also a lot of evidence at the scene to prove that the rock monsters' advance was not smooth. Lifeless black boulders were piled up near the woodland. Some of the black boulders had traces of being cut and excavated. Perhaps the soldiers on the line of defense had simply dragged the enemy's remains back as building materials.
The knight captain sighed and said, "I don't know how long it will take to kill all these monsters... The bishop has been studying the secrets of Dragonspine Ridge, but until now, he still doesn't know how the rock monsters split."
As they spoke, they had arrived at the entrance of Leyton. The towering and somewhat dilapidated fortress wall appeared in front of them.
"... Looks like it was a tough battle," Y'zaks could not help but murmur after seeing the situation in Leyton. "The rock monsters went straight through the town?!"
Leyton was a "town" in name, but in fact, it was the largest military fortress on the border of the Beinz Blood Lake. It had extremely thick walls and sturdy city buildings, but now the fortress had obviously suffered heavy damage. Everyone could see that there were several huge cracks on the outer wall of the town. Even the town gate facing the Gnarled Grove had disappeared, leaving behind only a hole nearly 100 meters wide. The broken bricks and rubble had not been cleaned up. Teams of soldiers patrolled nervously inside and outside the wall. The atmosphere was filled with the atmosphere of a battle that could break out at any moment.
Hao Ren could directly see the situation in Leyton. As far as he could see, collapsed houses were everywhere.
Speaking of what happened that day, the knight captain seemed to have a little lingering fear. "Yes, I can't believe that we could save the town. At that time, the highest peak of Dragonspine Ridge had collapsed. Soon after, hundreds and thousands of rock monsters rushed down from the main road and the mountain road next to it. At that time, half of the town's garrison was entangled with the monsters in the north and could not come back in time. The rock monsters quickly smashed the outer barrier... and then directly ran through the town into the Gnarled Grove. "
Finally, the knight captain spread out his hands to everyone. "Finally, thanks to Marshal Ophra who had just led the reinforcements from the kingdom's inland, they intercepted the rock monsters from behind. Under the leadership of Bishop Gelton, we managed to save the town. But as you can see, the damage here is very serious. "
At this time, the soldiers who were patrolling at the town entrance had noticed that the main force had returned early. A strong man who looked like an officer rode over on a horse. "What happened?"
The knight captain looked solemn. "Quickly inform the bishop that the Orb of the Holy Synod has been returned!"
(This is the last half of the month. I have nothing better to do. Check if I have a monthly ticket!)
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