Alien Knights

Alfonso walked to the top of the mountain alone, and what greeted him was only the smoke and dust that had not yet dissipated and the complete silence.

When he reached the enemy's defense line, which was only three hundred meters away, the sounds of chaotic footsteps and voices came from the enemy camp.

An old man with white beard and hair, wearing a set of immaculately maintained armor, trudged out of the trench with the help of the soldiers.

Several church knights climbed out of the trenches, wanting to follow the old man and escort him down the mountain.

The old man turned around and scolded a few words, and the church knights knelt on the ground and did not dare to move any more.

Seeing the old man on the mountain coming towards him, Alfonso took a deep breath and unconsciously clasped his hands together.

When the old man walked up to him, Alfonso took off his helmet and respectfully gave the old man a knight's salute.

After finding a piece of clean ground, the old man sat down with difficulty. While beating his back with his hands, he looked at the twisted and stretched parasite limbs in Alfonso's armor, and said in a somewhat joking tone: "Look. Look at yourself, you are no different from the demons in the murals."

After a moment of pause, the old man said with self-pity: "Looking at it this way, I used the firearms of the southern pagans, so there seems to be no reason to blame you."

Alfonso straightened his spine: "As a knight, it doesn't matter what kind of weapons you use or what kind of armor you wear. What matters is whether your actions are upholding justice and whether you are abiding by the knight's oath."

The old man was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "That sounds interesting."

Alfonso took out the letter from his arms: "Lord Bromo Heshmond, this is the letter that my commander, Lord Cumberland, asked me to forward to you."

Bromo did not rush to get the letter and asked: "Why are you here today? Why didn't I see that stubborn donkey?"

Alfonso replied: "Sir Cumberland has been staying at the headquarters since the beginning of the battle yesterday, reading and analyzing the combat reports submitted by each unit."

"After comparison and investigation, we found that most of the people left behind in the military strongholds of the Papal State are infantry, but the main cavalry of the three major church knights are missing."

"Lord Cumberland speculates that you must have kept something in mind when you made the battle plan. These fortifications built in the forest are just a cover to confuse the public, and the real main force must be your cavalry regiment. After all, …”

Bromo took up Alfonso's words and said softly: "Offence is the best defense. Always remember to keep the initiative in your own hands."

The old man closed his eyes and laughed self-deprecatingly: "Yes, it's rare that you still remember what I taught you."

Alfonso handed the letter to Bromo again and said with emphasis: "My lord, please read this letter."

Bromo took the letter, opened it, read it briefly, put it aside, and asked funnyly: "Persuading to surrender? Is that stubborn donkey serious?"

Alfonso nodded and said: "Mr. Cumberland very much hopes that you can come to Muxi City, at least as a visitor, to see what the real kingdom of heaven looks like."

"You are not a good lobbyist." Bromo rubbed his stiff knees: "During the time you were in the academy, the comment I gave you was that you were very upright and did not know how to adapt..."

Alfonso said categorically: "Sir, what I said is true. If you don't believe it, just go to Muxi City and touch the Pilgrimage Stone, and the facts will prove everything..."

Bromo stretched out his hand to interrupt Alfonso: "No need to say any more."

"You think I'm lying?"

"You can never learn to lie, just like that stubborn donkey can never learn to be humble..."

"Then why don't you want to go to Muxi..."

Bromo suddenly laughed.

The old man pointed to the black dragon badge on Alfonso's chest and asked: "That dragon god...Todd Fisher, do you believe him?"

Alfonso nodded: "I followed that person all the way, and no one knows his truth better than me."

Bromo said happily: "That's good. As a knight, the most painful thing is to question the path you have chosen."

"As I have said in class in the past, the honor of knights is not just a few simple mottos, it must be placed in pure pursuits and ideals."

"For example, seeking a sage who can calm chaos, or serving a benevolent and loving god." Bromo said with a smile: "A knight is not a dictator's thugs, nor is he an accomplice of an ambitious man."

"At the beginning, among the many students, both you and that stubborn donkey were the objects of my disdain. You were too rigidly bound by dogma, and Cumberland was too contemptuous of worldly justice. I was worried that you would stick to the code of chivalry. , I don’t understand the true meaning; I’m also worried that Cumberland will indulge in fighting and conspiracy, and completely forget his original intention.”

Bromo stroked his gray and curled beard and said slowly: "Fortunately, you have all found the goal you have pursued throughout your life."

Alfonso took a step forward and asked in a deep voice: "Do you still believe in the church now?"

"Do you believe those idiots hiding in the church and clamoring about acting as divine authority every day?" Bromo shook his head: "I am indeed old, but I am not dementia yet."

"Then why did you agree to the church's request to lead troops? Why did you help them to harm the Protestant believers? Why didn't you go back to Muxi City with me to see the real kingdom of heaven?"

Bromo sighed softly: "Because there is a god in my heart. You can call him Heavenly Father or God. In my opinion, he is the driving force for my life, and also my cleansing... The support of the soul.”

Alfonso's face showed an expression of incomprehensible confusion: "Sir, I don't understand. As long as you go to Muxi City and see the Kingdom of Heaven, you will naturally understand that other gods are illusions..."

"The longer people live, the more afraid they are of change. When you have one foot in the coffin and someone tells you that what you have believed in your whole life may be a scam, all you can do is extreme denial and Self-hypnosis.”

Bromo slowed down his speech: "It's like a craftsman who spent his whole life carving a statue of a god. Someone suddenly told him that the god didn't look like that at all. But in the heart of the craftsman, the god His appearance is no longer important."

Bromo picked up Cumberland's letter, put it in his arms, and said to Alfonso, who was still immersed in thinking: "Go back and tell that stubborn donkey, never forget what I said in the last class of the Knight Academy. Those words. The honor of a knight has never been a victory on the battlefield, nor is it the false affirmation and praise of a superior, but whether everything you do can bring your soul to the final peace."

Bromo pushed himself up, stood up from the ground tremblingly, and walked towards the top of the mountain without looking back.