Chapter 45 Holy Priest Cavalry
It was actually safer for Yang Qiu to appear in densely populated towns, especially those with a high concentration of respectable people.
As the saying goes, a person's reputation is like a tree's shadow. No one would be willing to go to war with a high-level black magician who has been hunted down for many years by the famous lunatics of the Church of the Blazing Sun in a place like a city; unless this guy is not a local, and it is not his house that is smashed, so he doesn't feel bad...
After all, of all spellcasters, the black magician was the best at covering-type attack magic - the alchemical bombs that the alchemist threw out like crazy were nothing compared to the black magician's forbidden magic that could easily destroy entire city blocks.
Of course, this "safety" must refer to the situation where those crazy people from the Lieyang Church are not catching up.
Those guys don't care about war damage or the involvement of innocent people; as long as they can implement their self-righteous "justice", these bastards are very willing to generously give up a city to bury Yang Qiu.
In short... when Yang Qiu was still in Kamoer Town, the respectable people in the entire town would never say a word that was even slightly disrespectful to Yang Qiu; when Yang Qiu was far enough away from Kamoer, these respectable people vented their anger mercilessly.
"To be able to invite the Holy Priest Corps in such a short time... Viscount Lynn is more valuable than I thought."
About ten kilometers west of the desolate wasteland, Yang Qiu, standing on a low hill, calmly watched the approaching cavalrymen.
The Holy Priest Corps of the Church of the Goddess of Prosperity, a religious corps composed of ascetics, holy warriors, and paladins, is also the first legion of the Principality of Shiga.
Of course, Viscount Linn did not have the nerve to mobilize the entire legion. What caught up with Yang Qiu and forced Yang Qiu to hastily hide the weavers in the valley behind the hills was only a cavalry team of about 200 people.
Among the cavalry were white-robed ascetics carrying flails, holy knights holding sabers, and heavily armored paladins wearing full armor.
The pursuers, whose formation was somewhat chaotic, stopped not far from the hill and lined up silently and orderly.
The well-trained and skilled priests on horseback formed a team, and two leaders emerged; one of them was the "young" knight who had been forced back by Yang Qiu's verbal attacks, and the other was a black-robed ascetic monk wearing a ragged black robe and barefoot in stirrups.
Joyce Andre felt a stinging pain in her eyes just by looking at the black magician on the hill. The humiliation of being inferior to others in words two days ago came to her mind...
"It's him, Inspector Lowell." Andre turned his head away embarrassedly and spoke to the black-robed monk in a relatively calm tone.
The black-robed ascetic raised his head and stared at the black magician on the hill .
Yang Qiu was also looking at this black-robed ascetic monk.
In the church, the position of supervisor is often held by ascetics.
These ascetics are like the gendarmes in the imperial army. In addition to supervising the behavior of church clergy, they are also responsible for maintaining the military discipline of the Guardian Corps. When a battle occurs, the ascetics are also an indispensable fighting force.
"You look... familiar." Yang Qiu spoke first, "Um - Black Robe Inspector Alfred Lowell?"
"Dark magician, Yang." The black-robed monk spoke in a stern voice, making it clear that there was no point in reminiscing about the past. "I don't care about what you did on the territory of the Principality of Shiga. Return the people of Kamoer that you took away, and you can leave."
"No offense." Yang Qiu said with a half-smile, "Brother Lowell, if I return the Camor people I took away to you as you wish, what will you do with them?"
"That's none of your business as an outsider." The black-robed monk said decisively.
"It is true that I am not a believer of the Goddess of Prosperity, nor a citizen of the Principality of Shega, so I am indeed not qualified to manage the affairs of the Principality of Shega." Yang Qiu raised his eyebrows, "But... Monk, this is not Kamor, nor is it the territory of the Principality of Shega. The land under your feet belongs to Tarantan. On the ground that is not the Principality of Shega, do you still firmly believe that the people I took away still belong to the Principality of Shega?"
"You...!" Paladin Andre was furious at the unreasonable words, and the black-robed ascetic raised his hand in time to stop him.
Unlike Andre, a "young man" over a hundred years old, Lowell, a black-robed ascetic monk who is not much younger than Yang Qiu, knows this black magician very well...
This black magician, whose behavior was dissolute and almost crazy, is not well-known nowadays, but between sixty and two hundred years ago, this guy was one of the most influential figures in the continent of Nabaron. The bizarre and shocking rumors he created as well as his own wanton madness were well-known throughout the continent.
In short...if it were Lowell, he would never argue with this black magician who is famous for his sophistry and strange logic that is difficult for ordinary people to understand.
"That's rude." The ascetic monk nodded slightly to express his apology and raised his hand to gesture forward.
The cavalrymen standing quietly behind him quickly dispersed to both sides, surrounding the hill where Yang Qiu was standing.
"Why are you so anxious?"
Yang Qiu raised his foot and stepped lightly on the ground.
A huge magic array, twice as big as the small hill where he was standing, suddenly appeared in the air.
The huge, slowly rotating magic circle enveloped the entire hill and even all the priests.
As the huge magic array that covered the sky and the sun appeared, the air that usually had no sense of existence seemed to turn into thick and sticky stagnant water, weighing heavily on all the priests and their mounts; the horses ridden by the heavy knights could not bear the weight, neighing and falling from side to side.
"not good!"
The black-robed monk's face suddenly changed, and he quickly jumped off his horse. A scepter that looked like a dead tree appeared out of thin air in his hand. He held it with both hands and inserted one end of the scepter into the ground: "As the goddess blesses, the earth will be full of vitality!"
Wonderful ripples visible to the naked eye spread out from the center of the scepter at an extremely fast speed. The weight of the air, which was so thick that it made breathing difficult, suddenly decreased, and the heavily armored knights who almost fell off their horses suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Back off! Get off this hill!" Andre yelled.
"No, no! Officer Andre, we can't leave!" someone responded with sweat on his forehead.
Discovering that a large magic circle had been set up on the hill, the battle-hardened priests knew they should stay away; but... when they tried to turn their horses' heads, they found that both their mounts and themselves were fixed in place, with only their upper bodies able to move!
Andre and the black-robed monk were both stunned. Suddenly, they both thought of something and looked down at the ground at the same time.
Sure enough... there was some extremely inconspicuous and tiny amount of magic powder scattered among the weeds and gravel.
The trap set by the black magician Yang is not just the huge magic circle above the hill that covers everyone!
Veins popped up on the forehead of the black-robed monk. He angrily glanced at the black magician on the hill who was shamelessly using dirty tricks despite his age. He loosened the scepter that was stuck in the ground, made complicated gestures with his hands, and shouted in a deep voice: "As the goddess wishes, all difficulties will be -"
"That's why I hate ascetic monks. It's really annoying that they can fight and heal at the same time." Yang Qiu shook his head and sighed, then raised his foot again and stepped down lightly.
Everyone within the range of the magic circle felt a strange suction force coming from bottom to top.
The black-robed monk looked up in astonishment and found that the center of the huge magic array above his head, composed of runes, was slowly opening.
"Stop it! Are you crazy!"
The black-robed ascetic monk was both shocked and angry.
"I don't want to either, but you forced me to do it." Yang Qiu raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and pressed down: "Forbidden Magic: Breath of Hell."
"Everyone! Close your perception!" Andre shouted in shock and anger.
Scarlet fell at the center of the formation.
A scarlet mist as thick as blood gushed out from the center of the formation.
The blood-like mist spread rapidly, filling the area covered by the magic array in just a few seconds.
The black-robed ascetic immediately stopped casting the spell, but it was still a little too late... The scarlet mist, which had already spread to a very light level, invaded his mind with the help of his divine perception that had been opened on its own. His face instantly turned red, and even red light flashed in his pupils.
"How ridiculous, you lunatic—" The black-robed monk looked at Yang Qiu again angrily.
His anger instantly turned into astonishment.
"Y-Impossible! Why aren't you crazy?!"
The black magician on the hill had clear eyes and a calm expression. He even smiled after being questioned: "Why would I be crazy?"
“Didn’t you open your perception as well?!” the black-robed monk said in horror.
"That's right, I have to keep this thing running, otherwise you will run away." Yang Qiu smiled and raised his hand to point above his head.
The black-robed ascetic stared at the guy in disbelief, and... for the first time, he doubted his own understanding and turned a questioning look to Andre.
"I... I don't know." Andre's confusion, bewilderment and horror were no less than those of the black-robed ascetic .
"Calm down, friends." Yang Qiu put his hands behind his back and walked down the not-so-high hill casually and naturally, as if he was taking a walk in his own garden. "Brother Lowell, let's not talk about others, at least I have respect for you. Since it is dangerous to open up our perception in this magic circle space filled with the breath of hell, why don't we put aside our brutal fights, calm down and have a chat, and watch a battle that may be very unique... How do you think?"
The priests who were already unable to move due to stepping on the magic powder, and unable to open their inspiration to perceive divinity, really had no way to protest against this, and could only stare at Yang Qiu...
The black-robed monk Lowell took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and said in a deep voice: "What do you want to do, Yang?"
Yang Qiu walked down the hill and took out two wooden chairs from his space ring. He pushed one to Rowell and sat down on the other. He also took out a paper cup of milk tea with a straw...
"It means exactly what it says, Brother Lowell." Yang Qiu took a sip of milk tea and crossed his feet calmly. "Saint priests are very busy people. I don't believe you have the time to send a group of old, weak and sick people back to Camor. Naturally, those who ask you to move won't believe it."
"Let me think about this with my knees. The people who paid for the military expenditure and asked you to go out for the honor of Camor, the Principality of Shiga, and the Goddess of Prosperity should have promised you to kill me or drive me away. The people they arranged will take care of the follow-up...right?"
Black-robed ascetic monk: “…”
He turned to look at Andrea again.
Captain Andre, a Camorian, did not show any shock or suspicious look of being exposed, but was as confused as he was.
"Sit down, Lowell. You and I are not young anymore. There is no need to be as stiff as young people." Yang Qiu sipped his milk tea again, his tone still calm. "Although we have never had a chance to have a good chat, I think if you have heard about me, you should understand... I don't think much of all sects, but it doesn't mean that I despise all religious personnel. At least I have respect for the ascetics of various churches."
Lowell was silent for a while, then pulled up a chair and sat down.
Next, there is a long wait...
An hour later, a group of ragged, panic-stricken civilians appeared behind the hill.
These were the Kamor weavers who were hidden by Yang Qiu in the valley behind the hill. After waiting for a long time and seeing that the black magician did not return, a few of them came out to see what was going on.
The space separated by the magic array was difficult for non-spellcasters to see through. These panicked civilians could not see Yang Qiu and the priest cavalry trapped in the array who were so close to them . They looked around but couldn't find them, so they nervously met their heads and whispered to each other.
The wilderness represents danger to ordinary people. Even the wild beasts at the bottom of the food chain in the wilderness can cause harm to these fragile people, so they finally did not dare to walk around and hurriedly hid back in the valley.
Another hour later, billowing smoke appeared in the west.
The chaotic sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer. Private soldiers with banners bearing the family crests of nobles appeared in the eyes of Yang Qiu and the priests, and their formation was as chaotic as that of street thugs.
Unlike the cavalry of the Holy Priest Legion, which maintained a certain formation during long-distance raids and could quickly regroup after finding the target, the word "discipline" did not exist in the dictionary of these noble private soldiers. The people in the front found that the horseshoe prints left by the priests were interrupted, so they dismounted and searched around for a long time, and the people at the back had not caught up yet.
In front of Yang Qiu and the priests... these private soldiers belonging to several noble families argued about the whereabouts of the Holy Priest Cavalry and the black magician Yang.
Not long after, a scout discovered footprints left by civilians. After a brief search, he found a valley behind the hill.
The scout ran back in surprise and called to the others: "This way! Those guys are hiding in the valley behind here!"
"real?"
"Great, I finally found it!"
The private soldiers belonging to different nobles said so while drawing their weapons.
