Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 191 First Encounter with the Enemy
"So, you really thought that benevolent gods were good people and evil gods were wicked people?"

Rean was a little surprised. He thought most people, like himself, had some understanding of and were wary of these churches.

At the very least, we shouldn't blindly believe.

“Spare them. Most of them never had the chance to read. Their enlightenment was often through various heroic tales and fairy tales. In these stories, how could a benevolent god and a benevolent church be portrayed negatively?”

The snake, on the other hand, was quite amused by the poor average education level in the area.

After his initial surprise, Rean glanced at his temporary companions and briefly explained the ownership structure of the slave market, without challenging their understanding too much.

As the snake himself said, Rean underestimated the weight of religion in this world. Think back to the Middle Ages on Earth, who dared to question the justice and sublimity of the Church?

This world is polytheistic, and while the authority of individual churches is not that high, the reputation of most benevolent gods is indeed higher than that of the royal families of various countries.

Rean is not saying that the Church of the Good Gods is a bunch of hypocrites. On the contrary, they greatly contribute to the stability, morality, and goodness of the world. Many of the good gods are worthy of respect, and they are the leading force in responding to many evil gods and world crises.

However, in Rean's mind, they were still an organization made up of people, some with good intentions and some with bad intentions, some noble and some base.

A large organizational structure inevitably breeds corruption and malice; it is only a thought away for "public officials" with enormous power to turn evil.

In the eyes of ordinary locals, the Church of Benevolent God is surrounded by an aura of goodness, and 99% of its members are good; any occasional problems are considered exceptions.

"I actually talked a lot with Larry before I could figure out the problems," Dimon himself said, adding that he has only recently gained a clearer understanding of the current situation.

In recent days, he has obtained many ledgers and correspondence from the slave market, and his attitude towards those who were once revered has become increasingly rational.

Larry, being an aristocrat, was actually the most rational. Being in the Church of the Good God, he knew that the believers around him were just ordinary people, and many of them joined the church simply for a meal.

However, most ordinary people do not have the opportunity to demystify the Church of Benevolence, and they often have excessively high expectations of it.

The reality is quite ironic: the poorer and more distressed people are, the higher their expectations and trust in the Church of Benevolent God are, and the more easily they are blindly devoted to it.

"A benevolent god is just a powerful individual. It's already good enough that He can guarantee that the general direction is not wrong and that He does not violate His own doctrines, not to mention that He often has His own selfish desires. Look, aren't some benevolent god churches mortal enemies? If they were all correct and noble, how could there be conflicts or even deadly battles?"

Blasphemous words, spoken by a paladin, are surprisingly persuasive.

Rean ended the conversation with that sentence; he had no intention of persuading anyone, because it was simply impossible.

He simply hoped that since they had met, they wouldn't blindly believe in so-called benevolent gods, otherwise they might fall into a trap or be tricked into becoming cannon fodder working for nothing.

"Is this why you are a free Ancient Knight, and do not believe in any benevolent god?" Dimon asked at this moment.

"I just don't want to entrust my fate to the morality and bottom line of other people."

Calm words are the most blasphemous words to the gods. This man doubted the conscience and morality of the so-called gods from beginning to end.

But this is just an individual's rational understanding that gods are also equal beings. He cannot entrust his life and future to the so-called gods who are high above him.

One by one, people looked at him with either surprise or sudden realization; to them, these were words that were completely incomprehensible.

But the golden radiance on the blade of the sword he slowly drew revealed that he had not defied the principles of goodness.

"Evil Breaking Slash."

The power of light erupted from the blade, and a small gargoyle that was just activating, still hanging on the rock wall, was cleaved in two.

Longyan looked at the rock walls on both sides and above, and saw the small gargoyles trembling slightly, as they were activating from their slumber.

"Break Evil! Shatter Blade!"

Even more radical was Dimon, who seemed to have always been calm.

The cleaving battle axe, bursting with radiant light, shattered a small gargoyle with a single blow.

Rean looked at Dimon with a mixture of surprise and approval.

Even with the legacy of Suer, Dimon's progress is still quite fast.

"It seems I need to work harder. The next sword technique is still the one that Dimon mastered first."

Suer's swordsmanship secrets are relatively complete, but compared to so-called swordsmanship talent, they perhaps require more time and hard work. *Snap*

With a snap of his fingers, Rean completed a rapid spellcasting.

The thrown magic missiles struck the rubble overhead. The slight force field explosions were not enough to hurt people, but they were enough to break the connecting stones under the feet of the small gargoyles!
"Crack!" The two little gargoyles fell to the ground, one of them even hitting its head on the ground and cracking open.

When not activated, they are just real stones.

More gargoyles have been activated; these are remnants of the last Warcraft rampage, having slumbered and escaped the purge over the past two days.

Crimson eyes flickered in the darkness as the awakened gargoyles called out to their kind, and small monsters floated around them.

"Knight, you go first, we'll hold the line!"

The adventure team sprang into action instantly, with the female knight holding a shield in one hand and a spear in the other standing at the rear.

The round shield she held aloft gleamed with the light of cabbage, seemingly actively drawing the attention of the gargoyles.

The dwarf, wielding his battle axe, roared and slashed at the small gargoyles attacking from behind.

The dwarf illusionist began casting a spell, a hazy, illusory shadow covering the two front-line warriors, providing them with a more solid defense.

Using his super-magical spellcasting skills, the gnome illusionist simultaneously cast protective illusions on both teammates. After a moment's thought, he began preparing magic missiles.

With gargoyles in a dark environment, the hit rate of some less sensitive spells can be pitifully low.

The magic missiles are indeed rather pathetic in terms of power, but they can still provide some disruption. We've just entered the underground ruins area, so we must conserve our magic power.

The monk silently pulled out his crossbow.

His skill level is not high enough. It's not that he can't break a stone with his bare hands, but in his current state, he would suffer greater losses.

The main force at the front still consisted of two warriors, but their spears and battle axes were ill-suited for dealing with the stones, so they could only slowly hack at each other, sending stone chips flying everywhere.
"Do you need help?"

Suddenly, words came from another direction.

The dwarf illusionist whirled around, only to see the black-armored paladin wearing a calm, domestic smile amidst the monster rubble.

"That was the end of it, just like that, with only a dozen or so."

There were only four or five gargoyles that came later, and the team had only taken down one so quickly. The two paladins had finished everything so fast. The illusionist saw the pigman struggling to pull the battle axe off the gargoyle.

To be able to insert the blade of a battle axe so deep into a rock, what kind of brute force is that? What kind of weapon is that?
They look like ordinary battle axes and swords.

He was momentarily distracted and didn't respond immediately, but Rean didn't stop.

With a soft, low chant and simplified hand gestures, the spell was cast, and the black-armored knight suddenly appeared above the centaur's head!
He arrived in the middle of the swirling gargoyles!
"Holy Sword. Slay Evil."

The holy sword, which had been shining brightly, suddenly became subdued, and the lightless battle sword drew a crescent arc in mid-air.

"Snapped!"

The moment the boots landed, a shower of rubble followed.

One by one, the small gargoyles were sliced ​​in two, their heads and cores were steadily cut off. This mid-air slash shattered at least most of the remaining gargoyles.

"boom!"

The remaining gargoyle was struck by the thrown battle axe, and the burst of light blasted away half of its body.

When the two equally "low-level" paladins made their move, the anticipated fierce battle was over in just over ten seconds.

"continue."

Rean simply picked up the battle axe for Dimon, threw it back, and walked into the darkness ahead.

It was as if the previous encounter had merely resulted in kicking away a small pebble on the road.

(End of this chapter)