The Hypocritical Holy Knight 111 Part 1

"I apologize," the Holy Knight Commander seemed not to have noticed the Holy Son's unreasonable demands. His hands paused for a moment as he said in a low voice, "Please forgive me."

He lowered his eyes, avoiding the Holy Son's black pupils that carried a hint of willful accusation. His handsome face was tightly drawn, revealing a few traces of restrained anger as his hands continued to silently perform the tasks that should have been done by attendants.

The room was unusually quiet for a while. Aside from the faint crackling of burning candles, there was only the sound of the two men's light breathing.

Fortunately, during the rest of the process, Cecil did not make any more unreasonable demands, but quietly cooperated with his movements. Finally, the cumbersome robe was successfully put on.

The old archbishop, seeing that the Holy Knight Commander had entered the room of the Holy Son of Light and had not come out for a long time, was getting a little impatient from waiting outside the door.

Thinking of the high-level demon beast that was said to be approaching the edge of the Ang Mountains, he felt a bit anxious. He wanted to step forward and knock on the door to urge them, but he was also worried that he would disturb the two important people discussing matters inside.

Just as he was about to step forward and knock, the door was pushed open from the inside.

The first to walk out of the room was the Holy Son of Light. His Holiness still had that cold and detached appearance, wearing the sacred white and gold robe, which made him both convincing and unapproachably noble.

However, the face of the Holy Knight Commander walking behind him looked somewhat gloomy. He was too far away to hear clearly what the two had discussed in the room, but judging from the expression of this usually courteous Holy Knight Commander, the conversation must not have gone well.

Although the Ximi See was far from the center of power, he also knew that the relationship between the Holy Light Church and the Holy Knights was not entirely harmonious at present.

But he was just a minor figure, so these matters were not for him to inquire about. Therefore, his gaze lingered on the Holy Knight Commander for a moment before immediately shifting away.

Ambrose strode past him, mounted the demon beast with one swift motion, and instructed him indifferently, "Please guard this place well."

Although the main source of danger came from the demon beast in the Ang Mountains, just in case, the Ximi See could not be left unguarded. The best candidate to stay and watch over the See was undoubtedly this old archbishop who was extremely familiar with it.

He sat high on the beast's back, his spine straight as an arrow, looking down with lowered eyes. The lamplight hit from the side, illuminating half of his face, making his charming and deep features glitter brilliantly in the light while the other half was obscured in the darkness, difficult to discern.

Just for a moment, the old archbishop suddenly felt that this man in the white and gold knight's uniform, rather than a radiant holy knight, was more like another kind of creature dwelling in the darkness...

But very quickly, he came back to his senses from this ridiculous illusion and replied solemnly in an aged voice, "As you command, Lord Ambrose."

Those who could sit in such high positions were definitely not purely good. Power was a game for those at the top. For people like them on the periphery, all they should do was fulfill their duties to the best of their abilities.

Led by the Holy Son of Light and the Holy Knight Commander, three Cardinals, one iron knight captain, and a whole column of holy knights set off in an orderly manner towards the Ang Mountains.

To avoid causing panic among the townspeople, the Cardinals and holy knights left the city along its outskirts.

However, a few people were still awakened by the commotion of their departure. They came to the diocese to inquire about the situation with concern, but were reassured by the old archbishop and returned home.

During the march, the troops were very quiet. It was not until they approached the entrance of the Ang Mountains that the Holy Knight Commander ordered the troops to stop.

He raised his wrist and lightly tugged on the reins in his hand, guiding his mount to move a little closer to the Holy Son.

Then, looking straight at the Holy Son's exquisite face that still appeared radiant and sacred in the dim lamplight, he consulted with him, "Your Holiness Cecil, we are very close to that demon beast now. Should we wait here for it to come out, or actively enter the mountains to slay it?"

After riding all the way, the evil flames stirred up in his heart by the Holy Son Cecil had completely dissipated in the cold night wind, and his expression had returned to its usual composure, showing no signs of anything amiss on the surface.

However, when He Yan was stared at directly by those deep blue eyes, he still instinctively sensed that this man's mood might not be as calm as it appeared on the surface.

- Had he gone too far in provoking him just now?

He pondered for a moment and quickly made a choice. "Let's wait here. The Ang Mountains are not friendly to humans in the dead of night."

Although the terrain on the outskirts of the Ang Mountains could still be considered flat, it was obvious that once they entered the mountains, the demon beasts would have a greater advantage. Both reason and circumstances dictated that they should choose to wait here.

"Of course," Ambrose replied in a deep voice, "I also think so."

Unfortunately, this time the Goddess of Light did not bless them. After waiting at the exit of the Ang Mountains for half an hour, they found that the demon beast, after moving quickly, had actually stopped at a location on the outskirts of the mountains and ceased moving.

So in the end, the Holy Knight Commander regretfully announced, "It seems we have no choice but to take the initiative to attack."

No one objected to this decision.

After all, they could not possibly turn back just because the demon beast refused to leave the Ang Mountains, leaving this huge, potentially explosive hidden danger near where the people lived.

The terrain in the mountains was obviously not suitable for riding, so the group all left their mounts on the outskirts of the mountains. The Cardinals set up a spell formation to restrain them in place. Then, they formed a team and entered the Ang Mountains, which appeared silent and gloomy in the night.

As the most powerful person among the group, Ambrose did not walk at the very front of the team to face danger - he arranged for the iron knight captain, whose strength was second only to his, to undertake this task. He himself accompanied the Holy Son, who was surrounded by everyone in the middle, dutifully guarding the safety of this noble Holy Son.

Everyone was also very quiet on the way forward. He Yan's gaze fell several times on the crystal in the Holy Knight Commander's hand.

They didn't use dangerous and unstable torches for lighting. Instead, like the Central See, they used low-level Light Magic to illuminate the team.

It was a beautifully cut crystal of irregular shape, pale and translucent purple throughout. Under the Light Magic, it refracted a delicate, gentle radiance like a deep, serene pool.

Upon closer inspection, a deep purple speck could be seen within it.

This should be the magic stone used to indicate the direction of the demon beast. The Iron Knight leader at the front also held a replica in his hand. The pale purple inside was not actually the color of the crystal itself, but rather the magic extracted from the beast. Refracted through the crystal's surface, it surprisingly took on such a dreamy appearance.

In fact, initially, the relationship between humans and demon beasts was not so tense. Many demon beasts accompanied humans for years, just like the mounts they rode today, which were all demon beasts tamed by the Church of Light and the Holy Knights.

But in recent decades, for unknown reasons, some demon beasts were contaminated by an unknown force (now temporarily called demonic power) and became brutally violent, even attacking humans. This led most people to feel hostility at the mention of demon beasts.

Except for the powerful Delan royal family, the Church of Light, and the Holy Knights, few private individuals tamed demon beasts anymore.

Seeing his apparent interest in the crystal, Ambrose suddenly asked, "Want to take a look?"

Hesitatingly, He Yan still nodded cooperatively at him.

To be honest, he couldn't quite figure out Ambrose right now. Although the man appeared calm on the surface, his intuition told him that this person definitely had other intentions in mind.

However, Ambrose only gave a meaningful chuckle at him without handing over the crystal.

Afterwards, as if forgetting this brief interlude, he continued walking silently beside He Yan.

Shortly after their brief exchange ended, the team stopped. The steady voice of the Iron Knight leader came from the front, "Lord Commander, Your Holiness, we've arrived."

As his words fell, He Yan soon saw the demon beast. It was a high-level demon beast nearly four meters tall when fully upright. Its overall appearance resembled a male lion, but due to magic contamination, its face and body looked especially fierce and horrifying. Huge fangs protruded from its gaping maw, glinting coldly under the Light Magic.

However, as Ambrose said, this demon beast had already been injured in the previous clash, greatly weakening it. So despite its terrifying appearance, by the time it was killed, only two Holy Knights suffered minor injuries, which were healed by a Cardinal's Light Magic, restoring them to normal.

He Yan stared at the bloodied, lifeless demon beast lying on the ground, slightly lost in thought.

This lion-like demon beast reminded him of a race on the Delan Continent - the Beastmen.

Beastmen were a race that could appear in both beast and human forms, generally possessing great strength. Sometimes people confused them with demon beasts.

However, the biggest difference between Beastmen and demon beasts was that Beastmen were born with the ability to switch between human and beast forms, while demon beasts, no matter how intelligent, were essentially wild animals.

Of course, people generally had no fondness for Beastmen either.

Although they had human forms, their behavior still carried obvious beastly traits. They were crude in their actions, and refinement was basically impossible to find in them. Like wild animals, they were easily dominated by desire during mating seasons.

This vulgar lifestyle made the Beastmen consistently rank in the bottom three in terms of reputation on the Delan Continent each year, especially despised by the Elves.

The newly appointed Beastman tribal chief's beast form was a huge male lion, very similar to the dead demon beast before him.

Thinking of the Beastman chief, he couldn't help but feel a headache. In the original trajectory, Cecil's death was inseparable from this chief.

As he stared at the demon beast corpse before him, associating it with Cecil's fate, Ambrose walked over from a distance.

Murderous aura lingered on him, a trace of dark blood splattered on his chin from the earlier battle with the demon beast. His expression differed somewhat from usual, but it was hard to pinpoint exactly what felt off.

The Holy Knight Commander wiped the last bloodstain from his sword with a white handkerchief, then slowly sheathed it at his waist. His deep blue eyes, especially profound in the night, narrowed slightly as he greeted in a low voice, "Your Holiness, are you injured?"

The sharp blade reflected an icy gleam under the Light Magic, adding a chill to this restless night.

"All is well," He Yan kindly reminded him, "There's a bit of blood on the right side of your chin."

Hearing this, Ambrose suddenly removed the white glove on his right hand. Using his thumb, he lightly wiped away the bloodstain, then extended his scarlet tongue tip to lick the blood clean from his finger. Finally, he even smiled at him, "Is there any left now?"

However, no matter how you looked at it, that smile was far from benevolent, carrying an uncontainable wickedness.

He Yan: "..."

He finally understood what felt off.

Ever since he impulsively teased the man tonight, Ambrose seemed to deliberately act a bit... evil.

Whether it was the earlier episode of toying with him, or the dark side he now revealed before him, this Holy Knight Commander, courteous in everyone's eyes, seemed to have received quite a shock. As a result, he no longer intended to conceal his true nature in front of him.

However, what was his purpose in doing so?

Was he not afraid that he would tattle to the Pope?