Four Split Personalities

"May the gods bless you..."

Ger heaved a deep sigh and flung the small round shield that had quietly replaced the longsword in his hand. The shield, entirely dark and bearing the city gate emblem, turned into a fierce arc of light in mid-air. It not only knocked several mutants into the air in front of him but also shielded two Holy Knights in the rear who were about to be dragged off their mounts by the enemy, cutting in half a few Undead that had already climbed halfway onto the horses.

But he did not save the Knight who was already surrounded by nearly a hundred monsters, and until the figure of the latter was completely left behind by the Knight Order, Ger did not look back even once.

As an Advanced Stage Holy Knight, didn’t he have the ability to rescue that young Knight from the Sun Sect?

The answer was clearly no.

Even though he had consumed quite a bit of strength and his condition was less than sixty percent of his prime, if Ger had wished, he could have still charged alone into those monsters without slowing down the main force. He could have rescued the unfortunate Knight who had fallen behind and safely returned him to the main force to continue serving as the spearhead of the Knight Order.

The whole process wouldn’t even have taken two minutes...

But Ger chose not to do it because, simple as it was, although he could help a Knight who had lost his mount keep up with the squad, it would ultimately pose a slight additional burden on him. That meant he could not fully protect everyone on the journey ahead. Whether it was a sword swing delayed by a beat or a shield thrown half a second late, someone would fall behind because of it.

In the end, he was just an Advanced Stage Holy Knight.

Having lost the [Combined Purification] bonus and having already led everyone through two and a half rounds of charging, even Ger could not look after everyone. Otherwise, that Holy Knight would not have fallen behind just then.

So the choice before him was very clear...

Save him, and one young and brave life would continue, even if problems arose later, he could sincerely claim he ’did his best.’

Not save him, and more lives would be secured.

Hence, Ger did not turn back, nor did the other Advanced Stage Holy Knights like Snow Mane and Fire Pinchers behind him.

Because "justice" was deeply engraved in their souls, such seemingly indifferent choices were, for them, merely a multiple-choice question that didn’t require thought.

The whole process was simply about quantifying all possibilities and then making an absolutely just decision, nothing more.

So although people of the Justice Sect are always severely criticised and known for lacking shame, integrity, and propriety, only those who truly understand them know that these might be the coldest and most ruthless among all the clergy of the Holy Church Union.

Even if in a war, an army, or a story, those who are the first and last to make sacrifices are always particularly noticeable, these folks would not be touched in the slightest, of course, not that they are truly untouched, but rather they are incapable of being swayed in the least.

Even if they might become profoundly melancholic and weep bitterly afterwards, at least at this moment, these just Advanced Stage Knights did not hesitate for even a millisecond.

Is it hard to disregard death?

Although there is no standard answer to this question, if the person involved is someone with sufficient strength and a sense of justice, then such an action is undoubtedly challenging and even tormenting.

So, to practice one’s beliefs under any circumstances, no matter what those beliefs are, is indeed very, very difficult.

"How can this be..."

Trailing at the end of the troop and having scarcely faced the mutants directly, the Pale Hawk lay on his horseback with a pallid face, feeling his limbs turn cold.

This Lizardman Knight, who had joined the combined forces just half a month ago and had never witnessed the sacrifice of his comrades with his own eyes, found it hard to accept as he looked back, unable to see the figure of the one valiantly swinging a Cross Sword anymore, only endless crowds of mutants filling his view.

"Who is it!"

He clenched his teeth, his orange, vertical pupils filled with anger and hatred: "Who could be so heartless and deranged..."

Though many NPCs still believed this plague was just an unfortunate accident, as a player, Pale Hawk was very aware that things were not so simple.

There is at least a ninety percent chance that the catastrophe that suddenly struck Misha County was not a natural disaster, but a man-made one.

[Regional World Quest: Find the Source of the Plague: 0/1, Reward: ???]

This continuously stagnant task alone already explained a lot.

...

Meanwhile

Misha County, Hover City

Qiu, who was playing with a few children in the church square, suddenly stopped and stared unblinkingly at a frame in the corner of his vision with his bright eyes, where the numbers were rapidly changing.

[Mutant Residue: 15749]

[Mutant Residue: 15742]

[Mutant Residue: 15731]

[Mutant Residue: 15728]

In just five seconds, those toys produced by the [Torment] talent had decreased by twenty-one, and there was no sign of stopping. Knowing that just this morning, before seven o’clock, the number of those toys was still steadily maintained above twenty-four thousand. But now, this number had been reduced by a whole third and was still continuing to decrease at a very unstable rate, this was simply...