The darkness was like an endless and bottomless abyss, deep and terrifying.
Bernal now had this feeling. He felt that he was sinking continuously in this abyss.
His body seemed to be out of control as he constantly did free-fall exercises and kept sinking. He did not know when he could reach the end.
As time passed, his body fell faster and faster…
Gradually, Bernal felt warm. When he regained his senses, he felt as if his body was burning.
So hot…
It was really hot!
Bernal was conscious. At least, that was what he thought.
It felt different from the contract he had imagined. Was it not done yet?
If this continued, he felt like he was going to be burnt to ashes.
It was such a painful and torturous process, yet Bernal's reaction seemed unusually calm.
"You are indeed an interesting person, Bernal."
When the light finally shone again, what appeared in Bernal's vision was not the beautiful yet ugly, normal yet evil god.
Instead, she was an ordinary, beautiful woman.
"Rogeria?"
At this moment, Bernal was in Rogeria's arms. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes.
Upon hearing Bernal's call, Rogeria replied with a smile.
"I'm here."
Bernal frowned, his tender face revealing a tinge of dissatisfaction as if he was unhappy.
Berner's gaze focused on Rogeria, seemingly searching for something.
Unfortunately, no matter how he looked at it, it was only a pair of ordinary, beautiful eyes.
"This won't do. If you look too long, even Bernal will die."
Rogeria seemed to know what Bernal was attempting. She put on a serious face and tapped on his forehead.
With a tinge of disappointment, Bernal wrapped his arms around Rogeria's neck and rested his head on her shoulder.
"That was quite the suffering just now. I almost thought that I was going to be all burnt up."
Recalling the entire process of the contract, Bernal still felt that burning sensation.
"Was that really a part of the contract?"
Rogeria carried Bernal outside.
"Yes, not everyone is qualified to sign a contract with a deity. Even if the deity agrees, the contract itself is a test for the contractor."
"Okay."
Qualification? That was rather easy to understand.
Bernal closed his eyes as he lay his head on Rogeria's shoulder.
Rogeria strolled in the air, bringing Bernal along towards the cave entrance.
Seemingly bored, Rogeria asked, "Bernal, aren't you surprised at all?"
"What do you mean?"
"About how I know your name?"
Regarding this, Bernal casually replied, "Aren't you a god? Such things should be ordinary to you."
"Is that so? But your reaction is really calm."
"Most people will be overjoyed when they encounter such a situation."
"Is that so? I don't think ordinary people can complete the contract process."
The two chatted as they walked.
Through the conversation, Bernal gradually learned how to interact with Rogeria.
The atmosphere between the two became more harmonious.
In the monster forest, Moss' knights split into different directions.
It was a dangerous act, but no one complained because they had made that decision on their own.
By increasing the search area further, it could increase the probability of finding Bernal.
Even if it was only a small possibility, they did not want to give up.
To not let down Moss, who trusted them, they would not give up even if they had to risk their lives.
For that, Moss could not stop them even if he wanted to.
"Still no sign of him?"
A middle-aged knight looked at the darkening sky.
The sun was no longer visible.
"The sun is almost setting."
After some thought, the Knight-Captain told his subordinates.
"There's no choice. You all can return first. Tell our lord that I'm staying here to continue searching for Young Master."
With that said, his subordinates hurriedly replied, "I'm not leaving either. I want to search for Young Master too."
"Me too."
"If I don't find Young Master, I'll be too ashamed to go back and see our Margrave."
Looking at the young faces, Victor berated, "What are all of you talking about? You're all so young. Don't be stubborn. Leave this to me."
These people had many years ahead of them, and there was no need to stay here and take the risk.
But like Old Victor, these people had already made up their minds and were very determined.
When they made this decision, they were already prepared to sacrifice themselves and face death.
"You people…" Old Victor was at a loss for words as he looked at his subordinates.
Just as everyone thought that Old Victor would agree, he suddenly shouted angrily.
"You better know when to stop. Don't think that sacrifice is a glorious thing. We are the knights of Margrave Moss, the protectors of the border, and the first line of defense to the west of the kingdom.
"If we are to all die here, then these missions will be placed on the Earl alone.
"Honor and honor, these are worthless in front of the margrave!"
"But father, what about you?"
Victor went silent for a moment, then he began to undo his damaged armor.
"I don't have much time left. Some of the beasts this time are pretty vicious."
As the outermost armor was removed, Victor exposed his bruised body to everyone.
The most eye-catching was the wound on his chest. His pinkish-red flesh was exposed, and his pounding heart was faintly visible.
If that was all, it would not be threatening enough to feel despair.
The truly fatal part was the dense purple or black threads near the wound.
As the wound was exposed to the air, the people at the side could smell a faint fishy and rotten smell.
"Father!"
"Captain!"
Several young knights were shocked to see such a frightening wound.
"How could this be? Isn't the mithril armor protecting you?"
Victor put on the armor that no longer offered much protection, and was now for decorative purposes.
"The inscriptions on the armor have been destroyed."
His voice was calm as if he was talking about something unimportant.
But that was never a small matter.
The mithril armor would be reduced to ordinary armor if the defensive magic formation was destroyed.
Ordinary silver armor had limited defensive abilities, and it was no different from paper in front of some monsters.
Feeling the anxious looks of his subordinates, Victor smiled and comforted them.
"Don't look at me like that. There's nothing to mind. Death is the most common thing here."
Victor had long been indifferent to death.
"Alright, there's not much time left. You guys can go back first. Leave this to me."
Just as Victor was about to persuade his subordinates to leave, there was a sudden movement in the surrounding bushes.
Swish! Swish!
As a veteran knight, Victor immediately raised his sword to warn his men.
"Everyone, on guard!"
Any other matters were left behind as he focused on dealing with the current danger.
"Reece, test the boundary."
Reece, who had been summoned by Victor, jumped off the horse immediately and checked the area that had been set up at the beginning.
Every time they rested, they would immediately set up a protective boundary to conceal their auras and other traces.
However, judging from the commotion in the surroundings, there should be a problem with the protection.
Reece first went to the first node to check. As expected, the originally filled magic crystal was now empty, having lost its original luster.
"This is bad, the magic power in the boundary has disappeared."
At this moment, a sharp-eyed knight suddenly caught the figure of a mole in a corner.
"It's Greedy Mole. We have the reason for the disappearance of the barrier."
The greedy mole was not afraid after being discovered. Instead, it approached the knights.
Other than Greedy Mole, other monsters also sprang out from the grass.
"We're completely surrounded. The situation is getting troublesome."
Looking at the surrounding monsters, a tinge of guilt appeared on Victor's originally calm face.
These were unsurprisingly attracted by his wound.
"I'm sorry, I've dragged all of you down."
Reece returned to his horse and replied with a smile, "Don't say such things. We're a team."
The other knights smiled as well and consoled Victor.
"Even if Father doesn't have much time left, we won't abandon you and escape by ourselves."
"Yes, we must at least send him off on his last journey."
The knights stood in formation, staring at the restless monsters that were about to rush over at any moment.
The words of his men were like the winter sun sending warmth down Victor's heart.
"What a bothersome bunch!"
Victor's lips curled up, then his expression changed as he looked solemnly at the approaching monsters.
"The first wave of attacks is here. Raise your shields!"
"Okay!"
Silver battle aura burst forth at this moment, joining up with the combining shields of every knight.
[Combination Combat Technique: Defense Formation]
"Hiss!"
The first to strike was not the greedy mole at the beginning, but the ferocious three-winged flying serpent.
A pungent poisonous fog burst from the tumor on the Three-Winged Flying Snake's forehead as it collided with the shields.
Dang!
As three snakes charged from three directions, the barrier formed by the battle aura instantly shrank.
[Combination Combat Technique: Defensive Counterattack]
The moment it shrank, without any hesitation, the knights used their shields to parry the three-winged serpents away at the same time.
Then, the barrier formed by the battle aura spread out at this moment.
[Combination Combat Technique: Resistance Halo]
The barrier kept spreading in the form of shockwaves while the knights switched from defense to offense, repelling all the invading monsters.
[Combination Combat Technique: War Assault]
"Charge!"
These were the operations drilled into the knights through blood and sweat.
Never panic when surrounded. Set up the defense and then find an opportunity to charge forward any time.
Although most of Victor's team were very young, everyone had plenty of combat experience.
If a newcomer could not adapt and pick up such skills quickly at the border, death is their only option.