My Players Are So Fierce

Murphy’s probing interactions with the powerful departments from the otherworld didn’t consume much of his time and energy.

It wasn’t even ranked among his top 5 concerns at the moment.

It wasn’t that Murphy truly didn’t care, but rather that he currently had no way to exert more influence on another world, and could only maintain his mystique to make them hesitate. However, considering that the “disconnect” authority remained in Murphy’s hands, this “deterrence” wasn’t really just pretense.

As long as the power to enter the otherworld remained in his hands, the initiative in this “third kind encounter” wouldn’t shift to the other side. Murphy felt completely secure and unworried.

Even considering the worst case scenario, it would merely mean starting over with a different country and a new group of little players.

But Murphy’s vampire instincts told him that the other side wouldn’t pass up this “opportunity”. Given that currently 100% of the players came from the same country, this could also be seen as a valuable “first-mover advantage”.

Therefore, under these premises, Murphy actually had quite a few cards he could play.

He didn’t intend to lift this “fig leaf” too early. Only by maintaining mystery could he make the other side act cautiously, and this way his plans in Transia would receive minimal interference.

The two sides could cooperate!

Murphy firmly believed this.

It’s just that he currently lacked the bargaining chips needed for cooperation. He didn’t have what they wanted, but if he could find certain clues on this continent that they desired, even if there were only opportunities for a few trades, Murphy believed this would become his “absolute trump card” for turning the tide in critical moments.

Not to mention something like a one-time “lease” of a powerful otherworld army, for other summoners and lords, that would probably make them grin in their sleep.

That was truly the “strongest land army of the otherworld”.

Murphy estimated that if he had a reserve of over 10,000 slots, then when the situation was right, he might be able to launch a quick war to restore the Portia Federation.

Of course, the prerequisite was that he needed to prepare sufficient weapons and equipment on this side first. He couldn’t send them to battle just carrying large knives and spears.

And this type of exchange was just the most ordinary approach Murphy could think of among all possible cooperation methods. However, now wasn’t the time to consider such long-term plans, because the vampire lord currently had another urgent question that needed to be clarified.

It was now dawn, and at a wilderness not far from the Carpe family merchant caravan, Murphy met with Guildmaster Natalie, who had an unpleasant expression, along with Father Eugene and Grandma Marianne.

On the ground beside the three, the remains of the four Chaos Swordsmen had been partially purified by natural spirit energy, but they still emitted an extremely uncomfortable aura carrying mental impacts.

As Murphy had previously assessed, they were like mobile “subspace contamination sources”.

“So, have you reached a conclusion?”

Murphy asked in a low voice while leaning on his sword cane:

“Have you confirmed their identities?”

“They are indeed our Grey Knights. The holy oath imprints that haven’t been corrupted on their bodies, their residual spirit energy, and their unique armor styles all prove this point.”

Old Eugene spoke in a deep tone filled with strong rejection and disgust, saying:

“Their life force has been severely contaminated. We cannot distinguish which faction they belonged to before kneeling to the subspace, but from the autopsy results, the time they were transformed into Chaos Warriors by the subspace would not exceed 2 years.

Some of their internal organs haven’t completely twisted into filthy things yet, but their brain marrow and hearts have already been transformed into organs that spread filth.

This is a terrifying transformation, signifying complete corruption from body to soul.

But this also indicates that there are still organized Grey Knights existing somewhere on the continent or in the subspace.

Regrettably, they have already strayed from our God’s light, falling to an extent that can be described or even cannot be spoken of. If this were in the era when the old church still existed, it would absolutely be a scandal that could shake the holy land and even the entire church system.”

“The facts also prove that old Finoch’s dying instructions weren’t unfounded.”

Grandma Marianne’s voice was full of hoarseness and sorrow.

She said softly:

“When we weren’t aware, corruption had already sprouted shadows in the church, and even that rebellion itself concealed unspeakable inside stories.

Your tomb raider previously described to us her discoveries in the holy land ruins of the Antani region 10 years ago. If what she said is true, then the Grey Knights who represent our God’s path of neutral arbitration had begun falling long before the old church rebellion.

Alas, it wasn’t that our God abandoned His followers among humans, but that we first abandoned the path He designated.”

Natalie remained silent.

She held the Watcher’s Sacred Blade in her hands.

Blue-green purifying flames danced along the edge of this elven greatsword. After finishing the conversation with Murphy, she would be responsible for using the flames to burn these four bodies that were still spreading contamination.

But from Natalie’s expression, one could see that the young leader of the current Avalon Church was not at peace in her mind. Everything that happened tonight had revealed to her the tip of the iceberg of the terrible things that occurred during the collapse of the old church.

“So, what exactly are the Grey Knights?”

Murphy asked with furrowed brows:

“I know that White Knights like old Finoch walk the path of nature guardianship, and the Red Knights that my warrior Meow King will become represent punishment and wild nature’s chastisement, but the Grey Knights seem to have always been very vague in your doctrinal positioning?

Outsiders rarely even hear this name.

According to Tris, the Grey Knights seem to be anomalies among you?”

“No, they are not anomalies. Rather, the responsibilities shouldered by the Grey Knights simply cannot be made public!”

Old Eugene explained:

“Avalon’s followers have always believed that the church’s existence is the incarnation of the Nature God in the mortal realm, not only blessing the followers’ souls but also punishing those filthy things and preventing evil from other worlds from infiltrating our homeland.

This is one of the Grey Knights’ duties.

In the hundreds of years since the Avalon Church officially established the Grey Knights Order on Glamo Island, those silent but tenacious brothers have prevented at least 30 invasions and infiltrations from other planes into the material world.

A typical example occurred during the First Night War, when cultists from the Netherworld plane attempted to spread death lands in the Cato region.

That confrontation cost the ‘Emerald Edge’ Grey Knight Order two-thirds of their church guards, but they defeated an undead army led by an ancient mummy lord.

And there’s the completely unknown ‘North Sea Campaign’!

That was a secret war that occurred 5 years after the end of the Second Black Plague.

Chaotic elementals from the Elemental Plane tried to open a permanent rift in the Frozen Sea, but our Grey Knight brothers, led by their Order Master Lord Taff, boldly jumped into the Elemental Plane and fought bitterly for 18 days and nights before slaying the enraged Elemental Lord.

As well as the punitive expedition against the Blood Dread Clan personally executed by your Lord Payne.

Your elimination of the Blood Dread Clan within a month wasn’t just a vampire war, our Grey Knight brothers also participated and your Lord Payne acquiesced to their actions.

The Grey Knights’ most recent action was 25 years ago.”

Old Eugene spoke at length:

“The Grey Knight brothers of the ‘Purifying Flame’ Order, led by the solemn Order Master Firnus, ventured deep into the frontier islands of the Misty Sea, where they eliminated an evil city of deep sea fish-people and outer barbarians who worshipped the subspace evil god ‘Dagon’.

That was a terrible battle.

More than half of the Purifying Flame warriors perished in those distant seas. This battle also received assistance from the Atlantean merfolk, and to this day the mermaid singers in the Great Reef Province along the Origin Land coastline still sing the magnificent ballads of that war.

I trust from my explanation, you can understand the responsibilities shouldered by the Grey Knight brothers.

They don’t intervene in mortal wars, only fighting against those otherworldly dangers in hidden corners for our God’s doctrine of loving mankind.

The Grey Knight brothers conceal their names and remain indifferent to fame and fortune.

They are the most respectable secret guardians in the church, so I really find it hard to imagine that Grey Knights would actively succumb to the temptations of the subspace.”

Murphy nodded. Old Eugene’s explanation was simple but profound enough to give him a general impression of the Grey Knights in his mind, but then Grandma Marianne spoke up:

“This possibility exists, Eugene, you can’t just talk about their glorious side while ignoring the risks that must be borne to become a Grey Knight! Grey Knights deal with dangerous otherworldly evil beings year-round, causing them to uncontrollably come into contact with much more forbidden knowledge from other planes.

This has led to the Grey Knights’ corruption rate actually remaining high.

But when the church system was still complete, there were Oak Sages and the Council of Elders who could use the Holy Grail’s water to cleanse their bodies and minds to help them find their clear path again. However, after the church’s collapse, it’s understandable that Grey Knights with no more support would go astray under the temptation of those forbidden knowledge in their minds.

More terrifyingly, the Grey Knights have several secret warehouses beyond the coast of the Antani region.

Those places specifically store all the evil items they’ve confiscated over hundreds of years, things that couldn’t be destroyed by conventional means and could only be sealed away. But after the church’s collapse, I heard the spirit mages of the Circle Tower gleefully took possession of those things.

Although they also have a Forbidden Tower to contain these evil items, with the spirit mages’ dangerous nature of courting death and making trouble, it’s really hard to say what they would do with those things!

At the very least I can be certain that the source of the spirit plague used by the Pioneer Army when destroying Seicob City two years ago may be related to several Netherworld evil items confiscated by the Grey Knights. I had heard legends about them, I just never thought the Circle Tower would actually dare to use them.”

“Both of you! We’re not here to discuss the Grey Knights’ duties and burdens right now, please calm down.”

Murphy raised his hand to stop the old man and old woman’s bickering.

He said:

“What I want to ask is, now that we’ve confirmed fallen Grey Knights have become ‘weapons’ that the subspace shadows can deploy into the material world, do we have a way to deal with them as quickly as possible when they appear?

To put it more bluntly, what are the Grey Knights’ weaknesses?”

“Uh?”

Murphy’s question surprised both Old Eugene and Grandma Marianne.

The grandmother looked at Murphy in puzzlement and asked:

“You were able to clear out four fallen Grey Knights almost unharmed by yourself, haven’t you already mastered the key to fighting them?”

“My situation is more complicated. I don’t mind getting some exercise, but we can’t expect me to be deployed wherever there are fallen Grey Knights, right?”

Murphy rolled his eyes and said:

“I need other people to have methods of fighting them too. No matter how strong I am, I still only have two hands.”

“This is troublesome.”

Old Eugene shook his head and said:

“Although the Grey Knights’ combat power isn’t as formidable as the Red Knights, this comparison is based on both sides being battle masters of the same level. In terms of absolute strength, our Grey Knight brothers are first-class demon-hunting warriors even by continental standards.

After being infused with evil power by the subspace, their destructive power would only be stronger.

Under the dual protection of specially-made holy word heavy armor and the path of secret oaths, their physical defense and resistance to spirit energy have reached almost the limit you can imagine.

It’s almost impossible to overwhelm them with numbers.”

“The Holy Grail!”

Natalie, who had been silent, suddenly spoke:

“They took oaths of secrecy and arbitration when becoming Grey Knights, just as my father once took the oath of protection. As long as we can find Avalon’s Holy Grail, then when facing these ‘oath-breakers’ we can command them to enter an extremely weakened state of ‘divine punishment’.

That way just a few fatal attacks with sacrificial spirit would be enough to deal with them.

Additionally, the church’s sacred blades can also effectively harm them, as those weapons are purifying items imbued with our God’s divinity.

Of course, the most permanent solution would be to find the Grey Knight sacred blade ‘Arbitrator’.

That weapon carries the arbitration power of all the heroic spirits since the Grey Knights’ birth. As long as it’s in our hands, these fallen Grey Knights would just be lambs for slaughter!”

“Then here comes the key question, where is the Avalon Holy Grail?”

Murphy spread his hands and asked.

This made all three witch hunters fall silent. This question couldn’t be answered – after all, if they knew where the Holy Grail of the Glamo holy land was, would they still need to struggle rebuilding the church in Transia?

With that sacred object in hand, they would only need to make one call and millions of followers would gather, wouldn’t they?

“Ah, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.”

Murphy noticed the witch hunters’ embarrassment.

He didn’t pursue the question further, but said:

“My warrior has found some clues about the sacred blades. He found 7 pieces of intelligence about different sacred blades in Lady Cecilia’s notes, which also specifically mentioned that the shadow elves of the Eternal Rift are also collecting these sacred objects.

If we have the chance in the future we may be able to start from this direction, but Natalie, since those are your sacred objects, then the quest chain to retrieve them-”

“I will be responsible for issuing it!”

The Black-Hearted Witch Hunter nodded and accepted this important task.

Murphy had no more questions.

He watched as Natalie turned around to activate the sacred blade and use Avalon’s purifying fire to burn those four corpses. Only after the subspace filth completely dissipated did he let out a long breath in the approaching dawn.

After waiting a few minutes for Old Eugene to finish the farewell prayer for his former Grey Knight brothers, Murphy asked Natalie, who maintained her coldness beside him, in a low voice:

“This time when Countess Sharon invited you to observe the mountain folk’s oath ceremony, it actually had another layer of meaning.”

“I understand.”

Natalie replied:

“Before coming, Sister Jules specifically explained to me the grudges between the Saxony mountain folk and the old nature church. I guess the little countess wants to use this opportunity to let both sides achieve reconciliation.

Actually, there have always been discussions about mountain folk beliefs within the Avalon Church. Some doctrine masters believe that mountain folk beliefs also belong to a variant under the Avalon God belief system, although that kind of primitive mountain spirit worship existed even earlier than the birth of the Avalon Church.

What I mean is, if Countess Sharon can persuade the local mountain folk to accept us, then the Avalon Church we’ve established can indeed achieve reconciliation with them on this matter.

I’ve carefully considered what you told me last time.

I have to admit, you were right!

We are all shepherds of the Avalon God in the mortal realm, we should fulfill our duties, rather than actively instigate conflicts and opposition among the flock.”

“Mm, it’s naturally good that you’ve realized this point.”

Murphy nodded. Since Natalie had already made her judgment, he didn’t need to say more.

He reminded:

“I heard Sharon say that the mountain folk also have a Holy Grail.”

“No, the Forest Holy Grail and Avalon Holy Grail are not the same concept. From their faith origins and formation methods, they can even be said to be completely different things.”

Natalie wanted to educate Murphy about the religious differences between these sacred objects, but considering that Murphy himself was an unbelieving vampire, she decisively gave up this meaningless effort.

She just said very briefly:

“I understand your meaning. If the mountain folk agree, we can try using the Forest Holy Grail to see if we can rebuild the church’s severed power system.

If possible, I indeed very much hope to see new White Knights born on the land of Transia. If we can achieve this, I think my father would feel comforted in the nature cathedral.”