Extreme north of the Snowpint city, there was a vast valley with mountains and trees as dark as in ink itself. The water here was contaminated, and the sky an eternal shade of grey.
This very point marked one of the boundary lines between the tainted lands and the Kingdom of Solaris. The place, also known as the Cliff’s End, was one of the key frontlines that was holding back the invasion of the demons from swarming into their lands.
As it was a strategic terrain, Solaris had built a couple of strongholds to fortify it, and manning them were knight orders.
"I see, so the Order of the Temple of Light will pass through here to get to the newly discovered ancient labyrinth and back the Knights of the Lunar Veil," A Commander of the knight order manning the stronghold read the letter that was delivered by his adjutant.
"My lord really does give me insane missions," he sighed and threw the letter into the fireplace.
"But this is an opportunity, Sir Laughsalot," The adjutant spoke. "If we can complete his orders successfully, we won’t have to stay here in this godforsaken land anymore and move back to the capital".
The commander whom he addressed as Sir Laughsalot showed an intense yearning for the life he had back in the capital. Drinking and partying with bar girls every night. Sleeping in the luxurious mansion with his wife and children. Authority to order anyone below his rank around.
He was starting to miss all of that here in these borderlands that had nothing entertaining to do.
"You are right, if I can make amends for the mistake we made by gaining merit here, then I will be able to return back with all of you to the city." There was a fierce light in the eyes of Commander Laughsalot.
"Pass this command to all the knights of my order. No matter what, they have to accomplish this mission if they want to get out of here. The mission to sabotage the knights of the Order of the Temple of Light".
.
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Gallop... Gallop... Reinhardt and his knights galloped through the mountains and flatlands, arriving at the Cliff’s End three days later.
They had rushed on their way here and only took the bare minimum time to rest their horses and tired bodies. As such trace of slight exhaustion could be seen on the faces of the members, especially the recruits.
"Unfurled the flag, we will take some rest at the stronghold in front of us before advancing forward."
Reinhardt looked at the condition of his knights and then gave an order. When the knights manning the walls of the stronghold saw the knights from the Temple of Lights, they opened the gates and welcomed them in.
"Ah, welcome, welcome, Sir Divine Paladin. We have been expecting you since I received a letter from you".
Welcoming them inside were the knights and the commander of the order, Sir Laughsalot.
"You and your knights can relax here; this is a secure stronghold. Men, show the Knights of the Order of the Temple of Light to their quarters and to where the cafeteria is. Sir Reinhardt, please come with me".
The too polite and welcoming attitude of the knights of the stronghold was quite off-putting and raised suspicions in the eyes of him and many of his knights.
He glanced at them, his knights immediately understanding his meaning, nodded their heads.
The members of the temple of light were invited inside the stronghold with great hospitality and fervor. They were given the best treatment, and the attitude of the knights was quite friendly to them.
.
Inside one of the quarters for male knights, Vangeance and the other members of the knight order gathered around.
"Tch, just looking at their goody two shoes smile on their faces is making me want to throw up. What are these bastards up to anyway?"
For a knight, his attitude or even his looks were quite crude. However, to the members, it was no unusual sight.
"Eh? Why are you badmouthing them, Sir Vangeance?" Kevin, who happened to share the same quarters as him, asked.
"Drop the sir, it really makes my skin crawl. Just call me Senior Vangeance, that will be enough. As for your question, can’t you see that they have some ulterior motives? It is basically written all over their face".
"Ehh?!!"
Vengeance’s answer shocked the innocent young boy. "B-But aren’t they knights of an order just like us? Why would they try to harm us?"
"You idiot, the world ain’t so clean to play fair and just. There can be any number of reasons for these knights to have ulterior motives. Remember, demons might be our common enemy; however, when they are not around, our greatest enemy is us. Keep that in mind".
Vangeance gave his slow and dull little junior a talk.
"I-In that case, I need to warn Gwen." Kevin got up from his seat and was about to exit when he was pulled back inside the room.
"Calm down, you going out and exposing the situation, will only make it worse. Commander and holy knights will think of something; we just need to follow their orders. Besides, I’m sure the girls have also realised this by now. The one that hangs around you has a good head on her shoulders. Even without you needing to tell, she already realises what she must do".
At those words, Kevin finally calmed. Similar talks were also going on in the other quarters allotted to the members of the Temple of Light.
Inside Sir Laughsalot office... Reinhardt and his high ranking knights were called here to relax their exhausted bodies. Although they were called here with the pretence of relaxing, there were no beds or anything here, only tables and bookshelves.
Additionally, there were quite a few level 7 from Sir Laughalot’s knight order here.
Reinhardt and the holy knights were led to the seats opposite of his desk.
"Please, please sit here. Let me know if there is anything you want".