I was a knight in the Middle Ages

Chapter 309: Darkness is Coming, Combat Mission

Alpha stood on the high platform, looking at the crowd of nearly a thousand people below. He knew that the number of these people was far from enough, but he still hoped to use this force as a spark to ignite a greater flame of resistance.

"I know you are innocent," Alpha's voice echoed among the crowd, "You hate us for bringing killings. You regard us as enemies, as enemies who destroyed your homeland."

He paused and continued, "But have you ever thought about the people outside who are being killed countless times because of your inaction? They are also innocent, and their number is tens of millions times yours. It is because you are harboring darkness that darkness is spreading."

Alpha knew that it was not the ordinary people's fault, but now he had to put the blame on them, otherwise this hatred would have nowhere to vent and problems would arise sooner or later.

"It's not our fault, we didn't know they were dark creatures." Some people shouted.

"Yes, you only care about your own lives, you are not wrong." Alpha responded, "But the darkness is spreading around you, spreading from here. We must deal with this problem. The mistake you made was covering it up. Look at the killings in and outside the city. You can't refute it."

Alpha hopes to reduce their hostility towards the Knights of the Church in this way. Once they regard the Knights as enemies, Alpha will not be able to save them. Neither the Darkness nor the Knights will care about their life or death.

"Now this city has been identified as a dark place, and all the people in it are regarded as dark races. You have no choice, but God is merciful. Our commander-in-chief, Knight Arthur, will give you a chance to return to the light." Of course, Alpha will not deliberately exploit them, and must let them see hope.

"We will now use South City as a pilot, and you will all become followers of darkness. As long as you point out the hiding place of darkness, you can become a squire of the Squire Knight. The more enemies you point out, the more you can become a citizen of light. After the war is over, you will be free."

This is Alpha’s strategy, to make them surrender voluntarily.

"But I also give you a piece of advice," Alpha said at last, "Anyone who wants to harbor darkness, I will strike with the most severe means and eradicate everyone."

In the end, Alpha let the men leave without stopping them.

Afterwards, Alpha, Gilliana and others re-established the rules: anyone who pointed out or killed a dark race would become a squire of the squire knight; ten people would become a knight squire; a hundred people would become a knight. As long as they hold on to the end, they can regain their freedom. Now they can choose to follow the Church or stay.

Of course, the punishment is collective responsibility. Ten people form a team, and if anyone covers up the darkness and fails to identify it, all members of the team will be killed.

Alpha was not willing to take such an extreme and cruel strategy, but in this special period, he knew that he had to solve the problem with great force, otherwise they would face a more severe situation. Faced with the current situation, Alpha had to make some difficult decisions.

Three hours after those people disappeared, a new group of residents arrived here with a large number of wounded people. These people were obviously suspicious of Alpha, and even distrustful. In order to test Alpha's attitude, they sent these wounded people here.

Alpha did not show any dissatisfaction or impatience for this action. On the contrary, he immediately organized a medical team to provide the most basic treatment services for the injured. Through such actions, not only did the injured feel warmth and care, but also showed everyone a positive image - that as long as everyone unites and works together, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome.

As the news spread, more and more people began to gather around Alpha for help and support. In order to better manage this growing group, Alpha decided to let everyone participate in the preparation of supplies and the maintenance of social order.

Alpha also specially assigned some people to be responsible for night patrols. Although they can only use simple weapons such as sticks for self-protection for the time being, this can at least reduce the probability of potential threats to a certain extent.

Of course, Alpha knew that it was unrealistic to completely eliminate all hostility in such a complex and ever-changing situation; therefore, he adopted a more cautious approach: trying to minimize the degree of harm that the other party might cause, rather than trying to completely eradicate the root cause of the problem.

Despite this, several small-scale conflicts occurred in the following period. Whenever this happened, Alpha always took quick action to quell them, and each time chose to directly eliminate all members of the area that caused the incident as a means of punishment.

Although this practice was cruel and ruthless, it effectively deterred others who wanted to follow suit, and gradually formed a consensus atmosphere in the entire community that "you can survive if you obey."

Finally, after a long and arduous effort, at around nine o'clock in the evening, South City finally returned to peace. As the living conditions of the residents continued to improve, more and more people joined the ranks of opposing the dark forces and contributed their own efforts to defend their homes. It was this spirit of universal participation that supported the city through the difficulties and enabled it to stand firm in the storm.

Alpha was facing an extremely difficult situation. Although he was eager to further expand his victory, the reality was extremely grim. The fighting in the other three cities was still going on and intensifying. This was due to the dark race constantly fueling the flames behind the scenes, and the light knights wantonly killing innocent people.

The fundamental reason why Alpha cannot expand its victory is that the number of knights who are devoted to light is limited, while the shadow of killing is spreading. When order gradually collapses and becomes a dispensable decoration, the demons in people's hearts seem to be awakened, and it becomes increasingly difficult to stop all this.

Even in the South City, dark creatures lurk in the dark corners, quietly lying dormant, waiting for the opportunity to strike a fatal blow. Alpha knows that he cannot easily transfer the knights, otherwise the people will face these threats alone.

After careful consideration, Alpha finally decided to transfer half of the knights to the North City to strengthen the defense there. At the same time, he also realized that he needed to increase the number of soldiers among the people to enhance the overall combat effectiveness.

For those activists who are oriented towards light and actively participate in the resistance, Alpha generously provides them with equipment and weapons. Although these people are relatively few, their presence is particularly conspicuous and has become a unique landscape.

"Lord Alpha, something bad has happened! A riot broke out in South City, and many people were killed and injured." At this time, Gilliana ran over breathlessly, her face full of anxiety and uneasiness.

"How many knights died?" Alpha was most concerned about this. If the number of knights who died exceeded the number of knights lost in the previous eradication operation, it would mean that his policy had failed. Those who had been blaming him would take this opportunity to criticize his strategy more fiercely, and everything might end up back to square one. This was not the result Alpha wanted to see.

"No knights died, only civilians," Gilliana replied. "It was the dark creatures who did it. They dealt a heavy blow to the most active teams of Graya and Barutus, and they are both dying." Her voice was full of worry, and she obviously knew that this was not just a simple attack, but a brutal massacre of these innocent civilians.

Hearing this, Alpha frowned for a moment, but soon he realized the opportunity. "Yes, it seems our chance has come," Alpha said as he stood up with a hint of determination in his tone, "Follow me to the scene to rescue people, and at the same time, do our best to search for traces of the enemy."

Alpha seemed to have grasped the point. This time, it was the dark creatures that were slaughtering the people, so he had to make a move. This was not only a good opportunity to show his leadership, but also a moment to prove to the outside world that he was capable of protecting the people's safety. At the same time, he could transform the conflict between the people and the knights into a conflict between the people and the werewolves.

Alpha knew that only by taking practical actions to solve the problem could he win more support and trust from people. Therefore, he decided to go to South City in person, not only to rescue the injured, but also to thoroughly investigate the reasons behind the incident to ensure that similar things would not happen again.

"Save them, save them now!" As soon as Alpha arrived at the scene, he chose to rescue the injured without hesitation. He quickly cast light magic, and warm rays of light flowed out from his hands, illuminating the dim environment around him and bringing hope to the wounded lying on the ground groaning.

The people around looked at Alpha's busy figure, and although they were full of gratitude, no one dared to approach him. They were deeply aware of the horror of the dark forces at this moment - these evil creatures were not only numerous but also extremely cruel. Previously, it was because of the brave knights who stood up to fight them that the situation was temporarily suppressed; but now seeing that even the knights acted so cautiously, ordinary people naturally dared not act rashly.

In order to find the mastermind as soon as possible and prevent similar incidents from happening again, "Anyone who provides the whereabouts of these dark creatures will be promoted three levels and become a knight directly, and their families will also be protected by the Knights." Alpha announced loudly while trying his best to treat the wounded. However, in the face of such tempting conditions, the scene was still silent. Obviously, everyone was dominated by fear and was unwilling to take the risk of revealing any information.

Despite this, Alpha did not give up on any life that might have survived. Especially when he found Graia and Barutus, two heroes of light that he had personally trained, he did his best to rescue them.

After some efforts, the two finally escaped from danger and their situation gradually stabilized. However, at this moment, due to excessive fatigue and huge consumption of magic power, Alpha felt dizzy and his body shook involuntarily. Fortunately, Gilliana stepped forward in time to support him, which prevented him from falling directly to the ground.

This scene deeply touched the hearts of everyone present. Finally, after a long silence, a brave young man stood up and said, "I know where those monsters are hiding!" As this sentence sounded, more voices began to respond, and people told Alpha and his companions what they knew. At this moment, everyone's determination to unite and fight against darkness was stronger than ever before.

In order to eliminate the base of the dark creatures in the south city, Alpha decided to ask the Knights of Lady Athena to launch a combat mission. He knew the importance of this operation and the risks involved. However, what he didn't expect was that Graya, who was seriously injured by the darkness, actually offered to lead the way.

"Remember, no matter what happens, you must stay close to me. I will protect you." Alpha looked at the strong woman Graia in front of him, and a warm current surged in his heart. He knew that the enemy's base camp was ahead, so he had to be cautious.

Graia was originally just an ordinary woman, but because of this incident, she was insulted by the Knights of the Church. At the last moment, Alpha saved her and tried his best to treat her wounds. Although Alpha healed her physical injuries, her hatred for the Knights has never dissipated.

However, in the face of the people's cries for help, Graia finally put aside her personal grudges and chose to stand on the side of order. This attack by the dark forces made her deeply aware of the chaos and brutality of the dark world, and also prompted her to sincerely help Alpha.

"Glaya, do you hate us?" Alpha asked curiously while the knight in front was exploring the enemy situation.

"I hate those knights of the Vatican, but I don't hate you, Lord Alpha. I know that there are good people and bad people in the Vatican and elsewhere. The knights who follow Lord Alpha are all upright and kind people, so I am willing to follow you through life and death." Graya firmly stated her choice - she chose to believe in Alpha instead of the entire Vatican of Light.

Hearing this, Alpha sighed: "In fact, there is no absolute distinction between good and evil in this world. Only when a person is strong enough can the so-called 'good' and 'evil' be reversed. But how many truly powerful people can keep their original intentions unchanged? They often use their power to oppress others, thus becoming another form of 'evil'."

Jilliana listened to Alpha's words quietly, and she couldn't help feeling heavy in her heart. As one of the victims under this rule, she also wanted to change the status quo and make the world a better place. So she plucked up the courage to ask: "So what should we do to reduce the darkness in this world?"

Alpha smiled and replied, "We cannot directly change the whole world or everyone's heart, but we can constrain people's behavior by formulating more fair and reasonable rules and laws, and reduce the space for evil to breed as much as possible. At the same time, we must constantly improve our self-cultivation and social values, be a responsible and compassionate person, and use our actions to influence the people around us to be good."

After hearing these words, Gilliana seemed to have found her direction. She knew it would be a long and difficult journey, but she believed that as long as everyone worked together, one day they would be able to make the world a brighter place.