How Could One Possibly Survive in This Era

BOOM——

A deafening explosion.

Accompanied by a series of shrill screams.

One by one, the knights were thrown out of the windows, crashing heavily onto the street outside.

The cold wind howled.

Marshal spat out a mouthful of bright red blood, trembling with fear as he looked up at the second floor.

By the window, Lynn stood in black robes, looking down at them with a smile.

"So, these are the knights of the Order Church? Your performance has truly never disappointed me. The virtues of a knight—humility, honor, justice—have all become things you can trample on at will, haven't they?"

Marshal trembled as he looked at him, asking, "Who exactly are you?!"

Lynn did not answer him but instead said with a faint smile, "I once met a knight named Galord. I suppose you all know him—he was the founder of the Temple Knights Order."

At these words, everyone around exchanged glances.

But only Marshal was visibly shaken.

"He was a very rigid fellow, a stubborn fool. I didn't like him, even detested him, because he took the seven virtues of a knight as his guiding principles."

"Humility, integrity, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor—those seven words."

Lynn slowly descended onto the street, smiling as he walked toward them.

"He was weak, very weak, not even ranking among the strongest I've ever seen. But honestly, I admired him greatly, because he managed to do something I could never accomplish in that era of moral decay."

Lynn stood before them, looking down at their pale faces, and said quietly,

"He reignited the people's desire for justice."

The surroundings fell into silence.

On the empty street, the cold wind continued to blow.

All the knights present felt an overwhelming sense of suffocation, as if something heavy was pressing down on them, making it hard to breathe, stirring anger and shame within them.

Lynn looked at them with mockery, smiling faintly,

"So, in just a thousand years, the knights have already fallen to this extent?"

One of the knights looked up, gritting his teeth and growling, "I don't know what you're talking about. The founder of our Temple Knights Order wasn't named Galord, and the knight's code is just something concocted by idle minds—it's not part of our Order's doctrine!"

The wind rustled through Lynn's robe.

Marshal moved his lips, trembling as he gazed at the black-robed figure standing before him.

"No..." he said bitterly, "The Galord he speaks of is indeed our Order's founder, the first Temple Knight of the Church."

At this, all the knights were stunned.

Marshal took a deep breath and said, "One thousand two hundred years ago, Knight Galord established the early form of the Temple Knights Order. The seven virtues also became the standard for a knight from that time onward. They were humble, fair, just, spreading our Church's teachings across the continent..."

"But during the Divine War a thousand years ago, Knight Galord refused to comply with our God's orders and was severely punished, stripped of his title as the Order's leader."

"Later in the Divine War, when the Violet Family's overlord fell, he committed a grave taboo by leading eight thousand Temple Knights who volunteered to follow him to protect the Violet Family. Three thousand Temple Knights died in that battle."

"Three days later, he was summoned back by our God and imprisoned."

"The next day... he took his own life under the Holy Hall."

Marshal fell silent.

"Upon hearing the news, over five thousand members of the Temple Knights Order committed suicide in front of the Holy Hall within three days. The Order was thus reformed..."

All the knights were stunned.

Because they had never heard of this incident before.

From the moment they joined the Church until now, they had never known that the Order had such a dark history.

This... this...

For a moment, the surroundings fell into a long silence.

"..."

The wind continued to blow.

Suddenly, Lynn burst into laughter.

"Hahahahahaha!"

He slapped his thighs forcefully, laughing so hard it seemed tears were about to come out.

"Sorry, hahaha, I was being too abrupt. I didn't expect there to be such a history. Hahaha, it's too funny, really too funny!"

It was as if he had been struck by some hilarious joke, laughing uncontrollably, unable to stop.

"After fighting with me for so many years, I thought he would leave something behind. Hahaha! Turns out he was a complete failure in the end!"

"Change? Change what! I thought if he had survived until now, I might have gone to have a chat with him. But it turns out he changed himself to death! Hahahaha! What a complete idiot!"

Lynn laughed so hard he leaned back and forth, wiping tears from his eyes.

But the knights around him could not hear any joy in his laughter.

"And then?" Lynn said with an especially bright smile,

"Let me guess, did you erase Galord's name, cover up his history, rewrite the Order's doctrine, and turn the Temple Knights Order into a military force that only obeys the Church's commands?"

Marshal fell into silence, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

Because he had already realized.

This person...

This person might be someone who had lived from ancient times until now...

He trembled, a sense of powerlessness erupting from his soul, nearly causing him to collapse.

Lynn smiled brightly and then gave a thumbs up, saying,

"Congratulations, you've successfully found the way of the world in this era!"

"A knight's integrity and honor should indeed be thrown into the trash of the old era. If you're not bad enough, ruthless enough, how could you survive in this age?"

"Hahahaha!"

He laughed as he turned, his robe billowing.

Marshal and the others, trembling, tried to get up from the ground.

But in the next moment, a surge of fierce wind swept toward them, blowing them far away.

Immediately, they felt certain memories in their minds start to blur.

An irresistible drowsiness, like a tide, swept over them.

"After a good sleep, you'll forget any interaction you've had with me and lose the memories of these two days. Good luck to you all."

Thud—

Thud—

One by one, they collapsed, their heavy eyelids slowly closing.

As they drifted into sleep, they could only see a dark silhouette slowly walking away from Lakeside Town, gradually fading into obscurity.

...