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After discussing a few more points, everyone ultimately decided it was too distant to be of much significance, so they temporarily set it aside and continued to talk about the uprising. Chen Xuanfeng suddenly asked, "By the way, what's the name of that magic apprentice who played a prominent role in the entire rebellion?"

Antara flipped through the documents and replied, "A very common name, Enrico Willy Young, a fifteen-year-old boy."

"Enrico, that name, and the surname, why does it sound familiar? (Cough, just the author's playful reference, not a crossover.)"

Heroic Werewolf Scroll Chapter 50: When False Turns True, What is Real?

That winter, heavy snow blanketed the western continent.

Even Saint Spirit Mountain was no exception.

The seven winter snow scenes of Saint Spirit Mountain have always been one of the continent's famous scenic spots. The temple, densely illuminated by the glow of magic runes, is said to be the most beautiful sight under the snow. Almost every time it snows, countless believers climb to the summit to worship and admire the view.

The reason it's "almost" is because a hundred years ago, there was a golden blizzard that, with absolute dominance, unleashed a massacre on this holy mountain, killing the Pope along with thousands of priests, and decimating five human sword saints in one fell swoop. That snow was not a beautiful scene, but a nightmare for the temple and all its believers.

A nightmare named "White-Haired Demon Lion King."

This year's winter snow also carries a heavy, lonely chill.

The Law King's Hall, the temple's most important meeting hall, has had its lights on all night. The temple's high-ranking officials, including the current Pope and the four grand prelates, are all here, waiting for news from the front. Such a scene would have been absolutely impossible ten years ago, but in recent years, it has often occurred.

Suddenly, a figure hurriedly ran into the Law King's Hall.

"Your Excellencies, the message from magical communication has arrived," said the man, dressed in the black robe of a temple priest, holding a piece of parchment.

"Bring it here," an old voice came from the end of the hall. It was the Gold Badge grand prelate overseeing military affairs. He took the secret report, quickly scanned it, his face darkened, and immediately walked over to the Pope and the other grand prelates, saying, "Your Holiness, the uprisings we initiated in Sina, Yero, and Chalos have all been crushed by the beastmen. The believers have suffered great losses and have now dispersed and retreated..."

"All three cities were lost? How many believers escaped?" asked the cardinal beside the Pope.

The Gold Badge grand prelate handed over the parchment and sighed, "The beastmen reacted quickly. Only three-tenths of the believers escaped. Fortunately, the elite believers we dispatched suffered relatively minor losses, with six to seven-tenths surviving."

"Hmph, a bunch of incompetents, still calling themselves elites? That fallen dark rogue from Viking, with just a few dozen people, has thrown tens of thousands of square kilometers of beastmen lands into chaos. But these elites? Thousands of temple warriors and priests were thrown in, and not a single city was taken back!" The commander of the Holy Cross Knights frowned, his face filled with anger.

"Cough, let's not talk about that for now. Is there any other news?" the cardinal continued.

The Gold Badge grand prelate looked somewhat strange as he replied, "Yes... that dark magic apprentice named Enrico Willy Young also went there. While the beastmen were chasing our believers, he successfully evacuated all 100,000 residents of the three cities... Before the uprising failed, he had not acted. It was only after our believers completely withdrew from the cities and the beastmen army followed that he, along with his friends and subordinates, entered the cities. After dealing with the small remnants of the beastmen troops, he led the residents of the three cities in batches to the nearby Kalia River, where they boarded beastmen transport ships and rafts, and floated downstream back to the northwestern uprising army's occupied area. Since the downstream garrison had been lured away by the uprising we planned, he faced no resistance."

Astonished by this news, several of the more hot-tempered priests and holy knights shouted together, "What? Did he use our believers as bait? That accursed servant of the devil!"

The Gold Badge grand prelate sighed and replied, "It seems so, but we have no basis to accuse him, as we did not inform or request their cooperation beforehand. And for the honor of the temple, we cannot attribute the failure to a small dark magic apprentice not coming to the rescue."

"Your Holiness, what do you think..." After much discussion, everyone's gaze turned back to the Pope, who had remained silent.

The Pope slowly scanned the crowd and said in a measured tone, "Do not dwell on this failure too much. Although many of our believers have sacrificed, their sacrifices for the Light God were not in vain. At least those trapped in beastmen territory have been rescued, and people will not forget their achievements. However, you need not plan such actions in the future. We are different from those lost souls hidden in the darkness. The beastmen's gaze has never left us, so let them take on these tasks."

No one dared to say more, and they all bowed and replied, "Yes, everything is in accordance with the will of our God."

As the core elders of the Light Temple were lamenting, the subject of their discussion was running along a mountain path.

Enrico Willy Young was running along a muddy mountain path, followed by four or five companions. A faint grayish light enveloped their feet, the effect of a first-level dark magic spell, "Kalo's Tendon," which prevented them from slowing down due to the rugged and muddy mountain path.

As he ran, the fifteen-year-old dark magic apprentice reflected on the events of the past few days.

He was originally the son of a small farmer in the countryside. Due to accidentally discovering his magical talent, he was recruited as an apprentice by a nearby Magic Tower at the age of eight. In terms of talent, he was one of the outstanding ones. In six years of study, he had mastered over a dozen first and second-level dark magic techniques. If he had passed the exam, he would have had the opportunity to advance to a magic practitioner a year ago.