CHAPTER 555: CHAPTER 520: REFEREE KNIGHT

Fulvio was a Judgement Knight, trained by the Church Court since childhood.

Unlike noble knights, church knights mostly lack prestigious backgrounds or noble lineage, and do not bear those honorable titles or inherit the glory of their ancestors.

Most of them are orphans raised by church sanctuaries across various regions, selected if physically healthy and moderately gifted, then sent to diocesan training camps for rigorous training to become knight apprentices.

The training for Defender Knights is somewhat different from that of noble knights; they do not need to learn military command, as the church does not have an abundance of ordinary mortal forces for them to lead.

Nor do they need to learn complex noble etiquette, since the church is detached from the secular world; knowing basic social etiquette that doesn’t disgrace the church is sufficient.

Conversely, Defender Knights must study various church scriptures and classics, as they are knights of the Divine. Memorizing scriptures and understanding doctrine is required of all church members; Defender Knights just do not need to be as proficient as priests.

Even so, those hefty scriptures and classics are not any easier to learn than various military knowledge.

Moreover, they must learn how to identify heretical doctrines and recognize the patterns of Evil God Sect activities.

Additionally, mastery of martial arts, physical training, armor and weapon maintenance, various religious rituals, and so on are also essential subjects for them.

Only when they are proficient in all these can they be considered qualified church knight apprentices.

Yes, merely apprentices, not yet trainee knights.

For they must still be assigned to different church departments based on their individual talents.

Those chosen to be Defender Knights have a relatively simpler path. They learn how to maintain a polished appearance, embodying the church’s majesty and glory, and additionally, provide protection to important church figures.

This isn’t an easy job, but compared to a Judgement Knight, it is relatively more acceptable.

After all, they learn to protect important figures, generally having a set procedure, and typically those figures aren’t in much danger.

The last time an important church figure was attacked or assassinated was decades ago.

In contrast, the work of a Judgement Knight is far less relaxed.

Fulvio remembers that on his first day as a trainee Judgement Knight, he was taken to the dark prison of the Judgement Court to witness the twisted forms of cultists who believed in heretical Evil Gods.

Though he had encountered related knowledge in the training camp, seeing a cultist’s face adorned with roots when worshipping a heretical Evil God still felt like it crossed physiological boundaries.

Although most deities worshiped by Evil God Sects do not physically distort the flesh of believers, a small extremist faction might, due to various sacrilegious reasons, cause some indescribable and unexplainable mutations on themselves.

Fulvio had once seen an initiation ceremony for a certain Evil God Sect requiring members to decapitate themselves, leaving the entire sect headless.

Such cases are already anthropomorphic among various Evil God Sects; the truly inhuman ones have mutations beyond description.

After Fulvio officially became a Judgement Knight, his first mission with a Judge was to investigate an incident of bizarrely sudden deaths among adult males in a certain area.

The corpses all bore marks of beastly bites, mainly around the abdomen, as if attacked by some large beast.

Yet investigation showed no large beasts roamed locally, and the victims were found indoors, so the investigation hit a dead end.

It wasn’t until Fulvio and his team, led by a Judge, found the culprit—a seemingly delicate and beautiful young girl.

Only after knocking away her robe did Fulvio and the others see the things that shouldn’t be on her body.

She had a large mouth filled with sharp teeth on her belly, continually dripping corrosive saliva.

They finally understood why the victims had beast-like bite marks indoors.

For Judgement Knights, such incidents are all too common.

Thus, Judgement Knights need unwavering faith and resolve to face demons and heresies without the slightest faltering.

Meanwhile, they must resist temptation, as heretical Evil Gods always use desires to lure one into their embrace; not resisting these temptations can lead to immediate downfall.

Additionally, Judgement Knights need to learn to identify the proselytizing traces of Evil God Sects.

Some Evil God Sects are blatant, while others are highly secretive; without the skill to discern this, identifying Evil God Sect activities is difficult.

Hence, regarding the Northern Territory’s official idea to form a department to control the spread of Evil God Sects, Fulvio only finds the idea commendable but impractical.

He believes Northern Knights are excellent warriors, but not ideally suited for this work.

This role requires extensive learning, and Northern Knights lack much of the necessary training.

However, the church strongly supports this initiative, so Fulvio and several colleagues were assigned to this newly established department to teach its members relevant knowledge and experience.

Fulvio is not one to hoard knowledge, as these teachings are church traditions; if the church permits it to be shared, he, a mere Judgement Knight, has no say.

Moreover, Fulvio believes such knowledge on identifying heretical doctrines and Evil God Sects should be widespread, enabling the populace to recognize them and avoid being misled.

Thus, Fulvio teaches earnestly, and the Northern Knights and staff equally apply themselves diligently.

Soon, they received their first task: to eradicate an Evil God Sect hideout in a settlement and completely eliminate all cultists.