Entering through the inner castle wall of the Holy City that the demon wolf had smashed open, Hermóðr finally saw clearly what the flames and the cross were.

It was a blazing church, standing at the end of the avenue, its body scarlet in the flames. The moment he saw the church, Hermóðr realized that it was the most mysterious place in the Holy Court mentioned by Segni in the intelligence, where countless secrets and unknown powers were buried. Even a traitor with a high status like Segni spoke of it with unconcealable fear.

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The iron church of the Holy Court.

Hermóðr reined in his horse, and at the same time stopped Hamond and the knights who were following him. As they approached the burning church, the temperature of the air increased at a terrifying speed to an unbearable level. They were wearing genuine metal armor, and now the armor was gradually becoming boiling.

It was unbearable even at such a long distance. So what kind of flame was it that could be so terrifying?

In the flames as red as blood, the majestic church was melting, and the solid granite walls fell down in large chunks, hitting the ground heavily. Ordinary black iron melted into gurgling molten iron and flowed downwards along the skeleton of the church——just like a plaster statue being roasted by fire, the plaster peeling off layer by layer, and finally exposing the supporting iron frame hidden inside the statue.

The supporting frame of this iron church was displayed in front of the world in the fire.

That was a cross standing on the ground.

The entire iron church was a cross erected in the heart of the Holy City.

Hermóðr understood that they no longer needed to attack the inner castle of the Holy City, because under such a temperature and this bizarre cross, it was impossible for ordinary people to survive. Hermóðr led his soldiers back slowly. The demon wolf stared closely at the cross, growled deeply from its throat, and approached step by step.

“It seems that the legend is true.”

On the other side of the Holy City, the assassins who had carried out this operation had already withdrawn. They were standing on the hill behind the Holy City, watching the situation of the city. The snow-white demonic wolf was not afraid of the extreme heat of the flames, and slowly circled around the iron cross, showing strong hostility but being extremely vigilant.

“The reason why the demon wolf fell into deep sleep was because it was killed by a god once.”

That was a legend also recorded in the holy book. The demon wolf that lived on war brought disaster to the earth, so the god shot a flaming arrow and killed it on the Gulundi Plain. Many legends recorded in the holy book have long lost their original appearance after being revised and polished many times by theologians and jurists over the past thousand years, to instead be passed down to the world as stories praising God for saving the world. But if one stripped away the golden brilliance on the surface, the skeleton of the story itself might not be without the truth.

“The plan went well.”

The assassin leader wrote a simple message on a piece of papyrus. When he raised his hand, a white eagle landed on his shoulder. After the secret message was tied, the white eagle flapped its wings and flew towards the other side of the Abyss Strait.

Looking at the demon wolf that finally launched an attack on the cross after circling around it, the assassin leader smiled slightly.

Who would have thought?

The noble, holy, “father” of all believers, Pope Theolde actually raised an army of assassins.

However, before Theolde became the pope, he was born into a noble family of the Hopeless Inner Sea Alliance. Because of its active commerce and numerous city-states, the Hopeless Inner Sea was actually the most active place for assassins in the world. When the commercial conflicts in the Hopeless Inner Sea were at their most intense, the struggle between cities was particularly fierce. However, due to the existence of the Holy Court, no city dared to truly start a war. Therefore, assassination became the most important and best method to attack economic and political enemies.

Without the suppression of the behemoth Holy Court, the assassins in the Hopeless Inner Sea would not have developed to this extent.

“How dazzling.”

The assassin leader said as he took off the white rose pinned to his chest and threw it to the city that was burning in flames.

The fire had flooded this center of faith for all the believers in the world.

The demon wolf had already launched an attack on the iron cross. It jumped up and crashed into the flaming iron cross amidst the howls of the wolf pack. When the demon wolf hit the iron cross, fire broke out and the sea of fire flooded this sacred city. In the flames, the knights of the Nujin Empire who were too late to withdraw were burned to ashes. The wolves gathered from all over the world howled horribly as their fur was burned. The wolves turned into an army at this time. They did not retreat, but charged forward one after another, and then disappeared into the fire.

The iron cross was vibrating endlessly under the impact of the demonic wolf, and the air was filled with a buzzing sound like the sound of a tuning fork. Even if one fled outside the city, one would still feel dizzy in the buzzing sound, making it difficult to distinguish the surroundings.

Seven rays of light flew up from the flames, hovering around the iron cross.

Everyone in the iron church had been reduced to ashes, and all that remained was the contract between God and man. The seven elders had already unlocked the seal above. The book of oath rotated around the cross, resisting the attack of the demon wolf, and as the contract book appeared, the image of a figure nailed to the cross vaguely emerged.

When this figure appeared, the assassins and the knights of the Nujin Empire who had already retreated outside the Holy City felt a pressure as heavy as the sea crashing down from up high. One by one, they fell off their horses and to the ground, unable to stand up again.

The pack of wolves all died in an instant, leaving only the demon wolf whose fur was burnt, flesh and blood melting off to remain a skeleton.

Under its pale skull, countless bones crawled out of its green eyes, as if all the corpses that had once been its food were being separated from its body. With a long and shrill howl, the demon wolf jumped up and bit into the center of the iron cross and the throat of the phantom.

The earth shook, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the ground of the Holy City, and the sky collapsed.

Blood-like fire spurted out from the cracks, and the six-pointed star formation with the iron church as the core connected these seemingly irregular cracks. Relying on the oath signed with mortals, the Holy Lord’s will, which had recovered from the distorted history, had just descended on the earth only to begin to collapse.

The iron cross collapsed suddenly, and together with the skeleton of the demon wolf that had completely died on it, they piled up into a strange mountain of iron and bones at the core of the hexagram formation.

The fire gradually became smaller and began to flow along the veins of the formation. Finally, it flowed back to the center of the formation, condensed into a beam of light, and plunged into the ground like a sharp blade.

From now on, the Holy City, which had long been the center of faith for believers, would no longer exist.

……………………

“One center of faith is enough in this world.”

In his iron carriage, Theolde, who was wearing the papal tiara, gently unfolded a golden scroll written in the language of the legendary era.

If the seven elders saw the golden scroll in Theolde’s hand, they would be shocked to find that all the words on it were very similar to the original oath between God and man that they had guarded for so long. It was simply another brand new oath but with the protagonists replaced. .And if the World Serpent was not dead, it would recognize that what Theolde was holding was the other half of the incomplete parts of the Law.

This incomplete part of the Law had always been in the hands of the pope of the Holy See, as the foundation for performing miracles when necessary.

Over the years, as the Holy See gradually developed into a spiritual empire, the power of the pope increased day by day, and the Law went through many research and studies in the hands of different popes. It was not like there hadn’t been popes who tried to turn it completely into their own power before, but they all failed.

However, Theolde managed it.

The Holy Empire was established by him. When he ascended the throne that originally belonged to God, he had already succeeded most of the way.

God had taught His followers how to steal power from Him——God sought resurrection by tampering with history and placing His trust in the present and future. While the people changed the church doctrine and put the power belonging to God on their heads in the form of a “papal tiara.”

But before today, although the Holy Empire was established, the existence of the Holy Court was like the existence of the second capital and heart in this empire at the same time, and the power was still essentially divided into two halves. But when the Holy Court was submerged in the sea of ​​destructive fire and turned into ashes, the last center of faith directed towards God was wiped out from the world.

——The divine power was stolen by him.

On Theolde’s right hand was an inkwell made of polished crystal. It was one of the thirteen highest-level sacred objects of the Holy See. It was said that the original saints used it to hold blood and write down the prophecies of doomsday.

The crystal bottle was originally empty, but at a certain moment, dark red blood suddenly filled the bottle.

Theolde took up his pen, dipped it in the dark red blood that was born out of thin air in the crystal bottle, and slowly wrote a new Law at the end of the document.

The moment he put pen to paper, on the other side of the Abyss Strait, the iron cross collapsed.

The flames flowed back to the center of the formation, and then penetrated into the core of the earth.

……………………

Fire fell from the sky.

When the host of angels descended, the dark red sky of hell was illuminated by the angels’ own brilliance. Half of the sky was pure white and the other half was like blood. However, today, the sky once again turned completely red——fire continued to seep out from the gaps connecting hell and the human world, slowly falling, dripping onto the black stone ground of hell.

The dark red flames that seeped down through the cracks contain destructive power for hell creatures. Every time a ball of fire fell on the earth, it was instantly corroded, leaving nothing behind.

Seeing that the war situation was about to turn against hell due to this change, the Devil jumped from the top of the tower and walked into the hall of the castle.

The throne of bones stood quietly at the end of the red carpet.

The Devil walked up the steps, and then inserted the dragon bone sword on the throne. The last time he went to the human world, he returned the bone scepter to the King. Now the only way to stop the fire falling from the sky from causing heavy damage to hell was to wake up the royal city.

Because it was not an ordinary fire.

That was the blood soaked in the curse of the gods.

If everything had followed normal development and history was tampered with to condense the authority of the king of kings, God could have relied on the iron cross He left behind a thousand years ago and used the sacrifices of believers to shape a new divine body. However, the iron cross was decorated with a hexagram and turned into a blasphemous altar. All the pious beliefs that were supposed to be sacrificed to God were transformed into heresy and filth through the hexagram.

God’s consciousness, which had been re-condensed after thousands of years, broke free from the dusty Kingdom of Gods and came to the iron cross, where it was injected into His new body. Only to find that the new divine body was condensed from the deepest and most vicious filth——for God, this was tantamount to suicide.

Before the betrayed god was destroyed, malice and curses were condensed in its polluted blood. If that blood spread in the human world, the earth would be reduced to ashes in an instant, and there would be no living creatures for hundreds of years. Thus Pope Theolde directed this blood into hell and transferred this hatred of the gods to hell.

The moment the dragon bone sword was inserted into the throne, every bone that made up the throne seemed to wake up from a long slumber. The flying buttresses of the royal city unfolded, and the brimstone sea of fire in the castle dock began to boil. In an instant, every door and window of the castle was opened, and every relief engraved on the castle came to life.

The strong wind howled on the ground, like hell breathing out.

This royal city was the supreme throne of hell and the criterion for regulating hell.

After possessing a monarch, the hell symbolized by chaos had its own rules, and now what the Devil had to do was to use the power of hell itself to resist the curse of the dead god.

An invisible barrier unfolded in mid-air, which was the law belonging to hell. The fire raindrops falling from the sky disappeared little by little on the barrier.

This should have been a great opportunity for the host of angels to attack.

However, no angel attacked at this time.

——Because they were all dying quickly.

“How sad.”

In the form of half man and half bird, Mela stood on the sickle-like ridge of the Thousand Knives Peak, looking up at everything happening in the sky. 

The angels with snow-white wings died one after another, but it was not the army of hell that killed them. The angels were dissipating, turning into countless golden specks of light and drops of dark red blood. Angels have no flesh and bones. They were existences shaped by God with His own blood and dusts of light. When God decided to take back His power, they would disintegrate into their original appearance, leaving nothing behind.

Not even comparable to a mortal.

The dying voices of the angels echoed between heaven and earth, as gentle and sad as the cry of a white swan about to die on the ice.

Mela quietly watched his old enemy die in front of his eyes. He did not feel happy, but only felt ridicule and sorrow.

The angels of God were like the skeletons and undead of hell. Hell was an endless battle between the weak and the strong, and the dead creatures at the bottom were all chess pieces that could be sacrificed at will. Trust and respect were a luxury in hell. But how were angels who symbolize holiness better than the creatures of hell?

They were shaped by divine will, and were born to admire the god who gave them life like a father. But in the eyes of those superior gods… they were just chess pieces that could be sacrificed at any time. The only difference was that these chess pieces look better.

In fact, they were more pathetic.

As a symbol of chaos and desire, hell creatures also instinctively long for the goodwill that they could not have. But angels who were endowed with divinity have no desires and wills of their own.

Simply a pretty puppet.

Mela thought as he spread his wings and flew up from the ridge.

“The gaps are being closed.”

Mela flew to Blackstone Royal City. The Devil had already walked out of the great hall. He looked up at everything happening in the sky.

In the sky, the golden specks of light decomposed when the angels dissipated, burning and turning into balls of flames, quickly sealing all the cracks that could connect hell and the human world. And drop by drop of the re-condensed divine blood floated upward and disappeared through the golden flames.

“A new Law.”

The Devil looked at the cracks in the sky that were sealed one by one and whispered.

There was no trace of surprise on his face, as if the scene happening now was expected. A crow that came from the human world a few days ago landed on his shoulder.

A new Law.

Mela instantly understood why the Devil did not try to prevent the cracks from being blocked.

That was the power of the Law, the rules of heaven, earth and the world. Once a Law was written, it could not be changed.

Unless someone completely controlled all the power in this world.

……………………………………

The east coast of the Abyss Strait.

Miss Viola, who walked to the church and recited “heretical poems” on the Sabbath, was successfully rescued by Ferri III. With the legendary spiritual banner of Viola as his call to action, Ferri III quickly gathered a group of old Bressian aristocrats and civilians who could not bear the burden of the Holy Army movement.

They announced the restoration of Bressi at a city near the sea.

On the day of Bressi’s restoration, King Ferri III announced that the Kingdom of Bressi would not participate in the Holy Army movement, and that all citizens of the Kingdom of Bressi did not need to provide food or taxes for the Holy Army movement. In addition, Ferri III’s army quickly advanced along the coastline, cutting off the supply line of the Holy Army from the source.

More and more people crossed the Kobia River and fled to the re-established Kingdom of Bessi. In the territory controlled by the Holy Empire, riots also broke out one after another. The remaining troops were exhausted in controlling the remaining territory and were unable to reopen the supply line for the Holy Army.

For Ferri III, the current situation was very good.

However, in this situation, Ferri III himself was not in the re-established Bressi Kingdom.

He secretly passed through the blockade of the Holy Empire and emerged in the Pennine Mountains in the northern part of the empire.

“This is the entrance to the Tomb of Gods.”

There was heavy snow on the Pennine Mountains. Ferri III stood under a black pine tree and looked at the valley below. In a daze, he felt that his teacher Karl and his friend Mann were still standing behind him, smiling at him. He turned around and wanted to tell them, look, I did it.

But though straight black pine trees covered with thick snow stood there as ever, no one was standing behind him.

“The ancient path to the Tomb of Gods.”

Led by Ferri III, a group of witches wearing black cloaks came here quietly. The leader was none other than Eli, the witch clan leader who had once met the King.

The head of the witches held an ancient parchment scroll in her hand. Ink marks appeared on the parchment scroll, and then quickly faded away. Finally, a mountain map that completely matched the surrounding terrain appeared. On the map, an ancient snake slowly emerged, proving that what Ferri III said was true. This was the entrance to the Tomb of Gods.

King Ferri III observed the group of witches who had fled from Bressi to Legrand and now came here on the orders of King Legrand.

He had come into contact with witches before, and even met the witch leader. In his impression, witches were gloomy, haggard and cold, and out of tune with ordinary people. If he hadn’t realized Theolde’s ambition and was unable to resist the behemoth Holy Court, Ferri III would never have dealt with the witches at that time.

However, the witches standing in front of him at this time were completely different from what he remembered.

Wearing neat black cloaks, they did not look haggard at all and stood upright. The cold depression that enveloped them disappeared without a trace, and the melancholy witch leader became more decisive than before.

“After the war, if you want to return to your hometown, you will always be welcomed by Bressi.”

Ferri III said calmly, half as a test and half as a sincere invitation. After experiencing so much, the ingrained arrogance of the superior class that he possessed in the past had been completely worn away.

“Bressi can also give you the same treatment you receive in Legrand.”

The witches smiled and said nothing.

A silent but firm refusal.

Ferri III couldn’t help but sigh: “I’m really curious to know what Pureland gave you.”

That could make a group of witches who could not blend in with ordinary people return to the crisis-ridden Holy Empire for Legrand, and even enter the extremely dangerous Tomb of the Gods.

“Because we want the Legrand we know to still be the same Legrand.”

The witch leader put away the parchment and replied.

She turned her head and glanced in Legrand’s direction.

They were witches. They had been ostracized since the first century AD, wandering the earth, lingering between life and death. But in the lunatic hospital with the sign “Legrand’s First Pathological Research Department”, for the first time, so many people applauded, looked at them with smiles, and welcomed them to join them.

From the first century AD to the present fifteenth century, the homeless, wandering witches found their first home.

They want the Legrand they know to still be the Legrand who had many crazy and mad companions, the Legrand who could smile at the little witch.

Legrand, the land of freedom.

Ferri III watched silently as the witches flew down from the mountain peaks on broomsticks and passed through the canyon.

He exhaled a breath of hot air, feeling vaguely envious.

He envied the king across the Abyss Strait, and he also envied these witches.

“What a world.”

Ferri III raised his head and muttered to himself.

Snowflakes were falling from the sky, and the arctic ice field was freezing cold.

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After crossing the ice field, the burial place of the gods appeared in front of the witches. At this time, there was only a vast sea left here. If it weren’t for the witches being able to fly on broomsticks, there would be no way forward.

The witch leader carefully took out an ice ball with a shadow of a snake figure sealed inside it.

That was the other half of the incomplete parts of Law. The witches were ordered by the King to bring it to the Tomb of the Gods to do something that was related to the entire war situation.

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“Who?”

The knight guarding outside the secret iron church heard a slight noise. He grasped the crossbow and turned around suddenly and raised his hand. The sharp arrow left the string and shot into the air. There was nothing in the corner where the sound came from. The knight frowned, holding his sword and walking towards a certain corner. When he got closer, his pupils suddenly dilated.

The knight commander’s body was leaning against the corner, with a fatal wound on his throat. The blood soaked through his armor and turned a solid dark brown color. It had been a while since the knight commander died, but before that he didn’t hear anything unusual or hear any alarm from his companions.

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The knight reached out to grab the whistle hanging on his chest. Just as he was about to blow the whistle, a dagger slit his throat cleanly from behind.

Rebellion…rebellion…

Before he died, he realized the truth and fell forward.

“The seventh.”

The assassin was a priest in white robes. He watched expressionlessly as the last guardian knight directly belonging to the Council of Elders fell in a pool of blood.

The same scene was staged around the iron church. Some of the patrolling guardian knights were suddenly stabbed in the stomach by an oncoming companion at a corner. Some were standing by the wall and had their throats suddenly choked by ropes. The assassinations were swift and brutal, and in the blink of an eye, the “watertight” defenders of the iron church were reduced to corpses.

The assassinations did not alarm anyone in the church, and all the isolation measures taken to maintain confidentiality at this time in turn became the best cover for the assassins.

The guardian knights were all wiped out, but the person who organized the assassination had no intention of tearing off the seal and opening the bronze door.

The people inside the church were completely unaware that this iron church had been taken over by another group of people.

Inside the iron church, the secret room.

Segni was restless and paced around the room. The conclave was held in accordance with the old rules for selecting a pope. All participants could not leave the room except during the discussion. The door to the room could only be opened from the outside, and the windows were small and barred.

The depressing atmosphere could easily make people anxious, let alone Segni, who had other intentions in his heart.

He took out the letter hidden in his robes and read it again.

Today was the day. According to his deal with Ferri III, someone would secretly take him out of the iron church. Originally, Segni thought that he had arranged everything well. From meeting the intermediary to bribing the guardian knights, every step was confirmed again and again. But when he woke up in a trance in the secret room, he was shocked to realize that things would not go as smoothly as he thought.

The secret room was completely isolated from the outside world, and he had no way of judging the time outside.

Hell, he didn’t want to take a chance on whether those barbarians would follow the code of chivalry.

While complaining, Segni reached out and tried to push open the window.

The moment he touched the window, he took a big step back and flicked his wrist hard.

“Holy Lord, what is this?”

His face twisted with unbearable burning pain as he raised his hand in front of his eyes. He saw a long black scar on the palm of his hand, the flesh and blood melting together, as if he had touched a soldering iron.

Soldering iron?

A layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on Segni’s back. He endured the pain and stepped forward to carefully look through the gap in the window. His face suddenly lost all color.

A little light was faintly revealed through the gap in the window. He thought it was sunlight from the outside world before, but it was only then that he realized that it was not sunlight, but molten iron!

“Let me out!”

In a craze, he pulled on the window with all his strength, regardless of the burning.

Don’t know if it was his imagination, but he kept feeling that there was the sound of water coming from the roof.

Splash——splash——

The sound of water that Segni heard was not an illusion.

Buckets of strangely colored oil were hoisted up to the roof of the church through pulleys. People in boots and gloves poured the buckets of oil evenly onto the sloping roof of the church. The sharp architectural lines deliberately created to highlight the sense of sanctity were of great help at this time. As soon as the special oil was poured on the ridges, it immediately flowed downwards.

The iron church was a secret church whose main body was made of granite and black iron. The reason why it was called the “iron church” on the one hand was related to the fact that God told the prophet in the holy book of revelation that the world should be ruled with an iron scepter; and on the other hand, it was related to its nature, that everything that happened here was top secret, sealed with iron, and would never be leaked outside.

Today, however, it had completely become an “iron church” where secrets were buried.

After wiping away the guards on the outside, the assassins checked all the doors entering and exiting the iron church in turn, poured molten iron on the bronze doors, and completely sealed all the gaps in the doors and windows. With the skylight of the last tower also sealed, this place became a veritable iron coffin.

All actions were carried out in an orderly manner, and the white-robed priests pouring molten iron had no expression on their faces, all well-trained and organized.

Soon, the church seemed to be showered with a special rain.

Oil with a strange color, vaguely similar to the “holy anointing” used for monarchs during their coronations, fell down the gargoyles. A series of shallow trenches had been dug on the ground along the church. Viewed from a high altitude, those shallow trenches formed a six-pointed star with the iron church as the center.

This was a huge, blasphemous sacrificial ritual that should have never appeared in the Holy City.

The sacrifices were the iron church that became a death coffin to some extent after being sealed, as well as everyone and everything in the church.

This was an unprecedented sacrifice.

……………………

Rumble–r—Rumble——

A thunderous roar came from the far away walls of the Holy City.

After being unable to capture the Holy City for a long time, the Nujin Empire, symbolized by the demon wolf, had been quiet for a long time. Today, it suddenly broke out and organized an extremely ferocious attack.

The walls of the Holy City.

The city guards, composed mainly of fanatical believers, wanted to suppress the Nujin Empire’s offensive with solid city walls, moats and continuous giant crossbows, just like the previous times. This time, however, Hermóðr”s offense was completely different than before.

The former Gulundi heavy cavalry wore black iron helmets cast into wolf heads. They were the sharpest force in the barbarian empire today. These heavy cavalry did not wander behind the besieging army like the previous times. Instead, they lined up neatly and slowly approached like a giant blade.

However, what was more eye-catching than them were the creatures accompanying the heavy cavalry.

A pack of evil wolves with green eyes.

Boom, boom, boom.

The ground seemed to be shaking. The heavy cavalry and evil wolves separated to the left and right, making way for a giant white-furred wolf that was larger than anyone could imagine.

The belief of the barbarians, the chief of the wolves of the world.

In barbarian legends, the demon wolf would appear on the earth when the world became a battlefield. As long as there was a wolf alive in the world, it would never die. Now that a thousand years have passed, the flames of war were once again sweeping across the earth. The demon wolf which lived on disasters and flesh and blood, was resurrected from its lair, and reappeared on the earth together with the barbarians who worship it.

“Holy Lord! What is that?”

The guards on the city wall moaned weakly, and even the most fanatical believers could not help but tremble at this moment, making it difficult to hold their weapons.

The demon wolf was as huge as a small fortress. When it stood, its cold green eyes looked level with the people on the wall. Under such cold eyes, the soldiers guarding the city were as small as ants. The few soldiers who looked directly at it were paralyzed at the top of the city walls, unable to move. The next moment, the demon wolf rushed forward, half-leaped up, and hit the city wall heavily.

Rumble——

The solid and thick city walls collapsed, sending smoke and dust billowing into the sky.

The snow-white demonic wolf stepped over the broken city wall and into the Holy City. It trampled down a building, raised its head to the sky and let out a long and chilling howl.

The wolves leaped high and the horses galloped.

Under the leadership of the demon wolf, the barbarian imperial warriors, together with the pack of wolves, rushed into the castle known to “never fall”.

Hermóðr’ led the soldiers to gallop on the spacious holy road. Now no one could resist their charge. All defenses were vulnerable in front of the wolf and knight. This castle with more than 400 towers was breached for the first time today. From then on, this holy place among believers would be reduced to ashes in the flames, and the halo given to it by God would be ruthlessly torn away and destroyed.

“Father.”

Hamond held a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, following closely beside his father. According to barbarian custom, on the battlefield, the son served as the bodyguard of the father, and the younger brother served as the bodyguard of the elder brother. Those who acted as guards not only protected their father and older brother, but were also responsible for observing changes on the battlefield.

“Look——”

His voice was full of surprise.

Hermóðr’ tightened the reins, raised his head and looked in the direction Hamond pointed.

He saw the demon wolf slowly approaching in one direction. It lowered its head, its green eyes stared ahead, and its canine teeth glared white in the sun. What could make the demon wolf show such a vigilant posture, as if it had seen a natural enemy that it hated to the bone?

“There’s a fire over there.”

Hamond pointed in the direction where the demon wolf was growling at.

The burning, killing and looting after a city was captured was not something to be surprised at first, but the flames in the distance were completely different from ordinary flames. Deep in the Holy City, something was burning. The fire was rolling upwards, reaching hundreds of kilometers high. The flames were as red as blood, and there was something vaguely visible in the flames, as if there was a huge cross.

Something was wrong.

Hermóðr’ realized something was wrong.

They had just invaded the Holy City. The Segni family, who were instigated by Ferri III, had made an agreement with them to open the gate to the inner city for them when they entered the city. However, before they even reached the Holy Palace at this time, the fire started burning from the deepest part.

That wasn’t a fire they started.

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Who was also acting in the Holy City today?

The demon wolf let out a deep growl and started running in the Holy City, heading straight towards the direction of the fire. Wherever it passed, buildings were knocked down by it, and cracks appeared on the solid rock avenue.

“Follow!”

Hermóðr’ shouted sharply, whipped his horse and galloped after.

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When the wind that turned cold gradually blew across the earth, the defensive preparations of Yoringshire County were carried out in an anxious and orderly manner under the King’s order.

Almost the entire city was mobilized, and the King’s clerks walked through the streets and posted notices of Legrand’s battlefield situation at every intersection. Scholars and bards told the people over and over again that the lost land in the southeast of Legrand was now being recovered, and their struggle was fruitful. As long as everyone could work together to hold on to Yoringshire County, Legrand would usher in a glorious victory.

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The names of every recaptured town in the southeast were engraved on the city walls to inspire everyone.

The new model of military planning that King used high-pressure methods to force the officers to accept showed its advantages at this time. The quartermasters who had experienced “torture” quickly formulated a reasonable plan, dispatched nearby carriages and horses, and transported all the food in the surrounding areas of Yoringshire City in an orderly manner. The trees that were closer to Yoringshire County and all resources suitable for building siege equipment were also cut down early and transported into the city to become raw materials for carpenters and architects to build fortifications.

The mathematicians who worked hard to sort out the “logistics system” with the quartermasters were not much better off than before, because after the surrounding food was transported into the city, the King’s next order was issued to them again.

They must work with the quartermasters to count the grain reserves currently owned by Yoringshire City, and then formulate a rationing system that was as reasonable as possible.

This was probably the most rigorous and error-free grain transportation process in Legrand’s history. The King assigned a cavalry to guard the granary and set up supervisors. No matter who dares to hide food secretly, he would be executed on the spot.

When the scouts reported that they saw the flag of the Holy Army appearing on the horizon, the last carriage carrying wood withdrew into the city.

The winch turned, the drawbridge rose, and the city gate slammed shut.

The sky and the earth were dim. In the darkness, Yoringshire County closed the city and stood firm.

“They are coming.”

The King stood on the observation tower. He heard the warning horn passing from one tower to another. The whole city was like an awakened beast under the dusk, showing its fangs in warning to the enemy who was about to arrive.

Smoke and dust billowed on the horizon. Countless crosses were raised high in the smoke. The Knights Templar who came covered in blood were like the legendary knights of doom. His Holiness said that God gave them the authority to make war, and taught them to come to the earth to seize peace and make people kill each other. The swords in their hands were weapons given by God, and those who kill with that weapon would not be blamed for sinning.

Among the crosses raised high, there was one that was the most brilliant and dazzling.

It was a golden cross as tall as a person.

The symbol of the Pope, Emperor of the Holy Empire, Theolde.

Now, the two most powerful and outstanding emperors of this era finally set foot on the same battlefield.

Amidst the desolate sound of horns, the army stopped some distance away from Yoringshire City in good order. The front line of the army separated, the golden cross was raised and brought forward, and a carriage drove out from the army. In the distance, the King saw someone getting off the carriage.

The person who got off the carriage looked over from a distance, and his eyes fell accurately on the observation tower where the King was.

“Theolde.”

The King whispered.

“Pureland.”

The horse that stopped suddenly spurted white mist from its nose, and its iron-nailed hooves stepped on the ground. The sound of wind, the clanging of armor, and the roar of the battlefield. Theolde stood on the ground and murmured the other’s name to himself like a sigh.

Just as the King saw him at first glance, he seemed to have captured the King’s location immediately as well.

“Set up camp.”

He ordered.

A white eagle circled in the sky for a while, then converged its wings and landed on the outstretched arm of Pope Theolde.

It came from Holy Spirit Bay.

………………

Holy Spirit Bay, Holy Court, Holy City.

Cardinal Deacon Segni stood outside the bronze door of the sanctuary. There were many exquisite reliefs on the bronze door behind him, which told the story of the original Holy Lord who commissioned his apostles to walk on the earth. Scenes of angels and demons fighting, and heretical cities being destroyed on the Day of Judgment were depicted.

His palms were faintly covered with sweat, and there was a secret letter hidden in his robes.

A letter from the Holy Empire, written by King Ferri III himself.

Segni didn’t know whether his choice was right or wrong, but as the Holy Army movement unfolded and Pope Theolde chose the Abyss Strait Alliance’s fleet to transport the army, the Hopeless Inner Sea merchant caravans began to decline rapidly. Especially when the ensuing Nujin Empire attacked the Holy Spirit Bay and captured many ports, his family’s merchant ships were completely burned by the barbarians.

Pope Theolde was increasingly split from the Holy See. Cardinals like him had to make a choice.

He just added a little more gap to the cracks, it was nothing.

Segni comforted himself in his heart.

With this thought in mind, he walked into the bronze door.

After the last cardinal stepped into this secret church, the bronze door closed behind him. From this moment on, all the doors in this church were sealed and no one was allowed to enter. The guardian knights of the Holy Court were guarding outside the secret church, which would be isolated from the world until the important decision that was about to take place in it came to an end.

In the past, ceremonies of this size only appeared when selecting a pope, but now despite Pope Theolde being still alive, it has been held again.

Deep in the secret church, in the secret room normally used to discuss the election of the pope, thousands of candlelights illuminated the secret room extremely brilliantly. On both sides of the long table, there were people sitting in black robes. Most of them were old and dying. Segni sat down at the end of the long table, knowing that he had no speaking right here.

All the cardinal-level clergy still in the sanctuary were gathered here.

What would be held here was a trial that affected the entire Holy Court.

A trial that was absolutely secret and could definitely shock the world.

——The trial against Pope Theolde.

In terms of doctrine, the pope, as the incarnation of God, could never make mistakes, let alone sin. However, among the top-secret documents within the Holy See, there was a secret rule in the Twelve Bronze Books that were originally formulated. As a last resort, under certain conditions, all those who were qualified to participate in the selection of the pope would be gathered here. The place that conferred divine status on the pope was able to convene the trial against the pope himself.

This trial was absolutely not allowed to be made public, so several trials held in secret in history ended with the death of the pope who was being tried. The Holy Court still maintained its holy appearance to the outside world.

However, this trial was completely different from the past. The trial document had been drafted in advance, and cardinal deacons like Segni only had the power to sign the document.

Under the illumination of the candlelight, the faces of the old men at the head of the long table were cold. They were like corpses that had walked out of coffins, carrying a heavy aura of old age, but there was also a terrifying power in their old age. They were the seven elders of the Holy Court, corresponding to the seven archangels mentioned in the holy book.

The seven great elders appeared together in this secret meeting, establishing an irrefutable conclusion for the trial.

Segni took a deep breath and signed his name on the trial document.

He was the last cardinal deacon invited to enter here. After he signed his name, the bell rang in the cold and solemn church, and the sound echoed between the cloisters and rooms of the church. At this moment, Segni thought he was the one who had received the Book of Revelation. He heard the God of the past, present and future unveiling the prophecy of the doomsday in his ears, and the bell was the signal of that day.

Segni forgot himself at the ringing of the bell. When he woke up from his hazy state, he was already in the secret room of the church, completely forgetting what he had just done.

The sound of the bell echoed for a long time like a roar rushing out from the ground.

Deep in the huge church, there were only seven elders left at the long table. 

The instrument condemning Theolde for apostasy and blasphemy was placed before the elder who sat at the head of the table. He pushed it towards the middle of the long table and raised his eyes to look at the others.

“The power of God is given to believers, not to usurpers.”

An elder said hoarsely.

“Those who steal will be destroyed.”

The elder sitting at the head had neither sadness nor joy on his face. He raised his hand and drew a cross on his chest.

The elder who spoke first placed a lead-sealed copper box on the table. Another elder held a candle, which melted the lead. As the lead sealing the seal slowly melted, the cold wind in the hall caused the candlelight to sway. There seemed to be countless holy spirits singing loudly in the air, or it seemed as if countless snakes were laughing in low hisses.

The box of taboos.

There was an ancient contract sealed in the dust that even the Pope could not know. It was the oath mentioned in the holy book——the original contract signed between God and man!

The copper box was opened, and the contract between man and God was held up by the old hands.

The scroll was filled with strange words both inside and outside, and it was sealed with seven seals.

The first elder slowly opened the first seal, and then passed it to the second one. The second elder opened the second seal and then passed it on… the third seal, the fourth seal… the last seal!

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All the candles were extinguished in an instant.

“The seven seals have been opened. We shall open the door to the Kingdom of God and the world so that God can return to the earth.”

The elder held the ancient scroll high with both hands. Every word on the ancient scroll was emitting a dazzling light, illuminating the cold hall as bright as day.

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They finally returned to Bubas, the city they had abandoned.

Pope Theolde ordered the Holy Army of the Sea to go north for support. The invaders who plundered and ravaged the southeast of Legrand mobilized most of their troops, leaving fewer manpower to garrison the captured city.

On an evening with the same bloody setting sun, the Iron Rose Cavalry and Kriyan Archers arrived in Bubas together.

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The Holy Army did not expect that Legrand’s counterattack would come so quickly and so fiercely. The Holy Army who was left to garrison here barely resisted the attack for less than half a day, when a city gate in the southwest corner was opened from the inside by the citizens who had been waiting for a long time, allowing the Iron Rose Cavalry to gallop in through the open city gates without much of a fight.

A silent massacre between soldiers and civilians broke out. Every section of the city wall, every tower, every forcefully occupied house… corpses with lingering fear on their countenances lay in a pool of blood.

The Holy Army soldiers who had lost all their courage failed to escape and were surrounded in an alley. They knelt on the ground and prayed for life. They were willing to be prisoners or slaves. But the citizens who chased them like hungry dogs raised stones, swarmed them, and smashed them to death. There was no forgiveness, no mercy, however much pain they had endured, was now returned twice-fold.

The whole city was shrouded in the scent of blood.

It had always been shrouded in the scent of blood. From the moment the Iron Rose Cavalry were forced to evacuate, too many people died on this abandoned land. Death and destruction shattered the city’s bones, then reshaped it with hatred. Everyone who survived held something that looked like ice and fire hidden in their eyes.

“We shouldn’t have come here.”

The person responsible for garrisoning this city was a noble from the Abyss Strait Alliance. He stood in the Bubas City Hall and watched the armored knights pouring in.

“Yes, you all shouldn’t have come here.”

Saul, once General Sheehan’s retinue and now General of the Iron Rose Cavalry, said as he pierced the noble’s throat with his sword.

The autumn wind roared in the city, passing through broken stone walls and arches stained with blood, and blowing over corpses filled with fear and regret. Fresh blood washed over the city that had regained its dignity. Until nightfall, the sound of fighting finally stopped, and the skinny old man, the haggard woman, and the man with fresh blood on his hands all gathered in the public square of Bubas.

In the past few months, in order to suppress the resistance in the city, the Holy Army hanged all those who offended them, and their bodies were all hung in this square.

People held torches high, the fire blazing.

The corpses were removed one by one. Some of them were husbands who died to protect their wives from rape, some were young girls who fought back in resistance, and some were elderly who wanted to protect their children… Some corpses had weathered, and some corpses were still fresh. The family members of the deceased knelt beside the dead ones and burst into tears. Some of the deceased had no family members, their family members hung along with them on the wooden frame. They were placed together and everyone wept over them.

Finally, all the corpses were neatly placed in the square, and the survivors surrounded all the people who died unfortunately, raising the torches in their hands high, as if they were candles lighting the way to the next life.

A Kriyan archer plucked the strings of a lute and sang a sad funeral song.

That was the oldest funeral song that belonged to Legrand herself. It was the funeral song that people sang for the knights who first established Legrand when they died.

This was a funeral.

There was no priest.

They didn’t need priests, they didn’t need gods.

The mourners followed the bard and sang funeral songs in low voices. The voices gathered together, and the city, which had been sharpened by hatred and anger, showed its scars in the dark night. The funeral song was carried by the evening wind and blew all the way to the city gate.

Saul stood outside the city gate, holding a torch as he listened to the faint funeral song coming from the city.

The light from the torch was limited, and only a vague outline of the head hanging on the city gate could be seen. After the Holy Army captured Bubas City, they did not take it down. They seemed to think that hanging it here would be more conducive to attacking Legrand’s morale.

Saul wanted to move forward.

Someone held his shoulders.

“I knew you would come here.”

The leader of the Kriyan Archers raised his head and looked at the head hanging on the city gate.

Saul wanted to say something, but he interrupted him.

“Don’t do anything to make his sacrifice be in vain.” The leader’s voice was low. He handed something in his hand to Saul, “They said it was his.”

Saul subconsciously took it, and the firelight clearly illuminated what the leader had given him——a sword.

He was very familiar with this sword.

It touched the shoulder of the blond knight, and from then on it accompanied the knight on the battlefield. Until finally someone used it to cut off the knight’s head.

Saul almost wanted to throw it away, and at the same time hug it tightly.

He stood there, the wind passed through the cold and sad dark night, and the leader of Kriya walked away alone in the night.

The sun rose the next day, shining on the city that had walked through the night. The Iron Rose Cavalry set out from the city gate to recapture the second city. The first ray of morning light fell on the pale skeleton of the city gate. Nails penetrated the skull’s forehead, and the skull’s eye sockets were dark, staring at the leaving knights.

Saul, we have to be…

The knight who protects the world.

…………………………………………

“The forces of the Holy Army of the Sea in the southeast are tightening, and they are beginning to retreat.” The Head of the Households reported to the King the news conveyed by the crows, “The Iron Rose Cavalry and the Kriyan Archers, together they have regained the lost ground even faster than we originally expected. The Holy Army remaining in the southeast seems to intend to only stick to Koszoya.”

While the King was reading the reports on various military affairs sent by the officers below, he listened to the report of the Head of the Households and asked a few questions from time to time.

“This can be considered good news.”

The Head of the Households hoped that the victory report coming from the southeast would make the King feel a little more relaxed. 

The King briefly wrote down a few requirements in a report on the deployment of defending the city, and then raised his head: “This is indeed good news.”

​But you don’t seem to look any less relaxed.

The Head of the Households thought.

The King glanced at him and seemed to know what he was thinking: “We won because the pain of this country is carried by too many people… This was not an easy victory.”

Sunlight filtered in from the window and fell on the King’s crown, which cast a shadow on his hair. The outline of his profile was blurred in the light, and dust danced in the beam. The King sat there like a bronze statue washed away by the long river of time. The weight of the entire empire rested on his shoulders, from past to present to future.

Fate was too cruel to the child he watched grow up.

The heavy responsibility and mission started from the first second of his birth and followed him until his death. It could never be easy. The monarch walked on a road full of thorns, and the knights around him were sacrificed one by one. Only he alone could never be freed.

Because he was born to be the king.

“Have our soldiers get ready, they will soon besiege the city.”

The King said.

He asked General Johan to cut off the main grain transportation route from Porto Port to Collin County. The food reserves in Collin County and the plundering of nearby towns and villages alone could not sustain the Knights Templar for too long. After gathering with the elite of the Holy Army of the Sea, Theolde would not stay in Collin County for too long and would instead turn around and besiege Yoringshire County.

Although the situation was vaguely beginning to move in a direction favorable to Legrand, it also placed new problems in front of the King.

After Theolde gathered the scattered forces in the southeast, though Legrand was able to regain the lost territory, the location of Legrand’s real main military force would also usher in an unprecedented siege. Once Yoringshire County was captured and the royal army was defeated, the situation would turn again.

For the royal army, the war had entered a defensive stage.

But this time, what they would face was the siege of the Holy Army, which was close to 100,000 troops.

While the King’s military designers, led by James, were trying their best to arm Yoringshire’s military castle to the teeth, a white eagle took off from the warship on the Abyss Strait and flew towards the location of the Knights Templar.

On the Abyss Strait where the chill was gradually rising, a fleet arrived at the Swan Port of Herid City, which had been turned into ruins due to divine punishment. This was the mouth of Legrand’s most important river, the Doma River.

Three holy armies, the Holy Army of the Sea, the Holy Army of the Holy Land, and the Holy Army of the Border.

The first two holy armies had already joined the battlefield, but the Holy Army of the Border had not arrived due to the long distance. However, it seemed that it was the true blessing of the Holy Lord that the Holy Army of the Border finally arrived in Legrand before the arrival of winter, before the ocean currents and winds in the Abyss Strait turned.

The warships did not make any further stops at Swan Port, but sailed directly from the mouth of the sea and moved forward along the tributaries of the Doma River. Unlike the warships of the Holy Army of the Sea and the Holy Army of the Holy Land, the bows of the Holy Army of the Border’s warships were not that tall and the ship shape was more convenient. Each ship was loaded with soldiers and some supplies.

The alchemist knights had been destroyed together with the Throne of God, and Legrand no longer had the power to block this water passage at the entrance of the Doma River.

This was exactly what Theolde was waiting for.

The tide surged, and the Holy Army of the Border had now joined the battlefield.

……………………

Outside Yoringshire City.

Eleanor reigned in her horse and looked up at the castle, which was armed and on defense in advance. She looked at the royal flag with the rose heraldry fluttering fiercely on the city wall.

The city gate opened and the King rode out of the city quickly.

“Aren’t you going to stay?”

The King looked at Eleanor and asked in a low voice.

Her child was not good at asking for things, just like his father.

Eleanor thought, smiling.

“I am the queen of Kriya. I haven’t gone back for so many years, so I should go and see them.” She said gently, looking at the King’s increasingly mature face, which was still a little youthful, but the King’s majesty covered this fact up.

She moved her hands, subconsciously wanting to reach out and touch his face, but then restrained herself.

“Don’t worry, I still want to see you become the king of the world.”

Eleanor smiled, raised her right hand which wore an iron glove, and patted the King on the shoulder.

“You will, won’t you?”

“There will be a day.”

The King promised.

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The queen laughed, turned the horse’s head, and with the Kriyan scholar, headed southeast.

She wore armor that wrapped around her tightly, she didn’t even dare to get close to the King, for fear that he would notice the scent of blood suppressed by perfume.

The King stood silently outside the city gate, watching his mother ride into the distance.

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“No, it’s not necessarily His resurrection.”

Lightning split the night, causing the sky and the earth to turn white, and the King’s face was as cold as a plaster statue in the light of thunder. He placed the holy book on the table, and there was an inexplicable chill in his tone.

“Those who betray once will never hesitate to betray a second time. Since they have tasted the sweetness of possessing extraordinary abilities, and are therefore majestic and unique on this land, then… why wouldn’t they think of replacing their god with themselves?”

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The easiest thing to forget was awe, and the easiest thing to breed was ambition.

“The original Holy See did not have the concept of the pope having universal political power.” The King touched his fingertips against each other. His memory has always been amazing. The several times Earl Wally talked with the King, he was surprised to find that the King’s familiarity with history was not inferior than any outstanding historian, “Bishop Anil once mentioned that the missionary slogan when the Holy See was first founded was ‘to build the city of the Holy Lord on the ground’, and this city on the ground is the prototype of the Kingdom of God. At that time, all rights in the doctrine of the Holy See were vested in Saint Peter and the Holy Lord.”

“The rise of papal power was a gradual process.”

Earl Wally spent most of his life studying the history of the Holy Court, and he reacted quickly when the King mentioned this.

“At the beginning, Holy See doctrine emphasized more on the worship of the dignity and power of the Holy Lord, as well as the end of the world and the universal view. However, in the sixth century, the importance of the pope and the power he held began to rise. Like with the theologians, they also carefully trained a group of eloquent jurists, and by the seventh century, when the first Lucado Edicts were promulgated, they began to preach that secular monarchy is already subordinate to the pope.”

“And before that, the secular kings were the incarnations of the Holy Lord in the human world, the same agents as them.”

The King said.

“In the early days, only the jurists of the church advocated and supported the universal supreme power of the pope. But soon, the theological circles also began to try to confirm this. Based on the contract between God and man in the holy book, they claimed that according to the line ‘the Creator who was and would be hereafter’ the monarch must obey the church, and the order of excommunication began to be born at this time. However, the order of excommunication itself poses logical problems——as both the incarnation of the Holy Lord, how does the pope have the power to punish the monarch?” Earl Wally spoke quickly, “Since the Lucado Edicts, the subsequent collection of decrees increasingly strengthened the universal supreme power of the pope. How did they manage that?”

“The concept of Purgatory and the Intermediary.”

The concept of purgatory required people to believe in the Holy See, and the intermediary role played by the clergy in the right to salvation and the guide role to the gate of the Kingdom of God allowed them to skillfully transfer this part of the power to themselves in the name of God. With the development of the internal order of the Holy See, the prototype of a divine kingdom system emerged with the episcopal system, which inevitably concentrated power at the top of the system——the pope.

“He personally taught His followers how to steal His authority.”

The King said softly.

This was truly a great irony.

The Holy Lord stole power from history and wanted to use it to resurrect Himself. The Pope and the Holy See stole power from the Holy Lord to rise to the top of the secular throne.

The cycle of fate was like an ancient curse, and those who betrayed would be betrayed themselves.

If the conversation between the King and Earl Wally tonight were known to the world, then countless people would lose their spiritual sustenance overnight and live in panic without knowing where they were going. The god of salvation was false, history had been tampered with, and faith had been exploited… The solid spiritual empire had collapsed in a single conversation, leaving only the cold and cruel truth.

“Although the Holy Empire has been established, the Holy Lord may not awaken——there is one person in this world who is more unwilling than us to allow the gods to truly revive.”

Earl Wally’s clothes were already drenched with cold sweat again during this conversation.

The King’s pale fingertips rubbed the bone ring on his hand.

He was thinking about other things, about the “Law”.

The incompleteness of the Law allowed mysterious forces to still hide in the darkness and interfere with human history before the Millennium Kingdom began. Half of the incomplete parts of the Law were in the hands of the World Serpent. It betrayed him during the “Twilight War” and intercepted part of the fruits of victory in the war. Thus this half of the incomplete parts of the Law allowed it to hide in the Tomb of the Gods and absorb power.

Then, there should still be another half of the incomplete parts left. Who had this other half of the incomplete parts of the Law?

“Theolde.”

The King whispered, as if he was responding to Earl Wally’s words, or talking to himself.

………………

Theolde was walking in the city of Collin. 

These days, the atmosphere in Collin City has become very tense. Even though Theolde restrained the Knights Templar and did not let the massacre of Koszoya happen here, the relationship between knights and citizens was still full of gunpowder, and conflicts may break out at any time.

“I know that within the Holy Court, there have been many different voices regarding this Holy Army movement. Some people think that I am too aggressive, and some people think that the time has not come yet.”

Theolde stood in front of Morse University in Collin City, slightly raising his head to look at the college’s arched stone pillars carved with roses.

“Your Majesty’s far-sighted vision is beyond our comprehension.”

Accompanying Theolde on his walk was a Holy See bishop who had crossed the Abyss Strait. He was also a messenger, carrying a secret message from Holy Spirit Bay. However, after Pope Theolde learned of his arrival, he was not anxious to get the secret message from him. Instead, he invited him to walk around the city of Collin.

Since the establishment of the Holy Empire, a subtle relationship between the Holy Court and the Empire had developed.

Nominally, the Holy Court and the Holy Empire were equivalent. But in fact, the twelve sanctuaries of the Holy Court and the original institutions have not been fully integrated into the Holy Empire. Although the relationship between the two was still very close, as long as the Holy City of Holy Spirit Bay still exists, there would naturally be a separation point of interest between the Holy City system and the Holy Empire system.

Even some elders in the Holy Court’s Council of Elders believed that the entire Holy Court had been fooled by Theolde.

Theolde took away the elite backbones of the Holy Court and created a new shell called the “Holy Empire” on the land of Bressi. Between the new shell and the old body, he was the only one who benefited, not the Holy Court. It was just that Theolde’s personal prestige within the Holy Court was too high, and this voice had been suppressed before this.

However, when Theolde led the elite of the Holy Court to attack Legrand, while Holy Spirit Bay was struggling to cope with the attack of the Nujin Empire led by Hermóðr’, these different voices surfaced again.

The Holy See bishop appearing here as a messenger was a representative of this voice.

The Bishopric b of the Holy See was aware of the role he played, but he was not a fool. Theolde’s battle record that he heard along the way through Legrand was enough for him to understand that he was facing a pope with an unprecedented power peak in the history of the Holy See——and at the same time also an emperor.

Facing Theolde, he could only carefully form his words.

Theolde smiled slightly: “On your way here, when you look at these towns, at these colleges that have arisen in the land of Legrand, what do you see?”

“I see heresy and disrespect for God.”

The Holy See bishop replied.

These words came from the bottom of his heart and were not a lie.

In his opinion, Legrand was simply a land of sludge that deserved to go to hell. Business was booming here, and the monarchs of Legrand encouraged this. What was taught in the colleges was not theology, but science. The heliocentric theory, which had been defined as a fallacy and heresy in the “Hall of Truth”, was widely spread here. What was hung in the art galleries was not depictions of the Holy Spirit and angels, but ordinary mortals…

Evil bred here, and the believers here do not even recognize the teachings of the Holy See. They were indeed a group of heretics who call themselves “believers.”

“But I see life and vitality. This is a country that is clearly so old, but yet so young.”

Theolde looked at the arch of the university and spoke slowly while facing the rose reliefs.

“The War of Divine Punishment tore her apart. This is the greatest victory and the greatest failure of the Holy Court——she should have been completely destroyed long ago. Bressi’s expedition after expedition could not defeat her, our missionaries could not convert her but were converted by her. When we finally paid attention to her, she became stronger once again.”

“Strong enough to confront the 200,000 Holy Army head-on.”

Theolde’s voice suddenly became stern.

His demeanor had always been very gentle, but when the fatherly gentleness receded from him, what was revealed was the cold majesty of an emperor.

The Holy See bishop felt as if he was falling into an abyss under his gaze.

“Legrand only has this kind of castle and this mere number of soldiers yet it can withstand an army of 200,000. And our Holy Palace has twelve sanctuaries that took thousands of years to build, and each of them is an indestructible military fortress. But such a Holy Court cannot withstand the attack of a group of herdsmen?” Theolde’s voice was soft, “I am very disappointed.”

The back of the Holy See bishop was soaked with sweat.

He handed the letter to the Pope and left in a daze before even saying a word of what represents the meaning of the Council of Elders.

Sisian stepped out of the shadows on the side, came to Theolde’s side, and asked the Pope in a low voice whether he wanted this visitor from the Holy Court to die on the battlefield while on the way back.

Theolde shook his head and opened the letter.

As expected from the letter, it was the corrupt elders of Holy Spirit Bay who wanted him to send the Knights Templar back as reinforcements.

Theolde tore the letter into pieces and let the wind blow it away.

“Allowing them to stay during the purge campaign was simply a mistake.” Sisian couldn’t help but say.

“A bunch of useless rotten insects cannot be considered useful, nor can they be considered a mistake.” Theolde said. He raised his head and looked at Collin City under the morning light, and watched as the Knights Templar had no choice but to patrol the city in full force, “I finally understand one thing over these days. The year William III died, I made the most fatal mistake.”

Sisian looked at Theolde in astonishment.

In his mind, Theolde was a figure almost on par with God. He once thought that he would never see the day when this man made a mistake. No matter what happens, he could always take advantage of everything. However, today Theolde personally said that he had made a fatal mistake.

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“William III and the Duke of Buckingham are the craziest gamblers in the world.”

Theolde said.

They carefully crafted the most audacious lie and deceived everyone in its deception.

Pureland, Purland.

There was actually no such person as King Pureland I of the Legrand Empire in this world.

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“We must thank Your Majesty for all the information you have provided us despite your busy schedule.” Earl Wally opened the box he carried with him. He came in the rain but this lacquered wooden box ensured that the precious manuscript files stored in it were protected from the elements, “You showed us a corner of the Age of Gods and corrected the direction of our research.”

The King nodded slightly.

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After his memory gradually recovered, he wrote down some of the things he had experienced from an objective perspective after hiding his name, and gave them to the Hanging Sword.

“According to your description, in the Age of Gods, the names of the gods corresponded to their respective authorities, and the gods each held different authorities. But there was only one authority that was empty, and that was the authority that symbolizes ‘kingship’. You believed that at that time, the gods were fighting each other for the authority of ‘kingship’, and hell also joined the fight, while humans were swept along.” 

“We temporarily call this period of time the ‘Era of Strife’.”

“The first country of mankind was established in this era.”

The King said calmly.

Before the Rose family established their empire, the human race was the most lowly race in the world at that time. They were the food of the evil dragon and the slaves of gods and demons. Even if there were people like the alchemists who received power from the gods, it would not change this fact. People today could never know what kind of life the mortals lived in the past.

But the King knows.

As soon as he closed his eyes, the sallow and thin skeletal figures would appear one after another, like a nightmare that was always lingering around him. Emaciated humans hid in mountain streams and in dark caves. At that time, there was no way to build towns on the earth, because once people gathered, the evil dragon would fly in and devour everyone. But without building towns, how could humans live in dangerous nature?

People prayed to all the gods, and the gods only sent miracles to bless those who became believers. There was no god to help people slay the evil dragon. Blessed towns were often driven by the gods to attack and massacre their own people because of the hatred between different gods.

As lowly as grass, enslaved like cattle.

Such days were unimaginable to all those who come after them.

“Since the first human kingdom was established, more and more different people have gathered in this human kingdom, astrologers, alchemists, witches… all kinds. This was a good start. But the gods soon realized that the human race was becoming out of control, and the killing of the evil dragon made them realize the power of human beings. And the birth of the country and the monarch in human society made them realize that human beings possess things that gods do not have.” Earl Wally’s voice was low.

There was no expression on the King’s face. He stared at the candlelight and said softly: “So, divine punishment descended.”

Different gods used different excuses to ask this new human nation to give them their faith. After failure, the anger of the gods flooded this new nation.

The country that was peaceful one day turned into scorched land the next day.

Earl Wally looked at the King. There was no expression on the King’s face under the candlelight, but he clearly felt that time had been shaved off in the King’s pupils, yet there was something sad and angry that remained the same even after all the years.

How could it not be the same as before? The anger, sadness and pain.

Fire raged in the first human kingdom, and he walked alone in the ruined city. The fire would last for three days and three nights. He watched how no matter how much water people brought, they could not extinguish the small flames. He watched how someone on fire rolled on the ground, unable to extinguish the fire that symbolized divine punishment.

A mother who was crushed under the rubble lifted her child up with all her strength.

——Save her, please, save her.

The mother cried and begged hoarsely.

He took the long-dead child from the mother’s hands and watched her die with trust. He felt as if the weight of the whole world was pressing on his hands at that moment. They didn’t even know what they had done wrong, just simply dying in front of him.

Those were his people! His citizens!

The King closed his eyes hard and suppressed the surging emotions.

It was after that that he left the knights to protect the surviving people, and walked to the end of the world alone, where he found the legendary enemy of the gods——the oldest devil who had single-handedly fought against all the gods.

“After the divine punishment, people began to use strategies and schemes to deal with the extremely powerful gods and hell.” The King whispered, “To be precise, at that time, humans’ allies did not only include hell, but also the gods. Other than the Rose family who were allied with hell, there were other groups of people who migrated to city-states controlled by gods. On the one hand, they delivered important information to the human kingdom, and on the other hand, they looked for opportunities to intensify conflicts between different gods.”

Earl Wally continued to elaborate. This part of the history was his speculation based on the information given by the King and other information: “It could be said that all three aspects have achieved a certain success. The first group of people who established the human kingdom plotted against different forces which finally led to the battle ‘Twilight of the Gods’ that ended the legendary era. The gods fell, hell died, and the vacant authority returned to heaven and earth. These authorities that returned to heaven and earth because of the fall of the gods were reorganized into one thing. And it was precisely because of its existence that mysterious supernatural power is no longer the main body of history after the legendary era——the Law.”

“The Law became the final fruit of mankind’s all-out efforts in that battle.”

“According to the original goal, the Law should prevent any extraordinary abilities from appearing on the earth.”

“But not all dragon-slaying warriors could remain dragon-slayers.”

What was a human? Humans have the most beautiful qualities in the world, and they also have the most evil qualities in the world.

Ambition, greed, conspiracy, and betrayal were commonplace.

The King calmly listened to Earl Wally retelling the truth pieced together from history, what happened after he died in hell——these things matched his predictions and guesses.

“Some people who have had too much contact with the gods eventually fell completely to a certain god.” Count Wally took out a “holy book” from the lacquer box. “The Holy Court has always tried its best to promote the holy book as the real history, although the book itself is false, some truths are hidden behind the falsehood. Please look here——”

Earl Wally turned to a chapter in the holy book.

“‘…He said to the prophet, I shall make a covenant with you to teach you to obtain the Holy Spirit. You must educate those ignorant and chaotic people and teach them to atone for their sins.’ The content of the covenant is unknown, but this covenant is likely to truly exist. And this contract should be the contract signed by the original people and the later ‘Holy Lord’.”

“The record of the Holy Lord’s name in the holy book contains both the first and last letters of the divine alphabet. According to the rule that the name of a god points to the authority they symbolize, this name itself precisely points to the power of the Holy Lord as that which lies in both the past and the future. And in the holy book, it is mentioned that He said, ‘Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, and He who lives; I was dead and now I am alive for eternity.’ Your Majesty, this is a prophecy.”

Earl Wally looked up at the King with a pale face.

“At that time, the mortals who allied with Him were probably trying to take advantage of this. He wanted to compete for the position of the king of all gods. As long as the other gods fell and He became the last god, then he would naturally be the king of kings. The fall of the gods includes the gods’ own handiwork.”

“If they had maintained their original aspirations, then there should be no Holy Court in the world.”

If this group of people had remained as they had in the past, then the Holy Court should not have appeared in this world.

“They were unwilling to give up the power given by the gods.” The King said, “For mortals, it is too powerful a temptation. Such power allows them to dominate others.”

Think about it, the gods have fallen, hell no longer exists, and the mysterious powers of the earth have all withered. And as long as they continue to carry out the oath they made with that god, establish a Holy Temple on the earth and resurrect the Holy Lord, then there would be only one god left in the world, and as God’s spokesperson, they could dominate the world.

For some people freedom and dignity were worthy of sacrificing their lives, whereas for others it was worthless.

What a very good deal indeed.

There was only one god left in the world. They didn’t have to worry about losing their lives due to the fighting amongst the gods. They only need to kneel before one god to gain power, status and wealth, while at the same time also step on the heads of fellow compatriots. So, for them, why not?

“The establishment of the Holy Court allowed the one who should have fallen like the other gods to remain in the dust-covered Kingdom of the Gods and become the only god there.” Earl Wally raised his head to look at the King, “The establishment of the Holy Court is to transform Him into the true king of kings and to allow Him to be fully resurrected.”

“So they must do their best to erase the history of the existence of the gods, and must integrate the legend of the Holy Lord and the Holy Court with history.” The King took the holy book from Earl Wally and looked at the line above, “He claims to be ‘As was, was now, and will be forever’. This means that His authority points to the past, present and future. The past is history, the present is reflected by the past, and future history is condensed from the present.”

“So the Holy Court is trying to replace the real history with the history told in the Holy Book, because in this way He will be resurrected!”

Everything has become clear.

“The monarchy in the teachings of the Holy Court is equal to the incarnation of the Holy Lord in the human world. In this way, they could transfer the royal power and authority possessed by the human monarch to the Holy Lord. The teachings emphasize that the believer’s mission is to establish a Kingdom of God on earth for the Holy Lord, and that all people are the people of God…” The King closed the heavy book and looked at the title page, “The Kingdom of God as the territory, the believers as the people, the human agents and angels as the ministers.”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

“Territory, ministers, people, and when all the necessary conditions are complete——”

Earl Wally exhaled slowly, suppressing the rage in his heart.

“He will come to the earth as the true King of Gods and Men!”

After discovering this, the horror in Earl Wally’s heart was unimaginable to outsiders. He took this information and rushed to the front line of the battlefield non-stop, just to tell the King about this horrific discovery.

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