The 8th of May.
The incident in Brill Forest could not be covered up. The news of the ambush of the Rose Cross Army spread throughout the kingdom through various channels the next day.
When the carrier pigeon crossed half the kingdom and arrived in Hollier, the Dukes Of Angmar, who was reading letters at his desk, almost crushed the cup in his hand.
In this era, there was no such thing as a 'war reporter'. All the war reports were basically passed down by word of mouth, and in the process of transmission, it was often distorted and exaggerated. In the end, the 'Rose Cross' managed to escape with at least 30% of their troops, but in the war report, it was exaggerated to say that they were 'completely annihilated'.
However, the Dukes Of Angmar was knowledgeable and knew that such reports could not be completely trusted. He tried his best to calm his mind and patiently waited for the subsequent battle reports from other channels … In the afternoon, the news from Bishop Benjamin finally gave him some hope.
This old friend of his, who was the archbishop of the diocese, urgently mobilized all the forces he could and led a team of more than a thousand people to the vicinity of Brill Forest on the 7th of May. They assisted in the retreat of some of the troops and confirmed that at least a thousand soldiers had survived.
Although he had not confirmed whether Sally was among them, the Dukes still breathed a sigh of relief.
But then he thought of Roddy, who was behaving strangely. After he left the north gate, there was still no news of him. So many days had passed, what was he doing?
The war was over, but he didn't even know what had happened, right?
*****
Angmar, who was in Eiffel Tower, was worried about his daughter's safety. Meanwhile, in the "Holy Cathedral", Cardinal Mograine was worried about his current situation.
"Lord Cardinal, this is the current damage report, and there is also … a rather strange piece of news."
Mograine no longer had the high-spirited and confident look he had when he was talking to Rubens a few days ago. At this moment, his eyes were sunken and bloodshot because he had not slept all night. When he heard the words of his priest, he turned his gaze stiffly and reached for the letter that he did not want to read at all. He asked casually, "Now that things have come to this, it is no longer strange for anything to happen … Speak, what do you have to report?"
"The reserve team from Perth Town suddenly left two days before the battle and arrived at the battlefield on the day of the battle …"
Mograine abruptly turned around. Many things had occurred to him in an instant. His gaze darkened as he asked, "Someone forged my orders?"
"I can't confirm it yet, my lord." After the priest answered in a low voice, he continued, "There's another piece of news — a troop from the Bogdo parish also arrived near the battlefield after a forced march on the seventh, and helped the main force to get rid of the enemy's pursuit —"
"What does that mean?!"
Mograine did not wait for him to finish. He suddenly turned around and slammed his hand on the wooden table beside him.
The ink bottle toppled over, and the black ink instantly stained the originally clean table. "Why does it sound like everyone knows that my troops will be attacked, and only I am kept in the dark?!"
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Everything that had happened before his eyes was like the biggest joke in the world. It was as if everyone in the world knew that there was a trap there, and only he, the stupidest of them all, jumped into it without hesitation …
"The Bogdo parish. That was Benjamin's order, and he —" Mograine only needed to follow up on the information and immediately found that this matter seemed to have something to do with the soon-to-be Cardinal Rubens!
Speaking of Rubens, the scene of him mocking him two days ago was still vivid in his mind, and Rubens's mocking reply seemed to have a deeper meaning …
"You're right, Lord Mograine. Any point of view must be made clear with facts. "
What facts?
The truth was that his blind confidence had cost the lives of more than five thousand elite soldiers of the Rose Cross Army!
From the looks of it now, this sentence was a complete slap to his own face!
There was an indescribable sense of depression in his chest, but Mograine found that he could not blame the other party at all … Everything was just speculation, and there was no evidence at all.
"Go investigate! Find out! I want to know what they did, and why they kept me in the dark! "
This was the first time in decades that Mograine … and perhaps the last time he lost his composure as a Cardinal.
*****
At the same time, Rubens took the letter from the priest and asked, "You said that the carrier pigeon that delivered the letter was very big?"
"Lord Bishop … it's not very big. It's, it's strangely big. When it fell, it crushed the whole pigeon cage. We thought it was under attack, but when we saw its legs sticking out, we realized there was a letter here …"
"Crushed the pigeon cage?"
The corner of Rubens's mouth twitched with a strange expression. The pigeon cage of the Holy Cathedral was not small. Although it was made of wood, its area was comparable to that of an ordinary noble's house. What kind of god was this "carrier pigeon" that could crush this thing?
But he was more curious about the letter. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the signature on it was actually Roddy's name. He quickly tore it open, but when he read it, he found that the sentence was nonsense. He only saw the words "soaked in water" at the end of the letter. He thought for a moment, then splashed the letter with a cup of water. Then, he saw the sentence hidden in the original handwriting.
Rubens narrowed his eyes and read it. Then, his eyes widened in shock and he even gasped!
He suddenly grasped the letter in his hand, and spent more than ten seconds recalling the contents of what he had just read. Then, he immediately tore the letter into pieces.
Picking up a quill, Rubens immediately wrote down the order to dispatch troops on a new piece of parchment. Then, he imprinted it with the ring on his finger, "Abandon all other actions and carry out the order now …"
The priest took the letter and was obviously stunned by the contents. Then, he did not ask any more questions and turned to leave …
*****
In the evening, in a forest fifty kilometers away from the edge of the Briar Forest, Roddy was in a simple camp, staring at the bonfire in front of him and slowly turning the hare in his hand.
After killing Goethe at the edge of the Briar Forest, Roddy and the others evacuated the villagers of Mogra Village. Then, with the remaining sixty-seven people, they set off from Mogra Village all the way to the northeast. After a day and a night, they finally arrived at this forest and finally stopped.
The soldiers around them had long been exhausted and sat on the ground. They did not bring much food when they set off from Mogra Village. At this moment, the rations for more than sixty people had been settled by hunting two wild boars and three deer by Roddy. He was also the "guide" appointed by the current supreme commander of this team, Sally.
"Sister Sally, do we still have to go far?"
"I don't know. Let's just listen to him."
"Uncle Roddy …"
"He's not that old. You can just call him big brother."
Sally smiled and corrected Naifei's mistake. Then, she took her little hand and sat down beside Roddy. She took the hare meat from Roddy and gave it to Naifei. "It's a little hot. Eat it carefully."
Roddy looked at the intimate scene between the two of them and the corner of his mouth twitched. He shifted his gaze and coughed dryly. "Have you found the linen?"
"Yes. Is this enough?"
Sally handed over the roll of linen in her hand. Then, she saw Roddy stretch out his hand. "Give me the scepter too."
She handed over the "Viper's Kiss" without hesitation. Roddy froze. Sally stuffed the scepter into his hand and asked doubtfully, "What's wrong? Is there something strange? "
"Nothing. I just feel that this scepter is a little different."
Sally's trust in him had long been unreservedly. Even if it was a divine artifact, she did not have any doubts or reluctance … Roddy held the cold "Viper's Kiss" in his hand. His heart was inexplicably moved. His eyes swept over the [Equipment Attributes], and his lips involuntarily twitched.
Viper's Kiss (Awakening)
Two-handed Staff
Divine Artifact
Attack 217-315
+ 37 Intelligence
+ 59 Spirit
+ 129 Spell Effect
+ 90 Shadow Resistance
Equip: Additional spell effects when casting spells.
Equip: Has "Deterrence" effect on all snake-type beasts, magical beasts, and low-level dragons.
Equip: Can activate the aura effect.
Alecto's Aura of Fear: All attack spells have a chance to cause "Fear" effect, causing the enemy to fall into "Fear" state for five seconds.
Morgala's Strengthening Aura: Provides 65% increase in the effect of most spells.
Tisiphone's Vengeance Aura: When attacked, uses shadow energy to cause a certain amount of damage.
(Only one type of aura can be activated at a time. Cooldown: 1 hour.)
"The Viper's Vengeance never stops."
[This equipment is bound, currently unusable.]
Even though he had observed it many times during the course of the day and night, every time he saw this astonishing attribute, he could not help but suck in a breath of cold air.
This was not the pleasant surprise of "winning the lottery", but the sense of danger of "an innocent man will get into trouble because of his wealth"!
The words "Awakening" of the Viper's Kiss proved that its true power was far more terrifying than what it was currently displaying. The "Viper Staff" that Bishop Frack had previously mentioned should be this item.
In other words, it seemed like the artifact that the "Viper Cross" had painstakingly obtained was actually "intercepted" by Roddy and Sally just like that.
In the past, the players could turn against each other and disband their guild for a single piece of equipment, not to mention a scepter that could possibly change the fate of a church.
Roddy had been moving forward cautiously for the past two days. He took detours, deliberately set up a maze, took a roundabout route, entered the forest, and did his best to cut off any possibility of being targeted by the other party. What he needed to do now was to prevent the true form of the scepter from being revealed to others.
The linen cloth was tightly wrapped around the scepter, covering the scales and the intricate head of the snake.
"I also feel that this scepter is somewhat different. It … caused my body to change."
Sally looked at Roddy's cautious appearance and could not help but recall the feeling of her body being infused with energy. After that, she shivered and could not help but sit closer to Roddy. "It contains a very cold power, it makes people … afraid."
"That scepter?" As they were speaking, Naifei's small face suddenly moved closer. She then pointed at the "Viper's Kiss" that was wrapped in linen cloth in Roddy's hand. She casually said: "It seems to be very powerful. It is always emitting a purple light. Even the linen cloth cannot block it …"
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