At dawn, the stench of blood near the gates of the Holy Cathedral did not dissipate. Instead, it grew thicker.
After Rubens arrived, he took over the defense of the city and quickly recruited civilian "auxiliary troops" to help with the defense. The corpses from the previous battle were moved elsewhere, but there was no time to clean up the congealed blood and minced meat on the ground because it was not safe outside the city walls.
The soldiers on the city walls did not dare to rest for the night. Because it was late at night, there were a few "Holy Army" knights wandering around the city walls. Of course, they were not there to attack the city, but to search the corpses of the Holy Army guards at the city gates to see if there was anything else they could take.
After daybreak, looking down from the city walls, one could see many naked corpses. Obviously, in this era where productivity was severely lacking, the bandits would not let go of anything valuable. Although many of them were "knights", no one felt that they needed to follow the rules of a knight when it was dark and windy.
The Holy Cathedral was not attacked because of the city walls, but most of the villages and towns under the jurisdiction of the Holy Cathedral were covered in black smoke. This scene enraged the people in the Holy City. But when they remembered that none of the soldiers who left the city yesterday returned, it was obvious how cruel the enemy was.
Now, the troops that Cardinal Rubens brought were only enough to defend the city walls. There was no extra troops to go out and clean up the bandits. Therefore, the people in the city all hoped that the Pope would issue a "holy decree" and gather the Holy Cathedral guards from various parishes to come to the rescue.
However, to everyone's surprise, when the sky brightened, the north gate of the Holy Sanctum was opened all of a sudden. A group of 700 cavalrymen entered the city majestically, followed by over 2,000 infantry and a long convoy carrying emergency rations.
The citizens of the city were excited, but after asking around, they realized that it was the reinforcement team sent by Duke Eiferta. The leader was the Grand Knight under Duke, Wellington!
All this while, the Holy Cathedral, which was outside of Eiffta's territory, had never allowed the nobles to bring their troops into the city. This time, the second group of reinforcements came from Duchess Sally. Ordinary people might not be able to tell the difference, but those who understood a little would immediately realize that this was a legitimate "infiltration of forces" …
After the Holy Sanctum was ambushed by the enemy, there was no room for rejection. If Charles II's army were to arrive at this time, then the Rose Cross would be ruled by the royal family. But now that it was Sally's army that had arrived, then … the boundaries of Efta's territory would probably have to be redrawn.
He had no choice but to bow his head when he was under someone else's roof.
But what surprised the commoners even more was that at noon, the "Rose Cross" announced a "Holy Edict" — Pope Peter confessed that the reason why the city almost fell was because the Church had underestimated the enemy, and that they bore the main responsibility for it. At the same time, he announced the number of priests, bishops, temple guards, and even Grand Cardinals who had sacrificed themselves in this battle. He also explained the fact that he was injured.
After that, he expressed his sincere appreciation to Rubens and Benjamin for their timely support, as well as his sincere gratitude to Eiffta, Duke, and Sally Lucifron. He also announced that the matters of the "Rose Cross" would be discussed and decided by the Grand Cardinals, and he would temporarily not participate in the decision-making due to his heavy injuries.
After that, there was a series of pleasantries to reassure the people. But what this "Holy Edict" did not mention was that after today, the Grand Cardinals would undergo the largest personnel change in history. Other than the three who had died in battle, five Grand Cardinals withdrew from the core circle at the same time due to "heavy injuries". Then, Benjamin and two other district bishops who originally belonged to Rubens' faction joined the Grand Cardinals. Since then, more than 70% of the Grand Cardinals were staunch supporters of the Eiffta faction. In the future, the right to speak for the "Rose Cross" would undoubtedly belong to Rubens.
And sitting in this position, Rubens naturally knew who he should listen to.
No matter how the core power level changed, the scattered bandit army wandering outside the "Holy Temple" was the current problem. So after the "Holy Edict" was issued, Knight Wellington, who had already rested and reorganized, immediately led the army to recover the lost villages. The bandits, who were already disorganized, could not fight against the regular army from Eiffta. They were almost all taken down in one wave of attack. The troops that followed behind distributed emergency food to ensure that the villagers who had been robbed of their food would not starve to death.
Such a series of measures made the impoverished farmers who were robbed very grateful. Under the propaganda of some people, they gradually knew that these soldiers were not the Holy Temple Guards of the "Rose Cross", but reinforcements sent by "Eiffta Duke".
These propaganda spread everywhere. As the saying goes, "Providing timely help is better than icing on the cake". After losing confidence in the "Rose Cross", these refugees now knew that "Eiffta" was the real savior of their plight.
And these soldiers led by Knight Wellington obviously did not plan to return soon. Their mission was not just to disperse the "Holy Army" knights who had lost their will to fight, but to station here in the name of "protection", to stabilize the suddenly expanding borders of Eiffta's territory.
From now on, all the areas in the northern part of the kingdom where the "Holy Temple" was located had already been incorporated into the territory of "Eiffta".
*****
And in a small city in the eastern part of the kingdom, there were already scattered believers who brought the news of the defeat to the "Viper Cross".
The "Viper Cross" did not have the heritage of the "Rose Cross" because the religion appeared later, and its doctrine was born from the "Rose Cross", so the architectural style here was quite similar to the "Holy Temple". If there was one biggest difference, it would be the image of a viper carved on the building.
The believer soldier who survived the battle was covered in sweat and mud. He was brought to the center of the church, and in front of the Pope, the other four cardinals and the six elders, he told the news of Claude and Dean being killed by a guy who appeared out of nowhere.
His intermittent words were mixed with unspeakable fear, and the faces of the people who were looking forward to the great news of victory suddenly turned ugly.
The priesthood of the "Viper Cross" was slightly different from that of the "Rose Cross". Under the Pope, the "Cardinals" and "Elders" were equal. But only the "Cardinals" could participate in political decisions, and the "Elders" were determined by strength and power. They belonged to the combat department, and had the right to know, but not the right to make decisions.
Pope Dai Ze's eyes were gloomy. He was wearing a white robe, sitting on a seat slightly higher than the others, and was silent. The cardinals and elders below were in an uproar over the news — Dean and Claude's strength was publicly recognized, and they had led their respective troops to attack according to the plan. How could they be killed by one person?
"Who did it? Is it really one person? "
"What about Elvis's whereabouts?"
Someone asked, but Pope Dai Ze interrupted these unimportant details — there were too many strange things in this world, and no one would think that they were invincible. The stronger one was, the more they understood respect, so the deaths of Claude and Dean did not surprise him too much. The only thing he cared about now was the "Viper's Kiss". As for the vacancies of the elders and cardinals, there would always be someone to replace them.
"Your Holiness … Lord Elvis was forced to retreat by the guy with the bow and arrow. In the end, he used the scroll and escaped by flying …"
This sentence made the surrounding elders and cardinals heave a collective sigh of relief. "Escaping by flying" meant that he used the ancient scroll. Everyone present was very clear about the effects of the scroll, so they naturally thought that Elvis had successfully taken away the "Viper's Kiss".
Pope Dai Ze was also relieved. What he needed to do now was to wait for Elvis's return. Once he regained control of the scepter, the "Viper Cross" could be completely revived and ruthlessly trample on the "Rose Cross"!
But before that, Pope Dai Ze still had a lot of things to deal with — in his opinion, the "aftermath" and the battle were actually equally important, because the "Viper Cross" absolutely could not admit that this war was started by them alone, and the only thing he needed to do now was to push the blame onto Count Milno.
"When Elvis returns, bring him to the" Baptism Room ", that's what he deserves."
The "Baptism Room" was the main reason why the "Viper Cross" was able to attract a large number of powerful masters — those who could enter the "Baptism Room" for a day would have their strength greatly increased after coming out, and some could even break through the threshold and become a powerful existence that ordinary people could not resist … But the "Baptism Room" was under the control of the Pope, and became a reward that everyone wanted.
The Pope heaved a sigh of relief, feeling a lot more relaxed. He only said in a low voice, "As long as Elvis is fine … I believe in his loyalty."
*****
On the 5th of July, the gates of the Holy Cathedral that had been closed for many days finally opened.
This was because the "bandit suppression operation" carried out by Wellington and the Holy Cathedral Guards was a huge success. The "Holy Army" that was wandering around the "Holy Cathedral" and the "Church Army" that the "Viper Cross" left behind when they fled had basically been annihilated or expelled. At the same time, more than three hundred bandits who participated in robbing the villages were captured alive and were escorted into the "Holy Cathedral" gates.
According to the original method, after the "bandits" were defeated by the knights, they would basically be killed on the spot to prevent future troubles. In this era where "the lord is greater than the heavens" and "the rules of the church are everything", there was basically no unified law or regulation. But under Roddy's orders, these bandits were obviously suitable material for a "political show".
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