The Holy City of Eastford was one of the most famous cities in the entire continent. It was famous for its long history and unique religious culture. Every day, countless pilgrims would come to this City of God, which was blessed by the Holy Light.
Although the city wasn't very large, the great majority of its citizens were members of the Church of God. This small city had seven world-class cathedrals and over a hundred small and medium-sized cathedrals, all of which were historical sites.
On this mountain city that was built along the mountain, there was a rather famous staircase. It was the famous Holy Staircase Pilgrimage Path. There were pilgrims walking on it at all times. On both sides of the staircase, there were countless magnificent sculptures. Among them were ancient heroes, historical figures, and most of them were mythological figures with strange shapes.
More than three hundred years ago, there was once a fanatic who used his own power to transform this Holy Staircase Pilgrimage into a path of blood. Yet, he didn't receive any divine punishment. From then on, the Holy Staircase Pilgrimage became a path of blood … Alright, now that I mention it, everyone probably knows where this is.
This was the Holy Church's headquarters, the city where the Holy Light first descended. This was also where everything began.
Walking up the famous white stone staircase to the top of the mountain, there was a group of buildings that seemed like they were on the verge of collapse. This was the Holy Church's headquarters, the core area of the Holy Light which occupied more than half of the continent's worshippers. In fact, it could even be called the central authority of the Aichy continent — the Byrne Holy Church.
In the past, everyone here would walk slowly with their heads held high. It was as if the residents here were born with the right to be arrogant. This was indeed the case. The competition between divine authority and secular authority was endless. In this generation, even a domain lord with actual authority wouldn't dare to offend a regional bishop.
Perhaps a seemingly impoverished old priest on this path would catch the eye of a certain bishop the next day and become a high-ranking official of some empire. Reality was even more illogical than fiction. Such things had happened many times in the past. But today, everyone was in a hurry and spoke carefully. However, they couldn't help but sneak glances at the area surrounded by Holy Light.
"Is there still no results? All the cardinals have been inside for so long … "
At three o 'clock this morning, the holy bell at the entrance of the Cathedral of Byrne rang. In half an hour, all the cardinals and high-ranking members had to be on time. Although the bell did not mean an emergency war, the last time the bell rang was more than twenty years ago.
Obviously, something big had happened. Even if there was nothing on the surface, many priests could not help but talk about it in private. While the higher-ups were busy in all kinds of conference rooms, all kinds of rumors were already flying around.
"It can't be because of that incident in the Northlands, right? No matter what, the rumors are spreading, and it's greatly affecting the Holy Church's reputation."
"No way. The Oracle has confirmed that they are allies. Would Your Holiness dare to go against the Oracle? "
"Then what do you think it is? What kind of important matter would require all the lords to discuss it? It's just like before the Holy War with Calthorne twenty years ago … "
The priest's voice became softer and softer as cold sweat continuously dripped down his forehead. For lower-ranking members like them, the Holy War was definitely not good news.
Perhaps the spoils of war and glory from the Holy War would make those in power go wild with joy, and the glory of the Holy War would make those who believed in it go all out for it. But for ordinary members of the Holy Church, the Holy War also meant countless deaths. Before they could obtain an endless amount of gold and glory, there would definitely be mountains of corpses. Perhaps not only would the heretics be among these corpses, but they would also be among them.
"He's out, he's out!"
"It's His Holiness the Supreme Pontiff!"
The white-robed Pope Caloma the First had just walked out of the Holy Church. His previous amicable demeanor had vanished without a trace. His ashen expression was doubtlessly the best announcement. Everyone in the plaza automatically remained silent. Meanwhile, the cardinals and archpriests who walked out of the plaza all had different expressions. Some had serious expressions and didn't say a single word. Some had angry expressions and flushed faces. Of course, there were also those who pretended to be serious, but were actually smiling without realizing it.
From an ordinary person's point of view, the new Pope Caloma was already more than sixty years old. He could be considered an old man who didn't have much time left. But in reality, apart from those who died of unnatural causes, most Popes in the past had been able to serve two terms of twenty years. As for where they went after that, perhaps only the new Pope would know.
Caloma was obviously in a bad mood when faced with everyone's questioning gazes. He didn't waste any time explaining. He simply tore apart a golden scroll, and the next instant, the skinny elderly man transformed into a gigantic, divine phantom. His upper body floated in midair, and the elderly man's whispers became like thunder. His next declaration was something that not a single person in the entire city could ignore.
"The Bardi Empire's Orloss has colluded with evil undead and sacrificed millions of people in Port Victoria. He is the epitome of evil. Through our Judgement and Divine Will, we hereby declare on behalf of God that Orloss Mossavoy St. Milan is an evil heretic. We hereby revoke the title of 'Holy' from his royalty, and declare him to be a heretic!"
The Pope took a deep breath as if he was trying to squeeze out a final shred of hesitation. He then bit his lip and made the most important declaration of all.
"Evil is right beside us. I, Caloma the First, declare in the name of Pope Caloma that a Holy War shall begin. All believers of the Holy Light shall fight for the Holy Light and justice, and become mortal enemies of Orloss's evil allies."
Caloma didn't say much, but everyone who heard him was astonished. The Bardi Empire was no small country. The northern regions that had conflicts with the Bardi Empire weren't important at all. The mega empires were the main force of the Bardi Empire, and the Emperor of the Bardi Empire had been declared a heretic. While he was still on the throne, the entire Bardi Empire had been declared a heretic.
Previously, the Bardi Empire didn't really care about believers of the Holy Light. However, at the very least, the Bardi Empire maintained respect on the surface. Expelling the Holy Church didn't mean that the Bardi Empire was siding with the Holy Church. And if the Holy Church started a Holy War now, that would mean that all believers of the Holy Light would become mortal enemies of the Bardi Empire.
Of course, this was only in theory. Nobody would casually declare war against a gigantic entity like the Bardi Empire without sufficient benefits. If it wasn't for the Holy Church organizing a crusade against the Bardi Empire, it was likely that the major countries would just casually criticize the Bardi Empire and leave it at that.
And if the major countries had a conflict of interest with the Bardi Empire, such as the current Mage Country, they could use this as a reason to declare all-out war against the Bardi Empire.
The smaller countries around the Bardi Empire would probably suffer the most. If they were also part of the Holy Light Faction, they would be forced to choose a side. If they chose to respond to the Holy Light's call for a Holy War, the Bardi Empire's armies would arrive at their cities the very next day.
Now that the Holy Church made this declaration, no matter what the reason was, it was highly likely that the human countries would engage in an incredibly cruel civil war since the eternal Holy War was about to begin. Doubtlessly, this was something that most people didn't want to see. But if Orloss still stood together with the Undead Emperors, then it was highly likely that this would become a reality.
And if such a war occurred, even Victoria Port, which had already become a part of the Undead Planes, wouldn't be important anymore. In a war between mega empires, the death toll would likely far surpass this incident.
"… That's too scary. This is even more unacceptable than the Holy War from twenty years ago. A mega empire is actually being judged as a heretic! Is a world war going to happen? "
"How is that possible? The Holy Church might not be able to handle such a civil war. This isn't like the Bardi Empire from four hundred years ago. Mega empires won't fight to the death for the Holy Church. "
However, some people understood the hidden meaning behind Pope Bardi's words.
"They're only judging Orloss as a heretic, and they haven't confirmed when the crusade army will be formed."
Back in the day, the entire Mist Kingdom had been judged as a heretic. Only Emperor Orloss's words doubtlessly left some leeway. As long as Emperor Orloss stepped down from power before the crusade army was formed, there would naturally be no need for the Holy War to be fought against heretics. Not confirming when the crusade army would be formed and who would form it would doubtlessly leave some leeway.
"Perhaps this is also a method to divide the Bardi Empire, forcing the Bardi Empire's nobles to rebel against Emperor Orloss. But with how powerful Orloss is in the Bardi Empire, it's really difficult to say how effective he'll be."
Two days later, when news of this reached the Bardi Empire, even though the Bardi Empire's government did their best to control public opinion, it still caused a huge uproar. Unfortunately, Orloss's position as emperor was still as stable as ever. He had killed off all the domain lords who dared to rebel against him ten years ago. All the power was in his hands. Even if there were ambitious people, what could they possibly do?
However, some things were difficult to suppress for long periods of time. There were also many hidden Holy Light believers in the Bardi Empire. Perhaps even the old emperor would have to be careful of his own safety when he went out.
The old emperor continued doing what he normally did every day. He ate and slept as usual. Those who knew him couldn't help but admire his mental fortitude. While the Bardi Empire appeared calm on the surface, the most panicked were the high-level undead from the Undead Planes.
"Why is there such an intense reaction? It's completely different from what I expected."
Perhaps it was because the incident in the Northlands had damaged the Holy Church's reputation. Pope Orloss's reputation had also been damaged because of this, which was why he was in such a hurry to redeem himself. Or perhaps Pope Orloss felt that the tragedy at Port Victoria was far too insane. Pope Orloss's decision was sudden and resolute. It was as if two players had just started playing cards. Even though they were still testing each other's strength, one of them unhesitatingly threw out all his chips for a final showdown, completely exceeding the opponent's expectations.
Not even the Cardinals who had been summoned to the Bardi Empire expected Pope Orloss to be so extreme, not to mention the Holy Church's guests from other dimensions. Their "cooperation" with Orloss had only just begun. Most of their plans hadn't even been carried out yet, yet all of human society and the Gods' churches were already fiercely rebuking them.
In their expectations, the current Pope should be looking at the big picture. He would most likely condemn them while sending out spies and diplomatic personnel to slowly gather information. He would strive to reduce the big problem into a small one, and the small one into nothing. He should not risk a civil war between the superpowers right from the start and fight to the death.
"Damn it, has Pope Orloss gone mad? Did we dig up his ancestral grave or something? "
"No! Speed up all our plans. Otherwise, the Undead Emperor will destroy us! "
…
On the day that all the countries were shocked by Pope Orloss's announcement, we had already arrived at the border between the two countries. We were leisurely preparing to enter this country.
After Little Red slapped away the idiot who provoked her, the leader of the Undead Planes' mercenary group attacked and was sent flying again. The result was that the conflict between Little Red and the leader of the Undead Planes' mercenary group kept escalating until it became a blood feud … Fine then, I was just making things up. It was basically impossible for such a thing to happen.
Mercenaries who went out to make a living weren't like the idiots in Knight Tale. If they provoked someone they shouldn't have provoked, then this mercenary group that constantly caused trouble wouldn't have been able to survive to this day.
This was especially true when the two major mercenary groups were led by the leaders of the mercenary groups. It would be far too ridiculous for them not to act rashly in such a situation.
"Even the Silver-ranked Kassandra was sent flying with a single slap. That ranger is at least at the Gold rank."
"… Even the leader of the Eagle Mercenary Group, Jost, was sent flying with a single slap. Even his Myth-ranked weapon, the Fallen Star Sword, was taken away empty-handed. Our leader is an experienced weaponsmith. Gold? You're saying that the black-haired woman is only at the Gold rank? "
"Legendary? No, Jost fought against a Legendary Warrior before, and he didn't lose that badly. That means that the woman is at least a Saint Warrior. She's so young. Who is that young master? "
The young master was referring to the young mage who was drinking tea and chatting. Mage was a profession that relied on accumulated knowledge. Other professions could be learned quickly, but it wasn't practical to become a mage in a short period of time. The blue mage robe he was wearing not only showed that he was rich, but also that he was confident in his own safety.
The mercenaries weren't blind. They had long since noticed that this young man was the leader of the Silver Coin Mercenary Group. Coupled with the outstanding performance of the other members, a rumor began to spread that the son of a major noble was traveling with his lackeys, maids, and wives.
The rumors became more and more real. Eaglestorm became a loyal butler, Cohen became an errand boy servant, the dracon became an amusing clown, the caped Lilith became a mage bodyguard, and the two elves became elven slaves that only a noble family could afford to keep. As for Heloise … in a way, my guess was correct. She was still a pet, just that she was being used in a different way.
"Oh my, that guy even stays in the carriage during the day. He's so licentious. I'm so envious … infuriating."
"Those elves and cat girls always get in the carriage as well. Every time they get in the carriage, they stay for several hours. That guy's not afraid of getting weak in the knees."
Cough, cough, their perverted laughter was so obvious. Fortunately, they still had some brains. They didn't count Little Red, who was at least at the Saint rank, as her bodyguard. Otherwise, if the "Dragons' might" was activated, all of them would definitely be turned into charcoal.
Those gossips behind my back that were intentionally suppressed were no longer a secret in front of us. The end result was that after I pointed at the dumb cat who was the only one who "guessed correctly" and laughed so hard that she rolled on the ground, two more teeth marks appeared on her head.
Getting back to the main topic, no matter how speechless the process was, at the very least, the two large mercenary groups came to an agreement — don't offend this young noble who was traveling. Since he wanted to play games, then let's play games with him.
Once we proved our strength, everything would naturally be fine. Mercenaries who didn't know if they would be able to see the sun tomorrow were quite practical. They came out to fight for their lives, but in the end, they still wanted money. Benefits were far more important than honor. Previously, we caused trouble for the sake of our reputation. In this line of work, if we didn't have any reputation, we wouldn't have any money. Now that things had calmed down, we were doing this for the sake of our reputation. Continuing to cause trouble would obviously be the same as seeking death. Besides, having a powerful "mercenary group" that didn't take a small portion of the commission was a good thing no matter how I looked at it.
"It's just young people playing around. Don't take it too seriously. And if we really offend a major noble, it'll actually be troublesome. "
After that, not only did the two mercenary leaders voluntarily come over to apologize, there were also a few higher-ups who came over to chat and try to establish a good relationship with us. However, in my opinion, the main goal was to figure out our background and background. Their core motive was to take advantage of the situation and poach them.
As for their actions, I unhesitatingly ignored them. My bastard subordinates would be safer with someone else to play with. If I really waited for them to get bored, they would probably do anything.
But soon, I regretted it. Although Jost was quite skilled, he clearly didn't know how to talk, yet he still insisted on chatting with us. It was really uncomfortable.
"Hehe, where were we last time? Right, I'm talking about that joke from last time. Why do undead always have one less room than other races when building houses? You can't guess, right? Let me tell you. It's the toilet! They haven't even eaten yet, so the toilet in their house is definitely just for show. Hahaha. "
"Fallen Star Sword" obviously had the appearance of a boorish uncle, but he said a cold joke that wasn't even the slightest bit funny. Not a single one of us could laugh, but his companions could only force out a few laughs, which was enough to get by.
"Is there something wrong with your mercenary leader's head? Or did Little Red beat him up the day before yesterday? "
Heloise's mouth was filled with venom, but her words unexpectedly received bitter smiles and nods from the mercenaries.
"Everything about our mercenary leader is great, except that his sense of humor is a little strange. Anyway, we didn't expect him to think, so let's just laugh. Otherwise, there'll be no end to it. "
The person speaking in a low voice was a young mage named Gacadir. He was also the advisor of this mercenary group, but right now, he could only watch helplessly as his boss smiled wryly.
But now, he seemed to realize that his joke didn't get the desired effect, so he turned to the master of cold jokes, Jost, and came up with a new joke.
"Do you know where the undead's house is the best place to eat? Yep, that's definitely the cleanest place in their house, because they don't even need to use it. That's where the toilet is, hahaha. "
Alright, I didn't know why he liked jokes about toilets and undead so much, but judging from Lilith and Heloise's displeased expressions when they looked at him, I knew that he was suffering.
After all, both of them were undead, so they probably still had the ability to eat and use toilets … Should I say that you wouldn't die if you didn't do something stupid?
Jost seemed to notice that the audience was in a bad mood, so he shook his head and actually managed to squeeze out a new joke.
"Right, have you heard of the story of the Dragonslayer and the Dungeon? Once upon a time, there was an idiotic red dragon who ate too much … "
This time, it was a certain long-haired woman's turn to grind her teeth. I finally laughed as I listened to this cold joke and looked at the suicidal emperor before me.
"Let me tell you a joke. Once upon a time, there was an idiot who talked about the Dragonslayer in front of Dragons and told dirty jokes in front of the undead, and then … there was no more then."
Just as we were about to enter the Bardi Empire, the pope's declaration of war spread throughout the world. The Lagraz royal family, who were devout believers of the Holy Light, hesitated for a long time before deciding to respond to the church's call and declare war on the Bardi Empire.
One day later, the Bardi Empire and the Lagraz Kingdom officially declared war on each other.
And right now, unbeknownst to us, we were in this Lagraz merchant group, intending to enter the Bardi Empire and make a huge fortune.
[System Notification: Relax. Suicidal Emperor will forever be your nickname. Friendly reminder, you should go to the God of Fate's temple and change your fate.]
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