…
The granite steps of the Eternal Winter King's City Temple were stained red with blood, and the sweet smell of blood in the air was somewhat pungent.
There were many corpses lying on the ground, some of them were from the God's Punishment Army, some of the believers, some of their own people, and some of the Mojin Clan's Sand Nation. They died in different ways, most of them had burn marks on their bodies, with broken limbs and internal organs scattered everywhere. Ryan knew that they had died from the impact and burning of the strong snow powder.
Every time he stepped on a step, he would feel a kind of sticky feeling under his feet. The fighting will of the Church's Army of Judges and believers could simply be described as crazy, even in the face of the many strengthened slaves, they still didn't retreat, using their bodies as shields to entangle the enemy, just to give their companions the opportunity to stab a fatal blow. Although the pill could make people full of strength and make them fearless of pain, but the heart, neck, and head were still vital points, Her Majesty the Queen didn't have extra armor to arm these cheap slaves.
If it weren't for the snow powder, the outcome of the battle might really be hard to say.
But we won … Ryan's heart was burning hot, we won in the end! The flag of the Queen of Clearwater was fluttering at the top of the city wall, even the Church's most fortified stronghold couldn't withstand this wave of attack. In this way, the Black Sail Fleet got rid of the deadlock of being besieged in a corner of Graycastle, and didn't need to exhaust their vitality in the endless war of attrition with Timothy.
The hall of the Temple was also in a mess, the ground was full of broken glass fragments and flowing blood, but he didn't care about it, he went straight to the center of the hall, in front of the woman in high spirits, and knelt down on one knee, "Your Majesty, the four city gates have all fallen into the hands of the Black Sail Fleet, the Kingdom of Eternal Winter is now yours."
"You've worked hard, get up." Garcia extended her hand in front of him.
Ryan gently held the Queen's hand, symbolically kissed the back of her fingers, then got up and stood at her side.
"Strange etiquette," Kabala suddenly said from the side, "You haven't even touched her hand, why do you have to put on such an appearance?"
This question was so abrupt that he couldn't help but frown, but the other party was the patriarch of the Sandstone Clan, so he couldn't reprimand her in public for her rudeness, so he coldly said: "This is a common etiquette between nobles, it represents politeness and respect, it would be rude to touch it. As a Sand Nation, it is normal for you to not understand."
"Really?" She raised her eyebrows and pointed to her neck. "We're clearly allies who fought together, but we just ended the battle and you want to put this on me? The courtesy and respect of the mainlanders is really puzzling."
Around Kabala's neck was a ring of iron bars, with a bulge in the middle. At first glance, it looked like a decoration, but Ryan knew that there was a God's Stone of Retaliation wrapped inside. Apart from a special key, it was difficult to unlock the iron bars with any other means, and the key was in Garcia's hands. The other party was a witch, so he naturally had to treat her with caution. However, she did contribute a lot in the battle. If it wasn't for her command, those slaves with strong snow powder wouldn't have dared to rush into the tight defensive line formed by the believers. He opened his mouth but did not know how to refute.
"Come on, don't argue over such a trivial matter," Garcia interrupted. "Don't forget why we're here. Compared to the vast land of survival, can't you even bear a stone?"
"I'm just saying." Kabala shrugged. "I hope you'll keep your promise."
"Of course, this is the basis of our cooperation." The Queen smiled.
"What should we do next with Black Sail?" Ryan asked.
"We'll talk about the next step of the plan later, but for now, let's watch a good show." Garcia clapped her hands and ordered the guards, "Bring her in."
Soon, two armored guards walked into the temple with a woman whose hands were tied behind her back.
She looked to be about thirty years old, with an ordinary appearance. Her brown hair was scattered messily on both sides of her cheeks, and she was wearing a golden church robe. This kind of exquisite workmanship and exquisite material was usually only worn by the Bishop of Hermes. At this moment, the gorgeous robe was torn in several places, and the edges were stained with blood.
"This person is … a Bishop?"
"Yes," the Queen of Clearwater curled up the corner of her mouth. "I've already asked the local nobles to confirm, she is one of the three Archbishops of the Church, Lady Heather." She looked at the other side, "What do you think, am I right?"
"…" Heather didn't answer, but Ryan could see from her eyes a strong sense of ridicule and disdain.
Apparently, Garcia also felt this, she chuckled twice, "I also thought that you wouldn't surrender, so with a merciful idea, I brought you to the temple, and here I will send you back to the Kingdom of God. You can slowly beg for God's salvation, or you can beg me for forgiveness. I will slowly cut off your fingers, limbs, and facial features, so that you can fully experience the pain and helplessness of the people of the Port of Clearwater. "
"And then?" The female Bishop unexpectedly asked, "Will I be crushed into powder by the Church's army? Or do you plan to drift on the sea for the rest of your life, never to reach the shore? "
"You don't have to worry about this," Garcia signaled the guards to start, "In contrast, the Church's army is now attacking the Wolfsheart City, and Hermes is like an undefended city, which is much more important than my fate. I may not be able to set foot on the land of the new Holy City, but I can still raze the old Holy City under the plateau to ruins. You should have heard that the Styx River in the extreme south of Graycastle is extremely easy to ignite, and is very difficult to extinguish. This time, I brought a whole boat with me. "
The guard pulled out a dagger, approached the Bishop who was pressed to the ground, and neatly cut off two of her fingers.
Heather clenched her teeth, not letting out a cry of pain.
The Queen of Clearwater stepped onto the main stairs of the hall, sat on the spacious throne, supported her chin with her right hand, and revealed an expression of great interest.
… Another three fingers were cut off, this time the other party's left hand had become a bare palm, Heather's forehead was covered with beads of sweat.
"Do you have to do this?" Kabala shook her head, "If it wasn't to deter the enemy or to torture for information, this kind of pure torture is unnecessary."
"Unnecessary?" Garcia laughed, "You should say this to her, do you know how the witches who fall into the hands of the Church are treated? I guess you won't be interested to know. "
"Ha ha ha …" At this moment, Heather, who had lost all ten fingers, suddenly laughed, "You simply don't understand the greatness of the Church, and you also don't understand how important everything the Holy City has done. You are always accompanied by ignorance, but you are completely ignorant of the impending destruction! Hermes will let you see, what is called real power, those who go against the Church, except for destruction, there is no second ending! "
"Is that so …" Garcia crossed her legs, smiled and said, "Then I'll wait and see."
Until the Archbishop died, she still didn't cry out a single word for mercy. But to Ryan's surprise, she also didn't call out the name of God, hoping for his salvation. Finally, due to excessive blood loss, when Heather was about to lose consciousness, her expression was terrifyingly cold, it didn't look like she was being tortured, but rather like she was watching a farce that had nothing to do with her. Through those eyes, Ryan seemed to see his own destined future.
This kind of feeling made him feel inexplicably depressed, almost making him unable to breathe.
"Cut off her head and hang it at the entrance of the Church," after confirming the Bishop's death, Garcia ordered. Then she looked at Ryan, "Now we can talk about the next step of the plan."
"Yes, Your Majesty," he forced down the discomfort in his heart, "Are you going to attack Hermes?"
"That's right, but not the whole army." She spread out a leather map that she always carried with her, "The Black Sail Fleet will only leave a small number of sailors and some of the eastern slaves, they will operate the fleet along the river westward, heading towards the old Holy City. But we will directly go south, crossing the border of the Kingdom of Endless Winter, our destination is the Wolfsheart City. "
"Wolfsheart?" Ryan was startled.
"I have reached an agreement with the Wolf King Wolf," Garcia said bluntly, "If I can help him thwart the Church's attack, he will assist me in occupying the whole territory of the Kingdom of Endless Winter. In this way, if the Church does not withdraw their troops, the strong snow powder and water from the Styx River on the ships will be enough to turn the old Holy City into a sea of fire. But the new Holy City is different, it is a city without walls, if we don't gather enough manpower, we will simply be unable to stop the attacks of the slaves from all directions. "
"If they retreat, the Wolfsheart City will be able to get some breathing space, moreover, the two countries are bordering each other, so in the future we can join hands to fight against the Church!"
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