Hermes Cathedral, Tower of Babel.
Mayne, who had become the new Supreme Pontiff, was quietly listening to the reports of the three Bishops in a secret room.
In addition to the old Archbishop Tayfun, the two newly promoted Archbishops Soli Dahl and Aire were respectively from the Army of Judges and the Arbitral Tribunal. The former was a brave and skillful Presiding Judge who had accumulated an extremely high reputation during his twenty-five years of service in the army. The latter was Heather's adjutant, and it could be said that he had taken over the position of his predecessor.
"This year during the Months of Demons, the orphans in the Kingdom of Endless Winter have been accepted very smoothly. The nobles in all the big cities have completely turned to the Church. Currently, the number of orphans sent to the Old Holy City has exceeded the target by three times." Tayfun sighed. "This is also the only good news recently."
The nobles were always like this. Once they saw the situation was not right, it was easier for them to change sides than to drink water. Mayne nodded. "This is only the first year, and there will be more and more in the future. If we can occupy the whole continent, the number of people accepted every year can easily fill a new city."
"I hope so." He sighed. "Since the beginning of the heavy snow, how many large-scale attacks have we encountered from the demonic beasts?"
"Six times," Soli replied.
"Six times... more than a hundred Judgement Warriors have fallen on the defensive line." Tayfun's tone was somewhat heavy. "Ten people from the God's Punishment Army have also died. In the coming year, the demonic beasts' attacks will only be more fierce."
"Compared to fighting the demons, this is already considered easy." Ell spread out his hands. "Although I haven't personally seen how powerful the demons are, the Holy Book seems to describe them as invincible. I say, is it really necessary to be stubborn here until the end? "
"What do you mean by that!" Soli frowned. "God has shown us the direction and given us power. As believers, instead of sticking to our faith, we should turn around and run away?"
"Don't argue." Mayne knocked on his scepter. Ell had worked with Heather for more than ten years and had also developed a bad temper. Looking at the two, he could not help but think of the old partners Tayfun and Heather. He looked at the old Bishop and found that the latter was also looking at him, as if he had the same thought. "Our ultimate goal is to continue the human race, and to achieve this goal, there is no other way but to defeat the enemy."
"Yes, Your Holiness." The two bowed their heads respectfully.
However, he was not sure if he could defeat the demons by staying in Hermes.
Thinking of O 'Brien's request, Mayne felt a heavy weight on his shoulders.
The Fearful Beast of Hell had already appeared, and the demons would arrive in five years. He would be able to witness the Battle of Divine Will in his lifetime, and he would not be able to entrust the task to his successor like O'Brien had done. Every time he thought about this, he would be unable to eat or sleep in peace.
In fact, he had also thought of leaving a way out for himself. After swallowing Garcia's Black Sail Fleet, he didn't order the burning of the ships or publicly hang all the rebels. Instead, he imprisoned all of them. Apart from a few leaders and a large number of scapegoats from the slums who were pushed to the execution ground, most of the sailors were now in the Kingdom of Everwinter's harbor, under the custody of their most reliable subordinates.
If the line of defense was completely lost, the Fjords would be their last refuge — even if retreating to the Channel Islands meant struggling at death's door with no possibility of a comeback, at least they could live the rest of their lives.
After all, human beings had tried their best twice, but they still failed to defeat the demons, right?
Mayne did not pay much attention to the subsequent discussion on how the church should develop and stabilize the rule of the Kingdom of Wolfheart. After the three finished their discussion, he replied absent-mindedly, "Let's do as you said. Today's meeting is over."
"Yes, Your Holiness." The three bishops stood up and saluted.
Mayne left the secret room and walked to the Pivotal Secret Area accompanied by the guards.
According to the plan, a new batch of Judgement Army soldiers would be transformed into God's Punishment Army today, which was his main concern. Whether it was defending or retreating, these powerful warriors would be the greatest guarantee that his orders would be carried out.
But before that, he had to deal with an additional problem.
Stepping on the stone stairs, Mayne entered the Pivotal Secret Area and turned into the prison corridor located in the middle of the area. The last time he came here was to secretly execute King Wimbledon III of Graycastle.
The corridor was still extremely cold. The burning turpentine torches on both sides emitted a dim yellow light. The end of the corridor was pitch-black, as if it was the entrance to a bottomless abyss. Many people who were put in prison could not leave this place until they died.
Mayne walked to the front of Cell 85 and signaled the guard to open the door.
The heavy wooden door made a harsh friction sound, which startled a burst of wailing and crying in this deathly silent place. But as the cell door was closed again, all the wailing sounds were isolated outside.
Through the iron bars, he saw Zero's figure.
The Pure Witch had her back to the entrance. Her upper body was naked, and her hands were handcuffed to the iron bars above her head. She had to tiptoe to touch the ground. There were dozens of bright red whip marks on her fair back, and the blood flowing down had already coagulated.
"How did the reprimand whip of the arbitral tribunal taste?" Mayne asked. "I hope it can make you understand the meaning of obedience."
"Hmm …" Zero moaned in a low voice as if she had just woken up from a dream. She slightly tilted her head and said, "It turns out that His Holiness the Supreme Pontiff has come. When you say obedience, do you mean obedience to you or to maintain a respectful attitude towards other bishops? "
Her slightly frivolous tone made Mayne frown. But when he thought that he was now His Holiness the Supreme Pontiff, which was very different from his previous position as a bishop, he suppressed the displeasure in his heart. After this lesson, she should also understand that he now had the right to take her life. "It's obedience to my orders. When I ask you to assist other bishops to complete a task, you also have to obey their instructions. "
"Is that so?" She said noncommittally, "Since it's your request, I'll naturally do it."
"Untie her handcuffs," Mayne ordered the guard.
After a long period of handcuffs, her hands were almost pulled out of their sockets and hung limply, as if she had no strength at all. The Supreme Pontiff used his scepter to lift her clothes and threw them on her shoulder. "Next, I have a task for you to do. Follow me."
Zero let the clothes hang in front of her and followed him out of the prison corridor unconcernedly.
"This year's Months of Demons are likely to last for five months, which is a difficult challenge for the Holy City and even more so for other places affected by the Months of Demons." Mayne walked to the end of the mechanism area, passed through a long and narrow passage with iron walls, and once again arrived in front of the elevator cage. Since being crowned as the Supreme Pontiff, he had been busy with various matters of the church, and this was the first time he had set foot here as a ruler. "I order you to go to the Kingdom of Graycastle with other Pure Witches. Take advantage of the chaos caused by the heavy snow to destroy the rebels Timothy Wimbledon and Roland Wimbledon. Do you understand?"
The door of the elevator cage was closed, and the sound of the capstan turning came from overhead. The cage began to slowly descend, but he did not hear any response from Zero.
"Damn it, it seems that the whipping hasn't taught her to be obedient." Mayne turned around with a sullen face, only to see Zero raise the corner of her mouth with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
Then a dim light directly pounced on him.
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