As the ship slowly approached the old Holy City along the river, the red bricks and green tiles of the cathedral gradually emerged from the shadows of the trees.
Compared with the new cathedral on the Hermes Plateau, it looked ordinary. There was neither a magnificent chapel nor a towering Tower of Babel. In terms of scale, it might not be as magnificent as the churches in the capitals of the Four Kingdoms. However, in the hearts of most believers, this ancient and majestic building, together with the monastery, the arena and the arbitration court, constituted the abode of God.
It symbolized the origin of the church and the beginning of everything.
Isabella sneered at this statement.
They would never know that the interior of the mountain behind the cathedral was the origin of the church.
As for the old Holy City?
It was just a cover to deceive people.
After the ship arrived at the dock, Isabella walked down the trestle lightly. The mechanic guard who came to greet her could not help but be surprised. "Your Excellency, where are the other pure witches?"
"They'll arrive one or two days later." She shrugged. "His Holiness is so urgent that we have to give them some time to arrange their funeral affairs."
"But Lady Zero said..."
"She wants to see everyone," Isabella interrupted. "Yes, but she didn't say that she wants to see everyone at the same time."
The recall order this time was somewhat difficult to understand. In this way, the church was equivalent to giving up control of the Kingdom of Dawn. Without the supply of potions, the king would die in an endless sleep. She did not understand why Zero suddenly changed the previously set plan, and there was no explanation in the edict.
"She is becoming more and more like the real pope," Isabella thought with a little displeasure.
Nevertheless, she still set off immediately after receiving the order and spent a week rushing back to Hermes.
"By the way, do you know what happened in the Holy City?" When boarding the carriage, Isabella turned back to look at the guard behind her.
"The church's advance army fought with the Graycastle army at the foot of Coldwind Ridge." The guard hesitated. "You'd better ask Lady Zero about the specific situation."
"Did... the advance army lose?"
The guard did not answer but nodded slightly. He then mounted the horse and shouted to the coachman, "Set off!"
Isabella put down the curtain of the carriage, feeling confused.
There was no doubt that there must be a large number of God's Punishment Army in this advance army. Only when the God's Punishment Army suffered losses would the higher-ups of the church react.
However, Scourge was not immortal. When faced with some damage that exceeded their endurance, they would still suffer damage. Ever since they attacked the Kingdom of Everwinter, the Holy City had lost nearly a hundred Extraordinary warriors. She thought that Zero had gotten used to it, but now it seemed like that was not the case. The question was, how severe was the loss in this battle that made Zero so determined to recall all the pure witches?
The carriage drove through the busy streets of the Old Holy City and came to a camp near the Impassable Cliff. The security here was as tight as the cathedral. Isabella got off the carriage and walked into a tunnel that was dug along the mountain wall. She passed through multiple iron gates and walked into the mountain.
Under the cold light of the prism, the majestic outline of the Pivotal Secret Temple appeared in front of her.
Led by the guard, she went straight to the library on the top floor and pushed open the door of the circular hall. The current Pope was standing by the window and looking into the distance, looking lost in thought.
"It seems that you've met a tough nut to crack. You can't even take care of the Kingdom of Dawn." Isabella walked to Zero and whistled. "But no matter what, you should at least leave Lady and Blackveil there to stabilize the situation, right?"
Zero did not answer. Instead, she pointed to the figures below the temple and said, "What do you think they look like?"
Isabella frowned. "Does this have anything to do with my question?"
"Insignificant, ignorant, busy all day, but don't know why they're busy, just like ants," she said to herself. "Gods probably think of us like that too … Throwing ourselves into bloody battles without knowing anything, and then dying without knowing anything. If we don't reach the peak, it's impossible to know what the whole world is like. Fortunately, now I'm one step closer to the Divine Will. "
"What on earth do you want to say?"
"As long as I can devour the new king of Graycastle, the chance of winning the Battle of Divine Will will increase by 50%." Zero raised the corner of her mouth and her eyes flashed with a light that she had never seen before. "I have a vague feeling... that God sent him to me."
After a moment of silence, Isabella said in a low voice, "I just want to know, in the battle at the foot of Coldwind Ridge, how many God's Punishment Army lost?"
"One hundred and fifty died in the battle, and another eleven died on the way back to the Holy City." Zero looked at her with burning eyes. "And the enemy was almost unharmed. Whether it was giant shields or spears, they couldn't threaten the defense line of Roland's army."
Isabella suddenly felt a huge wave in her heart. "In one battle, the number of God's Punishment Army's casualties is greater than the total number of the Months of Demons and the Kingdom of Everwinter and the Kingdom of Wolfheart? How could a Prince of Graycastle have such a powerful force?
A witch? A Knight? No, they were not even worth mentioning. Even the Fearful Beast of Hell, which was as strong as a mountain, would die under the siege of the God's Punishment Warriors. She could not imagine how the other party had done it.
"A terrible snow powder weapon." Zero seemed to see through her thoughts. "It can be used by mortals. It has a shooting range of more than 1,000 steps. Its power can easily break plate armor and iron shields. There's almost no gap between shots. Our people were completely used as targets."
After listening to the whole battle, Isabella took a deep breath and looked uncertain. After a long time, she said, "So you lost."
"For the church, it was indeed a setback, and Soli Daal's judgment was too hasty..."
"No, I'm not referring to the battle," she interrupted. "I'm referring to what we talked about before. 'Only the winner is the favorite of God'. Now it seems that the winner is not you."
"Do you think... Roland Wimbledon is more likely to win God's Smile than me?" Zero said calmly.
"Don't forget our purpose!" Isabella could not help raising her voice. "To defeat the demons and let the human race continue. As for whether the church will do it or not, I don't care! This battle has already proved the problem. Even if you gather all your strength to defeat and devour Roland, what good will it do? His army and witches will be slaughtered, and only a few people of the God's Punishment Army will be left. Then what? In less than half a year, it will be the new Months of Demons! "
For a moment, she even thought that Zero would kill her, but until the end, Zero did not react.
"Then what do you want me to do?"
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