Two weeks later, at the end of the Month of Midsummer, Roland finally arrived in Hermes.
The Northern Region garrison and the witches welcomed him at the gate of the Holy City. He also saw a few nuns dressed in the church's black robes.
Although Roland had heard the news from Lightning that the church's higher-ups had all disappeared, he still could not believe it when he walked into the empty fortress on the plateau. The fierce battle he had expected did not happen. Neither the God's Punishment Witches nor the new mortars had been put to use. Although this result could not have been better, it still felt like punching cotton.
Roland had made the right decision to bring Isabella with him. According to the reports from Eagle Face and Agatha, it was the former Pure Witch who had noticed the abnormality of the church. After taking care of the orphans in the cloister, she proposed to the Northern Region Army to investigate the Holy City of Hermes.
The result was surprising. The huge city had long been deserted, leaving only some residents in the outer city to maintain the illusion that the church still existed. In fact, they did not know what had happened in the inner city. They only heard that the church was preparing for the final battle.
After that, the nuns led by Isabella quickly entered Hermes. Under the guidance of these nuns, the signs of people fleeing to the Kingdom of Wolfheart and the Kingdom of Everwinter were gradually alleviated. At the very least, there were no more groups of people fleeing to the Kingdom of Wolfheart and the Kingdom of Everwinter. After all, the sudden change of abandoning the Holy City was too dramatic, and the damage to the church's reputation was almost devastating. Compared to those who left without saying goodbye, the nuns who took the initiative to restore order were more like the successors of the church.
"How did they do it?" Since the letter could not be too detailed, the first thing Roland did after entering the Holy City was to ask about the whereabouts of the remaining forces of the church. "There are thousands of people in the inner city. Don't they need to pass through the outer city wall to leave the plateau?"
"There are many natural tunnels under Hermes, some of which can pass through the city wall. If they evacuated in batches, the residents in the outer city would indeed not notice, "Isabella explained. Isabella explained, "When they were built, they were designed to be used once and only for exits. I checked several tunnel entrances and found that they had all been destroyed."
"Where do those tunnels lead to?"
"Only the people who passed by know." She shook her head. "If this escape was planned in advance, it would be difficult to track them after a month and a half."
So the Church was planning to cut off their tail to save their lives and make a comeback? Roland could not help but frown. The problem was that abandoning the Holy City was equivalent to abandoning the foundation. It was not as simple as cutting off one's tail. The loss was even more severe than cutting off one's head. Were they that confident that they could find another base to fight against Graycastle? Or were they planning to break up and harass his territory in batches? The thought of having to be wary of these fanatics in the next few years gave him a headache.
Isabella probably saw through his thoughts and smiled, "You don't have to worry about the Church anymore, they won't be coming back."
Roland was stunned. "Why do you say that?"
"They left a messenger behind," the other party replied.
…
In a small church in the Northern District of the Holy City, Roland met the messenger that Isabella mentioned.
It was a white-haired old man wearing a brand new red priest robe with golden edges. He held a thick book in his arms as he walked out under the escort of the guards.
Although his steps were a little weak, he still held his head high as if he did not want to lose to anyone in terms of momentum. He first glanced at Isabella coldly, then looked at Roland. "Are you the King of Graycastle, His Majesty Roland Wimbledon?"
"That's me."
"Gray hair and gray eyes, you really look like your father," the old man said slowly. "My name is Jacob, the high priest of the Holy City. According to the secular classification, I'm probably equivalent to a duke... Of course, I don't have the corresponding fief, nor do I need that many servants."
"I heard that you insisted on waiting for me here?" Roland shrugged. "Why, when those people sneaked away, they didn't take you with them?
"I wanted to stay." He looked solemn as if he was saying his last words. "I'm old and can't run anymore... Even if I can walk, I don't have many years to live. Instead of living a new life, it's better to be buried with this city. "
"New life?" Roland quickly caught the keywords in Jacob's words.
"That's right. Let go of all responsibilities and live the rest of your life in peace." There was a hint of sarcasm in Jacob's voice. "You've won, Your Majesty. If this is the result you want to see, the Church will no longer oppose you. This city will be handed over to you untouched, and you will soon take over our nightmare."
"Oh?" Roland said noncommittally.
"Why do you think we're guarding this empty plateau?" He raised his voice a little. "Look at what you've done. The human race is going to be destroyed because of you!"
"Really? That's a little too serious. I'm not going to take the blame." Hearing this, Roland roughly understood the high priest's intention. The Church really didn't want to let him conquer the Holy City easily. Even if they couldn't stop him physically, they still wanted to hinder him spiritually. Zero had also played this trick before the final battle, but the original intention was completely different. If he knew nothing about the Battle of Divine Will, he would definitely be so surprised that he could not close his mouth when he heard the news that the demons would soon destroy the human race. If he added oil to the fire and put the classic blame of "the destruction of the human race is all your fault" on him, the lethality would be no less than spiritual pollution.
"Blame? Ha... nonsense. Do you think I'm joking? Young Your Majesty, it seems that the Pure Witch didn't tell you the truth. " Jacob cast a meaningful glance at Isabella. "The Church is shouldering an unimaginable responsibility, and only a few high-level people know about it. You have no idea what kind of enemy we've been preparing to face for the past hundreds of years. Now that you've ruined everything, you naturally have to bear the consequences. It's useless even if you're unwilling. When fate befalls the human race, all you can do is helplessly accept it and watch your kingdom turn into a sea of fire! "
It seemed that this guy not only wanted to launch a spiritual attack but also wanted to sow discord between him and Isabella. Unfortunately, he misjudged me and expressed the wrong intention... Looking at the old priest who was speaking righteously, Roland could not help but think of a saying: Life is like a play, it all depends on acting.
"You can choose not to believe me, but the truth is unquestionable." Jacob let out a long sigh and opened the book in his arms and handed it to Roland. "This is the Holy Bible of the Church. After reading it, you'll understand what you've done! We... No, I should say the real enemy of the human race is... "
"Demons, right?" Roland interrupted him casually. "The Church didn't build the Holy City here to defend against demonic beasts, but for the God's Stone mine in the mountains. There's a Privy Council under the Cathedral, which is used to mine God's Stone and transform the God's Punishment Army. This is the core of the Church. Of course, I don't know if you know this. After all, only the Pope can control the transformation ceremony. Do you want to talk about the Battle of Divine Will or the God's Smile? A cycle of war every four hundred years wasn't anything new. Devils weren't phantoms that could come and go without a trace. In fact, I'd dealt with them a long time ago. So... what else do you want to say? "
"You... I..." Jacob was stunned. He opened his mouth and stammered for a long time, looking as if he would pass out at any time. After a while, he pointed at Isabella, trembling. "It's you..."
Isabella shook her head gently. "I didn't tell him this. From the very beginning, he knew far more than we expected. You've underestimated him … or rather, we've all underestimated him. "
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