In Cecil's military zone, in the headquarters of the Military Intelligence Bureau, Lamont's body was quickly sent to Gwen.
The death of the bishop of the southern diocese was very strange. Apart from some scratches and dirt left behind when he was running away, there were almost no external injuries. The cause of his death was some kind of 'high fever' from his skull. The bishop's eye sockets had been burned into two black holes. The dried and charred skin of his eyes clung to the eye sockets of his skull in a disgusting state. And his brain … seemed to have been burned to ashes.
"We found him on a mountain road in the Gloom Mountain Range," Solderlin reported what he knew. "He was already dead when we found him. There were no signs of fighting or magic fluctuations around him. The cause of death is as you can see. His brain was burned to ashes … But I've never seen any curse or magic effect like this."
Gwen squatted down and carefully checked the bishop's condition. When he reached into Lamont's eye sockets, Amber could not help but retch. "You're so disgusting."
Gwen did not respond to Amber. Instead, he dipped his finger in some ashes and gently rubbed them with his fingertips. A faint golden light flashed in the ashes.
"It's the echo of the holy light from the brain. This bishop was burned to death by his own holy light." Gwen frowned. "But why?"
With a serious expression, Hu Po began to randomly analyze the situation. "Is it because he ran away from the battlefield and violated some doctrine of the Church of Holy Light? After running into the mountains, he couldn't bear the condemnation in his heart and died from an explosion of conscience?"
Gwen looked up and glanced at Amber. "Do you believe your own words?"
Heidi, on the other hand, ignored Hu Po's random analysis. Standing beside Gawain, she asked with a solemn expression, "Ancestor, can you see anything?"
"I can't see anything. Except for the cause of death caused by the backlash of the holy light, there are no traces left on his body. But it's not like there's no clue." Gwen clapped his hands and stood up. "The backlash of the holy light burned the brain. This proves that the initial loss of control started from the brain. This reminds me of a group of people."
Heti looked at Gwen's expression and suddenly realized something. "The Eternal Sleepers?"
"It seems that the cultists have not stopped. They are still active in areas we don't know about." Gwen said in an unsurprised tone. Since the Apocalypse Society was behind the civil war in Ansu, it was not unthinkable that the Eternal Sleepers would appear on the battlefield in the south. Although he was curious as to why the Eternal Sleepers would 'help' Cecil kill an invader, it did not stop him from doing his own thing. "Send this body and the other bodies to the crematorium. Burn it completely."
Two soldiers came in and carried away Lemont's corpse. On the side, Amber looked at the Bishop of the Holy Light being carried away and sighed, "A regional Bishop … died just like that … Speaking of which, you're completely opposing the Holy Light Church."
"Their regional bishop led twelve Knight to Cecil and 'negotiated' with me, asking me to hand over the civilians in the city. From that moment on, it was tantamount to a declaration of war." Gwen said nonchalantly. "And even if they didn't do what they did today, sooner or later I would have to go against them. You should know the law Cecil enforces. The Church of Holy Light, which is getting more and more extreme, will not accept the rule that 'the law of the government office is higher than the church'."
Heidi, on the other hand, recalled the battle report sent by Carmel. Suddenly, a thoughtful look appeared on her face. "Speaking of which... that bishop and the knights he led probably didn't intend to fight to the death with us this time. The bishop said that he came to negotiate with the lord and asked us to hand over the 'heretics' under his protection. I suspect that their initial purpose was to lure you out and hold you back temporarily. When the time is right, they will find a reason to retreat. As long as they follow the rules of the conflict between the church and the nobles, they can cover it up with gold, silver and some land as compensation. And I guess, according to the original plan of Earl Hosman and the Church of Holy Light, Cecil will be the absolute loser of this war. I'm afraid the Church of Holy Light is still waiting for our compensation. "
Earlier, Heidi had been busy dealing with the intelligence from various parties and did not pay much attention to this matter. Now that everything had settled down, she suddenly realized the real purpose of the "bishop of the southern diocese" leading the twelve knights of the Holy See to "negotiate" in Cecil Hill. Gawain's reply made her even more puzzled. "That's obvious. Of course, they're just here to stall me. Don't tell me they're going to attack this city?"
Heti did not know what expression to make. "In the end, they all died here. Even the bishop did not survive."
"Remember what I said at the beginning?" Gwen glanced at Heti and said leisurely, "They can start this war, but how big the war will be after it starts is not up to them."
Heti pondered over Gwen's words, and Gwen gave her a new order. "Inform Godwin to add an extra number. The content is that the Church of Holy Light and Earl Hosman colluded. No, some of the priests colluded with Earl Hosman to attack Cecil City. But because they were too weak and overestimated their strength, they were all wiped out after fighting with one of our technicians."
Heidi blinked. "... Is it really written that way?"
Gwen nodded. "Write it like this and then publish it all over the territory. Not only in the territory, but also in the army. Send it to the whole Southern Territory so that all literate people in the Southern Territory have a chance to read it. Also, remember to emphasize that 'some of the depraved and corrupted priests colluded with Earl Hosman.' "
Gwen originally wanted to announce that the entire Church of Holy Light had colluded with Earl Hosman and was against Cecil, but he knew that he could not treat the entire Church of Holy Light as an enemy — at least not now.
The priests of the Church of Holy Light might be corrupted, but the believers of this sect were made up of a large number of people. About a quarter of the people in Cecil's territory were believers of the Holy Light. Although the belief and support of these ordinary believers of the Church of Holy Light might not be so strong and extreme, if he suddenly declared the Church of Holy Light as an enemy, it would inevitably cause chaos. So he had better distinguish the depraved priests from the ordinary believers at the beginning of the publicity.
And there was another point. Religions in this world were not only spiritual sustenance, but their "divine power" and the gods themselves were also real. Even these two were part of the productive forces and the natural world. Unless the Church of Holy Light was completely distorted and depraved like the three dark sects and lost its foothold in the normal social order, it was impossible for him to eliminate the "belief in the Holy Light". He could only eliminate the priests.
And it had to be the depraved and corrupted priests. After all, it was impossible for the Church of Holy Light to only have one Wright. Is Ivy okay?
Just now, Amber said that he was completely against the Church of Holy Light. This sentence may be true, but Gwen had his own interpretation and arrangement of this sentence.
Heti obeyed and left, leaving only Amber and Gwen in the room. Amber pondered for a long time. Suddenly, she remembered a detail of the task that Gwen assigned to Heti. "Ah! You just said that you want the army to send things to the whole Southern Territory … Is the war not over yet? "
Gwen glanced at Amber. "When did I say that the war is over?"
"But we have won all the battles," Amber scratched her hair. "Earl Hosman in the north is dead, and his army is scattered. Earl Peibo in the west is also dead. I heard that even fewer people escaped. Now, even the Bishop of the Church of Holy Light is dead … I heard that a lot of captives have been captured in the north and west, many of which are nobles of the Southern Territory. Under normal circumstances, the war is over, isn't it? Then you should negotiate with the families of the nobles who have been captured and ask for money, food and land … "
Amber looked at the half-smile on Gwen's face. Her voice was getting lower and lower, and finally, she slowly stopped. There was a horrified expression on her face. "Oh my God — you don't intend to stop at all, do you?"
"I have already said that this is a war to reunite the Southern Territory, and what I want is not the previous situation where the nobles are divided into feudal territories and rely on fragile loyalty and vassal relationships to maintain the unification situation. So, from the beginning, I did not intend to ask for any 'ransom', and I did not intend to negotiate," Gwen said with a serious expression. "Earl Hosman's coalition forces have indeed been defeated, but remember, they have just scattered, not disappeared, not surrendered, but ran away from the battlefield. They have neither become the population of Cecil, nor become nutrients for the land of the Southern Territory. And those nobles who have been captured … The families behind them, their castles, their manors, and their independent territories are still there. As long as the fleeing troops return to these places, then these places will still be the territories of the nobles, not the land of Cecil. "
At this point, Gwen emphasized each word. "In the Southern Territory, there is only one Cecil Territory."
"You don't intend to …" Amber looked at Gwen in disbelief. "Kill all the noble families in the Southern Territory …"
"Of course, I won't kill them all, at least not directly, because the social order will collapse. And whether I want to admit it or not, the nobles and their vassal 'upper class' are the main source of intellectuals at present. I have to use this group, I have to use their strength," Gwen said. "But I still want to 'destroy' them, destroy their system and foundation … After that, everyone will be honorable and law-abiding citizens of Cecil."
At this point, he sighed slightly. "I hope that every noble and vassal in the Southern Territory can accept this arrangement, but if they can't accept it … I hope that at least there will be enough incinerators."
Amber's face gradually showed a confused expression, and in the end, she quivered.
Seeing this, Gwen could not help but laugh. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I don't want to listen!" Amber reached out and covered her ears. "What you're saying is either too difficult or too scary!"
Gwen smiled and reached out to touch Amber's hair. This short winter melon's height was so perfect that it was just right for him to put his hand on her hair.
Then he turned around and looked at the setting sun outside the window.
Knight Philip should have already set off with his orders, and the purge of the Southern Territory had begun.
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