The ambushers in the night finally retreated. After the two most powerful Knights of the Church, as well as the other leaders of the Mages, Knights, and Priests, all fell, the remaining few fled into the darkness in a panic. They left behind a dozen corpses and a mess, but in the end, they didn't get anything.
A soldier of Cecil was severely injured. His force field shield was shattered when he fought a Knight in close combat, and a wound so deep that his bones could be seen opened up at the bottom of his chest. However, after drinking several bottles of alchemy potions, this soldier's injuries stabilized.
Other than that, there were no other casualties on Cecil's side.
After the battle, the soldiers began to inspect the battlefield, organize their equipment, and confirm the situation of the enemy. However, no one approached the empty space beside the well.
Wright stood quietly in this empty space, a layer of clear and bright Holy Light still enveloping him, like a light cast armor and cloak covering his body. The Holy Light illuminated the surroundings, and also illuminated the horizon. In the open space enveloped by the Holy Light, Emily had already closed her eyes.
Those big bright eyes would never open again.
"Do you believe in the Holy Light, or the God of Holy Light?"
A question that the Lord had asked him before he left appeared in Wright's mind. This question had been lingering in his mind for many days, and the contradiction caused by this question made him unable to sleep day after day. He didn't understand, didn't understand why he had to choose between the Holy Light and the God of Holy Light, but now he understood.
Amidst his anger and immense disappointment towards the God of Holy Light, he understood that this was a powerful light in his mind. It was a loud explosion as he broke free from some sort of mental seal. In that instant of realization, he abandoned the God of Holy Light that he had believed in for several decades and embraced the true Holy Light.
However, someone had paid a price for this that they shouldn't have.
A slight chill fell on his face, and strands of rain fell from the sky, falling on this land soaked in misfortune and sorrow. Summer Rain, who had been late for an entire night, finally arrived before dawn. In this cool rain, Wright half-knelt beside Emily and placed his hand on the little girl's forehead.
"... May the Holy Light protect you on your way forward... No longer trapped in the cold and darkness... May your soul be at peace... No more hunger and suffering..."
Ansu Year 736, 22nd of the Fiery Moon, early summer.
The first White Knight in human history was born in the wilderness of the Southern Territory.
Although at this moment, no one knew how this new profession should be named.
In the Lord's Residence in Cecil Territory, Gwen met the two Knights, Byron and Philip, who had just returned from the frontline.
They rushed all the way back to their residence, and they returned to the residence. they brought along with them were the thousands of special captives from the noble Alliance.
"As per your order, we have brought back the nobles, their knights, mages, as well as the priests of the Holy Light, the knights of the Holy See, and the extraordinary mercenaries in advance," Byron reported. "But because we were in a hurry, we only brought a part of them. There are still more than a thousand people in Hosman's prisoner of war camp, and two hundred people in Tanson's prisoner of war camp."
"That's enough. The main thing is to bring the nobles and their vassals back. Don't worry about the rest," Gwen said casually. "Before the entire Southern Territory is integrated, we still have a lot of things to do."
"Lord, what are you going to do with the nobles and their followers?" Knight Philip asked curiously. "Those people... have been clamoring to meet you since they were full. They want to explain the... misunderstandings in this war to you."
"... Clamoring to meet me to talk about this? Fortunately, their brains are not completely frozen, but they are not much better. "Gwen waved his hand indifferently." They can save their energy. They still haven't figured out what this war means. "
Byron heard it and immediately whispered to Philip, "See, I told you, you can continue to lock those people up. If they want to make a fuss, just let them be. At worst, you can lock them up with the big machine pump in the water plant. Let's see who can make a bigger fuss..."
Philip ignored Byron and continued to say to Gwen, "We have tried our best to capture the Vatican Knight and Holy Light priests in the noble Alliance, but there are still many who escaped after entering the plains. Some of them are trapped in the area controlled by Cecil and are being slowly recaptured. But there are a considerable number of Vatican Knight and priests who fled to the Cathedral of St. Louen in the northwest... That is not under our control."
Byron next to him could not help but murmur, "If we take it down, it will become a controlled area."
"Ahem." Gwen immediately coughed twice. Although he wanted to say that Byron's words were exactly what he wanted, he still avoided being too self-indulgent at the last moment because he knew very well that the Cathedral of St. Louen and Louen City where the church was located had a very special meaning not only within the Church of Holy Light, but even in the entire Southern Territory.
That was the headquarters of the Church of Holy Light in the southern parish, and also a theoretical "neutral land."
Theoretically, Louen City was directly controlled by the royal family. There was no local lord, only a general affairs officer sent by the royal family. But the general affairs officer was basically a cover. The one who really controlled Louen City was the Cathedral of St. Louen in the city, the southern bishop and the clergy in the cathedral.
Of course, now that the bishop of the southern parish was gone, and the high-ranking Knight and clergy of the Cathedral of St. Louen had mostly died in this war, the strength of the entire Cathedral of St. Louen was not a problem for Cecil at all. But what Gwen had to consider was not the defense of St. Louen's Cathedral at all.
What he had to consider was whether he could directly attack there, and under what name he could attack there.
This was directly related to the following order in the Southern Territory, and also related to his influence on a large number of believers of the Holy Light in the Southern Territory.
And there was a more realistic question: What would happen after taking down St. Louen's Cathedral? Would he just occupy Louen City, or capture all the clergy of the Church of Holy Light in Louen City, or even destroy the church? If it was the former, he was afraid that he would not be able to completely drive out the influence of the Church of Holy Light in the Southern Territory. If it was the latter, the social order in the Southern Territory would be greatly affected, and the more devout believers of the Holy Light in his new territory would also have doubts about the "justice" of the new lord.
After all, occupying cities and churches could be said to be a normal process of war, because the Bishop of the Southern Territory, Lemont, had "attacked" Cecil City with twelve fully armed Knight and a high-ranking clergy of the Holy See, which could be regarded as an act of war. But if they took over the city and further destroyed the belief system of the Holy Light in the Southern Territory, the hundreds of thousands of believers of the Holy Light in the Southern Territory would have doubts about Gwen Cecil's rule.
Gwen had no way to directly erase the belief of the Holy Light from the minds of hundreds of thousands of people, and with his current influence in the Southern Territory and the actual situation of religious belief in this world, he could not promote too drastic a reform plan of the Church.
Of course, he could also consider a compromise. After taking down St. Louen's Cathedral, he could force all clergy to accept Cecil's law and cut them off from the headquarters of the Church of Holy Light in the Holy Spirit Plain. After that, he could replace, purify, and transform the entire clergy group bit by bit. But the effect of this was not guaranteed, and there might be hidden dangers.
Now that he had begun to take over the Southern Territory, he had to start thinking about these practical problems as the ruler of the Southern Territory.
Philip and Byron saw that Gwen was thinking about the problem, so they did not disturb him. They waited quietly beside him, and then they heard Gwen gently tapping the table with his fingers, and said as if to himself, "Must there be a Church of Holy Light..."
Philip did not hear clearly for a moment. "What?"
"It's nothing." Gawain shook his head. "We'll solve the problem at St. Louin's Cathedral. But for now, we can let the priests and the knights of the Holy See continue to tremble in the cathedral for a while. In addition, those nobles in the various captive camps... let them be for the time being, and let them recognize the current situation. This will help them to cooperate with Cecil's law in the future. And before solving the problem of St. Louen's Cathedral and restoring the order of the Southern Territory, we should first do another thing... "
Byron and Philip said in unison, "Another thing?"
"We must make the Southern Territory 'our Southern Territory.'" Gwen stood up from behind the desk and came to the huge map hanging on the wall. His eyes fell on the northernmost gate of the Southern Territory — Rock Fortress. "We can't hand the key to our home to outsiders."
Philip and Byron followed Gwen's line of sight and also saw the fortress with a special meaning.
Philip's expression became serious, and Byron could not help but whistle. "Whoosh — this is a big target."
"It is indeed a big target." Gwen nodded. "Rock Fortress is completely different from the weak stone fortresses in the Southern Territory. Its entire wall is enchanted, almost like an extra layer of magic shield shrouding the fortress at all times. And all the soldiers stationed in Rock Fortress are elite soldiers. Count Pompey is the theoretical owner of the fortress, but the garrison of the fortress is directly trained and controlled by the royal family. Rock Fortress is more powerful than the 70,000 mobs that Count Hoffman has gathered."
Byron laughed. "After all, it is to seal off the entire Southern Territory."
"So we may need to fire a lot of cannons to take down this fortress." Gwen also laughed. "But no matter what, we have to take it down and then control the gate in our hands."
After this, the battle in the Holy Spirit Plains would not have much to do with him. He could calm down and tidy up the Southern Territory. For example, he could deal with the Holy Light Priests hiding in St. Louin's Cathedral, or deal with the noble captives still locked up in the prison cells.
"When are you going to launch the attack?" Byron put away his usual cheeky look and asked with a serious face. "We are now at the stage where the morale is at its highest."
"Don't worry." Gwen waved his hand and quietly looked at the map in front of him. "I'm waiting for the news."
"Waiting for the news?"
"Waiting for a reason to attack Rock Fortress, waiting for the time to attack, waiting for new information," Gwen said. "And these... may be coming soon."
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