In the temple, the icon of Artemis is dyed with a purple-red halo in the afterglow of the setting sun, adding a touch of holiness and magnificence, and the stained glass on the windows reflects the afterglow of the setting sun, casting it on the ground, and the soft music echoes in the main hall, creating a unique atmosphere. No matter who you are, as long as you stand here and immerse yourself in this indescribable atmosphere, your soul seems to suddenly become much cleaner and more innocent, you can temporarily get rid of the troubles of the world, and enjoy the peace after this confusion

Alan. Stephen stood in front of the doorway, and seemed to be very emotional about the scene in front of him, and he didn't speak all the time, but stood quietly. Behind him, the man standing in the room seemed to be completely hidden in the darkness, except for a pair of dark eyes that shone brightly. His hands were folded in the wide sleeves of his coat, and it was impossible to see what he was doing.

The two men remained standing like this, without any words.

"It seems that we still underestimated that lord, and actually let him win the decisive battle, but now he is arrogant and unstoppable." Alan. Stephen said suddenly.

At the time of the fall of Heidelberg by the rebels, the church was under the control of Alain Brown, except for those who remained behind. Stephen was brought to Pierceburg, and in the upper echelons of the Natural Church, they were still inclined to the Ortiga Empire, and the Grand Prince Caesar was their target of support, and the Grand Duke of Cassef became their partner in the Ortiga Empire.

However, Hathaway's turmoil has ruined the good things that the Church of Nature has painstakingly created...... First, he supported Dietrich against Caesar. As a result, he has not yet ascended to the throne; Then there was an armed confrontation with Grand Duke Kasef, and finally he was expelled from the province of Casev.

The crux of the matter is that the Natural Church cannot openly and purposefully meddle in the internal affairs of sovereign states, and Hathaway advocates freedom in terms of religious beliefs, neither throwing herself into the dark sect nor openly suppressing the Natural Church, so the Church cannot openly deal with her, which makes the hardliners in the Natural Church have a sense of power and nowhere to go.

"You mean the Marquis of Cordillera?" The man standing in the dark raised his voice slightly, "I don't know how she did it. Let the Green Elves, Barbarians, Orcs, and Humans fight under one banner. Why can't we convince her and make enemies of her? That guy Leonardo had placed his bet on Archduke Casseff and was now gone, didn't he think about how to deal with the aftermath? ”

"Your Excellency Valentine. The girl was not very old, though. The mind is very resolute. Nothing is possible anymore. However, I heard that one had appeared in the Cordillera. "Alain. Stephen said with a hint of criticism.

"No wonder...... If she can't be used by me, she can't be our enemy. The current state of the Ostega Empire is very good, and there is no need for another powerful lord. The voice in the darkness suddenly turned cold.

"What are you going to do?" Alan. Stephen asked.

"All the filth and filth should be wiped out, and that's what our judges are all about. However, if we act again, we must make more careful plans. The voice in the darkness seemed a little subdued.

"What about the specific plan?"

Alan. Stephen didn't like this guy at all, he was as pure as those ascetics, and it was hard to know what he was thinking in his heart, and he would rather work with Kennett than this guy, at least Kennett was not as pretentious as this guy, and he still kept the creed of riding in words and deeds.

But this is just a thought, the situation in front of me no longer allows for personal feelings to be mixed in. Stephen believed that the guy in front of him didn't like him or cooperate with him, but now they had to sit down and pretend to be pretentious.

The man in the dark saw Alain. Stephen was bored in his heart, he knew that the archbishop did not like the Inquisition's involvement in the affairs of the Ostiga Empire, and he had always been quite critical of the Inquisition's style, so that he had been worried that the cooperation between the two sides would not be sustainable, but he did not expect that the cooperation had just begun, and he would be dizzy by such a blow.

This time, the Church of Nature's arrangement in the Kasef region suffered an unprecedented failure, and the Inquisition, which was the impetus for this operation, was unharmed, only losing a few high-level mages, would this cause suspicion and dissatisfaction on the other side?

Valentine's eyes were lowered, as if in deep thought; Alan. Stephen's eyes were staring at the sky, motionless, also thinking about something, and the atmosphere inside and outside the door seemed a little strange.

After about a quarter of an hour, Valentine knew that this stalemate would continue if he didn't open this almost suffocating scene first. Stephen is slick on the outside, but he is very arrogant on the inside, and he will not easily express his opinion.

"Master Stephen, we are all well aware of the situation, we are not very lucky, we have just passed each other, to be precise, the other side is well prepared, they have seen our plan, so we have nothing in Cordillera and Casef, and they have dealt us a heavy blow in Casefph."

Valentine sighed softly, "I deeply regret what happened to the few elders who died heroically in this battle. ”

Alan. The muscles on Stephen's cheeks finally moved, and his gaze was still so serene and peaceful, "There is always a need to defend the truth, and there is nothing that we can afford to sacrifice as much as this, and I don't think they will regret what they did." But I'm just surprised, why didn't we know anything about the enemy's means before the battle? It's unimaginable. ”

Valentine's eyelids twitched a few times, and he warned himself that he needed to be patient and that he couldn't be emotional at this time, "Master Stephen, I believe that Master Leonardo has submitted a detailed report, and you have read it as well. Due to his status, Leonardo can only do that. We can't force him to make unnecessary sacrifices that don't help, can we? ”

If he continues like this, the situation will only get worse and worse, and now he can only hope for the other party's sanity and calmness.

With a deep breath, Alain. Stephen's face was calm, but his eyes were slightly raised, and it didn't make much sense to argue about the incompetence and dereliction of duty of the Inquisition, two consecutive disgraceful defeats had tied the two sides to a rope. He also knew that this was just a stopgap measure, and that if it continued, it would only have a negative impact on his own faction in the Natural Church, but now he had to face not only Hathaway, but also the unrest within the Natural Church.

Valentine looked at the old man who had been floating in the Church of Nature for decades with some strange looks. It's an incredible act to wander your mind at this time. Although the other party can't see a little bit on the surface, he can't hide it from the shower, he knows the other party too well.

Glaring at Valentine deeply, Alain. Stephen's tone became a little serious. "What is in the past is in the past. Will you act according to our will in the future? ”

was suffocated by the other party's rare aggressive momentum. Valentine suddenly found that the other party's occasional appearance was so awe-inspiring.

"Well, Master Stephen joked, we mean we need to deal a fatal blow to Casserf and the Cordillera. Otherwise they will only become Bengali. Yu Yuantan groaned.

"No, the outside must first settle the inside, the problems within the church have now surfaced, if we don't deal with it in time, the foundation of our survival will be shaken, do you give up your roots?"

Alan. Stephen flatly vetoed, "The power shown by the Marquis of Cordillera is impressive, and the territory of Cordillera and Casif is vast, and she has a fairly solid foundation of secular power there, you and I will not be able to uproot it in the short term, and once the problems within the church are not completely solved, where will we go in the future?" ”

Alan. Stephen's last words struck Valentine, who was convinced that he hated the heretics that existed within the Church of Nature far more than the enemies outside the Church, and that the evil within was the most fundamental.

"Alright, Master Stephen, then let's discuss how to pull out the tumor inside." Valentine pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly.

In the Cordillera, Hathaway, who had just finished inspecting the recruitment, had no time to rest, completely unaware that she had escaped the actions that some elements of the Natural Church were going to do against her...... Although Hathaway's strength has been greatly improved now, how can the foundation of the Natural Church be comparable to that of an upstart like her?

If you really want to make up your mind to deal with her, there is really no one in the Cordillera to stop her, and the result of hard resistance can only be ashes.

Now Hathaway is working her own big plan, and Barthes. Willie took on the task of expanding the army completely, and Aaron. Jerami and Petro. Hughes took on the government affairs of Caself, Cordillera, Brigna, and Lancais, which relieved her of the pressure in many ways.

Ilona is completely suitable as the leader of the magic legion, but the specific drill guidance is still in Hathaway's own hands, after all, this army is completely her own children, all members are from the basics, born poor and lonely, and loyal to her.

The strength of the magic legion actually provides Hathaway with a very strong foundation, whether it is the mage group, or those alien troops, as well as Walt. The Knights of Casif that Jobs is painstakingly building belong to forces other than the core after all, and with this powerful mage force as his core strength, everything can be relatively much easier.

But all of this was not enough, and Hathaway knew that she would face pressure from many sources...... Among the four major lords of the north, although Grand Duke Kasef is still alive, his power is already yesterday's yellow flower, and he can no longer make any waves.

Archduke Erabeni of Bukharin's province is currently in secret communication with Cordillera, and there is no conflict of interest for the time being. But the Fernando family of Atlanta and the Rochester family of North Carolina between Zimbwe and Casserf have now become a formidable obstacle to Casseff's expansion to the northwest.

It wasn't difficult to get rid of these two guys, but the concern was that the two seemed to be aware of it, and their ties were deepening, and Hathaway was particularly worried that they were trying to strengthen their ties with the province of Bukharin, to the southeast, and that if Archduke Erabeni was involved, it would be quite difficult for him to take the next step.

Even if the province of Bukharin would not explicitly participate in its confrontation with the Rochester and Fernando families, Hathaway could not ignore this force, and the old fox of Erabeni did not see the situation clearly like Archduke Caself, and his methods were much more ruthless. As soon as he thought that his actions could be a danger to the province of Bukharin, a stab in the back was inevitable, as the last performance of the Warhammer Knights amply demonstrated.

With her current strength, she wants to avoid being attacked on two fronts as much as possible, but she can't guarantee this, so Hathaway can only take the method of strengthening her own strength to defuse this danger, and maintain a strong enough army to deter Bukhalin in the southeast, so that she can make Bukharin's army not easily involved in the war with the two great lords in the northwest, or that the involvement cannot affect her main plan, which is what Hathaway wants to achieve.

Just when Hathaway was so busy that she couldn't even care about cultivating, the arrival of two uninvited guests disrupted her plans...... There are some things that need to be understood anyway.

"Leader of Karachi, Chief of Hammond, I have repeatedly stated my opinion, you want your warriors to return, as Lord Cordillera and Casseph, it is not convenient for me to express my opinion, for I will never abandon the Green Elf warriors who shed their blood and died for me, unless they voluntarily leave me.

The recovery of Kasef can be said to have been bought with their lives and honor, and everything they have now has been obtained through their own hard work, and they have the right to enjoy all this. You now want me to order them to be disbanded, and let them go home with whatever they have, I can't do it, it's a treacherous act, and I'm sure the green elves can't do that either. ”

Hathaway looked helpless, as if the other party had indeed brought her a problem.

Listening to Hathaway's high-sounding reason, Karachi and Hammond no longer know what words to use to fight back against each other, each other's words sound reasonable, but this is obviously a trap, except that this trap was wrapped in sweet bait at the beginning, and now it has added a layer of justice. (To be continued......)