The twilight bell rang over the city of Nabersius, echoing in the empty twilight, far and near, and the setting sun shone on the dome of the Floating Golden Palace through the fiery sunset, reflecting an orange-red light.

Groups of golden-helmeted guards lined up on the ramp outside the palace walls, and the uniform command of the knights of honor could be heard in the distance, and the noise passed over the copper-plated treetops and even into the inner court. At the Palace of the Winter Solstice, Pope Petien III hastily finished his dinner - half a well-cooked roast lamb, a silver mackerel, and delicate pastries were served on a snow-white porcelain plate, and the meat dishes were made of basil leaves and snow leaves of St. Osor, and topped with sauce and black pepper, the meat was crispy and fragrant, but the diner himself had no appetite, and after tasting it, he put down his silver knife and fork, wiped his lips with a square handkerchief embroidered with gold thread, and then ordered the attendants to arrange for him to go to the Emerald Shrine.

Although the nobility still had a feud with the temple because of the unequal distribution of benefits in private, from the secular power upwards, the secular laurel crown and the sacred scepter were all in the hands of one person, and for this reason, the pope was often not hereditary, usually from among the eight cardinals. After the abdication of the previous generation of popes, he took the name of the saint and lived in the Cuijin Sacred Hall, regardless of secular power, but still the spiritual leader of the Templar Church.

This is the source of Petien III's restlessness these days. He sat in the carriage and watched the shadow of the vault of the Emerald Templar from afar, like a giant beast entrenched in his heart, eyeing him and making him unstable. The previous Pope, Asabantu XI, was his mentor on the Holy Path, and he was nurtured to where he is today, although the relationship between teachers and students is harmonious. But there was always a throne estranged from each other, and Petian knew that this was due to their respective positions, and it was understandable that all previous popes had been like this. Recently, however, there has been some anomalies, and he has always advocated holy war against the southern Cruz, and Asaibantu XI has always been clear about his thoughts. Now that the Cruz people are in chaos without a fight, the mad queen dares to restore the dark dynasty, this is a godsend, just so that he can send out the Cruz in the right name, he even contacted the envoys of the Wind Elves and the Knights of Greysius, hoarded a large army and grain and grass on the border, and prepared to make a big move, so as to leave a heavy mark on history, at this time, a truce decree made his expectations come to naught, and this edict came from the Emerald Gold Hall in front of him.

This kind of thing may not happen once in a century. The last time was during the Revolt of Limado, when Gloria I used the power of the Knights of the Holy Inquisition to remove the then pope. This association made Petian III's face gloomy and uncertain, and he watched with a gloomy expression as the seven-foot-high gold-painted palace door of the Emerald Hall slowly opened in the hands of the guards on both sides, and he didn't know what kind of thoughts were spinning in his mind. The deeper uneasiness in his heart came from the reaction of the bishops and knights everywhere, who did not seem to react as violently as he expected to this arrogant and unreasonable edict, and the surface of the water inside the empire was like a mirror, without the slightest ripple, and he knew that the old man behind the palace gate must have used some power that he did not know about. Let all parties submit respectfully to it.

As a superior person, there is no one who can tolerate power outside of his own control. Especially since the power was beyond his expectations.

Accompanied by his attendants through the cloister, Petion III stopped in front of a dark walnut door, and then he raised his hand to the left and right, and at the same time stopped the servant's report, and in the face of this walnut door, the supreme and domineering of the Holy Judgment found himself hesitant in his heart. But the hesitation was as light as spider silk. His Majesty the Pope broke free from his restraints with a slight wrench, and pushed the door in by placing his slender palm on the doorknob.

Ever since he was old, Asabantu XI liked to light the fireplace in his study, sit on a low chair, and read the scriptures and books of the Church all day long. Although Petian was skeptical of the truth in this, he was more or less envious of the fact that since he had taken control of worldly authority, he had inevitably alienated himself from the divine will that 'the Holy See is inferior to an ascetic', a proverb that was by no means a rumor in Faunzan.

The warm breath came to his face, the hot wind hitting his cheeks, and he couldn't help but squint, and the fire that danced in the fireplace seemed to flow through the cracks in the open door, like flowing warmth, permeating the ends of his golden shoes and robes.

Asabantu XI was not alone in the room, but in addition to a minister in his forties, there was also an old man with white hair and glasses, whom Petian III recognized at a glance as a well-known scholar of scripture in the temple. Asebantu XI was still dressed today in a modest robe, but with a few hats, and looked rather formal and strict, and a woman sat across from him, and Tipean III was a little surprised, and could not help but look at this woman more, but when he looked at it again, he could not take his eyes off it anymore - this woman had long dry brown hair, and a pair of eyes that shone like emeralds embedded in the mountain stone, and the reason why she said was embedded in the mountain stone was because her skin looked extremely dry, dull and lacklustre, The cheekbones were towering, like steep rocks, and her lips were angular as if they had been carved out of them, and one could see at a glance that this woman had a very firm character.

There is only one woman in this world with such a face, and only one woman has a thousand years of life, Tipeian greeted respectfully: "Sage Lord. ”

Asabantu XI looked at his student with a smile and closed the book in his hand, a canon that expounded the early teachings of the Templars, and the person who recorded it had been buried in the earth some three or four hundred years ago, though he had been posthumously canonized. He waved his hand, signaling that Tipeian did not need to be polite, as if he had already foreseen that he would come: "Your Excellency, your Excellency the Pope, do you have a lot of problems when you come here today?" ”

The situation was beyond Tipei'an's control, and the current pope pondered for a moment and nodded sternly.

"Let me answer you," said the sage Ellanta, whose voice was unexpectedly soft, not at all like her countenance, "that edict was issued at my request to His Excellency Asebantu. ”

"Why?" Tipean III asked.

"Because I want Faunzan not to get involved in this war, Your Excellency."

"Why?" Tipean is still the problem.

Asabantu XI took over with a smile: "Your Excellency, there has been a lot of disturbance in the Templar for half a century. You have seen the conflict between the old and the new doctrines, and the reason for this is nothing more than to discuss a question of justice or wrong. The root of this problem is the great war 60 years ago, and we saw so much behind that war that we began to question the very essence of why we are here. What do you think about this? ”

Instead of answering, Tipean glanced at Elranta.

"I can't give you an answer to what history is right or wrong, Your Excellency." Elranta calmly replied: "Although I am an eyewitness, neither I, nor Gil, nor St. Osor, nor your ancestor Faenzan, can answer this question, and Odin thinks that he is wrong, but this only represents his opinion of himself - he cannot judge history and the past, and no one can judge himself correctly at a certain stage of history. Not to mention that there were countless sages before him, many people who were involved in it, and any person in this part of history, whether it was an eyewitness or a bystander, could only observe a fragment of it, so we can only experience it and witness it. I've lived for a thousand years to see that with my own eyes—"

Tipean III frowned. "But do you think the Queen of the Cruz has chosen the right one?"

Elranta shook her head. "Nope. It is precisely because we cannot confirm that we are right or wrong that I want to see the other way in history. You know the prophecy: the lost moon takes away the light. The light is gone, the silver generation is lost to the earth, moving forward in darkness and obscurantism, the chance encounter between the emperor and the fool, the rusty clockwork is being reset, the sword that changes fate - it is this sword that Vajnd is waiting for. ”

"You believe what the Black Prophecy says. Sage-sage? Tipeian III asked rhetorically: "A qiē will be born from darkness?" ”

"This is what the Miner people are not willing to give up, Your Excellency," replied the sage, "this is the age of the Black Iron, the age of heroes, and Martha has put power in the hands of mortals. It is believed that heroes will be born among mortals, but in the eyes of the people of gold and silver - how can the underdog save our world? Not to mention the failed works lost in the dark forest, which seem to warn civilization that this is a wrong path. The descendants of the Azure Knight are arguing over this, the fire of civilization is declining day by day, and even unsustainable, the dark dragon Odin has made a last resort to save this qiē, and today will be the moment when it will show its results. ”

Elranta looked at Tipian III and replied: "The millennium of history seems to be back in a cycle, but this may not be the beginning and starting point of a qiē, I will witness the last qiē according to the agreement with Odin, but in any case, I still want to keep a little spark for civilization, and not pour all my strength into just one answer." Therefore I hope that the people of Faenzan will stay away from this mortal stage, for there is an even more important war that requires your strength. ”

Tipeian raised his head slightly: "Sage, what do you mean?" ”

Elranta raised her head, her emerald gaze seemed to penetrate the palace walls of the Emerald Golden Hall, and the direction she looked in the distance, beyond the vast hills and plains, under the clouds like fire, the waves of the emerald sea tirelessly washed over the shores of the white rocks for thousands of years, and the alliance called the Ten Cities took root and multiplied in this vast land. About 530 years ago, mercenaries and merchants from the Inir and Macedonian regions arrived and spent a hundred years establishing the first city here, and half a century later, a new kingdom was founded, with humans, mountain people, elves and dwarves, and the teachings of the Templar spread here, but the beliefs of nature were not rejected by the people.

It is a land of freedom, where money and the sound of swords are reflected all year round.

But today, under the White City, the fishermen who went out to sea suddenly stopped their work, some of the sailors were cleaning the nets and cables, some were still clinging to the mast, some were drunk and had just stepped up to the deck from the cabin, some were spreading their sails, and some were lifting anchors by the winch, but they all stopped without exception and looked back in the direction of the sea and sky.

The forts on the city wall were warning and firing, and a group of guards rushed up to the city platform, and the sea was like a blue wave, and there seemed to be nothing unusual about the calm at the turn of the sea and the sky.

But in an instant, a dense black dot appeared in that direction.

Rand hastily put on a battle armor and hurried to the city wall, and he was surrounded by him to the edge of the battlements, he raised his hand to stop the noise around him, and then raised the monocular in his hand - he was greeted by a white spinnaker, which almost dazzled his eyes, and he cursed in a low voice, and looked down, the silver oak insignia on the sail gleamed in the sun, and further down, he saw the elegant white hull of the elf.

"The fleet of wild elves—"

Rand took a sip and lowered the binoculars. "At least three hundred ships, this is an army of thirty thousand men, Elranta is crazy?"

The Elranta in his mouth is naturally referring to the country of the wild elves, he looked at it again, and then he was sure that he was not hallucinating, at this time, in fact, the alarm bell in the White City City had been ringing, and the ships outside began to fish into the port, Rand glanced at the direction of the port, and estimated that the port would have to be closed for about half an hour. He turned around, he was just a small regimental leader, and he didn't have any ideas in this matter, he handed the telescope to his deputy, and then said to one of the servants: "You go and inform the Eagle of the Far Earth and the city lord, let them make up their minds, if the elves play for real, it is impossible for the White City to hold it, we must immediately seek the support of other city-states-"

The man looked at him in a panic before shuddering to take his brass token and stumble down.

"Look at the ship—" suddenly shouted from a priest pointing in the direction of the sea.

Rand turned around and saw a light boat leap out of the wild elf's fleet and approach White City at great speed.

"It's the messenger."

"They sent messengers out."

"What the hell are the elves trying to do?"

……

(PS: A new month has begun, everyone keep up the good work~) (To be continued......)