The holy city of Eastidi is one of the most famous cities on the continent, known for its rich history and unique religious culture, and every day, countless pilgrims come to this blessed capital of the gods.

Although the city is not large, the vast majority of its citizens are clergy, and there are seven world-class cathedrals and more than 100 small and medium-sized churches in the small city, all of which are monuments of historical value.

And on the top of this mountain city built along the mountain, there is a rather famous step, that is, the famous holy staircase pilgrimage road, every moment there are pilgrims to lead the way, there are countless gorgeous sculptures on both sides of the steps, among which there are ancient heroes, historical figures, and more, but they are strange mythological figures.

And more than 300 years ago, there was a madman, with his own strength, turned this holy miracle road into a bloody road, but he was not punished by God, and since then, the pilgrimage road has become a bloody road Well, speaking of which, I'm afraid everyone knows that this is the place.

This is the headquarters of the Templar Church, the city of the first fall of the Holy Light, and the place where the first qiē begins.

Walk along the famous white stone steps to the end, and on the top of the mountain, the seemingly crumbling dilapidated building complex is the headquarters of the Templar Church, the core area of the Holy Light Church, which occupies more than half of the faith in the mainland, and can even be called the power center of the Ash continent - the Byrne Church.

In the past, pedestrians walked slowly with their heads held high, and its inhabitants seemed to be born with a capital of pride, and in fact it was, and the competition between theocracy and secular power was endless. In this day and age. Even a lord of real power would not dare to offend a regional bishop.

I can't talk about a seemingly poor old man pastor on the road. Tomorrow will be favored by a certain bishop, become a member of a certain empire, the truth is more unreasonable than fiction, such things have happened a lot, but today, everyone came and went in a hurry, talking carefully, but they did not stop peeking at the land surrounded by holy light.

"Haven't you had a result yet? All the cardinals have been in for so long."

It was past three o'clock in the morning today. The bell at the entrance of Byrne Cathedral was struck, and within half an hour, all cardinals and high-ranking members had to be on time, and although the bell was not a wake-up call for an urgent war, the last bell was more than twenty years ago.

Obviously, something big has happened, even if there is nothing on the surface, but many clergymen in private can't help but talk about it, and when the high-level people are busy in various conference rooms, all kinds of rumors are already flying in the sky below.

"It can't be the one in the north, anyway, the rumors have spread. It has a great impact on the reputation of the church church. ”

"No, it won't. The oracle has confirmed that they are allies, and will the Pope dare to disobey the oracle? ”

"So what do you say? There's something big going to make all the adults go to the table. It's like twenty years ago, before the Holy War of Cathone."

The priest's voice became smaller and smaller, and the cold sweat on his forehead couldn't help dripping, for middle- and lower-level people like them, jihad was not good news.

Perhaps the spoils and honors of the conquest will make the superior ecstatic, and the glory of the holy war will make the fanatics hesitate to do so, but for ordinary church people, the holy war also means countless deaths, and before the endless gold and honor are in their hands, there will inevitably be mountains of corpses, perhaps not only those heretics, but also their own share.

"It's out, it's out!"

"His Holiness the Pope!"

The white-robed Pope Kaloma I had just come out of the church, the former harmony had disappeared without a trace, and the iron blue face was undoubtedly the best declaration, all the people in the square spontaneously remained silent, while the cardinals and high priests who came out behind had different expressions, some had a stern face without saying a word, some were angry and red, and of course, there were also those who pretended to be strict, but in fact, the corners of their mouths rose unconsciously.

According to the view of mortals, the new Pope Caloma, who has only recently ascended the throne, is already in his sixties, and he can be called an old man with a short time, but in fact, most of the previous popes have been able to serve two terms of twenty years, except for those who died unexpectedly. As for where they all went, I'm afraid only the new pope will know.

Facing everyone's inquiring eyes, Kagma was obviously in a bad mood, and he had no intention of explaining nonsense, but directly tore up a golden scroll, and the next moment, the thin old man turned into a huge divine phantom, the bust floated in the air, the old man's low murmur turned into thunder, and the next declaration, no one in the city could ignore it.

"The Aoros of the Bayer Empire colluded with the undead and evil to sacrifice millions of people in Victoria Harbour, and the evil was so evil that we have heard the will of God, and hereby decreed on behalf of God, we will adjudicate Oros. Moss Every. Saint. Milan is a heretic, and hereby the word 'saint' is removed from the royal family, and he himself is condemned as a heretic! ”

The Pope took a deep breath, as if trying to squeeze out the last trace of hesitation, then bit his lip and made the most important declaration word by word.

"Evil is all around us, and I, Kagmar I, in the name of the Pope, declare that the Holy War should be opened, and that all those who believe in the Light will fight for the Light and Justice, and become the mortal enemies of the extremely evil allies of Oros."

There are not many words, but everyone who heard them was dumbfounded, the Bayer Empire is not a small country, those regions with contradictions in the north are actually irrelevant, the super empire is the main force, and the emperor of the Bayer Empire was ruled a heretic, and when he was still in power, it was equivalent to the entire country being ruled a heretic.

It is true that the Bayer Empire was not interested in the Holy Light Faith before, but at least it maintained a superficial respect, and the expulsion of the Templar Church did not mean that it was on the hostile side, and if the Holy War started at this time, it would mean that all those who believed in the Holy Light would become the mortal enemies of the Bayer Empire.

Of course, this is theoretical, in the face of a behemoth like the Bayer Empire, without enough interests, no one will declare war casually, if there is no Templar Church to organize a crusade, I am afraid that the major powers will just condemn it casually and there will be no follow-up.

And if there is a conflict of interest with it, such as the current country of mages. You can take this as a great righteousness. Declare all-out war on Beyer.

And the worst is probably the other small countries around the Bayer Empire. If they are also part of the Holy Light camp, I am afraid that they will be forced to take sides, and if they choose the corresponding call of the Holy War, the army of the Baier Empire will be in the city the next day.

When the declaration of the Templar Church is made, regardless of the reason, at the moment when the eternal holy war is about to begin, there is a high probability that the nations of mankind will engage in an extremely cruel civil war, which is undoubtedly undesirable for most people. But if Oros still stands with the Undead Emperors, it is very likely that it will become a reality.

And if this war happens, even Victoria Harbour, which has become part of the plane of death, will not matter, then the war between the superpowers, I am afraid that the death toll will exceed this incident.

"It's terrible, it's even more unacceptable than the holy war twenty years ago, when the superpower was actually judged a heretic! Is there going to be a world war? ”

"How is it possible that the church may not be able to withstand this civil war. This is not the heyday of more than 400 years ago. Nor will the superpowers fight for the Church. ”

But some people heard the Pope's words.

"Is it just that Oros is judged a heretic, and the time of the formation of the crusading army has not been determined."

At that time, the country of Arashi was ruled as a heresy, and it was only the emperor's words that were adjudicated. There was no doubt that there was room for the Emperor to go into the wilderness before the crusading army was formed. Naturally, the holy war aimed at the crusade against heretics became unnecessary in the slightest, and the failure to determine the time and formation of the crusading army without immediate certainty undoubtedly left room for time limit.

"I'm afraid this is also a means of division, forcing the nobles of the Baier Empire to rebel against the emperor, but it is really difficult to say how much of a role Oros can play in the form of covering the sky in his country."

Two days later, when the news reached the Baier Empire, even if the official channels made public opinion control in time, it still caused a storm, but unfortunately, the position of the emperor of Oros was still as stable as before, and the lord who dared to rebel against him was killed by him ten years ago, and all the power was in his hands, even if the careerist was still there, what could he do.

But there are some things that are difficult to hold down for a long time, and there are many hidden holy light believers in the Baier Empire, so I'm afraid that the old emperor will have to pay attention to his own safety when he goes out.

Dressing up the old emperor is still what to do every day, eating and sleeping, so that those in the know have to admire his psychological element, when the Bayer Empire is calm on the surface, the most panicked are those high-level undead from the death plane.

"How could the reaction be so violent, it was completely different from what was expected."

Perhaps it was the events in the north that damaged the prestige of the Templar Church, and the prestige of the Pope himself, which made him anxious to redeem it, or perhaps he felt that the tragedy in Victoria Harbour was too frustrating, and the Pope made a sudden and violent decision, as if the two players had just started to play cards, and they were still trying to come and go, and one of them did not hesitate to throw all his chips to the stud showdown, which completely exceeded the expectations of his opponent.

None of the summoned cardinals expected the Pope to be so radical, let alone the visitors from the Outer Plane, whose "cooperation" with Oros had just begun, and most of the plans had not yet been launched, causing a fierce backlash from the entire human society and the Church of the Gods.

In their expectations, the pope at this time should take into account the overall situation, and most likely send spies and diplomats to slowly collect intelligence while condemning it, and strive to turn big things into small things and small things, instead of risking a super-great civil war at the beginning, fighting to the death.

"Damn, this pope is crazy? Did we dig his ancestral grave or something. ”

"No! Speed up all the plans, or the King of the Dead will tear us down! ”——

And on the first day when the nations were about to be shocked by the pope's proclamation, we had reached the border between the two countries, and we were leisurely preparing to enter the country.

When Xiaohong slapped the idiot who took the initiative to provoke, the other party's mercenary group boss made a move, and was slapped away, as a result, the dispute between the two sides became deeper and deeper, and finally caused a blood feud...... All right. All of the above is casual talk, and it is basically impossible to happen.

The mercenaries who go out to beg for a life are not fools and tricks in knight novels, if they form a big grudge just by tempting and provoke people who shouldn't be provoked, then this mercenary group that keeps causing trouble will not survive today.

Especially when the two big mercenary groups are led by the head of the group. This situation has not yet come to an eye. It's just outrageous.

Kassandra of the Silver Rank slapped her in the face. That Ranger is at least Golden. ”

“…… Even the head of the Eagle Regiment, Jost, slapped him away, and even the epic divine soldier Starfall Sword was captured empty-handed, and the regiment commander is a weapon master who has experienced a hundred battles, the golden rank? You said that the dark-haired woman only had the golden rank?. ”

"Legendary? No, Captain Yost had also fought against legendary warriors, and he didn't lose as badly, which means that the woman was at least a warrior of the Holy Rank. Such a young holy step, who is that little young master. ”

The little young master refers to the young mage who drinks tea and chats as a whole. The mage profession relies on the accumulated knowledge, other professions can be fast-tracked, the mage's quick progress is basically unrealistic, and the blue glittering archmage robe not only shows that he is very rich, but also proves that he is very confident in his safety.

The mercenaries are not without eyesight, they have long found out that this silver coin mercenary group is dominated by this young man who is idle as a whole, coupled with the excellent performance of other team members, a rumor that the son of a certain nobleman of a certain country is traveling with a dog's leg and a maid and a wife and concubine.

Coupled with the nonsense of the idlers, the rumors became more and more true, and the Storm Eagle became a loyal steward. Cohen became a manservant, and the half-dragon man became a joker. Lilith, who wore a cloak, was used as a bodyguard mage, and the two elves became elven slaves raised only by aristocratic families, and as for Heloise, she was really not wrong in some ways, she was still a pet, but in a different direction.

"Oh, this guy stays in the carriage for you even during the day, so desolate. Lewdness is unreasonable, which is really enviable and infuriating. ”

"Those elves and catwomen also always get in the car, and it takes hours to get on them, and that kid is not afraid of weak feet."

Ahem, that dirty smile is so obvious, but finally they still have a little brain, and they didn't count Xiaohong, who is at least the holy level, and they are still regarded as bodyguards, otherwise as soon as the "majesty of the dragon clan" strikes, it is certain that all these guys will become charred.

The deliberate whispering behind the scenes was no secret to us, and the result was that after rolling on the ground with a smile pointing at the only stupid cat who had "guessed correctly", there were two more tiger teeth on the head.

To get back to the point, no matter how speechless the process was, at least the two large mercenary groups reached a consensus - don't offend this young nobleman who is traveling, since the other party wants to play the game, he should play all the way.

Proved the strength, naturally a qiē easy to say, I don't know if I can see the mercenary of tomorrow's sun is very realistic, come out to fight for money in the end, interests are more important than honor, before the trouble was for face, this line of work has no face, there is no gold, now it is calmed down for the sake of the inside, and continuing to cause trouble is obviously equivalent to death, and there is a strong "mercenary group" that does not share the commission, no matter how you look at it, it is a good thing.

"Anyway, it's just a young person's play, don't take it seriously. And if you really offend the big nobles, it will be a trouble. ”

After that, the two heads of the regiment took the initiative to apologize, and there were often a few high-level people who came to nag about family life and pull the relationship, but in my opinion, finding out our family background and where we came from is the primary purpose, and digging people into the corners of the wall is the core motive.

As for their actions, I didn't hesitate to ignore them, my group of bastards would be safer to play with, and if they really got bored at home, I'm afraid they would have done everything.

But soon, I regretted it, don't look at that Yost's kung fu is not bad, but he obviously can't speak, and he still insists on pulling us to do homework, which is simply uncomfortable.

"Quack, where did you talk about it last time, by the way, it's the same joke you left over from last time. Why do the undead build houses with one less house than other races? I can't guess it, uncle sues you. It's a toilet! They didn't even eat, and the toilet at home must have been furnished. Hahaha. ”

"Starfall Sword" obviously looked like a rough uncle, but he said a cold joke that was not funny at all, and none of us could laugh on our side, while several of his other colleagues laughed dryly, squeezing out some laughter, which was considered to be over.

"Your regimental commander doesn't have a problem with his brains, does he? It was the day before yesterday that Xiaohong beat him stupid. ”

Heloise's mouth was full of venom, but her words unexpectedly received a wry smile and a nod from everyone on the other side of the regiment.

"The head of the regiment is good at everything, but the humor cell is a little strange. We didn't expect it to think anyway, so let's laugh and laugh, or it will be endless. ”

The one who spoke in a low voice was a young mage from Gakadir, who was also the staff officer of this mercenary group, but at this time, he could only look at his boss with a helpless wry smile.

And now, it seems that he found that his joke did not get the desired effect, and the tiger's eyes turned, and the new joke of the cold joke master Jost has been released.

"Do you know that the house of the undead is the best place to eat? Well, it's definitely the cleanest in their house, because they don't need it at all, it's the toilet, hahaha,"

Okay, I don't know why he likes the toilet and the undead jokes so much, but from the unhappy looks on Lilith and Heloise when they look at him, I know this guy is guilty.

After all, these two are undead, and they probably also have the function of eating normally, and most of them can also use the bathroom, should they say that they won't die if they don't die?

seemed to find that the audience's feelings were wrong, and the guy shook his head, and actually squeezed out a new joke.

"By the way, have you heard the story of the dragon slayer warriors and the dungeons? Once upon a time, there was a stupid red dragon, and he once ate too much."

This time it was the turn of a certain long-haired woman to grind her teeth, listening to this cold joke, looking at the emperor in front of me, I finally laughed.

"Let me tell you a joke, there was a fool in the past, he talked about slaying dragons in front of the dragons, and told three indiscriminate yellow jokes in front of the undead, and then there was no more."

And when we were entering the Bair Empire, the next day the Pope's declaration of war spread all over the world, and the royal family of Lagos, as devout followers of the Holy Light, after repeated hesitation, decided to respond to the call of the Church and declare war with Bair.

That is, a day later, when the news from all sides was delivered, the Bayer Empire and the Kingdom of Rags officially became belligerents.

And at this time, without us knowing, we were in this caravan of rags, planning to enter the Bayer Empire to make a big profit.

[System prompt: Don't worry, being the Emperor of Death will always be your title.] Friendly reminder, you should go to the Temple of the God of Destiny to change your luck. (To be continued......)