In the thirty-sixth hour of the battle, Duke Fernández fell, which was undoubtedly worse news for Benedict II.

He had to face the Knights of the Silver Moon alone, not even the occasional one-to-two-hour break. At the same time, after receiving the news of the fall of Duke Fernández, Duke Tangis, a close ally of Duke Fernández, is unlikely to appear in the vicinity of the Lion King's capital in the short term.

The moment of defeat, for him, is already beginning to approach in hours.

So, in the fortieth hour of the war, Benedict II made a decisive decision - to transfer.

He took the initiative to abandon part of his troops, including the wounded soldiers, changed his formation, and endured the constant pursuit of the Silver Moon Knights to the east. Eventually, in the fifty-second hour of the battle, they entered a town to the east and occupied the castle and the fortifications around it. Begin to rely on the castle to confront Gray.

Of course, what awaits him is still failure, but he can hold on longer. Although Gray's Silver Moon Knights were no longer able to play a mobile advantage like in the field because of the castle, food became a big problem for Benedict II.

The castle, which was originally designed to accommodate only 1,000 soldiers, became extremely hostile after 10,000 soldiers were squeezed in. And including the food stocked in the castle itself, the food in his hands was only enough to support the only remaining army of 10,000 people for less than a week. After that, he was faced with nothing more than three endings. Walk out of the castle and continue to be harassed by Gray's Silver Moon Knights until the army collapses completely, or starve to death in the castle, or mutiny due to hunger.

At the same time, Irene had begun to gather the soldiers who had fled from him and Duke Fernández.

There is no doubt that this is a nightmare. And Gray is a nightmare.

"I've got to hold on, I don't believe it, the old men of the church will tolerate him!" said Benedict II with hatred.

......

At the same time, the news from the Lion King Capital has flown like snowflakes to the entire continent.

If after the Battle of the White City, Gray officially appeared on the stage of history as a paladin, but more as a religious symbol. Then this time, the cavalry raiding battle of the Lion King Capital undoubtedly added a layer of lord's aura to his head. The magnates of the entire continent had to face up to this paladin chanting the slogan of justice, and the brave Silver Moon Knights under his command.

Suffice it to say, everyone who saw the news was dumbfounded. Among them, the most shocking must be King Allen Barnett III and the church.

......

"What's going on! You said he didn't get the will of the Holy Spirit! Now tell me what's going on!" Barnett III snarled at the chaplain in the face of the chaplain who had just been delivered, holding the few secret letters he had just delivered, "Are you trying to tell me that this is his original strength?"

The priest hesitated and said, "Maybe, Your Majesty, I mean maybe, this is really his real combat power......"

"Then the real combat power of the entire Silver Moon Knights is also like this?" Barnett III's eyes widened, and he picked out the secret letters one by one, and slapped them on the face of the chaplain accompanying the army: "Tireless! No need to eat! No need to drink! No need to drink! Twenty-four hours of continuous fighting! Even serious injuries can be healed immediately! You tell me, such a strong fighting force is not blessed by the Holy Spirit! Where did it come from!"

The chaplain was so photographed that he couldn't open his eyes, and could only stand stunned.

At last, Barnett III stepped back step by step, and said breathlessly: "I will give you one last chance now, and go and ask me at once, and give me a satisfactory answer." Otherwise, the consequences of provoking the king, you know!"

"Yes...... Yes!"

......

Holy See.

In the solemn and sacred hall, the cardinals of the College of Cardinals gathered together again, and their faces were quite solemn.

The Pope, dressed in a gold-inlaid white robe in the center, simply closed his eyes.

A clergyman walked in from the outside, bowing in his hand, holding a letter with red wax on it.

"Your Excellency, this is an urgent letter from the Bishop of the Kingdom of Allen. ”

"Take a look. The Pope didn't even open his eyes.

"Yes. The cardinal next to him took the letter from the clergy, opened it, and glanced down at it. His expression suddenly became a little embarrassed.

"Say what?" the Pope asked softly.

"King Barnett III of Allen was very angry, and he developed a sense of distrust towards us. He was questioning us and asking us to explain the fighting that had taken place in the Lion King's capital in the past few days. Until we get an answer, he will suspend the march. ”

As he spoke, the cardinal had already handed the letter in his hand to the other cardinals and let them circulate it.

All of a sudden, the cardinals present began to discuss with solemn faces.

"Things seem to be much worse than we thought. ”

"If the Holy Spirit has not given him strength, where does he have the strength? Has he fallen and made a deal with the devil?"

"No, if he had made a deal with the devil, we would have received a revelation from the Holy Spirit. ”

"Now the situation is worse than if he is depraved. If he falls, we can at least declare him a heretic and then wage a holy war. And if he hadn't fallen, it would mean we couldn't do anything. ”

The Pope closed his eyes and listened quietly.

"So what should we do? If we do nothing, we could have the worst possible outcome. That is, after defeating the lord who challenged him, he turned Isaac into a complete theocratic state. And we...... We couldn't even intervene because of our previous relationship. In addition to the Holy See, there will be another force on the continent that represents the Holy Spirit, and we must even recognize him as an orthodox force. ”

"An uncontrollable paladin is bad enough, if it's an uncontrollable theocratic state...... I think this will be the biggest crisis for the Holy See in tens of thousands of years. ”

All the cardinals looked to the Pope for a revelation. However, the Pope still closed his eyes and listened quietly.

The cardinals in the hall were silent.

After a while, someone whispered, "We don't know anything about him, and that's the most important thing." We didn't think at all that he would have enough strength against the other lords without the help of the Holy Spirit. That made us pass up the opportunity to be on his side at the beginning. Now we have to revisit that. Perhaps, we should send someone to try to contact him again and help him resolve the crisis through mediation. At the very least, we will not be able to intervene in the event of a theocratic state. ”

"But if we intervene, what will we do to the kings?" said one of them, "and his victory and the establishment of a theocratic state are only a possibility." And if we now express our support for him, or even participate in mediation, then how should the remaining 22 royal families on the mainland view us? Three thousand years ago, we tried to establish a complete theocratic state, but the result was a huge backlash, and our influence on the mainland fell to the lowest point for a time. Now all royal families are extremely sensitive to the establishment of a theocratic state. Not interfering in their rule has always been a tacit agreement between us and them. Are we going to try again the strategy that failed 3,000 years ago?"

"It's not about interfering in their rule, it's just that we need to blur our position on this matter. In case Paladin Gray does win and establish a theocratic state, we won't lose control of the country completely. ”

"But the royals don't think so. With the slightest inclination to support, they will think that we are secretly in cahoots with the Paladins and are ready to threaten their domination. ”

"If we intervene in Isaac's affairs after he has established a theocracy, wouldn't it be the same? The same royal family will think that we have sided with the paladin, that we were the one who conspired with the paladin Gray in the first place. In that case, what would we choose: to give up control of the church in one country, or to have a crisis of faith in all countries at the same time?"

In fact, even if we were willing to relinquish control of Isaac's church, it would create a serious crisis of faith. There is no doubt about it. Because when the time comes, there will be two forces representing the Holy Spirit on the continent, and the believers will begin to wonder who to believe......"

Everyone was silent again.

This is a very bad situation, and every cardinal present understands it.

Once Gray succeeds in establishing a theocratic state, they can only face two outcomes. One is that they participate in this theocratic state, then the Holy See will be forced to turn against the royal families of all countries, and even the aristocracy. All but Isaac will have a crisis of faith at the same time. The second is that they are not involved in this theocratic state. Then, there will be two forces on the continent that can represent the Holy Spirit, and they will recognize each other as orthodox. What if the paladin, by virtue of the might of war, demands that the churches everywhere turn their allegiance to him?

It's simply a multiple-choice question with no choice.

Silence, silence for a long time, every cardinal could only look at the Pope.

After a long time, the Pope slowly opened his eyes and asked softly, "Do we have any friends with Paladin Gray? At least we must be able to contact Paladin Gray." ”

Someone said, "It seems that there is one, and it is called Dean." He was previously a priest of the White City Church, and now he has been arranged by Anthony III to go to the Lion King's Capital. ”

"Promote Anthony III to cardinal and give him admission to the College of Cardinals. Promote Dean to the new Bishop of Isaac and give him access to Paladin Gray. We still know too little about him. Also, ask Archmage Andrew to come over. ”

"Do as you command. The clergyman, who had been standing by the side, respectfully drew a cross on his chest and exited the door.

Looking around at the cardinals around him, the Pope whispered: "Since the establishment of a theocratic state will put us in a complete dilemma, no matter how you choose, there will be no good result. Well, don't let it hold up anyway. ”

The cardinals present bowed their heads silently and saluted.