Meanwhile.

The royal capital is hundreds of miles away, at the bottom of Lake Pearl.

"Here...... What the hell is it?"

The tunnel, which was originally pitch black, was now illuminated by a ball of fire. The large rock hall was filled with people—members of the Black Nightmare gathered after they split up to avoid the scrutiny of the church. They looked out at the vast underworld, their eyes full of incredulity.

Morris pushed his wheelchair around, looked at Benjamin quizzically, and asked the question above.

"It's a bit complicated to explain, but ...... the relics of the 'Soul Flame', you should have heard of this, right?" Benjamin pondered for a moment and said slowly, "This is the real location of the relics." ”

Suddenly, Morris was stunned.

"Soul Flame...... How did you find out about it?"

"That's a long story. Benjamin scratched his head, feeling that it was really difficult to explain the matter from beginning to end, and finally said, "I also stumbled upon this place, it is huge and extremely hidden. We're hiding here, and the church will never find out. ”

Hearing this, Morris nodded, and said nothing more.

His mind was still full of questions, but as Benjamin said, this underground world was the perfect place to hide. It was spacious enough for the Nightmare to continue their operations unhindered, and the Church would never have imagined that such a small world existed at the bottom of Lake Pearl.

The tunnel has two exits, the other end near the Crussard Gate. When they are about to send troops, they can also leave through another exit and attack the towns in that area.

He was a little curious about what the relics of the "Soul Flame" were, but it was clear that Benjamin seemed a little inconvenient to say, so he didn't ask any questions.

Morris turned around and began to busily set up camp with the other mages.

Benjamin walked in the direction of the large group of soldiers.

“...... Did you find out?"

As he walked, he suddenly opened his mouth in his heart and asked the system in a rather low tone. And the system quickly popped up and threw the answer to him.

"I sensed a faint fluctuation of mana, a fluctuation of the message transmitted by the magic prop. However, the magic barrier that had been set up earlier had already stopped the message, and I had just finished deciphering it, and I was right to report it to the church. ”

Benjamin couldn't help but take a deep breath.

There were spies among them, a fact he had confirmed a few days ago.

A few days ago, Duke Colin had written him a letter informing him of the leaked location of the Monster Mountain Range's camp. At that time, he realized that something might be wrong—the exact location of the camp was known only to the Black Nightmare themselves, and the Church spies had not yet touched their vicinity.

Therefore, at the same time as the transfer, he decided to lure out the spies in the camp.

Hiding at the bottom of Lake Pearl, the church can't find anyone, and the spies will definitely be in a hurry to get the news through. Morris also made a set of tools out of runes that could intercept the transmission of messages.

Like now, he finally found the mole.

"I just didn't expect that someone like you would become a lackey of the church. ”

At the edge of the Rock Hall, in a hidden tent that had just been erected, Benjamin lifted the curtain and looked at Bill with a shocked face, showing a disappointed expression.

He really didn't expect that the first group of leaders who surrendered to him to rebel against the church would be traitors.

"W-what? Mage Boss, I'm ......" Bill panicked. He had just hidden the balls of the interrogation in his pocket, squeezed out a blank smile, and said almost as soon as he spoke.

Benjamin interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

"How many more church members are still hiding in the Nightmare Army?"

Cold sweat began to break out on Bill's forehead: "I really don't understand your words......"

Seeing this, Benjamin shook his head. As the water elemental realm unfolded, the soundproof water balls suddenly wrapped around them, and with it, ice needles that shone with cold light emerged.

"You'll soon understand. ”

One scream after another, isolated in this remote tent. In the underground rock hall, the large group of members of the Black Nightmare Army was still in full swing, and no one knew what was happening.

And that's about the point in time.

Directly above them, in the area of Lake Pearl, the army of the Church had just marched here.

“...... What about people?"

Because of the chaos in the kingdom during this time, the village by the lake has been completely desolate, and the inhabitants have fled after several rounds of looting by bandits. The Kingdom Army stopped at the lake, and the sentinels were sent out to search for it back and forth in the Pearl Valley, only to return with an answer that disappointed them.

"I—we didn't find anything...... The direction of the valley, and the area around the lake, almost every corner. This group of traitors should not be around here. ”

Hearing this answer, Grant, who was on the horse, turned his head and looked at the bishop, his face no longer indescribable.

The bishop did not dare to look at him at all.

"I ask you, what about people?"

Grant's voice drifted to his ears again, as if it had been echoed, and exploded like thunder in his ears. The bishop felt his brain tingle and couldn't say a word.

Behind them stood thousands of horses, armed with the finest weapons, but they didn't know where to swing them. The crowd of priests looked at each other, and in a daze, they began to have a look that was not good.

The audience was silent...... It was awkwardly silent.

I don't know how long the silence lasted, but the bishop was never able to organize an answer. Grant turned his head to look at the group of sentinels who had come to pay his respects, and ordered again: "Keep looking." ”

The sentinels were ordered to turn and leave as if fleeing.

"I'll spare you from dying. Grant looked at the bishop again, his voice low, "Now tell me, where did the news that the enemy is in the Pearl Valley come from?"

"Yes...... News from the inside that we have planted in the Nightmare Army. ”

"What about the others? Contact him now, I want to know where those rebels are hiding. ”

"I—I understand ......"

The bishop panicked and took out the messenger cross, activated it, and tried to use it to send a message. However, no matter how he activated the cross, there was no reaction at all from the cross.

Grant's eyes grew colder and colder, and the bishop's movements became more and more flustered.

“...... There is no response, there is only one possibility. Eventually, Grant impatiently interrupted the bishop and said, "The artifacts on the other party's body have been destroyed. ”

The bishop bowed his head, "Yes, yes." ”

Grant turned his head and looked at the vast Pearl Lake, his face expressionless, but the palms under his sleeves were suddenly clenched, and his knuckles were pinched white. Even the horse beneath him seemed to sense something, and trembled slightly uneasily.

There were so many people present, and no one dared to say a word.

The bishop's clothes were already wet with cold sweat.

He knew very well what His Holiness felt at the moment – humiliation. Not only the Pope, but as the army came over in a mighty way, but directly pounced on the field, his heart was also full of humiliation. He knew that they had been tricked, that the Black Nightmare knew everything about their movements, and that even the traitors they had carefully planted seemed to have become the weight of their opponents.

The thought of them setting up such a great battle and marching in all the city in a glorious manner in front of the whole city filled the bishop's heart with shame.

And even his own mood is like this, let alone His Majesty the Pope.

But it was precisely because he knew it that he felt more and more fear. His Majesty the Pope, whose heart is full of shame, knows what kind of things he will do.

Silent...... I don't know how long the silence lasted.

"Report!"

The silence was broken by the sound of a hurried proclamation, and the bishop awoke as if in a big dream. However, when he looked in the direction of the sound, he realized that it was not the sentinels who had sent to find someone.

It's a paladin who comes quickly.

"Your Majesty the Pope! Something has happened! Several nobles led by Duke Colin suddenly appeared in the palace, took a few mages, and kidnapped His Majesty! He threatened His Majesty's life, and now he has escaped from the royal capital, and he doesn't know where he has gone!"