It was dark and gloomy.

After a two-day march with a morale-free force, the Duke of Dragon's army finally reached Tallinn, Turing's closest county town to Falken.

Before he could catch his breath, an emissary from the Holy See was already waiting for him in Tallinn.

After receiving a rough report from Deputy Head Anthony who had been forcibly teleported back, the Holy See received a detailed death count from Bishop Steve through communication magic.

After hearing about this unacceptable battle loss ratio, not only the cardinal archbishop of the Falcon Kingdom, but even King Arthur, who was fighting outside, was furious. After a little discussion between the Holy See and King Arthur through communication magic, the decision was made to be handled by the Holy See. And the messenger who was waiting this time was Anthony, the deputy head of the Holy Grail Knights, who was once again teleported in one direction.

"Duke of Dragon, please come back to the Holy See with me. ”

Duke Dragon's previous arrogant posture was completely gone, he lowered his noble head, did not speak, but nodded silently.

Anthony didn't talk nonsense, after explaining to Bishop Steve and the lords, he took Duke of Dragons and General Lance to return to St. John's City, one of the twin cities of the Falcon Empire, through the teleportation scroll.

A dark and deep spatial gap flashed out of the secret room in the inner hall of the newly completed Dawn Cathedral, and soon, Anthony and the other three people rushed out of the teleportation space.

In the secret room, a team of Templars had already lined up to greet them.

Dragon looked up and glanced at the Templars with serious expressions and did not move, and couldn't help but smile bitterly inwardly.

It's not so much a greeting as an escort...... Hey, I hope Elizabeth is okay in Romania......

Thinking of his wife, Dragon's sorrow vanished.

His gaze inadvertently fell on a few hairs hanging down from his sideburns. Dragon found that one of them had begun to turn white.

Hey, I, Dragon, have been fighting for the Empire for many years, so I should ......

Anthony's serious words interrupted Dragon's tumultuous thoughts.

"It's time to go, Duke of Dragon. ”

The Duke of Dragon dressed himself and, with a calm expression, took a big stride and followed Antony in the direction of the Council of the Holy See. In his heart, he was ready to be judged by the cardinal.

General Lance, who walked at the end, had a black face. Unlike the Duke of Dragon, who had achieved great success, he knew very well that he was not qualified to argue, and all he hoped now was that the final result of the deliberations would give him some room to turn around.

Da-da, da-da.

The steel boots touched the smooth white marble, and the ground suddenly reflected the muscular and burly figures of the Templars. But the sound reached the ears of Dragon and Lance, and it made them feel extremely heavy.

Escorted by the Templars, they quickly made their way through a dark passage in the back porch to the Council Hall.

When the Templar Knight, who was on guard, stepped forward and opened the sandalwood door, which was painted with a gold-rimmed background, the Duke of Dragon immediately felt that he had been caught by two stern glances.

He took a light breath of fragrant air and calmly stepped through the door.

Beneath the hollow dome of the hall, ivy is sticking out of countless slender and smooth light green soft stems, hanging gracefully down. The flowers that bloom around the fountain add a light fragrance to the air, bringing a sense of tranquility and serenity.

With just a glance, Duke Dragon consciously took a few steps forward and walked into the holy circle in the middle of the council hall.

General Lance was still a little dazed, but with Anthony's nudge, he finally realized what he had to do. With his head drooping, he stepped forward silently, standing beside the Duke of Dragon, waiting for the impending interrogation.

"We've got Bishop Steve's communications, so there's no need to go back to the detailed casualty figures. ”

Stephen, the central cardinal of the Falcon Empire and the head of the bishops of the Falcon Empire, interrogated the two people below who bowed their heads and said in a slow but extremely oppressive tone with a dignified expression: "Now, Secretary Dragon, I want you to explain the truth of the matter in detail. ”

Although Cardinal Stephen is over half a hundred years old, his long hair and golden curls still shine like a lion's mane, and his eyes add to the majesty of a superior person.

With his words, a soft glimmer of light shone faintly from the Holy Circle.

This is a circle of light designed to detect lies, and when someone is detected lying in the circle, the white shimmer will turn into a red shimmer. With the blessing of Stephen's magic power, with the strength of Dragon and the others, they couldn't say even half a lie.

Seeing that no one took the initiative to speak, Bishop Stephen looked down at General Lance: "General Lance, as the vanguard of the Empire, I think you should know more. ”

Under the oppression of that tone, General Lance nodded, and began to talk about the siege that had terrified him a few days earlier.

"Everything went well at first, but since the magic swordsman named Ronald jumped off the wall......"

Recalling that unbearable past, General Lance still had palpitations and a chill in his back.

With his slightly trembling tone, the image of a black-haired demon swordsman who harvested life and sowed death and cold was clearly depicted.

"The earth suddenly formed a fan-shaped ice edge, with a radius of a full hundred meters of magical power, freezing the soldiers in their path into desperate ice. This was a one-sided attack that was tantamount to slaughter, a sword speed that was faster than the north wind, and that icy killing intent...... If it weren't for the timely appearance of Deputy Commander Anthony, I am afraid that the morale of the entire army would have been exhausted. ”

Lance's narrative begins to become intermittent.

"Deputy Commander Anthony fought bravely, and once forced that man into danger, allowing us to see the dawn of victory, but unexpectedly, ......"

As he spoke, he felt that the slippery sweat on his back had stained his clothes. Lance grunted in his throat and shuddered before he continued in a panic.

"I don't know where a red dragon flew out...... Red Dragon, that ......"

Sometimes, he even involuntarily immersed himself in his own fantasies, his whole body trembling, and the tone of fear stirred the emotions of the listeners around him from time to time.

"The Red Dragon is coming, everything has changed......"

Lance shuddered, and finally finished stating what he had seen.

Bishop Stephen listened carefully to General Reims's intermittent words.

After discovering that the Holy Circle had remained soft white, Stephen tightened his eyebrows, and his tone suddenly became extremely aggressive, and he coldly questioned General Lance, who was still trembling: "As a believer in the Supreme God, why are you so greedy for life and afraid of death? As the vanguard of the Empire, why didn't you thoroughly investigate the information of Fort Orleans before the battle, so that our troops suffered such heavy losses?"

General Reims raised his head reluctantly, and tried to defend himself, but he had no chance to speak again.

"That's enough!

Bishop Stephen shouted loudly: "Just because of your dereliction of duty, we have lost nearly 30,000 elites! As the vanguard of the empire, you have been stranded at the border for thirteen days! It is precisely because of your weakness that you have stopped moving forward that this evil result has been caused!"

"Come on, take this coward down and deal with it according to military law!"

After speaking, Lance, whose face was pale and looked like a wax figure, was immediately dragged out of the council hall by the two Templar Knights. He yelled, trying to make a final effort, but soon, the poignant sound faded into the crisp sound of steel boots hitting the ground.

"As for you, Duke of Dragon. ”

Bishop Stephen shifted his gaze to the Duke of Dragon, who bowed his head and remained silent: "In the name of holy war, you have carried out complete slaughter and plunder of foreign cities along the way, and you have brutally pierced the living captives on sharp stakes. While this move made the Gentiles more fearful of the power of the Most High God, it also made the uncivilized barbarians more fearful and far removed from the favor of the Most High God. ”

The loser, without the right to justify. Unlike General Reims, Dragon, who knew this, remained silent, just waiting for the final judgment to come to his ears.

The atmosphere in the deliberation chamber fell silent because of the silence of the judged.

Looking at the Duchy of Romania, who belonged to the Falcon Empire and was loyal to the Holy See, Bishop Stephen slowly said the result of the long-discussed disposition, and his tone was mixed with a tough element that could not be refused.

"Dragon, you are no longer qualified to have the protection of the Supreme God, nor are you worthy to continue to sit on the throne of the Duchy of Romania. Bishop Stephen's gaze suddenly became like a sharp sword: "On behalf of His Holiness the Pope and His Majesty King Arthur, I hereby declare that you are hereby stripped of your ecclesiastical membership! stripped of your title of Marshal of the Eastern Road and hereditary duke, and reduced to hereditary count! With the exception of the county of Transvania, which was held by your ancestors, all the remaining territories of the Duchy of Romania shall be recovered, and the validity of the land certificate shall be abolished with immediate effect." ”

The Duke of Dragon did not refute.

Although he felt a little angry about being stripped of his membership, the result was still expected by Dragon.

In the land of belief in the Most High God, it is an unimaginable shame that anyone who joins the Holy See but is stripped of his membership will be spurned by the people.

But these are not so important to Dragon, who is calmly prepared for them. He was tired at the moment, and he just wanted to go back sooner, to his hometown, to Transylvania, to see his beautiful wife, to see his beloved Elizabeth, and to spend his old age with her.

Under the supervision of the Templars, Duke Dragon hounged his head and hobbled towards the teleportation circle.

Dragon, who had aged several years at once, hurried to the post station and got into the carriage to Transvania after arriving at Romania, the royal city of the Duchy of Romania, through the teleportation circle.

On the way, winter snow began to drift in the sky, and the surrounding scenery changed from prosperous to simple.

Dragon sat in the carriage, hunched over without saying a word. His hair was much grayer, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes had turned black from staying up late.

Bone and bone.

The vibrations of the wheels became more frequent, and the paved pavement under the wheels turned into a gravel path after turning a corner.

The violent tremor made him open his eyes.

Dragon clutched the necklace of the cross, staring at the silver sheen, his brown eyes shining with an inscrutable hue. As his thoughts flowed, he suddenly remembered the beautiful situation when his beloved wife Elizabeth gave it to him.

I am back......

Dragon lifted the curtain and looked out at the familiar landscape, which seemed so peaceful under the white snowflakes.

This......

Won't leave you again.

After slowly lowering the curtain, he returned to his seat, with a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes. (To be continued.) )