There is a saying that "the moon is dark and the wind is high and the night kills". 【Reading.com】

Today's night is not dark, there is a bright moon in the head, the weather is dry, a little cold, but there is not a trace of wind.

On the road leading from the imperial capital to the eastern part of the empire, four carriages were moving quietly.

The carriages were well made, and although the path was somewhat rugged, there was no noise in the carriages, which seemed a little strange. The drivers of the four wagons were also silent, and the whole convoy could be silent except for the occasional whip. Inside the carriage, an old man in a black robe seemed to be in deep thought, the black robe on his body was completely made of the most ordinary fabric, but the gray head was neatly combed, and there was a faint melancholy between his eyebrows, but the expression on his face was as cold as a stone.

No one would have thought that in such a convoy without any escort warriors, the authors in the carriage were the seven elders with the highest status of the Imperial Divine Cult, and this black-robed old man was the current supreme leader of the Imperial Divine Cult, the first person of the Imperial Religion, Pope Corsica VI!

The tenets of the Cult of God had been laid out a day earlier, and the rupture between the Empire and the Cult was inevitably on the table. However, what caught Corsica VI a little off guard was that the emperor of the empire moved far faster than he expected! In the southern provinces of the empire, the commander of the southern legion, under the leadership of General Camus, suddenly dispatched troops and horses to take over all the power of Purple Leaf City, and then divided the 150,000 southern legions into six routes to control the entire southern province. And then there was a city sweep through the religious houses and churches of the Cult of God!

General Camus is worthy of being the old man of the emperor's ** side, he has rich experience, and the southern legions under his command are extremely combative, and those scattered flame warrior regiments in the south are not his opponents at all. This sudden change caught Corsica VI by surprise, and it was also true that their plan to evacuate the imperial capital and flee to the eastern part of the empire was advanced by two full days. And the Pope's doctrine also went out in a hurry.

Corsica VI felt a little uneasy in his heart!

The emperor of this empire, Abbasid VI, surprised him a little. How could this guy have such ruthless means, such cunning brains, such despicable conspiracy?

As soon as their brigade left the imperial capital, they were pursued by the royal guards, but fortunately, this evacuation route was arranged in advance, and the original group of flame warriors was suspicious on another main road, leading away the pursuing cavalry, and the highest brains of these gods were able to evacuate safely.

Abbasid VI went from being a mediocre and incompetent emperor a few years ago to being such a vicious and shrewd opponent that the Pope was a little puzzled.

"Well, wait for the east. Maybe things will get better. The old Pope sighed, drew a cross on his chest, and sighed in a low voice: "God bless my Divine Cult." May the Most High God protect His most faithful servants and punish those heresies who defy the majesty of the gods......"

In the east, there are three provinces in the east, with a population of millions, and among the commoners there are a large number of loyal believers of the Cult, and there are many local nobles who are sympathetic to the Cult, as well as loyal Flame Warrior Regiments, and a large amount of wealth. As long as you reach the east, with the prestige of the Cult of God, you can raise an army of 200,000 to compete with the empire!

Although the Duke of Tulip was powerful, it is said that he was seriously injured in the last war against the Rolanders, and he has not recovered. This is a favorable condition! Without the imperial ** team commanded by Duke Tulip, the combat effectiveness can be at least half discounted...... And we, too, have the combination spells bestowed by the great gods! There are millions of devout believers in the empire......

Pope Corsica VI comforted himself, trying to calm his somewhat aching head. He's so tired these days.

He opened the curtains and let the moonlight pour into the carriage, and his bones ached all over his body.

"Hmm. It seems that he is too old......" The thought just came to his mind, and his gaze involuntarily fell on the other three elders beside him.

The other three elders also had tired expressions on their faces, and they all seemed to be hurrying to close their eyes and recuperate, but the weakness on their old faces was difficult to hide.

Corsica VI suddenly had a question that made him a little lost.

Why? Why am I surrounded by these old and frail men? Why is there never a leader in the Flame Warrior Order who is similar to the Duke of Tulip who makes the warriors fight to the death and is infinitely revered? Why is there never a magician in his own Elder Regiment like the victors of the 6 Temples of Roland in the North?

This is true of the Cult of God throughout the Empire. Fat and greedy local bishops, those cunning fellows have wasted their only bit of ingenuity on how to embezzle more gold coins, and although the Flame Warriors are loyal, their personal cultivation, although pious, will never be able to form a level of combat power like Thor's Whip!

The Flame Warrior Order, which could be ranked alongside the Roland Temple Holy Knights hundreds of years ago, is no longer the invincible army that terrifies the enemy!

I can't figure it out, I can't figure it out......

Corsica VI shook his head, trying to control himself from thinking anymore, but questions kept popping up in his head.

The convoy gradually drove into a valley, and after this valley was ahead of the Kiva River, a great river in the eastern part of the empire, and after that river was the boundary of the eastern provinces.

The carriage quietly entered the valley. Only the creaking sound of small pebbles on the ground being run over by the wheels.

On the top of the mountain peak on the left, there are two figures, one fat and one thin.

"Fatty, do you know why the Divine Cult was defeated so quickly? Why did the seemingly huge Divine Cult seem to have no power to fight back under the suppression of the Empire. I guess the old man of Corsica VI probably can't figure it out even if he breaks his head. ”

The old skeleton smiled slyly, and he was dressed in a black robe, as if his body had melted into the dark night.

"What's there to guess about this......" the fat man muttered, "It must be the author's bastard who was anxious to end the book and write it this way in order to speed up ......the progress."

"Hehe......" The old skeleton let out a meaningless chuckle before he said: "The reason why it seems that the ten-mile huge Divine Cult will be defeated so quickly is that this scene was doomed as early as the time of the Abbasid Emperor more than two hundred years ago!"

"Oh?"

The old skeleton sighed: "I have studied several decrees left over from the time of Abbasid the Great myself, and he is worthy of being the greatest emperor of the empire. Those decrees were really far-sighted! Since those decrees of 200 years ago, the Church of God has been doomed to become an empty shell of a powerful foreign force and an empty shell! Abbasid the Great has long laid the foundation of imperial power for his descendants!"

The old skeleton stared at the convoy slowly passing through the canyon below, and said in a deep voice: "The first decree left by the Abbasid Emperor: From the proclamation of the decree, the Flame Warrior Regiment of the Divine Cult will not be recruited to participate in any future war of the Divine Cult! I have checked the history of the Empire, and the Imperial Divine Cult had a full 250,000 Flame Warrior Regiment! At that time, the Flame Warrior Regiment was not as sparse as it is today, and they were all elites who had experienced real battlefields! At that time, the northwest of the empire was initially decided, and there were Roland people in the north eyeing the tiger, and there were mountain people rebelling in the southern market. But the decree left by the Abbasid Emperor refused to use the Flame Warriors of the Cult of God, no matter how difficult the empire was, no matter how overstretched the troops were. That kind of vision, when I think about it now, is all in a cold sweat!"

His voice gradually carried a bit of respect and remembrance: "You know that any national struggle can never be separated from the army! The army is the foundation, the guarantee of strength, and the trump card in the hand! But the Abbasid Emperor had already dug out the roots of the Divine Cult two hundred years ago! Just think about it, the empire has been at war for two hundred years, and in the past two hundred years, it has had three holy wars with Roland in the north. Wars in the northwest were continuous, and rebellions in the mountains in the south were commonplace, and such wars of all sizes kept the empire's own army full of vitality and combat effectiveness! What about the Flame Warrior Regiment, an army that had not fought in two hundred years...... Hehe, how much combat power can you maintain?"

"I don't deny that the strength of the Divine Cult two hundred years ago was strong! After a series of wars in the unification of the Empire, not only did the powerful Thunder God whip emerge, but the Flame Warrior Regiment of the Divine Cult also assisted in the war, thus training extremely elite, otherwise, with the ambition of the Abbasid Emperor, he would have eradicated the Divine Cult at the beginning! On the one hand, he exalted the Divine Religion and gave them many rights, including the right to religious taxation, as well as a high status...... On the one hand, it cut off the vitality of their army...... Two hundred years of peace, two hundred years of pampering, are enough to turn the brave lions into weak sheep! It is enough to smooth their sharp claws!"

"If the army loses its vitality and does not participate in the war, then it will soon corrupt and will degenerate. Without war, there would be no excellent generals, and without war, there would be no talent in the army! And two hundred years of peace have made the Flame Warriors lose the sense of urgency and vigilance that an army should have! They are now just a rabble formed by a group of warriors of the gods themselves, and once they encounter a real war, they will not be able to cope with it at all! Even if they have firm faith and the courage to dare to sacrifice, these are far from enough! I've looked closely, and there are very few outstanding leaders in the current Flame Warrior Order, and they can't even complete the most basic combat system...... Hey...... That's why I intervened to do something to them!"

The fat man shook his head: "Cunning, too cunning......"

"It's just a little bit......," the old skeleton sighed, and his tone was full of reverence: "The most courageous thing about the Abbasid Emperor is that he alone granted the Divine Cult the right to religious taxation! What is a tax? It is money! It is a lot of money! More than two hundred years, coupled with a large amount of money, is enough to corrupt the Divine Cult! Today, the Divine Cult has almost become a religious machine specializing in collecting money, and their ability to collect wealth is far more powerful than their Flame Warrior Regiment. These two soft knives slowly cut and cut. Two hundred years is enough time to put their blood of courage almost out......"

"Compared to the Cult of God, the Empire is different. The large and small wars in the northwest, south, and north have trained several generations of imperial armies and cultivated countless talents in the army. This has kept the Empire's army alive and effective for two hundred years! Even in the most difficult times of the Empire, the Flame Warriors were not called up to fight - except, of course, only in the war against the Rolands last year. It was the only time in two hundred years that the Flame Samurai had fought in battle, but you saw the results. That kid from Roddy easily left the 30,000 Flame Warrior Regiment behind and became cannon fodder, and the 30,000 Flame Warrior Regiment, those warriors can't be said to be not powerful, right? Their courage and faith can't be said to be unfirm, right? As a result? In the face of the patchwork army of the Rolands, they didn't hold it for even a day in Thundering City, and the whole army was wiped out! Doesn't this explain the problem? If it were our Empire's own army, even if it didn't use Thor's whip. With any 30,000 troops of the Northern Legion, even in the face of so many enemies, it would be no problem to hold on for at least three or five days. However, the Flame Warrior Regiment of the Three Outer Regions lost Thundering City in one day. The difference in combat effectiveness can be seen! That is, from that day on, I realized that the time had come to eradicate the Divine Cult!"

The fat man glanced at the old skeleton, he had slowly pulled out his sword, and flicked it lightly, and the blade of the sword made a clanging sound.

"Old skeleton, how long do you think it will take for us to completely kill the Cult?"

Old Andy raised three fingers: "Three months." In three months, I will be able to guarantee that there will be no banner of the Divine Cult on the land of Guangming 6!"

After a pause, he sneered, "Poor Corsica VI. He is indeed very smart and ambitious, and he also has great strength, but unfortunately he can't see through these truths. He's just a clever guy. As a leader, he lacks great wisdom, and he thinks that if he flees to the eastern part of the empire, he will be able to raise the banner and fight against the empire? Hmph! Once the war begins, in the face of death and blood, how many so-called believers will give up their lives, relatives, and property and follow an illusory religious belief? Human beings are realistic and selfish! When their fundamental interests are not involved, they may show some respect for religion, but once they ...... Hey...... Once they are asked to cut their own flesh, sacrifice their own blood, and sell their lives, how many people are unwilling.1 As for the Flame Warrior Regiment? Hmph, as long as the Thunder God's whip is dispatched, the 200,000 Flame Warrior Regiment can defeat them in one battle! Even if they control the Eastern Province where the Emperor's strength is weak, what about these fools, they don't know that I gave it to them on purpose!"

"Yes, it's like killing chickens, so many chickens are running around in the yard, and the killers have to catch them, it's too troublesome and too laborious...... It's better to drive those chickens to a place, to a cage, so that it will be much more convenient to catch and kill!"

The old skeleton nodded: "That's right, the Eastern Province is a cage I gave to these Divine Sect chickens! When all their scattered forces converge in the Eastern Province, it will be when we will wipe them out!"

In the narrow valley below, the convoy gradually came to an end. A hundred meters further on, you will go out of this valley into an open field, and if you go another fifty miles, you will reach the great river......

Corsica VI looked at the horizon in the distance, and the long night seemed to be coming to an end soon.

Just as he was about to begin to thank the gods for their blessing, a long laugh came from the exit of the canyon in front of him!

"Hahahahaha......" The thick and hoarse voice had a somewhat weird feeling, and then a huge fat body suddenly burst out!

This guy is nearly two meters tall! A fat body is stuffed into the largest set of Imperial Royal Guard armor, holding a giant sword of the highest quality Imperial Samurai in his hand, the moonlight shines on this person's face, such a stout guy, but it is actually a woman!

Ruolan narrowed her eyes, raised her foot and kicked a stone weighing dozens of kilograms into the air, smashing a horse fiercely, and the carriage in front of the horse neighed miserably, and immediately crossed over, and the coachman also exclaimed in surprise, and almost fell off the carriage.

The convoy immediately stopped, and several coachmen jumped out of the carriage at the same time, their faces nervous and murderous, and they ripped off their robes, revealing the armor of the Divine Cult Flame Warriors inside. He drew his sword from under his seat and leaned towards Ruolan.

Ruolan shook her head and looked at the four warriors dressed as coachmen on the other side with disdain, and said coldly: "Fellows of the Divine Sect, it's a pity that your destination has arrived! Please get off your Pope, I will send her directly to the heavens to meet your gods!"

After saying that, the slashing sword in her hand suddenly moved!

A huge bolt of light slashed out, enveloping the four coachmen!

With a bang, in the sand and gravel on the ground, the four coachmen flew out sideways, rolling several meters in a row before they could barely stand up, blood flowed from everyone's mouth, the armor on their bodies was torn, and the long sword in their hands was also buzzing and trembling.

"Hmph, is this the strength of your high-ranking warriors of the Flame Warrior Order, far worse than the Holy Knights!" Ruolan sneered and strode forward......