Daedalus, commanding an army of 20,000 troops, marched into Pescara under the cover of a floating fleet. The once-thriving port city is now devastated and surrounded by floods and the aftermath of the army: roads are covered with mud and garbage, countless houses have been destroyed, drowning and killed bodies are everywhere, and the air is filled with a strong stench of fish. There are almost no living creatures in the city, only rats roaming around and crows hovering in the sky, adding to the miserable atmosphere of this sad city.

At first, the Western Roman army was progressing quite well, and the stragglers quickly advanced near the docks, while the search of the main forces in the rear did not find the enemy. However, it was not long before bad news reached Daedalus.

"My lord! A large amount of money was found scattered on the ground on the dock ahead, which seemed to have been discarded by the enemy before they had time to take it away. Those noble private soldiers, mercenaries, and armed caravans were only concerned with collecting money everywhere, and did not listen to orders at all! What is even more troublesome is that some people claim that others have picked up valuables that originally belonged to them, and they actually start fighting! If this continues, there is no need for the enemy to attack, and they themselves will be killed and wounded by cannibalism!"

Daedalus was taken aback, and he and Idas looked at each other, and they both felt that this thing was really not good, no matter how they thought about it, it seemed like a trap deliberately set by the enemy!

Idas was in a hurry, so he took the initiative to ask Ying and said, "It's not okay to go on like this, I'll personally lead the troops to command." ”

After a little thought, Daedalus agreed, "That's fine, you have to be careful. If the situation is really not good, withdraw immediately and join us. ”

Idas nodded, and soon led a group of cavalry to rush away...... Look at the back of a colleague leaving. The sense of foreboding in Daedalus's heart is getting stronger and stronger, but the recovery of Pescara is at hand, and the enemy is still nowhere to be seen, if he withdraws for no reason at this time, won't he make others laugh at him for being a coward?

The Order of Atonement, which is directly under the Pope, has members from various countries that believe in the Church of Brightness. They were aristocrats who had broken the law and would have to face the death penalty or long prison sentences in their respective countries. But in order to escape punishment and atone for their crimes. They chose to repent to the Holy See and join the Knights of Atonement in the fight to preserve the authority of the Pope. From then on, these nobles would be subject only to the Pope, and would no longer be subject to the state to which they belonged. All crimes committed in the past have also been written off.

Because of the transcendence of the Holy See, to some extent even surpasses the monarchs and laws of secular countries. Therefore, although the countries were very dissatisfied with the Holy See's act of shielding prisoners, they were helpless. The aristocracy was happy to take advantage of this loophole and run amok against the law, even if the crime was exposed. You can also avoid death by taking refuge in the Holy See. If you're even lucky, you can even make a name for yourself in the Order of Atonement!

It is for these reasons that the members of the Order of Atonement are very loyal to the Holy See, extremely brave in battle, and are the most elite troops directly under the Pope's command. The total number of the entire order was about 10,000 men, divided into 10,000 teams, five of which were stationed in the city of Rome all year round. The remaining five teams are stationed all over the country. During this counterattack on Pescara, Gregory VII left most of his elite behind to defend the city of Rome. Only one team of the Knights of Atonement was sent into battle, under the command of his henchman, Cardinal Idas.

Idas divided the 1,000 elites into two teams, one of which had already formed a vanguard with the skirmishers and set off for the docks. At this time, he led the remaining five hundred knights of atonement to the docks to put in order to put in order the stragglers who had been thrown into confusion by looting their property. The speed of the Knight of Atonement was extremely fast, and after about ten minutes, Idas galloped all the way to his destination.

The once magnificent port is now in ruins, all the buildings and equipment have been completely destroyed, and it seems that it will not be able to repair it in a year or two. Thousands of stragglers were fighting around the docks, and there were a lot of gold and silver coins and all kinds of glittering valuables scattered on the ground, and the five hundred knights of atonement who accompanied them tried to maintain order but to no avail. The situation on the docks is getting worse and worse, and the stragglers even fight each other with swords.

"These bastards!"

Idas was furious at this, and he galloped to the middle of the dock and shouted: "I am Cardinal Idas of the Diocese of Africa!

When the stragglers heard the sound, they looked up, and after a moment of silence, they ignored Idas's orders and scrambled again. Faced with the temptation of huge sums of money, even the cardinals could not stop them, and I am afraid that only the presence of the Pope or even the God of Light could make it possible to stop them.

Idas was so enraged that he jerked out a gleaming authority from his red robe and shouted, "Constant Light!!"

The authority in his hands was given to him by Pope Gregory VII himself, and it was called the 'Key of Judgment'. The red philosopher's stone at the top of the authority contains a drop of 'holy blood', which is one of the treasured artifacts of the Holy See, and can exert extremely powerful divine arts. A dazzling red light flashed from the Philosopher's Stone, and soon turned into countless stars that flew into the air and scattered on each of the stragglers. The chaotic docks fell silent, and the stragglers felt like they had been hit hard and fell to the ground. They were astonished, and for a moment they were immobilized by the cardinal's majesty.

Idas snorted coldly and ordered the knights beside him: "In the past, separate them all, and if you dare to disobey, you will be dealt with according to military law!"

The Knights of Atonement answered in unison and walked among the stragglers, ordering them to discard their belongings and then divide into squads. The stragglers were angry, but they did not dare to resist, so they had to delay the time. Idas watched all this with a frown, very worried. The dock was eerily quiet except for the rustle of the evening breeze and the waves, and there was no trace of the enemy in sight, as if they had all retreated in an instant. This situation is very unreasonable, could it be that the other party risked an expedition just to loot?

(To be continued......)