Chapter 646 Occupation

At dawn, the bloody smell near the gate of the temple did not dissipate, but became stronger instead.

After Rubens arrived, he directly took over the defense of the city, and quickly recruited civilian "auxiliary soldiers" from the city to assist in the defense. The corpses left in the previous battle were moved to other places, but there was really no time to clean up the coagulated blood and minced meat on the ground, because at this time the outside of the city wall was not stable.

The soldiers on the city wall did not dare to rest this night. Because it was very late at night, there were still several teams of "Crusader" knights wandering around the city wall. Of course, they didn't want to attack the city, but searched the corpses of the Christian guards at the gate to see what else they could take.

After dawn, looking down from the city wall, you can see many stripped naked corpses. Apparently in this era of severe productivity shortages, bandits will not let go of anything of value. Although many people are "knights", but when the night is dark and the wind is high, no one really feels that they need to abide by the knight's code.

The "temple" was not attacked because of its city walls, but black smoke rose from most of the villages and towns within the jurisdiction of the temple. This scene made the people in the holy city indignant, but remembering that none of the soldiers who went out of the city yesterday came back, one can imagine the ferocity of the enemy.

Now the troops brought by Cardinal Rubens are only enough for the defensive deployment of the city wall, and there is no extra troops to go out to wipe out these villains. Therefore, people in the city generally hope that the Pope will issue a "sacred edict" and gather the temple guards from various dioceses Come to the rescue.

However, to everyone's surprise, at dawn, the north gate of the "Holy Temple" suddenly opened, and a cavalry troop of seven hundred men marched into the city, followed by more than two thousand cavalry troops. Infantry units, and a long convoy of emergency supplies.

The city residents were very excited about this, but after inquiring, they realized that this was actually a support team sent by the Duke of Efta. The leader is the great knight Wellington under the command of the Duke!

For a long time, the "temple" outside the range of "Efta" has never allowed the noble forces to bring troops into the city. The second support army that came in this battle came from Duke Sally. Ordinary people may not be able to tell the difference, but those who understand a little bit, immediately realize that this is a legitimate "power infiltration"...

After the "Holy Temple" was raided by the enemy, there was no room for rejection. If it was Charles II's army that came at this time, then the royal family would have the final say on the "Rose Cross" in the future. But now it is Sally's army that is coming, so... the territory of Efta may have to be re-divided.

People under the eaves had to bow their heads.

But what surprised the commoners even more was that at 10:00 noon, the "Rose Cross" announced a "sacred edict." Pope Peter confessed that the city almost fell because of the Holy See's contempt for the enemy.

is primarily responsible for this. At the same time, he announced the number of priests, bishops, temple guards and even cardinals who died in the battle, and also explained the fact that he was injured.

Afterwards, he expressed his sincere appreciation for the timely support of Rubens and Benjamin, as well as his sincere gratitude to Sally Lucifron, Duke of Efta, and announced that the next affairs of the "Rosie Cross" will be discussed and decided by the College of Cardinals , I am recuperating due to serious injuries, so I will not participate in the decision for the time being.

Then came a series of clichés to stabilize the hearts of the people, but what this "sacred edict" did not explain was... the largest personnel change in the history of the College of Cardinals after today: In addition to the three people who died in battle, there were five cardinals At the same time, he withdrew from this inner circle due to "serious injuries". Later, Benjamin and two other district bishops who originally belonged to the Rubens family joined the "Cardinal College". Since then, more than 70% of the cardinals belong to the "Ai A staunch supporter of the "Ferta" series, the right to speak about the future "Rosicrucian" belongs to Rubens without any suspense.

And Rubens, sitting in this position, naturally knew who he should listen to.

No matter how the core power level changes, the scattered bandit army wandering outside the "temple" city is a current problem. So after the release of the "Sacred Edict", the Knights of Wellington, who had already rested, immediately led their troops to recover the fallen villages. Then the following troops distributed emergency food to ensure that the villagers who had been robbed of food would not starve to death.

Such a series of measures made the impoverished farmers who were robbed grateful. Under the propaganda of those who cared, they gradually knew that these soldiers were not the temple guards of the "Rosie Cross", but reinforcements sent by the "Duke of Efta".

These propagandas spread everywhere. The so-called icing on the cake is not as good as timely charcoal. After losing confidence in the "Rose Cross", these refugees now know that "Efta" is the real savior to save them from the fire...

The soldiers brought by the Knights of Wellington obviously did not plan to return anytime soon. Their task was not just to disperse the "Crusader" knights who had no fighting spirit, but to station here in the name of "protection" to stabilize Efta. Expanded territorial borders.

From now on, all the northern regions of the kingdom where the "Holy Temple" is located have been included in the territory of "Efta" invisibly.

*****

And in the small city in the east of the kingdom, the scattered Christian army had already brought news of the defeat to the "Viper Cross".

The "Viper Cross" does not have the background of the "Rose Cross", because the sect appeared later and its teachings were born out of the "Rose Cross", so the architectural style here is quite similar to the "Temple". If we say the biggest difference, it is the image of the viper carved on the building.

The Christian soldier who recovered his life from the battlefield was covered in sweat and mud marks. He was taken to the center of the church and told about Claude, The news that Dean was single-handedly killed by a guy who appeared out of nowhere.

His intermittent words were mixed with unspeakable fear, and the faces of the people who were expecting the news of the great victory all of a sudden turned ugly.

The priesthood of the "Viper Cross" is slightly different from that of the "Rose Cross". The "Cardinal" and "Elder" under the Pope are juxtaposed. However, only "cardinals" can participate in political decisions. "Elders" are determined by strength and influence. They belong to the combat department and have the right to know, but not the right to make decisions.

Pope Dai Ze's eyes were gloomy at this time, he was wearing a white robe, and he sat silently on a seat slightly higher. The cardinals and elders below were in an uproar over the news. The strength of Dean and Claude was recognized as strong, and they led their respective troops to attack as planned. How could it be possible for one person to be killed?

"Who did it? Was it really a person?"

"Where's Elvis's whereabouts?"

Someone asked aloud, but Pope Daze interrupted these insignificant details. There are too many bizarre things in this world, and no one would think that he is invincible. The stronger the strength, the more he knows how to be in awe, so the deaths of Claude and Dean did not surprise him too much. The only thing he cares about now is the "kiss of the viper". As for the vacancies of elders and cardinals, there will always be Replaced by someone.

"Your Majesty the Pope... Lord Elvis was forced to retreat by the guy using the bow and arrow, and finally used the scroll to escape by flying..."

This sentence made the surrounding elders and cardinals collectively heave a sigh of relief. Escaping "by flying" means that he used the ancient scroll. Everyone here is very clear about the effect of this scroll, so they took it for granted. It should be considered that Elvis successfully took away the "kiss of the viper".

Pope Daze was also relieved, all he had to do now was to wait for Elvis' return. Once the scepter is regained, the "Viper Cross" can be completely revived, and the "Rose Cross" will be trampled under its feet!

But before that, Pope Daze still has a lot of things to deal with. In his opinion, "remedial work" and fighting are actually equally important, because "Viper Cross" absolutely cannot admit that this war was initiated unilaterally , and pinning the blame for instigating the war on Earl Mirno is the only thing he has to do now.

"When Elvis comes back, take him to the 'baptismal room', he deserves it."

The "baptism room" is the main reason why Viper Cross can attract a large number of powerful experts. Those who can enter the "baptism room" for a day will have a lot of strength after they come out, and some people can even break through the threshold and become fundamental in the eyes of ordinary people An irresistible and powerful existence... But the "baptistery" was controlled by the pope, and it became a reward that everyone wanted.

The Pope breathed out, feeling a lot more relaxed, and just said in a low voice, "As long as Elvis is fine... I believe in his loyalty."

*****

On July 5th, the gates of the temple, which had been closed for many days, finally opened.

This is because the "bandit suppression operation" jointly carried out by Wellington and the Temple guards was a great success. The "Crusader" knights wandering around the "Temple" and the "Church Army" left when the "Viper Cross" fled were basically They were exterminated or expelled, and at the same time, more than 300 bandits who participated in the robbery of the village were captured alive and escorted into the gate of the "Holy Temple" at this moment.

According to the original solution, after being defeated by the knights, the "bandits" would basically be hacked to death on the spot to avoid future troubles. In this era where "lords are greater than the sky" and "canons are everything", there are basically no unified laws and regulations. However, under Rody's order, these bandits are obviously suitable material for a "political show".

And it is very coincidental that Zach and others who were in the same camp as Rody were among the escorts. Compared with the high spirits when they robbed houses, these guys were all dejected and their hands were led by ropes as they walked through the "temple." "Street, but also endure the stones and rotten eggs thrown by the crowd around you...