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Chapter 821: A Meeting

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

"My lord, your guest is here, " said a maid who pulled the curtain and poked her head in.

"Send him in," Otto Luoxi handed a silver royal to the bar girl beside him and said, "I need a private minute with him. I'll call you later."

"Yes, my lord!"

"Is this the covert place you mentioned?" The man who came in removed his hood and glanced around. "If I hadn't seen the Luoxi guards standing outside, I would think I'd come to the wrong place."

"It isn't easy these days to see you, I had to take extra precautions, " replied Otto, grinning.

The guest was Hill Fawkes, a member of the emissary delegation who "betrayed the King of Dawn, killed the guards and knights and escaped from the City of Glow with some fallen minions". Ever since Yorko's secret departure, Appen Moya, the King of Dawn became so furious that he claimed it was a blatant provocation to and contempt of the Kingdom of Dawn on Graycastle's part. He also said that it was a witch that killed his father and he absolutely did not allow such an evil existence in his domain.

Of course, Otto knew far more than that. For example, that while Appen was searching for the witches, he also dispatched a group of knights to chase the emissary delegation. He ordered that any member of the emissary delegation, other than Yorko, could be killed on the spot, especially the witches who dared to collude with the neighbor country. At the same time, investigations were carried out in the King's City. Denise, a businesswoman who had an intimate relationship with the ambassador, was taken to the palace several times for inquiries. Hill and the others who voluntarily stayed as contacts, on the contrary, disappeared.

Otto did not hear anything from Hill until a few months later when the event no longer received so much public attention.

This was their first meeting after their last departure.

"Would you like some drinks?" Otto patted the soft couch beside him and asked, "I guess you usually have no chance to enjoy it."

Hill did not sit down; instead, he walked to the window and looked around. "We're on the second floor. Where's the reliable path you mentioned in the confidential letter?"

Otto, the eldest son of the Luoxis, sighed, stood up and opened a board under the soft couch, revealing the dark passage beneath it.

"Slide down from here, you'll arrive at the back garden. In the yard, you'll find a secret door and a dry well. You can choose either way to leave."

"Nobody else knows this path?"

"Of course, both the back garden and the tavern belong to the Luoxis." He said, shrugging, "No wonder Sir Yorko said you're a fox. You're still as cautious as you were before."

"If I were not like this, I'm afraid I would have been hanged on a gallow now," replied Hill, who took a coin from his pocket and dropped it down the tunnel. After listening to the sound for a while, he closed the board. "If you want to tell me any information in the future, write me an encrypted letter. It's not safe to meet in this way."

"But an encrypted letter is also not safe for me. If the information in the palace is leaked, King Appen will certainly suspect our families." Otto sighed and said, "He's no more my good friend who talked about everything with me."

Hill raised his eyebrows without denying. "Does the King of Dawn have any new plan?"

"He intends to attack the Church of Hermes and avenge for his father," Otto slowly told him what he heard during the court meeting, "although the ministers tried to dissuade him, His Majesty still persisted. Now they start to collect grains in the City of Glow. When snows melt after the Months of Demons, he'll immediately take actions. The royal knightage will go together with Duke Carb who is in charge of the Western Field."

"No wonder the porridge is a bronze royal more expensive than before... Fortunately, the supplies in the Kingdom of Dawn are rich enough. If it were in Graycastle, the lord would not prepare for the war during the Months of Demons unless he wanted to trigger riots." Hill said meditatively, "Is there any problem with Hermes?"

Otto knew why he asked. Though the church and Graycastle had a battle on Coldwind Ridge and it was said that the Holy City was severely defeated, later it was reported that both of them retreated to their own domain. The ministers all agreed that the church might have suffered heavy losses, but had not been completely defeated. Otherwise, the King of Graycastle should have led the arm to loot the Holy City. As the core city of the church, it should be where all the wealth church had accumulated for hundreds of years was.

Maybe Appen was deeply impressed with the God's Punishment Warriors brought by the Pure Witches. He just dispatched more scouts for further information without any further actions.

Since he changed his mind, it was possible that he had discovered something there.

As for whether it was to avenge for his father or take advantage of the chaos, it did not matter at all.

"His Majesty didn't tell us many details. But I heard from the businessmen coming back from the west that many refugees appeared in the old Holy City."

"Refugees?" Hill nodded while rubbing his chin. "I'll report this to Neverwinter."

"There's one more thing," Otto hesitated for a while and said, "in the court meeting last month, the Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned Graycastle. He said that Roland Wimbledon could not be counted as the real ruler of Graycastle, as he hasn't either held enthronement or lived in the palace. What's more, many nobles in Graycastle oppose him, especially in the Eastern Region. Since he trampled on the alliance of the two countries, the Kingdom of Dawn needs to be cautious of him and suppress his power. For example, We should support those nobles to resist the rule of Wimbledon."

"Well," Hill immediately became serious and asked, "What did the King of Dawn respond?"

"His Majesty did not respond immediately, but his expression... showed that he has a great interest in the matter."

Otto did not know why he told these things to Hill... or, to Roland. Judging from the current situation, he could see the relationship between Graycastle and Dawn was deteriorating. He should have stood on the side of Appen Moya, just as the family of Luoxi had assisted John Moore's royalties for generations.

But he could not persuade himself to accept His Majesty's policy. Killing all witches meant that Andrea Quinn should also be killed, who was definitely not evil as Appen described. He had tried many times to explain the differences between witches and Pure Witches from the church to His Majesty, but his explanations were futile.

Appen no longer regarded him as his hand.

Otto also found that although he still addressed Appen as His Majesty, he did not have the same respect as he had for the old king.

He had pondered over it for a long time. Maybe he admitted that he was unable to change the situation and had to put his hope on Graycastle. In Neverwinter, he met Andrea who had a free and easy life. In order to let her continue to have such a life, he hoped that Roland's rule could continue.

"I see," said Hill in a lower voice. "Don't worry. His plan won't succeed."

Otto nodded, took a deep breath and asked, "Then... can you tell me how Miss Quinn is doing these days?"

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Chapter 822: Traitors

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

"She's fine. She lived on the Sleeping Island in Fjords for a while and has returned to Neverwinter now." Hill laughed and said, "I heard that Miss Quinn is especially close to Princess Tilly, His Majesty's sister. So His Majesty will definitely treat her as a distinguished guest."

Afterwards, Hill told him some trivia about Andrea. Otto learned that Andrea loved playing cards and improving her marksmanship. She occasionally argued with another card-playing buddy, but on the whole, she got along well with them.

Her news made him nearly forget about the passage of time.

Until he heard arguments outside the room.

"What happened?" Hill stopped talking and quickly walked to the door, peeping through the door slot, and then he said, "Something is wrong on the first floor."

"Let me send someone to check it," Otto indicated Hill to sit down first. He then yelled toward the outside, "Who's making noise outside? Go to see what happened!"

"Yes, my lord," replied the maid who had been at the door.

"Maybe someone is drunk." He then said to Hill, drawing the blanket on him, "It's unusual, but does happen in the tavern. You mentioned Miss Quinn participated in a Neverwinter hunting competition. Who won?"

Instead of replying, Hill raised a finger to his lips as a sign of silence and gently leaned his ear on the door.

After a few seconds, his face clouded over.

"Those people downstairs are armored and armed."

"What?" Otto was a little stunned.

"I heard the sounds of iron boots and sword hilts hitting the ground and chairs. Do you think anyone would wear a full set of armor when drinking?" Hill no longer waited for the maid but directly opened the soft couch. "I don't think a drunk would like to dress up as a knight. We're in trouble."

"How... how is it possible?" Otto frowned and said, "Please believe me. I absolutely didn't..."

"Of course. If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't be here," Hill interrupted.

"Well... We can meet next time. You leave first. If they're really coming for you, I can stop them." Otto replied. "After this meeting, I don't know when I will learn about Andrea again," he thought regretfully.

"Won't you leave with me?" Hill was slightly surprised and asked, "Apparently, they aren't coming for a visit. You'd better go back to your own domain."

"Rest assured. I'm the eldest son of Luoxi family. They can't do anything to me," Otto shook his head. He did not tell his father that he tried to rescue witches and secretly contacted Roland's scouts. If people outside the room came to search for the emissary delegation members while he ran away, it might raise the suspicion of the king. Then he would really be in trouble. "No one knows the secret path, but it isn't difficult to find it. If they saw an empty room, they would be suspicious. I'll stay in the room. Only in this way can you withdraw more safely."

"Then, good luck." Hill did not insist. He loosed his hands and slid into the secret path.

Otto rearranged the blanket and quilt and lay on the soft couch again.

A short while later, he heard heavy patters of footsteps at the staircases accompanied by the scraping of metal. The maid who left to inquire about the situation never appeared again.

Without knocking or asking for admission, they directly broke in.

A group of full-armored knights rushed into the room.

"What're you doing?" Otto furiously questioned, "This is the private property of Earl Luoxi! Are you planning to commit treason?" He intended to stand up and drive the rude knights out of the tavern. Out of his expectation, the knights stepped forward and tightly pressed him on the soft couch.

"I'm sorry, Sir. We aren't committing treason, but you are." The leading knight replied, shrugging. Though they wore the gold armors and royal knightage emblems on their chests, Otto found that he had never met this group of knights.

Hell, where did they come from?

"Let me go!" He struggled and shouted, "That's a slander!"

"Say this to His Majesty," said the knight. "You fail to live up to his trust, my lord."

When he heard the name Appen Moya, Otto's heart suddenly sank.

...

It was two days later when he saw His Majesty again.

"I heard that you haven't eaten anything for two days, but insist to see me?" Appen said. He still seemed to be a little weary, but looked more mature. His eyes revealed emotions which Otto was unfamiliar with. "Now your requirement is satisfied. Start to eat."

"Where am I?" Otto asked in a hoarse voice, hands on the steel bars, "Why did you do so? What did you do to my father?"

"Are you not satisfied with the room?" Appen said, looking around, "It's decorated according to your room in the Duke mansion. It's not large, but you have a bed, a desk, chairs, and a bookcase. I think you can live a comfortable life here." He paused and said, "As for where it is... Of course, it's under the palace. I can only feel at ease when you're kept here."

Otto gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, I need to talk to you. I didn't..."

"Betray me?" The King of Dawn interrupted him, "Do you think I'll still believe these lies and continue to be deceived by you? It took me two months to find some clues about the witches. I have never thought that you were actually involved. You asked Yorko, the Ambassador of Graycastle, to 'Black Money' to participate in the auction, and also helped him leave the City of Glow. Wasn't that betrayal?" He raised his voice, as he apparently did not want to suppress his anger anymore. "That day in the palace, didn't you hear how the King of Graycastle abandon the covenant and trample on my father's feelings?"

"I..."

"Do you want to talk about the traitors or the witches who should go to hell?" Appen asked in a tone full of hatred. "Enough, Otto Luoxi! If you were not my friend since childhood, the eldest son of the three noble families, I would have long sent you to the gallows! I still need the support of the three families now. But that doesn't mean I need you forever. This is my last chance for you. Don't force me to do that!"

Otto's heart sank at his words. He had never seen his playmate show such a ferocious look. Thinking of those "royal kights" he never saw before, he suddenly understood something.

Perhaps they had lost the trust of the new king since the death of the old king.

"But the way, you just asked what happened to your father." Before leaving, Appen suddenly said in a cold voice, "Nothing happens to him. He still attended today's court meeting. As long as you eat food, Earl Luoxi will still be a good loyal noble. Stop this stupid hunger strike. That's good for both of us. If you persist, I have to take the hard way."

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Chapter 823: Dark Clouds over Hermes

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

Although it was snowing slightly, it was a fair day in the Northern Region.

Nail was rubbing the oil stick on the gun barrel out of sheer boredom. He occasionally glanced at the Impassable Mountain Range with the telescope. Since they had been stationed here, he did not observe the mountain as frequently as he did before. He usually checked it two or three times a day and spent the rest of time on maintaining the flintlock and chatting with his companions.

Maintenance of weapons required a person to be detail-oriented. Every half a month or so, they would get a portion of a thumb-long "oil stick" wrapped in hard paper. It was heard that the oil stick was made of abandoned oil from the soap factory. When they used it, they needed to heat it up and then rub it onto the special double-ended brush, which had a large and a small brush on either end, to be inserted into the gun barrel and cartridge. In the past, every squad was equipped with only one set of cleaning tools. But nowadays as there were more and more factories and workshops in Neverwinter, the brushes became accessories to the guns and everyone had one.

Of course, when there was no bonfire, they could heat the oil stick by body or mouth temperature. Though the soldiers in the First Army was forbidden to eat the abandoned oil, some people still secretly rubbed it on their dried food as a seasoning.

As a squad leader, he usually chose to turn a blind eye.

After all, the teams responsible for guarding the Northern Region were basically veterans. Some of them were even over 20 years older than him. If he had not attended the primary education class, he would not be selected as the squad leader. He could only smile to those who used to be his neighbors in the past.

After assembling the parts one by one, the rifle became shiny again. He pressed the trigger several times to ensure the empty gun could shoot normally before he once again checked the front.

He was still unable to forget the defense battle in autumn. Once he closed his eyes, the image of that young woman wearing a red cope would emerge in his mind. It was in this blockhouse that he witnessed her death. He knew that she was an enemy and a Pure Witch of the church, but her struggling in the gunshots still made him uncomfortable. If it were not Iron Axe's command and his loyalty to His Majesty, he would have chosen to leave the army and return to his previous job as a steam engine operator in the mining area.

Although he still served in the First Army, Nail made up his mind to leave the machine gun team but become an observer who protected machine gunners. He knew that he was self-deceiving, but he had no way to overcome the obstacle in his heart.

The battlefield, which had been soaked with blood, was restored to the ordinary look as if nothing had happened. The barbed wires had long been removed, leaving only a dozen of crooked stakes. Trenches were also filled with snow. If there were no blockhouses, one could not distinguish this field from the wild field around. Except them, no one knew that over 2,000 people had once died here, just several hundred meters in front of the first line of stakes.

"Chief, we're running out of firewood. Let me go to fetch some," said a soldier who was nearly as young as Nail. The firewood he mentioned was the stakes once used to fix the barbed wires. He said, "Otherwise the other squad will blame us for not adding more firewood after using it."

"But it's duty time now..." Nail shook his head and said, "You may be seen by others."

"They won't say anything," another veteran said, laughing. "It's so cold today. No one will care if we go to get firewood to warm us up. It has been several months since the cowards of the church retreated. Do you think they'll come today?"

His words were agreed by everyone else.

Nail also knew the veteran was right. At first, Iron Axe required 500 soldiers in the camp keeping stationed at the foot of Coldwind Ridge to guard against the last struggle of the church or the invasion of the demonic beasts. However, to their surprise, no enemies appeared. Maybe the superiors believed that enemies would not come, so they transferred over 200 soldiers to other places and divided the rest of soldiers into patrol teams, whose mission was to stay in the blockhouses to monitor in the northwestern direction in turns.

Nail hesitated but finally agreed with that soldier. He said, "You alone will be too slow. Go there with more people."

The soldier whistled and replied, "Yes, Head!"

Nail turned back and picked up the telescope to look toward the snow-covered field. What he could see was the white snow. Nothing changed.

Just when he was about to wipe his pistol, he suddenly saw two or three dark spots which were especially striking in a white background.

He was startled, and then shouted, "Wait!"

The soldiers who had reached the stairs stopped immediately, and the others around the stove hurriedly stood up and drew close. "What's wrong?"

Nail wiped the lens with his wool neckline and looked back in the northwestern direction. He saw more dark spots. He held his breath and observed them for a moment, only to find that they were a group of people slowly walking in the snow.

"Blow the horn to alert the soldiers! Someone is approaching the front!"

"Woo—woo—woo—woo—" As the horn sounded, the entire camp was seething at once.

With a rifle in his hand, Nail led his squad members out of the blockhouse and stood in a line around the blockhouse, placing their gun barrels on the sandbags covered with snow. As the trench was filled with snow, they had to shorten the front line, assisting the heavy machine gun to defend.

"Are they from the church?" someone asked.

"Who else will come?" muttered the former veteran unhappily. "Coldwind Ridge has long been abandoned by His Majesty. Only people in Hermes will come from that direction. I underestimated their guts."

"I hope they're not the monster-like warriors. We don't have the support of the Artillery Battalion this time."

"We have nothing to be afraid of. I don't believe they can run quickly in the heavy snow." The veteran spat. "If they wear armors, they'll sink in the snow and become our targets."

"Head, their distance?"

"At least 1,000 meters away," replied Nail, frowning at the suspicious group. "It's so strange. Something is wrong..."

"What's wrong?"

"They... aren't like the God's Punishment Army."

"Does the church send the Judgement Army?" All soldiers were relieved. If they were just ordinary Judgement Warriors, it would be impossible for them to approach in the crossfire of machine guns on the blockhouse.

"No, not the Judgement Army... They're not armored. Actually, they're so ragged." said Nail, holding the telescope and said in surprise, "Gosh, how did these people come down from the mountain? They're like... a group of refugees! "

"Or maybe the God's Punishment Warriors disguised as refugees," the veteran shrugged. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm going to tell them to stop!" Nail said without turning back, "Otherwise, the other squads will shoot them!"

Translator's Thoughts

Transn Transn

Sorry for the late publishment~~ The next chapter will be published on time :)

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Chapter 824: The Symbol of the Fall

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

As he approached the front, he could clearly see the group of refugees without the telescope.

Men, women, old men, and children. They were all ragged and staggering, looking weak and frail. They were even weaker than common militia, not to mention the Judgement Army.

Nail was more sure about his judgment.

But he knew that the church had a pill which could enhance the taker's physical strength within a second. Considering that they might use the Berserk Pills, Nail told his squad members to hold up the heavy machine guns within the suppressing shooting range before he approached alone and shouted, "This is the border defense line of the Kingdom of Graycastle. You're forbidden to step forward. Freeze, or we'll fire!"

Apparently, those people also saw him. They did not stop moving; instead, they accelerated their pace in excitement.

Nail shot twice upward and repeated his warning, but they continued to run toward him.

"Mr. Nail, come back!" Cried the veteran behind him. "They don't even know what flintlocks are. They won't stop no matter how loud you shout!"

Hearing that, Nail hurriedly shouted that he would shoot arrows, and those people finally responded. Nevertheless, after a moment's hesitation, they continued to move forward and waved both hands toward the First Army, yelling while running.

He could only tell that they were crying for help.

"No, stop!" Nail was still trying to stop them until he was dragged back to the defensive line by his teammates. When those people crossed the first line of stakes, flames spurted from the two blockhouses at the same time. Whistling bullets flew overhead and fell near the stakes, splashing snow dust and submerging their cries.

There was immediately a mist of blood among the crowd.

This time they finally stopped moving forward.

Except for the refugees who had been shot and fell, the others fell on their knees one after another and then threw themselves down in the snow. Terrified as they were, they did not turn around. It seemed that they were more afraid of some even more dreadful things behind them.

"Stop! Stop! Don't fire!" Nail took off his jacket, got up and waved toward the blockhouses, risking being hit by a stray bullet. The machine gun squads finally released their triggers. Probably they noticed his strange move, two more squads left the blockhouses and approached the front line.

Walking through the still-smoky field, a five-man squad held the rifles, followed Nail and slowly approached the strangers. Those strangers were trembling but dared not to move again in spite of the chilling snow.

"Where are you from?"

No one answered.

"Haven't you heard the question of our squad leader?" cried the veteran. "If you don't answer it, you'll be treated as spies and hanged."

"My, my, my... my lord," someone finally spoke this time. "We... we all came from Hermes."

"So you're believers of the church?" Nail asked, frowning.

"Yes... No, no, we aren't," answered the man, banging his head on the ground again and again. "In the past, we were deceived by the church. But we regret now! The deities did not protect the church. We were wrong. Please give us some food."

His words stirred up the crowd. They begged, "My lord, please, please give us some oatmeal. My child is starving!"

"The army of the church was after us. We had to drop our luggage."

"My lord, I haven't eaten anything for three days."

"So they would rather be shot by machine guns than run away?" Nail thought. He could not bear to look at the withered faces and bleeding bodies. After they fled from the Holy City, Graycastle was their only hope to survive. He reached his dried food in his waist pocket and was about to throw it to them while a veteran grabbed him by his wrist.

"Hey, what're you doing?"

"Give them some food."

"Are you sure? These guys are believers of the church." The veteran lowered his voice and stressed, "They're our enemies."

"But now they aren't. Didn't you hear it? They admitted that they had been deceived."

"Hmm, deceived?" The veteran replied disdainfully, "When they can't survive, they'll even worship demons. Compared with those Judgement Army soldiers fighting for the church, these people are just timid drifters."

"Head, Uncle Sang is right. Maybe they made the weapons and armors used by the church army."

"Who knows whether they've hurt the First Army?"

"They deserve it. That's what they'll end up with since they've fought against His Majesty. I'll definitely not give any food to them."

Nail took a deep breath and made a gesture to tell them to be quiet. He said, "Listen to me. We all know what Border Town was like before His Majesty came. At that time everyone was deceived by the church. But His Majesty didn't abandon us or treat us as betrayers. Then how could we despise them? Of course, I agree that we should spare none of those who committed a crime. Give them some food, and then bring them for interrogation. That's what we should do."

"Eh, well..."

"And His Majesty once said in his book that the Kingdom of Graycastle is a whole. As long as someone isn't guilty and is willing to pay allegiance to Graycastle, he should be treated as a subject of the king, rather than being persecuted and excluded." Nail continued to say, "If there are innocent people among them and we watch them die in front us, aren't we against His Majesty's wish?"

The crowd fell into silence for a moment. Then the veteran grinned and said, "Head Nail, now I know why Sir Blair chose you as our squad leader. You've become so different since you went to school. In the past, you always stumbled when speaking in front of a crowd. If Iron Head knows it, he'll be proud of you."

Apparently, he did not agree with Nail's remark that "anyone who pays allegiance to Graycastle is the subject of Graycastle", but since everyone in the First Army admired King Roland, they did not oppose Nail's decision anymore. The veteran said, "But you can't directly throw food to them. That'll cause a chaos. Pick up some starving ones and order them to come up one by one."

...

As more and more soldiers came, Eagle Face, the deputy battalion commander who was in charge of Northern Region garrison, also came to the front line. This tall man, who had round eyes and a pointed mouth like a grey eagle of Western Region, was one of the excellent hunters who joined the Militia with Iron Axe. He asked, "Can someone explain what happened?"

Nail stepped forward and saluted, and then briefly told him the incident.

"Escaped from the Holy City?" Eagle Face asked thoughtfully. He ordered them to bring a refugee forward and said, "What happened in Hermes? If you tell me the situation in details, I can give you food."

"My, my lord..." The refugee nervously swallowed and replied, "The Cathedral of the New Holy City... collapsed..."

"What?" Nail was shocked for a moment. He had heard that the Hermes Cathedral was a symbol of the immortality of the church. Before the completion of His Majesty's Miracle Building, the tower had been the tallest building built by mankind. At the start of the defensive battle under the Coldwind Ridge, he also had dreamed to follow His Majesty into the Hermes Plateau and occupy the tower that could reach the skies in the legend. But this magnificent building... did not exist anymore?

"I heard that a big pit suddenly appeared below the church and the entire tower fell..." The refugees stumbled, "The Judgement Army blocked the scene, but a big building disappeared without a trace, and the mighty bang... Everyone knew what happened. The church is over, my lord, the deities no longer favor it. The outside residents have begun to flee. We were a little later, and then we ran into the Judgement Army who was chasing us. Among the hundreds of people, only we escaped..."

"That means the Holy City is a mess now?"

"A mess, a mess..." That man nodded and said, "Beside the Western Gate, the Southern and East Gates are also open and unguarded. Obviously, the guards have also run away. I heard that the situation in the old Holy City is even worse. I really haven't seen any caravans come into the city for a long time."

"Got it. You're excused."

After the soldiers took the men away, Eagle Face looked excited. "This is an unexpected good news. Maybe we'll occupy Hermes before the arrival of the army."

Nails naturally knew why the deputy battalion commander was glad about. If he became the first Commander to lead the army into the Holy City, it would undoubtedly be his great achievement. But Nail did not pay much attention to whether he would win more achievements; instead, he cared more about those refugees who had suffered hunger and coldness.

After Nail told his concern, Eagle Face looked at him thoughtfully and answered after a moment, " It's impossible for the camp to keep these outsiders. Give them some tents and food, and allow them to encamp in places where the heavy machine guns cover."

"In this utterly unsheltered field?" Nail said worriedly, "If the weather becomes worse and there is heavy rain or storm at night, they probably won't survive the night."

"As the head of the garrison in the Northern Region, I must give top priority to the safety of the First Army." Eagle Face was unmoved and said, "I will inform Duke Kant to accommodate them. Before the arrival of the helpers in Deepvalley Town, these people have to pray to have a good luck."

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Chapter 825: Dusk Tolls

Translator: TransN Editor: Meh

Tucker Thor climbed up the fortified city wall of the New Holy City and slowly walked to the blotchy parapet.

It was probably the most peaceful Months of Demons after the establishment of the stronghold.

As a tactic to defend against demonic beasts, the city wall was cleaned up regularly, covered with no ice or snow, but stood out in the bleak, vast whiteness like an ash-gray giant all the year round, no matter how big the snow was. At present, however, Tucker could easily leave his footprints on the snow-covered wall.

All traces of the battle had been wiped out by thick snows, including lumps and bumps on the flagstone pavement, and blood that seeped through the crevices between the slabs, as if nothing had ever happened. It would be an incredible scene in the past.

Nonetheless, the recent drastic changes had completed overshadowed such aberrancy.

Tucker had thought the Holy City of Hermes would be razed to the ground by swarms of demonic beasts. In fact, all the believers had determined to remain in the cathedral to the last, but they had not anticipated that few enemies had actually appeared. Those who did come to attack had not even made an attempt to crawl up the city wall.

While everybody was still absorbed in profound astonishment and celebration delight, the subsequent event, however, came as a heavy blow in such a cruel fashion that they were once again reminded of the volatility of the deities.

As the church had suffered a great loss during the war against Graycastle, the top priority in winter had become the election of three new archbishops and other senior executives. In order to maintain the order in the Holy City and restore believers' faith in God, many young believers had been promoted to key positions. Tucker had also been elevated from Chief Justice to one of the acting bishops.

Just when the situation was about to turn for the better, the abrupt collapse of the cathedral at a windless night, which had killed a number of senior executives, destroyed all hopes of the war survivors. At that time, Tucker had happened to be patrolling the campsite and therefore had narrowly escaped death.

Nobody knew how it had happened, although rumors about a great fire in the core underground area beneath the church remained afloat. It was also rumored that the area had once been attacked by demonic beasts. Yet without the permission of the pope, they could not access the secret trap on their own, notwithstanding the mysterious disappearance of the acting pope Reverend Tayfun.

The sag of the Hermes Cathedral could be considered as a more miserable defeat than the war. The loss of the war could be attributed to the poor and confusing communications between commanders and soldiers, or to the treachery of their enemies, but the collapse of the Tower of Babel, which represented the spirit of the church, meant that they had been abandoned by God.

The incident had almost become their last straw in consideration of their already precarious situation. Although the church had blocked the scene immediately, the news still spread out. Residents in the Holy City started to flee Hermes, beginning from masons and tradesmen living in the outer part of the city, who did not put much faith in the church in the first place. Then, like a contagious plague, terror slowly spread to the outer city and the inner city, except this time there was no divine cure for the disease.

Tucker had once organized a reverent pray ceremony on the city wall with all the members of the Judgment Army and priests, hoping that the deities would once again divert their attention to this last human stronghold and protect living beings behind it from the evil power in Hell, but the deities had not responded to their pray.

Tucker Thor remembered that Pope Mayne had once taught him that power was the only means to defy evil. However, he could not think of anything other than praying to God to re-establish the church's integrity.

"Your Eminence... here you are." A woman's voice came from behind. "The army responsible for pursuing fugitives has returned, but..."

"Some of the units fled, right?" Tucker turned around and said in a soft voice.

As he had expected, the reporter was Farrina, one of the commanders that survived of the Judgment Army who took over his previous position. The resemblance on Farrina's face reminded Tucker another woman, Alicia, a warrior from the advance battalion who had sacrificed herself for the church. As one of the few female Judgement Warriors, they both had a tough character. Alicia had fought to her death when over half of her comrades had been killed as demonic beasts had approached the wall of the cathedral. Farrina, on the other hand, assumed the critical role of the commander of the Judgment Army when their very survival was threatened to keep the situation from getting out of hand.

Farrina stomped indignantly. "Yes. Those new recruits who just joined recently cannot be of any use. More than 20 people went to catch fugitives but only one or two returned. I know they haven't received much training, but it's very unlikely that they would be killed by refugees. If I ever find them, I'll definitely let them know the consequence of betrayal!"

Tucker sighed. "It's inevitable. How many people are left in the Judgement Army?"

"564. They're all guarding the inner city gate of the Holy City, so they should be able to stop residents in the inner city from leaving."

Tucker knew that these soldiers plus around 100 God's Punishment Warriors down the ruin of the church were the only forces left. He concluded that human beings were doomed, for it was impossible for these 100-odd soldiers to stop demons.

Tucker had learned this powerful enemy from Pope Mayne. What the church had been striving to achieve was to help human beings survive the Battle of Doomsday and ensure the continuation of the human race. That was the reason they developed powerful warriors like the God's Punishment Army. But that was not sufficient. The church also had to unify the Four Kingdoms before the great battle and combine all human power in order to gain the eventual victory.

What was the point of keeping the hold of this plateau stronghold when there is no hope?

There was little he could do, but for those 500 odd people, they could be relieved of the burden of protecting the whole human race.

Tucker finally broke the silence. "Go to the east. The Kingdom of Everwinter or the Kingdom of Wolfheart, whichever it is, pick somewhere close to the coast. We can build a new holy city there."

He believed in that case, even if demons invaded the Four Kingdoms, they could still, if lucky, flee by boat from the harbor to some distant islands and spend the rest of their life there before human beings were wiped out.

Farrina was stunned. "Leave Hermes? But Your Eminence, if we leave, who will defend against demonic beasts?"

"We can blame Graycastle if demonic beasts invade the inner continent from the breach. Our current top priority is to reserve our strength. We can always build a new cathedral but we can't let our believers suffer. When the Four Kingdoms are permeated with demonic beasts, people will naturally remember our power again."

"Demonic beasts don't really matter, as they aren't our true enemies. The greatest threat is from the depth of Hell, but there's nothing you guys can do about it. What I can do at this last moment is to keep you as far away from the battlefield as possible. You've done enough to protect human beings," Tucker said within himself.

Farrina's slender brows furrowed. "Those pious believers who resolve to fall with the Holy City may not agree to abandon Hermes."

Tucker replied after a moment of silence, "The Holy City lies where you stay, child. Explain to them, and they'll understand. This is also the order of the acting pope, which is to preserve ourselves and the spirit of the church. Do you understand?"

"Let those fugitives leave as they please and spread the news of the fall of the Holy City. By that time, the King of Graycastle will probably be anxious to take them in," thought Tucker.

"I understand, Your Eminence... No, Your Holiness," Farrina bit her lip. At length, she curled up her hands into a fist, placed it over her chest and bowed.

Just then, the somber sky was overspread by a haze of dusk. Tucker turned around and saw the orangey red rays of the setting sun slowly streak through clouds and that the fresh white snowfield was basking in slanting beams of sunshine.

"Does this mean... the Months of Demons has ended?" Farrina's face lighted up.

"Yes. The snow will melt in no time. Go and tell the news. If they start to prepare now, we'll be able to take off in two or three weeks."

"OK. Please excuse me!" She nodded and ran to the inner city.

At that moment, the bell in the Holy City tolled, announcing the arrival of evening. The bell tolled nine times to tell believers that it was time to close their eyes and pray to God.

Yet Tucker Thor did not pray.

Because God was not listening to them anymore.

He took off the crown on his head and placed it on the balcony. Then he ascended the city wall and gazed at the last splendor of the setting sun.

He had one more thing to do to persuade people to completely abandon Hermes.

But Tucker did not mind it because by doing so, he would be able to reunite with his old battle companions who had once fought with him.

It was not only a twilight for the church, but also for the whole human race.

Tucker shut his eyes and stooped over.

...

Farrina heard a gentle thud behind her as if something had slipped down the wall and into the valley.

When she turned around, however, there was nobody on the city wall.

.

The End of the Volume: The Bell of Twilight

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