Sword of Dawn

Page 209

Veronica turned her head slightly and glanced at the shadow behind the Pope's chair, her face expressionless.

According to the sacred law, no one can stand behind the pope's chair, and no one is allowed to spy on the scene behind the pope's chair except living saints and archbishops, because it is considered a place where "God" hides and stands , the original text of the Holy Light describes it like this: The God of Holy Light stands behind the Pope, watching His people and kingdom with the Pope's eyes.

At a certain moment, St. Ivan III seemed to be completely asleep, a peaceful and serene atmosphere enveloped him, and faint sacred music came from the sky. This state only lasted for a few short moments. Seconds later, the aging pope suddenly raised his head: "The glory of the Lord has dimmed..."

Veronica leaned slightly: "South?"

"...It's the south. I saw the brilliance of the Lord shaking on that land, blood and fire spreading across the land, and the sound of swords being drawn..." Saint Ivan III had already opened his eyes, but his tone But it seems that there is still some sleepiness, "A phenomenon that has never happened before...even in the East Territory..."

Veronica finally had a hint of astonishment in her seemingly eternally calm and indifferent expression.

Prince Edmund in the east has begun to officially expel the priests of the Holy Light, and issued an order to eradicate the belief in the Holy Light. Those who follow the God of the Holy Light can only secretly pray in their hearts. It can be said that in that land, the Holy Light The blow to God's faith is unheard of, but in the south...is there a more terrible and thorough decline in faith than in the east? !

What happened behind the majestic walls of Rock Fortress?Could it be that the revived Founding Duke slaughtered all the believers of the God of Light?

Soon, Veronica put away the astonishment in her eyes, and continued to say in a calm and calm voice: "I would like to go to the south and witness the changes there with my own eyes."

"You may not be allowed to enter the hinterland of the southern border, but as long as you are close enough, you should be able to sense what factors are affecting the glory of the Lord," Saint Ivan III said in a deep voice, the eyes of this old man who seemed to be dying Shining with a powerful holy light, "Find it, investigate it, if it is really Duke Gawain Cecil who has done some sensational act of exterminating the faith, then give priority to protecting your own safety, and discuss countermeasures after you come back, if it is Some blasphemous force has entered the world...then annihilate it."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Veronica bent slightly, "for the glory of the Lord."

"Let's go get ready... Coincidentally, Silver Castle will send envoys to the south recently," the old Pope's voice sank, as if he was about to enter the next dream, "The land in the south... has been neglected by us for too long..."

Chapter 0497

An unprecedented "battle" ended. The civilians broke through the cathedral's defenses. The priest who used to be aloof was dragged out of the church to bear the anger of the people. The accumulated anger of the civilians was vented, and justice seemed to be done. Everything seems to have settled down.

But for the leaders and framers of it all, there is much more to follow.

After the battle in Luan Cathedral ended, the White Knights took action immediately. They first gathered various teams of volunteer mercenaries and adventurers to ensure the order of all armed teams, and then began to organize people to store them in various warehouses in the church area. After the people received the food and their hearts were initially stabilized, a group of Luan citizens, mercenary representatives, and business representatives went to the outer city to welcome those who had been waiting outside the city. Cecil Fighting Corps.

After the Cecil Combat Corps entered the city, the situation could be said to have initially stabilized.

Amber and Wright left the underground of the cathedral. They showed the fragments of the remaining robes of Frank Berenger to the public, telling the public that the evil bishop had been completely annihilated by the holy light of the White Knight—although many people regretted not seeing it with their own eyes. Seeing the death of Frank Berenger, this result is enough to make the people cheer, after all... Considering the actual situation of the extraordinary power in this world, it is expected that Frank Berenger will die under the stones and sticks of the people It is very unrealistic. From the perspective of safety and security, the surprise assassination of Bishop Luan by an elite team of white knights is part of the plan.

After finishing these, Amber and Wright did not stay in the square, but soon came to an inconspicuous residential house on the edge of the church area.

This is an ordinary house from the outside, but the soldiers guarding the door and two white knights are enough to explain its special features. Amber pushed the door and went in, and as expected, she saw the tall and familiar figure in the main room.

"You really sneaked in," the half-elf lady walked over carelessly, patting Gawain's arm, "I'm just saying, you definitely don't want to hide behind such an important matter... ..."

Gao Wen, who was dressed in military uniform, sensed Amber's aura long before Amber entered the room. He turned around and looked at Amber dumbfoundedly: "What do you mean sneaking in... Can you stop using your technical terms when describing me? Is it?"

Amber crossed her arms and said plausibly: "I entered the city with the team, but I haven't shown up until now. It's not stealing or something."

The corners of Gao Wen's mouth trembled, and he looked helplessly at the head of the Military Intelligence Bureau who had just made great achievements - obviously according to the previous mission report and the actual situation in Luan City, this half-elf has been working hard for so many days in the past He was able to work, and controlled everything shrewdly and skillfully. He thought that he would be able to see a mature and reliable Amber in this way, but he didn't expect that this guy would still be the same after meeting...

How should I put it, it feels like she was a ruthless and cunning agent leader when she walked outside half a minute ago, and then she "ga" suddenly turned into a goose as soon as she entered the door just now, and even swayed to her side, squirming Stretch your head over and start BB non-stop...

Annoyed, underwhelmed, and unconscious.

"Hey, why didn't you talk?" Amber saw that Gao Wen didn't say a word for a while, and then she started BBing again, "No way, maybe you really took it to heart... Isn't it that you sneaked into the city... ..."

Gao Wen quickly shook his head, and threw out the image of "a goose bbling non-stop in front of him" in his mind, and he glanced at Amber: "This is a very dangerous and variable action— — It is too easy for civilians to attack the Cathedral of the Extraordinary, even if there are white knights and a large number of volunteer mercenaries as the vanguard, it is too easy to lose control, especially the suspicious thing about Fran Bereng you mentioned earlier... I have to personally Come to hold the line to prevent accidents."

Hearing Gao Wen's words, Amber was a little dazed, her pointed ears trembled slightly, and a strange smile appeared on her face: "It's really..."

"Really what?"

"It's nothing," Amber shook her head. "That Frank Berenger did have a strange situation. Frankly speaking, it was a bit dangerous at the time, but luckily it was just a false alarm—big man, where is that crystal?"

Wright had been standing quietly by the side without saying a word since just now, and when he heard Amber calling him, he didn't care about the nickname the other party gave him. Instead, he took a step forward and took out the piece that was still emitting a faint light Shiny, pale golden crystals as if cast by light: "Lord, this is it."

Gawain took the crystal with some surprise: "This... what is it?"

Hu Po spread her hands: "Believe it or not, this is the remains of Fran Bereng... The rest of his body was burned by the Holy Light, and this is all that remains."

Gao Wen was taken aback—how did the Holy Light Bishop from another world return the relics after the burning?Could it be that Fran Berenger is still an eminent monk...

But he didn't say what was in his heart, but looked at Amber with a strange expression: "What exactly happened?"

Amber cleared her throat, and began to describe her and Wright's experience vividly: "That's what happened, we found it underground..."

Gao Wen frowned slightly, and listened carefully to every detail Amber described. After removing the shameful bragging part of this shameful elf, he slowly restored in his mind the idea of ​​killing Fran Bell. Lang's entire operation.

Then he couldn't help feeling a little bit emotional about the death of the interim bishop of Luan.

It seems that Fran Bereng was indeed preparing for an ambush in the prayer room. He got strange power from nowhere and arranged a killing move in the room, but he obviously didn't guess the White Knight's attack. Action process - the white knights directly skipped the link of "stepping into the secret room to release the mechanism and encounter the enemy" and chose to blow up the entire secret room before entering, so Fran Bereng, who was in ambush, was blown up before he could act half dead...

Then the half-dead guy pretended to be trying to revive again and tried to ambush again, but he made another miscalculation—Amber believed in magic, Wright could break the spiritual seal by himself, and the other white knights had also accepted Protestant teachings, A frightening hunk with high resistance to the God of Holy Light, Fran Bereng's last ripple changed his loneliness, and then he was completely beaten to death.

To be honest, dying is quite aggrieved. It would be better to be stoned to death by the common people in the cathedral. At least you can get a newspaper, and maybe even a textbook if you put your posture...

Thinking about it this way made me feel even more aggrieved.

After Amber finished speaking and Wright added some details, Gao Wen looked at the crystal in his hand and fell into deep thought.

This crystal is indeed "dead", but it still exudes a slight heat and light, and countless changing phantoms can be vaguely seen in the twilight, as if the empty soul of Fran Berenger is still alive. There was an echo in the crystal, vainly refusing to admit his own death, and when Gawain pointed the translucent crystal at the sun, he would see through the crystal that the surface of the giant sun was covered with a faint layer of ripples. ——

This phenomenon of observing the sun wheel through the crystal proves that this crystal has strong magical coherence. It is a crystallization born in a strong magical environment, and it also contains stable magical power.

Can human flesh and blood really produce such crystals?

Or... did Fran Berenger try to use some kind of holy artifact in crystal state to enhance his power, but the ritual failed and caused backlash, which turned him into a monster mixed with flesh and crystal?

Or... In fact, at that time, Fran Bereng was just standing behind the gate holding a magic weapon made of crystal, ready to make a surprise attack when the intruder opened the door, but the white knight was unreasonable when the door was opened He threw a lot of explosives into it, blowing him and the crystal apart...

Gao Wen couldn't help shivering. He felt that his third assumption was too demonic and ghostly. Although it might seem interesting to diverge his thinking in this direction, in such a world of swords and magic, it's best to follow the local assumption. It is better to think in terms of painting style.

Seeing the changing expression on Gawain's face, Wright couldn't help but stepped forward and asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

"I didn't think of it at the moment..." Gao Wen said, but just halfway through his words, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in his mind, as if he had caught a clue that he almost ignored, "Wait... I seem to remember..."

Amber and Wright immediately fell silent, and after thinking for a moment, Gawain finally managed to grasp the flashing message: "Do you remember that both Kamel and Nicholas Egg described the early days of the Gondor Empire?" Abomination'—the first failed product of Apocalypse has a characteristic, that is, crystals grow out of human flesh and blood..."

"Abomination?" Amber's eyes widened. "You mean...Fran Bereng tried to transform himself into an abomination?"

Gawain thought carefully: "Not necessarily... I suspect that this is just a by-product of a failed attempt. According to the information provided by Kamel, all human descendants of Gondor actually have the genetic factor of divine evil. In other words , as long as the external stimulus is appropriate, maybe every human being can become a "sinister"... It's just that the Gondor Empire's abomination technology finally succeeded. They stabilized and harmless this genetic factor and made it safe It is implanted into the human body, so there has never been an out-of-control divine evil phenomenon among ordinary people for thousands of years, but who can guarantee that it will never mutate?"

Both Amber and Wright showed a look of thought, while Gawain sighed softly: "It's a pity... no clues are left, we may never figure out what happened to Fran Bereng... one of them is nothing but a middle-aged man." How could a high-ranking priest suddenly gain such power?"

There was a hint of apology on Wright's face: "Lord, our actions were too reckless..."

"No, your actions are fine. That is indeed the best solution. The damage to the clues is unavoidable. After all, it is a battlefield." Gawain waved his hand. Fortunately, you found this crystal, I can take it back and let Kamel identify it, maybe I can find some clues."

After temporarily putting this matter aside, Gao Wen breathed out, and he looked at Amber and Wright in front of him with a smile on his face.

"All in all, everything went well and you guys did a great job."

Wright immediately straightened his body and said solemnly: "The holy light guides me."

Amber waved her hand: "This matter is not over yet, Lu'an City may still be chaotic in the future, and those rookies will help."

Gao Wen nodded slightly. He knew that everything was exactly as Amber said—the incident in Luan City may have come to an end, but the follow-up work of appeasement and reconstruction has just begun.

The angry people used a storm-like action to destroy the oppression of the clergy group. However, without timely and effective follow-up guidance and order construction, this action could easily turn into out-of-control violence and long-term turmoil.Now, thanks to the efforts of the White Knights, Cecil soldiers, and civil representatives, the first phase of order and stability work has been carried out smoothly. This action did not turn into out-of-control violence on the spot, but will the city fall into long-term turmoil afterwards? It depends on the work of the officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau and the propaganda department.

In order to rebuild the main urban functions of Luan City in the shortest possible time, a new governance team that can be recognized by the local people must be established, and the city must be incorporated into the Cecil system as soon as possible. Publicize the matter to the whole territory, try to discover the positive influence of this operation as much as possible, and be wary of the sabotage and counterattack of the diehards of the old church...

There's a lot to do, but luckily the hardest part has already been taken.

Chapter 0498 Public Trial

In Luan City, the square in front of the church area is crowded with people.

Two days have passed since that unprecedented battle, but the whole city is still shrouded in a strange fiery atmosphere. For the citizens of Luan City, this is the first time that they have used their own hands to fight for their own second life The power to go on, for those people and brave people from all over the southern border, this is the first time that they, regardless of origin, regardless of status, gathered together without the lord's whip and sword, and for a great goal. Action—and today is the day when all their actions bear fruit.

People gathered in the square, everyone had a high-spirited and eager look on their faces, and their eyes fell on the front of the square, because a high platform had been set up there, and on the high platform were tied the old and domineering people. Priests.

The judge has become the judged—aside from all axioms and morals, this event itself is enough to stimulate the excitement of many people.

This is a trial, but it is different from the countless heresy trials that have been conducted in Luan City. Its process and form may be very novel and incomprehensible to the local people-it is not a high-level priest who is in charge of convicting , but a three-person trial court composed of a white knight, a judge Cecil, and an arbitration consultant, and besides the three-person trial court, there are many jurors sitting next to the high platform:

Some of those people wore the priest's robes, and some people recognized them as the priests in the small church in Luan City. These priests were once punished with the civilians in the heresy trial square, and they also served as allies when they stormed the cathedral. Therefore, although they are priests, they still received a lot of friendly eyes; the other part is ordinary civilians who put on clean and decent clothes. faces; the last part was from Cecil's clerks.

These people are called the "jury". They are the witnesses and supervisors of this trial, and they are also representatives of witnesses from all walks of life of this incident.

This wonderful and complicated form of trial is something Luan has never seen before, but it undoubtedly exudes a fair and reliable atmosphere-judges cannot be arbitrary, all decrees will be interpreted in court, and people from all walks of life As witnesses, they came to supervise the entire process of the trial. For the Luan people who had only known "heretical trials" all their lives, this new "rule" from Cecil even shocked them a little.

And for those priests who are tied to the high platform and are waiting for the trial, the feeling may not be so good.

These priests who have survived to this day are almost looking at the square below in fear, looking at those untouchables who could only crawl in the mud in the past, they feel that the eyes of those people even have real heat, want to He burned himself alive on this high platform.

They were not stoned to death by the raging crowd two days ago, and they were not killed on the spot by the white knights and volunteer mercenaries, and now they finally realized that they survived not because of luck, but because they "otherwise" use".

The Cecilians let them live to this day, just to make them die today.

"Silence—the public trial begins now."

The "judge" next to the high platform spoke. This is a middle-aged administrative officer from the Cecil region. He was once a well-known scholar in the Kant region, but now he wants to judge in the name of Grand Duke Gao Wen and the people of the southern border The fact that he was the spokesman for the Church of the Holy Light in the southern border made his face tense, trying to hide all the tension and emotional fluctuations under his solemn face.

After introducing the two sides of the trial, the members of the trial court, and the jurors according to the law of Cecil, the judge looked at the leader of the White Knight sitting beside him—because this was a trial involving the church, Wright As a representative of the Protestant Church, he came to the trial court in person and noticed the judge's signal. The tall "Patriarch" wearing the armor of the white knight slowly stood up.

There was a slight commotion in the square immediately—many people had seen this white knight in the "Battle of Dawn" two days ago. He was nearly two meters tall and wore a mighty and majestic white knight armor. The holy light brimming over his body, these distinctive features impressed Wright deeply in the minds of the citizens of Luan.

Wright beckoned to the square, and then looked at the priests in the center of the platform. He noticed the fear and tension in the eyes of the latter, but his expression remained unchanged.

He put his hand on his chest and solemnly swore: "I am Wright, the Patriarch of the Protestant Church of the Holy Light, and I hereby swear in the name of the Holy Light that I will guarantee the fairness and truthfulness of this trial, and that it conforms to the sacredness of Cecil." The people will supervise all my words and deeds here.”

This "public trial" that will surely be recorded in the annals of history has begun.

At the beginning, many people thought that this trial would be a "penalty performance" of eye-for-eye and eye-for-eye. They thought that those Luan priests would be tied to the stake and burned to death, just like their It had been done to many innocents, but in truth, the trial strictly followed Cecil's laws.

The judge of Cecil and other members of the trial court clearly pointed out the crimes of those Luan priests - embezzling public property, killing innocent lives, deceiving the people, and blaspheming the holy light... Then one after another, everyone is familiar with or not. The familiar civilians were brought to the stage by Cecil soldiers. They went to testify against the priests and confirm the crimes. The trial court showed the accounts, files and letters of the priests found in the cathedral on the spot, especially The "heretical settlement order" from the northern church to confirm the authenticity of all crimes...

People watched this trial with a strange emotion. They couldn't wait to see those Luan priests burned to death immediately-this was a simple and straightforward revenge mentality, but as the trial entered "when the During the "court testimony" link, they felt a more vivid and powerful emotion than pure revenge.

They want to see those Luan priests convicted and nailed to the pillar of shame forever after being confirmed for all crimes.

They want to hear the judges pronounce the innocence of those who have been burned at random, and the innocence of their relatives and friends who have been flogged, beheaded, and branded.

They don't just want to vent, they don't just want revenge, they want justice.

This is the hardest thing for ordinary people to get in this world.

A woman with a sloping foot was helped to a high platform by soldiers. This woman's leg was broken by the Holy See knight. She let people look at her deformed leg and accused those cruel Holy See knights just because she accidentally stepped on the priest. This kind of poisonous hand was laid on the robe.

An old woman took her son to the stage, and her son could not speak - because the priest ordered the young man's tongue to be cut off for "talking about the sacred words of the Holy Light"...

The trial was destined to last all day.

On the edge of the square, on the high city wall of the church area, Gawain and Amber watched the trial proceed.

"What punishment will those priests be sentenced in the end?" Amber looked down curiously, "I feel that the crimes and evidence are extremely complicated..."

Gao Wen casually replied: "All hanged, there will be no pardon."

"...It's all hanging?" Amber looked at Gao Wen in surprise, "So it was decided from the beginning?"

"According to Cecil's law, the lightest of their crimes will be hanged twice, and for the promotion of Protestantism, in order to completely eliminate the influence of the old church, these diehards cannot stay."

Amber showed a thoughtful look: "...You let them live until today, just for this trial?"

"That's right, it's for this trial," Gawain nodded slightly, "Not only must there be a trial, but its process must also be strict and fair—even if every crime committed by those priests is enough for them to die once, they must Die only after the trial is over."

Amber quickly figured out Gao Wen's intention: "Is it to establish 'order'?"

"That's true," Gawain breathed out slightly, "It may be the easiest and most venting method to deal with those priests directly by letting those priests be beaten to death by the people and the white knights, or directly giving them a fire during the trial, but if If that is done, it will be no different from the 'trial of heresy', and this great battle will become a muddle-headed atrocity. In any case, we must put some of Cecil's The concept is passed on to everyone to let them know that we are different from the Church of the Holy Light—the set of heresy trials must be completely abandoned."

A voice came from behind Gao Wen and Amber: "So even if those priests and priests die, they must die after a fair trial-this is the rule you made, isn't it?"

Amber turned her head to glance at the person who came, and raised her hand to say hello: "Yo, priest."

Gawain looked at the tall and thin middle-aged clergyman in a white robe, and nodded slightly: "Priest Seven Terry, right—thank you very much for your help in this operation."

It was the leader of the chapel district, Seven Terry, who appeared in front of Gao Wen and Amber.

He didn't appear next to the high stage of the public trial, but came here, it seems that he just wanted to meet Gao Wen.

"Holy light guides us," the tall and thin priest drew the symbol of the holy seal on his chest, and he looked at Gawain with curious eyes, "You are different from what I imagined.... "

Gawain smiled and looked at the priest who was praised by Wright: "What's different?"

Seven Terry replied very frankly: "After listening to Miss Amber's description, I thought you should be a more gloomy, colder, and more arbitrary ruler, and for the greatest benefit, you will not say anything' The word "justice", but now it seems... Although you have a strong wrist, you still have your own moral principles."

Gao Wen thought for a while, then turned to look at Amber: "...What did you tell him?"

Amber looked for an opportunity to escape when Seven Terry was halfway through his speech. However, considering that it was very likely that Gawain would be thrown off the city wall by the collar at the moment of escape, she still insisted. The scalp didn't run away, and she immediately yelled: "I'm not talking nonsense—you taught me it! I think this priest has problems with his understanding and imagination..."

"Just follow Rebecca's example. Your intelligence hasn't improved much, but your head is getting stronger day by day," Gawain commented unceremoniously, and then looked at Seven Terry, "No matter what you understand from Amber's words, What have you said, I hope you can understand one thing: I am working hard to make this land and the people on the land have a better tomorrow, and on this basis, I have no malice against the Holy Light."

"Wright told me the same thing, I believe in his judgment, and I also believe in my own vision at the moment," Seven Terry bowed his head in front of Gao Wen, "Thank you for arranging this trial—you let me see When it comes to your 'righteousness', it does not contradict the Holy Light."

Gao Wen calmly accepted the priest's evaluation, then turned around and looked at the spiers and towers in the church area: "We will leave soon, this city... will still be the city of the Holy Light. I and Wright has already negotiated to use this city as a training and research facility for Holy Light Protestantism, because it has the most Holy Light classics and the best magical environment, and it is a ready-made holy city. Since Wright spends most of his time in Cecil City, so he wants you to manage the church here for him. Of course, the management of this city will change a lot, the church will no longer be the highest authority in the city, and I will send someone to build a church here The Office of Government Affairs is responsible for the operation and construction of the city, and your responsibility will be limited to church affairs and corresponding facilities."