CH 111 The Kingdom Of God Is Established

Sharp, cold, merciless.

All the self-deception was torn apart in front of the word "coward", and underneath was shame and embarrassment. The old president seemed to age ten years in an instant, his lips moved several times, but in the end he couldn't say a word.

The overly young monarch had a mocking smile on his lips, and a gloomy coldness shrouded his brows and eyes. His pale fingertips tapped on the armrest, and the sound was unhurried, like a nocturnal owl staring down at the shivering mole hiding in the dark.

"Let me guess, why did you choose to flee to Legrand now…..because the Holy Court intends to use you as sacrifices to solve the Black Death, am I right?"

The old president and Ari were silent.

"You have begged for mercy for so many years, even at the expense of betraying your best pupil, but in the end you found that in the eyes of the Holy Court, even if you wore the cross and memorized the holy book backwards, you are still heretics in their eyes. Tolerating heretics living even a second longer is their form of kindness." The King said softly, "It is only when the lamb is about to be slaughtered that it struggles to get out of the cage."

He sneered lowly, leaning back on the chair.

"What are your bargaining chips?" The King raised his head slightly, "Because you are very familiar with the Holy Court, because you know divination, you can spy on fate, and you can help an army win every battle. Perhaps, your biggest bargaining chip is that you know what the power of the Holy Court is? Am I right? Mr. President."

"Yes, we know the Holy Court's plan."

The old president whispered.

"Tell me." The King said coldly, "Whether you can survive depends on whether you have enough bargaining chips."

His tone made it clear that if the astrologers did not show their worth, then he would definitely turn against them and chop off their heads immediately.

"Their plan is called….."

The old president paused.

"Divine Blade."

………………

There were two things that people were powerless to resist, one was the wheel of time, and the other was the power of gods.

When the two collide together, the former would crush against the latter, and the vortex would engulf and strangle everything that was as insignificant as ants.

And Bressi was deeply caught in such a whirlpool at this time.

After Ferri III was forced away, Bressi had undergone tremendous changes.

In the coronation ceremony, King Charles knelt down before the Pope and handed over the precious sphere symbolizing royal power to the Pope, symbolizing that he had fulfilled the promise of his ancestor and returned the earthly rulership bestowed by God to the supreme Holy Lord. Since then, the royal blue Bressi flag embroidered with tulips had added a new symbol——the golden cross.

The keener people realized the change of things when there was an extra cross symbol on the emblem of the royal family of Bressi.

As Ferri III said when he burned the palace, King Charles, who was crowned by the Pope, was just a weak monarch, no more than a puppet. The cross on his crown was the true master of the country.

When the carriage with the golden cross passed through the streets, people gave way one after another. The golden cross was the symbol of the Knights Templar.

As the battle swords of the Holy Court, they were the prestige of the Holy Lord and could not be touched.

In less than a month, the Templar Knights of the Holy Court entered various important towns in Bressi.

This change made Bressi's local nobles feel uneasy

…………..

It was true that Bressi's nobles believed in the Holy Court, but this was based on the condition that believing in the Holy Court could bring them more benefits. In the past, they were able to collude with the clergy, forcing the royal family to retreat step by step to gain more autonomy and establish their own kingdom within the kingdom.

Someone once said that Bressi's royal family was actually an "island country on land", which meant that with the support of the Holy Court, the lords had the same status as the monarch in his own territory.

Because of this, the nobles "piously" believed in the Holy Court.

But worshipping clay statues and truly dedicating everything to the Holy Lord were two different things. The clergy from the Holy Court took office as county lords in various places, which undoubtedly took away the power that originally belonged to the local lords.

King Charles was like a puppet, but the local nobles were unwilling to lose their interests like this. They gathered some bishops, and a wave of anger against the Pope arose in the country. They claimed that the Pope was doing this for his own ambitions, not for the Kingdom of God.

They had thought this would halt the Pope's troubling activities.

However, they were wrong.

For more than a thousand years, the Holy Court had been like a silent and motionless chariot, capable of controlling various countries only by relying on its own prestige. Now, when the voices of opposition arose, the Pope, with his iron policy, drove the long-dormant chariot to let out its terrible rumble.

The local lords of Bressi, who were not reconciled to having their rights taken away by the church personnel, soon encountered the punitive power of the church.

That was a great army of knights, the platinum-golden banner they carried flowing like a tide. When the army of God rose from the horizon, it was as numerous as rolling dunes of sand. Shouting chapters from the holy book, the Templars trampled across the lands of the local lords in silver armor.

The war horses galloped past, crushing all obstacles in the dust, the pounding of their iron hooves shaking the sky and the earth.

Countless people witnessed with their own eyes on the battlefield, a bright cross appearing above the sun in the sky. Under the guidance of the cross in the sky, some people even saw an angel in armor appearing in front of the army on the battlefield. The angel swung his long sword and then disappeared. But the army guided by the angel was invincible, and all resistance was torn apart with little effort.

After many years, the Pope's iron fist and the power of the Holy Court shocked the world once again.

The chronicler of Bressi called the battle in Bressi the "War of God's Admonishment" after witnessing the phantom of an angel guiding the army forward.

Everyone knew that at this moment, the Holy Court had personally led a punitive expedition twice in history.

One was the "War of God's Punishment" in Holy Spirit Bay a thousand years ago. That war directly destroyed the mighty Legrand and plunged the Rose royal family into endless civil strife. The second time was the current "War of God's Admonishment" in Bressi, which directly wiped out all the voices of grievance against the Holy Court in Bressi. In the afterglow of the war, an unprecedented kingdom had revealed its embryonic form.

In this era, people believed that the outcome of wars was decided by the Holy Lord.

The Holy Court once again emphasized this point to the people with its two wars that shocked the world.

The capital of Bressi, the Cathedral of Acellia.

After the coronation of King Charles, the Pope lived here and did not return to the holy city.

The Pope, with his gray hair, stood with all the cardinals and archbishops before the statue in the nave of the Cathedral of Acellia. The cardinals accompanied the Pope, while the bishops of Bressi stood quietly below. The Pope looked up at the statue, and his figure looked a little thin under the large white robe.

"I am very happy that you have brought me good news." The Pope opened a thick manuscript and spread it out flat, just like ordinary priests preaching the holy book to believers.

"Holy, holy, the battle of armies."

Cardinal Cillian drew the cross on his chest. He was the person in charge of the Knights Templar, and he was the one leading the current war on the land of Bressi.

"Holy Lord bless us, His army is mighty and invincible. We have gained the true control of Bressi, Your Excellency."

"It has not been easy to get to this point, my old friends." The Pope sighed, looking around at the cardinals around him, "Some of us have returned to the embrace of the Holy Lord, and some have abandoned us. Today I have summoned you all to tell of a sad incident."

"We await your teachings."

The cardinals bowed their heads humbly, all of them were like servants in front of the Pope. Because the Pope was the closest person to God in this world.

"His name was Warwick Bligh," said the Pope flatly. "Some of you may have heard that name. He was the most gifted of all our Blessed Ones. He was the embodiment of Saint Val on earth.”

"However, he died not long ago."

The bishops were startled, and they all exchanged looks with each other.

Those who could stand here were aware of what the "Blessed One" stood for——every Blessed One was carefully cultivated by the Holy Court, and when necessary, they could be transformed into real angels. It was impossible for the Blessed Ones to die, because the Angels could not be killed!

But Warwick Bligh was dead.

"My friends, it's hard to believe, isn't it?" The Pope turned around, his eyes were extremely sharp, "The battles during these days have shaken some of you, and you're starting to wonder if it's really necessary to build a kingdom of God on earth. But if we can receive power from God, why can't heretics get power from the forces of darkness?"

"The monarch of Legrand has completely fallen."

"Darkness is reviving on the earth through the mortal kingdom of the human world. If we cannot establish the Kingdom of God, how will we save the world and fight against the darkness?"

He questioned sharply.

"It is the responsibility of all the apostles to establish the Kingdom of God." Cardinal Cillian replied loudly, he still carried the scent of blood from the war on his body, and his eyes swept over the other people in the hall, "Only the fallen ones will be shaken by the blood of heretics."

"Holy Lord above, He will return to the earth and bring us salvation."

The bishops of Bressi were terrified. Cillian, who was in charge of the military affairs of the Holy Court, was the Pope's right-hand man. He was the most loyal person in the Holy Court to the Pope. To some extent, he was also the sharpest sword in the Pope's hands.

When the Pope succeeded his seat from the old pope, the situation was similar to now. The dialogue at that time directly triggered the unprecedented "purge of heretics campaign" that followed.

Could it be that this time, there would be a new purge?

"Peter, Kapal, Blair….." The Pope slowly read out a few names, and the faces of those whose names were read turned pale.

The door of the hall suddenly opened, and the Knights Templar poured in, taking them down directly.

"Your Excellency! Your Excellency!" Bishop Peter whose name was read first turned pale as snow, and he struggled to say something.

But there was dead silence in the hall, and the cardinals in charge of the internal trials of the Holy Court were expressionless.

"I am regretful."

The Pope looked with pity at Bishop Peter who was pushed to the ground.

"You have forgotten your true heart, and fallen with people like Ferri who have been excommunicated and still have no repentance. May the Holy Lord give you the final salvation."

"God guides our way!" All the cardinals stood up, raising their arms high, "Holy crusade! Holy crusade! Holy crusade!"

"Holy Lord above."

The Pope raised his hand and made the sign of the cross on his chest.

"We have taken back God's rights from the Lamb of God, now, we shall truly establish His kingdom!"

1433, spring.

The winter snow from the previous year to this year was melted by the flames of war, and the melted water gathered into a blood-colored river. The storm between the Abyss Strait had gradually subsided, and the ocean currents have begun to change direction. The ship from the east coast of the Abyss Strait to Legrand would have a favorable time with smooth sailing.

In the Cathedral of Acellia in Bressi, the Divide Blade would be drawn.

………………

Hell, the castle of black stone and bone.

The Devil sat on the tower, the scepter of bone laying aside.

He drank slowly, and what he drank was a strong wine called "Night Rose".

This was a special spirit from hell. After drinking it, it left the feeling of a path of fire burning down the throat, but the taste had a hint of bitterness, giving people the feeling of an elegant and lonely madman.

The departed souls of hell were the best brewer of this wine, because this wine used the spring water of hell, the fragments of souls. The water in the spring of the abyss was extremely cold all year round, and the water was very clear, able to freeze metal into pieces of ice. Only the departed souls could not be affected, but the wine brewed from this water was very strong.

The Devil added rose petals to it, and it looked as scarlet as blood.

For more than a thousand years, there have been times when the Devil would sit alone on the tower of the deserted Rose Palace, and pour himself a drink.

He drank this wine and waited for someone who was similar to this wine to return.

The crow, Mela, landed quietly some distance away from the Devil. Not even crows wanted to get too close to him while he was drinking.

The Devil's hand holding the wine goblet suddenly stopped in mid-air.

He raised his head, and his gaze seemed to be able to penetrate past the dark red sky and into the human world.

"It has begun."

The wine goblet in the Devil's hand suddenly disappeared. He stood up, and the wind blew his black swallowtail suit.

He left hell without hesitation.