CH 112 The Millennium Kingdom

Some things were changing at a frightening pace.

The winter was over, but the situation was not getting better.

Dyde was a small castle in Bressi. Its owner Rob was standing on the tower of the castle. The castle's flag was replaced with a white one emblazoned with the golden cross a week ago. At the beginning of the "War of God's Admonishment", Rob simply and neatly changed the tulip flag hanging from the castle.

Although war was cruel, the plague did not stop because of the war.

The Black Death, which broke out last winter, had continued, and even a small town like Dyde was shrouded in its shadow. The reason why the Great Lord's Alliance Army was so vulnerable to the Templar Knights was also inseparable from the Black Death.

There were dead people everywhere, and brave knights were no different from the elderly, women and children in the face of the plague.

In just a few months, a small castle owner like Rob could only watch helplessly as the number of people on his territory decreased day by day, and the spring plowing had reached the point where he didn't even have enough people to work in the wheat fields. One by one the villages emptied out...and this was happening everywhere in the country of Bressi.

This was because the Bressians had sinned.

Their monarch broke his oath to the Holy Lord, so the Holy Lord sent down divine punishment to punish them.

——This was what the priests said.

Many people believed it. In the "War of God's Admonishment", many people who were afraid of the Black Death spontaneously joined the army of the Knights Templar against the Alliance of Lords. Some castles even had their drawbridge lowered by the defenders in the castle.

After the "War of God's Admonishment", the priests had completely entered the political machinery of this country.

This was unprecedented, and whether it turned out to be right or wrong depended on today.

Today was the "Forgiveness Day", the Holy Court declared that the repentance of the Bressians would be forgiven by the Holy Lord, and today would be the day when God forgave the world. The Holy Lord would send down unprecedented miracles to expel the Black Death that hung over the people's heads.

Rob could admit to himself, although he was a believer, he might not be so devout. However, today he still could not help but to become nervous.

In the church of Dyde Castle, all the priests solemnly lowered their heads and stood in front of the icon. The sunlight falling from the dome was more dazzling than usual. When the first bell struck, the choir began to sing the chapters of the holy book in unison, and everyone raised their hands to draw the cross on their chests.

From the insignificant small castle of Dyde to the bustling port cities, and to the Cathedral of Acellia in the capital of Bressi.

All were waiting.

The believers knelt on the ground outside the church. Too many bodies that died of the Black Death were still yet to be buried in the public cemetery outside the city. The crows circled and the sky was bright. They could not save themselves, so they could only pray to God to save them.

Bressi's new king, Charles, also knelt outside the church, wearing his crown and bowing his head.

The bell sounded.

There was only one huge bronze bell in the Cathedral of Acellia, but the loud ringing seemed to have collided with the air, and the sound overlapped together, gradually as if the bells of all the churches from all over the country gathered here. People trembled in the sound of the splendid ringing, feeling like a leaf on the raging sea.

Hymns sounded at this time.

The singing of the choir floated from the magnificent cathedral, spiraling upward.

The priests who held the key to the "Door of the Kingdom of God" chanted in unison, they were the apostles of God. This was why the Pope didn't pay attention to the insignificant voices in Legrand. People would see with their own eyes that the Holy Court, the priests, were indeed the servants of God, and that they indeed possess the power to communicate with the Lord.

They were the intermediary between God and man, the shepherds of all living beings.

In the secret room of the church, caskets containing holy relics were placed beside the Blessed Ones. The brilliance of the relics burst out from the caskets and gathered on the Blessed Ones.

The hymns merged into the sound of the ringing bell, and the people couldn't help but prostrate further on the ground, reciting the chapters of the holy book together. The sun in the sky was becoming more and more dazzling, the wind was rolling high in the sky, and the thick clouds gathered together, but the color of the clouds was bright white, as if something was brewing.

The hymns echoed between heaven and earth, layer upon layer.

It was as if an angel was responding to the mortal singing from above the clouds.

The Pope with a tall crown suddenly opened his eyes in the Cathedral of Acellia. His wrinkled hand raised the heavy scepter high: "O, Holy Lord! Please have mercy on your believers who are submerged in sin. Please forgive our sins of ignorance and arrogance! O, Holy Lord! We entrust your authority to you, please descend to your land and establish your kingdom!"

The old man with graying hair seemed to possess the power to shake the whole world at that moment.

Priests followed with loud supplications, then followed by the believers.

The voices gathered like thunder, rising upwards.

In the secret room, all the Blessed Ones opened their eyes at the same moment, and their eyes were all as transparent as a mirror, indifferent and emotionless.

The believers rejoiced, they saw a brilliant light burst from the clouds in the sky, the Lord had heard the voices of his believers, and finally sent down His angels to forgive their sins. This was an incomparably great miracle, the seraphim appeared in the clouds, looking down with pity on the mortal beings crawling on the earth.

They were so noble, so holy, and so powerful.

Even the most arrogant heretics, the craziest heretics, after witnessing such a miracle, would kneel down and surrender to the embrace of God.

People suddenly burst into tears.

In Bressi, where the Black Death was ravaging, the Lord forgave their sins and finally sent His angels to save His followers.

Angels flapped their wings, and sunlight leaked through the clouds.

It was as if a white transparent flame was burning close to the ground, and everyone felt as if they were submerged in a hot spring, comfortable and warm, as warm as if their forehead was gently stroked by the Virgin Mary. In this warmth, it seemed that many invisible things were being burned away. The crows that originally pecked at the carrion flapped their wings, and the black clouds of hell were expelled from the world.

The pained and dying patients saw the angel's light enveloping them, and then they felt the pain disappear in an instant. Those who recovered their health walked out of the house and knelt down to worship the visages of the angels in the sky.

"Holy, holy! King of Kings! Lord of the Kingdom of Heaven!"

The Pope shouted.

"Holy, holy! King of Kings! Lord of the Kingdom of Heaven!"

Everyone shouted in unison.

The Pope's robes began billowing and made 

loud flapping noises. He held his scepter aloft. As the benevolent father of the believers, his eyes were as cold and as deep as the sea.

Who dared to fight against such a force?

Who could stand against such power?!

Before God, before the extraordinary, all mortals were ants!

……………………

On this day, on the west side of the Abyss Strait.

On the ghost ship "Jenny", the witch was wearing thick spectacles, and Hawkins sat on the mast; in Metzl Castle, Dean Anil kneeled down in St. Wyth Cathedral, and General Johan had his hand on the hilt of his sword. The astrologers looked afraid and anxious, and the Queen Mother Eleanor stood in front of the tombstone of William III; near the royal city, General Sheehan led the Iron Rose Cavalry in the direction of Bomari Castle…..

And there were more people who didn't know what happened, subconsciously looking at the eastern sky.

They only felt a kind of trembling power, which made people subconsciously want to prostrate to the ground.

"So that's a divine miracle."

The King stood on the highest tower of the Rose Palace, and the high-altitude air currents snapped at his robes. The black stone tower he was in had stood in Rose Castle for many years. The walls of the tower were thick and cold. Even though the winter had passed, it still carried a daunting chill. As if this was the fangs of the dragon.

After more than a thousand years, the power of God descended to the world on such an unprecedented scale for the first time. The King and the Devil stood on the top of the tower and watched. Across the Abyss Strait, they stood opposite that terrifying, overwhelming force.

"As expected of the Holy Court that has been accumulating power for more than a thousand years."

The Devil stood behind the King.

This remark should have been a sigh of amazement, but the tone of the Devil's voice was more like a nonchalant gambler, smiling casually and frivolously in front of his enemies. To a certain extent, the King and the Devil shared a similarity——they were both madmen who when facing God, not only did not bow down, but drew their swords.

"And you?"

The Devil asked the King with a smile.

"The Holy Court has begun, will you begin as well?"

The King turned his head to look at him: "Don't you already know what we actually want to do? Why are you still so excited?"

"Don't misunderstand Hell, Your Majesty." Not only did the Devil not restrain himself, he laughed even more happily, "What is Hell? There is no order, no morality, all chaos and evil gathers there. Hell has never been a good place, do you really think real denizens of Hell would hold love for it and unite as a family?"

"No."

"The demons in hell have always had desires in their hearts, and the rules there are that there are no rules."

The Devil took the rose tucked into his breast pocket and handed it to the King. Even by human standards, the Devil was exceptionally handsome. It was just that his complexion was too pale and his aura too wicked, his handsome looks were like a sharp knife that one knew was poisoned at first glance. Beneath the elegance laid the quality of madness.

"If you're powerful enough, your rules are Hell's rules."

He smiled.

The King looked at him for a while, then accepted the rose that he handed over.

The Devil hummed an old ditty with joy.

He climbed out of the deepest part of the Wall of Insects, which was the truest portrayal of hell. In hell, there was only massacre and the winner was king. All human morality and principles were insignificant in hell. And he accepted only one hell.

A short-lived hell that operated according to the King's will.

"Let us begin, Your Majesty."

The Devil said.

The King turned and walked towards the stone table in the middle of the tower, where the gift given to him by the Devil was placed on top–—the box that was said to be the key to the Millennium Kingdom. The moment the King turned around, the Devil held a black umbrella in his hand, while the King held a dark red rose in his hand.

They stood opposite each other, like the two parties of an ancient contract.

The Devil looked in Bressi's direction and hummed an ancient ditty softly.

An ambition.

In the legendary age long ago, at first the Rose family just didn't want to live like ants, so they killed the evil dragon. But later, the Rose family discovered that even after the dragon died, there was still more extraordinary power to make mortals become puppets and slaves.

They wanted equality, but the dragon didn't give it to them, the gods didn't give it to them, and no one in the sky or on the earth would give it to them.

So, then they birthed an ambition.

An ambition only a madman could have:

If nobody would give them equality, then they didn't need to be given equality. They would make it so that mortals would be the masters of all extraordinary powers!

They would have the voice of mortals echo in the long river of history and never die!