CH 179 King Of The World

"The Council of Elders have not contacted us for a while."

Sisian said tentatively.

He hoped that his speculation was wrong, but the facts seemed to be moving in a direction that he couldn't understand.

Theolde put down the quill in his hand: "How many days of food rations do we have left?"

He avoided the subject. Sisian thought sadly and replied: "The Border Army can still last for a week, but the rest...we can no longer provide wheat and eggs for our soldiers. The officers are discussing what to do next, Your Majesty."

"Let's go and listen to what our gentlemen have to say."

Theolde said calmly.

In the combat command room of the Holy Army, the commander of the Border Army, General Velarion, a typical northerner of the Abyss Strait, was arguing angrily with the officers of the Sea Army. Their voices were so loud that they could be heard a hundred meters away. The officers of the Sea Army accused the Border Army of embezzling supplies.

"Holy Lord, who doesn't know what goes on with the border caravans? Ten barrels of red wine from departure to arrival, we can thank God if there is still one barrel left!"

"Then I can also swear in the name of the Holy Lord, if one drop of the nine barrels of red wine entered our mouths, we will go to hell immediately!" General Velarion roared like a lion, his neck flushed red as he breathed and pressed his hands heavily on the table, "We bypassed the rapids of the North Sea and risked being swallowed by the giant whale to help you transport eggs and oats from the abyss to this damn Legrand. But now, you actually accuse us of not being diligent enough? Do you want us to block the waterway in the city of Yoringshire, then turn around and start a war against Bressi to seize the port? Why don't you expect us to make bulls give birth and iron stones blossom?"

"Our soldiers have tried to find edible seeds from the dung pile, but you still have oats to feed your officers' horses." The Sea Army officer was angry, and the brawling soldiers were his men, "If you have enough food to feed horses, then since we are allies, you shouldn’t just watch your allies starve to death.”

"We are allies, but there is no law or code that stipulates that we should be the nanny of our allies." General Velarion shot back, he asked harshly, "Do you still need us to feed milk into your mouths?"

"The Holy Lord teaches us to be caring, gentlemen."

The curtain of the tent was lifted, and Pope Theolde came in, his voice composed and calm.

Everyone put aside their arguments and stood up to salute Theolde.

General Velarion found that when Pope Theolde appeared, the tense atmosphere he had painstakingly created was shattered. He felt a little uneasy, and spoke before the Sea Army officers: "It's not that the border countries don't want to lend a helping hand to allies who are as close as brothers, but you know that the civilians in our border nations are more unruly by nature. If they see us sharing their food with others, I’m worried something will happen.”

A cunning fox who took advantage of others' circumstances.

The officers of the Sea Army cursed loudly in their heads. They finally understood what the Border Army was trying to do with this pretentious attitude.

The Border Army was the latest among the three holy armies to set foot on the battlefield, and it had also been prepared for the longest time. They had only been involved in the war for a short period of time, and putting aside whether the grain from Bressi was actually misappropriated by them, simply based on the grain reserves prepared by the border countries, they should have plenty of grain in their hands at this time——at least compared with the other Holy Armies they were much better off.

The reason they were making such a big fuss was because they wanted to bargain with the Pope and everyone.

If the news from the Legrandians was correct, then the Holy See of Holy Spirit Bay was now destroyed. After the powerful Holy Empire lost the heart of Holy Spirit Bay, as well as being hit hard by Ferri III, its glory disappeared like a flash. The Hopeless Inner Sea Alliance and the Alliance of Abyss Strait city-states have been weakened by the battle in the southeast. Legrand was an enemy of the world. Although it had not been defeated so far, it had also been deeply eroded by the war and its vitality had been severely damaged.

All the powerful countries and forces in this world have exhausted their strength in this war to the point of damaging their foundations, and their heroes exhausted.

This was an opportunity for the border countries to rise.

The food in their hands was their confidence, and they wanted to compete for the dominance of this war.

These damn, greedy guys.

"As long as you don't forget the original intention of this war, the Holy Lord will protect us and achieve final victory."

Theolde replied.

"Piety will not fill the bellies of our soldiers."

General Velarion said as he glanced at the officers of the Sea Army.

"Without food, our soldiers have no way to fight." After many thoughts flashed by, the officers of the Sea Army spoke reluctantly. No one wanted this war to end now, especially since they only needed to capture Yoringshire to decide the final victory.

"God protects us with His miracles."

"Does the miracle include giving us food?" General Velarion couldn't help but ask a bit harshly. He was thinking about the news he got from the Legrandians. The Holy See was destroyed, and the situation of the Holy Empire was not much better. This was truly a God-given opportunity, and what else could a pope do if he lost his holy city?

"Of course."

Theolde replied calmly.

At first, no one understood what he meant, but soon, they realized what Theolde was referring to, and everyone looked at him with astonishment on their faces.

……………………

“On that barren land, people are thirsty, hungry, and dying. So God made wheat grow from the ground, turned the water in the river into fine wine, and herded pure lambs to the people. He is as generous and kind as a father, but He also displayed such majestic wonders.”

Earl Wally accompanied the King and stood on the highest tower of the castle. He looked at what was happening outside the city through the witches' eyeglasses and whispered the words in the holy book.

That was an ancient tale in the holy book. It told the story of God telling His glory among all nations and His miracles among all peoples. God established His authority and image through the miracles He created, and these miracles accumulated into people’s impression of God. Now, the miracles described in the holy book were happening again.

On the vast land outside Yoringshire City, wheat violated the season and grew out of the soil again. The Holy Army fetched water from the tributary of Doma. The water was poured into buckets and immediately turned into mellow red wine. Everything that happened outside the city of Yoringshire was just like what was told in the holy book. Theolde, wearing the papal tiara, walked across the plain. Wherever he went, the soldiers all knelt down and prostrated to him, already regarding him as the incarnation of God.

"What exactly is going on?"

Earl Wally couldn't help but murmur to himself.

"Isn't the Kingdom of Gods closed?"

"Because his power does not come from the Kingdom of Gods."

The King replied calmly.

As a mortal, Earl Wally reached the pinnacle of what a mortal could do when speculating on the past events of the gods. However, after all, he was limited by mortal cognition and it was difficult to understand the gods more deeply. In fact, if the Holy Lord's plan succeeded and He was resurrected and came to the earth, then the first thing He would do was to bury the Kingdom of Gods and make himself the only god on the earth.

The power of the gods was closely related to their honorable names, and since the Holy Lord placed himself in history by tampering with history, his power became closely related to mortals. The "Father" in the teachings pointed to this concept. He was the being who created mankind and was the father of all mortals. This teaching directly revealed his goal. He rooted himself in the beliefs and lives of mortals, thus reshaping the source of his power.

The Holy Lord freed himself from the old divine pantheon and used these methods to reshape his position and authority.

He became the God of mortals, and the world was His kingdom.

If the plan succeeded, then He would not need the Kingdom of Gods. This was also why the Holy Lord was able to betray the gods so unscrupulously in the legendary era, and did his best to push the Kingdom of Gods to be sealed forever.

There was nothing wrong with the Holy Lord's plan. After the Holy See became a universal religion, it could be said that most of his goals were achieved. Only, He miscalculated human greed and ambition. If a traitor betrayed someone for the first time, there would always be a second time.

After the destruction of the Holy City in Holy Spirit Bay, the consciousness of the Holy Lord descended and dissipated. The end had finally arrived, and the last god of the past who tried to be reborn had withdrawn from the stage of history, his authority stolen by his spokesperson on earth. 

Now, Theolde was the king of the Kingdom of Gods, the god who walked on the earth.

All the faith that people have had in the holy book and the Holy Court for a thousand years had condensed instead into his power. To a certain extent, closing the Kingdom of Gods was actually a help to him. But Legrand must close the door to the Kingdom of Gods, just like Theolde must seal the rift between hell and earth at any cost.

"Now, he Is is only one step away from becoming the prophesied 'King of the World'."

The wind was strong on the tower. The King looked at Theolde, who was worshiped by thousands of people in the distance.

——There could not be two kings of the world at the same time. One of the two kings was destined to die.

There was always only one winner on the throne.