Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and news of the devastating defeat of the Holy See's punitive army, the disappearance of the Chief Inquisitor, and the death of the forr Saint Lucia quickly spread throughout more than half of the empire.
Various rumors and speculations ran wild within the holy city, leaving the devout followers of the Lord unable to believe that such news could be true. The mighty and revered Saint and the Chief Inquisitor, the ssengers of the gods in the mortal realm, falling into the clutches of those demonic minions!
The wizards and nobles who had hidden in the shadows, discontent with the Holy See's rule, fueled the spread of these rumors. In just a few days, the entire holy city beca aware of the shocking revelations.
On the morning of the third day, Pope Alves delivered a divine proclamation, announcing to all the faithful of the empire a sorrowful ssage—the judgnt day was approaching!
Upon hearing this, whether nobles or commoners, everyone was in utter shock, plunged into great panic! Everyone understood the implications of the judgnt day...
As recorded in the Apocalypse chapter at the end of the Bible, the greed and wickedness in people's hearts would attract the gaze of demons, bringing famine, disease, and plague!
If these burgeoning sins surpassed a certain threshold, it would allow the demons confined in the abyss to reach the mortal realm. At that ti, the entire world would face a great purge, and all souls would be dragged into hell to undergo the judgnt of the apocalypse!
Now, only the Lord's personal descent into the world could prevent the impending apocalypse!
"Let us offer the most devout faith to the greatest, holy, just, and rciful Lord!" Pope Alves's resonant voice echoed throughout the entire holy city.
Hundreds of thousands of faithful followers knelt down, either singing hymns loudly or crying out in repentance for their sins, praying for the great Lord to bring redemption and spare them from the impending abyss!
...
While the Holy See was concocting excuses for the defeat of the punitive army, inside the City of Fire Oil, where victory in the war had been achieved, the wizard council was dealing with various troubleso matters.
Because in this battle, they too had suffered losses. Over half of the more than one hundred airships responsible for diverting the main force of the Holy See were damaged, with casualties exceeding two thousand people! The top wizards of the council were almost all injured. Harof barely withstood a full-force attack from Lucia, Victorio's eyes were blinded by a nuclear explosion, and they were all in the process of recuperation.
As for Lynn, after breaking through the rank of Grand Wizard, although he no longer risked brain death when manipulating the magic network, prolonged use still imposed a considerable ntal strain.
The Grand Wizards who had attacked the City of Fire Oil were also scattered by the Chief Inquisitor Joshua, with two of them falling on the spot.
This was partly due to Lynn's clever strategy, avoiding direct confrontation with the Holy See. The powerful Saint Lucia and tens of thousands of Holy See punitive troops were obliterated by the nuclear explosion. Otherwise, the casualties would have been even more devastating. Therefore, after the victory, the council did not rush to pursue further, but took so ti to rest.
Multiple battles within a year, coupled with a massive number of casualties, depleted the council's stock of magical dicines. Not to ntion the urgent radiation issue that needed to be addressed!
The City of Fire Oil was less than seven kiloters from the nuclear blast zone!
Such proximity ant they would inevitably be affected by radiation, and the nearby river could no longer be used for irrigation or drinking!
In recent days, many wizards suggested abandoning the city or even demolishing it.
However, Lynn vetoed this idea!
Because the City of Fire Oil had a large population, and the residents strongly resisted the idea of mass migration. Moreover, its geographical location was favorable, being close to the oil fields, making it worth preserving.
Considering this, Lynn and a group of alchemists brainstord and, based on the characteristics of radiation, constructed a magical barrier covering the entire city. This barrier could block the dangerous radiation from entering.
Several days later, as the personnel sent to investigate returned, the Wizard Council convened another eting.
Shape-shifting wizard Del provided a concise report on the information he had gathered in recent days.
The outco of a battle was determined not only by various tactics, resource mobilization, and the ability to engage in direct combat but also by the critical role of intelligence gathering. The council naturally attached great importance to this, and preparations had been made early on.
Shape-shifting wizards, adept at magical transformations, undoubtedly had a unique advantage in intelligence gathering.
In addition to being able to transform into specific creatures, they could also make so modifications to their appearance to a certain extent.
If they could find soone with a similar physique and appearance, coupled with the mory search of a psychic wizard, they could directly replace the target, operating covertly with a legitimate identity.
Of course, such disguises were not foolproof. Faced with powerful divine practitioners, their magical power might be detected. Therefore, Del and others dared not approach the holy city too closely and could only gather information through so passing caravans.
Upon hearing the news of the defeat of the punitive army spreading through various trade routes across more than half of the empire, Lynn and the others were quite surprised.
"So fast? Didn't the Holy See try to stop the spread of this news?" Harof furrowed his brow, puzzled.
"According to our understanding, they did not." Del hesitated, showing a hint of doubt. "Instead, those priests and bishops seem to be fanning the flas, using this to propagate the apocalypse judgnt ntioned in the Bible."
"Apocalypse judgnt?"
Harof and the others couldn't help but be taken aback. What did the apocalypse have to do with all this?
Del quickly recounted the argunts he had heard from priests and bishops about the impending apocalypse.
After listening, everyone present was speechless. The church's ability to manipulate its believers was simply off the charts!
They could even make this story plausible!
"They are quite adept at fabricating stories!" Victorio sneered, shaking his head. He could see through the opponent's intentions.
Rather than waiting for news to co and cause chaos within the empire, shaking the faith of believers, it was better to fabricate a suitable reason to fool everyone in advance.
"It seems your plan is going to fall flat!" Aurora looked at Lynn, playfully speaking.
"It doesn't matter; these pieces of news are not just for those fanatical believers!" Lynn shrugged, not overly concerned.
The entire empire was not a monolith; the conflicts between theocracy, nobility, and the common people were not exclusive to the kingdom. However, in the past, the Holy See's dominance had suppressed all resistance, making these issues less apparent. But once a weakening trend appeared, these problems would erupt again!
So, no matter how those priests and bishops tried to justify it, they could not change one ironclad fact—the punitive army of the Holy See suffered consecutive defeats in the kingdom!
They had shattered the unbeatable myth of the Holy See!
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