At the sa ti that Ron Esrotel detected the movent, a voice that sounded like the exclamation of a soldier on guard rang out.
"Here they co! The army of His Holiness the Pope is on the move!"
The atmosphere in the Pope's temple changed completely. You can clearly see that the soldiers are filled with a different kind of tension than before.
"Now is the ti for battle! Kill them! We must kill every last one of the bandits who betrayed the Lord God! Grab your weapons! Maintain a fighting stance so that you are ready to go at any mont!"
Ron Esrotel heads for the top of the gate, inspiring the soldiers in the area. It seems as if the troops in the harbor are slowly moving toward us in formation. Ron Esrotel's heart beat faster.
The mont that army enters the square, their doom will be complete. They will be exposed to a rain of arrows and magic. Defeating the vanguard of the enemy is not a problem. We just have to find out where Vieille is. That's him. He must be among the troops. As long as we can take him out, we'll be all right. A one-sided war of attrition will begin. We will open these gates when we have him in our sights.
Ron Esrotel repeats the image of the pursuit in his head. But it is Vieille! He does not know what kind of weapons he has hidden. He takes such a contingency into account.
However, he was sure that Vieille would not be able to launch an aggressive attack against the Papal Temple. It contains many treasures, including the Book of Sucrei. To destroy this temple would an to lose them. Moreover, the temple itself is nothing more than a symbol for the Church of Klimiana. To destroy it is to deprive the people of their spiritual center. When Vieille defeated his grandfather, Jouvancel Sein, in the last battle, he did not attack this Papal temple. Knowing what had happened, Ron Esrotel believed that as long as the temple's defense was perfect, he would not be defeated.
In fact, the defense was perfect. There was no way they could lose.
Gradually, Vieille's army was advancing toward us. The closer they got to her, the faster Ron Esrotel's heart beat. Co quickly! Get up here as fast as you can. ....... He thinks this while his mouth is dry.
But contrary to his expectations, the march was slow. They moved along like slugs crawling on the ground, and never arrived at our place.
...... Do you think they are trying to catch us off guard and then speed up at once to attack the Pope's temple?
That would explain the slowness of the march. Just before entering the temple square, they will make an assault and catch us by surprise. If they do so, they will slow down their attack. We will be able to minimize the damage to our own soldiers.
But, but... No matter how hard we try to catch them by surprise, the gates to this temple are tightly closed. There is no traitor in the temple as there was in the last battle. There is no other way but to pry the gates open by one's own strength.
This gate is specially made. It is made of waran, the hardest of all trees. Moreover, a huge tree several hundred years old was cut out and used as the gate in its original form. Therefore, the thickness of the gate is nearly two ters, which makes it impregnable to any physical attack. In addition, the surface of the gate was coated with Prill stone powder to resist magical attacks. In other words, the gate was iron-walled. As long as they were inside the gate, Ron Esrotel and the others would not be defeated.
Gradually, Vieille's army was advancing toward us. They were just halfway to the Papal temple. At that mont, Ron Esrotel heard a voice that sounded like a shout of joy.
The reason for it was imdiately apparent. To his surprise, the inhabitants of Aphrodite, who had taken shelter in their houses, ca outside and cheered as if to welco Vieille and his friends. Ron Esrotel could not believe his eyes.
How had he managed to win the people of Aphrodite over to his side? This rebellion would have been successful only with the cooperation of the people of Aphrodite. We had never imagined that they would turn on us. Ron Esrotel's mind was in turmoil.
As if to push them into a corner, the inhabitants of Aphrodite ca in droves, led by enemy soldiers, from the three roads leading here to the Pope's temple. The sight of them coming toward us in single file along the narrow streets looked as if they were coming to pray at the temple.
In the blink of an eye, the plaza in front of the temple was filled with people. It seed that the soldiers of the enemy army were leading the people, and before I knew it, a straight path had been ford from the main gate in front of the temple to the main street where Vieille was now about to co up.
The soldiers in the temple were so skillful that they did not raise their voices and just gazed at the scene in front of them. At that mont, the main body of Vieille's army ca up the hill and arrived at the temple square.
Inarticulate cries co from the soldiers. To their surprise, at the head of the army was Vieille herself.
She was dressed in a white papal robe. She was wearing exactly the sa costu she had worn for the inauguration. She wore a crown made of gold and a gold dal - the Tear of God - which had been worn by the popes during their ceremonies.
They were supposed to be kept in the basent of the Papal temple. When in the world had they been taken out? No, they were made sowhere else. Ron Esrotel was aware of this fact, but he could not speak out.
Vieille paused before stepping into the temple square. She looked slowly at the people around her who were watching with bated breath. Eventually, she raised her right hand. Then the soldiers behind her raised the flag of the Crian Nation in unison.
And that's not all. Behind the flag, the flags of Agartha, Heedata, and Sandanj also waved. As soon as the banner was raised, the flags were raised simultaneously from the narrow streets leading to the temple square. Moreover, the raised flags were divided by road into three groups: Agartha, Heedata, and Sandanj. Vieille walked slowly toward us.
From Ron Esrotel, it appeared that reinforcents from Agartha, Heedata, and Sandanj had arrived. Linos, the king of Agartha, might also be here. Nike of Sandange and others from Heedata are also ....... The soldiers were shaken. From the Papal temple, it looked as if Vieille was leading them.
"Your Holiness the Pope, Banzai!"
Suddenly, a voice was heard from among the people. Soone is shouting a Hail Mary. The voice gets louder and louder, and soon the temple square is filled with cheers in praise of Vieille.
......It was like watching a dream. All the inhabitants of Aphrodite acted because they thought that there was no future for this country if Vieille, the woman who had put Crimiana in danger, was not eliminated. Ron Esrotel had never expected that the people of Aphrodite would praise Vieille.
He shakes his head violently from side to side, trying to bring his thoughts back to reality. Then he picked up an arrow, hooked it on his bow, and shot it at Vieille.
However, it was shot off right in front of her. At that mont, Ron Esrotel fell to his knees.
Vieille's face was smiling like a goddess. .......
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