After Becoming The Tyrant

It was pouring rain in April in the Holy Empire.

The Emperor of the Holy Empire, the Pope of the Holy Court, and Theord, who has this dual identity, stood in front of the stained glass window carved with the statue of the Virgin saving the child, watching the rainwater slide down the glass, and the Virgin was as pitiful as she was.

This is what Cardinal Sisian saw when he hurried in with the secret letter from the Knights.He subconsciously slowed down his pace, and the anxiety in his heart gradually calmed down.He had known Pope Theold for a long time, and in his mind the Pope was the most determined and invincible person he had ever met.

Facts proved that his impression was correct.

The man who said to him in the seminary, I will restore the glory of St. Peter, has now established a mighty kingdom of God, and drives this chariot forward with firm will.

After the Kingdom of God was established, different voices within have always existed.

Cecean knew that there were not many old nobles who were optimistic about the Holy Court in private. In their view, the Holy Court was powerful, but it was undoubtedly a fantasy to transition from a religion to a country.They chose to be silent, but they wanted to wait for the Holy Court to be unable to handle a series of affairs, and instead relied on them.Just like the previous King Blaise, they simply cannot do without the help of the nobles.

However, Pope Theolde showed his political skills not inferior to his theological attainments. He manipulated those greedy and timid nobles, just like the most brilliant puppet master manipulated a group of dolls.

There were times when Sitheian felt that Theold was actually a natural born monarch.

"The Holy Lord teaches us to be peaceful, my dear friend." The Pope heard his footsteps and turned around slowly. "No matter what happens, one should maintain inner peace."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Sisian replied seriously, and he handed the battle report to the Pope, "The news from the First Legion is that the port of the Lowland Alliance has been attacked and the throne has been destroyed."

"It is indeed unfortunate news." The Pope sighed. "Our allies are not as reliable as imagined, while our enemies are stronger than imagined. How did they do it?"

"According to the news that came back, all the attacks took place at night. Legrand's navy launched the attack through the thick fog. They seem to know the layout of the port well. Our defenders' counterattacks all failed. They directly attacked the port military. Where defenses are most vulnerable."

"Astrologer."

The Pope shook his head slightly.

"They made the wrong choice."

"The Second Alliance of Astrologers." Sisian also thought about it, and his face was a little ugly. "Besides, the dragon wing battleship appeared."

"The seat of God cannot be destroyed by dragon wing warships alone."

"Yes." Xi Sean was a little ashamed, "The Gorgon appeared in Eagle's Mouth Bay. She is the boarder of the Serpent of the World. We have been hunting her for so many years, but we never thought that she is hidden in Volvey Among the pirates. Your Majesty, this is my dereliction of duty. If I hadn't made a mistake 11 years ago and successfully arrested her..."

Eleven years ago, Sisian was the one who was in charge of leading the Twelve Sanctuaries of the Holy Court to hunt down and kill Greyla.

The pope patted him on the shoulder lightly: "You have already taken the punishment for your mistakes 11 years ago, so you don't need to be harsh on yourself anymore. If you want to say this, I am more responsible than you for this matter. I didn't Anticipating Legrand's depravity so thoroughly, they have recovered the dragon wing battleship, and it was my fault that the throne was destroyed."

"His Majesty."

Sisian was taken aback, and quickly wanted to explain that he didn't mean to accuse the Pope.

The Pope waved his hand, signaling him not to worry too much about it: "What about the other things?"

"The city-states that have no hope of the inner sea have succumbed, and the city-states that still retain the statues of the old gods have been attacked by the alliance of other city-states." Sissien reported.

The Burning of the Old Gods campaign is going a little better than budgeted.

When most of the city-states succumb to the prestige of the Holy Empire, they will in turn become the help of the Holy Court.This is not difficult to understand, there is already a conflict of interest between city-states, and being able to use the prestige of the Holy Court to carve up the "City of Heresy" is a cake that cannot be let go for other city-states.

"Besides, according to your instructions, we focused on monitoring Lower El, but we didn't find any barbarian knights. It seems that the Gulundi heavy cavalry has no intention of participating in this war. Your Majesty, why should we pay so much attention to a mercenary group that is not climate-worthy? ?” Sisian was a little puzzled.

"They will be one of our enemies."

replied the pope.

"How about Legrand's preparations?"

"Mr. Pulitani Earl is ready, and the Baliners have also boarded the ship. The judge's ship has also docked." Sissien replied, he paused, and asked with some hesitation, "Your Majesty, you Do you think those two families are really reliable? Although the rebellion is to provide us with time to fully prepare, why not provide Legrand with breathing time?"

"My dear friend, you have confused one thing." The pope explained gently, and he led Cessian to the map hanging on the wall of the room. "It is not that we give the enemy time to breathe. In fact, if we can , more than anyone else, I hope to fight immediately and strangle that stubborn heretical family in the bud. However, we don't have the time."

The Pope clicked on the map: "This is the battlefield where we helped Charles and attacked Ferry III. This is the 'Battle of God's Responsibility' we launched, and this is our purge campaign against heresy... Before and after the establishment of the Kingdom of God, we There were three major campaigns, each of which we won."

"The Lord protects His warriors."

Sissan drew a cross on his chest.

"No, it's not the Holy Lord who protects His soldiers. It's the Holy Court's thousand-year savings that protect our soldiers." The Pope smiled and shook his head, "Nowadays, every war we wage is rapidly consuming the Holy Court's thousand-year-old savings. Wealth and prestige that come down. You are not in charge of these matters, and you can be forgiven for not knowing. What does our empire look like to you?"

Sissien replied without hesitation: "The Holy Lord's Kingdom of God is as solid as a rock and cannot be broken."

The Pope laughed: "No, in my opinion, our empire is just a castle in the air, just like the light and shadow in the water, gorgeous but not yet rooted."

Xisaen was taken aback: "Your Majesty! The Lord is above."

"You and I have known each other for so many years. Others don't know what the Kingdom of God is, don't you?" The Pope shook his head imperceptibly, "We are different from any nation in the world. Our people are all over the world, but the whole world There are no real people of ours. We often say that a person is a believer first and then a citizen, but the reverse is also true.”

The pope's voice was steady and powerful, and he paced slowly in the room.

"Without real people, it means that we cannot slowly recover after heavy losses like other countries. We have built a powerful empire through these three wars. The enemy surrendered to us because of our strength, all our glory They are all closely related to our strength, once we are no longer strong, all the lambs in front of us will turn into wolves in an instant, devouring our flesh and blood more fiercely than anyone else."

"Legrand is different from other lambs who will succumb in front of them. They are hungry wolves full of scars but staring at them. Facing such an enemy, even a lion must do its best. Between us and Legrand, only A full-blown, massive campaign."

"Either don't move, or erase this country from the Western Continent."

The Pope said coldly.

"This is a fight to the death!"

It was raining heavily outside the window, and lightning tore apart the sky and the earth.

Sean was covered in cold sweat, and he finally saw a truly terrifying crisis under the strength of the past few days.

This is the true face of this world. In the feast of power struggle, the identities of the lamb and the wolf may be reversed at any time.If you don't win to the end, it will become someone else's meal.

"Follow your wisdom."

He drew the cross on his chest and bowed his head in complete convincing.

"Release the news and tell everyone that Ferry III is dead. There is no Blaise Kingdom in this world." The Pope issued his order one by one, "Send a message to all the city-states that have no hope of the inland sea, and the city-states that still retain the belief of the old gods , other city-states should launch military conquests; let astrologers make more accurate predictions about the drought that will appear in the northwest of the empire in late April; strengthen the propaganda of the "Doomsday"... Finally, issue the "Holy Legion" conscript order."

A series of orders were murderous.

"Yes."

Sean took notes one by one.

After Sissien retreated, the Pope stood alone in front of the map, and he looked at Legrand on the map.

Some ports along the central coast of Legrand have already been marked by him.

He stretched out his hand to connect a line between Swan Harbor, where Legrand changed its master, and the small countries along the abyss, and smiled slightly.

"In this world, the most terrifying thing is the greed of the human heart, not the tyrannical armed forces."

The Pope sighed.

..............................

People who are driven by profit can do anything.

Therefore, the king was not surprised to hear that the Plitani family had begun to clear the "crows" from their lands.What he was more concerned about was how Count Pritani used to eliminate the spies of the Chief of Internal Affairs.

"The Holy Court's intelligence network, White Eagle."

The steward delivered another report to the king.

"We have an opponent not to be underestimated," lamented the king. "This is tit for tat."

They had just destroyed the holy seat of the holy court, and turned around, the holy court set off the net they had set up in Legrand - the knights that Earl Prittany publicly summoned in his own territory, and his actions were swift.

Unlike the previous Northland rebellion, this is a conspiracy that has been branded "in the name of jihad"

Among the reasons why the Earl of Prittany organized military operations, a very important point was that if he accused the king of easy heresy, he would allow witches and fallen people to set foot on Legrand, and even openly protect heresy.As a follower of the Holy Lord and a subject of the king, it is necessary for him to use force to force the king to correct his mistakes.

Supporting him was the director of the Holy Court Judgment Bureau who came from afar across the Abyss Strait.

The director of the Judiciary Bureau brought a copy of the "Excommunication Order" issued by the Pope to the King, as well as dozens of arrest warrants for witches.

With the arrival of the Director of the Judgment Bureau, another net was opened in Legrand.

A network of intelligence as opposed to the king's "crows".

After the rebellion subsided in the Northland, the king had already cleaned Legrand's territory and pulled out some nails inserted by the Holy Court.But the time is short, and the noble territories are intertwined. It is impossible for the Holy Court's intelligence network to be completely destroyed in such a short period of time.And with the arrival of the chief judge, this intelligence network was fully activated.

The "Hawkeye" belonging to the holy court patrolled the territory of the Pulitani family and the Meissen family, and a war hidden under the smoke was launched between the "crows" belonging to the king.

These days, in the territories of the two families, people often see armored knights kicking open the door of the tavern under the guidance of a man in a gray cloak, and from behind the bar, from in front of the table, the seemingly ordinary People dragged out.

From time to time, a pastor in a church was walking in an alley, and his throat was suddenly wiped with a knife.

When night falls, people dare not leave their homes, but they can still hear the sound of horses galloping and swords colliding, mixed with a few faint sounds of hand cannons.

This is the battle between the eagle and the crows.

"I have to say that with the help of the Holy Court, our Mr. Earl has more brains than before."

King's evaluation.

After the denunciation was issued, Earl Pulitani did not immediately gather troops to attack the royal city, but cut off the communication fortress between the royal city and the eastern coast and the eastern coast.He yelled loudly about "crusade by force", but what he did was try his best to cut off the coastal coastline in the middle of Legrand.

This is not quite like the IQ that Count Pulitani should have.

Earl Pulitani defected to Grand Duke Grace in the "Change of the Rose" and was a member of the New Royal Party.

It is a pity that in that civil war, the earl was quickly defeated by the old men of the Duke of Buckingham, and he was able to escape the royalist soldiers by disguised as a woman.

Mr. Pulitani's "moving deeds" once became a joke in Legrand's upper class. For this reason, after the "Change of the Rose", Count Pulitani almost retired from the upper class and has been retreating in his own territory. among.Now it seems that when he rebelled with Grand Duke Grice, he might not have been co-opted by Grand Duke Grice, but that he had already fallen to the Holy Court.

After the head of the Judgment Bureau arrived, the Earl, who had escaped by disguised as a woman, immediately came out of his castle, dressed in armor and holding a giant axe, wishing to shout his bravery to the world.

Still, the move doesn't seem to be doing much to clear his credits.

One after another, some nobles joined the vanguard battle of this jihad.

"The Philly family, the Colville family..."

The king flipped through the list submitted by the Chief of Internal Affairs, and whispered the name of each person who had joined the Holy Court camp, his expression remained motionless, and it was difficult to fathom his emotions.

The Chief of Internal Affairs stood aside with his head bowed, and did not disturb the king's thinking.

The king quickly went through all the lists. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes slightly and meditated.

The list was similar to what he had expected. The central nobles who participated in this rebellion were basically small nobles with small territories and very little hope of being promoted to titles.Although the rest of the big families did not join the rebellion, they did not intend to send troops to suppress the rebellion.

They stood still.

………………

In Putton County, not far from Collin County, Earl Gray, like all the great nobles in the middle, rectified his weapons, but turned a blind eye to the chaos in the neighboring Plitani and Mason family territories.

"Father, are we going to wait like this?"

Lord Grey's son Simri hurried in.

He is a young man, tall and handsome, and he has been knighted for a long time.

Earl Gray wiped his sword: "Aren't they still carrying it in the castle?"

The "Mount" in Earl Gray's mouth refers to the Mount family in the west of Puton County. They and the Gray family are called feuds. The territories of the two sides are too close, and the conflicts that broke out due to personal hatred between them cannot be written in a whole handwritten book. .

"Just because they don't move, so we have to bear it?" Simri asked.

"Father is saying we should wait and see."

The older brother Dale patiently explained to his grumpy younger brother.

Dale is much older than Xinli, and has already started to follow his father to handle matters in the territory.

Not only the king was concerned about the coup on the other side of the Abyss Strait, the storm that started from the Northland rebellion had already worried everyone.As nobles, the great nobles of Legrand can clearly see the current situation of the Blacy nobles on the other side of the strait.

They either lost their lives in the "Battle of God's Responsibility", or lost their superior status after the establishment of the Holy Empire. Their original status was similar to that of the church nobles, but they fell below the priesthood.This change in identity is not only a setback to dignity, but more importantly, a change in local control.

The great nobles of Legrand did not want a group of monks and priests who came across the abyss to take away from themselves the territory that had been passed down for hundreds of thousands of years. Divide and take a large part.

They didn't want to be a second ex-Blessie nobleman.

Only the minor nobles would fall into the embrace of the Holy Court so actively, because once the Holy Court wins, they will have the opportunity to turn from the minor nobles to the great nobles.

"But why don't we attack them?"

Shinri said angrily.

"They are a bunch of traitors and despicable people."

"Can you be sure that we will win in the end, or the Holy Court? Can you resist the Holy Legion, or can you resist the arrival of angels?" Dale asked back.

Just as Xinli was about to say the oath he made when he was made a knight without hesitation, Dale pressed his shoulder and shook his head.

For during their argument, Father had polished the long sword.

Earl Gray stood up and looked at his young sons sharply: "Of course, we are for inheritance, but not only for inheritance. We are nobles and Legrand people. It is indeed our mission to fight against Legrand. But I want you to remember—”

"War is no child's play."

Earl Gray was rarely strict, and the two brothers did not dare to speak any more for a while.

At this moment a messenger hurried into the castle hall.

He brought the latest intel on the rebel territories.

The flames of war are on.

………………

Herrid City is a city on the eastern coast of Legrand, famous for a "Swan Harbor" that belongs to the king.Although Swan Harbor is not as big and prosperous as the Port of Kossoya in the east of Legrand, its strategic significance is higher than that of Kossoya Port.

Swan Harbor is located in the middle of the Legrand coastline and is the mouth of a branch of the Doma River.

After the Battle of Bowen, one of the conditions offered by the Blessey Expeditionary Force during the negotiations for the return of the "Moon River Fortress" was to deliver Swan Harbor and Blessie.

Three days ago, the mayor of Herrid City received a letter from Pulitani asking them for food and grass.

This unreasonable request was firmly resisted by the citizens of Herid City.Therefore, the mayor directly rejected Earl Prittany's request. It is said that the messenger sent to reply the letter also relayed the ridicule of the "big man who survived by women's clothing" in Herrid City.

Perhaps it was for his own face, or perhaps it was ordered by the director of the Judgment Bureau. After receiving the letter, the earl angrily raised the battle flag and crossed the wasteland, approaching Herrid City.

As one of the cities belonging to the royal family, Herrid City did not remain idle after rejecting the request.

Soldiers hoisted the drawbridge, closed the city gates, and the townspeople armed themselves, mocking the "Count of Ladies"--this is the new title of the Count of Pulitany--and began to prepare to defend their city.

"May the Holy Lord bless him, he will not wear a long skirt to the battlefield."

"That way, he might really be able to kill the Quartet on the battlefield—after all, the opponent is patronizing and laughing."

The soldiers on guard talked and waited for the enemy to come.

Everyone is watching the battle.

Objectively speaking, even if Count Pritani, an extremely bad battlefield commander, is not discussed, the strength of the Pritani family and the Meissen family are not very good, and they are not the strongest families in the central region.Even if the Director of the Judgment Bureau supports him, not many people are optimistic about his action this time.

What will he rely on to attack the city of Herrid?

The answer is dragon.

Count Pritani was wearing armor and riding a tall war horse, looking majestically at the walls of Herrid City, which was submerged in flames.

The solid city wall shattered, red flames rolled for dozens of meters, smoke and dust billowed and boulders flew.

The soldier's broken limbs were thrown high in the blast-like air waves, and a ferocious black shadow rushed out from the shattered city wall, flapped its wings and flew into the sky, roaring and spit out again at the solid tower. A fire that can melt everything.

This is no longer a war.

This is carnage.

Even if all the nobles in the vicinity lead troops to come to support, it will not help. The citizens defending the city saw the legendary creature.

That is a black dragon!

The dragon's cry was violent and spread far away, shaking the entire castle trembling in the roar soaked in the desire to kill.A strong wind swept between heaven and earth, and the evil dragon spread its wings and hovered above the human castle. One or two brave soldiers with bows and arrows shot iron arrows at it with all their strength.

But those arrows shot with all the courage of a soldier were smashed by the strong wind before reaching the dragon.

Earl Prittany, who was originally complacent, felt inexplicably afraid in the dragon's cry.

The director of the Judgment Bureau looked at the black dragon that slaughtered Herrid City.He was the "attendant" that the Mason patriarch met in the heavy rain that day. He personally went to the harbor of the Maison family to welcome the giant ship that came from the black tide. The only passenger on board was a dragon trainer in white robe. with this dragon.

"It's so violent." The judge sighed, "It seems to be venting hatred."

"Isn't it just venting hatred?" The dragon trainer standing beside him chuckled, "This is the anger that has lasted for two ages."

The city of Herrid was submerged in thick smoke and red fire.

Thousands of years later——

Dragon's homeland!