Hermes Cathedral Secret Chamber.

The papal seat remained vacant.

The three bishops sat side by side, with Mayne speaking first, "I heard there's been some disturbance in the Eternal Winter Kingdom?"

"The Judgment Army stationed there is already handling the matter, led by High Priest Corben," Tevlen replied.

"What exactly is the cause?"

"Isn't it those dregs who were drawn into the church," Heather whistled, "After the queen was beheaded, those nobles joined the church one after another, transforming into high-level church officials—all because of your compromise plan, Lord Mayne. Under the guise of capturing witches, they ransacked the city, and the city guards turned a blind eye, causing the people to be unacceptable, naturally causing a backlash."

"Not my plan, Lord Heather," Mayne said unhappily, "This is the will of His Holiness the Pope. This way we can acquire everything in the kingdom in the shortest possible time, instead of continuing to compete with the nobles—among them, there are also outstanding talents, and drawing them in will be of great help to us. As for those moths, without the privilege of blood inheritance, they will be eliminated in one generation."

"Alright, since you've even brought up His Holiness the Pope, I won't say more." Heather shrugged, "But those violators who damage the church's reputation must be handed over to me."

Mayne looked at Bishop Tevlen, who pondered, "I suggest not dealing with them for the time being. After suppressing the disturbance, the violating nobles can be placed under house arrest. After all, they only joined the church recently. If we move against them now, it may cause widespread anxiety among the noble class."

"No way!" Heather slammed the table, "Church regulations absolutely do not allow violation, and any looting carried out in the name of the church is a serious crime, and I am in charge of law and arbitration!"

"At this time, the overall situation should be the priority..."

"I'm talking about the overall situation." Heather interrupted Tevlen directly, "Don't forget what we relied on to establish an image of justice and righteousness in various parts of Eternal Winter. If we don't give those scumbags a severe blow at this time, the people of Eternal Winter will lose confidence in us! This is the foundation of the church—not that group of damned nobles. If you don't agree, I will directly ask His Holiness the Pope!"

The Pope doesn't have time to worry about such things, and the foundation of the church is not on the people, but on how much power it possesses. Mayne sighed and gestured to Tevlen not to be too excited, "Then let High Priest Corben escort them back to New Holy City to be judged?"

"No need, I'll just go myself," Heather said, "Things here have also been busy recently, and I expect to be back in about two or three months. Such things as judgment, naturally, the more people see it, the better. The Ice and Snow Stage in the Eternal Winter capital seems like a good place."

"Are you sure?" Mayne frowned, "There are no extra commanders to protect you to Eternal Winter now. If you encounter extraordinary witches, you will be in danger."

"Where do so many extraordinary witches come from," Heather said disapprovingly, "A team of Judgment Army is enough for me."

"If you insist." Mayne didn't want to dwell on this topic anymore, "I have bad news here. The church army encountered an accident when attacking Wolfheart Kingdom's Broken Tooth Fortress, losing more than twenty God's Punishment Army and more than a hundred Judgment Army. Broken Tooth Fortress has not been conquered yet."

"More than twenty God's Punishment Army?" Tevlen stared, "Who is the commander?"

"Bell, she's already dead."

"The commander died in battle? It seems they really encountered a formidable challenge." Heather said with interest. "Losing so many God's Punishment Army at once, Lord Oreon seems to have a headache."

"Don't blame him. Broken Tooth Fortress has a special terrain. The city gate is opened in the middle of the mountain, more than thirty feet (about 10 meters) above the ground. They also destroyed the wooden bridge leading to the gate and used some alchemist's gadgets." Mayne explained, "According to the report, after they put up wooden ladders, the God's Punishment Army were attacked by strange flames as soon as they climbed up—first, a large pile of white solid was sprayed from the pipes on the city gate, then smoke and fire broke out, and the flames stuck to their bodies, unable to be shaken off or extinguished, until they were burned to ashes. Now they are contacting church believers in the city to see if they can attack from both inside and outside."

"I dare say the church in the city must have been blood-washed," Heather curled her lips, "If you want to attack, sending more people to fill it is the right way. Those alchemist's gadgets have never been able to be mass-produced, right? Fill it up and it will be exhausted."

"That's the God's Punishment Army!" Tevlen's beard trembled with anger, "Do you know how difficult it is to transform a God's Punishment Army? Now there are less than a thousand people. If unifying the continent causes more than half of the God's Punishment Army to be lost, what will we use to resist the Devilish Moon? Not to mention the devils afterwards."

"Don't argue," Mayne said, "I am telling you this news, not to let you argue about attack methods. The church currently needs more God's Punishment Army. Now that Eternal Winter has been controlled by the church, some things can be done more justifiably. In the past, 'seeds' were transported twice a year, but now, I require an increase once. The spring is affected by the Evil Moon, and the lengths are inconsistent, so starting from summer, a batch of seeds must be sent to the Holy City every quarter, and the conversion ceremony will be held more often accordingly. This matter will be your responsibility, Lord Tevlen."

"But there are not so many orphans and babies that can be adopted," the old bishop stroked his beard, "Not everyone will send their abandoned children to the church."

"So you want to find a way to fight for it. Eternal Winter is already the kingdom with the longest church management and the most believers. If even this land cannot provide enough manpower, the other three kingdoms will only be digested more slowly. Don't forget, the disturbances that occur in the process of unifying the continent must be quelled by the Judgment Army and the God's Punishment Army."

"There are people, not that there aren't," Heather raised the corner of her mouth, "There are as many stray children on the street as there are wild cats and dogs. I heard that there are black street rats who specialize in recruiting these children to join, to train them into pickpockets, contacts, smugglers, or scapegoats. When the nobles were not eliminated, they could rely on the rats to shield them from the wind and rain. Now, thanks to Lord Mayne, they have become part of the church. The sewer is gone, where can the rats hide? If we send the Judgment Army to wipe out the underground forces in one fell swoop, I think you can harvest a lot of children, and at the same time, clearing out the dregs can give the people a good impression, and deter those restless nobles, a win-win-win situation, isn't it?"

It is indeed a good method, Mayne thought, no matter how extreme her temper is, she can always come up with countermeasures the fastest when facing problems—except for some words that need to be deliberately ignored. "Let's implement it according to this method. In short, before autumn, we must occupy the entire territory of the Wolfheart Kingdom. Except for the Judgment Army stationed to maintain order, all other troops must be transferred back to Hermes to defend against this year's Devilish Moon—this time, the enemy will only be stronger."

Although Tevlen was unwilling, he finally nodded, "Don't blame me for not reminding you when the nobles whose interests are damaged jump out to protest. In addition, the Rose Kingdom has currently noticed the movements of neighboring countries, and nobles in many cities have turned their spearheads against the church. There have also been incidents of robbery and burning of churches in individual places. I suggest organizing believers to evacuate temporarily, there is no need to waste them in this kind of conflict."

"No, they must resist to the end," Mayne denied, "The more believers sacrifice, the more reason we have to carry out revenge later. This is not a waste, but a spark, for kingdoms with few church followers and shallow roots, retreat will only make the church appear weaker."

"Okay, I'm just mentioning it," Tevlen spread his hands, "Finally, it's Greycastle... well, you guys look at it yourselves," he took out a roll of letter paper from his sleeve and threw it in front of Mayne.

Mayne unfolded it and glanced at it. This letter actually came from the pen of Queen Garcia Wimbledon of Clearwater. Soon, his eyebrows furrowed.

"She actually strangled Priest Dika?"

"She also fed the fish with a bunch of believers," Tevlen added, "The church was also demolished to the ground. She should have discovered the side effects of the pills."

Heather clicked her tongue, "I said it a long time ago, even if that kind of thing is constantly replenished, the effect will become lower and lower, until it weakens and dies. It's not bad to use this kind of thing to destroy the opponent's army, but as soon as the effect emerges, the opponent will also know what the church is up to. And the trouble is, I remember there was intelligence mentioned before that not many of her subordinates took the pills, right? But a lot of them were given to that group of barbarians in the Southern Territory."

"Not

Over a thousand, she said this debt is on our heads." Mayne put down the letter, "It's ridiculous, without the support of the church, could she become the Queen of Clearwater Port? Where is Tifeiko Wimbledon? Having received our pills, why hasn't he attacked the Southern Territory yet?"

"He is currently looting the Northern Lands, giving the reason that the Northern Territory Guardian is trying to rebel and must be stopped first, so as not to destabilize the rear. He probably wants to take all the territories of several dukes into his pocket before fighting Garcia to the death." Tevlen replied, "I just don't know if this new king will go straight to the Western Territory after taking the Northern Lands."(。)"