Back at the castle, Roland looked at Agatha, "Do you remember anything?"
"The God's Punishment Army should have been successfully researched after the complete fall of Taqila. I don't know much about it," she slowly shook her head. "However... it might not be as simple as the church's priests say. At least this method can't explain how the new pope took over the previous God's Punishment Army."
"Also, it's very strange that the out-of-control God's Punishment Army would actively go to the Barren Land," Agatha paused slightly and continued, "What you call the Barren Land should be the Fertile Plains four hundred years ago. There's nothing there except the ruins of the Holy City. If they were attracted by demons, the distance is too far."
"Who knows," Roland said casually, "You've seen it, they bleed blue blood, they can't be considered the same kind as us." He wasn't very interested in what attracted the God's Punishment Army. What he wanted to know most was the weakness of the God's Punishment Army and how to effectively prevent the God's Punishment Warriors from impacting the battle line during the offensive. After all, judging from that wave of javelins, the God's Punishment Army was quite threatening without defensive fortifications. "If the God's Punishment Army is really controlled by sound, maybe Echo's ability can..."
"I don't agree with doing that," the Ancient Witch denied, "There's a lot of risk involved."
"Indeed, it's risky to sneak close to the controller, but we can—"
"No, I'm not talking about Echo," Agatha interrupted him, "I'm talking about you."
"Me?" Roland was stunned.
"To allow Echo to approach the controller silently, you must rely on Nightingale's mist. This means that there is no protection around you. As long as the church sends a Pure One with special abilities, they can easily take your life." She said without hesitation, "Although you are a mortal, weak and powerless, it seems that you are temporarily indispensable to defeat the demons. So protecting yourself is the most important thing. We can't take any risks."
"I can't tell if you're praising or belittling me," Roland couldn't help but smile bitterly, "When that time comes, I'll wear the God's Stone."
"The God's Stone is just an insurance, not an absolutely safe barrier," Agatha said bluntly, "Even Nightingale can't guarantee complete safety, but we don't have a better way."
"As long as I'm alive, His Majesty will not be harmed in any way," Nightingale couldn't help but show herself, it was obvious that she was quite dissatisfied with Agatha's statement.
"Hopefully," the Ancient Witch didn't argue on this point, but turned and left the room, but she stopped at the door.
"What's wrong?" Roland asked.
Agatha was silent for a while, "I don't know if I should say this... Akaris was able to become the Starfall Queen, the head of the Three Seats, not only because of her extremely powerful strength, but also because her mind and methods surpassed most witches. Several of her decisions saved the collapsing Association. Without Akaris, Taqila wouldn't have lasted that long. Many people believe that if she had been born before the First Battle of Divine Will, she might have ended this hopeless war long ago."
"What do you want to say?"
She turned her head, her brow furrowed slightly, "What I want to say is, the super warrior she entrusted with saving the witches should not be like this."
"You think the current God's Punishment Army is not necessarily the God's Punishment Army from four hundred years ago?" Roland asked in surprise.
"The God's Punishment Warriors are not afraid of magic, they don't panic, they are incredibly strong, and they seem to have a great advantage against demons, but... they can't play a decisive role. What's more, they need a controller to accompany them, and they have almost no ability to run long distances. I don't think Akaris should place high hopes on such warriors." Agatha sighed, "Of course, these are just my guesses. Only the church knows what happened to the Association after the fall of Taqila."
Roland didn't recover from his thoughts for a long time after she left.
What Agatha said was not without reason. The God's Punishment Army plan, which the Starfall Queen was willing to pay such a high price to implement, was it really just to produce an expensive and inconvenient killing machine?
Just as he was about to go outside the castle for some fresh air, the listening rune on Nightingale's body suddenly rang.
"This is Lightning, northwest direction, above Coldwind Ridge! Observed the enemy is retreating, repeat, the enemy is retreating!"
"Retreating?"
"They're all running towards the Holy City! Coo!" Maggie added.
"I understand," Roland immediately called the guards outside the door, "Notify Iron Axe, Edith, Duke Calvin, and all members of the General Staff to come to the castle for a meeting."
This was undoubtedly good news. He thought excitedly that he didn't expect the church's routed soldiers to abandon Coldwind Ridge and retreat directly to the Hermes Plateau. In this way, he would have the opportunity to evacuate all the people in the town before the Holy City reoccupied Coldwind Ridge.
"They're scared," Nightingale smiled.
"Perhaps, but the retreat also shows that the Holy City can't send reinforcements in a short time," Roland stroked his chin, "Our previous speculation was correct. This team of more than a thousand people should be a vanguard sent by the pope on a whim. If they hadn't taken the initiative to attack the defense line, I really wouldn't have been able to do anything about the church."
Choosing this forcing group plan was, in a sense, equivalent to giving up Coldwind Ridge. After all, this place was much closer to Hermes. Now that there was a chance to prevent the townspeople from becoming victims of the berserk pills, Roland immediately felt a lot lighter in his heart.
Related personnel quickly gathered in the drawing room. He repeated the information Lightning sent back and looked around, "Any questions?"
"Your Majesty, why don't you just defend Coldwind Ridge?" The Duke asked in confusion, "The terrain there is dangerous, and there is only one road leading to the Holy City. Isn't it more advantageous than guarding at the foot of the mountain?"
"It only seems dangerous. In fact, it's surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the slope passes right over the top of Coldwind Ridge. With just a rope, you can easily infiltrate behind the defense line." Roland spread his hands, "This has been discussed in detail in Neverwinter City. You can ask Edith for details. Anyone else?"
Seeing no one answering, he directly ordered, "Then the evacuation operation will be carried out by the First Army. Food and Gold Royals can be put aside for now. The key is the residents—whether it's persuasion or forced pulling, I want to see Coldwind Ridge empty. In addition, the local nobles will be more effective in persuading, especially the famous Pearl of the North." He paused, "Iron Axe, Edith, you two are jointly responsible for this matter."
"Yes!"
"As you wish."
"As for the General Staff," he looked at Earl Sylt and others, "Your task is to assist the Duke of the North in resettling the evacuated people, including counting the number of people, registering their identities, and arranging housing and food, understand?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," everyone responded in unison.
"Very good, let's get to work now!" Roland slapped the table and stood up.