Ermu

Chapter 825 Dusk Prayer Bell

Tark Torrdan slowly walked to the mottled battlements of New Holy City's thick city wall.

This was probably the most peaceful Devilish Month since the fortress city was established.

In order to resist the attacks of evil beasts, in the past, no matter how heavy the snow was, people would clean and de-ice it, so the city wall always maintained its unique blue-gray color, which was particularly conspicuous against the white background. But now, he left a series of footprints in the flat snow.

There were no uneven cobblestone pavements, nor any blood stains seeping into the cracks. All traces of battle were buried by the snow, as if nothing had happened. This was absolutely an incredible sight in the past.

However, so many drastic changes had occurred recently that this incredibility was not so concerning.

Originally, it was thought that Hermes Holy City would be flattened by the tide of evil beasts swarming in. All the believers were prepared to coexist and die with the cathedral, but they did not expect that there were few enemies appearing in the snowy field, and they did not even have the intention of climbing the city wall.

Before everyone had time to celebrate, God showed His impermanence in an extremely cruel way.

Because conquering Graycastle consumed too much of the Church's power, their primary task after winter was to re-elect the three archbishops and the corresponding senior personnel. In order to stabilize the order of the Holy City and regain the believers' confidence in God, many young church members jumped to become backbones. He also became one of the acting archbishops because of his original identity as the chief inquisitor.

However, when the situation improved slightly, the cathedral suddenly collapsed on a windless night, and a group of senior officials fell into the underground sinkhole, instantly crushing everyone's sense of surviving the disaster. He happened to be inspecting the camp and luckily escaped the disaster.

No one knew how it happened. Although he had heard before that a fire had occurred in the core area under the cathedral, and it had been invaded by evil beasts, they could not enter the secret agency without the permission of the Pope, even if acting Pope Teflon was missing.

It can be said that the collapse of Hermes Cathedral had a more serious impact on the Church than the disastrous defeat of the army—the failure of the army could be due to the commander's reasons, or it could be attributed to the enemy being too cunning, but the towering tower representing unyielding will was a symbol of the Church's spirit. Its collapse was equivalent to God abandoning the Church.

In a situation where people's hearts were fluctuating and the situation was precarious, such a change almost became the last straw that broke the camel's back. Even if he sealed off the scene immediately, it was of no avail. The residents of the Holy City began to flee Hermes, first a small number of craftsmen and peripheral merchants who were not so firm in their beliefs, then the outer city, the inner city... Fear spread like an evil epidemic, but there was no God-given antidote to contain it.

He had organized all the Inquisition Army and priests to hold a devout prayer on the city wall, hoping that God could once again look at this last fortress of mankind and not let the thousands of creatures behind him be swallowed by the evil power of hell, but he never received any response.

Tark Torrdan still remembered Pope Mayne's teachings—to fight against evil, the only thing to rely on is strong strength. But besides praying to God, he couldn't think of any other way to stop the collapsing faith.

"Bishop...you're here," a woman's voice suddenly sounded behind him, "The troops chasing the fleeing people have all returned, but..."

"Several teams have dispersed, right?" He turned around and said softly.

The reporter was Farina, the current commander of the surviving Inquisition Army, who took over his mission. On her face, Tark saw a few familiar shadows. After thinking about it, he recalled Alesia, the vanguard warrior who dedicated herself to the Church—as rare female Inquisition warriors, they both had the same firm character. One insisted on fighting even when more than half of her teammates were killed and the evil beasts were approaching the walls of the cathedral; the other took over the heavy responsibility of commanding the Inquisition Army when the Church was crumbling and tried her best to maintain the collapsing situation within controllable limits.

"Yes," Farina stomped her feet angrily, "Those recruits who joined temporarily are useless. There were more than twenty people when they went out, but only one or two came back—no matter how poorly trained they are, they couldn't have been killed by the fleeing people. If I find them, I will definitely teach these traitors a lesson!"

"It's inevitable," Tark sighed, "How many Inquisition Army soldiers are left?"

"Five hundred and sixty-four people. They are all guarding the inner city pass now, which should be able to prevent the residents of the inner city from fleeing."

Plus the hundred or so Divine Punishment Army soldiers who were not buried in the ruins of the cathedral, this was the last elite force left by the Church... He knew clearly that with this little strength, it was impossible to stop the devil's attack. The destruction of mankind was a foregone conclusion.

He had learned about this extremely powerful enemy from the mouth of His Majesty Mayne. All the efforts of the Church were to preserve mankind when the War of Doomsday arrived, so that the fire of continuation would not be extinguished. Therefore, there were such powerful warriors as the Divine Punishment Army. But this alone was not enough. Before this war came, the Church must unite the four kingdoms and integrate the power of all mankind to have a chance of winning.

Since hope no longer exists, what is the meaning of everyone staying in this highland fortress?

There was indeed very little he could do next, but perhaps it was a kind of relief for these five hundred people.

"Go east," Tark said, "Whether it's to Eternal Winter or Wolfheart, get as close to the coast as possible. We can build a New Holy City there."

This way, even if the devils invade the four kingdoms, you can escape by boat from the port to farther places—if you're lucky, you can live your life safely before mankind is destroyed.

"Leave Hermes?" Farina was stunned, "But Your Excellency... if we leave, who will resist the evil beasts?"

"If the evil beasts enter the mainland hinterland from the Great Rift, that is also a crime committed by Graycastle. The Church's top priority is to preserve its strength. The cathedral can be rebuilt if it's gone, but the believers can't stand the loss. When the evil beasts are rampant in the four kingdoms, people will remember our power again."

Evil beasts are not important at all. They are not the real enemy. The deadly threat comes from the depths of hell, and you are powerless to do anything about it. The last thing I can do is to keep you as far away from the battlefield as possible—you have done enough to protect mankind.

Farina frowned, "Those who are determined to stay here are devout people who are willing to live and die with the Holy City. I'm afraid they won't agree to abandon Hermes."

"The place where you are is the Holy City, child. They will agree, as long as you persuade them well." Tark paused slightly, "And this is also the order of the Acting Pope—preserve yourselves and continue the Church, understand?"

Let as many people leave as possible. The fleeing people will soon spread this news. By then, the King of Graycastle will probably be ready to make trouble again.

"I understand, Your Excellency...no, Your Grace." Farina bit her lip, and finally clenched her fist on her chest and bowed.

At this moment, a touch of twilight suddenly appeared in the gray sky. He turned around and saw that cracks had opened in the clouds, and the orange-red sunset was slowly revealing its figure, casting rays of light on the white snowfield.

"This is... the Devilish Moon is over?" Farina showed a trace of joy.

"Yes, the snow will melt soon. Hurry up and tell everyone. If we start preparing now, we can set off in two or three weeks."

"Yes, then I'll take my leave!" She nodded and ran towards the inner city.

At this moment, the prayer bell announcing dusk also came from the Holy City. The nine chimes of the bell were both a time signal and a time for believers to close their eyes and pray to God.

But Tark Torrdan did not pray.

Because God could no longer hear.

He took off the crown on his head and placed it on the battlements, then climbed the city wall and looked at the setting sun in the distance.

To make these people completely abandon Hermes, he still had one thing to do.

But Tark didn't mind, because in this way, he could also stay with those companions who had fought side by side.

This dusk was not only the sunset of the Church, but also the sundown of all mankind.

He closed his eyes and tilted his body.

...

Farina heard a slight collision behind her, as if something had slipped into the valley.

She turned around and saw that the city wall was empty.

.

The Dusk Bell Chapter is over.