Since there were still First Army soldiers present in the church, he didn't delve into the origins of the Battle of Divine Will, but simply recounted the history of the Witch Empire's transformation into the church.
However, even this information was enough to shock the High Priest beyond words – Jacob's eyes would widen a little each time the internal secrets of the church were mentioned, eventually becoming almost like lanterns. He seemed eager to refute, but all that came out of his mouth were hesitant sounds. Clearly, some of the information was beyond his comprehension, yet it coincided with various rumors within the church.
Watching the old priest gasping for breath, Roland paused temporarily – not because he had nothing more to say, but because he was worried that the other party would simply die of anger. Although that wouldn't be a bad thing, he wasn't finished yet.
Only after Jacob regained his composure did he continue, "It seems your understanding of the church's essence is limited, otherwise you wouldn't be so alarmed. You clearly want to accuse me of spouting nonsense, yet you find undeniable clues on all sides – I suppose everything about the devils and the Battle of Divine Will has been passed down from the Popes, generation after generation, to prevent this goal... or rather, belief, from being forgotten. However, the power-seizers are inherently fearful of witches, and they dare not even mention the wish of the first Pope, let alone the past four hundred years. They claim to fight for humanity, but how many believers in the entire Hermes Holy City know about this?"
"Unfortunately, Graycastle is different... In Neverwinter of the Western Region, such news is not considered a secret. Every one of my ministers knows of the existence of devils, and the plan to resist the Battle of Divine Will is written into the policy outline – from farmers to blacksmiths, all my subjects are striving for it. This is the biggest difference between me and you! It can be said that I have been preparing to resist the end of humanity for several years now." Roland looked at the other's pale face with interest. "The church is the only savior of mankind? You overestimate yourselves too much. Regardless of whether I can defeat this powerful enemy, at least one thing is certain –"
He walked up to the old priest and said, word by word, "The church can't even defeat me, so where does it get the confidence to save all of humanity? Stop daydreaming!"
"We..." Jacob's expression froze instantly, then the blood drained from his face, turning it from green to white, as if thousands of words couldn't have had such a damaging effect – clearly, he had considered such questions, but he had ignored them in a self-deceiving manner, and now that they were suddenly exposed, his last shred of insistence collapsed.
The old priest slowly collapsed to the ground, no longer with the solemnity and arrogance he had shown when he first appeared.
"Take him back to the dungeon," Roland waved his hand. "Sending him to the mine at this age is useless. Let him live well. When the Red Moon descends, call him to witness how the people of Graycastle fight the devils – I hope at that moment, he still remembers how to repent to the gods."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The soldiers forcibly lifted Jacob, grabbing his arms and retreating.
"Also, well done." Roland looked at Isabella. "If it weren't for you, the Holy City wouldn't have returned to order so quickly."
The latter rarely looked away, saying somewhat hastily, "You... don't mind at all? That I issued orders in the name of the Pope's representative, and united those who were abandoned."
He had learned about the creation of a new history and the complete division of the church from the reports of Edith, Eagle Face, and Isabella herself. The Northern Pearl highly praised her for this, believing that it not only held hope of bringing the new and old Holy Cities under Graycastle's jurisdiction, but also of fully absorbing the influence accumulated by the church over hundreds of years. As for those escapees setting up their own shop, facing Roland, who actually controlled Hermes, even if it were true, it would be three parts false.
Roland considered things more realistically. This plateau was located in the center of the Impassable Mountain Range, opposite the Great Rift, and was a strategic location that had to be defended in the Battle of Divine Will. Originally, the attack on Hermes had been intended to replace it, but now that the original human resources could be used to save some expenses, it was naturally a very good thing.
"If it proves to be effective, why should I mind?" He smiled. "However, even so, the sentence you should serve cannot be waived."
"I never thought about that..." Isabella said quickly.
"Of course, there can't be no reward," he waved his hand. "If you need to appear as the representative in the future, you can enjoy the treatment befitting your status on that day, how about that?"
"The representative's... treatment?"
"In layman's terms, it would be considered the Royal Prime Minister or the King's Hand." Roland smiled. "Of course, it doesn't include the position and power, just the simple eating, lodging, and travel. Such as spacious luxury suites, gourmet food provided by the royal chefs, and unlimited Chaos Drinks and so on. If you don't want these, you can also exchange them for gold dragons –"
"No, Your Majesty," Isabella shook her head. "The former is better... I mean, please do as you see fit."
"Well, that's settled then." He said happily.
...
As the First Army's main force joined the search operation, the details of this unfamiliar city were gradually revealed to Roland.
He was surprised to find that the old priest's statement of "intact" was not an exaggeration. Apart from the collapsed Hermes Cathedral, the other buildings were basically intact, and the broken parts of the city walls had been repaired, and the catapults on the surface were also preserved.
The large number of Berserk Pills mentioned by Isabella were also quietly stored in the underground secret chamber, and the final count was more than 420,000. Thinking that Jie Luo had once planned to fight the devils to the death with a million Berserk Warriors, Roland was glad that she had not taken this step.
After counting the number, a big fire rose on the towering city walls, burning the pills to ashes, and the remaining residue was pushed down the walls and solidified with the permafrost – thus, the spread of the Berserk Army, which had been a concern for him, was finally brought to an end.
And the results of the search report were far more than that.
For example, food.
For example, weapons.
Every day, new supplies were discovered, and their numbers were enough to arm several royal capital knight orders. No wonder Anpein Mo Ya, the Lord of Dawn, and his vassals couldn't help but travel thousands of miles to rob them. Roland discovered that, apart from gold dragons and jewelry, the church's high-level officials had hardly taken away any strategic materials when they collectively evacuated. This also confirmed, in another way, that they would not be returning – they were simply dividing the family property and living a carefree life.
The behemoth entrenched in the northwest of Graycastle has finally disappeared and settled.
Roland also relaxed. Next, he had to wait for Iron Axe to clear the Eastern Region and lead the army to gather at the border of the neighboring country, and cooperate with the main force to launch a two-pronged offensive, and jointly attack the Kingdom of Dawn.
Since he rarely had time to relax, he planned to visit this territory, which had been run by the church for hundreds of years – after all, the Hermes Holy City was not complete in the memory fragments.
And the place he most wanted to go was undoubtedly the Land of Illusion mentioned by Isabella – the Reflection Church. According to legend, Queen Starfall Akalys achieved the inheritance of beliefs across centuries through illusion playback; it was also there that Jie Luo completed the transformation from a Pure to a Pope.