Your Majesty, the Spectacle Has Missed the Country!

"It's Pitzman..."

"Your Majesty Reitz, we found no trace of Pitzman in the palace. He seems to have escaped..."

Marshal Teodoro's words were like a sudden bomb that suddenly exploded in Rez's ears.

The original complacency and certainty of victory disappeared without a trace in an instant.

"What did you say?!"

Rez felt that his head was a little confused, so that his whole body was stunned on the horse's back.

Marshal Teodoro grimaced and repeated:

"Pitzman, he seems to have... escaped... We searched the entire Norman Palace and found no trace of him..."

"Look! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, you have to find him for me!!"

Rez said in a deep voice.

After all the hard work and heavy losses, I finally managed to break into the city. If Pitzman still managed to escape... the consequences would be simply unimaginable!

Because Pitzman has the blood of the Alexander family after all, if he fights for nobles and establishes another political power in other parts of the empire, then the entire empire will be unrest!

This will only make Rez's army exhausted, and the entire empire will hardly have a chance to recuperate.

Teodoro naturally knew the consequences of Pitzman's escape. Seeing this, he looked solemn and quickly replied:

"yes!"

…

After the war in St. Lawrence, the city was full of ruins.

The area around the Norman Palace was slightly better, but the civilian residential area located on the edge of the city wall was undoubtedly the most chaotic place in the entire city.

For the soldiers who had just experienced a life and death test, it was finally time to divide the loot and plunder.

They began to wreak havoc in the homes of civilians. Although they did not massacre the city, they broke into the homes unscrupulously and took away all the previous belongings of the civilians' homes.

after all……

This is the reward given to them by Rez.

Without the temptation of huge sums of money, who would risk their lives to die for a noble?

Although the soldiers under Reitz's command have experienced countless battles, they are not as disciplined as the Idar people. In addition, Reitz ordered a full search for Pitzman, so...for two full days, The civilians of St. Lawrence suffered.

You know, when it was time to defend the city, Pitzman sent countless young civilians to the battlefield.

Therefore, at this moment, the victorious siege army naturally showed no restraint at all. There was already anger in their hearts. If any civilians dared to stop them, then what awaited them would only be sharp blades and butcher knives.

Two days.

Reitz's plundering time was two days. Only after tomorrow can the reconstruction of St. Lawrence begin, and the civilians living in this city will survive this disaster.

However……

In this vast city, not all corners are filled with robbery and chaos.

The three areas around the Norman Palace, Alfaro Street lined with magister towers, and Wilson Cathedral in the north of St. Lawrence City may be the only areas in the entire city that maintain peace and stability.

The soldiers naturally did not dare to provoke those powerful wizards who could cast spells. As the only important stronghold of the Church of Light in the imperial capital of Saint Lawrence, the Wilson Cathedral was naturally protected by the Crusaders and was safe.

The long night, the moon and stars are sparse.

As night falls, the high-hanging crescent moon casts a faint light in the night, and almost the entire outline of St. Lawrence City has been shrouded in the dark night sky.

There are not as bright lights here as in the Principality of Idar. The few lights come from the surroundings of the Norman Palace, the outer city walls, and the soldiers on duty patrolling the streets holding torches high.

In the Wilson Cathedral in the north of St. Lawrence, Bishop Fleming held a bright candlestick and opened the door of the underground darkroom in the flickering candlelight.

"Your Majesty Pitzman..." he greeted softly.

This darkroom is very large and extremely spacious inside. It has a main hall for receiving guests, a study, a bedroom, a dining room, and even a small room for the attendants to live in.

Pitzman escaped from the palace with not many people, only four or five loyal personal attendants in total, so he didn't feel crowded at all.

When Bishop Fleming pushed in the door, Pitzman was sitting in the spacious main hall in a daze.

On normal days, he would naturally not have such leisurely intentions.

But... now that St. Lawrence has been breached by Reitz, and he has been taken to this dark room by Bishop Fleming, he has nothing to do, so he has time to carefully recall everything he has experienced in the past, and he has gained some rare benefits. leisure.

Seeing Bishop Fleming pushing through the door, Pitzman couldn't help but frown slightly.

When Bishop Fleming led him to escape from the secret passage, Pitzman had no time to think carefully about why there were secret passages connecting the church and the palace. He was just focused on whether he could regain control with the support of the Crusaders. throne.

But when he finally came to the underground chamber of Wilson Cathedral, he had time to sort out everything that had happened before.

And this thought,

Naturally, my mind was filled with doubts.

The Church of Light has never interfered in secular affairs, and it has no concern for events such as the replacement of the throne.

after all……

Between the Norman royal family and the Church of Light, one is divine authority and the other is monarchical authority. It can be said that they have nothing to do with each other.

But now, not only had Pitzman heard the rumors that the church and the Odin Empire were colluding with each other in the past few days, but Bishop Fleming of St. Lawrence Parish also directly connected himself to the church.

The nobles who had supported him in the past had all defected, but the Church of Light, which had previously been at odds with him, took the initiative to stand up.

Although Pitzman is not very smart, at least he is not a fool.

so……

Anyway, he didn’t believe what the church told him.

"Why did the Crusaders outside the door stop me when I wanted to go out?!"

Pitzman said somewhat displeasedly.

Although Bishop Fleming had always been respectful to him, to be honest, Pitzman could not see any respect for the Norman royal family from those Crusader soldiers.

Upon hearing this, Bishop Fleming couldn't help but smile and replied softly:

"This is all for the sake of His Majesty's safety. Rez is a traitor who killed kings and fathers. If he ignores the status of the Church of Light and sends troops to break into the church without authorization, how can he protect His Majesty's safety?"

"You said before that the Church of Light would help me regain the throne, right?"

"That's natural. As long as your majesty can do as we say, I wish you can easily regain the throne." Bishop Fleming said with confidence.

"According to...what you said?" Pitzman asked coldly.

Hearing this, Bishop Fleming nodded.

"We will arrange for you to sneak out of the city as a Crusader soldier. After you leave the city, you first go to the Holy City to see His Majesty the Pope. When the time comes, His Majesty the Pope will naturally give you some advice."

"Meet in person?!"

Pitzman stood up suddenly and glared at the bishop in front of him.

As a member of the royal family of the Norman Empire and the emperor of the Norman Empire, Pitzman knew very well what it meant to "visit" a so-called theocratic leader.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. I just came here to inform you. I hope we can cooperate closely in the future."

Seeing Pitzman's angry eyes, Bishop Fleming knew that there was no possibility of continuing the conversation, so he simply turned around and walked out of the dark room, leaving only Pitzman and a few attendants furious in the dark room.

"Take good care of him, don't make any mistakes, let alone miss the Pope's grand plan!"

After walking out of the door and giving instructions to the Crusaders on both sides, Bishop Fleming regained his smile and walked towards the stairs leading to the ground.

"clear."

…

Western Empire.

A group of noble chariots and horses with a large entourage had just crossed the Chishui River bordering the Stuan Basin and the Carter Plateau, and were heading towards the nearby Carter Plateau on the muddy dirt road.

Looking at it, Mr. Lin's entourage totaled one to two hundred people. If it weren't for a noble family, they would never be able to support such a large convoy.

Moreover, in addition to the large number of attendants, there were even fifty or sixty fully armed elite knights at the front and rear of the motorcade.

Although the armor they wear is completely different from the standard armor of the imperial army, it is superior to the standard armor in terms of workmanship and defensive capabilities.

The knights leading the way in front of the motorcade held colorful flags in their hands. Those flags were painted with different patterns and emblems, fluttering in the cold wind of early winter.

Among these many flags, the most eye-catching one is naturally the cheetah emblem of the Carter family.

That's right,

This is Carter Duke Fabian Asimov's motorcade.

Just a few days ago, he had just personally met with another great duke in the western part of the empire, the Duke of Loon, Mankiw Blood, in the Stuan Basin.

Although the road was a little bumpy, Duke Carter didn't feel too uncomfortable.

You must know that his car was made by the best craftsmen in the western part of the empire. Not only was it extremely luxurious, it was even inlaid with gems and plated with gold foil. Whether viewed from a distance or up close, it gave people a sense of indifference. Aura.

In the luxurious carriage, Duke Carter frowned tightly, feeling worried inside.

The western part of the empire did not suffer too much from the battle for the throne. Apart from the influx of refugees, the chaos of the war did not bring much impact or trauma to this land.

But……

Since a few months ago, the magic concentration in the western part of the empire has gradually decreased at a relatively slow rate.

In fact, at the beginning, Duke Carter did not pay too much attention to this phenomenon.

After all, the concentration of magic power in any place cannot remain unchanged forever, and the flow of magic power in the air is also a normal phenomenon in the eyes of mages.

If a natural phenomenon such as a magic storm occurs somewhere, it will definitely affect the magic concentration within a certain range.

But the problem is...this naturally occurring fluctuation will always have a cycle. It may even take as little as half a day for the originally reduced magic power concentration to increase again.

But the decrease in magic power concentration in the western part of the empire seems to have no end, and the rate of decrease in magic power concentration is also accelerating.

What's more terrible is,

Originally, Duke Carter thought that the concentration of magic power in Jiangdu only occurred in his own territory.

But the envoy from Duke Lune from the Stuan Basin,

But he was suddenly shocked!

In just a few months, the magic concentration in the western part of the empire dropped by a quarter!

This……

This is definitely not a normal phenomenon!

If it were other nobles, they could only watch the magic concentration decrease and be at a loss.

But,

This is the western part of the empire,

Those most affected by the decrease in magic concentration are undoubtedly Duke Carter and Duke Luen, the two largest aristocratic families in the western part of the empire!

Behind each of them, there are dozens of mages serving them. Even the mages of the Isen School, whose sphere of influence covers the entire western part of the empire, have more or less connections with these two nobles.

therefore,

Under the leadership of Duke Carter and Duke Luen,

Nobles and mages throughout the western part of the empire were mobilized, vowing to thoroughly investigate the hidden truth behind the reduced magic concentration.

And with their strong control over the western part of the empire, they really found out something!

For example...church!

According to the information collected by the two dukes, and after countless comparisons, Bishop Olsson of the Inquisition finally came into the eyes of the nobles in the western part of the empire.

The magic power in the western part of the empire is slowly gathering towards the Cecil Mountains in the western part of the empire at an extremely slow speed.

And Bishop Olsson, who is affiliated with the Inquisition of the Church of Light, led a group of Holy Soldiers into the Cecil Mountains near the time when the magic concentration began to decrease!

More importantly...

Not only were these Crusader soldiers not wearing the Crusader armor that they were usually proud of, but they were all wearing civilian-looking rags!

“What on earth is the church going to do?!”

Sitting in the carriage, Duke Carter's thoughts were mixed, and his head was even more chaotic.

Although Duke Luen has some resistance to the existence of the Church of Light in the western part of the empire, Duke Carter still has some expectations for the church in his heart.

perhaps……

Is this just a misunderstanding?

Moreover, during this interview, many opinions and ideas put forward by Duke Luen made Duke Carter somewhat hesitant.

Because among these proposals, in addition to recruiting refugees, many of them include recruiting soldiers, training troops, building ordnance, and building fortresses.

In the view of the peace-loving Duke Carter, this is simply...hard to describe...

To know,

News of the capture of St. Lawrence had not yet reached the western parts of the empire.

Therefore, in his opinion, Duke Luen's approach was probably to break the neutrality and restraint of the western nobles and participate in the fight for the throne.

But just as Duke Carter was deep in thought, the carriage beneath him suddenly jolted, and Duke Carter's forehead hit the carriage carriage.

The pain in his forehead made Duke Carter quite unhappy. He couldn't help but roared: "Damn it! What are you doing?!"

only……

Before the attendants outside the carriage could reply, the moment he finished speaking...

An extremely sharp crossbow arrow,

In an instant, the wooden board of the carriage was broken open, and through the wood chips flying everywhere, it was nailed hard into Duke Carter's chest.

Poof!

Duke Carter only felt a tearing pain in his chest, and blood flowed...