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Wang replied with a serious face: "We were used."
He said this with absolute certainty.
Pietro: “Oh?”
Wang: "You are so well-informed, I think you should know that my teacher told me that there are several stages of the world-destroying crisis. In the third stage, the undead creatures will have common interests with us.
"At that time, the Catalan army invaded directly through the portal, and the cult also attacked us. The situation was very critical. At this time, the lich Elzam appeared and suggested that we cooperate."
Pietro: "Are you sure that the mastermind behind this world-destroying crisis is the Catalan state religion?"
Wang: "Very sure. We have a lot of evidence that they are related to the world-destroying crisis."
Elizabeth: "Where is that?"
Pietro: "Although there is no conflict between the church and the mages, but..."
Wang: "No, you just said that you would question the Ragnola Order in the name of the Pope. Is that just a question? Can't the Crusaders just turn their spearheads around and attack Catalonia?"
Pietro: "Oh, one more thing. Just this morning, the Pope informed us that the parish priest of the Floating Island Temple has been selected and he fully meets your requirements."
Pietro nodded. "I understand. Give me a copy of the evidence and I will report it to the Pope. Then maybe I can question the Ragnola Order in the name of the Pope."
Pietro: "That's what it is. Let's get back to the lich."
Knight Theresa frowned: "Banu Julian, isn't that the royal family from Catalonia?"
"That's acceptable. The first batch of wounded soldiers will be sent back soon." Knight Theresa continued to answer, "And then we'll have to trouble the women on the floating island to help take care of them."
Compared with sea routes where ships are often caught in accidents and have no way back, land routes that can transport goods stably are more popular among merchants.
Wang: "He also told me not to trust the lich easily."
Pietro: "Agent?"
Wang: "I don't know. I questioned him, and he replied that he was an undead creature and that spreading death was his instinct."
What's more, nearly one-third of this land route is waterway, and the time required to travel by land is not much longer than that by sea.
Pietro: "The Crusades are to clear the waterway. If Catalonia falls into unrest, it will also block the waterway. A lot of goods will have to be shipped by sea from Catalonia, and then radiate to the entire Golden Bay."
Wang: “What do you mean?”
Knight Theresa: "Is it possible that he was deliberately showing weakness?"
Golden Bay is the largest bay in Gralia. Countries including Catalai, Sissel, Ordas and other countries all have a section of coastline in Golden Bay.
Pietro sighed, "Warfare costs money. The reason the Crusade came so quickly this time was because the merchants were so anxious that they donated generously. Besides, there is also the salvation team."
Wang: "Then let me ask you, how is the battle going?"
Wang: "Did you really choose an old lady?"
Pietro: "Since you don't know where the lich is, there is nothing for you to do next. Thank you..."
"Her abbey is at Mont Oberon," replied the Chevalier Therese.
"Yes, Kadia Banujulian of the Banujulian family."
"The sages in the seminary suspected that this might be some god in disguise.
Of course, the route to the other side of the world does not have a high output value, mainly because of the Shield Lukema Xunya River, a major land trade artery.
Wang: "You can try to detect the spatial fluctuations left by the teleportation spell. A Nine-ring wizard who is familiar with teleportation magic can do this easily."
"Yes, we really chose an old lady." Pietro nodded. "She is 391 years old this year. Even by half-elf standards, she is an old lady. She is leaving the monastery now and will arrive here by airship in about a week."
Pietro spread his hands: "It's hard to explain clearly. In short, we will try to use divination to track the lich's movements."
King: "Indeed, the agent is Her Royal Highness the Princess from Catalonia."
Wang: "Just because you don't want to affect the trade in Golden Bay, you leave the cult that wants to destroy the world alone? Does this meet your god's expectations?"
King: "But as long as Lancelot doesn't show his divine power and instruct you to destroy the sect, you will only question?"
"My Lord never likes to intrude upon the sphere of influence of other gods, unless he is sure that it is an evil god."
Pietro didn't answer, but smiled and changed the subject: "Let's talk about the lich. You said the lich deceived the salvation team?"
Wang: "Yes, he pretended to be curious and approached us, and then expressed his willingness to fight against the cult together. At first, his undead army did not even attack the Pelican Gang of the Shallow Water City Dock Gang who stood on the same side as us.
The king wanted to say that it was unlikely given Elzam's character, but then he thought that it would make him look like he had a close personal relationship with the lich, so he replied, "It's possible. Anyway, we were used. Now we don't know where it is hiding."
Wang: "I thought the wounded soldiers would be treated by the priests."
Wang: "It's a branch of the World Mountain Range, anyway, it's very far from here. We will arrange a small welcoming ceremony to welcome the parish priest. Is there anything else we can help with?"
"The lich used us, especially to deal with the Grand Master of the Ragnora Cult who was in Shallow Water City at the time, and the Cult's agents."
"You shouldn't trust an evil undead creature so easily." Theresa agreed.
Wang: “What if we fail?”
"But after the Catalan army was wiped out, he revealed his true colors and began to harvest the living. In the entire Shallow Water City dock area, less than 2,000 people survived - no, less than 2,000 people survived in the entire Shallow Water City.
Wang: "Then it has nothing to do with us?"
Wang: "It takes a week for the airship to arrive. How far away did she come from?"
Pietro: "You said that Elzam relied on the salvation team to deal with these two people? It has lived for a long time and is one of the most famous liches here."
"But his fighting ability is very weak." Wang spread his hands, "We killed him once. This time he faced the Ragnora Cult, and was quickly beaten to a skull."
Pietro: "This question is complicated. The Catalans don't believe in our Lord. They have their own local beliefs. The Lord God may be some kind of ancient Catalan mythological creature, a being with a dog's head and a human body.
Theresa: "The priest's spellcasting ability should be saved for dealing with death knights and corpse wizards. Healing is also an offensive spell when facing the undead."
Wang: “But?”
Pietro: "My Lord... I also said when He appeared before that He doesn't like to interfere in the affairs of the Prime Material Plane. So we can only guess what He means. If He directly appears and tells us to destroy the Ragnora Cult, then we will naturally go through fire and water to accomplish it."
Therefore, the trade routes within the Golden Bay are very developed, and the output value far exceeds the sea routes across the Endless Sea to the other side of the world.
Knight Theresa: "Your Excellency, do you know what Elzam's purpose is? What does he want to do by gathering such an undead army?"
"That's the problem," Pietro paused, "This is a crusade organized by the Lancelot Church. How many Nine Ring Mages do you think will participate?"
"The lich has already escaped. It's only a matter of time before the remaining undead army is wiped out." Knight Theresa replied.
Wang: "Haven't you questioned them before? They clearly worship such a suspicious god, and there is not a single priest in the cult, only mages."
Pietro was shocked: "Instinct, it's quite honest."
Pietro stared at the king for several seconds before sighing, "This is going to be difficult. If we only wipe out the undead army but don't destroy the lich, the goal of the Crusades will not be achieved."
Pietro: “No more.”
Wang: “How many casualties?”
King: "Then the Ragnola Cult rose up and replaced the original local beliefs of Catalonia. Do you think it is another god in disguise to seize territory?"
Rosalie: "So the wounded can't get treatment, so they're sent back for bandaging."
"The seriously injured will still be treated," said Knight Theresa, "and those sent back are those with minor injuries who can recover naturally."
Rosalie: "I understand. I'll arrange for someone to help."
Chapter 263 The Other Side of War
Coming out of the big tent, Wang saw the airship carrying the wounded was using a gondola to unload the wounded.
Next to the place where the wounded were unloaded was the first aid station, which was already full of people wrapped in bandages.
The sound of music came from inside the white curtain wall of the rescue station.
Wang was curious, so he led the rescue team to the rescue station.
Turning to the entrance of the shelter, you can see the dwarf bard Gaines sitting on a wine barrel in the middle of the shelter, playing his pocket lute.
"Lights are lit on the distant riverbank/The sunset glow disappears in the clear night sky/Mounting on warhorses and shouldering long spears/The young Lancelot soldiers are ready to set off/There is silence on the vast plain/The soldiers are alertly searching for the enemy/The cold light of the long sword shines in the darkness..."
A lightly wounded soldier yelled angrily, "Shut up! We were just severely injured by the undead. We don't want to listen to this song about the protagonist being ambushed!"
As the lightly injured soldier spoke, he threw the bloody cloth at the dwarf.
Immediately, more lightly wounded soldiers threw out strips of cloth.
Flint: "You're right. There's nothing special about our love life as dwarves. It's the same as love life of other races. Dwarf, keep playing. The wounded are watching you eagerly."
The wounded soldiers - whether new or not - cheered.
Elizabeth: "That's right. She is almost as tall as me, and we were dancing together. I thought this morning that I would be emitting a lot of heat rays today, but it turns out that dancing has been the activity that has consumed the most energy so far."
Rosalie: "If it was a human girl, she would have been happy to stay and dance for a few more songs if Flint had asked her to stay. I don't know if dwarf girls are like this - well, I don't even know if I should use the word girl. I'm not very confident in judging the age of dwarves."
“In front of you, I don’t know where to put my hands and feet.
"Green maple trees, dense maple trees,
Flint: "Free drinks, unlimited supply!"
Elizabeth changed the subject: "I don't know where Elzam went."
The cheerful music sounded again, and soon a new airship carrying wounded soldiers arrived.
When the song entered the second section, a dwarf nun in a white robe appeared out of nowhere and began to sing harmony for the two.
This time it looks like Rosalie is dancing the man's role, so it looks like she is leading Elizabeth.
Maybe there is some kind of magic when Karin's messenger dances in person, at any rate, the expressions of the wounded soldiers who were full of resentment just now relaxed.
The king laughed out loud.
Rosalie: "I don't know. Actually, I don't quite understand Elzam's actions... He didn't hesitate to use us to create such a large undead army, and then just threw it away. This is very strange."
"Yes, war and love are the two major sources of creation. Just now I thought I was going to witness a love affair that happened instantly." Gaines looked at Flint, "It's a pity that the envoy doesn't seem to want to develop a new love."
Elizabeth agreed, "With so many high-end fighters, it's normal that we don't need to take action."
At this time, the female dwarf who had just danced with him looked at Flint's beard and exclaimed: "What a beautiful beard."
"I looked toward the neighbor's house,
"I saw a dark-skinned girl,
Gaines looked in the direction she left, then back at Flint: "I thought there was going to be a romance unfolding."