Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 535 Surrender
"This... um." The infamous Queen of Death tried to change the subject, but she saw that all four pairs of eyes were fixed on her. Even Lucia didn't try to help her out; instead, she quietly pricked up her ears, as if she wanted to hear her answer.

"Ahem!" The Queen, enraged and embarrassed, snapped, "Since when have I had to explain myself to you? Don't you have any sense of hierarchy or the proper etiquette between ruler and subject?"

Olivia, her face deathly pale, said in a pained voice, "Your Majesty, please forgive us. We were only worried that Your Majesty might be misled while you were out there alone."

"What are you trying to seduce?" Katopella was even more agitated. "As you can see, he is Luciasangs, the lord of Sky City Fam Azra and the new Ancient Dragon King—my newly acquired ally, ptooey, my newly recruited subordinate, my mount! Didn't you see that I just rode a dragon to rescue you bunch of useless good-for-nothings?"

"We... well, okay."

Olivia and the others exchanged glances. Given His Majesty's personality, it was already a miracle that he would even bother to explain himself to them. As for how clumsy or perfunctory his explanation was, well, whatever, His Majesty was always right.

At this moment, one of the oblivious "mounts" couldn't help but laugh out loud, but stopped abruptly under the Queen's sharp gaze and said, "This place is not safe to stay for long. Do you have any other companions in the barrier?"

Only then did Olivia calm her turmoil, carefully examining the new, exceptionally handsome dragon lord. She took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, nearly a hundred of my men were trapped here. Later, we gathered a group of remnants of the Holy Temple who had been captured by Yuno's forces, bringing our total to over three hundred and seventy. We are temporarily residing in a cave fifty miles away. As for us, we fought Yuno three days ago and were pursued here while covering the main force's retreat. Of the twelve comrades who accompanied us, only four of us remain."

In the end, the former archbishop of the Holy Church was clearly heartbroken, but he still suppressed his emotions and gave a complete and detailed account of his experience. "Strangely, we were completely surrounded by Yuno's forces. We were prepared to burn our source energy to fight them to the death, but they suddenly retreated last night. Before leaving, they said that as long as we did not approach the central area, both sides would be fine, and they would open the barrier to set us free afterward."

Upon hearing this, Katpera's eyes flickered slightly. She exchanged a glance with Lucia. According to Olivia, the timing of Yuno's retreat coincided with the time when the two sides reached an agreement. At least in this respect, the other side had indeed maintained its integrity.

"Let's talk about the specifics when we get back. I'll take you to rejoin the main force first." Lucia glanced at Olivia and the other three, noticing their injuries, and without regard for their identities, he manifested his dragon form and carried them towards the cave.

About fifteen minutes later, he finally saw the remnants of the Holy See that he had been searching for without success.

It's hard to imagine that the once mighty Flame Sanctuary, which ruled the entire Northern Territory and whose status was even above that of the Garrison Command, now only has a few hundred people left, most of whom are wounded and look hungry.

After Olivia's introduction, their gazes were filled with awe, gratitude, and joy, but also tinged with a hint of hidden fear.

This is actually easy to understand. Without an agreement with Yuno, even Lucia and the Northern Expeditionary Army would not have been able to find this place, not to mention that he had a Queen of Death standing next to him.

Although so much time has passed and the members of the Holy Church who have been rescued by Olivia several times have accepted the group of Godskin cultists who have been infiltrating their ranks for many years, acceptance is one thing, and complete adaptation is another.

In the top-down propaganda of the Golden Dynasty over the past fifty years, the Queen of Death's reputation was no better than that of heretical gods like the Crimson Corruption or the Mother of Truth; in fact, she was even more terrifying because of the many gods she slaughtered during the War of the Gods. If the remnants of the Sanctuary hadn't been driven to desperation and genuinely rescued by Olivia's forces, the current situation of their alliance would likely never have arisen.

Lucia was worried that these inexplicable grudges might hurt Katpela's sensitive feelings, but she seemed completely indifferent to it. She simply covered her red lips and yawned lazily, saying, "After running around for so long, I'm tired. I'll leave the winning people over to you. Come find me when you're done—and remember to heal the wounds of my men."

Having said that, she summoned a female follower to lead the way and went to find a clean tent to rest in. Lucia watched her graceful departing figure, her lips moved, but she ultimately decided to stay and settle the group of fire cultivators who were now like frightened birds.

He first healed the injuries of Olivia and the others, then instructed, "Bishop Olivia, please summon all the monks here, including the scouts and sentries outside. Also, please introduce me to the current leader of the Holy Church."

Of the more than three hundred people in the camp, not many still had fighting strength, so the scouts and sentries they sent out did not go far, and in less than ten minutes they all gathered in the open space in the center of the large cave.

Lucia first used several large-scale Golden Tree Healing spells to heal their minor injuries, then went to the dozen or so seriously wounded people who had been carried over and used life magic to heal them one by one.

Seeing their comrades, covered in wounds, recover one by one, and even those who had suffered severe injuries such as severed limbs and penetrating wounds being quickly healed, the way the Holy Temple monks looked at Lucia changed instantly.

From the moment they abandoned their status as Gold Monks and embraced the flames, they lost most of the blessings from the Eternal Queen, and even more so, the ability to use all the power of gold. If it weren't for Lucia's appearance, they might have died soon in pain and torment on this cold, scorched earth, let alone bathed in the warm grace of the Golden Tree once again.

Looking at Lucia now, they are no longer a group of subjects of a golden dynasty looking at a foreign king, but a group of abandoned and forgotten pawns and orphans who have long lingered in the depths of darkness, and suddenly see the light again.

Lucia understood that although Katpela used the phrase "winning hearts and minds," truly winning over the faith and loyalty of these remaining members of the Holy Church would not be a matter of a day or two, and even if they were truly won over, the strength of a few hundred monks alone would be insufficient.

All he had to do was plant a seed in their hearts first, and then let them become a seed that would fall into the Ancient Dragon Dynasty, so as to tell the world that what the Golden Dynasty did not accept, someone else would accept, and what the Golden Dynasty forgot, someone else would not forget.

“Your Majesty,” just then, Olivia, who had just left, ran back with a troubled expression, saying, “Bishop Hiren from the Sanctuary was only rescued from Yuno's hands three days ago. He suffered a lot of torment there, especially on the level of his soul, which was severely injured. He just took his medicine and fell asleep half an hour ago, so I’m afraid he won’t be able to come to see me for the time being—”

“Hirun?” Lucia reviewed the information in his mind and quickly remembered the second archbishop of the Holy Temple who had followed Pirac to the North from the very beginning.

"He survived too?" After the initial surprise, he quickly realized the man's immense value. "It's alright, take me to see his injuries first. We can talk about meeting him later when he wakes up."

"No need, cough cough—" The crowd quickly parted behind the two, and two cultivators helped a withered old man walk out slowly.

The monks and followers of the Church of God watched the old man with great respect, and even unconsciously reached out their hands to protect him, as if afraid that he might fall to the ground due to exhaustion.

"Your Majesty Lucia Sanx," the old man said, his steps faltering as he approached Lucia, who was quickly coming to greet him. As he drew near, he gently shook off the monks who were supporting him on either side and bowed with difficulty and stubbornness.

“Your subject, Hiron, in his capacity as former Second Archbishop of the Holy Church, is willing to surrender with his troops and henceforth submit to the command of Fam Azra.”

(End of this chapter)