Imperial Crown.

Chapter 144: Turning Point of the War (10 words updated )

In response to Montreal's inquiry, the messenger respectfully replied: "I was with you the last time you met with Earl Tyrone, and I will never make a mistake."

Montreal asked: "So, is my old friend, whom I haven't seen for a long time, still healthy?"

The messenger responded immediately: "Very healthy."

"Very good, very good." Although he said it was good, there was no joy in Montreal's eyes: "Back off."

Montreal was wearing the family heirloom "Molten Embers". This fourth-tier enchanted plate armor was extremely gorgeous, with fiery red lotus-like patterns engraved on the jet-black background. Whenever the fighting spirit surged, a bright red light would flow from it.

Compared to the majesty of the armor, the face of Count Montreal appears less majestic. His skin is a little pale, his eye sockets are deep, and his tall hooked nose makes his face look quite gloomy.

He opened the reply letter, glanced over it, and his expression became a little cold: "He is still so stubborn. If Meng'en City had this strength, it would not have been breached."

As he spoke, Montreal handed the letter to Thomas who was sitting next to him.

As the cardinal of the Church of Light, Thomas wore a black soft hat on his head to cover his slightly bald head. His clothes were open in front, and behind his golden priest robe was a bright red cloak.

He has a round face with compact features. He looks wealthy and honest, like a amiable businessman.

Taking the letter, Thomas quickly scanned the contents and smiled softly: "Earl Tyrone is still so confident."

The content of the letter was very simple. On the surface, Earl Tyrone expressed his gratitude to Montreal and Thomas, but between the lines there was resentment, hinting that "even if you didn't come, I could solve this trouble myself."

Thomas asked, "Mr. Governor, what are you going to do next?"

Montreal said: "We have traveled a long distance and are exhausted. We have also experienced a great battle today. Both I and my soldiers need to rest."

"I plan to rest for a while before making a decision."

This reason is not reliable.

Even if the roads had thawed and were muddy in the spring, the Fox family's army should have arrived long ago. The only reason they had to wait until now was because they were delayed for too long on the road.

They only marched for half a day every day, setting off at dawn and resting at noon. If it rained or snowed, they would have to stay for another day.

By dragging it on like this, they hope that the Hand of Death can lend some strength and uproot the Slater Family.

But no one expected that even after such a long time, when even the inner city had been breached, Earl Tyrone was still alive and well.

"Lord Montreal, I understand that you want to sympathize with your soldiers, but this is not the way to do it." Thomas said calmly, "I still suggest that you continue the attack and clean up the Hand of Death."

Montreal looked unhappy. He didn't like being told what to do. "Archbishop Thomas, the soldiers are not those tireless undead creatures. They need to rest."

"Besides, isn't Earl Tyrone very energetic? The four legions of the coalition are also full of fighting spirit. Why are you so anxious?"

Thomas sighed: "The City of Grace is like a ravaged, crying girl, longing to return to the arms of the Lord of Light. As a bishop of the Holy See, how can I ignore it at this time?"

"But I understand your consideration for the soldiers. Since your army needs to rest, I will lead the priests to the coalition forces."

Montreal's expression became more and more depressed, and his voice was cold: "Sir Thomas, are you going to break the promise between us?"

Thomas shook his head slightly and met Montreal's gaze: "I only have loyalty to the Lord of Light in my heart!"

Their eyes collided, and a ball of lightning almost exploded in the air.

Previously, the interests of both parties were basically the same.

Montreal was happy to see the Slater family decline and the city of Monn turned into a ruin.

And Thomas also needs a city of grace that is struggling and crying. Otherwise, it cannot reflect the glory and power of the Lord of Light.

But now that they have entered the city, there is a fundamental conflict of interests between the two sides.

Thomas's appeal is for a quick victory and to demonstrate the indispensability of the Church of Light.

But Montreal is different. He wants to drag it out and use the war to continue cutting the flesh with a blunt knife, bleeding the Slater family little by little.

"The City of Grace is indeed crying," Montreal said, "but even if you save her, she will return to the arms of her husband, and your heaven on earth will not be born in her womb."

One of the terms of the deal between Montreal and Thomas was to allow the Church of Light to station troops in the Fox family's territory, and now he is trying to use this as a threat.

"The mercy of the Lord of Light cannot be measured by value." Thomas did not give in: "God loves the world, but the monarch may not."

Montreal frowned slightly, "What do you mean?"

"The Death Hand Cult is not just causing trouble in one place." Thomas said, "Now the five major human forces, the Insa Empire, the Lozeren Kingdom, the Bodomiche Kingdom, the Fitun City-States, and our Cairns Empire, all have the shadow of the Death Hand."

"This is not just a law and order incident, it's also a political issue."

"If other countries have put down the unrest, but our Keynes Empire has not been able to solve the problem, especially if we fall behind the Insa Empire, what will our respected King think?"

As the only two major empires, Keynes and Insa have always been trying to outdo each other and are very keen on suppressing each other's international reputation. If the Insa Empire puts out the war first, it can ridicule the Keynes Empire.

This was absolutely unacceptable to the face-conscious King Keynes XVI. If there was to be a condemnation, the Governor of Montreal would be the first to bear the brunt.

Montreal's eyelids slightly drooped, and his breathing began to become rapid: "Your Excellency the Archbishop is going to add insult to injury?"

"No, I'm just analyzing the situation for you." Thomas said calmly, "Of course, it's up to you to decide what to do."

Montreal clenched his fists.

This time, the offensive of the Cult of the Hand of Death was so powerful that it was far beyond his expectations. That was why he was looking forward to the demise of the Slater Family.

As the only two earl families in the province, the decline of Slater means the rise of Fox.

As long as Tyrone died now, the Slater family would be firmly under his control for the next few decades!

However, the Fox family was able to take root in the Nord Province thanks to its relationship with the royal family. Now that they are so close to the Church of Light, it is tantamount to betrayal of the royal family.

If we offend the Church of Light again, we will be in trouble on both sides.

"I understand what Bishop Thomas means." Montreal's voice was filled with displeasure. "After resting tonight, I will continue my march. I hope Bishop Thomas will cooperate."

"Your good deeds will definitely be remembered by the Lord of Light." Thomas showed a peaceful smile on his face.

Montreal snorted coldly upon hearing this and left the tent.

Until his back disappeared, Thomas's face suddenly darkened: "Idiot."

In Thomas's opinion, Montreal's scheming and cunning are far inferior to Tyrone's. The huge difference between the two families is decisively related to the difference in quality between the two heads of the family.

It was ridiculous that Montreal still believed that he had the autonomy to choose to negotiate terms with the Church of Light.

In fact, from the moment Montreal chose to cooperate with the Church of Light and watched the Hand of Death riots break out in the Nord Province, he no longer had any choice but to cling to the Church of Light.

Otherwise, the other nobles in the Nord Province and His Majesty Keynes XVI will let him know what the consequences of being a double-faced person will be!
Thomas had a smug smile on his face.

Well, if Montreal’s political sensitivity wasn’t so bad, how could his plan have gone so smoothly?

Outsiders were not aware of the conversation in the big tent, but the news of the arrival of the Fox family army had already spread throughout the city of Mon'en.

Raven, who had returned to the camp, of course also received the message and learned that the nobles were holding a meeting in the big tent.

Normally, Raven would only stay for a short while before leaving, but today he waited for an extra two hours.

Sure enough, when the moon was at its zenith, Viscount John sent someone to invite him to his tent. Judra was also invited along with Raven.

Today, Viscount John looks even worse than before. He has always paid great attention to his image, and even took off his helmet. His eyes are bloodshot, and even though he is trying hard to suppress it, one can still see the unbearable anger in his eyes.

"Everyone, take a seat."

Raven and Judra looked at each other and sat opposite Viscount John. The old nobleman picked up the wine jug and poured a glass of wine for each of them, then raised his own glass.

After a silent toast, Viscount John drank it all in one gulp, and then began to pour wine again, three times in a row, before stopping. "Huh..." Viscount John snorted, "Those guys have no sense of honor. I really should bring out a few crystals to let them see their true faces."

Raven knew why he said that.

Now, not only the Fourth Legion, but the entire military camp is filled with a very blind optimism.

According to the nobles, since the Count of Montreal has arrived, as the governor, he will not watch the inner city being captured. The performance of the priests today has also been seen by many nobles, and they all feel that victory is within reach.

With this mentality, the nobles who had previously clamored to fight on their own changed their attitudes and petitioned to unite again, allowing the four legion commanders to take on their responsibilities, command everyone to fight, and wipe out the Cult of the Hand of Death.

It looked as if they had completely forgotten who was the culprit that caused the chaos in the army.

There is no need to think about it. The four legion commanders must be feeling as uncomfortable as if they had eaten a fly, and the one who was hurt the most among them was Viscount John.

Because he was the most responsible and honor-conscious one, he had previously felt deeply guilty about the disintegration of the legion, feeling sorry for the trust of the Slater family and the civilians of Mon'en City.

Especially since he had the ability to bring the legion together, but failed to do so due to his own selfishness, his sense of guilt became even stronger.

As time passed, Viscount John had begun to stop worrying about this, but he never expected that just because Montreal entered the city, the nobles would come to him again. Each of them was passionate and generous, and it seemed that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the comfort of Mon'en City and Nord Province at any time.

This is not the way to play tricks on people!

In other words, Viscount John is kind-hearted, and the only insult he gave was "lack of honor". If it were Raven or Judra, they would have cursed him in many different ways.

"I think you have all heard about what happened in the military camp," Viscount John asked.

Raven nodded. "Yeah, it looks like everyone is eager to join the fight."

"What's so high-spirited about that? I just want to take advantage of the last chance to gain military merit." Judela said with disdain, "Now the loyal souls of the empire look like they are all doing something else."

Viscount John sighed, "No wonder. As nobles, they all put the interests of their families first. At times like this, of course they have to take the initiative to strive for merit and seek titles and fiefs for themselves and their families."

This is indeed what Viscount John would say. Raven could almost guess that Viscount John would give them a pep talk and persuade them to put the overall situation first.

Old-line aristocrats, that’s what.

In the past, people had to wipe people’s butts with a smile, but now they have to wipe their butts with a cold face.

Don't lose your sense of honor.

Raven, however, did not have such awareness. He was ready to find an excuse to slip away and never act with the army.

However, Viscount John's words were completely beyond his expectations: "So, the three of us must also be prepared and make full use of our military merits. We cannot fall behind others."

Raven and Judra were both stunned, their eyes fixed on the elderly noble, as if Viscount John had transformed from an old man into a charming young girl.

"You two don't have to look at me like that." Viscount John smiled tiredly, "I'm not testing you either."

"People learn from their mistakes. Even though I am an old man with a good heart, I am not stupid."

"They all consider the interests of their families, but I can't do the same thing?"

Raven smiled: "Of course, I wonder what you think, Viscount John?"

Viscount John said in a deep voice: "Although the current atmosphere in the military camp seems to me to be blindly optimistic, the conclusion is correct."

"This war will soon be over."

"So, in the next few days, I will lead the Fourth Legion to attack the Undead Legion outside the city. Although there are a lot of Undead Legion left there, they don't pose a fatal threat except for a skull dragon."

"However, although the group's actions are powerful, when it comes to the specific distribution of military merits, there will definitely be serious disputes."

"so……"

Viscount John groaned for a moment, "I have decided to give you two families the power to act freely. There are many skeleton soldiers scattered in Mon'en City now. You go and destroy them. Although it will be more dangerous, you will gain real military merits that no one can take away."

Raven's lips curled up into a smile.

Even though everyone seems friendly and as if they really don't care about Raven's first-class medal of courage, once they get on the battlefield, someone might shoot him in the face out of jealousy.

Acting alone was indeed a privilege for Raven, who was familiar with the terrain of Mon'en City.

Judela showed a trace of embarrassment on her face: "Well... Viscount John, your idea is indeed very good, but I no longer have any soldiers..."

The successive battles resulted in the annihilation of the 200 serfs led by Judra. Perhaps some of them are still serving in the Death Hand's troops.

Viscount John said, "It doesn't matter. My Snow Maple Corps can lend you a hundred-man team and a detachment of serf soldiers."

Then he turned to Raven: "Do you need my additional military support?"

Raven shook his head. "I don't need to. It would be inconvenient for me to command and dispatch with too many people."

This was not entirely true. In fact, Raven did not want Viscount John to discover his secret. He did not intend to continue to dwell on this point, but asked: "Speaking of which, you have allocated so many troops. Aren't you afraid that it will affect the combat effectiveness of the Snow Maple Legion?"

Although this question was asked in a tactful way, it also awakened Jude, who was stunned by the good news from heaven: "Yes, Viscount John, why did you offer such generous conditions? What about your military achievements?"

Viscount John said: "My title is already Viscount, and there is only one heir in my family. No matter how many military achievements I have, I cannot be promoted to Earl. A little more or a little less will make no difference."

"And as the commander of the Fourth Legion, no matter how many soldiers I have under my command, I will always get my share of the credit for the battle."

These are all true, but they cannot explain why he suddenly released such huge goodwill and benefits. This is not a decision that can be made in the heat of the moment.

Viscount John revealed the real reason: "...I am old."

"And I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. In my early years, I was obsessed with building a career and improving my personal strength. My only son was spoiled by my wife. Now he is over 40 years old, but he has just been promoted to the second level. Whether it is his cunning, scheming or ability..."

"Alas!" Viscount John sighed, "Although he got married early, he had children late. Now my grandson is only three years old. Once my soul returns to my ancestor's side, the inheritance of the family will be a big problem."

"Our three fiefs are adjacent to each other, so I will have to rely on you two families for future matters."

Raven nodded slightly when he heard this. He couldn't understand Viscount John's mood at the moment, but he admired and agreed with his decision very much. However, there was one thing he was still a little confused about.

The reason why he chose to bet on himself was because Raven had saved Viscount John once before, so his character was guaranteed; not to mention that Judra had chosen to run away before, his status as heir was not set in stone, so why did Viscount John value him so much?
Viscount John's next words resolved his doubts: "Judra, I can't interfere with your family affairs, but my youngest daughter is also a widow now..."

Viscount John mentioned this to imply that if Judra failed to inherit the title of the Wharton family, then Viscount John welcomed him to marry his youngest daughter and give Judra the status of a knight.

This will also leave a great boost for the future of my family.

Judra nodded heavily: "...Thank you, Viscount John."

"I am old and lack energy, so I won't keep you to chat any longer." Viscount John said, "From now on, it's up to you."

Raven and Judra bowed and left together.

I returned to my tent and just sat down. Before I could catch my breath, I heard Volaf shouting, "Baron, Mr. Judela wants to see you."

"He's here as expected." Raven shook his head and chuckled, "Let him in."

The curtain was opened, and Judra's figure appeared in the tent.

Raven smiled and asked, "Why, are you here to ask me about the topography of the lower city?"

"No." Jude's face was gloomy: "I came to..."

Boom——

The spring thunder exploded, covering Judra's voice.

Lightning shone into the tent, making his face look particularly hideous.

……

(End of this chapter)