Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 315: Gareth de Villeroy
Garys had been waiting for a long time. In fact, he had anticipated Hovanis's arrival.

He was not unaware of what the Georgian army was doing these days.

However, due to his weak force and the fact that the Georgian army's behavior was not out of the ordinary, he never took the initiative to show up.

Instead, they sit back and wait for those who are willing to take the bait.

Hovanis is that volunteer.

However, the first meeting between the two was not very friendly.

Facing the approach of a hundred-man team led by Hovanis, Gairis stood at the high mountain pass, neither hiding nor going down to greet them.

Hovanis's team had to take this only road, and although the route was not steep, it was not friendly to riding on horseback.

Even though Hovanis had a horse, it still seemed difficult.

As a result, the party that originally had the advantage of numbers had to climb up like devout pilgrims and approach Gaillis with great effort.

When Hovanis was finally able to see Garys' face clearly, the pent-up anger in his heart suddenly erupted.

After all, the man at the mountain pass was not panicked at all. He still stood high above, silently waiting for them to climb up one level at a time.

This made Hovanis feel humiliated and the flames of anger burned fiercely.

After making sure that the two sides were not far apart, Hovanis waved his hand, signaling his people to take a break.

And he shouted to Garys, who had been standing steadily at the mountain pass for a long time: "Hey! Who over there! Come down quickly! I have something to ask you!"

However, Gailis still did not move, and did not even look at him. He just tilted his head slightly, as if to signal Hovanis to come up by himself.

That kind of indifference and apathy made Hovanis's anger even more intense.

It was obvious that Hovanis was to go up by himself.

Hovanis couldn't stand it anymore. He turned around and gave a few instructions. Several soldiers beside him drew their short bows.

Hovanis felt that he could no longer tolerate such provocation, and he waved his hand to signal several soldiers to draw their short bows with arrows on the bowstrings.

Now, the distance between the two sides is no more than thirty steps. At this distance, it is very easy to shoot a person.

However, facing the threat of bows and arrows, the man on the mountain pass just shook his head, still calm and not caring about their actions at all.

This made Hovanis particularly embarrassed. An inexplicable guy was being so arrogant here without even any armor. Who gave that guy the courage to put on airs in front of Hovanis?
We are all mortals in this world. No matter how capable a knight is, he will still have no chance of survival if he faces a complete team of a hundred men alone!

So Hovanis shouted again: "Get down, you bastard!"

However, in the face of Howanis's vicious threat, the man he could only see by looking up just turned his head, as if to signal Howanis to go forward.

Faced with such provocation, Hovanis couldn't bear it and took a bow from the follower beside him.

He drew his bow and shot an arrow at Garys.

In this chaotic situation, it doesn't really matter if we kill the other party.

As the captain of a hundred-man team, Hovanis is certainly not just there to do nothing.

The longbow in his hand weighs at least a hundred pounds. At a distance of thirty steps, the arrow will fly past in a straight line.

In this moment when ordinary people would find it difficult to pay attention and dodge, the man at the mountain pass simply tilted his head, and Hovanis's arrow missed.

Facing this miss, Hovanis waved his hands again: "Everyone, get ready!"

He asked the other archers to nock their arrows. More than ten arrows were shot out almost at the same time. The black arrow feathers made a buzzing sound as they broke through the air, as powerful as ferocious beasts.

However, something even more incredible happened.

The man in the white robe raised his arm slightly, and the mountain wind stopped in an instant.

At that moment, the lingering sound of the vibrating bowstring was still echoing in the valley. The thirteen arrows shot at him were like night birds returning to their nests, falling three feet in front of his feet in an arc of surrender.

Under the scorching sun, cold sweat broke out on Hovanis's palms. He suddenly felt a chill in his heart and his back felt cold.

"This is impossible……"

Those arrows, clearly aimed at killing people, seemed to have lost their target in that instant, as if the air around the man in the white robe was filled with some kind of divine power.

Hovanis's mood instantly changed from anger to confusion and horror.

His eyes unconsciously became dull, the scene just now deeply shocked his heart.

"Come up, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"When I came out of my seclusion, the Lord promised me that He would make everything in the world swear that they would not harm me."

The words of the man in white robe were a little vague. Faced with this unexpected scene, Hovanis subconsciously grasped the hilt of the sword at his waist and led the hundred-man team behind him to walk up silently for another twenty steps until the two sides were face to face.

When the two sides came face to face, Hovanis noticed that the other person's light golden hair reflected a dazzling light in the sun, and it was obvious that he was not a Turk.

Judging from his appearance, perhaps he is more likely a Frank?
Hovanis isn't so sure.

However, no matter what nationality the other party was, the anger he had accumulated along the way was not completely eliminated, and there was still dissatisfaction in his eyes.

"You still want to test me?"

Before Hovanis could respond to the other party's words, the next moment, the hairs on his body stood up.

Because just at the moment when he wanted to draw out the sword, a sharp blade appeared on his neck.

He clenched his right hand in the air for a few times before realizing that he had grasped nothing. Now, the sword on his neck was actually his own sword!
"If arrows are unwilling to hurt me, why do you think your sword will do the trick?"

"W-who are you?!"

Hovanis's voice was already trembling, and he could barely speak coherently.

He didn't care what the other soldiers beside him thought of him, but the previous two scenes had already directly broken the bottom line in his heart.

His knees softened unconsciously and he fell in front of Garys.

And Garys, taking advantage of the situation, slapped the sword on his shoulder and gave him an answer.

"I?"

"You worm, I am the Saint of Jerusalem, the head of Cyprus, the Imam of the thousands of tribes on earth, and the supervisor of the world's order for my father..."

Garys said his name, but the other party was confused.

Due to the Muslim influence in Anatolia, the news of Gelis did not spread widely in Georgia.

Many people had only heard that the Kingdom of Jerusalem had regained its homeland and became powerful after defeating Saladin.

However, regardless of whether the title Gellis mentioned was true or false, Hovanis could be sure that the sword on his shoulder was absolutely real.

Therefore, he naturally would not reject the other party's words.

"Now we can talk."

"You, you say!" "Tell David Soslan to come here to see me and tell him that I, Garris de Villeroy, am here and want to talk to him."

"what?"

……

Hovanis left the place in a hurry, and was quite distraught when he left.

This brief encounter of just a few minutes has left a memory that is engraved in one's mind and will be remembered for the rest of one's life.

When he turned his head and looked towards the mountain pass again, the man in the white robe was still standing there, as if nothing had happened before.

When he thought of the other party's self-proclaimed claims, he became a little panicked and scared, worrying that the other party's self-proclaimed claims were true.

Dozens of arrows fell to the ground, and the sword flashed into the hands of others...

Hovanis had no doubt that as long as the other party wanted to take his life, no matter how many people there were, they would not be able to stop him.

After taking a few breaths, Hovanis decided to throw the question to David Soslan.

After all, David Soslan was the commander of their army, and he was just a small, insignificant guy.

At the mountain pass over there, after seeing this team of a hundred men leave without doing anything, Arsalan stood up from the position where he was lying on the ground.

Swallowing his saliva unconsciously, he came to Garys' side. What just happened made him worry about Garys.

After all, according to what Gaillis said, the endings of the prophets throughout the ages were not very good. Jesus was hanged on the cross, and the Prophet Muhammad was beaten with fists in his early years.

It can be seen that when Allah bestows miracles on people, he obviously does not consider personal combat power.

Of course, Garys's performance seemed to show that Allah had learned his lesson and deliberately adjusted his playing style.

"First, sir..."

Arsalan spoke cautiously.

"what happened?"

"I noticed something."

"what's up?"

"Since I met you, I have never seen you kill anyone. Even when we drew our swords, I never saw you kill anyone."

Arslan had no doubt that Gairis had the courage to kill.

Given the indifference shown by Gellis, is there really any remnant of fear in his heart?

Gellis glanced at him.

“I am the good shepherd, and a good shepherd is willing to lay down his life for the sheep.”

"Is there any shepherd in the world who would kill a lamb just because it butted his legs twice?"

This sentence answered the confusion in Arsalan's heart.

For Garys today, killing is no longer a necessary means for him to solve problems.

To him, all the threatening gestures made by ordinary humans are nothing more than the momentary mischief of a little lamb.

When the two parties are not on the same level, the indifference shown by Gellis is actually a kind of kindness.

“I have lost many sheep under heaven; and now I will go to seek them one by one in the wilderness, until every one is returned to the fold.”

“When I find it, I carry it on my shoulders with joy, and call my friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, I have found the lost sheep.’ I tell you, likewise there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.”

……

Georgia is a powerful kingdom in northeastern Anatolia, but its predecessor, Georgia III, had only two daughters.

Faced with a similar dilemma as the succession to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Georgia III's choice was more decisive than that of any previous king of Jerusalem.

He directly appointed his daughter Tamara as co-ruling monarch.

In the Christian cultural circle, words like "crown prince" or "prince of the throne" actually have difficult to find a clear correspondence.

Generally speaking, in addition to arranging the order of heirs according to the law of succession, many countries clarify the heir to the throne by appointing a co-ruling monarch.

This behavior can be traced back to the period when four emperors jointly ruled the Roman Empire.

The two Augustus, Eastern and Western, appointed two Caesars.

Caesar was the vice-emperor. When Augustus abdicated, Caesar succeeded him and appointed a new Caesar as co-monarch and heir.

Tamara was the first woman in Georgian history to rule the kingdom in her own right. She was even given the title of "King" instead of "Queen" because of her gender to emphasize her status.

Her various civil and military achievements after her coronation also earned her the honorific title of "The Great Emperor" as a woman.

However, even so, there were still many inconveniences for women, and she got married twice.

When she got married for the first time, she married a prince from the Grand Duchy that emerged after the disintegration of Kievan Rus.

However, this prince of the Grand Duchy was used as a pawn in a coup by the nobles of the Kingdom of Georgia, who wanted to rebel against the rule of King Tamara.

Her end was that she was expelled by King Tamara, after which King Tamara married Prince David Soslan of Alania as his queen consort.

Unlike her ex-husband, who came from a powerful aristocratic party, David was Tamara's personal choice.

He proved to be an excellent military commander, winning numerous battles on the battlefield.

Now, after winning the Battle of Bassiani, David led his army westward, striving to seize more land and thus establish a buffer zone for Georgia.

In David's view, victory in this battle did not mean that the Kingdom of Georgia could rule Anatolia.

It is unlikely to curb the Turks' looting habits, so it is more practical to reduce the number of looting incidents in Georgia by establishing a buffer zone.

Just as he was leading his troops to besiege the city of Erzurum, he received a rather unexpected news.

"Are you sure that the man who calls himself the Saint of Jerusalem, Guéris de Villeroy?"

In the central military tent, the husband of King Tamara, who commanded the army, met with an Armenian nobleman.

"Yes, it is……"

Hovanis's words were still trembling. Neither the saint before nor the prince's husband was someone he could face directly.

After receiving the confirmed news, David paced back and forth in the big tent, with various thoughts wandering in his mind.

Unlike an ignorant guy like Hovanis, as the top leader of the Kingdom of Georgia, he knew much more comprehensive information than Hovanis.

At least he knew that the husband of Queen Isabella of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was also named Guéris de Villeroy.

(End of this chapter)