Throne of the North.

Chapter 687 The Death of the Emperor (Part 5)

It still takes two or three days to travel from the capital city to the Carlos province on the southern border, away from the empire.

Pope Solarion, leading his entourage of up to 20,000 Dawn Cult members, traveled for a day and arrived at the Province of Thousand Lakes, the site of the fierce battlefield between the two sides.

Reaching this point, things became less convenient, and the believers needed to build a path across the lake so that the Pope could walk on level ground.

"I never imagined that Emperor Flor would die in divine punishment."

Behind the Pope's carriage, Cardinal Charles chuckled and then looked at Pope Solarion in front of him with some doubt.

The Pope's carriage, or rather all carriages including those of bishops, are not of a normal carriage structure. As servants of God, as transmitters of faith, and as clergy, they need to be approachable to the people.

How to be approachable? Of course, it means that even when sitting in a carriage with a gorgeous semi-transparent veil, one is still devoutly worshipped by believers from all directions, making them feel as if their bishop, archbishop, cardinal, or even the pope are right beside them, as if they were there.

Therefore, the clergy in this group are not isolated.

Many people revered Pope Solarion, but like the nobles of the empire, they also believed that this was by no means an accident.

Gods don't descend to earth so casually; in fact, they paid a huge price to kill the emperor.

There must be something wrong here.

The nobles doubted the Dawn Church, and in this matter, even the clergy of the Church doubted themselves.

"Did we do this?"

They kept thinking back to why they hadn't received the news.

However, no matter what happens to the Vatican, it cannot escape His Holiness the Pope. They themselves doubt themselves, but in the end, all doubts fall on His Holiness the Pope.

"Your Majesty, is this your will?"

In this group, there were two cardinals, Charles and Elliot. Both cardinals doubted the Pope because no one below them could bypass his will, and above them was only one person.

Solarian, who had been keeping his eyes closed, opened them, calmly turned his head, and looked at the two people in red.

Not only these two, but he also saw many inquisitive glances.

Solarion smiled and replied:
"Yes, I made a deal with that great being."

Silence. The clergy remained silent.

The Pope of Dawn, the absolute servant and believer of the Lord of Dawn, what gives him the right to make deals with other gods?

What are the Dawn Believers most enraged about? It's heresy, of course.

So what are heretics? They are the great beings that heretics serve.

The followers of the Dawn would kill even heretics without hesitation, and when they encountered other gods, their only emotion was the will to die and be reborn in heaven.

Even a single glance would be considered a desecration of the dawn and a disloyalty to one's faith.

pope……

The clergy in the group hadn't even forgiven what the Pope had done before, nor did they approve of that Dawn Child.

How could they possibly accept the Pope admitting that he was the mastermind behind it all?
He could easily have deceived him...

Do you know why you all had to come together?

When Solarion asked, a clergyman quickly came up with the answer.

If the Pope had said nothing beforehand, he could have come to the Empire alone.

However, after the Pope returned from the abyss, he announced to the world that he would accept the Empire's invitation to attend a ceremony there.

Therefore, this matter requires a very grand ceremony.

So what was originally a team of just one person has now become a team of 20,000 people. From the Holy Mountain to the Imperial Capital, and then back to the Holy Mountain, everything must be done in accordance with the rules and regulations.

But... why does this sentence feel so strange? The rules and regulations don't permit the Pope to collude with other gods.

Solarion didn't receive an answer; instead, he answered his own question, giving a different response.

“Ever since I returned, no, ever since I was crowned, you people have been opposing my decisions.”

"The Dawn Church is corrupt, which is why we have to accept defeat when facing the Empire. But you parasites show no remorse whatsoever, all for the wealth and interests you control?"

"The faith of the Dawn Church has been defiled because of you; because of your existence, believers are no longer pure."

“If you are not qualified to be believers in the Lord, then I do not need to talk to you about faith.”

"Let's talk about interests."

Pope Solarion looked at everyone around him with murderous intent in his eyes.

“I want to change the Dawn Church, and you are standing in my way.”

[Silence]

【deprivation】

【Judgment】

【ruling】

The terrifying divine spells were unleashed one after another, leaving these believers of the Dawn powerless to resist.

“You deserve to die on this empire’s land.”

……

……

"The despicable and shameless Flor Empire, incompetently blaming the Dawn Church for the death of its emperor, who was killed by divine punishment."

"They killed Cardinal Charles in a despicable way, just like they killed Cardinal Tom Walter..."

Pope Solarion recited a string of thousands of names in a tone of grief and indignation as he returned to the Holy Mountain to condemn the Empire's shameless actions.

The empire, which was already in chaos, was suddenly stunned by this condemnation and questioning.

What the hell? We killed all of Pope Solarion's entourage? Not a single one of the twenty thousand men survived?

"How cruel."

The Dawn Church has plunged the Empire into a series of unfavorable situations. They were invited but were betrayed, and the Church attempted to make the Empire appear unjust and immoral.

The only good thing is that things are different now than they were a few years ago.

The Empire has broken the Dawn's blockade of itself, and the voice of the Dawn Church is not the only one heard in the southern lands.

Located in the south, Archduke Freming swore an oath by the Freming bloodline to refute the Pope's despicable questioning.

“I swear in the name of the Grand Duke of the Empire that the Pope himself killed his followers, and the Empire could never kill them in violation of the Treaty of the Kingdom of Nantes.”

Grand Duke Freming was immensely pleased with his successor's decisive action. After all, if he had waited even two days, the kingdoms of the southern lands might have taken the initiative, which would have been troublesome. Grand Duke Freming's words prevented the nobles of the southern lands from immediately denouncing the Empire, and that was enough.

As for the truth about those 20,000 people?
Only stakeholders care about the truth; those with no stake in the matter only care about one thing.

That is revenge.

Pope Solarion of the Dawn refused to provide any assistance to the Empire, citing the Empire's alleged framing and killing of tens of thousands of clergy.

Yes, he promised in the capital city to provide humanity with supplies to fight the orcish races of the north, but he won't give us a single loaf of bread.

Moreover, the reason was quite straightforward: they were invited but betrayed, and now they're expected to contribute resources? That's absolutely impossible.

"Unless the Empire brings trial for the tens of thousands of clergy who died."

"Otherwise, divine punishment wouldn't have descended upon the empire only once!"

Solarion didn't care how the Empire refuted him; he just needed to state his reasons and his moral principles.

With the emperor dead and the papacy now betraying them, the empire's nobles felt a storm was brewing.

In the southern province of Carlos, Grand Duke Freming became the supreme commander. He commanded not only the army, but also the 'line' of faith that separated the Dawn Church from the Empire to the southern Iron Eagle Kingdom.

The death of Columbus III had a significant impact on these kingdoms.

For example, in the Kingdom of Nantes, the King of Nantes was discovered in the north, gained a lot of support from the Emperor of the Empire, and after returning to the Kingdom of Nantes, he regained his throne.

But now, everything is starting to falter again. Why?
Because the entire royal family of Nantes was wiped out, Pope Solarion, in order to eliminate any future troubles, left only the king as the sole remaining member of the Nantes royal family.

Then there's the Iron Eagle Kingdom further south. They're too far from the Empire. On the contrary, the Iron Eagle Kingdom betrayed Dawn. With Columbus III dead, the Empire was in turmoil. Who can guarantee that the Empire will have much time to take care of the Iron Eagle Kingdom?

In this kingdom, the nobles who believed in the dawn and the king's faction were already locked in a fierce battle. The king had initially held the upper hand, but now the situation has reversed, and the Iron Eagle Kingdom has become the first victim after the death of Columbus III.

At Dawn Holy Mountain, few dared to openly question Pope Solarion anymore, not only because of the emperor's death, but also because the entire 20,000-strong army that had followed the pope to the capital had been wiped out.

To reiterate, whether it's the Pope or an empire, they can spout nonsense to occupy the moral high ground, but those in power always care about the truth.

The human heart is forever unfathomable, and it forever separates humanity from inanimate objects like puppets and blind followers.

The gods regard humans as ants, but human civilization is not a true ant civilization.

The key lies in people's hearts.

Whether the Empire killed the 20,000 entourage members, including the two cardinals, is a question many may firmly believe due to a lack of God's perspective and inherent hatred, but it is also destined that some will deny this conclusion.

It was as if the whole world, including the Papacy itself, knew that the Papacy was corrupt. The ancient Dawn Papacy, over a long period of time, during the time when the gods slept, had unleashed all its hidden dangers.

As a result, faith is no longer the only thing within the Dawn Church.

The era of explaining everything through faith is gone forever. Regardless of what the Pope says, stakeholders are concerned about what the Pope actually did in this matter.

In short, the emperor of the empire is dead.

The first victim was the Iron Eagle Kingdom, but the first place to fall into chaos was Dawn Holy Mountain.

Many clergy members, and former clergy members, dreamed of entering the holy mountain, but now, many want to leave this mountain of faith as soon as possible.

They cannot show themselves because of fear and inner doubt about the Pope.

So they changed their excuse.

"The Iron Eagle Kingdom's crimes are unforgivable!"

Using the Iron Eagle Kingdom as a springboard, and with seemingly legitimate reasons and the pretext of reclaiming the land of Dawn's faith, they attempted to leave the Holy Mountain.

"The Kingdom of Kolan must provide an explanation!"

The Kingdom of Kolan was the second victim of the chaos that ensued after the death of the emperor, following the Kingdom of Iron Eagle.

Upon receiving the news, the Kingdom of Kolan was naturally extremely nervous.

This was evident at the military conference held on Rhinoceros Horn Mountain.

The nobles of the Kingdom of Kolan were originally arguing with reason to reduce their military support to the North, but suddenly they stopped caring about how much resources would be consumed and made it clear that they would do everything in their power to support the North's war against the orcs.

The main focus is on building good relationships within this new small group.

Even Gwendolyn Coran, the princess of the kingdom who lived in the baron's castle, became more proactive.

With the emperor dead, the Northern Military Council on Ryan's side became the second beneficiary.

The emperor died, but unusually, the empire did not erupt into terrible chaos and war-mongering. On the contrary, it was eerily quiet, and everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

The nobles, who were originally ordered by the emperor to transport supplies and soldiers to the northern border, did not stop there.

In short, all of Columbus III's previous plans were being carried out exactly as they were, according to his will even after his death.

It can be said that the death of the emperor, the death of Columbus III, was the only exception to the will of the imperial emperor and the Pope of Light.

But everyone knows that no matter what changes or disturbances occur in the empire due to the emperor's death, this most crucial matter cannot be avoided.

The emperor is dead.

Whether the nobles wrested power back from the monarch or the elector became the new emperor, they would ultimately have to face the death of Columbus III.

In other words—revenge.

One can imagine that avenging His Majesty the Great Emperor Columbus III, the first Pope of Light of the Empire, would be the only politically correct thing to do for a long time.

The end of this period may be before a new emperor establishes new prestige.

The calm before the storm—the empire's tranquility at this moment is the harbinger of a storm.

In the capital city, everyone wore mourning clothes. Throughout the empire, nobles of all ranks wept and countless commoners wailed in the more than twenty provinces.

Yes, the emperor is dead, and the millions of people in this empire are a truly grief-stricken group.

Ultimately, the common people of the empire truly felt the positive changes that Columbus III brought to them after becoming emperor.

Although Columbus III's initial motivation was power, in the process, the lives of the common people in the empire improved significantly, and they were no longer the slaves they once were.

The common people were terrified that the emperor's death would force them back to their former living conditions, but they didn't want to go back.

However, none of this has much to do with Ryan.

The people of the North had no time to concern themselves with the emperor's death.

Because the orcs were nearby.

The awakening of the god, Dawn of Eternity Fransca, caused countless avalanches and floods in the North. He was pleased, but the price of his pleasure was that the orc tribes of the North had their environment destroyed by the avalanches. The floods that melted in the sunlight turned into indestructible ice as the sunlight receded, forming sharp and jagged glaciers on the snowfields.

The orc tribes were suffering terribly.

The orcs were suffering, so they moved south, and the people of the North also began to suffer.

(End of this chapter)