Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 626 Hopeless Exile

Looking at the vast temporary camp stretching down the hillside, Ismail felt an unusually complex mix of emotions.

By order of His Holiness the Pope, he and Rivera led the moderate high-ranking members of the church, along with more than three thousand knights of the Radiant Knights, to escort nearly ten thousand citizens of the Holy City to evacuate from Goris, which had been attacked by alien races.

Such a large-scale migration could not possibly be carried out smoothly and orderly. Less than fifty miles away, news came from behind that the northern wall of the Holy City had been completely breached. The Divine Punishment Faction, which had been sending out repeated calls for help, suffered heavy casualties and was clearly unable to withstand the enemy's overwhelming offensive.

Ismail had no intention of returning to support them. Knowing he was no match for them, he insisted on resisting, and in the end, he could only suffer a tragic fate of being buried with the Holy City. Compared to the important task His Majesty entrusted to him to preserve the flame of the Church, his personal honor and reputation seemed unimportant.

It is perfectly acceptable for him and Rivera to bear the guilt of turning their backs on divine glory and abandoning their colleagues.

At first, Bamoa, who leaned towards the Divine Punishment faction, insisted on staying behind. However, after the Cathedral of Radiance completely collapsed amidst the earth-shattering tremors, he finally realized that the situation had deteriorated to an irreversible point. He then led a small group of Bloodline Knights to catch up with the evacuating main force.

However, he and Ismail had a falling out over their future plans.

Balmoria saw Duke Carlo on the border of the Principality of Barkley as the last lifeline for the exiled Papacy. He planned to persuade them to contact this border duke, whose power had recently been weakened by the attack from Saint Valen, and to use his royal lineage from the Kaufman family to help the church regain its footing and establish a new core diocese.

Ismail looked down on this border duke of Barkley, who couldn't even defend his own fiefdom capital, Bluethorn City. He was caught off guard and forced to abandon the city and flee by a mere thousand troops sent by the mage emperor of Saint Valen... Only after the enemy had plundered and retreated with satisfaction did Ismail dare to cautiously return to his fiefdom to salvage the situation.

Such cowards who flee at the first sign of trouble are simply not worth relying on. Moreover, the Kaufman family has always been a fence-sitter, hedging their bets between the spellcasters and the church. There are even high-ranking spellcasters within the family who have joined the High Wizard Council. It is impossible for them to unilaterally side with the church.

After some consideration, Rivera chose to side with Ismail. The outnumbered Balmoa could only take the few hundred remaining Blood Knights and Battle Priests of the Divine Punishment faction and leave the main force under cover of night, heading straight for the Duchy of Barkley.

Amidst his turbulent thoughts, a cardinal hurried to his side and whispered, "Your Excellency Ismail, the messages sent to the independent dioceses of Pharos or Iruvia have just received replies..."

He paused, his expression turning grim. "Both archbishops of the two dioceses have expressed their willingness to accept the exiled believers, but the border lords of the two countries are adamant... they will not allow the Inquisition Knights and Battle Priests to cross the border at will, especially... especially Pharos, who have even directly informed the Spellcasters' Association branch stationed in their own country, intending to gather forces to intercept us directly at the border."

Ismail paused for a moment, then sighed and said, “More than three thousand Judgment Knights are a formidable force that any secular kingdom would fear and be wary of. No one would easily let us into their country. I completely understand why those border lords would not dare to take on this responsibility.”

This is why, before his disappearance, His Holiness the Pope instructed him to split the army and believers into several branches and relocate them to dioceses and monasteries throughout the southern kingdoms.

“Right now, this is indeed the only feasible option.” Rivera pondered for a long time before speaking slowly with a worried expression. “But the Holy City was suddenly attacked, and we were already in an emergency evacuation… The people were swept away by the army like refugees, and most of them didn’t even have much food, supplies, or money for their daily needs. I’m afraid… they won’t be able to hold out until they reach their destination.” Although the City of Grace is nominally called the Papal State, it actually only controls the territory of the city of Goris, a few surrounding mountainous areas, and several large monasteries that guard the Holy City. The tens of thousands of believers in the country hardly engage in agriculture or animal husbandry. Their daily needs are entirely dependent on the regular offerings from various parishes in the southern region, as well as the continuous “import” of food and supplies through believer taxes.

On ordinary days, relying on the wealthy "leg" of the Vatican, the frequent distribution of relief and Mass ceremonies are enough to fill people's stomachs. Most believers live a simple and disciplined life and do not have much personal property or worldly possessions.

As for the staff and their families within the Papacy, when they evacuated the Holy City, they only cared about taking gold and silver ornaments and ancient documents, while regarding the more essential food supplies as worthless. It is hard to say whether they were greedy or short-sighted.

Suddenly faced with the calamity of a foreign invasion, even with the Holy See sending troops to escort them out, the immediate problem of food became a pressing issue.

"Have the priests and priests of the Papacy, as well as the Inquisition Army, distribute some of their rations to the believers to temporarily alleviate the immediate crisis..." Ismail frowned and ordered, "Send several squads of blood knights south to buy food and medicine from the lords and wealthy households in the towns and villages along the way. Don't be stingy with money. Once the fleeing masses cause riots due to famine, it will be difficult to control the situation."

The cardinal nodded solemnly, then turned and left.

Rivera hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "In the past, most of the church affairs in the Holy City were handled by Balmoa and his Divine Punishment faction bishops. Now that this responsibility has been handed over to the two of us, we are struggling to even solve the most basic problems. It makes me feel extremely ashamed."

Ismail was a cardinal who was originally a priest, and he spent most of his life dealing with religious texts and sacrificial rites. Apart from his achievements in the study of divine magic, he never got involved in other secular affairs.

Rivera, being a papal confidant, needs no further introduction... he was an ascetic devoutly pure in spirit, lacking even supernatural powers.

Pope Pius XIII's decision to entrust them with the heavy responsibility of restoring the glory of the Church was indeed a reckless gamble with uncertain success or failure.

"Sometimes I can't help but think, if we hadn't allowed the Divine Punishment faction to rise to power, and if we had maintained a peaceful and close alliance with the Spellcasters' Association, would the Holy City have ended up like this when faced with the great calamity of alien invasion?"

Rivera stood quietly behind him, without replying.

Just then, a bloodline knight galloped up the hill where the two were, dismounted, knelt on one knee, and reported: "Saint Valentine and the Northern United Kingdom have sent a delegation of envoys who request an audience with the two bishops!"

(End of this chapter)