kingdom of nations

Chapter 363 Sweet Dreams (Part 1)

The Grand Eunuch died in the highest room of Holder Castle. His presence there indicated that he had no intention of fleeing if things went wrong. This despised, crippled man proved with his life that he had indeed kept his promise, carried out his resolve, and had not failed his master, Sultan Nur ad-Din, fighting to the very last moment.

"There were four or five scholars—or warriors—with him in the room," Philip II was uncertain, after all, the Saracens did not distinguish between those who received prophetic revelations as clearly as the Christians. "His abilities were terrifying; he could heal himself quickly and apply them to others as well."

Philip II still felt a lingering fear when he spoke of it. Such an enemy should have been handed over to Richard or Baldwin, but unfortunately, he happened to have attacked this place.

He had no face to back down in front of his knight, and could only grit his teeth and fight the people in that room.

Fortunately, he was accompanied by the Counts of Champagne, Blois, and Sancel (the Count of Étienne) at that time, because he had married a daughter of the Champagne family, and these three people had the closest relationship with him.

The Count of Champagne suffered a severe injury that could not be healed in a short time because he always stood in front of the King.

"I think I'm afraid I'll never forget that scene."

Philip II had seen how Cesare protected the knights—invisible armor, a bright shield—and the knights, cheering and charging forward, were like those in the magnificent tapestries he had seen—embroidered with scenes of angels battling demons—with the light of heaven shining upon them.

For this Saracen eunuch, it was a scene straight out of hell.

Those around him were all covered in blood, their flesh torn open—he simply pulled out crossbow bolts as they came; he didn't dodge sword and knife strikes, whether they pierced through or reached the bone, they all healed in moments—and not only that…

“They seem to feel no pain at all,” Philip II said in awe. “And those wounds… those wounds are practically alive! They writhe, contract, even absorb the overflowing blood—they are demons!”

He trembled slightly as he recalled: "It must have been a great devil like Satan, and the people he led were like Satan leading those fallen angels. Wounds kept appearing on their bodies, and then kept healing—I couldn't bear to watch my knights sacrifice themselves in vain, so I ordered them to retreat."

Later, the soldiers brought spears—which were very inconvenient to use in such a confined space—but Count Étienne charged forward bravely. He covered his head and shoulders with a shield covered with an iron plate, then charged forward with his long spear, plunging it into the stomach of the high eunuch.

At the same time, the chief eunuch's scimitar had already cleaved through the shield.

If Count Etienne hadn't turned his head to avoid it in time, his head would probably have been split in two along with the shield.

Even so, he was still slashed in the shoulder by a second blow. The soldiers desperately dragged him back, and he charged forward again, gripping the spear shaft tightly with all his might.

At this point, he couldn't help but take a sip of the strong liquor in his hand. "That wasn't an ordinary spear—it was a sacred artifact (a replica of the sacred spear) brought by the priests. Fortunately, it was made entirely of black iron and was very heavy, but at this moment it became one of the weapons used to subdue this monster... He couldn't cut it off immediately."

Richard asked with great interest, "He just died like that?"

“If only that were the case,” Philip II licked his lips and took another big gulp of wine. “You don’t know, he seemed to feel no pain and was not afraid of death. Even though the spear had pierced through him, he stood firmly in that passage without wavering at all.”

So we used... Greek fire.

They generally wouldn't use Greek fire on steep stairs or in cramped rooms, since Greek fire, once it spreads, will stick to anything it can and then burn fiercely. Even their own side couldn't guarantee that soldiers and knights who couldn't react in time wouldn't be injured as a result.

But at that moment they didn't care anymore. They threw the earthenware pot into the room, right at the feet of the chief eunuch, and then launched fire arrows.

He simply lifted his foot and extinguished two or three rockets, but the fire still started.

"The sight... you would never believe it if you hadn't seen it with your own eyes. A humanoid demon, burning fiercely, was rushing towards us. I was being protected by the Count of Champagne as I retreated, in a sorry state, practically tumbling and crawling." Here, Philip II made no attempt to hide his lack of combat skills; there was no need for it.

He always believed that a monarch's talents should not be demonstrated on the battlefield, or at least not solely on the battlefield.

"Anyway, we retreated all the way to the corner of the stairs, where there was a small platform. Guess what the Count of Blois did?"

"What did he do?" Everyone in the tent listened intently, while Philip II, seemingly finally free from his fear, recounted with relish, "While we were fighting that big guy, he dismantled the window connecting to the small platform, enlarged it, and then hoisted up a ballista."

Generally speaking, both the defending and attacking sides would use ballistae. Even a small ballista is as long as a person and as wide as an outstretched arm. The winding and narrow staircases inside the castle would never allow a ballista to enter. But surprisingly, the tower they were attacking was very close to the city wall. By this time, they had already captured the city wall.

In the midst of his busy schedule, Count Blois still managed to notice that the shape of the small platform resembled a jumping platform—perhaps it was originally used to connect the castle to the city wall. He quickly found a few long planks, which, sure enough, met their needs. They then hoisted and pushed the ballista in.

But it was still too small. The soldier operating the ballista even fell off because of it. Fortunately, his comrade pulled him back, but the result was obvious. The heavy ballista could even penetrate the city wall, and of course, it could also pierce through a flesh-and-blood body.

The arrow pulled him backward, causing him to stumble a few steps, and he was finally pinned to the wall. By this time, no one dared to approach him, and the Christians threw more Greek fire...

Meanwhile, the people behind him were constantly putting out the fire, treating him, and trying to free him from the arrows.

Philip II heard the chief eunuch speaking loudly in Saracen, telling them to leave immediately, get out of here, and not stay.

But no one listened to him; they resolutely died in the same place as him.

“Oh dear,” Richard said regretfully, “you should have left such an enemy to us.” Philip II rolled his eyes at him, “I would very much like to leave him to you.”

However, he then sighed with relief. In any case, for him, the war was over, and quite satisfactorily. He now had loyal subjects, knights who adored him, and thousands of veterans who had experienced the war—perhaps the first bit of power he still held in his hands.

Of course, there were also spoils of war and gifts from King Arazarus. Just as subjects could trade money with the king for a piece of land, the king could also exchange land with his subjects or other monarchs of equal status.

This was agreed upon before departure, so there was little need for negotiation.

The Knights Templar could also ensure that Philip II could return safely to his Île de France, carrying with him a great deal of wealth and loyalty.

"Would you like to see the corpse of that high-ranking eunuch?"

Philip II's invitation was somewhat strange, but his tone was like inviting Cesare to see the stag he had unexpectedly captured. Cesare could not refuse and could only go with him to take a look, or rather, he wanted to confirm whether this enemy had really gone to their hellfire, or was simply trying to escape in another way.

Although the corpse had been burned by fire, perhaps due to the eunuch's own abilities, apart from the most severely injured abdomen and chest, the rest of his body was not seriously damaged. Judging from his face and physique, he was indeed the eunuch who stood on the city wall and was pierced by Baldwin's spear of St. George.

Whether intentionally to humiliate or unintentionally, he was naked—his original clothes had all been burned, and the knights had no interest in covering up an enemy—Philip II's gaze lingered briefly between the man's legs before moving away.

"It's strange. If a eunuch truly possesses such extraordinary talent, how could people bear to let him become a eunuch, and how could he endure such humiliation?"

Philip II did not say why the other party did not treat him—even in the Vatican, the priest who served the Pope was said to be able to reattach severed limbs to a person's body, a process known as flesh regeneration.

However, there is a prerequisite: it must be done within a certain period of time, and the severed limb must be intact and able to fit back into the original wound.

Limbs that have lost blood for a long time, or have been burned, contaminated by mud, or have lost their original vitality due to the passage of time, cannot be reattached.

Regarding this... César does know a little. In fact, just like in the Christian world, people who receive God's blessing unexpectedly without ever being chosen in a church are often labeled as devils by church people.

In the Saracen world, people usually send their children to learn from scholars or elders and become their students.

Their teachers would at some point—similar to Christians—invite children aged nine to fourteen to temples for long periods of fasting and prayer. During this time, some of them would hear the revelations of the prophets, and only after receiving these revelations could they be further promoted.

That is, to become a future scholar.

However, even without receiving enlightenment, they can still gain respect from others, like the elderly people in Damascus who, despite lacking special abilities, still serve as temporary leaders of the people—they are basically of this background.

You might ask, what about those who weren't students? In fact, because Nur ad-Din dedicated his life to promoting "education," each student only needed to pay a small tuition fee to enroll. Even those who couldn't afford the fees—if they were Saracens, they might receive a pardon—were the worst off for the children who were slaves. For them, hearing the prophet's revelations was not a blessing, but a curse.

If they were not originally Saracens, but merely Turks, Armenians, or Franks, they would be immediately killed or castrated once such signs appeared—even if they were already adults. Presumably, the eunuch beside Nurdin also had such a background, but Nurdin had always kept him well hidden.

People may know that he was someone who might have been tempted by the devil and followed him—yes, here the Saracens and Christian priests share the same claim—but they don't know that his abilities were so astonishing.

It is also possible that Nur ad-Din's cause of death was an acute myocardial infarction or cerebral infarction—Cesar could not have dissected his body, and of course did not know the cause, but it was certainly knowledge that the Grand Eunuch had not yet mastered.

This disease originates deep within Nurdin's body, from the most delicate and intricate human organs. Even though he possesses the ability to instantly heal penetrating wounds, he cannot revive his master and restore his health.

“What is even more astonishing is that their sultan, I mean, did such a thing to a perfectly healthy man and still managed to keep him so loyal,” Philip II said.

“If a pagan who has been taught from childhood not to worship Allah and who has prayed in a temple has acquired unusual abilities, either the devil is using him to do evil, or the devil has possessed him.”

Even if he were killed, he would have nothing to complain about. But at this moment, a person of high status was willing to step forward, vouch for him, and save his life.

Although you have become a eunuch, you can serve by his side and become his right-hand man. Even those high-ranking Viziers and Emirs will bow and fawn upon you. You can even become the teacher of the Sultan's son.

Aside from those who are inherently strong-willed and clear-headed, most people will find it difficult to escape this framework imposed upon them. It was placed upon them when they were very young, and by the time they grow up, they themselves have already become part of that framework, making change nearly impossible.

Upon hearing this, Philip II nodded slightly, "It seems that those Roman cardinals did the same thing."

Wild, blessed priests were often subjected to more rigorous supervision than other priests, and they were usually forced to reside in a monastery for life.

The monastery was almost entirely staffed by jailers who guarded him.

They could be considered the private property of the Pope or a bishop. Anyone wishing to use them would have to pay a very high price.

Philip II was sickly as a child, which led to his father being subjected to a great deal of extortion.

(End of this chapter)