So I'm a sheep.

Wood was getting used to the feel of his new sword when Aran suddenly said something like that.

Originally, he just wanted to test the power of the sacred artifact; he didn't really think about anything else.

But when Aran said that, Wood inexplicably recalled the moment when she broke his nose.

"..."

"Aran, what are you thinking about?"

Wood smiled kindly: "Am I, Wood, the kind of person who holds grudges?"

"That's true, aren't all great people magnanimous?"

The naive Aran felt relieved and smiled shyly: "Your Excellency, please guide me this time as well."

"Yes, no problem, no problem."

Wood's smile remained unchanged as he swung his sword in a backhand strike!

The exquisite sword strike not only blocked all of Aran's escape routes, but also contained seven or eight hidden follow-up moves that made the girl's palms sweat.

Ah Ran is no longer the same as before, but when facing Wood, she was still instantly at a disadvantage.

"what!"

The Double Axe Style was still completely out of the question. Aran grabbed his old buddy and swung it down with his longsword.

Without any metallic clanging sound, the longsword in Wood's hand was silently sliced ​​in two.

Aran and Wood were both stunned, remaining motionless in their axe-sword-clashing stance.

"Hahaha."

The young girl broke the silence, asking with a smile, "Wood, is the power of the sacred artifact still worthy of your attention?"

"...Inconceivable"

Wood threw away the broken sword in his hand and said in a deep voice, "I beg Lady Sasha to help me and my knights modify our weapons. Even if we only have one chance to use them, they can completely turn the tide of the war!"

Is it only used once?

She understood what Wood meant, but the little girl didn't care at all.

Having tasted the benefits of the sacred artifact, do you and your knight truly have the willpower to completely abandon it?

Even if the knights' sacred artifacts are confiscated after the Wood War, Sasha has other ways to deal with them.

The Church of the Stars has Knights Templar, so how can Protestants not have 'Holy Relic Bearers'?

The number doesn't even need to be too large. As long as the Protestant Church has about two hundred Relic Bearers, Wood and his knights will have to contribute their faith and reclaim the Relics to maintain their deterrent effect.

'Wood, Wood, whether you like it or not, you must have devout faith in the great goddess.'

'Yes, that's right, I've got you all figured out.'

............................................................

After Aran and Sami left, Wood suddenly spoke up: "Lady Sasha, do you know the young man who came with Aran today?"

"Yes, I know him. His name is Sami."

"That Sami is very suspicious."

Knowing that the young girl disliked his beating around the bush, Wood was very direct this time: "I have been through many life-or-death situations and I am very sensitive to other people's malice."

“Before my match with Aran, he harbored very strong malice towards me.”

"Malice...is it murderous intent?"

The girl shook her head: "Although I don't know what happened, he did have murderous intent towards both of us for a moment."

What is your relationship with him like?

We don't have much of a relationship.

"Okay, I understand."

Without mentioning Sami again, Sasha and Wood talked about the recent movements of the Starry Night Church and Moonlit Night.

Just as they were engrossed in their conversation, a knight came in and reported to Wood that a bishop from the Church of the Stars was requesting an audience.

"Which bishop is visiting me at this hour?" Wood asked in surprise.

"It's Bishop Victor."

Oh, Victor, an 'old friend'.

Wood sneered, "Let him in. I want to see what he's up to at this hour in Nyster!"

"Lord Wood, oh, the angel is here too."

As soon as Bishop Victor entered, before Wood and Sasha could say anything, he announced loudly, "My visit to Nist is not only on behalf of the Church of the Stars, but also on behalf of the Moonlit Royal Family."

"so?"

"In times of war, envoys are not to be killed!"

After speaking righteously to Wood, Victor looked at the angel again: "Please don't try anything with me either, it's no use."

"After this trip concludes and I return to headquarters, I will be isolated in isolation until the war ends."

"..."

"........."

"Hmph, Victor, what exactly do you want from me this time?"

Wood looked at him mockingly: "Could it be that Moonlit Waves and the Church of Stars are planning to surrender?"

"of course not."

Victor said with a serious expression, "Your Excellency, do you know that you are about to face a great calamity?"

Volume 1: Chapter 133 (Omitted)

"Heh, how exactly is this impending disaster?"

Since Victor had said something surprising, Wood didn't mind spending some more time listening to what he had to say.

“Your Excellency, you may think that Princess Louise is not good at military strategy. You can keep her in check when the two countries are at war.”

"But I'm here to tell you—His Majesty's condition has greatly improved, and your opponent this time is not Princess Louise but King Yuelan!"

"..."

"Haha, hahahaha."

Wood was silent for a moment, then suddenly pointed at Victor and burst into laughter.

"I thought you were going to say something amazing, and this is it?"

"So what if King Yuelan has recovered? It's not like I haven't fought him on the battlefield!"

"When I had just inherited the title of Duke and my prestige in the country was still insufficient, King Moonwave personally led his army to invade Nist."

"As you all know, in the end I beat him so badly he fled and didn't dare to mess with Nister for years."

"You dare use a mere defeated opponent to intimidate me?"

“Your Excellency, your statement that His Majesty ‘fled in disarray’ is a gross exaggeration. As far as I know, you only achieved a Pyrrhic victory in the end.”

"Whether it's a resounding victory or a Pyrrhic one, I still won."

Wood said coldly, "If we meet again on the battlefield, the one under pressure will not be me, but His Majesty the King."

You're just fooling yourself.

Victor shook his head repeatedly: "I'll just say one thing, Duke Wood, things are different now."

"During the Battle of Nister, you did not hesitate to issue a national mobilization order and personally charged into battle to boost morale, which barely managed to drive back the Moonlit Army."

"Nister was severely weakened in this battle; Lord Wood, you appeared to have won but were in reality defeated!"

A victory in name only, but a defeat in reality?

I clearly won, so how come I'm the loser in your mouth, Victor?

"absurd"

Wood frowned deeply: "A win is a win, and a loss is a loss."

“I won, so King Moonlit has not dared to make a move against Nister in the past few years.”

“If I hadn’t driven him away back then, Nister would not exist now.”

You're only half right.

Victor smiled and said, "Indeed, if you hadn't driven His Majesty away back then, Nister would no longer exist."

"However, the fact that Nister has been safe and sound for the past few years is not because His Majesty dares not plot against Nister."

"Your Excellency, you can lead a thousand men to defeat two thousand or three thousand men, but can you defeat ten thousand men?"

"The military strength of Yuelan is not exaggerated to the point that it is ten times that of ours!"

"If not ten times, then five or six times is surely possible."

Victor countered, "With a five- or six-fold military disparity, and His Majesty personally commanding the army, Your Excellency, ask yourself honestly, if Yue Lan were to launch another large-scale invasion in the next few years, could you withstand it or not?"

"..."

Seeing that Wood remained silent, Victor continued, "You know very well that the reason why Nester has been able to protect himself all these years is entirely because His Majesty has not been ruthless enough to take action."

"As for why His Majesty couldn't bring himself to take action..."

"Your Excellency, you know the reasons better than I do."

......................................................................

To be honest, that King Yuelan really admires himself.

Such generous terms for the battle for the throne could only be offered by someone who genuinely admires you.

“Your Majesty, no matter how much His Majesty admires you, he will never hold back in a war that concerns the life and death of both nations.”

Victor put on a puzzled expression: "To be honest, why did you go back on your word at the last minute and refuse to participate in the 'Battle for the Throne'?"