A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

"This is the blessing of Christ..."

The light pirate ship could only pass by the fleet at the rear, about 20 to 30 meters away, without intercepting any of the ships.

The bald man looked at the other side's stern with hatred. He noticed that there were several people standing on the stern deck, looking at him.

Several people pointed and talked, but the leader looked at this side calmly.

The distance between the two sides is just enough that they can see each other clearly but cannot jump over each other.

Even a bald man couldn't jump over this distance.

If he had acted a little faster, that is, noticed and reacted two or three minutes earlier, then the merchant fleet would not have been able to escape, even if they had the protection of Christ.

It can only be said to be a matter of luck.

"...You're lucky!" the man said fiercely.

"You're lucky!" Thomas complained in his heart.

His spiritual field told him that the one on the bow of the enemy ship ahead was a protector of the country.

If there was only one ship at this moment, and it was a warship, Thomas would immediately order it to turn around and prepare to engage in battle.

When the time comes, add a bunch of magic to your crew, and just go for it without thinking, and kill the protector of the country.

Unfortunately, he had a fleet of four ships, all of which were clumsy merchant ships, and the enemy's reinforcements were close at hand.

It's so rare that a national defender is right in front of me, but I can't do anything.

Damn, how much effort was put into the Star-Moon Sword!

As far as we know now, there are at least two half-step protectors of the country and one protector of the country!

There are probably hundreds of elite fighters!

One protector of the country is worth a thousand, and one half-step protector of the country is worth half that, which is five hundred. The elite can fight one against a hundred. With a quick calculation, the Star-Moon Sword has invested more than ten thousand combat forces.

Add these pirate ships... well, that's over ten thousand people no matter how you count them.

In total, the Star-Moon Sword has gathered more than 20,000 troops.

Add to that the defensive strength of Smyrna itself... and calculate the armed civilians inspired by the "holy war."

It can be considered more than 30,000.

Well, the Byzantines deserved their defeat!

Moreover, this also made him realize that the Star-Moon Sword was by no means simple.

It's definitely not something that can be described as "an unremarkable sect." I'm afraid they have already wielded immense power, so great that they can influence the nation.

The forces mobilized this time prove everything.

Thomas thought as he watched the distance between the two sides grow farther and farther.

Driven by the wind, several merchant ships are sailing towards Rhodes Island with all their might.

At least this time, the Knights were not affected.

Not only did he rescue himself, but he also rescued many Russians and Bulgarians.

Not a loss.

Let’s go back first.

Just as Thomas was thinking this, Knight Joseph arrived. "The Grand Commander... that old man... wants to see you."

"Oh, let him come over!" said Thomas.

A few minutes later, the old man in the blue robe came to Thomas.

"Grand Commander." The old man bowed and saluted with a humble attitude.

"Um... Master," Thomas said. "What do you want to talk to me about? If you want to return to Constantinople, I will arrange it as soon as I get back."

"No, Your Excellency, Grand Master. I no longer need to return," the old man said. "I previously signed a contract with the Byzantine Imperial Family, which stipulated that I serve His Royal Highness. This contract has been fulfilled, so I now wish to serve you."

"For me?" But I am a member of the Order of Christ!

You, a magician, are mixed up in a knight order. Isn't that like a birthday man hanging himself because his life is too long?

Thomas actually had no discrimination against magicians, but he believed that the Knights would definitely discriminate against them, even be hostile to them. After all, in the eyes of Christians, magicians are evil.

In fact, the Knights are still polite to you now, and it is only out of respect for Byzantium.

"What did you mean by the completion of the contract?" Thomas noticed the problem.

"That's what it means." The old man replied.

"Oh, you didn't run away." Thomas sighed. His eyes looked towards the other side of the sky and sea. "Never mind, I'll arrange a place for you to stay in Rhodes Island. Indeed, I have some things... Um, what's your name? Never mind, I know magicians often change their names. I'll give you a new one, Radagast. This is the name of a legendary blue-robed magician."

"Radigast? That's a nice name."

Yes, now we have three of the five wizards in The Lord of the Rings.

Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast.

Now all we need are Romeshdanu and Moreda.

If I can really put them together, it would be worth it for me to give myself the name "Aragon" as a pseudonym.

Thomas complained inwardly.

Dusk.

In the distant sea, which Thomas could not see, a fierce battle was nearing its end.

The two fleets were like two giant beasts, fighting and biting each other on the sea.

But now it is the end.

Many broken warships floated on the sea, and more were burning with raging fire.

Without the crew's help, the flames would have slowly consumed everything.

The small sailboat was sailing in this sea that looked like hell.

Ahead were two ships tightly entangled with each other.

The three ships were pressed side by side, pulled together by the grappling hooks. It seemed the battle was not over yet.

But in reality, the battle cries could no longer be heard.

Judging from its position and condition, in the previous battle, this Byzantine warship wanted to break away from the fleet and escape, but was caught up due to problems with speed and course.

The final result was that they were besieged by two ships without any reinforcements.

These ships were extraordinary; the Star-Moon Sword had invested heavily in them. Each ship had two or three elite warriors on board to support it.

Under normal circumstances it would be one-on-one, but because he wanted to break away from the queue and escape, it turned into one-on-two, which was even more disadvantageous.

At Ferdinand's command, the sailboat approached the warships that were pressed together. With the help of a rope hanging from the edge of the ship, Ferdinand climbed onto the ship very easily.

As soon as he came up, he saw a man leaning against the mast, surrounded by corpses and blood.

He recognized the other person's identity at a glance. This was his prey, the Prince of Byzantium.

When he was in the Knights Templar, he had visited Constantinople more than once and met the prince.

The face of Byzantium, half a step to protect the country.

Now... he is smart but his own cleverness leads to his downfall!

"Your Highness!" Ferdinand smiled and drew his sword.

"Don't... don't kill me. I can pay... the ransom..." The prince raised his head with all his might and said, "Save..."

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I don't need the money." Ferdinand replied with a smile.

"I just need the chance to become a protector of the nation!"

A long time ago, he gave up the idea of ​​relying on his own strength to advance to the Protector of the Nation... It was too difficult and the hope was too slim.

If you want to become a protector of the country, you have to take out one million florins and go to Rome to exchange for a divine revelation.

Alternatively, kill a Protector or a Half-Step Protector and get an opportunity from the Star-Moon Sword Church.

"I've been accumulating luck for half a year just for this!"

Section 114 Counterattack Plan 1

The messenger galloped past, the sound of his horse's hooves making a deafening sound on the road outside the city of Rome.

The passers-by on the road ducked for cover, then gathered around and whispered after the messenger ran past.

Any fool could tell that this meant something big was happening.

Moreover, the messenger was not holding any flag or anything, which clearly meant that this time he was not bringing good news.

A day later, many people throughout the city received the bad news.

The Byzantines sent a large army to attack Smyrna, but were ambushed outside the city and suffered a crushing defeat.

The commander, Prince Andronicus, was killed, and the navy and army were almost annihilated.

In the end, only a few survivors escaped.

By the afternoon of the next day, the Pope's private reception room was full of people.

Pope Leo XI sat on the throne, with cardinals, archbishops and nobles on both sides.

The messenger was reading out the complete information over there.

This time the intelligence was very comprehensive, including the cause, process, result, and subsequent inference of the entire incident.

The reason why the Byzantines suffered such a crushing defeat this time was because of the emergence of a sect calling itself the "Sword of the Star and Crescent".

This sect cleverly united the originally scattered forces of the Star-Moon Sect countries.

On the surface, the Byzantines found a gap in the Seljuks and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to capture and control Smyrna when they had no reinforcements left, but in fact it was a trap.

The Sultanate of Rum does not have the military strength to support this side, but other countries do.

In addition, the pirates from various Star-Moon Cults were also won over by the Star-Moon Sword and combined to become a new force.

The Byzantines failed to detect the conspiracy of the Crescent-Star Sword and stepped into the trap, suffering a disastrous defeat.

In the reception room, everyone listened quietly. Many people had some understanding of the matter before attending the meeting, but not in such detail.

Everyone looked uneasy because the news was extremely bad.

This also meant that the power of Christians in the Eastern Mediterranean further declined, and the Byzantines would not be able to do anything for many years.

For the Holy Land, it is equivalent to losing a helper who helps share the pressure.

Worst of all, first by Rhodes and then by Byzantium, the Christian naval power here had been completely destroyed.

If there is no new force input, it means that the sea control of the entire eastern Mediterranean has fallen into the hands of the Crescent Moon Cult.

It is impossible to do anything in the short term.

This is extremely disadvantageous for the Church. It also means that the situation in the Holy Land may deteriorate further, and the reputation of the Church may suffer further damage.

All in all, it's very bad news.

Finally, the clerk in charge of reading finished reading the long report. The signature at the end of the report was Thomas, the new Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes Island.

This is a comprehensive report sent by the new Grand Master Thomas.

The Grand Master himself also participated in the battle, but he was abandoned by the Byzantines during the battle. He had to leave the main force and rush into the port of Smyrna with the other "tails" who were cut off to survive. He seized several ships and escaped by chance.

The Knights of Rhodes Island deployed 800 men in this battle and were the only group to escape the battlefield intact.

Of course, for things like this, he said so and everyone listened to him. As for whether they believed it or not... anyway, everyone believed it on the surface.

After the report was completed, Thomas naturally humbly asked the Pope for support, asking for money, ships, and troops.

These have become routine and there is no need to elaborate on them.

Since Thomas went to Rhode Island, he has taken the initiative to attack several times and has provided timely feedback and reports each time.

This requirement is at the end of all reports. We are all used to it.

"What do you think?" The Pope asked after everything was finished.

In reality, this was of no use, because even if an emergency meeting was held, the church would not be able to come up with any usable solutions.