Let me introduce you, this is my girlfriend, the Israeli boxing champion

"That's right, but I didn't expect that this time it would fall on us."

Through the ruins of the house, Constantine could see the equestrian statue and the magnificent dome in the distance. He felt as if his throat was blocked by something, and he was stunned and speechless.

"Let's go, as you said, to the palace."

"But the right to choose is not in our hands now, Constantine."

In front of two men who needed each other's support to move forward, they were stopped by Aku Hinako and her group who happened to be passing by.

“We have nowhere to go now.”

Chapter 221 This moment is just like that moment

"From your tone, our current situation is very bad."

Although he couldn't see his expression, he could still tell that the situation on his side was not good.

"Those two people...I know them, and they know me."

"Are they all from Chaldea?"

"exactly."

On their escape route, Alvin and Constantine ran into Akagi Hinako and her group who were returning to the cathedral, which was something that neither side had expected.

"What's wrong? Everyone is waiting for you at Hagia Sophia."

"Well, it seems we encountered a fleeing army, but there were only two injured people."

And the injuries were particularly severe...

Ophelia reported the situation truthfully to Chaldea, but in her own opinion, it was just a formality; the two wounded soldiers posed no threat to them at all.

In fact, even Constantine thought so at first - until he saw Boudica, who arrived late.

“Now we are in big trouble.”

......

"Two wounded soldiers? Ophelia even reported that? How meticulous."

Shion slowly clicked on the image sent back by Ophelia, and then closed it at a speed that ordinary people could hardly imagine.

What's going on?

What's the matter?

What's wrong with your hands? What's wrong with making yourself look like a deputy coal miner?

"What are you looking at?"

"Ophelia sent an image of two wounded soldiers."

"Then let them go. They are just wounded soldiers. It won't change anything."

Olga Marie didn't even think about it, she just waved her hand and handed the matter over to Shion, who breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

"Hello? (Greek)"

Constantine asked tentatively, but got no response, which made him a little disappointed; it seemed that not everyone with black hair and black eyes was one of them.

"There are no Greeks in there, Constantine."

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"I'll try it in the Frankish language," he said. "Hello. (Alemannic)"

Ophelia looked very confused. She tilted her head and pointed at herself with her right hand. "Are you calling me?"

"That was a mistake. She doesn't speak Alemannic."

Alvin shook his head, as if he had not noticed Constantine's subtle expression at all, and said to himself: "The girl is from the Wettin family of the Margrave of Meissen. Judging from her location, she belongs to the North Germanic branch, which is completely different from what I know."

"How about trying Latin?"

"Then let's give it a try. The books of the Magic Association are written in Latin. I think they should be able to understand it."

"Hello, we want to know which way to the Golden Horn? We want to go back to Galata."

Although Latin is a "dead" language, several people present were proficient in it. They finally breathed a sigh of relief when they were able to establish barrier-free communication.

"It looks like they are the Genoese from Galata. Let them pass. After all, less trouble is worse than more."

Elizabeth unexpectedly made a pertinent suggestion. If Tamamonomae was present, she would probably feel very relieved and have a feeling that her "child has grown up".

"Has Galata ever produced those Heroic Spirit-level beings?"

"If it ever belonged to Venice in history."

Without waiting for Shion's reply, the people at the scene quickly reached a consensus. After all, they knew every detail of certain things that had to be hidden from Mashu.

"For Galata, follow this road to the end in front of the Grand Palace and turn left. You will see the Golden Horn pier."

“Thank you, and may the glory of God continue to shine upon you in the future.”

When they received the order to pass through, they breathed a sigh of relief. You know, Boudica looked at them with a smile without saying a word. Alvin was not surprised that Boudica recognized them, but he was afraid that she would reveal his and Constantine's identities in the next second. After all, there was an incident a long time ago.

But now it seems that the Iceni queen has let them go. But this does not mean that they are safe. From the moment Constantinople became Constantiniere, they who stayed in the city could no longer be safe. It was still unknown whether Grand Duke Notaras' plan would succeed.

But the reality is often not what we want. The speed of the two injured people was not very fast. Then, for some unknown reason, Aku Hinako looked down and happened to see Alvin.

"Ok?"

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Aku Hinako stared at Alvin, who looked dirty and filthy. This was normal, as every soldier coming down from the battlefield would look like this.

The problem was the look in his eyes, what that exterior fear concealed—calm, as calm as the sea.

But she had no idea about the undercurrents surging beneath the calm sea surface.

"Nothing, I hope you can return to Genoa safely."

"Thank you."

It was probably a fight within the family, which was quite common in this era. Aku Hinako told herself that the glasses were just a decoration, and she was not really nearsighted, so she could not even see a heroic spirit under her nose.

"Let's go back to the church. Ritsuka and the others must have been waiting for a long time."

Following Akagi Hinako's order, both Alvin, who was facing away, and Shion, who was in Chaldea, breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of their hearts.

"That woman is extraordinary."

Constantine also breathed a sigh of relief.

"How did you get it?"

"Although it is something mysterious, the aura on her is as if she has just come down from the battlefield; she may not like war very much, but she sees the nature of human beings clearly."

"...Are you interested in applying for a job in Chaldea?"

"That depends on whether you accept me or not."

"I'm not in charge. Besides, after this incident, I'll probably be locked up in Chaldea and used as a mascot."

"We're here, the Grand Palace."

The Great Palace in Constantinople, once the center of imperial power, has long been in ruins since it was completely destroyed by the Crusaders in 1204.

The crown prince usurped the throne with the help of the Holy Army, and the castle was robbed in an instant.

As he gazed at the bleak sight of the old palace from Alvin, Constantine thought of the fickleness of the world and its ultimate destruction, and remembered two lines of poetry recalling the Arabs’ destruction of the Sassanid Persia in the seventh century:

In Khosrau's palace, the spider is now the curtain-twisterer, and in Afrasiab's castle, the owl gives the order for a changing of guard.

"This moment, just like that moment."

Chapter 222: Red Night

Just as Olga Marie said, meeting two wounded soldiers on the road was no big deal, and the route chosen by Aku Hinako made Ophelia more convinced of this.

It was a sad sight. The dream that had begun at Manzikert had come true; on this glorious day that established the Ottoman Empire as a world power, Aku Hinako had seen the fall of yet another great empire.

"Ms. Boudica, is there anything you want to say?"

As one of the people who hated the word "Rome" the most, Ophelia was curious about the queen's perception of the fall of the ancient empire.

"What do you think I'm going to say, little girl?"

Boudica asked back.

"Feeling happy or ecstatic? Or is it the kind of desperate madness after losing your goal?"

"I......"

"If I really want to explain it, I would say it's probably a feeling of loss."

She looked at the ravaged city. In front of her, there was a long line of prisoners being brutally driven into makeshift tents outside the city. Most of the last 5 residents were taken back to warships or military camps. More than 4000 families were torn apart. Children separated from their families called for their mothers, and men looked for their wives. Everyone was stunned by the catastrophe.

“It wasn’t everything I wanted to see and even though they beat me and took Albion, it wasn’t the way it should have ended.”

"You are asking the wrong person, Ophelia. I think Miss Elizabeth Bathory behind you is the one who is qualified to answer."

The magician girl was confused at first, but then she seemed to remember something and slowly said a place name:

"Transylvania."

"Thousands of miles away, in the mountains of the Carpathian Mountains, that is my hometown. From today on, it will no longer be peaceful as before."

From this day on, the sword of Damocles will always hang over their heads.

Elizabeth looked at the long line of people in front of her, then lowered her head. She couldn't bear to look at these things now.

"Let's go, everyone."

As Elizabeth had said, tonight in the Ottoman camp, the victorious jihadists would light bonfires, celebrate their victory, sing and dance to the sound of flutes and drums, and dress their horses in priestly attire and parade mockingly with crosses with Turkish hats on them.

They would trade their spoils, buying and selling gems, and it was said that some people could buy a lot of jewelry with just a few copper coins, thus becoming rich overnight.

The last ray of sunset was the most eye-catching and the most reluctant to leave. After passing through the ruins, they finally arrived in front of the church.

"You guys came here, did you encounter anything on the way?"

Ritsuka greeted them with a smile. Whether for the current Chaldea or herself, the return of all members was a happy thing.

Aku Hinako nodded, and after telling the story of the two soldiers, she saw the batch of building materials in front of the church.

"That is......"

“The main material for the four minarets, which will become an important part of the Hagia Sophia Mosque.”

"Ayasofya Mosque, did you change your name so quickly?"

The content of the conversation between Ritsuka and Aku Hinako was not hidden from anyone. Romani, who was in the control room, leaned back in his chair, with a lot of thoughts in his mind.

"In this battle between brothers, Ishmael ultimately emerged victorious."

"But the descendants of Ishmael gradually became radical and closed, and the descendants of Isaac will be reborn from the ashes in thirty years."

"Director, can you tell me what you think?"

Although it is inevitable that something will rise and fall after reaching its peak, the Crescent Moon Sect did not complete its self-reform like other Abrahamic religions, but instead continued to decline after its final peak. This in itself is worthy of study.

"Obviously, it was too successful in the beginning."

The holy magician from the Hashemite family said this to Alvin.

"After the Prophet returned to the Seventh Heaven in 632, the so-called Age of Conquest began. And in just 78 years, the 'Arab Empire' that you and I know has reached the peak of its territory."

"When the Crescent Moon Church was first established, the prophet wrote in his doctrine that he was constantly learning from other religions. After conquering Persia, many parts of Zoroastrianism were absorbed and learned."

"But because of the rapid expansion, they had an illusion: that our faith was advanced enough and there was no need to absorb anything from the outside world. Instead, the four major religious schools of the majority began to fight among themselves."

"I'm afraid that at that time, no one would have thought that the Hanbali School, which had been defending itself in the desert, would win the final victory."

"Ritsuka, take Mashu and go to the Golden Horn. The bloody night is about to begin."

Where Mashu couldn't see, Aku Hinako and Fujimaru Ritsuka said this.

"You know, she can't stand this."

If this day saw terrible massacres and other atrocities, these were by no means unique to the Crescent World.

In the Middle Ages, any army that conquered an enemy city would kill and plunder at will. There are many similar examples in Byzantine history, and if it is due to religious reasons, it is purely accidental.