Chapter 174 – The Holy City of Torra (1)

Chapter 174 – The Holy City of Torra (1)

The sky seemed to be collapsing.

The clouds and wind that were rushing toward the holy city of Torra released an unusual energy.

Upon sensing that something ominous was happening, Juan rode his horse and went out to the field to observe the sky.

Sina followed him as well

“Is it a storm? There have been a few unusual weather changes this year, but this is just...”

“It’s not a storm.”

Static electricity sparked up when Juan lifted his finger and slightly rubbed it. His face began to harden.

“It’s Telgramm. Someone is playing around with Telgramm right now.”

“Telgramm? You mean the weapon that creates thunderbolts? But I heard that it was sealed by the Church...”

At that moment, Sina closed her mouth; she thought of one person who had access to any and all the items kept in the Church.

“The Pope...?”

“I can’t think of anyone else. I can’t imagine Barth Baltic using Telgramm, since he probably doesn’t even know how to use it,” Juan answered.

Clouds from all over the continent frantically rushed toward Torra, before coming to a stop and breaking down. The broken clouds, as well as the wind poured down upon Torra as lightning and raindrops.

Considering that Torra looked like it was getting bathed with lightning from even the horizon, Sina couldn’t even imagine what the internal situation would be like.

Sina’s expression hardened at the hellish sight.

“Why is the Pope attacking his own allies? Is there any reason for him to do that...?” Sina asked.

“I don’t know what’s going on. But I guess I’ll have to wait and see if the Pope is the one committing the sin, or saving me from the trouble of having to kill the one who is messing around with Telgramm,” Juan replied coldly. “Either way, the fact that he will die won’t change.”

***

Hela couldn’t figure out how to report the news that was just delivered to her by an agent. She didn’t know whether she should tell Juan the news as it is, and at the same time, she wasn’t confident about handling what would happen after she reported the news.

Due to her misgivings, Hela decided to first call General Nienna, the head of the Northern Army, and Anya, the Captain of the Order of Huginn, to her tent.

“Okay. I have bad news, worse news, and the worst news,” Hela said.

“I feel like all three are related to each other anyway. Just tell us everything,” Nienna frowned.

“I’ll tell you what happened in chronological order. The bad news is that someone tried to oust the Pope and commit treason in the holy city of Torra. But the treason attempt has failed, and many of the figures that led the treason are either dead or missing. Among them are Heretia Helwin, Ivy Isildin, and Lenly Leon—the Captain of the Imperial Guards.”

The three people mentioned by Hela were the people who had personal connections with Juan. Hela didn’t know the exact situation either, but her understanding was just as bad as the situation in the Capital.

Anya’s expression hardened as well.

“Miss Heretia is involved in treason? But she isn’t the type to do such a reckless thing when success is right around the corner. I’m sure she had a reason.”

“I’m not too sure what she was up to, but I feel like no longer being able to suppress the citizen’s complaints played a huge part in the current situation. One wrong move could group them with the Pope, you know? Perhaps Barth Baltic’s defeat was also a huge part of their decision.”

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It was not uncommon for a country on the brink of destruction to collapse due to internal strife. Hela figured that Heretia could no longer suppress the major undercurrents, since the discontent with the Church had already been accumulating for fifty years. The return of the emperor just acted as a catalyst to speed up that destruction.

“Didn’t you also need His Majesty's power rather than His Majesty’s philosophy for the common purpose of destroying the Church? Besides, as far as I know, His Majesty has already warned you that he might exhaust you and the Fourth Division for his own purposes.”

Hela opened her eyes wide with a perplexed expression upon hearing Nienna’s words. What Nienna just mentioned was Juan’s answer to Hela’s attempt to get him under her control back when she didn’t know that he was the emperor. There was no way that Nienna could have known about it.

At that moment, Juan entered the tent.

Seeing this, Nienna released her grip on Hela, causing her to slump to her seat.

“I’m sorry to have overheard all of you, but I had to wonder what you all had to discuss without me at a time like this—and I must say, it didn’t go too far beyond my expectations.”

Hela realized that Juan had been communicating with Nienna directly through her mind. It was only natural that Juan could use such a power, since even the Templars were capable of using it.

“We can win without doing anything, and we can also stop the massacre as long as I stand still. Hela, is that what you think?” Juan asked.

“Well, isn’t that true? Your Majesty has already warned me many times that you would commit a slaughter if you have to. I’m just trying to avoid the worst situation.”

“Hela, you poor lady.”

Juan approached Hela and knelt on one knee to look at her.

When Juan’s hand touched Hela’s wrinkled face, Hela flinched and shuddered.

“If I really wanted to kill all humans, do you think you would have the time to do anything about it? You’ll see what true helplessness is in Torra.”

Juan turned his head and looked back at Nienna and Anya.

The two waited for Juan’s order with nervous looks on their faces.

There was no expression on Juan’s face as he gave out orders.

***

Pavan increased his speed.

The raindrops and lightning that had been wantonly striking down upon all of Torra had stopped, but fires and wailing could be heard from everywhere. Urban administration was paralyzed, and even the Imperial Army which should be controlling a disaster like this was busy searching for the rebels. The city felt like it had already been defeated even before the war began. Pavan was convinced that it wouldn’t be long before the city really was defeated.

The Imperial Palace, where His Majesty’s body is enshrined, appeared before Pavan’s eyes. For a moment, he hesitated in front of the golden scaffolding that marked the boundary of the Imperial Palace. Soon after, he decided to set foot inside.

In ordinary times, only those with permission from His Majesty could pass through the veil of benevolence that surrounded the entire palace. However, there was nothing blocking him right now.

Besides Pavan, the Priests, the Bishops, as well as the Templars of the Church were wandering back and forth in the Imperial Palace with anxious expressions.

Pavan passed them and headed toward the center of the Imperial Palace.

The atmosphere inside the palace was imbued with madness and gloom. At this point, Priests trembling in fear or bursting into hysterical laughter seemed to be rather ordinary sights.

The sight of the Priests constantly shouting unintelligible words reminded Pavan of Bishop Rietto, the mad Bishop whose mind was shattered. Pavan thought that most of the people from the Church had gone insane.

“Your Holiness.”

Before long, Pavan arrived before a huge door. In front of the door, Pavan found Helmut sitting on the sofa he had brought from somewhere. Helmut looked like he had aged quite a bit in just one day—all his hair had turned white and there were a lot more wrinkles on his face.

Helmut glared at Pavan with a wary look on his face.

“The Captain of the Order of the Capital? How did you get here?”

“I was able to come thanks to Your Holiness lifting the veil of benevolence. As you ordered, the Capital Army is on high alert and blocking the city, while the search for the rebels is also underway.”

Of course, the Pope could not pass through the veil of benevolence. Instead, he chose to destroy the veil of benevolence with the help of the power of Grace.

“What about the Saintess? Did you find the Saintess?”