When she saw this familiar city again, Isabella couldn't help feeling a little emotional.
Unexpectedly, in just over a year, the church has changed from the only hope for mankind to defeat the devil to an obstacle to the battle of divine will.
Although she has lived here for a long time, she does not have much affection for the church. O'Brien's day-to-day teaching made her understand that the result is always more important than the process, and if the devil cannot be stopped, all gains and losses are meaningless.
She implemented this teaching and chose Zero who was more promising than Archbishop Mayne, and then went to Roland Wimbledon after Zero's defeat. If there was a leader with more potential than Roland, she would still make a similar choice.
Because this is righteousness.
Compared with personal interests, she puts the continuation of humankind in the first place.
But having said that, Isabella still has some unforgettable regrets in her heart, but she couldn't figure it out for a while, what went wrong. She didn't understand until she returned to the old holy city.
She was feeling sorry for Zero.
As a pure person who has experienced a long time, Zero should be separated from her; there are also many pure people who have secretly complained about the moodiness of the heart grabber, but unexpectedly, she feels that the other party is inexplicably easy to get along with, compared to those who have their own feelings. A pure person who mixed his own thoughts and other demands in the battle of divine will, Zero's thoughts are simply undisguised, and her beliefs are far beyond the reach of others.
Isabella found that Zero was actually not much different from her. The only difference was that she was more accustomed to being the assistant, while Zero was the leader.
This probably has nothing to do with nature, but is an inevitable choice after the other party has lived for more than two hundred years.
If he had met Roland ten years earlier, the holy city would not have become what it is today.
Too bad it all happened too late.
After two circles, Maisie landed firmly in the camp outside the city.
"We're here, let's go down," said Agatha behind her.
Isabella nodded, turned over and jumped off the beast, and soldiers around her immediately greeted her, "Master Edith is already waiting in the tent, please come with me."
In addition to her on this trip, His Majesty Roland also asked Maisie to take the Ice Witch with her, and bluntly told her that she was still "serving a sentence" and needed to act under the supervision of other witches. Isabella didn't care about such a "straightforward" statement. She didn't wear the lock of God's punishment, her hands and feet were not shackled, and even her clothes were brand new, which was an unexpected preferential treatment.
Walking into the tent, a woman stood up from behind the table with a smile, "I'm Edith Kant, a member of the Defense Department, and the temporary leader of the battle against the Holy City."
A good-looking mortal, thought Isabella. "I thought you would control the Hermes Plateau first, and then go west to recover the old holy city."
"This is the plan, but the people from Dawn came too quickly." Edith recounted the situation, "His Majesty's order is to ensure the safety of the monastery, this is not a problem, the difficulty is how to be safe. Move the orphans out in an orderly manner. If I remember correctly, they all grew up with church education, right? If you force them out, I'm afraid it will have the opposite effect, so I think you may be able to do something. Before the expedition, His Majesty assigned this task to you."
Isabella couldn't help frowning, "Wait... Did you come here by ladder from the clouds?"
"What, is there something wrong?"
"There is the main road that the church focuses on guarding. According to the principle, it should not be left unguarded."
"Is that so?" Edith also lowered her voice, "But the merchant thinks it is a secret passage that few people know about, and Sylvie didn't find anything unusual."
"The church has been operating here for hundreds of years, and I can figure out every stone and grass. How could it be possible to let go of such a path that is not controlled by the city wall." Isabella shook her head, "Let the smugglers pass by, just those gangs. It was done on purpose, it was originally prepared to deal with the evil moon coalition forces of the four kingdoms, and its sentries are set in natural caves between the mountains, so it is normal to be ignored."
"Could it be because of the collapse of the Holy City order?"
"The warning sequence of the ladder in the cloud is still above the outer city wall. It is logically difficult for such a situation to occur." Isabella was quite surprised. Where does this seem like a breakdown of order? It's almost like fleeing from the city. "If possible, I'd better go to Hermes to see it myself."
"Let's settle the matter of the monastery first," Agatha reminded. "You should be able to see the situation in the yard from the sky, right?"
"Indeed, Miss Lightning has checked all three major monasteries, and found that the orphans in a big trouble seem to be organized, as if they are ready to guard the compound, which is why we have never taken One of the reasons for the action." Edith spread her hands and said, "I don't want the soldiers to defeat the Dawn army unscathed, and finally lose here."
"Someone organized?" Isabella pondered for a moment, "Let me go in and talk to them."
"you alone?"
She wanted to say that one person is enough, but she took it back when she said it, "No, Agatha will come with me."
…
"I, Lord Isabella!" Seeing Isabella, Maggie immediately stood up straight, and subconsciously pressed her right hand to her chest.
"I've said it many times, you don't need to add a title, just call it by your name," she said blankly, "We are no longer pure."
"Yes, my lord!" Maggie nodded hastily.
Isabella secretly sighed, although His Majesty stipulated her range of action, but did not restrain Maggie, Vanilla and others. Later, they would occasionally come to the diplomatic building to find her, and by the way, they would chat about the novelties in the Witch League. It's just that they still carried the habits in the monastery, and they haven't completely changed it yet... Fortunately, Agatha didn't mind these details.
"Take us in." She pointed to the city not far away.
"Isn't the First Army going?" Maggie summoned the magic ark and glanced at Edith who was seeing off behind her.
"They won't enter the Old Holy City until safety is ensured."
The ark quickly sank into the ground, leaving only a transparent ceiling. Through the soil layer above, you could see the lightning guiding the direction in the air.
Although there are four monasteries in the Old Holy City, they are actually equivalent to one. They are built around the Reflection Church, connected by underground passages, and lead to the Privy Temple in the mountain by a secret road, mainly to facilitate the delivery of new witches to the transformation ceremony. However, since the Awakening of the Supernatural caused a monastery to be burned down, the connecting passage has been closed.
The Magic Ark quietly sneaked into the western monastery closest to the outer circle. As Lightning said, the huge courtyard was empty. There were two yellow-faced and thin girls standing at the entrance of the lobby. high.
"Float up, just send it here." Isabella said.
"Don't you need to dive in first?" Maggie asked in surprise.
"There are too many hidden gods in it, so there's no need to take this risk." Giant gods are often placed in important places like monasteries, and the coverage can reach more than 100 steps, far beyond her elimination range.
The ark jumped out of the ground quickly, causing a burst of panic among the guards. In their eyes, the two almost suddenly appeared in the courtyard.
The sharp whistle sounded immediately, the closed doors and windows were opened one after another, and a group of orphans, led by more than a dozen nuns, swarmed out, holding swords, wooden shields, and short bows and crossbows at the two of them. Ice has condensed in Agatha's hand, and as long as the opponent shoots an arrow, she can wrap Isabella in it at any time.
"Wait, wait! Stop!" Suddenly, the nun who took the lead shouted loudly.
"You... Are you by the Pope's side... Lord Isabella?" another nun asked in a trembling voice.
Following this question, everyone stopped immediately.
"It's me." Isabella nodded calmly.
It seems that they have not forgotten themselves. In this way, the task assigned by His Majesty should be able to be completed satisfactorily.
However, the following reaction caught her off guard.
"It's really Lord Isabella! Great, we're saved!"
"No... It's Your Majesty Isabella! Your Majesty, please save us!"
"His Holiness the Pope! Please don't leave us behind!"
More and more people dropped their weapons and knelt down with their heads buried in the ground, and His Majesty's voice resounded through the courtyard for a while.