By the time Benjamin arrived near Regina overnight, things seemed to have settled.
"What the hell is going on?"
The gates of Regina were closed and it was unusually quiet, but the flags on the city wall had changed colors. Observing this, Benjamin did not dare to enter the city, so he could only meet Miles in the woods outside the city, and then asked.
By this time, Miles had gone from being accompanied by several mages to being alone.
"... When the Pope caught up, I failed to block all his magic. Several mages who set out with me had already been killed by him." Miles said slowly with a rare look of guilt on his face, " terribly sorry."
Benjamin sighed and said, "Forget it, it's not your fault."
Those mages were willing to leave as bait, but in fact they were already prepared to sacrifice in their hearts. Grant's strength is very terrifying, and Miles may not be able to stop him if he is prepared.
"But... I kept this key." Miles reached out, took out the ginkgo leaf, and handed it to Benjamin.
Benjamin nodded and put the keys away.
"How did things evolve to this point? Regina... was really captured by them?" He asked solemnly.
"About half an hour after we left Rock City, the Pope caught up with us. He quickly saw through our disguise, realized that he had been deceived, and wanted to rush back to Rock City. We could only hold him back as much as possible. Several mages... He also died in the process." Miles said slowly, "I fought with him for nearly an hour. In the end, he threw me away by flying, and then changed direction and flew to Regina."
Benjamin couldn't help but frowned when he heard this.
So decisive
He didn't expect that Grant could leave nearly a hundred thousand troops and countless priests behind without blinking an eye. When the pope reached this point, it was hard for Benjamin to imagine that the church could really approve of his approach
but…
"How did he capture Regina? Alone? Isn't this a bit too bizarre?"
"Of course he's not alone. He should have used divine magic to bring a team of several hundred people over from somewhere. According to the information I heard, they initially pretended to be bandits and attacked, but when the mages and guards who stayed behind appeared, After that, the Pope solved them all by himself."
"In other words... Regina has really been occupied by them?" Although he was mentally prepared, Benjamin couldn't help but feel depressed.
"You can say that." Miles replied, "All the officials in the city have been captured, and ordinary people are hiding in their homes and dare not go out. Regina is now under complete martial law. However, due to the internal patrols There are not enough soldiers, and their defense is still very loose. If you have an idea, I can take you to sneak in."
When Benjamin heard this, he shook his head without hesitation.
His strength has not yet been restored, and Grant is still inside. What can he do if he goes in? Although it was a bit hard to accept, the fact that Regina had been captured was an irreversible reality, and it was impossible for them to take the city back all at once.
It seems... we can only think about it in the long term.
"Let's go back to Rock City first. From this moment on, that will be Icol's real base camp." Benjamin sighed, turned around, and left here with Miles.
The situation has changed dramatically, and he must inform everyone in Rock City of all this.
At the same time as Benjamin and the others left Regina.
In the city of Regina, inside the closed palace gate.
"Your consciousness is... that you are the real queen of Icol. You did not die of illness as rumored by the outside world, but were imprisoned here by those mages who launched a coup?"
Grant sat on the chair, glanced at the ugly woman lying on the ground in front of him, and asked.
"Yes, this is the truth of everything. They... that mage named Benjamin destroyed me and this country." The woman raised her head, her face covered with scars under her messy hair, and her voice sounded like rust. Iron tools rub against each other.
"It's interesting." Grant didn't respond and said slowly, "So... do you know who I am?"
"I know! Of course I know!" The woman's voice suddenly became excited, "You are the Pope. You have captured Regina before you can release me from that hellish place. Tell me whether those hateful mages have been captured. Did you kill them all?”
Grant was silent for a moment and let out a cold snort.
"… not yet."
The woman was also stunned when she heard this. However, she quickly reacted and let out a low, hoarse laugh, saying, "In that case, I think you will need me."
There was a flash of contempt in Grant's eyes.
"What do I need from you?"
"Revenge against those mages... against the Magic Academy!" The woman suddenly clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "They packaged themselves up in a bright and beautiful way and buried all their sins deep underground. Only then did they deceive the people of Icol. Only the people in the world can do this." Support them. And now, now as long as you let me out and let me expose their crimes to the public, everything they have will be completely destroyed!"
Grant heard this and shook his head.
"You have gone crazy." He said without mercy, "Look at what you look like now and listen to your voice. No one will believe that you are the queen."
"I know!"
The woman roared angrily as if she had been stabbed in a painful spot. However, maybe because she was locked up for too long, she became a little nervous and her mood changed very quickly. She quickly shrank back and assumed a helpless posture.
"I, I know they won't believe me, but... if the Pope comes to testify for me, everything will be different!" She said in a begging tone, "Let me out, and I will help you destroy them .”
Hearing this, Grant looked thoughtful and tapped the armrest of the chair with his fingers.
"... If I read correctly, are you a mage now?" Suddenly, he asked.
Suddenly, the woman's eyes showed resentment and hatred again, as if another sore spot had been stabbed hard by the other party. However, she still controlled her emotions and said in as innocent a tone as possible: "It's all evil experiments by those mages. I had no magic talent to begin with, and after going through their experiments, my mental power also suffered permanent defects. I can't even If you can't cast the simplest entry-level magic, how can you be a mage?"
Upon hearing this, Grant frowned and hesitated.
When the woman saw this, she couldn't help but become excited.
Is there finally hope?…
Suddenly, she tore off a few pieces of cloth from her prison clothes, covered her already ruined face, and then moved forward a few steps, tremblingly approaching Grant's feet.
"Your Majesty the Pope, I know that the purpose of the Church has always been temperance, but I also know that God will allow His believers to occasionally release some desires that have no place to rest."
As she spoke, she slowly stood up and began to take off her prison clothes from her shoulders, exposing her body that had not been destroyed bit by bit at a slow and **-like speed.
Grant's face suddenly darkened.
"roll."
At that moment, the queen had just taken off her prison clothes near her chest, covering her face and unable to see the other person's expression. However, she could feel a scorching temperature passing through her throat, short and sharp, like being lightly pricked by a needle.
Then...she felt nothing at all.
"A crazy woman."
Grant stood up with a look of disgust on his face. He didn't glance at the body on the ground and left the room without hesitation.
Outside the door, General Press was waiting with some anxiety.
"His Majesty the Pope... In my opinion, in fact, regardless of whether this woman is the real Queen Icol, her advice is still helpful to us." Watching Grant walk out, Press hesitated and advised. , "Isn't it a waste to just kill her like this?"
Grant ignored him at all and continued walking forward as if he hadn't heard him, and soon disappeared at the end of the palace corridor.
General Press couldn't help but tremble again when he saw this. He turned his head and looked at the body lying in the room, and couldn't help but touch his throat.
"I heard... the former Queen Icol was also a well-known beauty!"
He shook his head, seeming a little regretful, but turned around, closed the door, and quickly left along the corridor.