In just one morning, various rumors spread wildly within the Hori Kingdom.
"Well... did you see that notice on the street? I heard that there are many similar notices posted in the next town, and now people are talking about it everywhere."
"What's written on it is so horrific..."
"Is it true that the church has put His Majesty under house arrest? No wonder His Majesty hasn't shown up for so many days... I don't understand why the Church is unwilling to serve God properly and must do such a thing?"
"It's all fake! What a mess! All mages should go to hell!"
Although no one dared to discuss these things in public, they closed the door and hid in some small places, and the voices of discussion did not stop at all. Regardless of whether they agree or disagree, the people of Hori Kingdom showed great enthusiasm for this matter, as if they used to live in a black and white world, but now colors suddenly pop up.
- The church has always advocated abstinence. Although these things are difficult to implement at the bottom level, living in this country is still relatively depressing due to the atmosphere.
But the explosion in the repressed calm, coupled with the guidance of thoughtful people, the "poster" incident completely became big news in the Horli Kingdom. The influence was so great that even cities where the posters were not posted were affected. In just a few hours, there were even comic copies of the posters circulated privately.
After all, they first heard that the king had been kidnapped, and then heard that the king had actually been rescued and that the church had placed the king under house arrest—this kind of news reversal was too fascinating in an era when entertainment was scarce.
And the reaction from the church made them even more curious.
Unlike usual, this time, their response was very slow. Around ten o'clock in the morning, local governments began to clear the posters. When the orders were issued from level to level in the royal capital, no one knew what happened in the middle. They came very slowly, and some officials even disappeared for no reason.
It was not until that afternoon that the church issued a statement:
"His Majesty the King has been controlled by magicians using magic and has lost the ability to make rational judgments. Now those magicians are beginning to use His Majesty to confuse people's minds and try to spread the devil's remarks. Please calm down, stick to your beliefs and don't believe their nonsense. Words, God will always protect the devout people."
After this announcement was released, many people still supported it, but the wave of the "poster" incident has not been calmed down. People can't help but ask, wondering who has so much energy to put posters all over the kingdom overnight, and what happened to the missing government officials.
Unfortunately, the church itself is also very confused and cannot give the answers they want.
"...What on earth are those people under your command doing?"
In St. Peter's Cathedral, Grant kept a straight face and remained silent for a long time. Then he threw the poster in his hand to the ground and asked coldly to everyone in the hall.
Bishops, priests, paladins... everyone lowered their heads and remained motionless, not even daring to breathe. The entire hall was as quiet as a cemetery.
"No one can explain it to me?" Upon seeing this, Grant's tone became colder, "Benjamin may have fled back to the Magic Academy with the king... Is this the result of your investigation? They escaped back to the academy, then what? Who posted all this nonsense!"
Downstairs, some priests couldn't help but trembled when they heard this, but still no one answered, no one even dared to raise their head or look directly into Grant's eyes even once.
Fear spread in the hall.
"...Bishop Harold, please explain." After another silence for who knows how long, Grant finally spoke and began to name people directly.
The person who was called was a relatively young bishop. Suddenly, his legs began to tremble slightly. He swallowed his saliva, mustered up his courage, raised his head and said, "Your Majesty the Pope, this matter..."
Bah!
With a soft sound, the extreme light flew out of Grant's hand and penetrated directly through the bishop's arm. The next second, under everyone's stunned gaze, the bishop screamed, and his entire right arm was wrapped in holy light and turned into ashes.
He suddenly fell to the ground in pain, not knowing whether he was alive or dead.
Everyone was shocked.
"As the person in charge of the kingdom's intelligence, you didn't get any information about such a big thing. This is God's punishment for you." Grant looked at him coldly and said in a mechanical tone.
Obviously, the bishop could no longer hear Grant's words clearly at this moment, but other people around him could not help but shudder when they heard the words.
Some people have even begun to pray secretly in their hearts.
In this depressing and terrifying atmosphere, finally, the oldest bishop raised his head and said in an old voice: "Your Majesty, if you make mistakes, you should be punished. It was my plan to kidnap the king by that devil. I'm not careful, please...please, Your Majesty, punish me on behalf of God."
Suddenly, Grant's cold gaze moved to him.
"Bishop Grove, you are nearly ninety years old. You have served the gods for many years and have always been very pious." Facing this oldest bishop, his tone finally seemed to soften a little. "After three consecutive popes, , but you are still here and have made countless achievements... "
When the old bishop heard this, he finally relaxed a little.
In this case, he was the only one who could smooth things over. The atmosphere in the hall seemed to relax a little, and other people around him quietly looked at him with gratitude.
So, he lowered his head and continued: "Your Majesty has given me a great reward. No matter how much credit I receive, it will be difficult to offset the mistakes I have made. I still ask His Majesty the Pope to punish me."
Bah!
There was another soft sound, but this time, the extreme light thread passed directly through the old bishop's heart. The old bishop's eyes suddenly widened with an expression of disbelief, and he fell down with a thud.
“…”
Everyone was stunned and froze on the spot.
Grant spoke, his voice sounding violent and indifferent: "Who allowed you to speak? I haven't finished speaking yet... You have made countless achievements and are worthy of praise, but you decided to ambush Benjamin Reese without authorization, which directly led to the death of the king. The loss. If you have made such a serious mistake, you should go and apologize to God yourself!"
Until he finished speaking, no one present had recovered from the sense of astonishment. They stared blankly at the old bishop's body, unable to believe what had happened.
The Pope... killed Bishop Grove
—In the entire church, it can be said that Bishop Grover is the oldest, has been a bishop for the longest time, is trusted by every pope, and has extremely high prestige
Oh my God…
What happened in the Warcraft Mountains
"Your Majesty the Pope, please calm down!" A young priest couldn't help but say, "We have no way to defend the huge mistakes we have made, but isn't the top priority not how to fix it all? Bishop Grove... He is not guilty. To death! You shouldn’t do this!”
The whole hall fell silent again.
At that moment, other people around him looked at the young priest as if they were looking at a dead person.
"...Who asked you to speak?" Grant narrowed his eyes and looked at the young priest indifferently, "Who are you? Why have I never seen you? What qualifications do you have to enter St. Peter's Basilica?"
The young priest was stunned and replied subconsciously: "I, I am Corwin. I was just transferred from the church in Hendry Town to the Royal Capital last month. I am responsible for guiding the believers..."
Buzz!
Along with the dazzling holy light, a low roar sounded, and everyone was so flashed that they subconsciously closed their eyes. And when they opened their eyes again, the place where the young priest had been standing was now empty.
It's like he never existed at all.
And Grant also came down from the stage, his face looking horribly ugly. Everyone was shaking with their heads down, but he left the place through the back door without looking at the people in the hall.