Chapter 615 (1/2)
Chapter 615: Wavering Faith
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
In the Tower of Babel of Hermes Cathedral.
The hurried footsteps of a guard spoiled the peace and quiet in the ring hall. Somewhat unhappy with this, Tayfun placed his breakfast down and glanced at the frantic comer. “Is there a problem?”
“Your Eminence, something’s up in Coldwind Ridge.” The guard moved close and whispered in Tayfun’s ears. “It seems that Lord Soli Daal has been badly injured over there.” He proceeded to explain everything that he had heard about the incident quickly.
“What!” Tayfun could not believe his own ears. “Our advance force has lost more than half of its men, while Soli was seriously bloodied?” The old bishop grabbed the guard by the neck and asked, “Where’s he now?”
“Sent to the hospital.”
“How about the God’s Punishment Army?”
“They were ordered to hold their positions and await further instructions. Right now, they’re gathered in the cathedral.”
“Inform His Holiness and Lady El immediately about this matter. Also, gather and look after all those who took part in this expedition. Close the doors of the cathedral and prevent other believers from entering or leaving for now!” Tayfun seemed to forget about his breakfast. “I’ll head to the hospital straight away.”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
How could this happen?
He could feel his heart palpitating non-stop. In principle, a 1,300-strong platoon, of which 300 were God’s Punishment Warriors, should not have had problems dealing with Coldwind Ridge. Before Soli was promoted to bishop, he was a veteran chief justice, and one of His Holiness Mayne’s most able subordinates. Even if they encountered demons or beasts, there should not have been so many victims!
Although fear clouded his heart, the old bishop remained very clear that the most important thing to do at the moment was to block the news from leaking out, so as to prevent the believers’ faith from being shaken. The next most important thing was to find out exactly what happened to Soli Daal in Coldwind Ridge.
When he reached the hospital, El was already there—it was evident that the latter had an alternative source of information. The two of them exchanged looks and walked together solemnly into Soli’s medical room.
A pure witch was tending to the archbishop’s wounds. Soli was missing an arm, and the wound around the remaining flesh had been tightly dressed with cotton. When he saw the other two archbishops, his dazed eyes seemed to focus again, and he struggled to sit up.
“You may leave first.” Tayfun urged the pure witch to depart and then assisted Soli to sit up. “How’s your injury?”
“I want to see His Holiness!” Soli growled. “Bring me to the Pivotal Secret Area at once!”
“Tell us what happened first,” El replied coldly. “Only then we’ll consider whether to bring you to see the pope or to throw you in jail and await trial.”
“Scoundrel, now it’s not the time to quarrel.” Soli gnashed his teeth. “Coldwind Ridge was a trap. Roland Wimbledon’s firearms are much scarier than Timothy’s. I have to let His Holiness know…”
“I don’t want to be kept in the dark while covering your ass, Mister Soli Daal!” El raised her voice several notches. “Do you know how embarrassing your return was? When passing through the city gate, anyone could see how incomplete and defeated our advance force was. People in the holy city have already begun asking questions. If I didn’t get the tribunal to detain a few busybodies, the whole city will be talking about these rumors tomorrow!” She grabbed him by the collar. “You should know how serious this will be!”
Tayfun knew that El was perfectly right. The loss of over 100 God’s Punishment Warriors was equivalent to the loss over the past two years. And the enemy this time was only a small town in the mountains. This was an absolute disgrace to the church.
More critically, if the news spread, the faith of the believers would be immensely affected.
Ever since the God’s Punishment Army started being sent to fight demonic beasts, there had been hearsay that it was all-conquering and invincible. It even appeared so. If even the enormous and savage demonic beasts were no matches for the God’s Punishment Army, what kind of enemy could defeat it?
Just as Tayfun was about to give a few lines of advice, the room door was suddenly pushed open.