Young Little Pineapple

Chapter 391 - 373: Battle of Black Mountain (Complete - Part 2)

Chapter 391: Chapter 373: Battle of Black Mountain (Complete - Part 2)


In the wizards’ camp, the wizards who had their shackles removed were divided into two factions: about ten people were tied up, while over a hundred others formed a small circle.


The dozen or so people being watched in the crowd were the wizard traitors who survived the battlefield.


A wizard was kicked by Mormon, rolling five or six times, and curled up in pain.


"Have you forgotten your oath? Why did you betray us?" Mormon pointed at the wizard, anguished.


"Did I do wrong? How was I wrong? I just wanted to go home!" The emaciated wizard lifted his dust-covered face.


"I also want to go home, everyone wants to go home, but because of the Church, many others can’t go home." Mormon took a few steps forward, swung his arm, and punched the wizard in the face.


"An oath is an oath, it cannot and must not be betrayed!"


"We betrayed? It was you who betrayed us!" The wizard lifted his head, the corners of his mouth visibly turning from pale to bruised.


Mormon was almost amused with anger by his words, kicking him in the chin: "You sided with the Church, and you say I betrayed?"


"You told us Nidesar left, that’s why we were willing to rebel." The wizard struggled to turn over, "But you ran away, do you know how much we suffered?"


"I ran away to save you! If I hadn’t run away, wouldn’t you still be enslaved?" Mormon shouted at him.


The wizard looked up, pointing a finger stained with bright red blood at that flag: "Nidesar was at least with the Blood and Flesh Royal Court, aren’t you collaborating with the Church?"


Mormon paused, suddenly realizing something he had always overlooked.


For the Black Snake Bay People, Miseria’s Church and the Church were bound together, so even the Salvation Army under Miseria’s banner was part of the "non-collaboration" oath.


By that standard, it was Mormon who violated the "non-collaboration" oath.


But Horn and the others were clearly wizards, just under Miseria’s banner...


Mormon suddenly didn’t know how to respond.


Looking at the other wizards who had been released, although most had disdainful looks over the betrayal.


But on closer inspection, it seemed that Mormon also shared a portion of that disdain.


"Speak, why aren’t you speaking? Tell me who the traitor is?" The wizard, seeing the crowd’s expressions, laughed triumphantly.


As Mormon was in a dilemma, the crowd began to disperse, and Jeanne with a fierce expression led the way, with Horn, wearing his everyday Holy Robe, appearing behind her.


Seeing Horn in the shortened Holy Robe, and the attitudes of those around, most wizards easily recognized who this young man was.


Many wizards displayed looks of astonishment on their faces.


None of them could have imagined that the person who defeated Nidesar, whom even they couldn’t conquer, was merely a young lad without his beard fully grown.


Pope Horn was born on August 16, 1426, and was only 19 years old this year.


His second-in-command, Saintess Jeanne, was even younger, born on August 14, 1428, just 17 years old this year.


However, considering the age of most of the legion commanders was below thirty, the Salvation Army could be said to be a regime of young people, by young people.


"Child, are you the Shepherd Leader of the Salvation Army? Or are you the Shepherd Leader’s son?" A straightforward wizard asked loudly.


Horn glanced at him: "If you’re asking who defeated Nidesar and saved you, then that’s me."


The wizard awkwardly withdrew his head.


"Your Excellency..." Mormon awkwardly approached Horn.


Just as he was about to explain what happened, Horn gestured with his hand and walked straight to the wizard, squatting down.


"What are you doing?" The wizard glared at Horn from the ground, "Have you not seen enough of the evil wizards? If you want to kill or flay me, just do it! I am irreconcilable with the Church!"


Without any explanation, Horn snapped his fingers.


Jeanne immediately raised her hand, a lightning bolt flew by, crashing onto a small tree on the roadside.


"Wizard!" The traitorous wizards widened their eyes.


Wait, that’s not right.


Watching the small tree slowly fall, many wizards were horrified to realize that this girl cast the spell without any preparatory action.


This ability to cast a spell so swiftly meant only one thing, that was——


"Witch?" A wizard subconsciously exclaimed.


"Watch your words, I’m warning you." Dass, who had been watching the show, stood forward, "This is the Saintess."


After a few seconds of silence, a wizard suddenly muttered a low curse: "Damn the mountain goat, it’s another Balance Council."


"Facts speak louder than words, do you understand our position within the Church now?" Horn didn’t correct the Salvation Army’s ambiguous stance, instead, he semi-acknowledged part of the truth.


Wizards represented advanced productive forces, and should be drawn in as much as possible.


But he couldn’t abandon the old conservatives and farmers, so he could only maintain a vague situation.


"You know the fate of traitors, right?" Mormon grabbed the collar of the wizard he had just confronted, lifting him from the ground, "I will hand you over to the Secret Faction Combined Court."


"And so what if you do?" A bruised and battered witch stood up coldly, blood flowing from her brow to her chin, "Are you any better than the Empire and the Church?"


"What nonsense are you talking about?"


"I’ve seen right through it. The Church and the Secret Faction are birds of a feather. The Church uses the excuse of the wizard’s evilness to send us to our deaths, and doesn’t the Secret Faction do the same with their non-cooperation oath?"


"Exactly, I don’t like the Church or the Secret Faction!" The skinny wizard agreed.


"Ha, have you ever thought about how Nidesar promised to set you free? Everywhere else is the Church, and Black Snake Bay hates you. Where can you escape to then?"


"The Blood and Flesh Royal Court!" The skinny wizard defiantly raised his chin and said, "He said he’d send us to the Blood and Flesh Royal Court, to set us free."


"Wait a minute." Patrick, who had been watching coldly, suddenly spoke up, "Nidesar can send you to the Blood and Flesh Royal Court... he still has dealings with the Blood and Flesh Royal Court?"


The traitorous wizards exchanged glances, seemingly still hesitating.


"Whoever is willing to tell the truth, I can spare them from the death penalty," Horn assisted from the side.


Mormon opened his mouth, wanting to say this was an internal matter of the Secret Faction, but fell silent again.


He suddenly realized that the Salvation Army was a Secret Faction organization similar to the Balance Council; to some extent, they were considered part of the Secret Faction.


Besides, this wave of Horn took out the many enemies Nidesar had in Black Snake Bay. Given his value as a male witch, many Secret Faction organizations would likely be willing to help him vote as a favor.


For such a trivial matter, it’s not worth it. Just consider those traitors already dead.


After a long silence, an old wizard sighed and reluctantly stood up: "Nidesar claims to be a servant of the Sorrido Clan. He came to the Empire just to gather intelligence."


"Nonsense, with his approach against the Secret Faction, he doesn’t seem like a Royal Court spy at all," Mormon immediately retorted.


"He said he was indeed a spy initially, but later his superior, a vampire of prince-level, suddenly disappeared.


Though he could still contact the clan, his conspicuousness prevented him from returning to the Royal Court.


Out of desperation, he resigned to his fate, preparing to spend the rest of his life here. He worked hard for the Church to hold a Metropolitan Bishop’s position.


That way, no one would delve deeply into his past. The Empire never dared to investigate religious nobility thoroughly.


So he only pretended to convert, but secretly he still worshiped the Eternal Lord."


"He says that, and you just believe him?" Mormon rebuked angrily, "I might as well claim to be the reincarnation of Emperor Alexander the Great!"


"Of course not." The old wizard, forcing himself to stay calm, argued, "He showed us evidence. He even hid that object in the flesh of his palm; we saw it with our own eyes.


If he were truly loyal to the Church, why carry something that, once discovered, would lead to a fate worse than death?"


Without needing Horn to speak, Jeska ordered the people beside her: "Go bring Nidesar’s corpse over."


"Yes."


Turning his head, Horn continued to ask: "What did that object look like?"


"I can’t recall clearly; it was a quadrilateral pyramid. When activated, it indeed emitted a strong pulse of blood race magic power, said to be for signaling..."


"Was there any symbol on it? Draw it for me," Patrick asked, just as the study of symbology within the Secret Faction was a required course like heraldry in the Empire.


Untying the wizard’s bonds, he crouched down to draw in the dirt.


As he drew, Patrick and Horn sensed something was wrong.


The two exchanged glances without speaking, while Jeanne curiously looked at the symbols on the ground: "Isn’t this the ’Moon God’..."


"Jeanne! We’ll talk about it later when we get back." Horn stepped forward and grabbed Jeanne’s wrist, not letting her continue.


After all, Hilov of Autumn Dusk Island is still a secret, something big and not to be discussed casually in this setting.


Realizing her slip, Jeanne quickly shut her mouth.


With them not talking, naturally, no one else dared to speak.


In this eerie silence, Victor appeared at the camp entrance.


He looked around and, spotting Horn, rushed over with his collar and underarms soaked in sweat.


"Your Eminence..."


"Where’s Jeska?" Horn sensed something amiss, "Why are you here?"


"Nidesar’s corpse is missing..."


"What! Say that again in detail."


Victor swallowed: "I just took Big Boss Jeska to the tent where Ibe’s senior officers’ corpses were placed, waiting for burning.


But when we arrived, all four War Monks were dead, two horses pulling the bodies were missing. Upon checking, only Nidesar’s corpse was gone.


Big Boss Jeska took the Cuirassiers and North Knights to chase after..."


Resurrected? Impossible, right? Horn confirmed his death personally, breath stopped, pulse stopped, heart not beating, body cold!


Damn, do we even need to stab the corpse now?


Keeping calm, Horn did not fall into panic like Victor:


"Mormon, gather some divination warlocks to find out where he is! Jeanne, deploy the Holy Gun Cavalry, search the mountains and seas to find him!"