plumnovel #375 - Battle of Black Mountain (Part 2)
#375 - Battle of Black Mountain (Part 2)
Chapter 374: The Battle of Black Mountain (End-Part 2)
In the wizard's camp, the unchained wizards were divided into two factions: one group of about ten, bound and guarded, and another group of over a hundred, gathered in a small circle.
The ten or so people surrounded by the crowd were the wizard traitors who had survived the battlefield.
A wizard was kicked by Mormont and rolled five or six times, curling up in pain.
"Have you forgotten your oath? Why betray us?" Mormont pointed at the wizard, his voice filled with anguish.
"Was I wrong? What did I do wrong? I just wanted to go home!" The emaciated wizard raised his head, his face covered in dust and grime.
"I want to go home too, everyone wants to go home, but besides you, there are many others who can't go home, and that's because of the Church's existence." Mormont strode forward, swung his arm, and punched the wizard in the face.
"An oath is an oath, it cannot be allowed, and it must never be betrayed!"
"We betrayed you? You betrayed us!" The wizard raised his head, the corner of his mouth visibly turning from pale to bruised.
Mormont was almost amused by this, and kicked him in the chin: "You sided with the Church, and you say I betrayed you?"
"You told us Nidesar was gone, that's why we were willing to start the rebellion." The wizard struggled to turn over, "Do you know how much we suffered after you ran away?"
"I ran away to save you! If I hadn't run away, wouldn't you still be enslaved?" Mormont roared at him.
The wizard raised his head, his blood-stained finger pointing to the banner: "Nidesar was at least a member of the Flesh Court, aren't you cooperating with the Church?"
Mormont was stunned for a moment, suddenly realizing something he had overlooked in the past.
For the people of Blackwater Bay, the Church of Messala and the Church were bound together, so even the Salvation Army, flying the banner of the Church of Messala, was still under the "no cooperation" oath.
By this standard, Mormont had violated the "no cooperation" oath.
But Horn and the others were clearly wizards, just flying the banner of Messala...
Mormont suddenly didn't know how to answer.
Looking at the other released wizards around him, although most of them had expressions of disdain for their betrayal.
But looking closely, Mormont seemed to share a part of this disdain as well.
"Speak, why aren't you speaking, tell me who the betrayer is?" The wizard saw the expressions of the crowd and laughed triumphantly.
Just as Mormont was struggling, the crowd gradually dispersed, Jeanne, with an unfriendly expression, took the lead, and Horn, who had changed into his daily holy robe, appeared behind Jeanne.
Looking at Horn's shortened version of the holy robe, and the attitude of the people around him, most of these wizards understood who this young man was.
Many wizards showed surprised expressions on their faces.
They never expected that the person who defeated Nidesar, whom even they could not defeat, was actually a young boy who hadn't even grown a beard yet.
Pope Horn was born on August 16, 1426, and is only 19 years old this year.
The second-in-command, Saint Jeanne, is even younger, born on August 14, 1428, and is only 17 years old this year.
However, considering that the legion commanders are generally under the age of thirty, the entire Salvation Army can be said to be a young and youthful regime.
"Child, are you the patriarch of the Salvation Army? Or the son of the patriarch of the Salvation Army?" A straightforward wizard asked loudly.
Horn glanced at him: "If you're asking who defeated Nidesar and rescued you, it was me."
The wizard shrank his head sheepishly.
"Your Majesty..." Mormont greeted Horn awkwardly.
He was about to explain what had happened, but Horn waved his hand, walked straight to the wizard, and squatted down.
"What are you doing?" The wizard stared at Horn on the ground, "Haven't you seen enough evil wizards? If you want to kill or cut me, just do it! I will never coexist with the Church!"
Without any explanation, Horn snapped his fingers lightly.
Jeanne immediately raised her hand, and a bolt of lightning flew over, smashing a roadside sapling to the ground with a bang.
"Wizard!" The betrayed wizards widened their eyes.
Wait, that's not right.
Watching the sapling slowly fall, many wizards discovered in horror that this girl didn't have any preparatory actions when casting spells.
There was only one possibility for this kind of rapid spellcasting, and that was—
"Witch?" A wizard subconsciously called out.
"Watch your words, I warn you." Das, who had been watching the show, stood up, "This is the Saintess."
After a few seconds of silence, a wizard suddenly cursed in a low voice: "Damn it, another Scales Society."
"Does the truth speak louder than words? Are we the Church or not, do you understand now?" Horn did not correct the Salvation Army's ambiguous positioning, but defaulted to some of the facts.
Wizards, as advanced productive forces, should be won over as much as possible.
But he couldn't abandon those old conservative citizens and farmers, so he could only maintain a vague state.
"You all know what happens to traitors, right?" Mormont grabbed the wizard's collar and lifted him off the ground, "I will hand you over to the Secret Party's joint court."
"Even so, so what?" A bruised and swollen witch stood up coldly, blood flowing from her forehead to her chin, "Are you much better than the Empire and the Church?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"I've seen through it, the Church and the Secret Party are all birds of a feather, the Church uses the name of evil wizards to make us die, but doesn't the Secret Party also use the non-cooperation oath to make us die?"
"Yes, I don't like the Church, and I don't like the Secret Party!" The emaciated wizard echoed.
"Ha, have you thought about Nidesar promising to set you free, everywhere else is the Church, Blackwater Bay also hates you, where can you escape to?"
"Flesh Court!" The emaciated wizard raised his chin and said stubbornly, "He said he would send us to the Flesh Court and set us free."
"Wait." Pasrik, who had been watching coldly, suddenly opened his mouth, "Nidesar can send you to the Flesh Court... does he also have dealings with the Flesh Court?"
The few betrayed wizards looked at each other, seemingly still hesitant.
"Whoever is willing to tell the truth, I can spare their death penalty." Horn assisted from the side.
Mormont opened his mouth, wanting to say that this was an internal matter of the Secret Party, but then fell silent.
He suddenly realized that the Salvation Army was a Secret Party organization similar to the Scales Society. To a certain extent, they were a type of Secret Party.
Moreover, Horn had killed Nidesar, who had made countless enemies in Blackwater Bay. With his male witch value, it was estimated that many Secret Party organizations would be willing to help him vote out of favor.
It wasn't worth it for this little thing, just treat these traitors as already dead.
After a long silence, an old wizard sighed and barely stood up: "Nidesar claimed to be a servant of the Soredo family, and came to the Empire only to collect intelligence."
"Bullshit, with the way he dealt with the Secret Party, he doesn't seem like a spy of the Royal Court at all." Mormont immediately retorted.
"He said that he was indeed a spy at first, but later his superior, a vampire of the Prince level, suddenly disappeared.
Although he could contact the family, he could no longer return to the Royal Court because he was too conspicuous.
He had no choice but to accept his fate and prepare to spend the rest of his life here. He worked hard for the Church in order to have a prelate-level sacred office.
This way, no one would be able to delve into his past experiences. The Empire has always been afraid to investigate senior religious nobles too much.
So he only pretended to convert, but actually still secretly worshiped the Everlasting Lord."
"He said that, and you just believed it?" Mormont scolded, hating that they couldn't live up to expectations, "I also said that I am the reincarnation of Alexander the Great!"
"Of course not." The old wizard tried hard to defend himself, "He showed us the evidence, he even hid that item in the flesh of his palm, we saw it with our own eyes.
If he was really so loyal to the Church, why would he carry this thing that would lead to his death if discovered?"
Without Horn needing to say more, Jeshka instructed the people next to him: "Go and bring Nidesar's body over."
"Yes."
Turning his head, Horn continued to ask: "What does that item look like?"
"I don't remember clearly, it was a quadrangular pyramid, when it was activated, it did have strong fluctuations of vampire magic, it is said to be used to send signals..."
"Are there any symbols on it? Draw it for me to see." Pasrik asked, like the Empire's heraldry, the Secret Party's semiotics was also a required course.
Untying the rope on the wizard's hand, he squatted down and scribbled on the ground.
As he drew, Pasrik and Horn both felt something was wrong.
The two looked at each other, but didn't speak. Instead, Jeanne next to them curiously watched the symbols on the ground: "Isn't this that 'Moon God'...?"
"Jeanne! We'll talk about it when we get back." Horn stepped forward and grabbed Jeanne's wrist, not letting her continue.
After all, Siloof of Autumn's End Island is currently still classified, and there must be big shots behind her, so it can't be discussed casually in this situation.
Knowing that she had misspoke, Jeanne quickly closed her mouth.
If they didn't speak, others naturally wouldn't dare to speak.
Everyone was silent in this strange way, until Viktor's figure appeared at the entrance of the camp.
He looked around, and after discovering Horn's figure, he immediately rushed over, sweat soaking his collar and armpits.
"Your Majesty..."
"Where's Jeshka?" Horn sensed something was wrong, "Why did you come over?"
"Nidesar's body is missing..."
"What! Say it again, in detail."
Viktor swallowed: "Just now I took Boss Jeshka to the shed where the bodies of Ibe's senior generals were specially placed. We put them there waiting to be cremated.
But when we arrived, all four war monks were dead, and two horses pulling the corpses were missing. After we checked, we found that only Nidesar's body was missing.
Boss Jeshka has gone after them with the Hussars and Norse Knights..."
Resurrected? Impossible, right? Horn personally confirmed his death, his breathing stopped, his pulse stopped, his heart stopped beating, and he was cold!
Damn it, will we have to finish off the corpses in the future?
Calming down, Horn did not panic like Viktor:
"Mormont, find some divination warlocks to calculate where he is! Jeanne, send out the Holy Gun Cavalry, search every mountain and sea for me!"