I will be crowned king

Under the bloody sunset, the cavalry holding the Clovis flag high served as the vanguard, escorting the carriage hanging the Ring of Order into the Antler Fortress quietly without causing any commotion.

These carriages look very "special" - the metal rather than wooden carriages are "longer" than common four-wheel carriages, and have a lot of riveting marks for reinforcement. They are all dark and have only two extremely narrow windows. , and each cart has four draft horses, which looks extremely heavy.

It's like a prison van full of death row prisoners.

On the dilapidated city wall, Louis Bernard, who was holding on to the wall stacks, looked at the carriages that seemed to exude an ominous aura as they passed through the city gate and slowly stopped in an open space near the inner city; Clovis, who was in charge of escorting The cavalry formed a circle vigilantly to prevent the surrounding Storm Division soldiers from advancing.

The door slowly opened, and a group of inquisitors wearing black three-cornered hats and high-collar trench coats, with their hands empty or carrying "suitcases" of different sizes on their backs, filed out from both sides of the car.

"Truth-Seeking Cult..." Louis, who frowned slightly, murmured in a low voice.

"you know?"

Anson turned his head and looked at the young knight beside him with some surprise.

"I just know a little bit." Louis nodded slightly:

"Actually, it can't be regarded as acquaintance, but he is dressed like this and is qualified to use the carriage marked by the Church of Order. Except for the Truth Seeking Order of the Clovis Trial Branch, there is no one else."

"Oh, are there any differences in the uniforms of trial courts in various places?"

"Of course there is - just like although each diocese is nominally subordinate to the church, they all have a certain degree of independence, and the same is true for the Inquisition." Louis explained:

"Each parish is responsible for one or two inquisitions. For example, Clovis has only one parish, but the Empire has nine. Therefore, there are nine inquisitions in the empire, responsible for different jurisdictions and factions."

"Because the Principality of Adlan is a coastal area, the local inquisition 'Storm Order' mainly targets evil spirits and mutant creatures at sea. It even has an independent dock and fleet - so the inquisitor's uniform is very sailor-style. .”

I see, so what kind of style is the Seeking Truth Cult? The Clovis Church Underground Hotel? Anson smiled easily: "What about the Elf Kingdom of Yser? And Hantu, I haven't heard much about the trials in these two places."

"Of course, because there is no trial court in these two places." Louis said matter-of-factly:

"Hantu... is the Alliance of Seven Cities. It was the church's most important ally during the Great Schism. When the Elf King Yisel converted in the 47th year of the Saint's Calendar, one of the conditions was not to set up a trial court in his kingdom. "

"And what does 'heard of' mean? Are you familiar with the Inquisitor of the Truth-seeking Order?" Louis blinked curiously.

This is another long story... The corner of Anson's mouth twitched and he did not answer.

If possible, he was not prepared to contact the people of the Truth-seeking Cult immediately, especially when there were some minor deviations in his "perfect plan" and he had not yet thought of any good way to solve it.

Moreover, for any guest, the host should clean up the house and make preparations before knocking on the door for a visit.

But it is very regrettable that although the judges of the Truth-Seeking Order are all good people and have many, many advantages, "being civilized and polite" is not among them.

"Anson Bach...Oh my God! The Ring of Order is up there, are you still alive?!"

Before Anson could figure out how to answer Louis' question, Cole Dorian, who had just stepped off the carriage, screamed as if he had discovered a new world, waving his three-cornered hat with a happy giggle on his face.

As soon as he shouted, several familiar faces immediately looked up from the city wall - the sad and joyless female judge Sera, the always indifferent Lieutenant Colonel Roman, the "happy" face of Karin Jacques...

Feeling the increasingly curious eyes around him, Anson's mouth twitched even more fiercely. He slowly turned his head and looked at Louis, who was blinking. He forced a smile:

"We're not as familiar as we look."

"...I believe you." Louis nodded kindly.

Unfortunately, his expression gave him away.

……………………

After calming down the commotion caused by an optimistic inquisitor, Anson first found a young clerk to help arrange accommodation for the group of cavalry and inquisitors, and then took the remaining group of people to the top of the inner castle of Antler Fortress.

This is what Louis calls "the headquarters with the map of the royal court."

Under the exquisite silver-plated chandelier, everyone faced the map on the wall and sat scattered around on an exquisite Iser carpet; Clerk Alan Dawn, who had completed the placement and registration work, stood next to the wine rack. , making coffee skillfully.

"...That's roughly the situation."

The expressionless Lieutenant Colonel Roman stood in front of the map, with his hands behind his back, and looked at everyone present with a cold gaze: "Because they have to deal with the surrendered remnants of the Yser Elf Legion, Major General Ludwig and the main force of the Southern Legion are unable to leave."

"Therefore, on behalf of the Major General, I announce the full appointment of the deputy commander of the legion, Colonel Anson Bach, to be responsible for all the military operations of the Kingdom of Clovis against the old god sect of the Yser Elf - that is, the Thirteen Council."

"Deputy Commander Anson Bach has absolute command over the battle at the Royal Court of Iser. From Eagle Point City to all outposts, fortresses, and logistics in Iser... All Southern Legion personnel must not refuse any contact with them. Relevant orders and requirements.”

Lieutenant Colonel Roman slowly raised his head, and his cold gaze met Anson's eyes: "These are the exact words of the Commander-in-Chief."

"I will definitely live up to the Commander-in-Chief's 'love'." Smiling Anson and extremely solemn Lieutenant Colonel Roman nodded, turning to a certain "optimist" judge:

"What are your plans?"

"No plan!"

Cole, who looked indifferent, said happily, and then looking at Serra with eyes that were almost killing people - not almost, but really capable of killing people - he quickly added: "If I insist on saying it, it's at most a rough idea. Goal.”

"It's called 'The Old Gods Must Die'."

The moment the words fell, the whole room fell silent.

Anson twitched the corner of his mouth unconsciously, the "happy" Karin Jacques trembled all over, and a certain novelist hiding in the corner curled up desperately, as if he wanted to crawl into a chair.

The eyes of Louis, who had never said a word, suddenly became extremely complicated, while Lieutenant Colonel Roman, who was right next to him, was always staring intently at a certain deputy commander who had an unnatural expression.

"In order to achieve this goal, we need all of us to work together, no one is missing - ah, thank you!"

Taking the coffee from the little clerk, the cheerful Cole continued as if he didn't notice the change in the atmosphere at all: "According to the highest instructions of the Church of Order, we must completely solve this big trouble before the 28th."

"In other words, we only have three days left - this is the last bottom line left by the Church of Order to the Clovis Kingdom and the Clovis Church."

"Then what if we break through this bottom line?" The silent Louis suddenly said:

"What would have happened if we hadn't rescued the Elf King Ysel on the night of the 28th and wiped out the Thirteen Council in the city?"

"What will happen? Hehehe..." The happy Cole looked at the young knight and showed a meaningful smile:

"Then there will be no more trouble in the Royal Court of Yser."

The hall fell into silence again.

After taking a sip of coffee, Anson put down the cup and raised his head again to meet Cole Dorian's gaze: "Three days?"

"Three days." Cole nodded:

"On the 28th of October in the 100th year of the Saint's calendar, it is 23:59:59 in the evening...before that, there can no longer be a standing Old God sect in the entire Royal Court of Yser."

"This...is the bottom line of the Church of Order."

Louis pursed his lips.

Anson glanced at the young knight with his peripheral vision, then turned to look at Sera Vigil: "How many people came to the church this time?"

"Twenty-five judges." The female judge said softly:

"If the 'Thirteen Council Incident' does not end on the 28th, it will become twenty-five judges, plus three thousand knights of the Judgment Knights."

That is, the reinforcements sent by the church headquarters... Ansen understood.

This private soldier of the Church of Order, known as the "Papal Guard", is said to be an elite division that can fight with three times the strength of the Imperial Guards Corps and still not fall behind; during the sectarian war, the size of the knights in the legion even exceeded empire.

Of course, that was a hundred years ago.

But at the same time, I am also a little curious, how can these three thousand Judgment Knights get to the Royal Court of Yser within three days?

First of all, it was basically concluded that it was not in the direction of Hantu, otherwise he would have received news about the church army when he was in White Tower City at the latest; so the other party must have entered the Kingdom of Clovis first, and then rushed over from Eagle Point City.

But this raises another question: Why didn't they come with the Truth Seeking Order?

Since the church's attitude is to wipe out the Thirteen Councils at the latest on the evening of the 28th, shouldn't the most efficient way be to wait outside the royal court first and take over immediately if the Truth-Seeking Cult and itself fail?

Or is it that the Judgment Knights have some special traveling skills that allow them to arrive at the venue on the evening of the 28th? Even if they do, is it really necessary to be so punctual?

Looking at the confused look on Anson's face, the female inquisitor seemed to want to explain something, but in the end she did not speak.

Of course, Anson didn't intend to ask - this was not the focus of the entire operation, and everyone present had their own thoughts and didn't care about it.

"According to our preset plan from the beginning, Clovis's army surrounded and sealed off the entire Royal Court of Yser, and then sent a small elite force to cooperate with the Truth Seeking Cult to enter the Royal Court and kill them as quickly as possible. The leader of the Thirteen Councils rescued the Elf King, and then mobilized the army of the Iser elves to work with the Clovis Army outside the city to suppress the remnants of the Old God Sect in the city..."

Sera Vigil paused slightly and said in a tentative tone: "But now it seems that it is a bit difficult to achieve this... right?"

Anson nodded and agreed: "The Storm Division only has 5,000 troops. It is impossible to blockade a city - even a symbolic siege cannot be done."

"What should we do?"

Cole looked at Anson and Roman—except for smashing the heads of the Old Gods, this inquisitor knew nothing about other things.

Lieutenant Colonel Roman, who had his hands behind his back, was still staring at Anson.

"It's very simple, we don't surround the Royal Court of Yser." Anson raised the corner of his mouth slightly and showed a confident smile:

"We will directly attack it head-on... and take it down."

Um? !

Except for Clerk Alan Dawn and a certain novelist, everyone present widened their eyes at the same time.

"Can it be done?!" Cole blurted out.

"Of course..." Anson smiled:

"It can't be done."

The judge shuddered and almost threw himself out of the chair: "Then why are you bringing this up?!"

"I mean, we can pretend to attack head-on." Anson smiled:

"According to the information provided by the Southern Legion, although the Thirteen Council does have a group of very powerful spellcasters, their army's performance on the battlefield is very average, even inferior to the ordinary Ysel Elf army in terms of combat effectiveness and command level. They are all extremely low.”

"So if we give the illusion that we are going to attack by force, the enemy will definitely deploy heavy troops to guard the front... and doing so will have at least two benefits." Anson raised his right hand and raised his index finger:

"First, it can greatly reduce the pressure when we sneak into the royal court and subsequent operations, and avoid many unnecessary battles and casualties."

Then he raised his middle finger: "Second, our core goal is to destroy the Thirteen Councils, not other ordinary Ysel elves; avoiding excessive weakening of the strength of the Ysel elves will also help after the war. Re-establish order.”

"Finally, if our main goal is to rescue the Elf King, doing so can distract the enemy quite a bit and greatly increase the success rate of the mission."

"That makes sense!"

Cole Dorian nodded excitedly and gave Anson a thumbs up: "As expected of the leader of the Storm Regiment appointed by the Archbishop, I knew you would definitely have a way."

The person who said this was surprised that I was still alive an hour ago... An smiled slightly: "Is there anything else I should pay attention to?"

"No more!" Cole Dorian shook his head: "Kill the Council of Thirteen and rescue the Elf King Yser, these are the only two things we have to do."

"Ah! If I have to say it, there is actually another one - although the incident of the Thirteen Council's rebellion has spread throughout the world of order, almost to the point where everyone knows it, after all, the people who really know the details are still few."

"Therefore, our operation is actually somewhat shady. We must try to make it as secretive as possible so that it cannot be noticed by the outside world."

Secret... Anson frowned slightly: "Ten thousand troops are fighting an offensive and defensive battle in the capital of the Elf Kingdom of Yser. How can such a big event be kept secret?"

"Well……"

Cole Dorian thought seriously for a second, and then showed a bright smile:

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”