Chapter 1324 - 1242: Interlude
After finalizing the mobilization and conscription matters domestically, Horn boarded a ship heading west towards Xia Lvcheng.
With contacts made by the Holy Alliance’s Falan envoy, Mitney, and the Norn envoy, Busak, the three most powerful men in the empire finally decided to join forces.
This wasn’t just the idea of one house of Lorenzo; it was also the idea of the insightful individuals in both Horn and Norn.
During this period, even if one were dull, the intelligence forces of each country had already sprung into action.
Regardless of whether through theft or trade, everyone had acquired a substantial amount of information about Serafe.
Though they didn’t understand what had happened, it could basically be seen that a "Khan" had emerged amidst the previously disorganized royal court.
This priest-king Serafe forcibly mended the domestic conflicts but was unable to resolve them.
Thus, they had no choice but to shift the contradictions onto the empire through war.
In the millennium-long history of conflict between the Empire and the Court, this kind of situation had occurred more than once.
Every time a great and talented ruler emerged in the empire, a Chao Character Army crusade would be launched westward, and the royal court did the same.
The people of the Eastern Continent had developed a habit, or rather a political convention, that whenever an external enemy invaded, the strongest would unite to resist the enemy.
This external enemy had arrived, and it was the vampires—the natural enemy of humans.
Thus, regardless of internal issues before, they had to unite at this moment.
In some sense, this could also be regarded as the empire’s version of "the nation can perish, but the land must not."
As for the meeting place, it was selected to be in Xia Lvcheng of the Holy Alliance.
The Falan royal carriage galloped along the cement road at the ferry on the outskirts of Xia Lvcheng.
Lorenzo stayed behind to handle military affairs at home while Charles VIII leaned against the window, staring blankly at the vast fields on both sides.
Charles VIII liked the feeling of chaos amidst order, while Lorenzo preferred everything in perfect order.
Thus, Charles always felt that Horn and Lorenzo were actually similar people; they both liked neat and tidy things.
For example, the long strip of farmland in front of them, the neatly laid out furrows and the square river dikes, the sense of order was so strong that it was painful to the eyes.
"Why did we come to Xia Lvcheng, Your Majesty, rather than the Pope coming to Huaqiu City?"
Charles, who was admiring the fields, was startled by the question from his young attendant. He glanced complexly at the attendant, stroking his head.
"Here is the equidistant midpoint between Norn and Falan, and it’s within the Holy Alliance, making it more convenient."
This was a lie.
Even though the territories of Falan and Norn were much larger than those of the Holy Alliance, and Falan was far wealthier, while Norn had more manpower than the Holy Alliance,
At this moment, it was evident to all that the force holding the most initiative in the alliance was actually the Holy Alliance.
In its two decades of rise, the Holy Alliance, as one nation, had swallowed the profits from the spice trade, sugar, and a series of industrial and commercial developments.
Not to mention the extremely important clock gun and the Holy Favor Seed for the entire empire today.
Although now, due to the Holy Alliance selling too many Holy Favor Seeds, Falan and Norn secretly cultivated a batch of new ones.
Yet, for some reason, these new seeds often lose their original effectiveness after two or three generations.
This forced Falan and Norn to bow down, continuously purchasing weapons and seeds from the Holy Alliance.
Charles even had a moment of bewilderment, remembering when the Holy Alliance said everyone being extraordinary meant no one was extraordinary.
He had taken it as a joke.
But now, as those around him became Blessed and Alchemist Priests, the empire seemed to be truly undergoing a transformation towards extraordinariness.
Twenty years ago, the alchemists, everyone shouted against, are now honored guests in every workshop.
Even for those Witches’ kin Wizards, many merchants and citizens are secretly cooperating with them.
The fundamental basis for such behavior, and one of the issues troubling Charles, was the spreading of the Holy Sect.
The Holy Alliance’s promise not to export the Holy Sect to Falan meant not to proactively establish Holy Sect Brotherhood organizations, not to prevent Falan from conducting their own research.
After the sixth Great Duke meeting, Charles reformed the religion, selecting the narratives of the Holy Sect concerning the citizens, creating a new sect.
All the bishops in the country swore allegiance to Charles, and he has become the de facto Emperor of Falan.
However, the overly similar ideologies between the new sect and the Holy Sect ironically made many citizens curious about the Holy Sect.
This led to a large number of Holy Sect books being translated into the Falan language, and many low-level monks transforming into fully automatic Holy Path followers.
More terrifyingly, the complete success of the Thousand River Valley, the successive successful uprisings on Dawn Island and Immortal Stone Field gave many people hope.
The frontier land is a typical example; under the spontaneous summons of the Holy Sect, people began picking up weapons for rebellion.
Within Falan, there were quite a few peasants and citizens who, holding the Holy Image of the Saint’s Grandson and pitchforks, sparked uprisings.
To add insult to injury, after the defeat in the Xilan Islands naval battle and the battle of Gewu City, the frontier land revolted due to the three-tier meeting.
Before Charles VIII arrived, he had just dispatched some troops to suppress the Holy Sect uprising within the borders.
He also had to negotiate with the frontier to finalize a protocol.
At such a moment, turning hostile was even less advisable.
After all, feigning humility, Charles VIII wasn’t unused to that; didn’t he act like a son in front of the Queen Dowager in his early years on the throne?
There was nothing unusual about it.
It’s just that, at this moment, he couldn’t help but envy the Holy Alliance.
As the carriage slowly moved forward, the full view of the Holy Alliance came into his sight.
The fields on either side gradually disappear, replaced by fish ponds, pastures, vegetable plots, and orchards.
Then, one could see small towns by the roadside, all built with identical Aryel Renaissance-style red-roofed houses.
Among those scattered houses, oil mills, woolen mills, gristmills, dyeing houses, tailor shops, and bakeries were all present.
The passersby, even the farmers, wore tidy clothes, and not a single vagrant or beggar could be seen.
The great development of industry and commerce led to a richly abundant market, and when combined with his rule, it would be the ideal Falan Kingdom.
But alas, it couldn’t be.
Clicking his tongue a few times, Charles VIII withdrew his gaze: "Are we there yet?"
The coachman replied in a muffled voice: "We’re almost there, see, in front of us is the gate of Xia Lvcheng, and it looks like there’s someone welcoming us."
"Perhaps not a warm welcome." Charles VIII, upon hearing the distant shouting, merely smiled bitterly.
"Tyrant Charles, get out of the Holy Alliance!"
"Justice for the 85 brothers of the Holy Sect in Blainak Town!"
"Devil, demon from the Fire Prison!"
Amidst the crowd observing from both sides of the gate at Xia Lvcheng, groups of middle and high school students or young people suddenly appeared.
They held signs or banners shouting "Get the tyrant out" and "The Holy Alliance doesn’t welcome you," loudly cursing Charles.
"What is this?" The young attendant was stunned.
Having anticipated this group of people in advance, Charles adjusted his mood after the initial displeasure.
In the eyes of many wise individuals in the Holy Alliance, forming a tripartite alliance to combat the Blood Race was an absolute necessity.
But among ordinary Holy Alliance members, especially those passionate young people, it seemed utterly inconceivable.
Who was Charles, after all?
An Empire’s first-rate demon tyrant, suppressing countless Holy Sect brethren within Falan?
Vampires were indeed the enemy, but wasn’t Falan also an enemy?
Not creating chaos amidst the turmoil was already the Saint’s Grandson’s mercy, so what was the meaning of forming an alliance now?
Upon hearing that the Saint’s Grandson invited Charles over, many young Holy Alliance monks felt as if the sky had collapsed.
Forming business deals with Falan was one thing, but forming an alliance with this demon king?
Was this still their Holy Alliance, was this still the Saint’s Grandson?
Surely the Saint’s Grandson had been deceived by the traitors around him, they must remind the Saint’s Grandson.
At the same time, they had to give this tyrant a hard time.
Amidst the angry shouts of the Night Watchers, students and mischievous citizens held banners and signs while running, causing quite a commotion.
Charles found it amusing and was about to lean out the window to wave towards the crowd.
But as soon as he leaned out, the expression on his young attendant’s face changed drastically.
"Watch out, Your Majesty." The young attendant cried out, lunging onto Charles VIII, pulling him down from the seat.
Charles VIII only heard the whistle-sharp whistling of two arrows, followed by the rustling of wood chips and dust falling down.
Blinking, he looked up to see two light-piercing holes on both the carriage compartment and the roof.
"Assassins!"