The forty-ninth Pope, Lan Ge, stood on the palace balcony, numbly watching the noisy, chaotic Rhine City below.
How long had it been? Half a month, or a month?
Lan Ge thought carefully before remembering that it had not even been half a month. It had only been ten days.
Ten nights ago, the grandest city on the continent had still presented itself before him in peace and tranquility.
But now?
The constantly passing iron cavalry kicked up towering clouds of dust. Adults huddled in panic along both sides of the roads, while children wailed in their arms, their cries diluted by the alarms that had sounded without pause for ten full days.
Lan Ge gently closed his eyes, his brow filled with exhaustion.
He had not slept for ten days and nights either. An ordinary person would have died long ago, but for the Pope of Rhine, who possessed the "Vitality" Ring, this was nothing. When he had first obtained the ring, Lan Ge had once gone months without rest and had not felt much mental fatigue.
But now, Lan Ge only wanted to find somewhere to sleep properly. To sleep until the world went dark, until everything in reality had nothing to do with him.
And Lan Ge knew that this was not because he had grown old, but because...
"Your Holiness!" The sound of iron armor scraping came from behind Lan Ge. Soon, a fully armed Knight knelt before him. "The defenders in the west of the city have reported that another group of over a thousand refugees wishes to enter the city and request Protection. What do you think...?"
Lan Ge did not open his eyes. "Take them all in."
"We are still taking them in?" The Knight gritted his teeth. "But the food in the