The Army That Would Take the Longest Route Back to the Empire

In the end, the Empire failed to fulfill its desire to kill the Pope. After Floyd killed Cardinal Archbishop William, His Holiness the Pope kept calling out names. One clergy member after another—knights, priests, fathers, bishops—stepped forward to fight this noble army from the Empire with ranks of equal standing.

The existence of the Treaty of Nantes Kingdom was also part of this war. Neither side launched a large-scale military charge, so Chrysus could only send knights of appropriate status and equal realms into battle.

This left Chrysus incredibly stifled, but it was also the best possible outcome. If a military war truly broke out at the foot of Holy Mountain, these several thousand people, including the few Legends, likely would not survive half an hour.

However, this time, the noble knights had no fathers behind them using political struggles among nobles to pave the way for them. The direct slaughter against the clergy, the one-on-one battles, still resulted in the deaths of a great number of noble knights.

The knights did not fear death. The glory of the Empire and the glory of their families boiled in their blood, but...

Chrysus could not bear it.

It was not just him. Floyd, Aatrox, and the others present likewise could not bear the consequences of so many noble knights dying.

They could practically see the nobles condemning them with words and pens once they returned to the Empire.

Yet they could not take the initiative and admit defeat. They had come as representatives of the Empire; if anyone dared suggest retreating, what awaited them upon their return would be the most terrifying political and military tribunals.

But no one present was a fool. Or rather, the wisdom of the nobles far away within the Empire had long ago provided Floyd with