The Holy War Army Advances

Although the Pope had spoken in a calm tone, his words carried an undeniable authority. The kings could not help feeling displeased, yet none of them dared voice their opposition.

Although the influence of the Rosa Church had begun declining thirty-four years ago and was now far weaker than before, as the saying went, a lean camel was still bigger than a horse. Though the Rosa Church was undergoing a decline, its accumulation over the past thousand years had left it with unfathomably deep foundations.

For this expedition, the Pope had brought more than four thousand church infantrymen from the Holy City. In addition, there were four hundred fanatical knights who had sacrificed everything for their faith—the Temple Knights.

Such forces represented a power that no king could afford to ignore. One could even say that they completely surpassed a considerable number of the kings themselves.

And even this was not the Church's full strength. For this Holy War, Pope Rossa had only brought out two-thirds of his army.

More importantly, although the Rosa Church's influence was declining, it still wielded extremely powerful influence in these eight countries.

After all, the lords of these countries were hardly united. The kingdoms that had continued for centuries were tangled webs, and there could be countless grudges and entanglements between lord and lord, or king and lord.

Many noble lords were unwilling to obey their own kings. If this had been a war between two countries, these kings would never have been able to mobilize so many lords to join the battle.

After all, aside from the conflicts of interest between lords and kings, the lords' vassal relationships were also extremely complicated. Nobles who held different titles and territories in two countries were everywhere.

As for which Liege Lord they would help during