The war between the Papal State and the Boya Empire continued for another five years.
The term "war" is only applicable to the first three months at most. After three months of real conflict and slaughter, Yalian III deliberately slowed down the pace of the war, turning a large-scale conflict into a series of small-scale skirmishes involving attrition and harassment.
Most of the battles involved the Boya Empire sending small units to harass the Papal State forces. Each time, the two sides would suffer a few hundred casualties before calling a retreat and choosing another day to fight.
Yalian III's actions were born of necessity. Not only had the Boya Empire suddenly received news that a large number of Holy Knight were hiding within the Papal State, but this also made Yalian III dare not invade the Papal State States.
The army's morale had been shattered in the previous three months of fighting, making it difficult to organize effective resistance. Even if they did organize, they knew they would struggle to defeat the ruthless Papal State soldiers.
To prevent the already dwindling morale of his troops from being further dampened, he could only prolong the war by engaging in small-scale battles and increasing the frequency of engagements to keep the army's fighting spirit alive.
It can be said that the existence of the Holy Knight blocked Yalian III's determination to wage a large-scale war, while the Papal State' refusal to retreat blocked his retreat route.
If the Papal State even harbors the slightest thought of invading and seizing territory, his operation will be absolutely unsustainable, because if they don't attack, then the Papal State will!
However, the Papal State genuinely had no intention of launching an attack.
His Holiness Adam's goal was to wear down the national strength of all nations, including the Papal State themselves, so that all nations would be weakened and could develop peacefully for decades or even centuries. Therefore, in the face of Yalian III's war strategy, the Papal State not only did not prevent a large-scale military offensive, but even joined him in this stalemate, engaging in small-scale battles with each other.
It must be said that His Majesty Adam's ideas are indeed very insightful.
Five years of continuous strain were manageable for the Papal State and the Boya Empire, which were large enough to withstand it, but the other smaller countries were suffering terribly!
Behind the scenes, the Papal State released 400,000 impoverished people who were burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of atrocities in their own country, causing chaos and dragging down economic development for decades. The depletion of troops at the front and the logistical burden further crippled the entire royal family and even the national treasury.
Furthermore, due to the fact that the various lords and their troops were stationed abroad, the domestic security forces were greatly reduced, leading to a surge in reactionary elements, bandits, and villains.
These five years of war not only yielded no harvest, but also resulted in devastating losses for everyone involved.
This means that it will take these small countries at least two or three decades to recover from the damage caused by this war of attrition.
Not only did the poor suffer, but even the nobles and lords were extremely saddened.
It is foreseeable that after this war ends, the entire Southern Continent will truly fall into a period of silence.
In addition, Lino City was recaptured by the Papal State.
The number of Vampire killed by the Holy Knight on that day is countless. However, nearly ten thousand Vampire were created in Norton 'Lino City over three years, so of course not all of them were killed. Many of them took advantage of the chaos to escape and have already spread towards the Papal State.
The two masterminds who were destined to be killed, the unclean devil, Norton, and Abraham, escaped by sheer luck, and no news of them has been received since.
His Majesty Adam's campaign against evil ultimately ended in failure, as he did not manage to eliminate the mastermind.
Although the Vampire stronghold of Lino City was destroyed in one fell swoop, not only were the Vampire not completely eradicated, but they also managed to escape and spread throughout the Papal State. This was like a pile of shit turning into stars, and it also planted countless hidden dangers for the Papal State.
The escape of many Vampire from Lino City led to a series of incidents in the Papal State where humans were hunted and killed by Vampire.
These New-Type Vampire are mostly third-generation, and apart from their fangs, they look almost identical to humans. This makes it easier for them to hide in cities, causing headaches for Church throughout the Papal State.
Although the Church has revealed that these New-Type Vampire are vulnerable to silver and images of God, not many families can afford silver items. This has emboldened these Vampire, and a few escaped Second-Generation Vampire have even multiplied rapidly to increase Vampire power, resulting in more people being harmed.
As the number of deaths and injuries caused by Vampire increased, powerful figures and Church began to issue bounty notices, and even small villages pooled their money to issue bounties, hoping someone could hunt down these damned Vampire.
This led to the emergence of a new profession within the Papal State: Vampire hunters!
Although Lino City was completely overrun, the final result still met Norton's expectations.
Perhaps in a few decades or even a hundred years, the entire Southern Continent will have no memory of Vampire from the old era.
When people think of Vampire, they usually only picture New-Type Vampire who are afraid of silver, afraid of sunlight, and who don't look much different from humans.
Sesvia, a small country within the Boya Empire's coalition.
After five years of attrition warfare, the extent of the Papal State' depletion is unknown, but Sesvia has been essentially wiped out.
In this country, which was originally a feudal system, the king's tax revenue was so meager that it was almost non-existent; it was all his private wealth.
With years of war, not only has private wealth been depleted, but even the serfs have suffered multiple forms of exploitation. Now, bandits roam the country, and lords of all ranks are suspicious of each other, fearing that someone will take advantage of the chaos to seek power and seize people and land.
In this chaotic country, only the remote border town of Mann, nestled near the mountain ridge, has managed to find some peace.
The reason for its peace and tranquility is not that this is a remote border town, but that its lord is a son of the former king of Sesvia.
It is well known that the kings of the various kingdoms surrounding the Papal State change frequently. This has been the case for nearly a thousand years, so people have become accustomed to it, and a strange custom has developed around it.
That is, after a new king ascends the throne, he will usually enfeoff the descendants of the old royal family as lords. This is to express his benevolence and magnanimity, and also to leave a way out for his own family. This practice has even become a tacit rule.
However, because they are members of the previous royal family, these remaining royals can be given the titles of queen or king, but at most they can only govern a small border town and are excluded from the center of power. Except for occasional banquets, they can hardly return to the royal city.
The lord who rules this remote town of Mann is Elizabeth I, also known as Queen Elizabeth, a remnant of the former royal family of Sesvia, who is only twelve years old at the time.
From this, we can deduce how many generations their royal family members typically live.
In reality, the person who should have inherited the royal title was not Elizabeth I, but her brother Edward VI.
However, her brother Edward VI died suddenly and without cause when he came of age, which meant that she was the last remaining member of the previous royal family.
At the tender age of twelve, Elizabeth I was forced to live alone in a dilapidated castle outside Mann Town, maintaining the last vestiges of dignity of the previous royal family.
Because he only had ten knights under his command to protect his life, the Boya Empire and the Papal State fought fiercely, but the Mann Town remained relatively peaceful and tranquil.
It was another quiet night.
Two beggars, their bodies wrapped in tattered rags, slowly strolled into the dark wilderness...