The battle to reclaim the Holy City lasted almost the entire afternoon, evening, and night, finally ending early the next morning.
The reason it took so long wasn't just because players had limited online time, or because there were too many remnants of the Stained Ones in the Holy City; another reason was related to the Holy City itself.
The Holy City is so vast, and its population is the largest in the world, far surpassing any of the other cities mentioned earlier.
The common people living here have virtually no dietary needs, and coupled with the strong religious atmosphere, the city, despite its large area, has maintained a remarkably good internal environment.
Another point is that, because the people living here could not possibly starve to death, the entire Holy City basically had no productive capacity. After all, in the Middle Ages, Starve was the source of productivity.
In Ed's view, the Holy City was more like a huge and purely residential area than a "city," containing only religious buildings and the basic buildings necessary for the city to function, in addition to residences.
However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing for players, as it at least makes the entire city appear very well-planned.
With Geliwusi's assistance, the Soul Returner under Nuolun's command, responsible for "confiscating" property, quickly found a large number of blueprints and instructions related to urban construction in the Records Office.
With these materials, Duma's regular army began to pour into every street and alley, big and small, like mercury, constantly digging out the stubborn enemies who were putting up a fight.
Meanwhile, the normal players are active in various places. Some choose to join the "regular army" to capture the Stained Ones, and try to learn some urban warfare and CQB skills from them.
As for the other players, some packed up prisoners, some appeased the masses, some helped choose a location for a branch of the High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant, and some even dressed up as medieval fanatics, spreading the gospel of the Son of God throughout the city.
In short, by the next morning, the Holy City had become part of the Second Holy See in both military and geographical terms.
Various public symbiotic plants from the Ed Root Network, such as resurrection Teleportation Tree, self-service vending trees, Dungeon authentication trees, and item delivery trees, have also appeared in the streets and alleys of the Holy City.
Those standing guard on the city walls were no longer the original Stained Ones, but members of the Holy Crusaders Pure Ones and Gungnir.
The soldiers coming and going on the streets were no longer the conscripted soldiers of the past, but the fully armed Adrian Imperial Guard.
The commoners of the Holy City, who had been awakened from their illusion by Geliwusi, had already returned home dejectedly, not forgetting to express their gratitude to Cardinal Geliwusi and the heavenly soldiers of the Son of God for not killing them, these madmen.
After all, only when they regain their senses will they realize just how terrifying and foolish the illusions they had just witnessed truly were.
That situation where it was difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood had vanished without a trace, because Sailesi had long since fled to some unknown place.
Without his personal maintenance, relying solely on a high-quality replica puppet and the root system that Spread throughout the underground of the Holy City, it would have been impossible to sustain it for so long.
It can be said that in his plan, the Holy City was the "pawn" in his plan to sacrifice the pawn to save the king; he was willing to give up anything for his own life and ambition.
But the next morning, as Pure Ones Holy Crusaders Luxiusi had sent out to keep watch returned to the city, Ed, Geliwusi, and the others learned something—
Sailesi did not run south.
These scouts were dispatched by Luxiusi in the early hours of the previous day. As adversaries who had been locked in a stalemate for nearly a century, Luxiusi knew Sailesi all too well.
He knew that although the other party appeared tough due to his military background, he was essentially a man who was always prepared and had a backup plan.
Therefore, he combined his Psionic Energy and plant-based abilities, temporarily bestowing the power of his Clear Void Pine upon these loyal Pure Ones to prevent them from being silently controlled and killed by Sailesi.
Luxiusi then sent them out of the Holy City, where they lay in ambush along every major road, keeping a close watch on Sailesi's escape route.
But after a whole day, these Pure Ones were ordered to return, only to find that Luxiusi had died and they had not brought back any useful information. They all looked dejected, their faces contorted as if they were about to cry.
As the new master of the Holy City, Ed naturally reassured these Pure Ones and assured them that their work was not in vain.
This wasn't a lie to appease him; Ed genuinely believed it.
First of all, given Sailesi's strength and ambition, he would never choose to hide in the mountains and become a bandit.
Therefore, the only places he can go are those outside the Theocracy and the Second Holy See.
Going to the Graycast Corridor or the Eternal Domain would be going in the opposite direction, Sailesi, in his hasty escape, wouldn't do that, so two more options are eliminated.
Luxiusi knew that Sailesi was colluding with the Empire to traffic people for experiments, which is why he sent people towards the Empire.
But now it seems that Sailesi is most likely heading not to the Empire, but to the Skeleton Alliance, which seems to have no connection with him.
This not only exceeded Luxiusi's plans, but also puzzled Ed.
Isn't the Empire the one you're cooperating with?
Why not just lie low in the Empire and wait for the players to capture you alive in the next version?
If you really want to cause trouble, go to the Skeleton Alliance.
Would a faction consisting entirely of skeletons choose to accept Sailesi, a (potentially) human?
Ed had no idea about this, but his opinion of the Skeleton Alliance had been steadily declining.
Now that things have come to this, although Luxiusi's plan was not entirely successful, he truly burned himself out.
Faced with the brief alliance between Sailesi and Samuer, he ultimately persuaded Geliwusi to save the Holy City, and left Ed a final clue with his life.
Thinking of this, the one-eyed boy looked again toward the small prayer hall at the top of the cathedral.
"Your Highness..."
Geliwusi, who had been standing to the side like a personal attendant, suddenly interjected, saying that only Golius would address Ed in that way nowadays.
"Do you have any new instructions regarding yesterday's arrangements?"
Ed shook his head:
"As planned, while managing the Stained Ones, I'll also act as a figurehead in the Holy City for a period of time, helping me to appease the civilians here."
At this point, Ed asked Geliwusi:
"Have you finished writing the document I asked you to write?"
"Yes, the sinner has completed his task."
As he spoke, Geliwusi pulled a scroll of manuscript from his pocket, Ed waved his hand in response:
"I've read your work at the Records Office, and it seems quite reliable. Go ahead and publish it."
"Yes."
Geliwusi bowed and accepted the order, leaving the cathedral. Now that the first trial had passed, the next step was to make a Dungeon.