Krim was not stupid. With Duanmu Huai having made things so clear, if she still did not understand what she needed to do, she would truly be an idiot. After that, Krim gathered the remaining soldiers of the Fourth Legion and publicly executed General Nero, who had ordered the Fourth Legion to go to their deaths. At the same time, she announced that the Fourth Legion would march on the imperial capital under the banner of "supporting the Emperor," to rescue Emperor Shira from Chancellor Stisser and the Council, who were monopolizing the court and controlling state affairs!
Thus, next, two fierce proclamations were issued by the Inquisition and the Fourth Legion respectively, spreading across the entire continent.
The Inquisition's proclamation directly targeted Oz, bishop of the AL Church, declaring that he had been tempted by demons and had actually dared, in a fit of madness, to declare war on the Inquisition—an unforgivable crime. Now that Bishop Oz was inciting the Herman Empire to oppose the Inquisition, this was an even greater mistake. If they thought that relying on the strength of the Herman Empire would be enough to force the Inquisition to bow its head, then the Inquisition did not mind letting this group of heretical fanatics experience what the wrath of the Inquisition truly meant!
The proclamation issued by the Fourth Legion under Krim directly pointed its spearhead at the Council led by Chancellor Stisser, accusing Chancellor Stisser of using the Emperor's young age as an excuse to monopolize state power, bring chaos to the nation, and imprison the Emperor—crimes that could not be forgiven. Furthermore, colluding with Bishop Oz and sacrificing the soldiers of the Fourth Legion for their own selfish interests was even more unforgivable. Therefore, for the sake of the Herman Kingdom and for Emperor Shira, the Fourth Legion would march together with the Inquisition to the imperial capital Langubatun, purge the traitors at the Emperor's side, execute the treacherous ministers, and safeguard imperial authority!
The two proclamations each had their own focus. The Inquisition's target was Bishop Oz, while the Fourth Legion's target was the Council led by Chancellor Stisser. This, too, was Duanmu Huai's idea.
Many times, people preferred to purge institutions and attack collectives. For example, regional attacks, or statements like dragging the entire O Association out to be shot—people loved to say such things. But in reality, attacking collectives and institutions did not mean much. You might hate people from a certain place, but without an Exterminatus, you had no way to wipe that place out entirely.
The same was true when dealing with the AL Church. These institutions existed precisely because they were irreplaceable. Even if one was destroyed, another would appear.
It was like everyone saying officials were corrupt—but it was impossible to drag all officials out and behead them. If that happened, who would govern the country?
So when facing such situations, focusing on individuals and concentrating the spotlight was extremely effective.
Right now, Duanmu Huai had no benefit in becoming the enemy of the entire AL Church. But if he fixed his sights firmly on Bishop Oz, then with the AL Church still having not selected the next Pontiff, Bishop Oz would be unable to obtain more support from within the church. After all, he was not the only one who wanted to become Pontiff—and for Bishop Oz's rivals, this might even be a good thing.
The Fourth Legion's proclamation followed the same logic. Overthrowing the entire nation and wiping out the entire noble class would certainly feel satisfying, but it would only provoke universal hostility. However, focusing the target on the Council led by Chancellor Stisser was a different matter altogether. Even if Chancellor Stisser could cover the sky with one hand by relying on the power of Empress Dowager Bermila, it did not mean the other high-ranking officials found him agreeable.
At such a time, his enemies might also seize the opportunity to restrain Stisser.
Therefore, having a clear target was extremely important. Saying "kill them all" felt good, but unless the situation was dire enough to require an Exterminatus, even Duanmu Huai, as an Inquisitor, would not casually carry out a large-scale massacre—especially in the human world.
After all, Inquisitors were not Grey Knights.
Of course, things would be different on an alien planet.
Another reason Duanmu Huai did this was that the Inquisition had already begun recruiting believers in various places.
Under these circumstances, openly opposing the AL Church was not advantageous. After all, the AL Church could be considered the universal religion of this world. If the Inquisition were to confront the AL Church directly, it would inevitably cause unrest and dissatisfaction among the populace.
But if the Inquisition merely targeted a single bishop of the AL Church, then the situation was different.
That would fall under personal enmity, and would not escalate into a confrontation between two religious factions.
No matter how powerful Bishop Oz was, his influence only extended to his base. Outside of that base, who even knew who he was?
Once these two proclamations were issued, they immediately caused an enormous uproar across the continent.
Likewise, for the Herman Council, this was nothing short of a heavy bomb.
"...…"
Inside the dim military conference room, the atmosphere was tense to the extreme, and the four people seated at the table were all pale-faced.
"This is simply—simply outrageous nonsense!!"
Chancellor Stisser slammed the table in fury and shouted. Normally, he was a man whose emotions rarely showed, appearing quite refined and intellectual. But now, these two proclamations had pushed him to the brink of uncontrollable rage!
"To say that we imprisoned the Emperor and monopolized state power—utterly ridiculous! The Emperor is still young, and the Empress Dowager temporarily assists in governance. Everyone knows this! Do these damned traitors think such crude lies can turn black into white?!"
"...…"
Hearing Chancellor Stisser's roar, Herman's Supreme Military Commander Kechak and Economic Minister Barton silently rolled their eyes. If it were truly nonsense, why were you jumping around here? Who present doesn't know this is the truth? Pretending in public was one thing, but now that it's just our own people here, you're still acting—this is a bit too much, isn't it?
"Commander-in-Chief!"
After venting his anger, Chancellor Stisser glared viciously at Supreme Commander Kechak. Under Stisser's gaze, which seemed to burn with rage, Kechak froze. Although he held the position of Supreme Commander of Herman's military, Kechak was not a qualified soldier. Similar to Nero, he had reached this position through family background and status. His thin, frail body—which hardly looked like that of a Herman—was proof enough.
"Yes."
"How do you plan to deal with the rebellion of the Fourth Legion?!"
"This…"
Faced with Chancellor Stisser's questioning, Kechak broke out in a cold sweat.
"At present, there is no particularly good solution. According to scout reports, the Fourth Legion still has around twenty thousand men…"
"Do you really have no solution at all?!!"
Chancellor Stisser slammed the table again in fury. His impatience was not without reason. After all, no one had ever imagined that a rebel force would attack them under the banner of "purging the traitors at the Emperor's side." Moreover, they knew full well that what the other side said was true. Under such circumstances, Stisser feared even more that other legions would follow the Fourth Legion's example and rebel outright!
Especially the First Legion guarding the areas around the royal capital…
"Let's set that issue aside for now, Chancellor."
Just as the Supreme Commander was sweating profusely under Stisser's interrogation, the fat, big-eared Economic Minister Bashu patted his belly, which was as round as a pig's. From the narrow slits of his eyes, nearly squeezed shut by fat, a cold glint flashed as he looked at Stisser.
"As for the matter of the Inquisition… this is the first I've heard of it. How exactly did our Herman come to be at odds with the Inquisition? Did you truly reach an agreement with Bishop Oz of the AL Church? Now that the Inquisition's forces are allied with the rebels, how are we supposed to respond?"
"Ugh..."
Hearing the Economic Minister's question, the previously shouting Stisser instantly fell silent, like a duck whose throat had been grabbed.
Part of the reason he had acted so furiously earlier was precisely to conceal this point. After all, the agreement he had reached with Bishop Oz was a private one and absolutely could not be known by others.
However, Stisser soon thought of a solution.
"This only proves where the problem lies. Bishop Oz suspected the Inquisition of colluding with demons, and they actually dared to invade Herman on that basis alone. This is enough to prove that these people are audacious beyond belief and very likely accomplices of the demon race! I propose that we immediately dispatch the Second Legion to join forces with the Fifth Legion and wipe out the Inquisition's thieves together with those rebel elements!"
"The Second Legion is currently guarding the western defense line. Are we really going to redeploy them?"
Hearing this, the Supreme Commander hesitated. After all, the demonic front was the true priority. If it were breached due to insufficient troops… Seth was a precedent he did not wish Herman to repeat.
"This is an order!"
"...…Yes."
Since the Chancellor had issued the command and the Empress Dowager, as chairwoman, did not object, the Supreme Commander could only nod.
It had to be said… he now had a very bad premonition.
While the Herman royal capital was thrown into chaos over this, Duanmu Huai was also looking over intelligence reports from Seth and Lisias.
At the same time the proclamations were issued, the Inquisition had also begun recruiting believers in these two nations. Of course, the Inquisition did not require grand cathedrals like the AL Church. Basically, as long as a holy icon was set up, anyone could go and worship—after all, once you prayed and gained power, your soul would be bound to the Inquisition.
Naturally, Duanmu Huai had entrusted the missionary work to Lorena and the other missionary priests. After all, they were professionals in this area.
At present, progress on both sides was quite good.
This was only natural. Both Lisias and Seth were nations that Duanmu Huai had once saved. The citizens of those countries were naturally full of gratitude toward Duanmu Huai and the Inquisition. Especially the Kingdom of Seth—back then, Duanmu Huai had used the Sky City to relocate several million people. As long as those people possessed even a shred of conscience, Duanmu Huai would immediately gain quite a number of believers.
According to reports from both sides, the current rate of absorbing believers in Seth and Lisias was roughly 6:4, with Seth's citizens being more enthusiastic about believing in the Inquisition. On the Lisias side, Princess Lia had also put in great effort to promote it nationwide. She had even wanted to expel the AL Church from Lisias, but Duanmu Huai had stopped her.
A religion that no one wanted would eventually die out. There was no need to take action personally.
This was actually quite normal. When these two countries had faced annihilation, the AL Church had not manifested any miracles to help. When there had been no alternative, that was one thing—but once there was a choice… of course they would choose the one that actually worked, wouldn't they?
And according to intelligence, there was also a great deal of discussion within the AL Church's domains. Unfortunately, with no new Pontiff selected yet, they could only stare helplessly…
Very good. Keep it up.
Duanmu Huai nodded, then stepped out the door. At that moment, a voice sounded beside him.
"Greetings, Lord Duanmu."
"Oh?"
Duanmu Huai followed the sound—then looked down—only to see the petite Kilty standing there.
"What is it?"
"It's like this: we've captured a group of slave traders and brought them back together with the slaves. How should they be dealt with?"
"Slave traders?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai frowned slightly.
"Take me to see them."
He then spoke.
(End of Chapter)