POV Rio
After four months of building Rome, I took a slight break to assimilate my next template. Or that was what I would like to say, but the template I got was one that assimilating was not that straightforward. It was the Black Knight from Monty Python. Which was... fine, I guess. The gear was very basic medieval knight gear. And his abilities were... decent. I can't bleed out anymore, as any wounds will stop bleeding within a few seconds of occurring. That actually combines pretty well with a Witcher's faster healing ability and, to some extent, their incredible survivability. I could now safely say I could lose a limb without feeling any serious pain. I would notice it was gone, but it wouldn't impair my ability to think and react.
Now, as for why increasing the template was difficult, I had to defend a bridge from crossings, no exceptions. I could also lose a limb or two. But that was just about it. Sword mastery did nothing. Neither did fighting, for that matter. As such, I just let it passively increase as I wasn't interested in testing the amulet's ability to regenerate an arm.
But I guess in other news, my efforts to build Rome had caused me to mine away a massive tunnel through the Fire Dragon Mountains. It was almost far enough that I would appear right next to the city of Romalia. It was also during this time that I discovered Magma Blocks. Turns out I could mine magma when it is in its more solid state. Lava could also be gathered, though, in that case, I would need to head to a fairly liquid source of Lava on the surface, though some sources of Magma could work as well. It also seems that all lava/magma and water are treated as source blocks. However, I can only collect it if it contains at least 1 cubic meter of material, and it can include any materials within about 15 meters to meet the criteria.
I had also gone about searching the various monsters of the Fire Dragon Mountains to see if I could get loot from some of them that my crafting abilities classified as Blaze Rods or something similar. But so far, I hadn't had any luck. I found ways to get other mob loot. Bones, Gunpowder, Arrows, Copper, Rotten Flesh, those are all things I can get without mobs, and the crafting system acknowledges them as such. I could also do so with String with it basically accepting any type of string as long as it has the volume or quantity to be converted. The same can be said of Spider Eyes, though they are a pain in the rear to collect enough to craft one Minecraft version. For instance, if you took one wolf spider and killed it, then harvested all eight eyes successfully, you would need another 99 wolf spiders to craft one Minecraft Spider Eye.
But at least that is where magic comes in. I can increase the size of a spider with magic, and several spider-type monsters exist that can be used as substitutes. I even found that some insect-type monsters' eyes can be converted. Not all of them, but a decent portion. Another material I was able to get, though this time by breaking something down into its parts, was Magma Cream. But unfortunately, no Blaze Rods, Ghast Tears, or Nether Wart. In fact, I really wish I had access to the Nether, but I don't, so there is no use in crying over spilled milk.
'Maybe I'll get lucky, and when I get home, the Nether Portal will work.'
I didn't have very high hopes, but oh well. Back to more important matters, Romalia was our next target of conquest. It was likely I was subconsciously mining a tunnel right to Romalia because I knew we would need it. Romalia has been busy in a protracted war with the elves, as whenever they tried to pull out of the desert, the elves would push them harder. This meant a decent portion of their armies were away from the homeland. It also likely helps that invasions are not seen as likely, or they would take a long time to cross the Fire Dragon Mountains. As such, the border defenses were actually quite sparse.
In any case, they wouldn't expect the coming Blitzkrieg. And logically nobody would. With any luck, we could capture the capital before they realized what happened.
And that was the exact strategy we used. Though with a few changes. I would lead the army in capturing the city of Romalia, while Grand Duke Peter would lead the second army to capture Aquileia. Aquileia was this world's version of Venice and, as such, was a cultural and economic lifeline for Romalia. There were several other smaller towns, villages, and even a couple of cities that would require conquest, but thankfully, Romalia was never built for defending its core territories, as they never considered that they could be attacked. By the elves, sure, but from the north? Or the sea? Perposterous. As such, those far easier targets were left to the third army to deal with. The third army was the only army that hadn't been equipped with firearms, and as such, they were given the easier task to accomplish.
POV Shift Pope Vittorio Serevare
Boom
'How could this happen?'
I tried to maintain the magic barrier around the city, but every second the barrier was shrinking as I failed to withstand the enemy's bombardment. Were they using holy weapons against me? The levels of blasphemy were incredulous. I had already sent word that anyone who ordered the attack would be excommunicated, but it turned out the one in charge of the attack was Gandálfr. God's left hand was striking me, and the holy city.
Boom
The shield takes another hit and shrinks once more.
'I can't hold this city.'
"Your Holiness! The enemy has almost breached the walls! What should we do?!" Priest Donahue asks.
"All is lost... The Holy Empire is finished," I say weakly.
Everyone looks at me with horror as I release the barrier spell.
"Madness! All of you! To the walls! TO THE WALLS!" screams Guard Captain Guto.
Everyone scrambles to fight, but I let them leave. Once they are gone, I go to the underground chambers where I intend to die.
'Let the fools perish in the pointless endeavor. The evil in the South is coming for us all; nothing will stop it.'
POV Shift Rio
When the barrier falls, I order the artillery to shatter the walls.
BOOM... CRASH
The walls come down, and I order the tanks to advance. However, I belay that order when I see the enemy rallying at the breach in the wall. A knight upon a steed approaches with a white flag.
"It seems they wish to Parley," I comment.
"Should we keep firing?" asks Karin de La Vallière, Louise's mother.
"No, let us see what they want," I reply.
The knight arrives, and we start talking.
"I am Lord Denethor, Loyal Steward of His Holiness, St. Aegis XXXII. We request your remove your armies from this holy land or face the wrath of god," Denethor warns.
"No, surrender the city, and we shall not harm the populace. Or keep resisting, and we won't stop until the last ember of resistance is snuffed out," I warn.
"The city will never surrender. Every citizen is being mobilised to defend the holy city. You would have to massacre every last pious man, woman, and child before you could claim the city," Denethor says.
"Will you really let the sins of the father fall upon the child?" I ask.
"This is a Holy War; whatever sacrifices that are required to defeat your Empress, will not be vain," Denethor says sternly.
I looked into his eyes and saw the eyes of a zealot ready and willing to sacrifice themselves for what they believe is a holy cause.
"So be it, if it is war you want, you shall have it," I reply before turning away from him.
Denethor uses this chance to pull out a flintlock pistol, and she shoots me in the back of the head. I let him do so as it barely tickles me. After he fires, I slowly turn around and stare at him.
"M-Monster!" Denethor says with dawning horror.
I slowly let my form return to normal.
"Indeed, by your standards, I am a monster. A devil that must be exterminated," I say as my elven nature is free for everyone to see.
I let Denethor go back, as I had no intention of conquering a city to only then have to deal with constant rebellions; instead, I would let the zealots die for what they believed in.
"Resume Bombardment. Take down the entire Northern side of the wall before we make a move. Anything that moves near the walls is a target. If anyone attempts to surrender, use the golems to confirm if it is true," I order and the bombardment swiftly resumes.
I had no intention of entering the city anymore. With their zealotry, they would gladly die for their cause. Thus, I would starve them out.
Two Months Later...
"All other war targets have been captured. Only Romalia and Cittadella remain standing. Grand Duke Peter is in the process of sieging the Romalian Army stationed at Cittadella. The elves haven't made any moves to interfere on either side," Karin de La Vallière reports.
"Good, with any luck, we should be finished here in perhaps another three weeks," I reply.
"Couldn't we just strike now and clean up the barely surviving Romalians?" Karin de La Vallière asks.
"We could, but doing so would cost us dearly and would give them more food to eat. We are in no rush to beat them. They, on the other hand, have already run out of food, causing mass cannibalism and even several disease outbreaks. We have lost fewer than 1000 men in the siege so far. Never underestimate zealots. They will fight to the death and take as many infidels with them while doing so," I warn from experience.
"Very well," Karin de La Vallière responds.
I was a bit surprised to hear that Romalia was the last to fall. Apparently, Grand Duke Peter had convinced a portion of the populace to open the gates for the army. They lost a decent number of people, but in the end, the Romalian army was annihilated, and the city of Cittadella was captured. Romalia didn't last much longer, but it still lasted longer than the rest of the country. Romalia didn't surrender to the very end. Instead, they made one last desperate breakout attempt and were annihilated when they tried. After that, I went in and scouted out the city and confirmed they were all dead. We looted some stuff, but there was very little of the city remaining at this point, so we left the ruins as a reminder to future generations about the horrors of zealotry.
But with the fall of Romalia, the continent was just about united. All that was left were the elves, but for now, I had no interest in them. At least I made some great progress in the two months that the siege lasted. I had assimilated three different templates. Sure, most weren't that great. First was the Black Knight, which was already explained. But after them, I got Asia Argento, which was a bit more useful. The gear was mostly useless. A nun's outfit, a Holy Bible, and a sacred Cross. But then I got the real treasure and the main point of the template, Twilight Healing. It was a Sacred Gear that gave me a great way to heal people.
Now, despite how good it seemed in reality, it basically just gave me a weakened ability of the amulet, except that the effects are faster. I can't regenerate limbs, cure sickness, or reduce exhaustion. But it was fairly quick to heal most injuries, and from what I can tell, I can put a limb back on a person and then use Twilight Healing to reattach it. The other upside is that it doesn't cost much Mana to use Twilight Healing, at least when compared to other healing spells. Though somewhat related to that, I didn't get any species traits from Asia, as apparently the version I got was the human version, which was a slight disappointment, but oh well. At least I got a saintly aura I could turn on and off at will.
The last template I got was Waddles the pig. He's just a pig, nothing else. A little bit disappointing. But I guess I can turn into a pig once I finish assimilating him. I don't know why I would want to do that. But I could. Maybe roll around in the mud? Or eat a dead space clown? I don't know why I would need to do that, but I guess it might happen one day.