paranoianovel Chapter 713: Marching on Alexandria
Chapter 713: Marching on Alexandria
Chapter 713: Marching on Alexandria
"Saint Rosa is above!"
"Power, mercy, and holiness, may God bless my King Lothar, and may he always be victorious and be honored!"
Having witnessed a war between gods and seeing the fallen general regain his life, it was unknown who started it all, but the poorly dressed combat monks, the district priests, and even the bishop all began to sing praises of this miracle.
Many Crusaders once again began to call upon the title they had previously called out: "Crusader King".
Perhaps Lothar has not yet been truly crowned king, but with the title of "King of the Crusaders" prefixed to him, even the two real kings present would not show any surprise or dissatisfaction. That is what he deserves.
As long as he doesn't openly acknowledge the title of the Son of God and leaves them some leeway, it will be fine.
This scene also left a deep impression on the Saracen people.
If the golden giant god who was defeated by the pagan demon was really the holy fire they believed in, the omniscient and omnipotent god of light, why was he defeated by the pagan demon?
If it wasn't God, why didn't God appear at the critical moment, but let a "false god" come to the rescue?
I can’t figure it out, I can’t figure it out at all!
“Maybe God doesn’t exist.”
"It is also possible that He does not care about us at all and we have been abandoned by God."
Some devout believers sat on the ground like a fool, allowing their fleeing companions to trample them under their feet. Some Zoroastrians simply went to the side of the road, raised their weapons tremblingly, and ended their lives cleanly and quickly.
In Zoroastrianism, suicide is a serious sin that will result in one falling into hell and never being able to be redeemed.
Because a person's life or death can only be decided by God.
On the one hand, they committed such blasphemous acts because their inner faith had completely collapsed, and on the other hand, they were also expressing their anger towards God. No matter which one it was, it was extremely rebellious.
A wise man cried out in grief: "My brothers, the paganism and evil spirits are rampant because we are not pious and virtuous enough. Therefore, the Lord has given us tests to distinguish the noble and the vile among us, so that the noble can ascend to heaven and the vile can fall into hell forever. Don't destroy your own life because of this."
Some smart Saracen clergy have begun to think about how to cooperate with the Crusaders.
Didn't the Franks who occupied Semanude and Damietta force everyone to convert to Christianity? If the Franks wanted to rule Egypt, they still needed the help of their clergy.
At best, the days ahead will be much more difficult than before.
Some people say: "We must obey and not resist, because this is suffering sent by God to make us live under the rule of pagans in order to atone for our sins so that we can ascend to heaven."
Some people angrily refuted: "Look at this little talker, such an unclean person, who has also infiltrated our orthodox church and pretended to be a noble person - this is why the Lord has given us tests. Only when we are in adversity can we identify those despicable people."
The two sides quarreled with each other. Zoroastrianism in Egypt had already left a large number of "Shiite remnants" due to the Fatimid dynasty that had previously ruled here. The Ayyubid dynasty replaced it in less than 20 years.
Faced with this dilemma, these long-oppressed "Shifa remnants" immediately stood up and challenged the "Sunya orthodox" faction.
The fugitive Saracens are still on the run, and whether they want to obey or resist, it would not be a wise choice to stay here.
However, as both sides retreated, they loudly refuted each other's doctrines. Even though they still retained most of their manpower, the Saracen coalition, which had been split again, had become a loose sand and could no longer pose a threat to the Crusaders.
"Ivan, I said that we can't defeat Duke Lothar. He is not only a secular monarch, but also the side of God that I believe in. The Son of God also faced disasters in the past, but he foresaw all of them and was willing to bear them."
Baron Fulk knelt on the ground, took out the deeply hidden cross from his collar, and prayed in a low voice.
"Now that the time has come, what's the point of saying all this? Don't forget that you are now a damned pagan just like us. In fact, in the eyes of the Franks, a traitor like you is even more hateful than us."
Ivan's tone was a little frustrated. The direction of the war was completely different from what he expected.
His personal bravery, which he was so proud of, and the elite troops he led were like a stone thrown into the sea, without even a splash, and were easily washed away by the iron armor.
All the talk of making great achievements has become nonsense.
"Let's go. We still have some money left. It's time to leave Egypt by ship."
Among the Mamluks who came to Egypt with him, those who were most supportive of his master "Takieddin" have almost all died, so now these Mamluks are considered the military force under his personal control.
"Ivan, I'm not leaving with you."
Fulk shook his head, knelt on the ground, closed his eyes, and prepared to accept his fate calmly - whether it was being sent to the gallows, being tied to the stake, or being thrown into the mines as a slave.
"Crazy!"
boom--
Ivan struck Fulk on the back of the neck with the hilt of his sword, and then ordered his men to carry the unconscious, suicidal man onto the horse's back.
Before leaving, he couldn't help but look back at the brilliant light that looked like the shadow of a god descending from the earth, and muttered in a low voice: "Anyway, this is the last time I will fight you, there won't be a next time, I swear!"
He has no plans to return to Aleppo.
In his view, the Crusaders would conquer the place sooner or later, and the collapse of the Ayyubid dynasty was inevitable.
It would be better to go all the way and retreat to Asia Minor. Whether fighting the Greeks with the King of Roma or going to the Persian territory to find work, there is always a way to survive.
After careful consideration, the latter is more reliable.
After all, Roma was not far from the Franks, and the Persians were said to be fighting with nomads from the eastern grasslands. As for the nomads, there was no need to talk about their fighting ability. Ivan, who often dealt with the Cumans in his early years, simply disdained them.
Only the pampered Persian masters would suffer losses in the face of enemies of this level.
"It's unimaginable."
"Is this Lothar a master of Transfiguration in the legendary realm?"
A spellcaster from the advisory group spoke in a voice filled with shock. They once thought that they were the most powerful people in the world, but today they realized that they were just like toads sitting at the bottom of a well and looking at the sky.
The fighting power displayed by Shemaier far exceeded their imagination of the legend.
The fighting power displayed by each of those giant gods was far superior to theirs. The green mummies and earth and stone giants were even more superior to them.
But who could have thought that even such a powerful Shemail would end up in such a miserable defeat, and that his enemy, with whom he had fought desperately to die, actually came back to life in full view of everyone after the battle.
"Everyone, let's go now."
As they were talking, several solitary spellcasters left without saying a word, each using their own methods.
"I hope that Master Lothar will not bear a grudge against us."
Someone muttered something quietly and took out a broom and placed it under his crotch.
Soon, all the mage consultants that Saladin had hired at great expense fled in all directions.
Losa felt his body being reshaped and breathed a sigh of relief - no matter how you look at it, death is not a pleasant feeling. Being able to return to the world from eternal silence, even if it was only for a moment, he still felt a wave of fear.
If it was an ordinary person, it would be fine. Even if it was a high-level spellcaster, his soul would have been annihilated in the explosion when Shemaier detonated the wedge-shaped clay tablet. However, Lothar's soul was strong enough, and the whole process of his death was engraved in his heart with great clarity.
After being reborn from the fire, his strength did not recover to its peak, and his mental strength was still close to being exhausted during the war. However, his physical injuries had recovered, and the energy contained in his body had also recovered to a certain extent.
He cleared his mind and walked towards the countless people cheering for him.
Shemer is dead!
This was confirmed by the system, and even the experience points were credited to his account, allowing him to level up ten levels with some room to spare. Unfortunately, he was not an elite, so the extra experience points had to be stored.
Losa casually added all the sixty attribute points to his spirit, and he felt that his spirits immediately improved a lot.
"A legendary spellcaster is really hard to kill."
He couldn't help feeling emotional.
Although Shemaier had just entered the legendary realm, the wedge-shaped clay tablet was so powerful that it greatly increased his strength. It was truly the most terrifying opponent he had ever faced, bar none.
A neigh.
Eclipse came running over and knelt on the ground, as if imitating the crusaders who were kneeling to him.
Lothar looked solemn and sat on the horse.
As the man on the giant horse gradually approached, his eyes followed the crowd's cheers, and gradually subsided. Whether they were ordinary soldiers, knights, nobles, or monks, they all knelt on one knee and lowered their heads to express their humility and respect.
In this era, the power of the monarch was not necessarily supreme. It was not uncommon for powerful vassals to disobey the monarch, even openly insult the monarch, and declare war on the monarch. It was also not uncommon for some powerful vassals to tease and provoke their monarch at banquets.
Theocracy was not necessarily supreme either. Even though the Pope strongly opposed it and even openly supported the Lombard League, he could not do anything to stop Emperor Henry from riding his horse and waving his whip along the Po River.
But it is different for a monarch who holds both divine power and royal power, comparable to the emperor of the Eastern Empire.
This also seems to indicate that the future Kingdom of Egypt will not be a loose alliance of lords like European countries or the previous Saracen dynasty, but a centralized state like the Eastern Empire.
Lothar rode on Eclipse, and the divine horse passed through the army formation and passed in front of every Crusader team.
After a long while, Lothar returned to the front of the battle, raised high the Spear of Destiny, which had become even more glorious because of another great victory, and issued his own decree: "Everyone, the main force of the pagans has been defeated, and the road that blocked our recovery of the Alexandria Bishopric is now clear."
He paused and said loudly: "Next, let's march towards Alexander!"
He did not intend to acknowledge the title of the Son of God, because the Son of God was also one aspect of the Father, and was omniscient and omnipotent. If he raised this tiger skin, it would be too easy to be punctured, and it would also attract unnecessary hostility.
What's more, he has already gained the upper hand, and he should make use of the situation instead of taking an unconventional approach.
For him, the identity of a person favored by God is enough.
"On my king's orders, march toward Alexandria!"
"Long live!"
"In the name of the Father, in the name of Saint Lothar, march!"
The huge, loosely organized army, filled with noise and noise, began to move forward in an orderly manner under the command of their respective lords.