LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 28: The Enigmatic Femme Fatales
“Innocent lambs, only by seeking our almighty Lord’s protection can you attain power and glory. You have to devote yourself to our Lord to receive His blessing. Only by believing, fearing, and worshiping our Lord will you receive His most generous gifts.
“Do you see it now?
“No matter how many soldiers, cannons, and ships our enemies have, they will be defeated by the Priest King summoned by our Lord. Those demons who seek to infringe on our Lord’s honor will receive divine retribution in the very end…”
Looking at the opulently-dressed Patriarch preaching in Church of God’s Holy Wisdom, Constantin XI exhaled softly, “Haa…”
“Your Majesty,” someone beside him spoke up, “why are you sighing on such a joyous day?”
“Ah, Suna.” Constantin XI turned over and recognized the person to be an old acquaintance. He lowered his head despondently and replied, “This isn’t the kind of empire I want.”
He looked at the golden censer, silver candelabra, and all kinds of jeweled ritual tools inside the cathedral.
“The old Romie had confident civilians and disciplined soldiers, who were brave enough to bring their ideas forth for debate, and they were filled with the ambition to conquer the world. But look at these people…”
Constantin XI gestured to the devout faces inside the cathedral.
“Our people walk with an air of gloom. Our court is weak and corrupted. Our army is incompetent. Our nobles are hypocritical and selfish—”
“Your Majesty, is it fine for you to say that of your own country?” Madam Marti asked.
“Hah. My words may sound awful but they are the truth,” Constantin XI replied. “I wanted to change things when I first took over the throne. I thought I could revitalize the empire. But whenever I tried cutting into the heart of it all, I’d always suffer setbacks. All measures I tried to implement were stifled halfway through.
“I simply don’t understand! The empire is already on its last legs. Why aren’t they willing to give it one last try to turn things around?”
Madam Marti could only respond with silence. She knew that the empire’s rife politics was causing its stagnation, but this was not an issue that anyone could resolve.
They could only watch helplessly as the empire slid toward the abyss due to endless infighting.
While Constantin XI lamented the Eastern Romain Empire’s difficult fate, there was a roaring voice.
“HOLY WAR!”
Startled, Constantin XI turned to the stage where the crazed Patriarch stood.
The Patriarch’s wrinkled face was reddened, and he waved his hands so madly that his entire body trembled.
“For hundreds of years, the barbaric heretics from the wilderness have invaded our lands and eroded the glory of our Eastern Romain Empire! They killed our brethren, burned our homes, and plundered our wealth. There’s no evil that’s beneath them. Millions of our brothers have died at the hands of those demons!
“Our weakness and cowardice have caused our empire to suffer defeat after defeat, till all we have left is this city. We suffered poverty and starvation under their trampling. Look around us! We’re surrounded by coffins, corpses, and blood!
“Who’s the cause of it all? It’s those vile Ottomains!
“But those vile Ottomains don’t know that we, Romains, are blessed and protected by our Lord. Do you see our Caesar, our Khitan Priest King?”
The Patriarch warmly ushered Shu Yichao onto the stage at this point.
“He has come to this land under our Lord’s summons and beheaded the demonic sultana of the heretics! He showed those abominable heretics that our Lord is inviolable!”
Bathed under the sunlight, it looked as if Shu Yichao was wrapped in a halo. His dashing appearance coupled with his valiant demeanor gave him a pure and divine aura. This was the prowess of ‘Empire Bewitcher’!
The cheers that followed nearly overthrew the cathedral’s roof.
“All hail the Priest King!”
“All hail our Khitan Caesar!”
The Patriarch shouted above the cheers, “BUT! This war isn’t over yet! Those abominable vermin continue to occupy our land. If we don’t use this opportunity to uproot the source of evil once and for all, we’d be allowing those demons to continue sullying our glory…
“How disappointed would our Lord be!
“So, devout believers of our Lord, whether you’re a soldier, a merchant, a farmer, or a craftsman, I implore you to devote everything you have into this noble Holy War to evict those miscreants and snatch back our lands!
“With our Lord’s blessing and the Priest King’s leadership, we are infallible!”
Seconds passed before cheers crashed down like a tsunami.
“Holy War!”
“Holy War!”
Constantin XI was stunned.
The Patriarch’s overflowing passion had fanned the flames inside the Romain people, inspiring confidence and optimism in them. The Romains were trembling with excitement, as if they could already see the brilliant future ahead of them.
Constantin XI knew that if they could secure a few decisive victories, the ancient empire that had been spiraling into decline thus far might just find the spark it needed to usher in another era of prosperity.
The Eastern Romain Empire had risen from the pits of despair many times before, after all!
This might just be history repeating itself once more.
Then, Constantin XI noticed the Patriarch looking at him. The latter winked at him.
“…”
Madam Marti, who saw the same sight, was stunned. “…Your Majesty, are you certain that the Patriarch has gone mad?”
“…I think so?”
This wave of fanaticism resulted in the formation of an army of 10,000 crusaders despite Constantinope’s population of less than a hundred thousand.
The quality of the army was questionable, however, as its ranks included 60-year-old old men, teenagers, farmers, woodsmen, clergymen, chefs, and so on. Even some of the fitter women were mobilized too as there weren’t enough young men around.
Some of the immigrants, sailors, and mercenaries who had been living in Constantinope joined the Crusade too.
All in all, they looked like a ragtag group. They wore all sorts of clothes and came in different shapes and sizes. Most of them were armed with swords, spears, and bows. Some hoisted up wooden crosses together with a twin eagles flag as a symbol of their movement.
This was the army that marched out of Constantinope.
Shu Yichao wouldn’t walk with such a group of people.
Instead, he led his subordinates, which comprised nearly a thousand Elite Horse Archers now, and impatiently began making his way toward Ottomain’s current capital—Edirne.
【My host, why are you running toward Momoana’s palace?】
System 12345 still had no clue about Shu Yichao’s circumstances, having yet to fix its black screen, so it couldn’t understand what he was up to.
【Aren’t you leaping into the enemy’s trap? They often say that it’s darkest under the lamp, but such tricks might not necessarily work on Momoana.】
【Wait…】
System 12345 suddenly thought of something.
【Ahhh, I get it now! My host, you must be thinking of going down the imperial harem route! You’re hoping to regain some of Momoana’s favorability through her imperial consorts. That’s not a bad idea indeed…】
【But how do you know Momoana has wives and children? Did she tell you in person?】
【Ahh, you might be wondering why Momoana has imperial consorts, or how she had offspring with her imperial consorts at all. I can only say you’re in another world; there’s no need to make sense of everything. Hahahaha!】
System 12345 laughed, but its laughter got quieter and quieter before it quickly reverted to its serious expression.
【My host, don’t be bothered by it. Once you conquer Momoana, her imperial harem will be yours too. It’s a 1-for-10 deal. Quite a worthwhile trade, isn’t it? By then… hehehe!】