Chapter 168: Surrounded and Being Surrounded By
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Benjamin has never seen the Bishop in such a state.
To be more accurate, he has never seen those in the Church embarrassed to such an extent. It was not his first or second day opposing the Church. There were many priests and Holy Knights who have died in his hands, including the priest who was washed to his death in the "Drum-type Washing Machine" last time. But... even for that priest who was washed to death, he still was not in a state as embarrassing as the Bishop.
After the extremely loud "bang", a series of curses filled with anger soon broke out just outside of the metal door that blocked the entrance. It was at that moment Benjamin had the opportunity to learn of the curses that the people in this world used.
Because of this, he could not help but perform the Water Particle Detection to observe the Bishop outside who was in extreme rage.
In the world that was filtered with blue color, he could feel that the whole left side of the Bishop’s face was beginning to get swollen. Moreover, his red priest robe that was originally free of dust was now stained with dirt. In addition to that, with his messy hair and twisted expression, the Bishop looked just like a lunatic who had stayed too long in the Cleansing Center.
He was shouting curses while using his legs to step on the sealed-off entrance. The way he was now made it hard to relate to his previous image of a proud Bishop.
So pitiful...
Thankfully, except for Benjamin, there was no one else who could see the current state of the Bishop. If not, this Bishop could be too embarrassed to continue his job anymore.
Of course, after Benjamin used Water Particle Detection to observe the Bishop for a while, the Bishop soon realized that he was being observed by him. Immediately, he came back to his senses. After looking at the embarrassing state he was in now, his facial expression also became rather interesting.
He simply squatted beside the sealed-off entrance, with an expression as if he had just eaten shit. After staying silent for roughly half an hour, he finally took a deep breath and forcefully calmed himself down as he stood up.
He did not leave just yet. Instead, he tidied himself up and once again flew to midair. In the night, he directly flew over the border between the Crusader Gateway and the Kingdom and descended on the other side of the Gateway.
Just like this, he blocked the entrance of the Gateway. He used a divine charm to carve a huge rock into a chair and simply sat there as he began his prayers. He acted as if he planned to stay there until the end of the world.
Obviously, after losing himself at the beginning, he came back to his senses. He clearly realized that it was impossible for him to penetrate the defense of Gateway. So, he decided to go for a different plan which was to block the entrance. This way, the mages in the Gateway had no way to run to Icor as well.
"Lord Benjamin... Now, what should we do?"
Upon hearing the action of the Bishop in the Gateway, quite a few mages expressed their worries about it.
"It is late now. Let us all go back and have some rest first." Benjamin shook his head and said,
"Crusader Gateway is not that easy to get penetrated. If he intends to have a protracted war with us, then so be it. "
Well, he would like to see whether which of them would be more comfortable in this situation: The Bishop who sat on the chair or them who lied on the bed?
This way, even though the mages still seemed to be slightly worried, they were more at ease after Benjamin reassured them. They all found rooms with good conditions in the Gateway and called it a day.
As for Benjamin, he once again squatted by the door. He used the Water Particle Detection and observed for a while. Once he found nothing strange was going on, he went to rest as well.
Under the cold moonlight, the scenery - the quiet fortress along with the Bishop who sat by the side – was as if it had become an oil painting that was still and tranquil.
Roughly an hour or more passed.
Finally, the defending troops guarding the Gateway eventually went back to Town of Crewe.
After the ravage by the group of Griffins, their number has decreased approximately by half and the remaining half suffered injuries in many parts of their body. Having come back, they all rushed to the Gateway. Obviously, they wanted to enter the Gateway and go back to the usual bed that they used to rest on. But unfortunately, they could not go back.
Both entrances on each side of the Gateway were closed off. So was the entrance to the staircase on top of the Gateway. The whole Gateway was completely sealed off now. Some priests who could not accept this fact even chanted Intermediate Magic. A few Swords of Holy Light were used to slash the Gateway. Even if they were almost out of Spiritual Energy due to the slashing, they were not able to leave even a mark on the Gateway.
It was also at this time they remembered that breaking in the Crusader Gateway was nearly impossible if all the entrances were sealed off.
Just like this, after the initial rage, the now-homeless soldiers and priest had no choice but to camp in front of the Crusader Gate in the middle of the night. They adopted the same strategy as the Bishop.
Such large movements naturally caught the attention of many citizens in the town. But no one dared to approach them. So they just hid at a far corner, observing the bunch. They were also murmuring among themselves.
"What happened? Are they starting a war?"
"I have no idea... But have you seen the words on top of the Gateway previously? I think the situation now must be related to those words."
"I didn’t see it. What is it about?"
"Oh my, you just have to let me say it? What if someone hears it... Fine, come closer, I’ll tell you in a soft voice. It’s that...‘the Church is a F*cktard’!"
"Oh, it’s that ‘the Church is a F*cktard’!"
"Yeah, yeah. ‘the Church is a F*cktard’!"
"..."
They might not know what this was all about, but they have all seen the words that were written in fire. Thus, those words that appeared on the top of the Gateway – "the Church is a F*cktard" became the hottest buzzword privately in the Town of Crewe. They were repeated numerous times by all kinds of people.
If the people from the Church knew about this, they would be so furious that they might die from the rage.
But for the Church at the moment, no matter what the citizens of the Town of Crewe said, they probably would not have the time and energy to care. Crusader Gateway was the most important military fortress for the Kingdom. It concerned the security of the whole country. The unaccountable fall of Crusader Gateway would definitely be a huge blow for the Kingdom.
News spread quickly over the entire Kingdom. The kingdom immediately dispatched the troops to rush to the borders. The Holy Knights who were originally headed towards the Imperial Capital also changed the direction of their journey and headed straight towards the Town of Crewe. For the churches around this area, the priests took off to the Town of Crewe except those Bishops who had to stay behind. They swore to help the Kingdom to regain control of the Crusader Gateway.
But... have they done it?
Nope.
As the military fortress that was built even before the Kingdom was established, the Gateway was reinforced once under every ruling of the Pope of each generation after the Kingdom was established. Moreover, the Pope of each generation would use divine charms to bless the Gateway. Accumulated from many generations, the strength of Crusader Gateway has reached an unimaginable extent.
At first, the Church gathered several hundreds of priests to chant divine charms together in order to break in the Gateway by force. But the move proved to be futile. After that, they brought in the artillery. They intended to blast the Gateway by using artillery shells that were blessed. However, after three attacks by the artillery, the Gateway remained fine without a scratch. Upon seeing this, the artillery battalion commander almost pulled his Mediterranean-styled hair out to become bald.
Therefore, the whole situation was in an impasse.
The troops of the Kingdom were still being directed towards this place. There were more and more people at the Town of Crewe. Many soldiers climbed to the top of the Gateway, went to the opposite sides of the Gateway and camped with the Bishop. They had completely surrounded the Gateway...
But so what if it is surrounded?
It was like they were facing a ten thousand-year-old turtle who had contracted into its shell. They had no clue at all how to do this. Also, thinking back, they built this turtle shell themselves in the first place.
Upon thinking of this, the Bishop was so angry that he could not sleep for a few nights.
The people outside the Gateway continued thinking long and hard on how to break in the Gateway. However, this matter was too troublesome. Thus, it was delayed day after day.
In a blink of an eye, half a month’s worth of time had passed and they still could not find the right solution.
Then what about those who were in the Gateway?
"Hmm... As expected of the wheat of top grade, the bread we baked tastes really good. And for this beef, even though it has been here for quite some time, it is still kept well with the help of ice cubes. It still tastes fresh when we’re eating it now."
Completing the Class of Magic Discussions once again, more than twenty mages were gathering at the small church that they altered to become a dining hall. They were having beef that was carefully stored in the storeroom and wine that was hidden under the military bed, while they made remarks about the food.