Even in summer, the ice and snow on the Hermes Plateau hardly melted.

Mayne stood at the top of the Tower of Heaven, gazing into the distance. Outside the city walls, the fields were only two colors: green grass and white snow intertwined, like scars left on the earth after the Battle of the Evil Moon. Such a climate made it impossible to grow any crops, so all the food needed for the New Holy City had to be transported by animal-drawn carts from the foot of the plateau, which was the Old Holy City.

Having lived in Hermes for more than ten years, he had become accustomed to the ubiquitous cold.

"Only the two of us this time?" Teflen pushed the door open and entered. "Is it okay to hold the meeting outside the secret chamber?"

"Do you like being cooped up in that cramped room?"

"No... of course not," the old bishop stroked his white beard. "If Heather didn't always harp on the rules and regulations, I'd prefer to exchange information here every time. Even when she's spouting nonsense, I can at least admire the scenery of the Holy City. And..." he smiled slightly, "I didn't expect someone as punctual as her to be overdue this time?"

"Perhaps she encountered something tricky," Mayne sat back at the table, "Perhaps she's already on her way."

"Perhaps..." Teflen pursed his lips, "You really shouldn't be making excuses for her. Everyone should keep their word, that's what she always says. Even if she encountered trouble, she should have reported it to us first. She didn't go to the Eternal Winter Kingdom's capital alone. Sending a messenger would only take a snap of the fingers."

"Let's not worry about her for now," Mayne pushed three letters in front of Teflen, "We're in trouble."

"Trouble?" The latter paused, sat down across the round table, and unfolded a letter. "All bad news?"

"That's right," he took a deep breath, "As bad as it can get."

Teflen put away his smile and began to carefully read the first secret letter, "...The plague has been contained, the Faceless One's whereabouts are unknown? Wait, what's the plague?"

"The latest research result from the Privy District, you don't need to know too much, just understand it as a rapidly spreading epidemic," Mayne explained simply. In fact, according to the Raven Eye Master, it was a miniature evil beast that, after special cultivation, had mutated specifically to target the human body, and the Holy Spirit medicine that could restrain it was also an evil beast, but smaller in size. "The source of the disease cannot be directly observed with the naked eye, and conventional methods cannot cure it. There is only one type of person who can stop the spread of the plague."

"Witches?" Teflen quickly thought of the answer.

"And more than one." He said in a deep voice.

After reading the letter, the old bishop slammed his fist on the table. "What is this idiot doing? Letting the rats besiege the mercenaries, and even throwing the Faceless One in? Does he even know how important this Purified One is?"

"His idea wasn't wrong," Mayne frowned. "If the letter didn't lie about the numbers, a thousand rats should be enough to eat up the enemy's hundred or so mercenaries. However, the enemy seems to have a powerful long-range crossbow that can fire continuously. I remember Priest Tello, stationed at the Longsong Fortress, also mentioned that Duke Ryan lost to a group of miners because their crossbows were extremely powerful. Although heavy armor and strong shields can greatly reduce crossbow bolt damage, the rats don't have such equipment."

"Even if he wants to use those dregs, he shouldn't have easily sent out the Faceless One!" Teflen said angrily. "When Heather comes back, I'm afraid she'll be furious. The witches who can grow into Purified Ones all have extremely rare abilities, and it takes a lot of effort to cultivate them. In a sense, they are more valuable than the God's Punishment Army."

"But whether it's witches or the God's Punishment Army, the ultimate goal is to eliminate the enemy and achieve victory," Mayne said slowly. "Some losses during the process are inevitable."

"Do you want to protect Priest Feli?"

"Don't forget the Church's laws," Mayne's tone sank. "Only nobles care about results. Although Feli suffered a miserable defeat, his starting point and plan didn't have many problems, it's just that the enemy was stronger. He will certainly be punished, but the specific punishment measures need further consideration."

"But Heather may not think so," Teflen shook his head and opened the second letter. "Don't forget, she is responsible for the Church's arbitration."

"I will explain it to her."

Soon, the old bishop finished reading the letter in his hand, and said in disbelief: "Tifico's militia attacked the Longsong Fortress church and killed the envoy group? Is he crazy!?"

The content of the second letter actually came from two sources, one was the report from Perlo, the acting agent of the fortress, and the other was the intelligence from local believers. Taken together, it was true that a militia from outside the Western Region attacked the fortress and plundered the church. They not only took berserk pills themselves, but their target was also the medicine stored in the church... So the first point of judgment wouldn't be too far off. This team was either from the new king Tifico, or from Garcia, the Queen of Clear Water. Compared to the two, the former was obviously more likely.

As for the latter point, Mayne always felt something strange. If, according to Perlo's report, the other party burned the church and immediately withdrew from the fortress, disappearing without a trace, how did they intercept the members of the envoy group? At this time, the envoy group should have already arrived at Border Town, and the two would not have met at all.

Seeing Mayne not saying a word, Teflen quickly realized this, he picked up the first letter and reread it, the wrinkles on his forehead forming ravines, "Could it be... Roland Wimbledon eliminated the envoy group and blamed it all on his brother Tifico Wimbledon?"

"Let's make some assumptions," the Archbishop said after a moment of silence. "Roland intends to obtain this batch of cheap population, so he instructed the witches to treat the plague and transported all the refugees back to the Western Region. Before that, in order to avoid being noticed by the envoy group that he was raising witches, he sent knights to attack the envoy group's camp, not even giving them time to release carrier pigeons, and then blamed the attackers on the fortress. After all, the agent Perlo was promoted with Roland's support, and it's only natural for him to help him fake it. Of course... all of this is speculation, but the disappearance of the envoy group is indeed too suspicious, and we don't have the energy to send another envoy group now."

"In that case, we should immediately send troops to punish his arrogance," Teflen said coldly, "Even if the envoy group has nothing to do with him, these witches going to the Western Region are worth our cleaning up."

Mayne did not respond, but pointed to the third letter, "You should read the last letter first."

Teflen looked at him suspiciously and unfolded the letter. Soon, his hands began to tremble, and he almost couldn't hold the thin paper, "A large number of witches appeared in the fjord, and they also destroyed all the churches? Then this letter is..."

"From Sea Dragon Bay, also the last church to be breached," Mayne closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, his tone suddenly full of fatigue, "It is impossible for a large group of witches to emerge in the fjord without any warning, there is only one possibility, they migrated from the mainland." Moreover, the letter also mentioned the existence of Transcendents. Church law clearly stipulates that once traces of Transcendent witches are discovered, the God's Punishment Army must be dispatched first to capture them. But the Fjord Islands are too far away. Now that the Wolfheart Battlefield is in a stalemate, he has no time to attend to matters across the strait.

"Should we ask His Holiness the Pope?" Teflen asked.

"..." Mayne shook his head slightly, suppressing the surge of powerlessness in his heart. This may be God's test of the Church. Only by overcoming obstacles can we see God's truth. He opened his eyes and regained his composure. "The Hermes Holy City will be entrusted to you and Heather."

"Do you want to go to the fjord?" The old bishop stared.

"I will lead the one hundred remaining members of the Church's God's Punishment Army and Purified Ones to completely clean up the Western Region of Graycastle, and then find an opportunity to deal with the witches of the fjord."

"But the law says..."

Mayne interrupted, "That was in the case of Transcendents appearing in the Four Kingdoms. Now they are far across the sea and have no impact on our plans. Don't forget, our ultimate goal is to obtain more land and population to continue to expand the scale of the God's Punishment Army. Obviously, the Fourth Prince of Graycastle is more of an obstacle to us."

"But..." Just as Teflen was about to refute, hurried footsteps sounded outside the circular hall. The two paused slightly and looked at the door in unison.

The door was pushed open with a bang, and a priest rushed in in a panic, "It's not good, Bishop, it's not good!"

"Calm down!" Mayne shouted, "What's the matter? Speak slowly."

"The attendant of Lady Heather sent urgent information. A huge fleet landed on the coast of the Eternal Winter Kingdom, and a large group of enemies is besieging the capital. The situation is precarious. The enemy's ships all have black sails, and the flag on the mast is a green-bottomed sailing ship crown flag." The priest looked very anxious, "When the message was sent, both city gates had fallen. Lady Heather is leading believers to fight desperately, but the number of enemies is large, and they are using berserk pills!"

"What?" Mayne couldn't believe his ears. Black sails, a sailing ship crown pattern...

The enemy is actually the Queen of Clear Water's Black Sail Fleet!