Four days later, all the high-ranking officials from the Northern Region and Hermes who were able to speak gathered at the camp outside the Holy City.
The emergency assembly order had obviously caused concern, but no one showed any panic. Whether it was the General Staff or the Western Front officers, they were only guessing whether His Majesty had a new target. Similar discussions only ceased when His Majesty the King walked into the tent with a沉着 face.
“I have summoned everyone here to discuss an important matter,” Roland tapped the table. “We must return to Neverwinter City.”
This brief command instantly caused a commotion among the crowd.
When he initially received the secret letter, he hadn't made up his mind. After all, the contents mentioned in the letter were all obtained by Lorgar Burning alone. Although shocking, there was no other proof. The letter did not provide much detail about the cause and effect of encountering the devils, and the movements of the devil army were unclear. Changing the battle plan involved many complications, leaving him somewhat hesitant.
However, in the following days, Roland unexpectedly received several direct letters from the Western Region—seeing the dust-covered animal messengers, he realized that this matter was probably no small matter.
Sure enough, the second and third letters recorded the news of Lorgar being injured and rescued, the chattering devils, and the alarms being raised in Neverwinter City. The fourth and fifth letters were about the arrival of the Sleeping Island witches and the internal discord. Each was a key event worth reporting, and the ones that should have arrived later according to the sending order arrived first. However, the actual situation was completely reversed.
From this, it could also be seen that as the urgency of the information increased, the messengers responsible for the transmission became more and more senior, to the point that the most recently sent secret letters arrived first.
Combining these letters, Roland finally roughly understood the whole situation. The special map for Lightning mentioned in the third secret letter also allowed him to confirm with the latter that Lorgar did go to the ruins of Taqila and planned to hone her skills there, using devils and evil beasts to improve her combat level.
In this way, the reliability of the information was guaranteed.
At the same time, the wolf girl's persistence also made him sigh.
Could it be that his persuasion was too strong when they first met, and it had stimulated her?
Fortunately, the final result was good. The Twilight's symbiotic seed successfully saved Lorgar's life, and the devils' whereabouts were known in advance—if he had waited until late autumn to return to Neverwinter, the enemy would probably have gained a firm foothold in the barren lands.
Based on this credit alone, it would not be an exaggeration to award her a distinguished contribution award. Perhaps after returning, he should fulfill this combat enthusiast's wish and arm her into a self-propelled heavy firepower unit—such an improvement would at least be much faster than honing her skills.
“The reason for this is as follows,” Roland recounted the key information from the secret letters, and then solemnly surveyed the people present. “Given the changing situation, the two-pronged offensive plan can only be stopped early. From this day on, all troops will prepare for marching and withdraw from the Holy City in batches. I will set off in advance to try to return to Neverwinter City in the shortest possible time.”
The atmosphere on the scene suddenly became heavy. Although most of the attendees had heard of devils and knew that they were the great enemy of the entire Graycastle and even mankind, they had never actually fought against them. They felt somewhat at a loss for this sudden decree and did not know how to respond.
Roland also knew that this news was too shocking and caught people off guard, so he did not urge them and quietly waited for everyone to digest and think.
After a while, General Staff officer Sir Hyrst raised his hand and said, “Your Majesty, is this information… reliable?”
“Whether it is Soraya’s layer imprint or Honey's animal messengers, they are not so easy to fake,” Roland affirmed. “Although there has been no secondary confirmation, considering that approaching devils is not easy, it can be treated as a special case.”
“Then… what about Dawn?” Duke Evernight asked the key question.
“People must be saved—Graycastle will never abandon any ally.” Roland glanced at Andrea, who looked worried. “In addition, the Lord of Dawn must also pay the price. The Wrath of Wimbledon may be late, but it will never be absent. However, this matter has nothing to do with the First Army. I will make separate arrangements after the meeting.”
Seeing that he was determined, everyone remained silent. The next part was for him to issue specific instructions, the General Staff to formulate plans, and the rest to execute them.
Emergency marching was not unfamiliar to the First Army. The operations were not aimed at looting, so this army could be well-organized in both offense and retreat, even if Roland left first, there was no need to worry too much.
The transportation of materials and personnel from the old and new Holy Cities would be jointly undertaken by the newly established Northern Region Second-Level Municipal Government and Duke Kant. Isabella would also stay behind until the transfer was completed. With her and the "New Sister Committee" in charge, plus the garrison in the Northern Lands, the remnants of the Church basically had no chance to get involved here. The Hermes Plateau had already become part of the Graycastle territory.
As for this new organization, named by Roland and instilled with a series of revised historical facts such as "the Archbishop is a usurper", "the traitor destroyed the covenant", "the witches were framed", and "the devils are the great enemy", whether it could completely replace the original church and become a tool to consolidate his rule could be observed slowly in the future. His top priority was to restore order to the Holy City so that it would not become a dead place before the Divine Will Battle began.
The instructions were already being implemented to a greater or lesser extent before the secret letter arrived, and now it was just accelerating the process. The only thing that needed to be explained in detail was the attack on Dawn.
After the meeting, Roland kept Andrea behind.
“The main force of the First Army must return to defend Neverwinter City, so the plan can only be slightly changed,” he said straightforwardly.
“Please rest assured, with Her Highness Tilly and the Sleeping Island sisters, Neverwinter City will be safe and sound,” the blonde witch said, although she looked worried, but she first said to comfort him. "Besides, you have tried your best, and if you can't do it, there is no need to force yourself."
"You're wrong..." Roland shook his head. "If the First Army doesn't move, this matter will only be resolved faster—do you think I want Amperein Moya's head? Can his castle and knights save him? Besides, I can't sit idly by and watch Otto Lusse lose his life in vain."
"Resolve it faster?" Andrea was stunned. "Do you want to let—"
“Exactly that ‘do you want to let’,” Roland raised the corners of his mouth. “It’s not easy to convince them. After all, their lifelong enemies are in front of them, and they can’t wait to go back and fight the devils to the death.” He paused slightly. “Fifty God's Punishment Witches are equivalent to fifty transcendents. Even in the Union era, they are a force to be reckoned with. No one in this world except me can resist their attacks. When the God's Punishment Stone and the knights' swords are ineffective, Amperein's life is already counting down."