Meanwhile, in the Mountains of Magic Beasts, to the west of the kingdom, figures flashed in the midst of the thick trees occasionally. Under the cover of the trees and the rocks of the mountains, the military camps that had just been tied down were linked into a stretch. They looked somewhat ugly, but from time to time, there would be flashes of magical light and shadows, unusual and mysterious.
In the largest tent in the camp, stood Benjamin and many others.
"Those priests of the Church… would not be able to imagine that we are hiding in the Mountains of Magic Beasts no matter what, would they?" Duke Collin stood by the door, looking out as he sighed.
After the few nobles and Benjamin had united, they had carefully moved their private armies. At the time, Benjamin had put out a suggestion; to fight the Church using military force would not be an easy task. Judging by military power alone, the Church was definitely stronger than them, so they must take advantage of the situation whenever possible.
The succession of the Princess to the throne was that situation.
Using the dissatisfaction of the people and the riots incited by the Truth News, this army of fifty thousand men could completely be disguised as bandits, mixing with the large number of rebel forces and taking advantage of the uprising, taking over the run of things. Thus, the six nobles would not be exposed, and it would be very difficult for the Church to pick them out from the chaotic bandit gangs.
In fact, the night that news of the Princess' succession to the throne had been announced, they had begun to move.
In the west of the Kingdom of Helius, they had attacked and occupied a number of cities and townships within a few nights, killing many priests and destroying six churches. Of course, they have not harmed the innocent civilians. By the next morning, when the enemy's reinforcement troops had arrived, they had long withdrawn from the cities, going back into hiding in the Mountains of Magic Beasts.
By the time the royal army had rushed to those cities and towns, faced with the ruins of the churches and the empty government warehouses, the priests who led the armies had felt so livid that they had almost pulled their hair out.
That was not all. It was difficult for there not to be mistakes in the dispatch of the Church's continuous aid to the cities that had been looted. Thus, they took the opportunity to send soldiers and ambushed one of the royal army troops; there were five thousand more dead bodies of the royal army in an unnamed canyon.
So, during the next few days, not only had their army avoided decreasing in numbers, but had even grown bigger and stronger. The army rations they had seized filled a couple of warehouses, and after the cities and the towns had been captured by them, many young people chose to follow them after hearing the name of the Black Nightmare Society, causing the entire troop to grow slightly.
At the time, they were hiding themselves in the Mountains of Magic Beasts because the aid of the Church had continuously increased. Therefore, they were prepared to lay low first, for two days.
Duke Collin represented the six nobles, and came to take a look. In actual fact, the authority over this army had, more or less, been passed into Benjamin's hands. Right now, their relationship was a bit similar to that between a board of directors and the general manager; one party had the ownership, whilst the other party implemented.
The 'board of directors', of which Duke Collin was the representative, was apparently rather satisfied with the current condition now.
"It's not that easy," however, Benjamin shrugged, saying, "although there are many bandits emerging outside and taking up the Church's resources, if they were to observe carefully, they would still be able to discover who are merely rogues, and who are our people. It won't take long before they would be able to guess that we're in the Mountains of Magic Beasts.
Hearing that, Duke Collin's smile on his face disappeared, and he furrowed his eyebrows.
"Then… what do you intend to do, sir?"
Benjamin suddenly gave him a cunning smirk, answering, "I plan to seek help."
"Seek help? Aren't there already many mages from the Academy of Magic, how many people do you still have?"
"No no no… When I say seek help, I don't mean mages. I mean the army," Benjamin spoke slowly, "Think about it, sir. Right now, it's so chaotic in the Kingdom of Helius. If Icor were to take the chance and send their troops out, even if the Church had three heads and six shoulders, I think that they still would not be able to cope, would they?"
Hearing this, Duke Collin could not help but have a slight shift in his expression.
"Icor… Will Icor attack the Kingdom of Helius?"
"Why?"
"Director, sir. If it's possible, can we not involve the forces from other countries?" Duke Collin forced a smile on his face, saying, "If other countries were to come in and attack… how are we supposed to defend ourselves?"
Hearing that, Benjamin raised his eyebrows meaningfully.
These nobles seemed to be really afraid of this…
However, he also did not feel as though he had enough credit to immediately persuade Icor, and setting of a war between the two countries.
"Icor won't come and attack," because of that, Benjamin explained, "they had just been through war. Their own army has suffered losses, it's impossible for them to come and fight. I just want them to station troops on the borders and put on an attacking stance, just for us to get some space."
"Then that's alright."
Duke Collin finally gave a sigh of relief.
Benjamin continued speaking, "Also, taking this opportunity, we can deal another heavy blow on the Church."
"Are you saying that…"
"After investigation, we have found the main headquarters, where the Church produces their magical instruments," Benjamin pointed at the sketch map spread open on the table, speaking steadily, "also, other than Havenwright, there's another extremely important production location. It's very close to where we are now."
His finger fell upon a landmark, on it was the name: Rhein City.
"Rhein City? Your next step is to attack that place?" Duke Collin was somewhat startled.
If one were to judge solely based on the religious atmosphere, even Havenwright might not be comparable to Rhein City. It was another settlement for the believers; half of the city was parishes, and there were many priests, with even larger numbers of Holy Knights stationed. The defense was abnormally tight.
If it was said that there was an important production line of the Church there, Duke Collin would not have been surprised. However, if Benjamin had told him that they were going to attack that place next, then there would be a slight uncertainty in his heart.
It was a huge city, and it was not far from Havenwright. Could they really attack it?
"Duke, sir. I understand your concerns, but this next step is too important for us," Benjamin took a deep breath, saying, "although we are pretending to be a bunch of bandits now and blending with the general trend, we might seem very inconspicuous, but you must understand that we have actually started a war with the Church. One day, we will have to fight them head on, and the greatest advantage of the Church when it comes to their army is the endless supply of Crosses of Divine Arts. If we don't solve this first, the chances of us winning will be slim."
Hearing that, Duke Collin lowered his head and thought for a while. Finally, he nodded.
"...Understood. Do as you think fit," he gave a sigh, saying, "I only hope you remember, sir, that our lives and the future of the Kingdom of Helius are now entirely in your hands. Please proceed with caution."
Benjamin nodded.
Thus, Duke Collin ended his inspection. To prevent exposing anything, he did not stay in the camps for too long. Very quickly, escorted by his men, he left the Mountains of Magic Beasts to return to his territory, greeting the messengers sent by the Church with a smile.
As for Benjamin…
"How is the circulation of The Declaration of the Freedom of Magic?" After sending Duke Collin off, he turned his head and asked, casting a glance at Morris, who was pushing himself in on a wheelchair.