The Lich of Glory Knight Spirit: Moving towards Krimasha!
Chapter 148 - 32: Evolution (2)

Chapter 148: Chapter 32: Evolution (2)

When Gray saw Gene II for the first time, Gene II practically threw himself at Gray’s legs, crying uncontrollably.

"Holy Knight! Holy Knight! I feel so relieved to see you! I feel so relieved to see you!"

With tears and snot streaming down his face, he cried so hard he nearly couldn’t catch his breath, making a pitiful sight.

A month-long escape followed by captivity had left Gene II in dirty finery, with disheveled hair and a face covered in grime, looking nothing like a mighty Duke.

His daughter Camilla, though not much better off than her father, still managed to maintain the demeanor of a noblewoman. Her hair appeared freshly combed, and despite her blue dress being somewhat tattered, it remained clean—a likely attempt to tidy up. Her face, although haggard, was still presentable.

Following behind her father, Camilla respectfully bowed to Gray.

"My lord Duke, please stand up. It was my failure to fulfill my promise on time that caused you grief. I am sorry, it was my fault." Gray bowed and helped him up.

"No! The Holy Knight can never be wrong, the Holy Knight can never be wrong!" Wiping his tears, Gene II said angrily, "It was Lusien, that old wretch’s fault! Holy Knight! You must hang him! Hang him! Send him to the guillotine! And then take his lands..."

"I have already passed judgment on him," Gray interrupted.

"Already passed judgment?" Gene II was momentarily stunned.

Black Cat whispered inside his armor, "He wants to take this opportunity to take a bite out of Lusien V. Just look at his clothes, and hairstyle. I bet he’s doing it on purpose. No matter how bad things got before, Arthur wouldn’t be foolish enough to let him see you in such a state. The only explanation is he’s showing off his misery to win your sympathy. His daughter’s state is much better, isn’t it?"

"Yes, judgment has been passed," Gray turned his face to look at Arthur beside him and said, "Lusien V has announced his abdication, with Arthur taking the throne. Buck Town, as part of the wager, belongs to you, and Arthur will compensate you and your daughter for the suffering during this time."

Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest and respectfully bowed to Gray in agreement.

"Just like that?" Gene II was dumbfounded, holding Gray’s hands and kissing them repeatedly, saying, "No, Holy Knight, that’s not enough! The punishment is too lenient! Violating the agreement and treating us viciously, those are minor issues! The key is, he has offended your dignity, Holy Knight. If you don’t severely punish him, more people will follow his example, and it will be chaos! Holy Knight!"

*Gene II practically ground his teeth as he spat out the words.*

Gray answered softly, "I have already made my decision, do not force me to change."

"Holy Knight, this is not forcing you, I just... just feel it’s unfair to you, Holy Knight!"

"I do not feel it’s unfair."

With that single sentence, Gene II fell silent, shrinking to the side, cautiously glancing at Arthur.

Arthur stood expressionless.

Gray continued softly, "The second thing, I hope your grudges end here. I do not want any more wars on the Ailuo Peninsula. Do you agree with me?"

"As you wish." Arthur respectfully bowed.

"Of course, since the Holy Knight said so, we are willing to abandon our past grudges. However, it’s too easy for them. Honestly, I feel... uncomfortable, but for the Holy Knight, I am willing to endure it!" Gene II answered reluctantly.

"Also," Gray continued, "The trade routes outside of the Ailuo Peninsula are controlled by the Bert Duchy, which has always been the biggest dispute between your two countries. I hope the Bert Duchy can open the trade routes. I need to transport a large quantity of grain to Lion King City from Fides. Also, I hope the Bert Duchy can count how much surplus grain it can provide to assist Lion King City in the upcoming famine. The grain will be borrowed, repaid, but not quickly. And, time is highly urgent; I hope the Bert Duchy can immediately transport all the available grain to Lion King City, with the grain from Fides replacing it. Ensure the Bert Duchy has enough grain for itself; I don’t want to assist Lion King City only to have to rescue you next. Can you do this?"

"Of course, since you, the Holy Knight, asked... we have no reason to refuse," Gene II sighed helplessly.

"Alright, I will soon head back to White City, then to Lion King City. I hope to see your grain in Lion King City. If there are no other matters, you may return to your territory, or rest a bit before returning."

As he spoke, Gray was about to turn around.

"Holy Knight!" Camilla suddenly spoke up, "May I go to White City with you?"

Gray hesitated for a moment.

Gene II hurriedly said, "Yes, yes! Take her along! Camilla has always wanted to see White City and the Beisher Duchy! Perhaps she can also visit your territory, Salted Fish Port, Holy Knight!"

Camilla looked at Gray with longing.

*"Scheming again," Black Cat whispered.*

After a brief silence, Gray said earnestly, "I will be crossing the Casesis Mountains this time, and at the fastest speed. So, I will not take anyone except the Silver Moon Knight Order. My dwarf army, as I call them, will follow the trade caravans and take another route. So, I regret to say I cannot grant your request."

...

History continued to march forward. Unlike before, this time it was being kicked along by a Lich.

The seemingly calm continent was already brimming with undercurrents, and the Lich was growing impatient.

That night, Gray had already assigned the personnel.

The dwarf army, Jones, Dora, Andrew, and Shelley went north along the trade route to the Bert Duchy, then followed the grain transport team, bypassing the Casesis Mountains from the north into Isaac Border, heading to Lion King City.

*"But I don’t want to be separated from you," Shelley said with a frown.*

"There’s no choice, time is very tight. We’ve wasted a lot of time, the residents of Lion King City are waiting for me. That’s a mistake I’ve made, and I cannot avoid it," Gray said softly.

*"Alright, White City and Lion King City don’t have any notable little demons anyway,"* Shelley hesitated for a moment before saying, *"You need to take care, be careful. Although I don’t know exactly what you should be careful about, it seems like you can solve any problem, but I still worry about you."*

"Don’t worry, nothing can defeat me," Gray touched Shelley’s head.

As for Gray himself, he must take the Silver Moon Knight Order’s Undead Knights, Catherine, and Vivian, crossing the Casesis Mountains at the fastest speed, returning to White City to join Yilin, and then preparing to lead the army into Lion King City, to control it and the surrounding border areas before the grain convoy arrives, making preparations for their arrival.

Of course, the three "Holy Knights" were sure to accompany Gray, as besides Gray himself, no one could match the four Guardian Angels.

Thus, they were tied to the Silver Moon Knights’ horses.

"We will travel day and night, crossing the Casesis Mountains back to White City. This kind of travel is hard for anyone to endure. But I believe in the physique of you Holy Knights, you can definitely withstand it. Even if you can’t, I have plenty of ways to keep you alive and ensure you arrive in White City with at least one breath left," Gray said.

"You can’t do this! You can’t do this—!" Levi screamed in fury.

However, it was useless. Gray had no kindness for them.

After brief preparations, Gray set off early the next morning. One hundred and one knights galloped wildly across the land, traveling east day and night...

...

At the same time, following the chaos, the Cardinal Court had begun to calm down.

"Split into two groups. He takes the Silver Moon Knight Order across the Casesis Mountains, and the others go around Bert Duchy. The four Holy Knights are at his side."

"We can’t send people into the Casesis Mountains to rescue the Holy Knights, it’s too difficult."

"Can he even go around Bert Duchy? The Guardian Angels couldn’t handle it. Who do we need to send to solve it? The people we send, the four Holy Knights, Grand Master Andrew is in his hands. Grand Master Andrew has even already defected to him. Let’s just hope our Holy Knights don’t follow Andrew’s lead..."

"Maybe we can adopt a prisoner exchange strategy, this is a good opportunity. Their split forces mean the other team is weaker. We can capture those dwarves and that girl named Shelley, using them for exchange to get our Holy Knights back."

"Are you kidding me? Even if we succeed and he agrees to the exchange, what then? If he wants to, he can always come here to capture the Holy Knights again. We would be powerless."

"He wouldn’t... directly come here and kill us, would he?"

"Why wouldn’t he? He just ordered the replacement of our bishops in Fides and Bert. Previously, such orders only came from the Cardinal Court, no king dared challenge this. But he did, and we couldn’t stop him. Do you think he cares about the authority of the church? We had better not provoke him any further, do nothing."

"Maybe we can expose his Silver Moon Knight Order as dark creatures, the people would rebel against him."

"But we can’t strip him of his Holy Knight title, the people would rebel against us too. We still have to promote those dark creatures as being his followers, making him look even greater. This is like shooting ourselves in the foot. If only he himself were a dark creature..."

"Would it change anything?"

"His followers might be dark creatures, but he can use his high reputation to speak for them. If he himself were a dark creature, who would speak for him? How could he prove he belongs to the Holy Camp and not a hell-sent infiltrator? In this world, only we could speak for him, and we certainly wouldn’t. It’s a pity it can’t be, he’s a Holy Spirit-sanctioned Holy Knight."

All the cardinals fell silent.

After a long time, the Pope spoke softly, "We must have a discussion with him. That’s the only way to save the situation. I will personally meet him."