Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 476 - 475: Dark Clouds Over Lu An City

The light and heat brought by the sun are dwindling day by day, the time during which sunlight directly hits the ground is shortening, while the nights silently lengthen. After the harvest festival ended, an unexpected rain terminated the persistent summer heat. On the now cooler nights, the White Horn Star moving gradually westward reminds the scholars and farmers who keep an eye on celestial phenomena: summer is coming to an end.

Frost Month is approaching, and although autumn has yet to arrive, as a northern kingdom, most areas of Anzu will transition to coolness within a week before the Frost Month arrives, even the southern borders are no exception.

In the past, this would be the residents’ last ”golden period” in each town — the grain harvested in the harvest month is stored in the cellars and granaries of every household, temporarily obliterating the concern over food issues. Various prevalent summer epidemics will decrease as the weather cools, the annoying mosquitoes will also start to vanish, and it will still take some time for the weather to fully turn cold. Before the Winter Fog Month arrives, people need not yet worry about the survival threats brought by winter. During this last suitable activity period, they can continue to stockpile food, or repair houses, store firewood...

Theoretically, this brief ”Anzu autumn” is the last bustling busy period in towns throughout the year.

However, in Lu’an City, the prosperity ended as soon as the harvest month began.

Today is the fifty-fourth day of the blockade, and the atmosphere in the city continues to deteriorate.

Hardly any pedestrians can be seen on the streets, every household keeps their doors and windows tightly closed, occasionally a hurried figure flickers from the corner of the street, besides the patrolling Holy Church Army soldiers, there are only clerics or minor officials coming out to gather news; even though it is now noon, the whole city is as desolate as nightfall, lifeless and silent.

Almost no one would associate such a city filled with oppressive tension and lifeless silence with the holy land of the Holy Light Church on the southern borders.

However, there is a rationale for such an atmosphere — the news of the change of ruler on the southern borders and the revival of the Cecil Principality has already spread throughout the entire region. Everyone knows that a new ruler has come to this land. Yet, the bad news is that this new ruler does not seem to have a harmonious relationship with the Holy Light Church: in that shocking war more than a month ago, the Holy Light Church made an awkward choice. An elite troop of the Holy Church Army, under the leadership of the Southern Bishop, stepped onto the battlefield, and it was on the opposite side of the Cecils...

The beginning of the war was grand in scale, yet the end came swiftly beyond belief. In that short battle, the bishop was defeated, and the most powerful church knights in the southern region were completely wiped out.

Even all the high-level knights from the Plains of the Holy Spirits perished in the conflict.

Then Lu’an City was blockaded.

A blockade, not an assault, which brought even greater pressure to Lu’an City.

If after the war, Gawain Cecil of the Southern borders directly came to ask for accountability, or simply dispatched troops to be at the city’s gates, the clerics of Lu’an would instead be somewhat reassured — at least that would signify a clear attitude, and once the attitude is clear, dealing with it becomes much simpler.

Lu’an City could sincerely apologize, could agree to a series of compensation terms, could cede some church lands, or even a portion of religious immunities, in exchange for appeasing the new ruler’s anger and obtaining the chance to continue surviving and spreading the faith on this land. Even if the situation became unmanageable and Gawain Cecil was determined to resolve the issue by force, the guardians of Lu’an City wouldn’t fear: the fervent church knights were long prepared for martyrdom, and the clerics and priests didn’t dread swords or magic flames. The clergymen who preached on this wild land of the southern borders have always been the most stubborn and unafraid of challenges within the Holy Light Church.

However, the new ruler of the principality chose the most difficult action to deal with and predict: silent blockade.

He did not deploy a single troop into Lu’an City, instead, he blocked all the access points connecting the city to the outside world. The fully armed Cecil soldiers and their fortifications were like stoppers on a barrel, blocking every road outside of Lu’an City, prohibiting any personnel movement or news transmission — the reason stated by the Duke was to maintain post-war order and investigate intelligence, but astute people could clearly see that he had placed the entire Southern Church under house arrest.

All the clergymen spreading the Holy Light in the southern areas were driven into the city, and channels that communicated with the Plains of the Holy Spirits were completely severed. Merchants or scattered adventurers and mercenaries were all prohibited from approaching this area. Initially, as there were still some gaps in the Cecil blockade, a few exiled knights could still sneak into the city via small paths, the cathedral’s administrators could still learn about the latest changes outside through the exiled knights. But soon, all the breaches were patched, all channels of information to the outside were cut off, this city was completely blind, deaf — and mute.

The city’s residents quickly became anxious, the nominal city managers dispatched here by Anzu’s royal family fled the scene even before the blockade line closed entirely, it is said that half of them have already pledged allegiance to the Cecil Clan.

Under such an atmosphere, this year’s harvest festival passed in silence — no one organized celebrations, and no one dared to waste food. The clerics directed the farmers to harvest the last crops from the fields near the city walls, then carefully stored what might be the last bits of food in the granary, and started enforcing the strictest curfews and rationing system on the commoners.

It seems that everything has reached its worst, yet in reality, within the Saint Lu An Cathedral, unwavering faith still supports the last batch of clergy who remained here.

Fran Belon, temporarily elected as the ”Bishop of Lu’an”, concluded his morning prayers. He silently stood up in front of the statue of the God of the Holy Light, allowing the attendant to step forward and tidy up his still immaculate magic robe, a serene expression on his face.

The sacred figure of the Holy Light God quietly stood in the prayer room, with a layer of clear radiance enveloping it, just as it had for the past century without any dimness. In Fran Belon’s view, this ever-radiant statue symbolizes the present Luan Grand Cathedral: no matter how dire the situation outside becomes or how rampant the beliefs of darkness and heresies grow, the great Holy Light God always shelters this place, and His light never fades, meaning all external challenges are temporary.

After dismissing the attendant, the tall black-haired bishop left the prayer room. In the outer lounge, he saw several people dressed in clerical attire already gathered there.

On the round table in the lounge were exquisite pastries and aromatic red tea, and it was evident that some had already been consumed.

Food rationing was underway in the city, and commoners could only receive barely enough food to survive. To avoid expending energy, most commoners now chose to stay indoors all day long. However, the clergymen of the Grand Cathedral were not subject to the ”ration restrictions”—as God’s messengers, clergymen could not endure hunger like commoners, which would not only disgrace the Holy Light God’s majesty but also severely impact the clergymen’s combat effectiveness.

It was a reasonable arrangement, so Fran Belon merely glanced quickly at the pastries and tea before expressionlessly approaching the clergymen: ”How is the situation in the city?”

A clergyman stood up: ”There is no chaos, the Holy Church Army and those exiled knights who have joined us are maintaining patrols, and most commoners are staying home.”

Fran nodded and turned to another clergyman: ”What’s the situation with the Cecil Clan?”

”No change, they are still blockading the city, but they haven’t made any further moves.”

”That fatuous ’Duke’ who consorted with the devil...” a middle-aged clergyman couldn’t help but say angrily, ”...his actions are simply incomprehensible! To treat the Holy Light Church this way, does he think the entire Anzu just has only one Luan Grand Cathedral?”

”Perhaps the bishops from the Plains of the Holy Spirits and the royal capital will come to aid us, but at least for now, we are still under the control of others,” Fran Belon looked at the indignant middle-aged bishop and said, shaking his head lightly, ”Gawain Cecil’s actions indeed are akin to walking with the devil, but he is a power-driven devil.”

The clergyman who first spoke looked a bit worried: ”Bishop, what do you think Gawain Cecil is actually planning?”

Fran Belon pondered slightly and then slowly said, ”He wants to completely drive us out, which is obvious.”

He then added, ”Neither attacking nor retreating, maintaining the blockade situation, letting Lu’an City collapse by itself, his intent is clear, which is hoping we’ll voluntarily surrender—ensuring that we, servants of God, leave this city on our own accord so he can smoothly take over here, thoroughly expel the belief in Holy Light, all without worrying about criticisms on moral grounds. This is a typical malicious ploy, full of cunning and devoid of honor, as we initially assessed: a seemingly great and illustrious founding hero is essentially a self-serving, greedy individual. His desire is for absolute power, which has been fully exposed when he destroyed all Southern borders aristocrats with tricks.”

”We are servants of God, how could we succumb to such a person!” the hot-tempered middle-aged clergyman immediately declared loudly, ”His efforts are in vain—he totally misunderstands the power of devotion!”

”Those powerful magic weapons have clouded his judgment. He thinks conquering the Luan Grand Cathedral would be as easy as taking the rocky ridges Fortress,” Fran Belon shook his head, but then his tone became somewhat solemn, ”Yet Gawain Cecil is still a shrewd person...he hasn’t directly attacked the Luan Grand Cathedral, which indicates he is at least aware of his moral disadvantage.”

An elderly clergyman who had not spoken before nodded slightly, with a tone of pride and reserve, ”Indeed, he at least realizes one thing—directly attacking the Luan Grand Cathedral will only turn us into martyred saints, while he loses the people’s support.”

”Indeed, opposing the church positions him in an unjust predicament, especially at this moment,” Fran Belon solemnly declared, sweeping his gaze across everyone at the scene. His language was understated, yet conveyed a resolute intention, ”Our persistence is the greatest counterattack against him—his blockade of Lu’an City cannot continue perpetually, and those flimsy excuses he employs will soon collapse, and as long as we hold the Grand Cathedral, the doubts of the Holy Light citizens concerning Gawain Cecil will gradually overwhelm him...

”We may have to make some sacrifices in this process, which may be longer and more difficult than we imagine, but I believe everyone present is prepared for it, even ready for martyrdom.

”The Holy Light God will witness our devotion and courage. We will prove through our deeds that Gawain Cecil’s deviance and blasphemy are unjust. We will never retreat, never let the Holy Light God be shamed. Perhaps we will ultimately fall, but when we do, we will bear the name of saint, and Gawain Cecil may eventually step in here—but we swear he can only enter as an executioner and desecrator!”

Fran Belon’s voice was rich and powerful, intensely inspiring everyone present. They thought of the martyred Bishop Leimont, of the current crisis Lu’an City faced, and of the glory of sacrificing for the Lord, prompting everyone to stand up, following the temporary bishop’s voice:

”We swear!” ”We swear!”