Game of the World Tree

Early June 1073 of the Eternal Age.

That is, five months after the Eternal Church launched the Great Holy War against the Church of Life.

As the war continued, the decline of the noble alliance of the human kingdom became more and more obvious. On various battlefields, the Church of Life had launched a counterattack.

From the desert of death to the forest of elves, from the free lead of the maple moon to the Southern Pathfinder Alliance, the news of the defeat of the noble coalition forces has been continuously sent back to the center of the human kingdom like raindrops, more and more, and more and more exaggerated. The human nobles became more and more panicked.

At the same time, in the human kingdom, especially the Holy Mania Empire, which is the most controlled by the Church of Life, the Church of Life's preaching activities that were successfully suppressed by the Eternal Church have also been secretly carried out again in full swing with the reversal of the war situation...

An extremely subtle atmosphere began to spread throughout the human kingdom and the Holy Mandia Empire.

And when the time came to mid-June, another major news happened in the Holy Mannia Empire.

Ever since the "God of Dusk and Sunset" incident, Queen Maria II of the Empire, who was bedridden with anger, finally woke up for a moment after being in a coma on and off for nearly two years.

However, not long after sobering up, the nearly 84-year-old imperial queen learned the news of the Great Holy War and the repeated defeats of the noble coalition, and fainted again on the spot.

And this time, the imperial queen's condition deteriorated sharply, and she never woke up again...

The news that the Queen was critically ill quickly spread throughout the center of the empire, and the top levels of the entire human empire fell into a kind of chaos again.

Especially after the cardinal of the Eternal Church, who was good at healing magic, was invited by the central nobles to the queen's bed, and after performing the magic healing, he could only shake his head helplessly, the atmosphere of the entire imperial cabinet and the imperial council became more subtle.

Everyone realized that the queen who had ruled the empire for seventy years had finally run out of fuel and could die at any time.

The Holy Mannian Empire is about to change.

The external war was lost, and the internal political situation was unstable.

This made the noble council of the Holy Mannian Empire even more chaotic.

Especially after the news that the Queen of the Empire was critically ill spread, the nobles who were thinking of each other quarreled even more in the parliament.

About the candidate for the next emperor, about the situation of the Great Holy War, about their own interests... The nobles were arguing.

The Queen is like a needle of Ding Hai Shen.

Even if the Queen has been seriously ill in the past two years, the noble council and the Bishop of Winster are regents, the entire Holy Mania Empire can function normally with the prestige that Maria II has accumulated over the past seventy years.

However, when the queen is dying, when anyone can feel the atmosphere of the middle and high-level empires that are shaky and may change at any time, the nobles will unconsciously start to plan for the future, start to form a group, start to stand in line... …

Similarly, there are also careerists who began to make a move in the dark.

However, just like a coin always has two sides.

Perhaps it was because the repeated defeats in the Great Holy War had severely thwarted the imperial aristocracy, especially the power of the great nobles who had the strength to fight for the throne. The entire imperial parliament had no objection to the current imperial family, the Tres family, continuing to inherit the imperial throne.

However, the nobles began to quarrel fiercely as to whether to establish Princess Teresa, the orthodox heir of Maria II, as the new emperor, or to elect a more experienced adult royal member from the Tres family to become the emperor.

Among them, the big nobles tend to support the young princess as the emperor, while the small and medium nobles prefer to choose a royal family member who can turn the tide.

The two sides were quarreling with each other in the Imperial Council, and it seemed that they had long forgotten that although the Queen of the Empire was critically ill, she was still alive and the fact that she was still the master of this empire...

"The throne must and can only be inherited by Princess Teresa! According to the imperial edict of Her Majesty Carl I, Princess Teresa is the first heir to the empire! She is our future emperor!"

In the Imperial Council, after hearing the news that the Queen was seriously ill, Duke Correns, the elector and speaker who had withdrawn from the battlefield overnight, said resolutely.

"His Royal Highness Princess Teresa is too young. Although according to the imperial edict, she is indeed the first heir of the empire, but now the entire empire has internal and external troubles, which is not something a girl under fifteen years old can handle."

"What we need is a more mature and powerful emperor! According to the "Empire Election Law", we have the right to choose a more suitable candidate in the Tres family!"

On the other side of the parliament, the representative of the majority of small and medium aristocrats, the Marquis of Weimar shook his head.

"Your Excellency the Marquis! Princess Teresa's succession was determined by the Imperial Council two years ago. Have you forgotten?!"

The Duke of Corrence refuted.

And the Marquis of Weimar also sneered:

"Your Excellency Duke, let a ignorant child inherit the throne. Do you want to work with the major nobles to control the center of the empire and control the parliament?!"

"presumptuous!"

"Shameless!"

The nobles quarreled and even fought in the parliament, and the whole venue was full of smoke.

This made the Chancellor of the Regent, Bishop Winster, who was sitting on the side of the parliamentary hall, watching the farce-like venue with a cold eye, frowning, and his eyes were full of disappointment.

"Enough! What time is it! Still quarreling, now the holy war is unfavorable, the situation is unstable, not the time for infighting!"

Looking at the increasingly chaotic venue, he couldn't help after all, and he used the power of a legend to stop drinking on the spot.

The legendary pressure spread, and the venue gradually quieted down. However, when the great nobles headed by the Duke of Corrence looked at Bishop Wenster, their bad eyes quickly turned into sneers:

"Holy war is not good? If it wasn't for the Eternal Church forcibly proclaiming the Great Holy War at this time and inciting the empire to send troops to the Southern Land and Maple Moon Free Land, how could it be like this? Moreover, the war has reached the current situation, the church's Judgment Legion and angels Why hasn't the Legion made a move?"

"Pay attention to your words! Your Excellency Duke of Corrence! Are you expressing your dissatisfaction with the church?!"

On the other side, representing the Eternal Church, Archbishop Cahill, one of the three church electors among the seven emperors of the empire, changed his expression, stood up from the church seat, and scolded angrily.

Beside him, Archbishop Doron, the last church elector other than Archbishop Winster, also stood up and looked at the Duke of Corrence with a gloomy look.

"Am I right? This holy war was initiated by the church."

The Duke of Corrence snorted coldly.

In the aristocratic seat, in addition to the former Maple Moon Collar family, the representatives of the Rosen family who held the third of the four secular electors, the representatives of the Corrence family, and the representatives of the Berencia family all stood up one after another, expressing their gratitude to the Duke of Corrence. support.

For a time, the noble council, which was discussing the heir to the throne, became more chaotic and disorderly.

Bishop Winster sat in the position of Chancellor of the Regent.

Looking at the nobles and bishops who were blushing arguing, even yelling, and fighting, his eyes were very disappointed.

He sighed lightly, stopped drinking, but stood up gently and left the chaotic venue.

Stopping the entourage of priests and knights, Bishop Winster came to the outside of the parliament building alone.

The June sun shines on the tidy streets of the eternal holy city of Mania, casting a divine radiance on the white-gold buildings on both sides.

The faint sound of the bells of the distant church came from afar, mixed with the faint singing of the choir.

Looking at the streets that have become more and more deserted since the Great Holy War started, and the number of homeless and homeless people in the corners of the streets, Archbishop Winster paused slightly and sighed.

He took a step and walked slowly towards Mannia's Eternal Cathedral.

Just like on the street, the front of the Eternal Church is still deserted, and it is completely unbelievable that it used to be a religious holy place where people come and go, and there are an endless stream of devout believers every day.

Entering the church, passing through the monastery, Bishop Winster returned to his prayer room.

Kneeling in front of the sacred eternal statue, he stretched out his hand to draw a sun symbol on his chest, sighed softly, and murmured:

"O great and wise Lord..."

"May you bless your people and get through this catastrophe. May you bless your people and be reborn from the ashes..."

"Your brilliance will always shine on the earth, and your real name will always be passed down to the world."

And just as Bishop Winster was praying devoutly, the door of the prayer room was hurriedly knocked.

"Lord Winster! The knights of the palace guards are here! They say Your Majesty is awake! His Majesty has named you to see you!"

It is the voice of the church pastor.

Winster's prayer paused slightly.

He let out a long sigh, got up slowly, and walked out of the prayer room.

...

When Winster came out of the church, the knights of the palace guards were already waiting in front of the gate, and also waiting, there was a luxurious carriage painted with the royal coat of arms.

"Sir Bishop!"

Seeing Winster, the knights fell to one knee and saluted respectfully.

Bishop Winster nodded slightly and stepped into the carriage with the help of a knight.

The church is not far from the palace.

Riding a carriage, Bishop Wenster quickly entered the palace that represented the highest power in the empire.

Perhaps it was because today was the day when the aristocratic parliament held a large meeting, and the palace was deserted a lot, and only some maids and court attendants could be seen coming and going.

And when Winster came to the palace where the queen was, he still didn't see even a noble.

"Sir Bishop, Your Majesty is waiting for you inside."

The knight saluted and opened the ornate gate for him.

Bishop Winster nodded and entered the hall.

In the hall, it was deserted, and there was no one else except the imperial queen Maria II on the hospital bed.

Her Majesty the Queen, who had dominated the Holy Mania Empire for seventy years, seemed like a loner at this moment.

No feudal political entity can tolerate two years of inaction by the supreme ruler.

Even in the history of the Blue Star Celestial Dynasty, those emperors who had not been in the imperial court for decades still firmly controlled the state affairs while staying away from the imperial court.

Not to mention, the entire history of the Holy Mania Empire is a history of continuous competition between nobles and emperors, and the continuous battle of decentralization and centralization.

After two years of intermittent coma and two years of political hiatus, although the queen's prestige is still there, she has essentially been emptied by the noble council.

At this moment, she has been abandoned by the nobles.

Queen Maria II was half lying on the bed, her head sideways quietly looking at the view of the garden outside the window.

Her hair was messy and withered, and her old appearance looked like a dead branch that could be broken at any time.

She is almost 84 years old.

Seeing the ruler of the empire looking like the setting sun on the west mountain, Bishop Winster felt inexplicably sour in his heart.

He is also from the Tres family.

According to his seniority, he should even call the majesty in front of him a cousin.

When they were young, the two even had a good friendship and were once inseparable playmates.

Of course, he has stepped into the legend and has a lifespan that is far longer than that of ordinary people, while Maria II lacks talent in the extraordinary journey.

Bishop Winster vaguely remembered the days when he was playing in the palace with the princess Maria II when he was a child.

Now that I think about it, maybe that time was the best and most carefree day.

Seventy years are long, yet seventy years are short.

Bishop Winster witnessed with his own eyes that the girl inherited the throne from her father who died suddenly at a young age. At that time, Maria faced the condemnation of the domestic opposition and the covetousness of the four secular electors.

He witnessed with his own eyes that the girl continued to work hard and study in the shaky political situation. She went on expeditions before the age of sixteen, suppressed the noble rebellions one after another, and finally stabilized the situation.

He also witnessed with his own eyes that the girl started the New Deal after taking the throne, injected new vitality into the empire that had been in decline decades ago, and repaired the Holy Mannia Empire, a ship that sailed in the ocean of history for thousands of years. The giant ship that has long been riddled with holes...

However, the power of a person is too small.

Even if this person is an emperor, even if this person is the ruler of an empire.

She has tried her best, but she still can't really resolve the contradictions within the empire.

And at this moment, that once innocent, beautiful and lovely girl, that witty, resolute and brave girl, has reached the twilight of her life...

Even though she worked hard all her life and worked hard all her life, what she left to her successors was a more chaotic and precarious country.

Bishop Winster's eyes were very complicated.

When she heard the door being pushed open, Maria II turned her head slightly.

Her cloudy eyes turned to Bishop Winster, and a smile appeared on her aged face.

Different from the morbid face a few days ago, today's Maria II seems to be looking good and her face is a little rosy.

"Lena, you are here."

she called softly.

Rainer was Bishop Winster's nickname before he entered the Eternal Church and became a monk.

His former name was Linus von Tres.

Or rather, Prince Tres.

Hearing Reiner's long-lost title, Bishop Winster's nose twitched.

He sighed lightly, leaned over and bowed:

"Cardinal Winster of the Eternal Church, I have seen His Majesty..."