Chapter 279 The Great Plan of the Three Prophets
The plots of the Three Prophets and the Knights of Dusk have become very clear. Leon is almost certain that their intention is to establish a kingdom of God that worships the dark goddess Erida.
He could even imagine that the three prophets had had .
For example, thirty years ago.
If nothing unexpected happens, the former King of the Fierce Lion, King Ulric's father, was turned into a mad king by the three prophets.
But at that time, the three prophets had not yet formed the Prophet Corps. They were probably just three witches, and their professional capabilities were not as strong as they are now.
However, the identity of the witch was enough to fool the Mad King - these days, if a doctor could not cure a disease, the nobles would most likely look for a witch, especially since the Three Prophets were priests of the goddess of justice Astalia, and this identity made it easy to gain trust.
The king did have some kind of genetic disease, and most kings would definitely desire immortality - so the Three Prophets used something like an elixir made from dragon tears to cure the previous King Sarleon's genetic disease, but at the same time they also turned him into a mad king.
In the following years, the Kingdom of Sarleon gradually weakened under the rule of the Mad King, and many people in the country began to believe in the dark goddess Erida.
Although the Mad King was crazy, he did not give the Three Prophets any chance to gain access to power, nor did he make the Kingdom of Sarleon change its faith.
The Goddess of Order is still the official belief of the Sarleon Kingdom, but the sun and moon pendants on the chest of her statue have been replaced with a lion's head - this is probably the three prophets deliberately guiding the Mad King to gradually change the image of the goddess. Perhaps this seemingly flattering change will weaken Eunomia's influence.
But even so, the three prophets at that time were still just three witches, and the throne of the Kingdom of Sarleon was still passed to King Ulric - perhaps the three prophets at that time only intended to spread the faith of the dark goddess Erida.
They probably didn't realize at that time that the fastest way to spread faith was through army and conquest.
It can be said that the way the three prophets spread their faith at that time was much gentler than it is now. They just wanted to influence the policies of the Fierce Lion Territory by controlling the king, and then influence people's beliefs.
Perhaps their influence was successful. In any case, in the years before the Mad King's death, many people in the Kingdom of Sarleon openly worshipped the Dark Goddess, but the number was far from enough to subvert the mainstream belief in Eunomia.
After the Mad King died suddenly, Ulric inherited the throne.
Perhaps the Mad King's sudden death was somewhat related to his failure to fully cooperate with the Three Prophets - he was indeed crazy and cruel, and he did many inhuman things, but he also never handed over power to the Three Prophets.
King Ulric must have been wary of followers of the Dark Goddess, due to the circumstances of his father, the Mad King, in his later years , so he designated the worship of the Dark Goddess as heresy.
In the first few years after he ascended the throne, Ulric failed to fully control the country - this might not only be due to the nobles' distrust of Ulric, but also because there were too many heretics in the country at that time, and perhaps many nobles believed in the Dark Goddess.
So ten years ago, Ulrich rebuilt the Order of the Lion and used this powerful force to exterminate heretics - of course, mainly in the name of exterminating heretics to exclude dissidents.
If a king wants to kill someone, he does need evidence, especially for a king whose rule is not yet stable.
But sometimes there is really no evidence, so just accuse the other party of heresy...
Although the core job of the rebuilt Lion Knights was to act as the king's thugs, they did reduce the number of heretics in Sarleon anyway - when the Royal Knights were always killing people in the name of exterminating heretics, the number of people who dared to believe in the Dark Goddess would naturally decrease significantly.
Soon after, the voices against Ulric disappeared, and Ulric truly took control of the entire kingdom. Similarly, those who had once openly worshipped the Dark Goddess also disappeared.
Just like when Leon first encountered the Fallen in Sarleon City, the Lion Knights' reaction was indeed extremely quick.
Due to the suppression of the Knights of Lion, the heretics who believed in the Dark Goddess and could only hide secretly - so the Three Prophets made a comeback again.
Perhaps it was because Ulrich successfully used force with the Lion Knights to weaken the worship of the Dark Goddess in the country, which made the three prophets realize that in order to spread faith, they must not only have financial support, but also a military foundation.
In addition, we must first control the grassroots nobles who directly manage the civilians.
So they formed the Prophet Corps, and then used those plastic surgery girls to constantly stir up trouble in Sarleon Territory, establishing a reputation like "The Three Prophets Can Guide Wealth and Status".
As a result, the three prophets gained the allegiance of a large number of knights and minor nobles, and accumulated unimaginable wealth and powerful military force.
The influence of grassroots nobles on the people is actually more effective and direct than that of the king. Even though the belief in the Dark Goddess is still heresy, the way the Three Prophets operate can indeed make the belief in the Dark Goddess widely spread in secret.
Since the past few years, what the Three Prophets lacked was simply control over the kingdom's top leadership.
But it is not easy to infiltrate the king or high-ranking nobles.
Most of the high-ranking nobles under Ulrich had served in the Order of the Lion before. The three dukes, Alma, Elfwan, and Brunus, were all related to the Order of the Lion. Eradicating internal enemies in the name of exterminating heretics had been Ulrich's policy since he rebuilt the Order of the Lion. Of course, all of his high-ranking nobles had taken on such tasks before, and they were definitely not easy to fool.
So, the three prophets controlled Lady Bella, the wife of Duke Elfwan, and made her poison Duke Elfwan, and planned to control Changhe Town by controlling Lady Bella - Lady Bella was the legitimate heir of Duke Elfwan.
But this plan was ruined by the Duke of Alma, so when the Prophet Corps gathered in Changhe Town, the three prophets brought the Corps to Changhe Town, probably just to use the Prophet Corps to put pressure on Alma and his son, so that Alma would release Madam Bella, and by the way, trick more minor nobles into following them.
If Leon had not formed a coalition to attack the Prophet's Legion, and had not asked Fothert to accuse them of heresy, then for the Kingdom of Sarleon, the three prophets' troops would really just be on a tour - the Kingdom of Sarleon did not have the crime of "illegal assembly". The Prophet's Legion did not attack the city at that time, they just camped outside Changhe Town and held a large tea party.
If the Eastern Coalition formed by Leon and Godric had not attacked the Prophet's Legion, the Three Prophets probably would never have attacked Changhe Town. They would have only held their tea parties outside Changhe Town and continued to entice more knights and small lords to join.
The Three Prophets might have allowed these knights and petty lords to pledge nominal allegiance to Lady Bella.
When Lady Bella's followers reached a certain number, no one dared to call her a heretic, even though they knew that she worshiped the Dark Goddess. At the same time, no one dared to regard her as a tool. Only the three prophets could control her through their fanatical beliefs.
This was actually a flex of muscle, using powerful military force to force Alma and Fothert father and son to give in - Leon was sure that the three prophets' plan at the time was to use Duke Alma's plan to use the "child of Elfwan and Lady Bella" to inherit Changhe Town.
But that so-called child was definitely not from the Horton family, but was found by the three prophets.
Because the tall doom-bringer once told Amy that "Madam Bella is giving birth to God's messenger"!
In this way, the Three Prophets will be able to fully control the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sarleon in one fell swoop - both in terms of faith and in reality.
It might even be possible to reverse the status of "heretic" in one fell swoop and transform the worship of the Dark Goddess into an open mainstream belief in the eastern region.
The three prophets at this time were obviously different from those thirty years ago.
They are still trying to control high-ranking nobles including the king in various secret ways, but at the same time they have understood the importance of army and conquest, and are trying to do both.
But then Li Ang suddenly showed up, ruined the three prophets' plan, and almost killed them...
Therefore, the Lord must have been hostile to the Three Prophets, but at that time the Three Prophets had lost all their troops and had to find ways to protect themselves, so they were temporarily unable to deal with Li Ang.
The three prophets' way of protecting themselves was probably the reason why King Ulric suddenly fell ill at that time...
First, find a way to cause Ulric to become ill, and then provide a method that can truly cure Ulric's genetic disease - use the blood of a Noldor girl to stimulate the magic of dragon tears, and use a "life-saving" dragon tear in exchange for freedom.
This kind of treatment must be the same as the treatment given to the Mad King. It will have serious side effects, such as being trapped in pain and memories all the time, often going crazy and out of control, and being able to numb himself only by alcohol or opium.
When Dragon Tears are used on ordinary people, the consequence is the same as Alaric in the drunkard gang, who is always trapped in sadness and memories, and becomes crazy and cruel.
——Madness and cruelty are the natural reactions of violent creatures like dragons when they feel pain, while sadness and memories come from Althea's thousand years of loneliness. The negative emotions of these immortal races concentrated on an ordinary human being must be unbearable.
This time, the three prophets did not let Ulrich go crazy, but used some kind of temporary treatment to control Ulrich's sequelae - this was probably the experience the three prophets had accumulated from the mad king. Letting the king go crazy would not do them any good, and making the king dependent on them was a better choice.
Therefore, if nothing unexpected happens, King Ulrich will never be able to leave the medicine of the Three Prophets again - then Ulrich will naturally ensure the safety of the Three Prophets and treat them as guests of honor.
This would give him more opportunities to get in touch with Ulrich - and then, by changing his skin, he could create a gentle, beautiful, intelligent and virtuous noble girl and make her the princess.
Maybe this princess will be "pregnant" with Ulrik's child in a few days - just like the original plan to use Lady Bella's "posthumous child" to inherit Changhe Town, using a fictitious "little prince" to inherit the Kingdom of Sarleon.
Prince Alric has fallen out of favor anyway, and besides, Alric has a genetic disease.
But King Ulrich himself has been cured of the genetic disease. If the princess can "get pregnant with a little prince", this little prince will be the completely legal heir.
With the abilities of the three prophets, it would not be difficult to create a baby to pass off as real. Even the princess' pregnancy could be made real - for example, by making the leader of the Knights of Dusk the father of the child.
In this way, the Three Prophets can join forces with the Order of Dusk to overthrow the Kingdom of Sarleon once and for all.
And if they could control Leon, not only would they be able to overthrow the Kingdom of Sarleon, they could also take over half of the Principality of Desha... This was why the Knights of Dusk would attack themselves.
Just as Alistair said, Leon's territory is no less than that of the king. If he wants to overthrow the Sarleon Kingdom, he must first deal with the new Marshal of the Sarleon Kingdom.
However, the Dusk Knights probably have their own little thoughts.
Because, judging from the abilities and ways of doing things of the Three Prophets, they probably only need Le Ang's skin - with their abilities, it should not be difficult to find someone to replace Le Ang with Le Ang's skin.
But the Knights of Dusk intend to take Leon away intact, which obviously means that the Three Prophets and the Knights of Dusk are not a united front, and each has its own plans.
Of course, there was also the factor that Alistair did not want to become mortal enemies with Leon's subordinates - Alistair came to deal with Leon in order to obtain Changhe Town. If he killed Leon, it would be difficult for him to rule Changhe Town, and he would probably have assassins causing trouble for him every day.
But this is definitely not the main reason. The most important reason is probably that the Knights of Dusk do not want Leon to fall into the hands of the Three Prophets - they want to control Leon alone, so that the Knights of Dusk can get more benefits.
Otherwise, the three prophets would definitely send people to act with the Dusk Knights.
What the Knights of Dusk wanted were tangible benefits - territory, wealth, power, and status. They were the real aristocratic forces of the 'Kingdom of God', and this had been made clear from Alistair's previous words.
By capturing and forcing Leon to join the Dusk Knights and controlling Leon in some way, the Dusk Knights will not only be able to control Leon's territory, but also parts of Desha - Leon has already captured Ashcoman and Toba City, and if nothing unexpected happens, this army will be able to conquer more places.
As long as Leon is controlled, the army of the Kingdom of Fierce Lion can bring more benefits to the Knights of Dusk, and these benefits are inaccessible to the Three Prophets.
After figuring it all out, Leon decided to take advantage of the Dusk Knights' little trick...
What would the three prophets do if they knew that the Knights of Dusk had established a "kingdom of God" in D'Shar without their knowledge?
Will the two sides fight each other?
Even if it doesn't happen...can't you just fan the flames?
For example, let a certain Twilight Knight destroy the grand plan of the Three Prophets...
Anyway, dividing the enemy is to protect oneself. The three prophets are already powerful enough. If one allows them to work closely with the Knights of Dusk, he will probably face more storms.
But before that, the lord must find out who the leader of the Knights of Dusk is.
The leader of the Knights of Dusk remains unknown, and Alistair once said, "You actually know him... but for his safety, I can't tell you now."
This meant that the Grand Master of the Twilight Knights might be a noble of the Sarleon Kingdom—this person must have very strong acting skills and an unimaginable identity.
Li Ang has always been deeply impressed by a young nobleman who is at the level of an actor, so...
Could it be him?
