After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

The germaphobe glanced at the noisy girl and simply placed his hand on her shoulder.

Just as the two remained silent, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the door.

The two looked over and saw a legionary soldier panting heavily.

He gasped for breath, overjoyed, and before the two could ask him anything, he ripped these words from his throat:

"Banner Commander! The flag commander of the Second Eagle Banner Battalion has returned! He brought a lock of Princess Purple's hair, our elven ally, and said that the elves are ready to support us—we can return to the ground under the princess's leadership!"

The soldier coughed painfully.

The two nobles stood there dumbfounded.

Finally, without prior arrangement, they all rushed out of the door together, joining all the Bayernians running in the corridors to rush outside the palace.

Chapter 8: The Purple-Clad Royal Family of the Bayern, Their Final Battle with the Demons 8K - 1

12 month 30 day.

When Naruja and her companions finally arrived outside Constantinople, located beneath a giant underground cavern, after a long and arduous journey of four days, she and the elves finally understood why the Bayrzans had fought such a fierce battle with the demons.

In the open area outside Constantinople, about a kilometer away from the city walls, there is a solid stone wall that completely isolates another space from top to bottom.

Lucas explained that the wall was the outer wall built when the city sank. The outer wall separated the demon's lair from Constantinople; in a sense, the two were only separated by a wall, with a straight-line distance of less than four kilometers.

“We dare not break the wall, and neither do the demons—if we break the wall first, we will be exhausted and annihilated by the demons, and if the demons break the wall first, we will catch them off guard. And so, this wall has stood here, not only are we reinforcing it, but the demons are also reinforcing it.”

As he spoke, Lucas, finally relaxing a little, pointed to the palace structure in the distance, which was supported by the highest palace tower touching the top of the space above, and introduced it as follows:

"That's the Purple Palace. The top floor of the Purple Palace has been converted into supporting pillars. After all, we have to be careful of things falling from the ceiling. A small stone or two is fine, but if it's a large rock, our destruction will be imminent... Be careful, don't be foolish and go straight into the open. The warriors on the city wall might mistake you for demons. Follow me."

Outside the walls of Constantinople lies a large area known as the "suburbs." Here, mushrooms radiating various lights grow abundantly, and traces of past battles are visible everywhere.

As she followed Lucas to a small indentation and crossed a stone bridge, Naruja crouched down and touched the stones on the ground with her hands.

The stones underground were more peculiar than those on the surface. And perhaps due to the demonic corruption Lucas spoke of, the underground stones clearly possessed a strange magical power...

Or perhaps, most of the stones here contain magic, but that magic is being subtly drawn away towards some part of the distant Black City... That must be the mushroom farm Lucas mentioned, right?

Naruja muttered to herself, and after determining that these stones could be used to create powerful golems, she looked up and said:

"After learning from Japaria, I can now create a maximum of five golems... each about 8 meters tall, with a relatively simple structure, lacking hands but instead featuring sharp cones and blades—would these golems be of value to you, Mr. Lucas?"

Lucas was silent for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully:

"It would be a decent power to fight ordinary demon larvae and larvae. But it's meaningless against high-ranking demons."

"Can the petrifying demon also petrify my golem?"

“Miss Naruja, you must understand that a demon’s special ability is a… conceptual ability. It won’t be unable to petrify just because your golem is stone—I don’t know how to explain it, but in short, that ability is terrifying… but at least your golem should be able to buy us some time.”

Now, let's go into the city first.

He straightened his clothes and equipment. Then, he proudly raised the purple eagle banner of the Second Eagle Banner Regiment high and waved it towards the distant city walls.

The purple eagle banner, underground, cannot flutter in the wind as it does on the surface. But under Lucas's power, the banner repeatedly reveals its damaged yet patched-up form to the city.

As the eagle banners fluttered, the perceptive elves noticed what appeared to be a hidden door opening beneath the distant city wall. Curious, they looked in the direction of the sound, only to find a group of child soldiers approaching.

They were probably no more than 18 years old. Although their faces were weathered, their eyes were bright and piercing, unlike those of children. But the elves could still sense that they were still at an age where they needed to receive education and eat properly.

These soldiers, emaciated from hunger yet still clad in full armor from centuries past, slowly advanced toward this place. They appeared well-trained, but their awkwardness and nervousness were still evident.

Lucas glanced at them, then his eyes finally settled on the enemy's flag in the dim light:

"The new recruits of the 25th Eagle Flag Battalion—they should have experienced two battles. Although they still look inexperienced, they have already learned about the sacrifice and honor of their comrades and are now true men and soldiers."

"...New recruits?" The elves hesitated, then asked, "They...new recruits? They're already going to the battlefield?"

“There are simply too few veterans in Constantinople. We have to send new recruits to the battlefield after less than a week of training—we try to teach them as many battlefield skills and common sense as possible, but the rest is up to them.”

In the society of the elves, even with the conscription system that Yang Hao has reformed, new recruits will not go directly to the most dangerous front lines to fight.

They would stand by in a relatively safe rear to provide long-range fire support. The brutal battles involving direct hand-to-hand combat with the enemy were the responsibility of the rangers, golems, and demon warriors.

The new recruits in Gaparia were like this, but the new recruits in the Bayrzan Empire were quite different.

In present-day Bayern, even ten-year-old children and women must be sent to the battlefield when necessary. It is already a good thing to give some new recruits more than a week of military training when there is plenty of time, but it is even better if an entire legion of new recruits can inherit equipment from their predecessors.

Lucas and the remaining veterans stood around the eagle banner. They watched the children who should have been happily learning or living under the sun, watched them skillfully deploying into formation and using their shields to cover their comrades, watched their steps falter with too much disorder as they advanced towards this place.

They said the rascals were all grown up now. They said they wondered how many friends and brothers these rascals had lost. They said if these tough lads survived the final battle, they would surely grow up to be real men in the sunlight.

"But many more children will never see the sunlight. What follows is our final, desperate battle before we restore our nation."

As Lucas spoke, he gripped the flagpole tightly. He looked up and watched as the greenhorn recruits of the 25th Eagle Banner Regiment cautiously approached, then watched as the Eagle Banner Regiment split into three: two rushed to their rear to set up a shield wall, while the other stood guard in front of them.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Lucas—but recently there have been demons mimicking half-humans, so I need to verify your identity before entering the city.” A young sergeant holding a tag book stepped forward and bowed to the veterans. “Please let me cut your hand—wait? Who are they?”

"Children. After the routine inspections are over, go and inform our people, our nobles and elders—the Purple-Clad Princess is coming to save us. These guests are elves from our brotherhood, Gaparia, and Miss Naruja, the chieftain of the Listening Clan."

"I understand, so I still need to... wait? What did you say?"

The young sergeant paused for a moment, then instinctively used his knife to cut open Lucas's outstretched left palm. Only after confirming that the blood flowing out was red rather than purple or some other strange substance did he suddenly realize what the standard-bearer had just said.

The label slipped from their hands, and the young sergeant and the other soldiers quietly turned around to look at the flag bearer, the veterans, and the guests with pointed ears or long antlers behind them.

The standard-bearer carefully took out a transparent glass bottle from his bosom. He held the bottle up with his bleeding hand so that everyone could see inside: a strand of long white hair that only the purple-clad royals of Bayern had ever produced.

Perhaps there are many people with gray hair in the world.

But only the purple-clad royal family possessed long white hair and those grey-white eyes from birth to death.

Lucas could not possibly have the future Bartheliza give up her eyes, but a single strand of hair would suffice.

This is the most fervent belief of the Bayern people, who live deep underground; it is the fervent belief that has supported them in their struggles for thousands of years, as well as their pride as citizens of the empire and the loyalty flowing in their blood.

Every Bayer Zansman is a subject of the Purple-Robed Royal Family. Every Bayer Zansman who sees the hair of the Purple-Robed Royal Family should regard it as the Emperor himself being present.

Lucas, having seized a lock of hair given to him by the future Barcelona, ​​held the glass bottle high. He shouted in a voice filled with excitement yet suppressed ecstasy, a voice that could be heard even by the citizens of the distant city:

"Raise your heads, Bayern people. Not because of a victory against the devil, nor because of the impending liberation."

Bayer, be proud of yourselves and the purple-clad royal family!

Because our Bartheliza has returned! She will lead the allies of Japalia to fight alongside us, she will destroy the demons' lair with us, and she will lead us to revival!

Apart from Lucas and six veterans, all the Bayer Zans knelt on one knee before the long hair of the purple-clad princess that he held aloft.

They were either in tears or overjoyed; all they possessed was a fanaticism and faith that even the elves feared.

For thousands of years underground, these Bayerjas have persevered to this day through their fervent faith.

In some ways, they were even more fanatical than the parish's fanatics. They didn't even know the Purple Princess's name, her character, or what she was doing right now.

A single strand of long hair was enough to make almost all of them kneel down. The cohesion and morale of the entire recruit corps soared to their peak.

Is this the Bayrgans Empire, the royal family and its people of the brotherhood of the elves?

The elves looked at each other, and after a long while, they had to admit something.

Perhaps, if the Purple Princess were to raise Constantinople back to the surface, and then, without any reason, order half the city's inhabitants to commit suicide, the people there would still obey the imperial decree.

It's a foregone conclusion that Princess Purple will completely control Bayezid. The only variable is whether His Majesty the Regent will choose Gaparia or Bayezid.

The elves pondered this question.

Lucas, on the other hand, pulled up the sergeant who was kneeling before him, weeping bitterly, patted him on the back, and said, "Lead the way as you have done for thousands of years, Bayern man."

We're almost home.

...........

The news that the flag bearer had returned underground with the Purple-Clad Princess's keepsake spread throughout the city in less than ten minutes.

All the Bayezians knelt reverently on one knee on the Golden Gate Avenue leading from the city gate to the Purple Palace. This road was the main thoroughfare used by successive Purple-Robed royalty for military parades and directly connected to the square in front of the Purple Palace. This road carried the honor of countless Bayezians, and although the square had been transformed into residential and forging areas, the Bayezians should hold their grandest celebrations on this road!

Everyone wore expressions of fervor, and everyone was in tears. But standing out from the crowd were Lucas, who held aloft the eagle banner and carried long hair, the six veterans following behind him, and the elves and the chieftain of the Listening Clan behind the veterans.

They couldn't comprehend how important the Purple Princess truly was to the Bayerges of today. They couldn't understand why the Bayerges could still possess such vitality, and they couldn't comprehend how, after centuries of despair in their struggle against demons, the Bayerges could still maintain order among those destined to die, even consciously keeping at least a table's distance between themselves and the uncorrupted citizens amidst cheers and cries.

They couldn't understand it. And what they couldn't understand even more was the attitude of the nobles.

As Lucas's group, carrying the long hair and the eagle flag, marched halfway, a group of nobles, who hadn't even had time to wipe the purple blood off their bodies, rushed over.

The leader seemed to want to grab Lucas by the shoulder, as if to loudly question him about the veracity of everything. His face showed anger, for the hope Lucas brought could very well turn into despair that would utterly destroy the city in the next instant.

But the moment the aged nobleman saw that lock of hair, his charge slowly came to a halt. He knelt on the road and wept bitterly, burying his face in his hands. From his joyful sobs escaped only this whimper:

"I've seen it in those ancient books! That's Princess Purple's long hair! That's Princess Purple!"

The old nobleman covered his face and wept, then in the next instant, he drew his sword, tearfully berating the other nobles around him who were crying uncontrollably, and then ordered them to line up and stand at attention.

Although the Purple Princess herself did not personally visit her city, her hair represents her. No matter how dire the situation is for Bayerzs, when the royal family arrives, the nobles must follow her, fight alongside her, or become her shield.

They followed at the rear of the procession, just as Constantine XII had once led his troops to personally fight the demons of domination. The nobles followed the royal family, and in the next moment, they faced the First Eagle Legion guarding the Purple Palace.

The First Eagle Banner Legion has guarded the Purple Robe Palace for eight hundred years. They are the elite of the elite who still possess complete weaponry. In the underground era, they should have obeyed the elders' orders, but at this moment, all members of the First Eagle Banner Legion knelt on one knee on either side of the palace entrance gate, while standing in the middle of the gate was the aged elder.

Archmage Archimedes, a senator of Bayezid, was an old man who had forcibly extended his life from Constantine XII to the present day using demonic power. His skin covered the last layer of dried flesh, and he stood there leaning on his cane, draped in a dark robe, while the other senators stood behind him with their heads bowed in solemn silence.

Lucas walked up to the senator, holding aloft the eagle banner and the token of the Purple Princess. He bowed his head, knelt on one knee, and showed the token, now the founding father of the nation, its glass exterior stained red with blood.

The archmage silently accepted the token. He carefully, as if examining a child, gently pried open the bottle cap with his fingernail. Then, head bowed, he solemnly invoked the fire magic unique to Bayer Chandler, used to verify royal bloodlines, and ignited the hair inside the glass bottle.

If this were the hair of an ordinary woman, it would vanish in the next instant.

But this was precisely the hair of the purple-clad royal family. Under the scorching heat of the flames, the long white hair was baked into a lustrous silver-white, and a trace of magic and divine power of light emanated from the hair. Then, in the next moment, the entire glass bottle transformed into a small sun, a small sun radiating a strong silver-white light.

Gazing at the sun within the bottle, the archmage remained silent, his staff gripped tightly, the last drops of his blood flowing from where his hand touched the staff.

“Theresa Justinian II—no, it should be Theresa Justiniana…the last princess of the royal family who was out hunting, our last princess in purple.”

The high priest covered his face and wept, then tossed the sun from the bottle high into the air.

As the sun rose from the ground, the archmage's cry echoed throughout Constantinople:

"Rise! Bayer Zans! Our Purple Princess has returned! Let us make our final preparations, let us fucking fight the devil!!"

Constantinople, a city silent for thousands of years, erupted in excitement in that instant.

...........

The silvery sun did not stay in the cave for very long.

But the fighting spirit and morale of the Bayern Munich players were locked at the peak of the sunrise.