Pirate Kingship-Chapter 817 - 502: The Religious War Begins

Byron suddenly lowered his voice, speaking mysteriously:

"Buddy, in fact, my true identity is the [Holy Spirit], the genuine kind.

So, hurry up and kneel to kiss my boots, and offer your faith and soul, I'll grant you this vanilla-flavored ice cream and this box of chocolate teddy bear cookies."

"Humble mortal, don't be shy, come and receive the grace of God."

Before Saranthe could angrily retaliate against his sly cousin, a delicate hand suddenly reached over and took the teddy bear cookies from Byron's hand.

The group turned around and finally saw the person they'd been eagerly waiting for quietly appearing beside them.

They all stood up in delight.

"Mom!"

"Aunt!"

Heather's epitaph would read: "Byron, don't sneak my teddy bear cookies, please respect the offerings, thank you."

This shows her obsession with teddy bear cookies.

Or it could be said that this Little Mermaid Princess, who lived underwater for many years, loved all snacks and candies represented by teddy bear cookies from the shore.

Cream puffs, chocolate, caramel cakes, ice cream...

Anyway, as a Fourth Order Mythical Creature, she could never gain weight no matter how much she ate.

She elegantly stuffed the cookie into her mouth, and chewed it like a squirrel.

After tasting the familiar flavor for the first time in years, she happily squinted her eyes and earnestly commented to the group:

"I can give it the highest rating for sweets... not too sweet! Very tasty!"

After finishing a cookie, Heather slightly satisfied her cravings and forcibly held back her desire to eat another.

She looked up at her nephew Saranthe reunited from afar, her foster daughter Catherine, and the obviously close Violet, smiling and nodding.

She then warmly opened her arms to Byron, whose child-like appearance was still slightly noticeable, her eyes full of smiles.

Nothing that happened before mattered, now was the time to enjoy family.

In the next moment, Byron jumped up eagerly and hugged her tightly, spinning Heather several rounds off the ground before putting her down.

"Mom, welcome home!"

Heather rose up on her toes and patted Byron's head:

"You too, little Byron.

Besides, now that you've grown up, no need to worry about cavities, mom decides to share half of my sweets with you, isn't that great?

But don't let your daddy know."

She was evidently unaware that after a lifetime of eyes opening and closing, sweets were no longer her son's favorite.

However, maternal love always remained!

Perhaps the reunion from afar with family made Saranthe drop his previous vigilance, and he softly lamented with true feelings:

"Aunt turns out to be so gentle after becoming a mother, not at all like what my father said.

The nemesis of all pets in the palace, grandfather's beard ender, the lawless earth devil, gluttonous and overweight girl..."

Upon hearing this, a flash of chilling anger flickered through Heather's bright eyes.

"Talking too much!" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

She extended her orchid-like finger and pointed at Saranthe, the tip glowing intensely, suddenly striking his forehead.

Compared to the Mermaid's disgrace Saranthe, who only knew [Flash Technique], Heather was undoubtedly a master of Black Sorcery.

"Quack!"

Saranthe helplessly croaked and instantly transformed into a big frog.

Before he could even plead, his feet began freezing rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, he turned into a frozen ice ball.

Byron, who was close by, finally spotted some information about his mom's witchcraft through the [Sailing Logbook].

——"Alice's Pillow Tale Book."

Much like Byron's [Bloodline River], it was an exclusive Secret Arcane Art that a Fourth Order Mythical Creature could master only after breaching the Forbidden Book's domain.

The move just used was called [Old Witch's Cursing Finger], also known as [Frog Prince Wholesaler].

The frogs appearing in fairy tales mostly originated from this sorcery.

Others include "Princess Pea," "Cinderella," "Snow White"... all sourced from various Northern fairy tales.

When they turned back, Heather had already returned to her usual gentle form, her bright sea-blue eyes sparkling like little stars:

"Can the afternoon tea start?"

Byron and Catherine recalled the fear of being dominated by their mom, nodding furiously like chickens pecking rice.

Hence, Heather not only got the teddy bear cookies, ice cream, and various desserts, but also received the symbol of her family's status in her eyes—a spare key to the castle kitchen!

Once satisfied, she immediately set aside her son whom she'd been longing for, her face filled with gossip, pulling Catherine and Violet aside to chit-chat.

Byron couldn't care less about competing for attention; his mind was suddenly inspired.

He realized one of his four [Wild Hunt Servants], August Habsburg from the Holy Silver Empire's Royal Family, sent him an urgent message.

Since Byron missed the Cardinal Archbishop of the Wittenberg Diocese Martin's "Ninety-five Theses" due to the church blockade last time, he ordered August to inform him of any movement immediately.

And the first message from August was groundbreaking:

"The Holy Silver Empire's Protestant princes and the Royal Family are at war!"

The core powder keg of the religious wars lay in the fragmented Holy Silver Empire.

Recently, the church secretly spread the "Gospel of Heaven" in Protestant suburbs, causing a series of disturbances.

At the same time, the current Emperor of the Habsburg Dynasty, also the only holder of a [Crown] among the many church nations—Frederick III, appointed his brother Archduke Ferdinand as the King of the Palatinate Electorate.

He is one of the Seven Electors with a prestigious status in the Empire, eligible to inherit the crown.

Archduke Ferdinand happens to be a fervent traditionalist believer, and upon arriving, he conducted massive persecution against the Protestants in the Palatinate Electorate.

He banned Protestant religious activities and demolished their churches.

And so today, Protestant nobility and clergy in the Palatinate Electorate's Royal Capital rose in rebellion.

Taking advantage of Ferdinand's unstable footing, they stormed the Royal Palace, throwing the emperor's two envoys out of the window, creating the "Defenestration" incident.

Before Ferdinand could be crowned and legally recognized, after angering everyone, he had to flee in panic.

Simultaneously, the Protestant nobility established a temporary government composed of thirty members, elected a new king, and declared the Palatinate Electorate independent from the Holy Silver Empire.

This set off a chain reaction.

Furious Frederick III immediately ordered:

"Nationwide suppression of Protestants, until their last drop of blood is shed!"