A fallen angel? A feather from a fallen angel?
Linley carefully read the notes and discovered that this feather came from an angel who fell after questioning God on the brink of death. The special thing about it is that burning the feather creates a blasphemous aura that nullifies all divine spells within its range.
"All divine spells? Including mine?" Linley asked, puzzled.
"You don't know any divine spells, so it won't affect you," the system replied.
"Just because I don't know any now doesn't mean I won't learn some in the future!" Linley retorted. "And this explanation is too vague. What's the range of this blasphemous aura, and how long does it last?"
"That's uncertain," the system explained. "If you release this aura in Holiness's heaven, it would be instantly burned away by holy light. In hell, it could create a blasphemous aura several kilometers in diameter that lasts almost indefinitely."
"So hell really exists," Linley remarked. "What if I unleash it here?"
"In Rome, it would disappear quickly. On Crete, it would last a bit longer. In Gaul, it would last even longer, and in the Germanic regions, it could persist for several years," the system added.
"Isn't that basically saying Germany is like hell? That's so prejudiced! Sure, Germania is still barbaric, with people wearing animal skins and hunting in the forests, but they're far from the later grandeur of building crematoriums," Linley thought, dissatisfied.
"Has Rome become Holiness's stronghold?" Linley continued to ask.
"Yes," the system confirmed.
Holiness has been spreading in Rome for over a hundred years, starting underground but gradually growing. Countless people, following the trend, began to believe in Holiness.
Rome tried to suppress it many times, resulting in rivers of blood each time, but Holiness always endured and grew stronger. Eventually, when Nero conspired with Holiness to attack the Pantheon and expel the Olympian gods, Holiness's belief had become deeply rooted in Rome and unshakable.
However, there were still many followers of the Olympian gods in Rome. After all, this belief had existed for many years, and no one could claim they had never worshipped a statue or prayed to the gods. Rome couldn't eliminate all followers of the Olympian gods; otherwise, the entire empire would cease to function.
Those who were lightly devoted might convert, but true believers would either become martyrs or go into hiding. If Linley were to invade Rome in the future, he might find hidden believers to seek help from.
For now, Linley couldn't decide on his next step. The urgent task was to gather intelligence.
He left the divine realm and returned to the present world, finding the highest-ranking captive, a centurion named Oswi. He had been the first to flee, causing the Roman phalanx to collapse, and was currently in a dazed state, answering only after being asked two or three times.
"How is the governor's mansion defended?" Linley asked.
"There are over three hundred people at the governor's mansion, all well-armed. However, they are busy with many tasks and have little time for training," Oswi answered.
The soldiers of the Governor's Residence bear the heavy responsibility of demonstrating the might of the Roman Empire, which means their appearance must be impressive and grand, while their combat ability is relatively secondary. As the ruler of Crete, the governor needs to frequently attend various banquets and social events, while the guards are busy being on duty and naturally have no time to practice the skills required for actual battlefield combat.
"Is your Governor's Residence a fortress?" asked Linley.
"No, it was originally a wealthy man's residence, with a large garden," answered Oswei.
This makes things easier. First, seize the Governor's Residence and detain the governor. Then, free the slaves in the governor's name and use them to control Crete's nobility, thereby taking over the entire island.
In short, it's about doing what was done on Andros Island all over again. Even if it means signing hundreds of IOUs and owing tens of thousands of horses, it doesn't matter to Linley. After all, he won't die or go bankrupt; he can repay them over time.
There are hundreds of thousands of people living on Crete. If everything goes smoothly, at least a few thousand followers could be brought along. However, the barren land of Dionysus Island limits how many people it can hold. Despite its large size, it's still difficult to accommodate thousands of people. In fact, the current population of over a thousand already feels crowded.
"Everyone, take a break first. Later, we will attack the Governor's Residence!" Linley announced.
The group rested for over an hour at the farm, during which they captured several groups who came to investigate, stripped them of their armor, weapons, and clothes, and then tied them up in the farmhouse, threatening to burn it down and kill them if they moved.
In fact, Linley led all the followers back to Knossos before dawn. Given their large numbers, they couldn't avoid the checkpoints and had to force their way through.
These checkpoints appeared heavily guarded, but the soldiers inside were lazy, more concerned with catching smugglers and taking bribes, and were not prepared to deal with a military attack.
Every time they encountered a checkpoint, Linley would have twenty or thirty fully armored Minotaurs ride on each other to form cavalry, then charge and break through the wooden barricades, using spears and short swords to kill the guards.
Some Roman soldiers ran quickly, but Linley didn't bother chasing them and continued forward. In this era, without mobile phones, telephones, or telegraphs, even if these soldiers escaped, they couldn't quickly relay the message.
Even relying on manpower, their speed couldn't match Linley's Dionysian cavalry, which had a twenty percent speed boost. Running a marathon of over forty kilometers would leave them exhausted, and they couldn't catch up with the Dionysian followers.
Riding horses at full speed might be a bit faster than Linley's group, but there were limitations. Because stirrups were Linley's exclusive invention and not shared, Cretan riders could only grip the horse's belly with their legs, making them very unstable and prone to falling off at high speeds.
Additionally, the roads of this era were poorly constructed. Muddy roads and uneven stone paths made it difficult to travel quickly. Therefore, Linley could launch a surprise attack on the Governor's Residence before they received any news, catching them off guard.
As Linley was thinking this, a column of smoke suddenly rose into the sky from the horizon. Further away, more smoke columns rose in succession, signaling continuously, who knows how far the message was being transmitted.