Chapter 689: Fighting the Enemy Alone (Part 2)

A guy with gorgeous clothes and noble behavior came to Attila's camp.

He held a golden scepter in his hand, wore a toga as pure as the white clouds in the sky, and had a golden laurel crown on his head. He strode with his head held high, and his demeanor revealed a majesty that ordinary people could not imitate.

Wherever he went, the barbarian soldiers who were chatting and laughing casually, when they saw him passing by, for some reason, they all restrained their unbridled smiles, and followed his steps closely with their eyes, as if talking and laughing loudly within fifty meters around this man was an insult to him and also an insult to themselves. Everyone silently watched this noble man from Rome, they could not help but lower their heads, for fear that the air they exhaled would blaspheme this awe-inspiring man chosen by God.

Attila stood outside his main tent with his head held high. On his left and right were his trusted generals. Each of them was wearing strong armor and a helmet with a mask on his head.

In order to demonstrate his strength, he implemented what King Attila of the Huns advocated, which was to make his enemies fearful, because only when the enemies feared him, many things would be easier to accomplish.

They deliberately smeared animal blood on their helmets to make themselves look extremely hideous and terrifying, like the demons from hell described by the Romans.

As they moved forward and got closer and closer to Attila's tent, the followers following Leo were already pale with fear. They followed Leo tremblingly, and the silver plates containing gifts for Attila in their hands were shaking slightly.

This posture did not scare the Pope, who had seen countless worldly things. He just walked steadily, and struck the ground with his scepter, each time loudly.

Leo slowly took out a necklace from his pocket and held it high above his head in front of everyone.

The sunlight shone squarely on the jewelry that Leo held high. It was a spear tip, the spear head of the spear of Longnukis.

The brass spear tips emitted a dazzling light under the sunlight, causing these guys who decorated themselves with terrifying faces to cover their eyes and avoid them.

Attila stood on the high slope, lowered his head, and looked at Leo who was getting closer and closer. He was also dissatisfied with the strong light reflected from the tip of the gun, but after all, this was a prominent figure who came to negotiate, so he decided to see what this guy could bring him.

Leo came to the steps under Attila's tent without any obstruction. Attila stood on a high ground nearby and looked down at Leo, while Leo held his head high and looked straight ahead, even though there was only yellow earth there.

After a long time, he just stood there looking straight ahead without moving, and his oblivious look really made Attila quite curious.

"Roman, why don't you look up?" Attila became interested in Leo. He looked down at Leo with a half-smile on his face, making it hard to tell whether he was laughing or thinking about other issues.

The guards beside Attila looked at Leo below and said unhappily: "Romans, raise your heads, now above you is the great Scourge of God, Attila, the King of the Huns."

"Yes, I know, Attila!" Leo echoed, and he slowly put away the tip of the Spear of Longinus that he held high in his hand. "But I am the bishop of the Cathedral of Rome, the only pope in the Christian world, and the successor of St. Peter! When I raise my head, I will only look up to God Jehovah and His Son and Mother. Other mortals are only worthy of being looked down upon by me."

What a proud fellow! Leo's words were obviously meant to mock Attila, whom the Huns regarded as a god, for being just a mortal. How could this high and mighty king tolerate such humiliation?

"Roman!" Attila gnashed his teeth and said, "Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"

"You have no reason to kill me, Attila!" Leo continued to look at the yellow earth in front of him, and then replied: "I came here to protect the people of Rome from suffering, not to willingly endure the insults of mortals like you!"

Attila's face was livid, and his eyes were fixed on Leo in front of him.

Leo's arrogance had his reasons. His extremely high reputation in Gaul and even in the entire Roman territory was obvious to all. In particular, a series of offensives launched in Iberia in cooperation with Augustus Luca of the Eastern Roman Divided Empire made the world have a new understanding of this pope. It was not just that he was the first pope in Christian history, a role almost equal to Augustus Valentinian.

Attila had naturally heard of these things. Since it was a negotiation, Attila could not act rashly. After all, if the Romans' fear turned into anger, then the 40,000 men under his command would not be enough! That's right, Attila knew how to spread fear, and he also knew when to stop.

"Let's end today's talk here," Attila glared at Leo and snorted coldly, "We have plenty of time anyway. This pretentious guy is really annoying."

He waved to the guards present, then turned around and returned to his tent without looking back.

In Constantinople, after Andrew left, Licinia became a little uneasy, and as time went on, her condition became more and more serious.

She, who had always been indifferent to worldly affairs, actually began to care about the Thracian Field Army's offensive against Dacia and Pannonia in the north. Whenever she encountered setbacks, she would smile happily, but when she learned that everything was going well, her face was filled with worry.

Whenever she went to ask Jovian or Demisius, Luca would always observe her carefully from a place where she could not be seen.

Day after day, as time went by, Likinia's belly grew bigger and bigger, but her attention was not on the fetus. She was so concerned about the war, especially she didn't want Andrew to win, how much she disliked Andrew, Luca didn't know.

As night fell, Luca once again saw Likinia sitting on the bench, staring blankly at her own reflection in the mirror.

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Luca sat up, looked behind Likinia, and said, "You look very uncomfortable. Can you tell me why you chose to stand on the opposite side when everyone expected you to do so?"

"Caesar," Licinia turned around, "I still don't understand why you did this?"

"He just wants to show off, to make himself look useful enough and to gain a foothold here."

Luca said, pouring two glasses of wine, handing one to Likinia, and shaking the silver cup in his hand, "My wife, Andrew has been with me for many years, and I know exactly how long he has recognized me."

"But he is just a small commander of the Royal Guards." Liginiya snorted coldly, "A greedy person will ask for more. If he returns triumphantly, he will definitely ask for more. It is already very rare for a commoner to climb to such a level. Is he going to go further?"

"Don't talk nonsense, Likinia!" Luca's face became embarrassed.

"This is my warning to you, Caesar!" Liginiya stared at Luca with her eyes fixed, "This is not a joke. I must warn you. You must consider this issue!"

"I know." Luca drank the wine in the glass and then said, "I know."

(End of this chapter)