Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At sunrise the next day, the Holy Light returned. The dazzling glow compelled the believers to kneel and pray. For some reason, though, the residents of Holy City did not emulate this act; they were forced to clean up, burying the corpses of those massacred the night before. The residents did this with tears in their eyes.
At 10 pm the previous night, some people successfully snuck into Holy City. A lot of believers had already lost their lives during the battle that had occurred earlier, and most of the survivors had garrisoned in Shamshire, as angels had ordered. Thus, Holy City did not have many guards and was at its weakest. The group of people that snuck in then proceeded to carry out mass murder.
Before the massacre, a figure clad in a pitch-black attire scaled the city wall and opened the city gate from inside the city. This disturbance quickly alerted the gatekeepers to the intruder’s presence. This enraged the intruder, and in a fit of madness, he killed everyone in the vicinity, after which he continued to open the gate.
A group of intruders rushed in through the city gate and laid waste to anything that entered their sights. Some soldiers entered the city right after the intruders did, and without further ado, they also began to wreak havoc.
This group seemed bent on causing chaos; every church they came across was burned to the ground. The ruckus forced the Pope awake, and when the man saw what was going on, he hurriedly began to use his exceptional skill at theurgy in an attempt to save his city.
However, a mysterious sorcerer appeared, raised a magic staff, and screamed, “Wrrrryyyyyyy!!!!” The sorcerer quickly engaged the Pope and his men in close combat, buying enough time for the intruders to escape. The Pope fought hard, but he was unable to prevent the intruders from leaving as leisurely as they came. Only corpses, rubble, and a burning landscape was left after the destruction.
The Pope was still trying to come to terms with the horror when he received more bad news: the Papal Mausoleum was raided during the attack. Many holy artifacts and relics were stolen, and the graves of previous popes were desecrated with obscene drawings.
This made the Pope feel as though he had just been stabbed. The shock was too much for his frail heart, and he fainted moments after. At sunrise the next day, the Pope had yet to wake up.
The Templar Fort, which was located north of the city, bore the brunt of the previous night’s raid. At first, the exceptional soldiers and equipment stationed there were enough to mitigate most of the damage. However, before the people in the fort could celebrate, spatial cracks formed outside the fort, connecting to the Abyss. A horde of demons rushed out of the cracks, charging towards the fort.
The swift destruction of these two important locations — the Templar Forte and Papal Mausoleum — made the Church depressed. The upper echelon of the Church knew that the angels would reject a request to dispatch more believers to Holy City. Even if they wanted to ask, who would agree to go? They could not even request reinforcements for the Templar Fort, not when it was just attacked by the undead.
To the Church’s surprise, the Walthart Empire suddenly offered to help. Some nobles had offered to station their militia in the Holy City to defend it. The nobles did not ask for compensation, but they did request the right to command their militia.
With the Pope still in a coma, the Chief Judge possessed by an angel, and the Paladin Grand Cross still at the frontlines, only the High Priest and the other cardinals were left to make the decision. They quickly convened and decided to accept the nobles’ offer. The Church’s only role was to provide for the new militia, so it would be quite stupid of them to refuse the offer. Some nobles had requested for some God’s Grace’s ceremonial titles. Even though these militias would still be commanded by the nobles, the cardinals still considered the offer a good one.
If the Church missed out on this offer, it might not get another one as good; thus, the Pope’s official seal was quickly placed on the written contract. After seeing to the necessary arrangements, the upper echelon of the Church stayed by the Pope’s side. When the Pope woke up, the cardinals quickly told him about the deal and their decision, hoping that they would earn merits and fame for their swift action.
Contrary to their expectations, however, the Pope’s eyes widened and became bloodshot, and the man coughed up some blood. As suddenly as he woke up, he fainted again.
The idiots around the Pope did not understand the implication of inviting a foreign army into the city, but he knew the meat of the matter; this made him infuriated. He knew that this deal was in no way similar to the pre-war deal that the Church had made with some nobles.
For one to agree to provide wealth, resources, and land to a foreign army that they do not command was incredibly stupid — something the Japanese and Koreans clearly understood. [1]
“They agreed to it? Just like that?” The Archmage asked in disbelief, speaking to the Charlatan Walker, who only returned to Arfin City the night before.
“No joke; even I am surprised at its success. Although the Merchant Walker bribed some of those cardinals, things should not have gone so smoothly. The Pope ought to be smarter than that!” The Charlatan Walker replied, oblivious to the fury the Pope felt when he was told what had happened. “The Thane Walker’s group may have gone a little overboard, and now, they’re a little too incentivized to our offer…”
Nevertheless, the openly-unfair deal was now legally binding. The Emperor and other nobles quickly mobilized their troops of five million soldiers and dispatched them to the outskirts of the Holy City. The troops set up defensive formations outside the city and began to guard it. It was as though they were guarding a city filled with treasure. This made the residents of Canningham breathe a sigh of relief, believing they were now safe from attacks.
“The emperor was a piece of cake, though. He said yes just after two sentences,” the Charlatan Walker said, chuckling.
“It’s what any ambitious emperor would do. He can’t be happy seeing such a large prey roam free. The Empire was unable to subdue it before, but our assaults had paved the way. A wise king would know to cooperate,” the Archmage replied, not surprised by Emperor Walthart’s quick assent. Rulers thought alike, after all, which was why the Archmage knew that the Emperor would quickly the instant the Church is brought to its knees by the Voidwalkers.
The Church’s promise not to interfere in state affairs was not enough for the Emperor. As long as the Church was powerful, it would remain a threat. The Church already breached its promise to the Empire when it declared war on the Voidwalkers on Empire soil, without first informing the Emperor. If the Empire failed to rid itself of this threat, Isythre would be ruled by popes, not emperors, in the future.
Emperor Walthart was only sailing his ship in the direction the wind blew. To him, it did not matter who won the war; both sides considered him an ally.
The Thane Walker was responsible for the events that occurred the night before. He had insisted on placing other Voidwalkers into small teams because he wished to strike the Church’s military in secret to weaken them and, if possible — eradicate them.
There were many methods to achieve this: First, the Voidwalkers could carry out mass murders; this was already the option they favored. The Thane Walker, however, believed that believers did not need to die for the sins of their leaders — a sentiment that Baiyi shared. He also did not want to completely wipe out the Church. It was preferable that the Church continues to operate as a charity organization. To accomplish this, the Thane Walker decided to send his soldiers into every city that had lots of religious folks and large cathedrals. He planned to continue with this even after the war was over. The Thane Walker was determined to have the Church kneel before the Empire.
Whether the Empire itself would one day backstab the Void was a nugatory issue. The Voidwalkers were a peacekeeping force whose aim had always been to bring progress to humankind. They were always on the side of good and had a reputation for being incredibly open and fair for negotiations. No one else other than the Church would be so heartless to suspect the Void’s benevolence, right?
The imperial household had absolutely nothing as a weapon against the Voidalkers — no angels on their side, and certainly no Holy Light. All of the Empire’s best officers were trained by the Voidwalkers, and all of their best weapons were manufactured by Da Xue. Who would think that the Empire had anything to win over the Void?
The angels did not care about politics; they only had eyes for their goals.
This morning, however, they postponed their onslaught for some pomp and circumstances. It was a lavish funeral for those who had laid their lives for the divine cause.
With the two Archangels helming the procession, the Angels arranged themselves into a beautiful formation in the sky as they broke into a melodious hymn for the dead. Then, as though brought out by their voices, shadows of specters filled the sky above Arfin city, heading towards the center of the Angels’ formation in droves under the latter’s guidance. Some of them joined into the blinding light while some of them quietly melted into the earth.
The angels had used magic to ensure that the whole of Isythre was a witness to the ceremony. Everywhere, the believers were galvanized by the miracle, their previously deflated morales boosted. Suddenly, the frustration and hopelessness from the previous day’s failure were transmuted into rapture and an earnest zeal to sacrifice their lives in this Holy War and be reborn as warriors of light. To most of them, the entrance to heaven and the promise of eternal bliss were the goals of their material life. Some of them were even secretly envious of those who had died in the war.
“But what’s the point in all of this? At the end of the day, these people are still dead. They’re forever separated from their loved ones,” Laeticia murmured as she gazed the sky, her hand tightening around the Scripture necklace on her neck as words that could brand her a heretic fell out of her lips.
Unbeknownst to herself, her faith had begun to mutate.
The angels launched their attack to Arfin once the ritual was over, employing the same tactic and transporting their human army right next to the city through the same teleportation technique they’d used. Just like that, a newly-replenished legion of ten million humans appeared right outside the city wall, donned in the same golden armors, weapons, and divine blessings.
Contrary to their experience, the ground immediately exploded the moment they landed on it, triggering even more explosions until men were flying in the air. Those who were too close to the bombs also exploded into minced meat despite their powerful blessing covering them.
“You can only use the same technique against us once, pal. Bet you didn’t expect us to plant landmines on the ground, did ya?” The Blacksmith Walker roared boisterously. After devoting so much of the students’ and his own time on developing these landmines a long while ago, he was giddy to finally be able to put them in action!
Naturally, his excitement did not delude him into thinking that they would be enough as deterrents. The number of their enemies was too many, and the angels’ blessings were too powerful for the explosions to take out a significant amount of their foes. However, these landmines should work perfectly in sowing chaos among the believers.
The Voidwalkers soon realized that the invaders, unlike before, did not seem concerned by the sight and sounds of these unexpected explosions.
