But the anticipated final battle did not occur.
A man walked up to the Valkyrie and pressed down on her sword hilt.
"Everyone, fall back." His voice was not loud, but clear and forceful. Alethea noticed that he was a member of the orderly squadron, wearing the commander's badge on his arm guard. "The God's Punishment Army is here."
She turned her head. Not far away, a team of tall warriors emerged from the north gate. They were clad in gleaming full armor, reflecting a silvery light in the rain, with crimson cloaks draped behind them, and wielding various weapons. Some held shields and swords, others grasped halberds or iron axes. After crossing the drawbridge, they did not reform their ranks, but dispersed and went straight to meet the rushing evil beasts.
What kind of tactic is this? It's utter nonsense! Facing hybrid evil beasts with power and speed far exceeding humans, only by maintaining formation and fighting with combined strength can victory be achieved. Is this formation meant to engage in individual combat? Moreover, are we just going to watch the God's Punishment Army fight alone?
"We have to support them!"
"No need," the man shook his head, his face somewhat gloomy. "We should just watch. Rushing in rashly will only hinder them."
Hinder? Alethea glared at him angrily. Could she be mistaken? Was this man just a coward who feared death? She tightened her grip on her sword hilt, preparing to bypass him and join the battle—although she was filled with confusion about the future of New Holy City, all she could do at this moment was to die on the battlefield.
Before she could take two steps, the Valkyrie saw an unbelievable scene.
A flying variant swooped down from the sky. Its appearance was as terrifying as a hellspawn, with huge wings covered in gray feathers, spanning twelve feet when fully extended. Its head resembled a bird, but it had a pair of ram horns, and the barbs on its claws were enough to cut through a warrior's breastplate.
Vertical dives from high altitudes were their usual attack method, concealed and extremely difficult to defend against. Even with both hands holding a heavy shield, one would be knocked over by the impact. The enormous force would shatter the shield-bearer's arm bones and flatten the chest, almost guaranteeing death. The only way to respond was to roll outward as the variant was about to hit the ground, which might allow one to avoid this dangerous strike.
But the God's Punishment Army did not evade. A silver-armored warrior adopted a frontal combat stance, and at the moment the variant pounced in front of him, he reached out with both hands, bracing them firmly against the pads of its claws. The force of the impact was so great that it produced a sound like the roar of a snow-bright firework. A cloud of mist rose from him and the monster, and the armor emitted a cracking sound.
His right leg was bent, his left leg straightened, his body stretched into a straight line pointing to the sky. The variant was actually unable to crush him for a moment. And another warrior aimed at the stalled flying variant and threw a short javelin. The speed was so fast that Alethea only saw a flash of silver light. The javelin accurately pierced the monster's head, shattering it.
The silver-armored warrior threw the still-twitching corpse of the variant to the ground. His arm was bent unnaturally, clearly the encounter had not been without injury, the bones of his arm were already broken. But he nonchalantly drew the axe from his waist and charged towards the other evil beasts.
Fighting these monsters with human strength alone, Alethea could hardly believe her eyes. Hundreds of God's Punishment Army warriors plunged into the swarm of evil beasts, their red cloaks like a torrent of blood, forcibly stopping the enemy's advance. She now understood what the commander meant by "hinder." These warriors were fully capable of taking on ten enemies each. Their strength, agility, and reaction speed were comparable to hybrid evil beasts—no, even stronger. Ordinary evil beasts had almost no power to resist them.
"This is amazing!" Alethea felt a heartfelt joy. With this group of brave and powerful warriors, Hermes Cathedral could not possibly fall. "Ah, right, I haven't asked your name yet. I am Alethea. Quinn, captain of the Judgment Army. You seem to have known about the combat ability of the God's Punishment Army for a long time?"
The man glanced at her, his eyes as cold as icy rain. He did not give his name, but said in a deep voice, "My brother is a member of the God's Punishment Army."
*******************
"It looks like we've won," said Bishop Mayne, holding a spyglass on the top floor of the cathedral.
This was the highest point of New Holy City. Using the fjord merchants' telescope, he could overlook most of the battlefield. "Tell the trebuchets to stop. The God's Punishment Army is about to take the city walls."
"Wasn't victory to be expected?" another man said. He wore the same golden bishop's robe as Mayne, but his voice was much older. "The key is that the armies of the Four Kingdoms are finished."
"That's right, with that, their border defenses are now practically non-existent," said the last person, the youngest of the three, in her early thirties, and the only female of the three bishops. "More than five thousand well-equipped, well-trained standing troops and nearly a thousand knights, even if they are replenished immediately, it will take four to five years. Hmm…" She made a groan and smacked her lips. "What a brilliant extermination plan."
"But in order to achieve this goal, we have also lost many members of the Judgment Army, they are the backbone of the church," Mayne sighed. "If this plan wasn't the fastest way to achieve the effect, I really wouldn't want to throw them into this purgatory."
The old man stroked his beard and said, "We have no other choice. The wildland beasts have appeared, just as it is recorded in the scripture. There is not much time left. If we cannot unify the entire continent and concentrate our strength, only destruction awaits us."
"Destruction isn't necessarily a bad thing," the woman said with a light laugh. "Humans are greedy, vicious, and mercenary, waving the banner of righteousness while doing things more terrible than evil beasts. Maybe the devils in hell are kinder than us."
"Heather!" The old man's beard trembled with anger. "Your words are simply blasphemous. Do you want to disobey God's will!"
"I don't need you to worry about that, Tyferon, sir," Heather shrugged, her face full of indifference. "I am in charge of the Tribunal, not you. Besides, does God require us to survive? How do you know he doesn't care more about the devils?"
"You…!"
"Enough! Tyferon, Heather!" Mayne said displeased. "That's all for today. I will report the situation to the Pope later. You go and complete your respective tasks."
……
After the two left, Mayne stood in front of the French window, looking north—beyond the break in the Precipitous Mountains, was the perpetually frozen land covered in ice and snow, and further west, was the Barren Lands. That was where it all began.
He knew Bishop Tyferon was right, God's Punishment Warriors were too rare. Only those who were unswervingly loyal to the church and possessed strong willpower could be converted. The church had accumulated this team of less than a thousand people after nearly a hundred years. If they wanted to fight against the demons, the number was far from enough.
But the entire north could only provide so many God's Punishment Army members. If they wanted more warriors, there was no choice but to unify the continent.
Of course, Bishop Heather was also right. As the church's arbiter, she had judged tens of thousands of villains and witches. Those villains or witches, the most ferocious, had not killed as many as this deliberately staged pyrrhic victory today.
The higher one's position in the church, the clearer one could feel that God had no good or evil, nor righteousness or wickedness.
「How do you know he doesn't care more about the devils?」 Thinking of Heather's words, Mayne couldn't help but laugh. Perhaps only she could make Tyferon speechless. He thought, but God neither blesses the world nor cares about the devils.
It only favors the winning side.
Welcome all friends to visit and read, the latest, fastest, and hottest serialized works are all here!