Chapter 233: Great Invasion (2)

༺ Great Invasion (2) ༻

The arduous first day of the war came to an end.

Their numbers were far greater than what we had imagined, but fortunately, we were also stronger than what I had initially projected.

"Fuu... Thank goodness they're not attacking at night."

After the long war that lasted almost 13 hours, I strolled through the wall, observing the outside situation with the blood-stained Red Spear on my shoulder.

Never-ending waves of monsters.

It sounded like an exaggerated expression, but it was the best description for the number of demons that were dead climbing the wall. Their deaths had created an ocean of corpses outside.

'Looks like we killed at least 40,000.'

For us on the other hand, we didn't suffer as many casualties.

The walls stayed faithful to their purpose of being a barrier to the demons, and the part of the wall that had crumbled from the initial attack was fully defended by the knights.

But that was just a temporary measure. We had a limited number of knights on our side and the same went for their stamina, so we had to repair the walls as quickly as possible.

'The titans are the biggest problem.'

Although they didn't march towards the walls, they were still big enough of a threat just by throwing rocks from a distance.

We somehow managed to defend the wall, but some of the rocks and the debris went past the barrier, crushing houses and inflicting injuries on the people.

Even this was with the help of Lady Josephine and Master.

'Something doesn't feel right.'

I knew this would happen if left unchecked, and that was why I eliminated the Tower of Mages, so how did Valtazar revive all these titans? Besides...

'Frost Giant...'

That enormous thing had come all the way here, even though it was supposed to be stuck in Nastrond during this time... It seemed that everything I had done until now were creating butterfly effects everywhere.

The Sun was sealed by Skoll, the One who devours the Sun. Even if I somehow managed to reactivate it, it would still be useless considering the nature of that wolf.

Another problem was that Hati, the One who devours the Moon, would also be here somewhere if Skoll was here.

Wolves of Apocalypse, titans... and even the Frost Giant.

It was an all-out-attack from the get-go.

There were three main problems in a nutshell.

Recovering the Sun sealed by Skoll... Hunting down the Frost Giant, Utgard Loki, the titans; and lastly...

****

The following day went by in a similar fashion. The titans continued throwing rocks from a distance, which were blocked by Professor Josephine and Erin Danua.

Marie's air-force defended against the flying demons, while on the ground the barbarians, soldiers and the knights fought off the waves of demonic beasts.

When the Sun set and it became nighttime, the demons immediately retreated, and the exhausted garrisons were swapped out with the 3rd and 4th groups. It was only possible thanks to the large number of barbarians, knights and mages on our side.

"Quick quick! Let's get to work!"

"Heal the injured first! Where's the medicine! We need more!"

"Repair the walls!"

Most of the people here were the hundreds of thousands of barbarians that Korin accepted from the north. Unlike what others expected, they were working extremely earnestly to defend the walls and it was for a very simple reason.

"If we let them through our kids will be in danger!"

Out of the 230,000 northerners that escaped south away from Valtazar, the non-combatants were al at the back.

The barbarians knew that the first ones to fall along with the walls would be their family.

"Fuu..."

Germain wiped off the falling sweat and continued rescuing citizens from the broken houses and buildings.

Even though he was a semi-Grade 1 knight, and although it couldn't be compared to what Korin Guardians and the barbarians were going through in the war, it nonetheless was an exhausting task.

He was lifting the debris off the ground and carrying it to places when someone threw their arm over his shoulders.

"Good work, Germain."

It was Korin.

"Oh, hyung..."

"How's work?"

"G, good thanks to you."

Germain knew that Korin had excluded him from the crucial choke points out of consideration, but still complained about it.

"I can fight as well... I will be helpful."

"I know. You were recently promoted to semi-Grade 1, right? I know you're better than most knights."

"Then why..."

"Well... Think of it as an adult's pride."

He didn't want kids to be in the war as much as possible, but his wish sounded a bit paradoxical for Germain.

"But aren't you 1 year older than me?" Germain asked.

"Huhu... I know."

It was a pride that Korin couldn't talk about with anyone.

"Hyung, did you know this would happen?"

"You mean the demons?" Korin asked back.

"Is the reason you took in the barbarians... to fight against those demons and the titans?"

"Yeah."

"...I see."

It became easier for Germain to understand Korin after seeing the strategic side of it. To be completely honest, he knew that defending the walls would have been impossible without the help of the barbarians.

Ultimately, Korin's decision turned out to be the right one. Priest Germain of the Old Faith tried to tell himself that.

He still detested the barbaric northerners, but seeing that the purpose was to make use of them allowed him to understand the plan a bit better.

"But..." Korin said. "I probably would have taken them in even if it was just the elderly."

"...Hyung?"

"I'm not saving them just because they're useful. I... probably would have just done it."

Why? Why bother saying that?

If Korin just said it was to use them - and that it was all for a bigger purpose - if accepting them was just a one-off occasion... Germain would have been able to understand his actions.

However, Korin was not someone who considered the usefulness, benefits nor interests. He proved he was not such a person with his actions thus far.

Even when he was saving a senior, who had awakened into a vampire;

Even when he was saving a jiangshi who burned down a whole city;

Even when standing against the princess's army.

He didn't care about whether it would be helpful for him or not.

Korin simply tried his best to save whoever he could. Despite knowing it would be rough, he was always willing to take a step forward.

"Hyung... But they're barbarians."

"I know. They're the long-time enemies of the kingdom. They are loud, violent and unpleasant guests."

Korin replied while looking at the noisy barbarians.

Ever since their entry into the border city, there had been unending reports of conflict.

They clashed with citizens, and sometimes refused to obey the words of the guards, because they only listened to their tribe chieftains and Valkyries.

The current relationship of cooperation was but a temporary one for each other's survival... Their emotional baggage had yet to be lifted but...

"Look. They are on our side now."

Removing the rubble from the houses and walls, they rescued survivors and carried the injured over to the medics.

After saving them, they busted out into hearty laughter, saying they weren't dead yet.

"The fact they are shedding sweat, saving people and laughing, means they are the same people like us. Wherever you go, people are always people."

Humans did not let go of a hand in need. Whether big or small, a lot of people were like that. Regardless of whether they were citizens of the kingdom, demi-humans or northerners.

"We have to help each other when in need."

Korin accepted that fact as a fundamental truth of the world, and was trying his best to fulfill it.

"..."

Since when was it? Germain wondered.

When did he start separating Xeruem from Zeon, humans from demi-humans, and citizens of the kingdom from northerners?

Korin and his natural conviction of not discriminating against people, appeared ever so bright for Germain.

It was probably because he was that kind of person, that there was no shortage of people around him.

"Hyung, but don't have too many women. Your groins will be ripped apart."

"Aigo... There's nothing I can say to that, my brother."

Germain smiled before continuing to shed more sweat.

Saving people was an extremely worthwhile thing to do.

****

That night, Bishop Renault of Old Faith began to move in secret inside the border city.

Their goal was the destruction of this wall.

Although their prophecy of apocalypse had been stopped by an unexpected obstacle, there were more elements of chaos waiting to enshroud the kingdom.

The fall of the northern wall, and countless number of demons marching south would be enough to envelope the kingdom in chaos.

For that to happen, they had to interrupt the war.

"Fuu... Is this the place?"

"Yes, Sir Bishop."

Renault followed Germain's guidance to head to the storage area located at the center of the city.

This warehouse contained food, weapons, warm coats, bricks and materials... all of them were precious consumables and materials, with each of them contributing heavily to the longevity of the wall.

As long as they could destroy this, the walls were bound to collapse before long.

"How foolish. Too greedy. If he didn't accept those heretics at the very least, it wouldn't have come to this."

"..."

The sudden increase in consumption rate in materials was because of the 230,000 barbarians that suddenly came under their wings.

Due to the exponential increase in the number of supplies and food required to keep them well-fed, they had to rely on external supplies.

Fortunately, everything had been prepared already. With the excuse that it was for the expedition, there had already been a large number of supplies and weapons brought into the city.

"...Incredible."

The food warehouse they arrived at was unfathomably enormous.

As expected of the Dunareff Dukedom of the south being in charge of the supply, the scale was unimaginably enormous, and it was no wonder that they had enough to feed hundreds of thousands of barbarians.

Even this was just the 1st Potato Storage. There were apparently 3 more of similar sizes.

Naturally, Bishop Renault had already sent people that way as well.

'As long as we destroy this...'

The next supply would be coming in 2 weeks. Hundreds of thousands of people would be short on food and... It was clear that the barbarians wouldn't sit still and starve to death.

They would probably march south towards the inner kingdom. Hundreds of thousands of barbarians plundering the villages of the kingdom would be an interesting sight to behold.

"Everyone. Take out the artifact."

It was right when they were about to place the sacred energy bomb, which they had received from Xeruem.

"What are you doing?"

"...?!"

Hearing a sudden question, the secret members following Renault quickly turned towards the source of the voice in surprise.

"Y, you are...!"

The one who asked them was a young girl with a familiar face.

"H, Hua Ran...!"

She was a sister of the Zeon Order and a detestable demi-human.

"Do you know me?"

"..."

Renault didn't reply.

As the leader of the secret ops, he had tried to meddle with Hua Ran's affairs on repeat. One of the prime examples was working with Formation Expert Kang Ryun to ascend Hua Ran into a Hou to destroy the Academy.

However, Hua Ran didn't know Renault. She would have no way of knowing what he had been doing behind the scenes.

"K, kuhum... S, sister Hua Ran. We were just walking by here."

"What's that?"

Hua Ran asked with her gaze on the artifact, to which Renault replied without a sliver of hesitation.

"It's nothing much. Hahaha."

"Really?"

It seemed like Hua Ran would let them go without creating a fuss, which would be great because he would have no chance of winning against that monster.

"Germain. You stay over there."

"Yes, sunbae-nim."

Germain immediately sprinted away to the side under the dumbfounded eyes of Renault.

"Wha... Brother?"

Renault, with the vast array of experience under his belt, quickly realized Germain's betrayal. He snatched the artifact from the person next to him and activated it.

"Attack."

The surrounding knights immediately pounced at the Chargers of the Cross, not giving them time to react.

Renault, however, tossed the artifact towards the food warehouse. Hua Ran kicked off the ground to grab it while another knight disarmed Renault and shoved his head into the ground.

"Hahahaha! It's too late! Do you know what that item is! It's a bomb that will destroy this entire place! No-one will be able to defuse it!"

"Really?"

Hua gazed down at the heavy lump in her hand. There were 5 seconds to go until the explosion, which wasn't enough to neither defuse nor throw away to somewhere safe.

"I, it's dangerous, Sister Hua Ran!"

Realizing what she was trying to do, one of the knights tried to stop her but Hua continued to crush the bomb in her hands.

Crack! Crack!

The bomb quickly shrunk and crumpled down. By the time it exploded, it was already enclosed in Hua Ran's hands.

- Pooong...

Instead of a deafening roar, the bomb let out an adorable noise and was reduced to black smoke.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...What, the hell," muttered Renault.

"That actually worked..." said someone while slowly walking towards them.

It was Korin Lork, who gazed down at Renault upon arriving at the scene.

"Uhhkk...! Korin Lork!"

"Hello, Bishop Renault. Technically it's our first time meeting, right?"

"Y, you damn heretic! How dare you...!"

"Let's have your trial for threatening the countless lives of everyone in the border city. Okay, let's start. Bam! Case closed. Guilty. Bye bye."

Renault was about to shout out nonsense, but remembered Korin Lork was the only Justice of the Peace here who had the right to hold a trial.

"D, do you think this will be the end? The Order! His Holiness the Pope will not let this slide!"

"He will. Because that Order is going to vanish soon."

"What? What do you...!"

"See it in the news."

Take him to the prison - leaving those words behind, Korin left without sparing Renault another glance.

Renault later saw a certain news on the newspaper and fainted.

****

The sacred expedition was formed.

Excluding the necessary garrison that had to stay behind to defend the cities, the kingdom mobilized all the available troops.

3,000 knights and 1,000 mages. Added to that were 100,000 soldiers armed with magic artifacts, as well as demi-humans from Mound. The demi-humans of Mound, who were now citizens of the kingdom thanks to Korin, actively participated in the sacred battle to solidify their status in the kingdom.

There were a thousand in total from Mound, including vampires and beastmen, who were each at the level of a guardian.

Looking at them, everyone in the kingdom couldn't help but imagine the devastating damage they would have suffered if not for Korin stopping the battle between them.

"Wow~ Amazing."

Estelle was leading 20,000 recruitment forces from the Chapel of Zeon, and Lunia was soon to depart, leading the vanguards from the capital to support the North.

Out of Estelle's 20,000, two thousand of them were at the level of guardians.

"Your Holiness the Saintess, we are ready to march."

"Hmm~. Good good. My Korin-dongsaeng should be happy with this much!"

Estelle had done a remarkable job following what Korin asked her to do. Now, there were only 2 things remaining.

The last of them was to march to the north to help him, but the thing she had to do before that was...

"All troops...!"

Estelle led the sacred expedition and departed the Chapel of Zeon. As soon as the army left Zeon, Estelle turned her horse and faced them, who turned to the Saintess in response.

- What's happening?

- Why did she stop?

The soldiers couldn't understand what was happening. The 1,000 demi-humans from Mound were the only ones that did.

"Everyone. We will be marching to Xeruem now."

"S, Saintess?"

"Marching to Xeruem? What do you mean by that?"

In response to the flustered questions from the cardinals and the holy knights, Estelle entered her 'Saintess-mode', and in a benevolent and generous voice gave an ominous command.

"There has been a prophecy given from the lord. Please forgive me for hiding it until now for security."

At the same time, she revealed the materials that had been gathered thus far - each pointing to a horrible truth.

- M, my word...

- Is this all true? I, if this is then...

Facing the flustered army, Estelle raised her mace with an ambient curtain of divine energy creating a halo behind her.

"We will be annihilating the true heretics! Everyone to Xeruem!"

"Annihilate the heretics!"

"Follow Her Holiness!"

Like that, the sacred expedition forces of the Zeon Order, which was supposed to head straight north, turned towards Xeruem for an unexpected attack.

"Of course, you have to clean up the backend first in a war~"

That was the downfall of Xeruem Order.

The day the Old Faith met its end.