Ch.154154. Helena Valerinus (1)

After Bjorn declared a Crusade of Avenge to the soldiers who came to greet him.

I had made Bjorn’s speech, delivered atop the ruins, audible to everyone around, resulting in a unified public opinion throughout the Avenger Order.

As a result, the Avenger Order and the people of the underground city unanimously began forming a crusader army.

Bjorn Wolfson, the Apostle of Vengeance, was unanimously selected as the Supreme Commander, and under the powerful leadership of the one who had slain the gods of the Pantheon, all the order’s forces gathered in one place.

Thanks to recruiting volunteers from among the recently exponentially growing followers, they were able to rapidly increase their numbers.

The Avenger Legion, the core military force of the Avenger Order, numbered about 10,000 soldiers across all branches.

The Fallen Legion, which had gathered an impressive six legions thanks to additional defections from the confused Empire following simultaneous rebellions across all territories, numbered around 30,000.

The Legion of Black Sun, as they were officially known, totaled about 30,000.

Then there were the special branches, such as priests and holy knights, mages who had fled from the Empire’s academies, as well as vampires who decided to join the campaign, monster hunters, military administrators, porters, cooks, and others.

Members of special branches capable of performing various combat support duties and firepower operations totaled about 10,000.

Excluding all other miscellaneous elements, the forces that could be considered part of the order amounted to just under 50,000 in total.

Their quality was undoubtedly worthy of being called the strongest army, and this was the limit of what could be drawn from the believers who had recently grown to 400,000—or over 2 million if including those with ambiguous allegiance.

Of course, if they were to implement conscription, they could theoretically gather several hundred thousand, but such hastily conscripted forces would be no match for the Empire’s main force currently approaching in real-time.

The Empire’s main force. The strongest existing army and the source of the Empire’s hegemony.

One hundred legions—a staggering 500,000 soldiers—boasted tremendous quality as each individual was thoroughly managed.

Moreover, there were as many as 500 warriors who had reached the intermediate realm, and when counting mages, priests, or other professions, the number easily exceeded 1,000….

Decisively, this legion was commanded by a total of 10 chosen apostles.

This meant that there were 10 apostles of gods assigned to this legion.

All of them were high-level powerhouses and veterans who had built their strength on the battlefield.

Of course, even so, they wouldn’t be able to do anything against Bjorn.

Bjorn, who had overwhelmed a divine apostle even before absorbing the souls of gods, could certainly face those 10 and annihilate them.

But what concerned me wasn’t victory; rather, I was worried about my army being completely destroyed by those 10.

To give a somewhat extreme example, if even one of them focused on inflicting damage to the legion instead of facing Bjorn, even if we won, that victory would be filled with shameful wounds.

Naturally, I deeply trusted my Bjorn and was certain of his victory, but regardless of this trust, precautions had to be taken for any contingency.

‘If I just leave it be… it would be troublesome.’

Although the armor I bestowed upon Bjorn was equipped with power to prevent escape, some countermeasure was still needed—

—Indeed, in this situation, it would be appropriate to do what an evil god does best.

※ ※ ※

The main force of the Imperial Legion.

Consisting of 100 Imperial Legions and 10 apostles commanding them, these forces—who had recently captured the capital of the Orc Empire and killed the self-proclaimed emperor—were now:

“Hurry!! There is no time!!”

Marching frantically after receiving news that the Empire’s capital, the Holy City, had fallen.

Normally, they would have first sent a small elite force via teleport to assess the situation, with no reason for such a grand mobilization of the entire army.

But the situation was far from normal.

For some reason, no mage—not even Anat’s apostle—could teleport to the Holy City or its vicinity, and simultaneous rebellions and conflicts had erupted throughout the Empire’s territories and colonies.

Moreover, the apostles had completely lost contact with their gods, and messengers arrived one after another reporting the deaths of the gods and the destruction of the Holy City.

Unable to be certain about what was happening, they advanced toward the Holy City while gradually assessing the situation.

The main force, having rescued cities under attack, confirmed the fall of the Holy City through various reports and was now advancing to recapture it and return it to the Empire’s control.

However, this process was far from easy.

Morale fluctuated due to rumors of the gods’ deaths brought by messengers, and all sorts of rumors and conspiracies swirled in the shadows of the legion.

Additionally, they began depleting supplies that couldn’t be replenished as they defeated the evil god’s forces occupying various cities—

Critically, during the march, the Imperial main force had to endure all kinds of petty tactics.

The scorched earth tactics that eliminated all sources of water and food were just the beginning; they frequently employed the extremely vicious method of contaminating entire regions.

Soldiers became infected with various plagues, water sources were polluted, and supply wagons unfortunately suffered flooding accidents frequently.

On top of that, red werewolves occasionally appeared to attack the column, and while the casualties weren’t significant, the fear they instilled in the soldiers was problematic.

Somewhere in this chaotic procession that somehow managed to lurch forward despite being in complete disarray:

‘…Is this really okay?’

Helena Valerinus, the apostle of Juno-Shala, lay on a temporary bed inside her dedicated tent, lost in thought.

Helena Valerinus.

As mentioned earlier, she was the apostle of Juno-Shala, the goddess of home, and the strongest cavalry officer of the current era as well as the commander of the entire Imperial cavalry.

A hero clad in pure white armor made of mythril and decorated with orichalcum, mounted on a Pegasus Lord directly bestowed by her goddess.

As the highest-ranking officer of the Imperial aerial cavalry responsible for the strongest anvil in the Empire’s basic hammer-and-anvil tactics, she now…

“…Haah.”

Frowning at the peculiar feeling of being sucked into a quagmire, she decided she should at least get some sleep and fell into a dream—

“—Huh?”

When Helena Valerinus suddenly became aware within her dream, she found herself in a dreamscape similar to when she had met her goddess Juno-Shala in the past.

An endless black background with shallow water covering the floor, making it possible to distinguish up from down.

And in the middle of such a place, Juno-Shala smiling benevolently.

“You’re safe, Lady Juno-Shala!”

Helena Valerinus rejoiced at the fact that her goddess was alive, that the rumors of Juno-Shala’s death she had only heard were false.

Yes, how could such a great being have been killed by a mere northern gladiator slave?

So Helena Valerinus approached Juno-Shala with almost jumping joy, but suddenly she felt something oddly out of place about the being before her.

Judging by the divine aura, the extraordinarily excellent charm, and the divinity emanating from the figure, the being before her was certainly a god who had reached the superior realm.

But… for some reason, Helena Valerinus felt that the being before her was somehow ‘different.’

There was no reason. It was just her intuition.

And she—having risen to the position of cavalry commander with her innate sense, and having achieved countless military accomplishments even when she was still at the intermediate level—

“…Who are you?”

Had, at the very least, absolute trust in her intuition.

《Oh my—I’ve been found out.》

And that was the correct answer.

The form of Juno-Shala before her suddenly melted away, and from within emerged a grotesquely distorted crimson being.

“…You’re… the God of Vengeance!!”

Helena Valerinus concluded that the entity now appearing before her was the God of Vengeance disguised as her patron deity, Juno-Shala.

“What have you done to Lady Juno-Shala?!!!”

And naturally, Helena Valerinus’s next words were an interrogation about Juno-Shala’s whereabouts.

As it happened, the God of Vengeance had contacted her through the connection between Juno-Shala and herself, which was why Helena Valerinus had mistaken the God of Vengeance for Juno-Shala.

But now that the situation had turned out like this:

“Tell me right now!!”

To Helena Valerinus, who shouted with a voice that somehow sounded desperate, the King in Red spoke leisurely in a mocking tone.

《Ah, her. She was—butchered.》

“…What?”

She couldn’t comprehend the situation.

Butchered… butchered?

The great Juno-Shala, foremost in compassion among the 12 major deities of the Pantheon, butchered like an animal?

“Wh-what are you saying?!! Tell me the truth right now!!”

In this utterly incomprehensible situation,

Helena almost pleadingly shouted at the shocking statement, but:

《You will see soon enough.》

The King in Red merely responded by uttering cryptic words toward her and extending his hand to expel her from this world.