Ch.156The One Who Must Live (3)

As the sun rose over the ridge, war horns echoed across the battlefield—a crucial test for the Order.

This was their first opportunity to cleanse a thousand years of one-sided suffering.

Morale soared to the heavens for this once-in-a-lifetime moment.

After the surprise attack, the Dark Knights pressed forward with unstoppable momentum, venting their accumulated resentment through their charge.

“Advance!”

“Kill all who resist! We shall prove the supremacy of the god we follow!”

Bwooooooo.

The long blast of the war horn accompanied massive charges day after day. Those who yearned for victory feared no death.

The Crusaders fired various holy spells, including hymns, to stop the charge, but the Dark Knights endured them all with their bodies.

“Du-rin!”

“His Excellency watches over us!”

Artillery fire that left trails in the sky was all deflected. The Goddess of Night devoured light with the death she left in the world. When resisted with equal divine power, the holy magic could not be stopped.

The panicked remnants of the Crusaders hurriedly sent out their knights.

This was their last resort—and exactly the type of engagement the Dark Knights had hoped for.

-We will break even their last shred of pride.

“Charge!”

The Dark Knights increased their speed. Their hands tightened around their lances. They stared directly at their pure white enemies without evasion.

Free from the fear that blood and screams would bring, they yearned only for victory.

CRASH!!

“Urgh!”

“Guh!”

The moment the two armies collided, half of them tumbled to the ground. The surviving knights of the Order swallowed their screams. The aftereffects of colliding directly with holy power lingered, but they couldn’t rest.

“Kill them all! For our god!”

“Mother Night!!”

They discarded their broken lances and drew their swords. They aimed for the throats of the Crusaders who were suffering from the same divine collision.

Thunk!

Blood poured from between the armor joints. As the heavy body fell from horseback, another immediately followed. Enemies were everywhere. Allied forces, entangled in the fray, swung their swords in a trance.

Victory and defeat. Infinite branching points where the two intersected flashed by. Warriors struggling to gain momentum even a little faster killed and were killed.

“Argh!”

“Aack!”

Bestial cries erupted everywhere. The battle was so fierce that few remained mounted. They pinned down fallen enemies and stabbed them with broken swords.

Dust rising with every struggle.

There was no noble holy war here.

The brutality of the battlefield. The red that symbolized it stained the world.

“Our forces are pushing the front line.”

Durin was watching the increasingly fierce battlefield through his scout beast. Cesario’s confident voice accompanied this.

“Though the Order’s knights have suffered heavy casualties, the Crusaders have bled equally. They can no longer maintain the front line with just their remnants.”

As the Crusaders’ numbers dwindled, it became difficult to maintain combat forces until the Hero arrived. They would inevitably have to reach out to Conrad.

“Is there a suitable meeting place?”

“There’s a collapsed cathedral at the southernmost point of the western front. Due to fierce fighting over the past three days, it’s too damaged to use as a fortress, so both the Crusaders and our forces have withdrawn, leaving it uninhabited.”

“Concentrate our forces so Conrad’s army can approach from that direction. Then I will appear personally.”

The battlefield transmitted by the scout beast disappeared. Change began at the Archdemon’s gesture.

“I need no escort. Select only the few necessary for negotiations.”

“I will do as you command.”

Durin, who had been watching silently, finally took a heavy step forward.

#

“Move quickly!”

“Where are the clerics? Where are the clerics?!”

The human side’s situation was not good. With battles occurring without rest, people were ground down almost daily.

Dozens died at the front lines, and the wounded numbered in the hundreds. This was fatal for the Crusaders, who operated their army in the thousands even with all their forces combined.

“So they couldn’t endure after all.”

Despite this situation, Justiani actively deployed his forces. Whenever the enemy knights sortied, he would gather all his elite troops and charge.

A holy war to kill demons and prove faith. The rising fame and strengthening honor with each victory pleased him.

To Conrad, it looked like he was happily feeding all his troops into the enemy’s maw.

At this rate, there’s no hope.

The front would collapse before they could make contact. To prevent this, they would need to commit more southern forces, but Conrad didn’t want that.

-The South’s value comes from its military strength.

It was a calculation based on the belief that he needed to present at least eight thousand troops to the demons to be recognized as a worthy ally.

If we’re useless, we die together.

Conrad instinctively felt this. He intended to show all the South’s resources to prove their worth.

“Your Excellency.”

Just then, someone came to his tent. Without prior notice, it must be from the Crusaders or an urgent messenger.

“A messenger, sir.”

“Has Justiani requested additional troops?”

“No, sir.”

One option was eliminated from his mind. If not from allies, then from the Papal States or the Hero.

“A black crone gave me this parchment and left.”

Conrad turned around hastily.

“What are you saying? A black crone? With holy knights everywhere?”

“I don’t understand it either, but I’m certain. Please take a look.”

The southern army’s adjutant knelt and produced a parchment he had kept close.

At first glance, it looked ordinary. It followed the common Imperial format.

Conrad cautiously reached out and examined its contents.

There were no grand words written there. Only a single name written in neat form.

“Decardo Cathedral.”

Once a center of faith with high influence in the South, now reduced to ruins in the war.

The demon had proposed a cathedral so destroyed that it lacked even spaces for cover.

“It’s a suitable meeting place.”

But the moment Conrad headed there, he couldn’t avoid the Crusaders’ attention. It was too obvious.

He sensed the demon’s intention.

“So I must choose.”

Conrad bit his lip. The moment he had been waiting for had arrived, trying to minimize the troops he gave to Justiani, but one wrong decision could spiral into an uncontrollable civil war.

“There’s only one move.”

Conrad steeled his resolve.

“Gather the army immediately. We need as many troops as possible.”

Surprised by the sudden order, the adjutant asked anxiously.

“Y-Your Excellency. If the demon marches out, I cannot guarantee our army’s survival.”

“The demon must march out for us to meet them. We need to meet to plan what comes next. So I ask again. Is the demon’s sortie certain?”

“It is. The Order’s forces are concentrated on the Crusaders, so they must deploy the demon’s army to fill the front line immediately.”

“Excellent answer. Thank you.”

Conrad gladly accepted the demons’ proposal. After observing the war, he saw no hope for the Crusaders.

The Hero?

What meaning did that have when a demon who had captured an Archangel had appeared? Rather than waiting to die for a new Archangel to descend, it was better to join the demon army and forge a new path.

This was a judgment that could only be made by Southerners who had dealt with heretics and demons more than anyone.

“Now only Justiani remains.”

The branching point would divide according to his choice.

Could they survive the predetermined doom?

“It will be interesting to watch.”

Conrad smiled sinisterly.

#

A massive movement was detected once more.

The southern front stirred. Nearly ten thousand troops were deployed to the front line that had reached a stalemate.

Elite soldiers composed of Southerners who had survived between heretics and crusaders. The spear that Duke Conrad had raised finally pointed sharply at the Order.

“We will survive this time too. Forge your destiny.”

They did not call upon gods. The steel sword in their hands was their belief and faith.

Their will, which seemed able to withstand any storm, deserved praise, but the problem was that their opponent was a demon.

The demon forces that had invaded to behead Rupiel and devour the South.

The Hero was still descending the sacred path, and the Crusaders were engaged in endless back-and-forth with the Dark Order.

In this situation, public attention focused on how they would overcome these difficulties.

Is a hero of troubled times finally being born?

We pray for a saint to protect our faith.

Ah, may our Father bless us…

“What amusing nonsense.”

On a dark night. In front of the cathedral away from the front lines.

“Everyone has a picture they desire, but the protagonist is not there.”

The black crone mocked the heavens.

“Isn’t that right, Lord Conrad?”

Looking at the army in the distance, she called the name of the noble visitor who would soon arrive.

Since they were destined to meet here soon, he couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.