Ch.158The Crumbling Fortress of Faith (2)

“Huuuuuuuh.”

Justiani let out a long sigh. All sorts of pain and anguish flowed out with it.

“Those wretched bastards.”

When he first rushed out to help Conrad, he had been filled with confidence. As one who inherited the blood of angels, he thought he would sweep away those church dogs on the battlefield.

“Fall back!”

“Don’t fight within range of holy power! Everyone retreat!”

They were cunning. Whenever they sensed the support of clergy approaching, they wouldn’t engage but would all withdraw. They were deliberately creating situations of complete isolation. Unlike before, they weren’t engaging in fierce, continuous combat.

Conflicts between the Crusaders and heretics usually ended in life-or-death struggles, but these enemies had suddenly become passive.

It was the first time those who burned for their religion had retreated. This wasn’t a battle between nations with material interests at stake, but one where they needed to prove their faith—something even more important than honor.

“Do they not even have faith in their own immortality?!”

He shouted in anger, but no one answered. From Justiani’s perspective, it was utterly incomprehensible.

The Hero was approaching moment by moment.

The Papal States were also recovering from defeat and preparing to raise their army again.

The moment the one who captures the Demon Lord appeared in the south, the tide would turn. Even if they couldn’t win, it didn’t matter. That time would all serve as groundwork toward the moment when armies would be sent from the heavens.

The side that needed to grow increasingly desperate should have been the enemy. But they weren’t acting that way.

As if they were waiting for something.

‘Are they hatching some devious scheme?’

If so, then all this side needed was for the Archangel to descend and deal with them.

No, if the Hero and the Central Crusaders joined forces, they could drive the demons from this world through human power alone.

Justiani clung firmly to hope. At the same time, he mocked the church that refused to face him.

“Let’s see how long you can keep running. I’d like to see if you’ll do the same when an angel arrives before your eyes.”

Justiani swallowed his anger. The holy knight sheathed his sword and turned his horse around.

By now, Conrad would have established a front line, so another time of endurance was approaching.

A terrible battlefield of killing and dying.

He retreated, thinking of the time when he would swing his sword to prove his faith in the midst of it all.

“General. Urgent reports are coming in from all directions.”

“I’ll connect the communications immediately.”

As he returned to the rear, priests rushed to him as if they had been waiting. With damaged knight orders retreating and southern forces being redeployed, various reports would be coming in.

It was time to sort things out. Justiani took the reins.

“Report everything. I will issue orders to the areas that need them.”

“Yes!”

The priests clasped their hands together. Various contents transmitted through holy power appeared before Justiani’s eyes. The holy knight quickly scanned the main battle situations with his eyes.

“……”

For a moment, he couldn’t speak. He checked and rechecked the words he saw with his own eyes to confirm there was no error.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Justiani’s voice trembled. Anger and confusion mixed together, expressing an indescribable emotion. The communication priests froze at the sight.

“The clergy dispatched to Lord Conrad’s side were all annihilated?”

“Not only that, but we’ve also lost contact with an entire knight unit stationed nearby.”

“How could forces that could have been protected simply by not leaving the front line die in such a place?”

The holy knight raged while looking at the report. The news that all forces had died near the Decardo Grand Cathedral, far beyond the defense line, drove him mad.

It sounded like Conrad had gone insane and suddenly rushed out beyond the front line to launch an offensive against the demon legion. The distance was too great for it to be considered a simple engagement.

Or else…

“It means they must have fallen under some mind-controlling sorcery.”

“The enemy’s sorcery battalions haven’t yet been detected at the front, Lord Justiani.”

“Don’t try to understand demons within the scope of human comprehension. They are beings who torment us by exceeding our numbers.”

He knew this well, yet here he was, stupidly falling victim to it. He was furious at his own incompetence.

“We must gather our forces first. The moment confusion pervades the army, it becomes uncontrollable. We can no longer trust the southern forces either. Gather all those who are uninjured, except for the wounded, and retreat to the next defense line.”

As Conrad, who had been fine until yesterday, went mad, the Crusaders became isolated in this world. Justiani made a quick decision. There was still a final defense line at the mountain range forming the boundary with the central region.

With thoughts of abandoning the south, he decided to retreat. The clergy who hoped to save people would raise tremendous opposition if they heard this decision, but it was a judgment he had to make as a general.

Since the enemy wasn’t fighting with religious fervor, it was right for this side to act coldly as well.

“Damn those demons.”

*Grind*

Unlike his cooled head, a thousand fires raged inside him.

Justiani swallowed his resentment once more. Having been driven to the edge without a proper battle, there was no way to express his frustration.

Moreover, there was no solution to this problem.

Just enduring and enduring again.

It was like an abyss with no visible bottom.

#

“Your Excellency. The Crusaders are withdrawing from the south.”

The moment Conrad joined our side, the enemies moved swiftly. They sensed the betrayal, and staying to fill the front line would only lead to annihilation.

Some Crusaders slaughtered the southern forces they had been fighting alongside as they retreated, venting their frustration. Those who died without understanding why were truly struck by a bolt from the blue.

“It seems all humans look like traitors to them now.”

“This is the result of their vague fear of demons. The belief that only angels can stop us will drive them to the edge of the cliff.”

Cesario reported to Durin with joy.

“Now that the Crusaders and southern forces are separated, this land is yours, Your Excellency.”

“Not mine, but His Majesty’s, Cesario.”

Unlike the excited atmosphere, Durin calmly accepted the situation. Rather, he caught his rising joy.

“Mind your words. Don’t be ruled by emotion.”

“I apologize, Your Excellency. I was too immersed in the victory we’re achieving after a thousand years.”

“Don’t call crude persuasion a victory. The true opponents the legion must overcome are the Papal States, and beyond them, the heavens that manipulate them.”

Durin made a slight gesture. A scout from the wyvern battalion waiting behind Cesario quickly paid his respects.

“Your Excellency. Please issue your orders.”

“Report the Hero’s position. Since spatial jumps are impossible due to our sorcerers’ interference, they must be approaching by land.”

“We’ve been tracking their position by sending scout beasts to be killed. As a result, they are currently at the entrance to the south, crossing the border mountain range.”

“Are they trying to make contact with the Crusaders first without occupying Barcella Fortress?”

Berdia, who oversaw the wyvern battalion, answered Durin’s question.

“That doesn’t seem to be their movement. If they needed the Crusaders’ strength, they would have recruited knight orders from areas connected by roads and marched south together.”

“Then…”

“We’re still monitoring as we don’t know their true intentions. If they show signs of trying to break through the front line with the Hero, we’ll organize an interception team to respond immediately.”

The legion had sufficient forces to deal with a human Hero. But the legion didn’t know the secret. Durin rejected Berdia’s opinion.

“The Crusaders’ withdrawal is enough. They’re already divided among themselves, so they might try to mend things through the Hero.”

“Then Conrad…”

“Causing internal strife is enough. Abandon him.”

The order was decisive. It was such a quick judgment that even Cesario, who had put his heart and soul into this matter, was surprised.

“Your Excellency. Then the church’s influence in the south…”

“Do you think southern sentiment will turn just because we brought in an apostate? They’ve already embraced faith. They won’t change easily.”

“Please tell us your intentions. We will listen.”

“Those who truly wish to survive will follow the Mother of Night.”

That’s what demons originally were. Warriors forged from the survival instinct that blooms on the battlefield of struggle. If weak humans wanted to find favor in their eyes, the answer was very simple.

“Only those who survive the chaos where Crusader fights Crusader, with the Hero in their midst, will truly be able to enter the Order.”

It was a way for those who had followed the God of Light, unlike those who relied on the Order in the devastated south, to prove their purity.

Just as Ursael and other fallen angels had abandoned their original faith after surviving the war on the western front of the demon realm.

“Let’s see how much these creatures, cherished by the Creator God, can accomplish.”

At this time, before the heavenly army had arrived.

He intended to send down a trial.

#

“I’m wrong. There are few people with faith in this land.”

A land where church and heresy lived mixed together. That was the impression of the south. Numerous martyrs had lost their lives, and far more apostates had been burned at the stake after struggling against the Pope.

“Complete purging is the right approach. If we waste time worrying about unnecessary things, it will only drag on longer.”

So the Hero advocated for massacre. Literally massacre, not subjugation. With crazed eyes, he revealed his distrust without filter.

Even the clergy who accompanied him as a party member felt uncomfortable.

“Please stop, Hero. No matter how much they’ve been occupied by demons, we have a duty to save them. That’s our mission, isn’t it?”

“Our mission is the death of demons, Aria.”

The Hero mocked the clergy. His frosty voice stabbed his only party member deeply.

“What do you think the Pope wants? Recapture of the south?”

“Because that’s right.”

“Don’t make me laugh. It’s absolutely impossible with our forces. Purification is the best option against that legion.”

“You’re saying this without even fighting them yet. A Hero shouldn’t talk like that.”

“There are truths I can know without fighting. Truths that dull religious types like you can’t see.”

*Sigh* *Haa*

The clergy swallowed her anger. She had to endure because her mission was to assist the Hero, humanity’s last hope.

She kept repeating to herself:

-The Pope unearthed the demon sword sealed underground to vanquish demons.

-Because it was implanted in him, the Hero shows unstable behavior.

-He must be cared for with compassion and sympathy, as he is a human walking into chaos for the world’s salvation.

“If that’s your will, I’ll follow, Hero.”

“Good. As always, you can just yield to me. If we proceed according to my will, victory will be ours.”

Even if that end was massacre.

The clergy squeezed her eyes shut.

She asked herself numerous times if this was the right path, but God did not answer. Perhaps He was saying it was right because the path they were taking now was the correct one.

“Come on! Let’s kill them all. The traitorous southerners and the Crusaders who must be held accountable.”

She offered a prayer to the cloudy sky.

That salvation stained with blood would not be the right path.

That he would truly show the appearance of a Hero when they met the Crusaders…

She shed tears, lamenting her own weakness.