Ch.161161. The Approaching End

The Empire of Rom, the Holy City.

No, to be precise, the ruins of what ‘was’ the Holy City.

The Holy City was already completely destroyed by the rampage of the Seven Evil Gods, but after the battle between Bjorn and Plutos, the God of Death, took place here.

Even the remaining structural frames of buildings were utterly demolished and turned to dust, leaving nothing but debris in what was once the Holy City.

Naturally, there were no survivors, and the rubble on the ground had been ground down to the size of pebbles.

The sewers had also collapsed as the ground sank entirely, so except for the ‘temples’ protected by some divine blessing, nothing remained.

Into this place where literally nothing remained except the foundation, people emerged from underground where the ‘temple’ was located, tunneling their way up.

Giants armored in red full-body plate that looked as if it had been forged from solid steel sheets, with an average height of 2 meters 20 cm—at least 50 cm taller than the average height of the era.

Having sworn unconditional devotion and loyalty to Ma-Duk, the God of Vengeance, they were crafted by his delicate touch and forged in blood as his subordinates.

The soldiers of the Avenger Legion emerged from underground, carrying various tools and implements instead of weapons, and began to clear this foundation.

Given the vast expanse of the Holy City, it was impossible for just a few hundred soldiers to clear everything, but that wasn’t why they were organizing this place to begin with.

Even if the imperial main force somehow managed to arrive here claiming to recapture the Holy City, they would find nothing, but deliberately ignoring this fact.

Before going after the expedition force that had been dispatched to destroy the Orc Empire—the empire’s main enemy—and had successfully done so.

They were building temporary barracks for soldiers who would need to stay here for the time being.

Fortunately, the Vengeance Order’s resources were relatively abundant.

They had an entire underground mountain range that had been completely remodeled, plus resources obtained from occupying several cities in the southern part of the empire.

Crucially, they also had a considerable friendly relationship with the Dwarf Kingdom, from whom they purchased large amounts of technology and various equipment.

Anyway, after the Avenger Legion soldiers cleared the surrounding debris and ‘cleaned up’ some of the remaining things in the process.

The next to emerge above ground were the engineering corps—members of the legion composed of countless diverse races—carrying large amounts of construction materials.

The engineering corps, formed from races rescued from the Rom Empire, consisted of truly diverse and colorful races.

Dwarves serving as a kind of foremen, numerous humans, magic-using elves, and small but dexterous halflings were the basics.

Additionally, strong ogres and giant races served as living heavy equipment, orcs were deployed for tasks requiring both strength and delicacy.

Bipedal giant insect race Vermine, Beastmen, and reptilian humans represented by Lizardmen.

Thus, all kinds of races liberated from the empire gathered in one place, diligently building temporary structures to be used as barracks for the Avenger Legion.

Meanwhile, there were more diverse aspects to these ‘preparations.’

Most notably, the Legion of Black Sun, members of the Fallen Legion, whose cavalry—mostly light horsemen—were sweeping away the monsters in the surrounding area.

They were dealing with various monsters attempting to advance into the area following the disappearance of the powerful human sphere of influence, to prevent interference before the decisive battle.

From the most common goblin hordes to Magical Beasts, various troll subspecies, plant monsters, and giant insects.

Even the Forest Drake Lord, the ruler who inhabited and dominated the nearby forest.

The subjugation of these monsters was meaningful not only for gaining combat experience but also for raising levels that clearly existed, albeit in different forms.

Above all, simply practicing coordination with comrades in actual combat would dramatically increase the survival rate in the first battle.

Meanwhile, while the soldiers were eradicating the monsters in the surrounding area, the garrison, which had begun to erect temporary palisades and watchtowers, was busy producing weapons.

Among the engineers of the Legion of Black Sun were those who specialized in the production and operation of catapults, ballistas, and other such weapons.

These siege engines could be installed on any suitable high ground to provide supporting fire, and while their lethality might be moderate, they were sufficient to collapse enemy formations and induce retreat.

Additionally, dwarves who had been observing their weapons shared their techniques, and the results of repeated modifications based on these techniques were these very weapons.

Ultra-large stationary catapults with firepower comparable to quasi-stone cannons and mobile ballistas capable of firing giant spears at a rate of three per minute.

And somewhere a bit removed from these craftsmen’s workshops, in a secluded place, dozens of experts were secretly creating something.

Wizards—disciples of Lunifer—and magic scholars, priests, along with dwarf craftsmen who had been working with metals for decades, had gathered.

Selected under particularly strict regulations, they were creating a massive bronze tube, closed on one end and open on the other.

Its name was the Blood Cannon.

It was part of a project to recreate in reality what was originally produced in the domain of the Bleeding God of Vengeance, using that know-how.

Well, to be precise, the recreation had already been completed with the assistance of the God of Vengeance, and now they were in the stage of replicating and mass-producing it, but…

The very act of producing and operating Blood Cannons in reality was, from an efficiency standpoint, extremely inefficient.

When manufactured in the divine realm, they simply stamped out hundreds per second by the cartload, and operation was handled by possessing the souls of shamans or wizards.

In contrast, in reality, even before operating a Blood Cannon, production itself was difficult.

First, they had to source about twice a person’s weight in bronze, then process it into precisely the right shape and apply dozens of magical enchantments.

Finally, a mid-level or higher priest had to perform consecrations for hours without rest just to produce a single Blood Cannon.

Moreover, even after it was made, the next step—operation—was also difficult.

Shamans could assist with firing through an interface created by the God of Vengeance, automatically performing everything from calculating the projectile’s trajectory to adjusting the amount of magical power injected.

Thanks to this, despite being clearly designed to be used like a mortar, it was possible to aim directly and ‘snipe’ targets.

In contrast, Blood Cannons made in reality required manual control of all these operations without anything like firing tables.

To the question of why they would make these when they could just summon and use them, the Vengeance Order might answer like this:

Resources are scarce, they would say.

The Avenger Legion’s Supreme Council had determined that considering the power difference, all summoning resources should be invested in summoning high-ranking familiars, namely the ‘Avatar of Vengeance.’

Given that the enemy would likely summon at least dozens of high-ranking familiars, powerful forces to counter them were absolutely necessary.

※ ※ ※

Center of the garrison.

A dedicated tent for command staff meetings.

Under the strict guard of the Blood Guards—the position Bjorn’s fellow gladiators had been reorganized into—his personal guard.

The command staff, having just finished their final meeting in this tent, were all looking at the person seated at the head without anyone needing to say anything.

He seemed to wear dignity like a cloak, and a crimson halo emanated from behind his helmeted head.

His enormous frame, appearing to be about 2 meters 50 cm tall, was encased in black and gold armor—the heavy adamantium-orichalcum alloy armor was nothing short of a work of art.

The greatsword he held in one hand was undoubtedly sheathed in an adamantium scabbard, but everyone present trembled at the power emanating from the blade.

And the owner of all this sat upon a Blood-colored throne.

Like the word ‘greatness’ compressed into human form, appearing to have half-transcended the mortal realm, the supreme avenger.

His name was Bjorn Wolfson.

[…]

After a long silence, Bjorn suddenly rose from his throne.

Everyone present could not hide their trembling at his dignity-filled charisma, and simultaneously held their breath, blankly staring at his every move.

[…They are coming. Prepare to march.]

Thump!!

“”””””””Yes!””””””””

At Bjorn’s calmly delivered instruction, spoken in a voice that felt majestic, everyone present, without exception, struck their chests with their fists in salute to him.

The final battle.

The curtain was about to rise.