Ch.2323. The Holy War of Vengeance

And so, after gaining passionate supporters, delivering the holy relic and scripture through Lisa, and sending the vampires back, I…

‘At this point, I should redirect the Blood Warriors elsewhere.’

After much deliberation, I decided to change the plan.

Instead of Blood Warriors, which consume a considerable amount of magical power to deploy, most of the vassals I would send down through the ritual would be Revenge Hounds.

I planned to send down only a minimal number of Blood Warriors who had no connection to Bjorn as a control measure.

This was to eliminate any variables that might arise if Bjorn encountered familiar faces in that urgent situation, while also ensuring that all Blood Warriors would be available when we invaded the divine territory of the deity who was once Bjorn’s tribal god.

Now that the plan had been revised and the troops were almost fully assembled, only one task remained.

《Bjorn, would you and your comrades be willing to participate in the ‘Crusade of Vengeance’?》

That task was to recruit Bjorn and the gladiators, who would be the core fighting force in this bloody battle.

At first, Bjorn acted as though he would follow orders but with some reluctance. However, the moment he realized that the target of this expedition was none other than the being who had once been his tribal god—

The atmosphere around him changed.

“Gladly!”

With eyes burning with vengeance befitting an apostle of the God of Revenge, Bjorn gathered 19 gladiators who were both his followers and the finest warriors in this arena.

They too agreed to aid in Bjorn’s revenge and holy war.

And so, with all forces prepared, the next day—around 2 AM on the day of the decisive battle.

Grooooaaaan…

Grrrrrrrr…

Leading an army of corpses and beasts, I invaded the Roman Empire colony where Bjorn’s former tribal god resided.

※ ※ ※

As befitting a nation modeled after the Roman Empire, their colonial outpost consisted of a wooden fortress built by military engineers—and a small town within that fortress.

Built with the help of human-friendly city trolls and ogres as heavy equipment, this fortress not only had thick log palisades nearly 4 meters high,

but also tall watchtowers equipped with giant ballistas placed throughout.

With torches set up everywhere and sentries posted from among the stationed legionaries, this small town had completed all the standard fortification work, but…

“C-corpses! The corpses are coming!”

“W-wolves?!!! Why?! This place should be under the wolf god’s protection?!!!”

A standard fortress cannot withstand the non-standard army I’ve mobilized.

At the forefront of the advance were low-level undead summoned by vampires using their skills or necromancy magic.

Most were vampire zombies of rank 9 to 10, but…

Some were vampire ghouls, and though few in number, there were also some lower vampires serving as mid-level commanders.

Additionally, with some true-blood vampires of the Necromancer profession summoning more zombie hordes through magic,

the sheer number had long since surpassed what might match the Roman legionaries stationed in that fortress.

“Shoot! Shoot!”

Swish!

Thud!

Clack—CRASH!

Naturally, most of these 5,000 or so low-level undead, bare-bodied with tattered clothes, were being mowed down by the various ranged weapons pouring from the fortress.

Javelins, arrows, crossbow bolts, giant branches or stones shot from ballistas, and massive boulders launched from stationary catapults.

The undead, whose original purpose was to serve as arrow fodder and deplete the enemy’s ammunition,

were diligently being cut down while also effectively draining the stamina of the fortress’s legionaries.

And just as the undead were almost completely decimated, the vampires began casting spells under the direction of Lisa, who was serving as my proxy commander.

Fireballs flew and destroyed the fortress watchtowers, crimson weapons rained down to attack the soldiers on the fortress, and

blood giants—blood golems summoned through blood magic—rose and advanced their massive bodies to attack the fortress.

However, this all-out attack was largely neutralized by the military mages and priests stationed at the fortress who minimized the damage with all their might…

But at the cost of depleting almost all their magic power and daily miracles.

And now it was time for the real troops to take the stage.

“Offer their blood to the Blood God!”

“Hounds, avenge the vengeful spirits!”

“”””For Ma-Duk!!!””””

At the Blood Warriors’ command, the Revenge Hounds and Vampire Bats summoned by the vampires’ magic charged forward frantically.

While the bat-sized creatures, as large as medium-sized dogs, used their flight ability to harass the soldiers on the walls,

the Revenge Hounds skillfully climbed the walls by digging their claws into the palisades.

The soldiers, exhausted from fighting non-stop for an hour,

could not prevent the Revenge Hounds, which resembled werewolves, from climbing while being harassed by the Vampire Bats—

And so, as the hounds successfully scaled the walls and began engaging the legionaries on top, the tide of battle quickly turned in my favor.

“S-stop th—”

Slash—thud.

“Push! Push! If those things latch onto you, it’s over!”

“”””Yes, Decanus!””””

The legionaries on the wall had formed ranks with spears instead of their crossbows or bows and were trying to resist, but they were outmatched.

The Revenge Hounds slashed the spear shafts with their claws to neutralize them before charging in,

while other hounds that had climbed up from the sides attacked them, or bats ambushed from behind.

As time passed, the battlefield naturally devolved into something close to a melee, and the legionaries, specialized in formation fighting, became isolated one by one and were killed.

And while this chaotic battle raged on the walls.

“…Let’s go.”

“”””””Understood, Lord Bjorn!””””””

The gladiators, wearing the red armor I had temporarily bestowed upon them, and Bjorn had secretly climbed over an undefended section of the palisade and were rapidly advancing toward the temple inside the fortress.

“S-stop them!”

“Enemy! The enemy has infiltrated!”

Of course, such brilliant red armor could not go unnoticed, and legionaries moving inside immediately rushed to intercept Bjorn and the gladiators, but…

Whoosh—slash!

Crack! Crunch!

Their forces were woefully inadequate to stop twenty warriors who could use aura, especially mid-level warriors blessed by a god.

Therefore, even before Bjorn needed to step in, they slaughtered hundreds of legionaries and rushed through the small town, rapidly advancing toward their destination—the temple.

And the being Bjorn confronted in that temple was—

“HASTEIIIIIIN! I have returned!!!!”

“Y-you! How?!”

A familiar Nordic face who was visibly shocked to see him—Hastein Ragnarson, once Bjorn’s lieutenant who had betrayed his tribe.

Hastein, who had greatly contributed to Bjorn’s overwhelming defeat by divulging all secrets as a puppet of the legionaries, was now dressed in quite lavish attire, unlike before.

A metal breastplate decorated with platinum and silver, high-quality chain mail, a winter wolf leather coat with excellent insulation, a horned helmet, and a crown-like object sitting atop his helmet.

It was proof that he had obtained the position of vice-king as a collaborator of the Roman Empire,

and simultaneously an attempt to usurp and distort Bjorn’s past achievements and accomplishments as his own.

“Kill, kill, kill, KIIIIILL—!!!!!”

Seeing this spectacle, it would have been stranger if Bjorn hadn’t been enraged to his very core.

Whoosh—clack!

He threw his throwing axe at Hastein, but somehow stronger than before, Hastein defended with a metal shield resembling a Viking round shield—adorned with a wolf’s head.

But Bjorn, who couldn’t care less about such things, immediately drew out his divine weapon—the Blood Demon Sword—from his bracelet and charged forward quickly,

striking with overwhelming aura that caused red energy to flow from the sword, but—

CLAAAAAANG—!!!

“What?!!”

Surprisingly, Bjorn’s attack was defended by a two-handed axe that Hastein was wielding—something that looked like it was shaped after a wolf’s claws.

And from Hastein’s body emanated divine power similar to what had once been Bjorn’s, and the axe appeared to be a weapon almost equal to the Blood Demon Sword he was using now.

“You, could it be…”

“Yes, I am His apostle! You abandoned dog!”

Hastein was now an apostle of Bjorn’s former tribal god and had received his divine weapon.

“…………(grinding teeth).”

Naturally, seeing Hastein’s confident demeanor, Bjorn was filled with rage to his very core,

grinding his teeth to somehow calm himself and prevent losing his mind in battle.

Like how extreme anger can paradoxically lead to coldness, Bjorn was now thinking rationally.

He would definitely chop that goat-faced madman’s body into pieces to feed to trolls, and offer his soul to his god to suffer eternally.

‘Yes, I’ll use him as fuel for the battle chariot.’

And I, as the God of Revenge, watched Bjorn’s vengeful heart with a pleased smile—

《Hey, how does it feel? You were so arrogant, but now you’ve been subdued by mere vassals.》

I taunted the Wolf God who was crawling on the ground, subdued by our Blood Warriors’ commander-in-chief and greatest angel of vengeance, Rael Auredotir.