Ch.815Eastern Purification (2)

======[ Eastern Empire ]======

Haschal and the fanatics of Astraea swept through the eastern empire relentlessly, leaving countless piles of ashes in their wake.

No noble could stand against her advance as she marched forward with righteous cause and divine authority. In truth, stopping her was impossible from the beginning.

What could nobles, at best mere counts or lower, do against a superhuman capable of destroying castles single-handedly?

Even if they gathered mercenaries to resist, those uninvolved in their crimes prostrated themselves before her, while accomplices were torn to shreds by violence that seemed inhuman and beams of judgment raining down from the heavens.

Resistance was meaningless.

“We die either way! Charge!”

“Curse upon Astraea!”

Evil deity worshippers who had been lurking in the empire’s shadows, along with five counts who boasted considerable power among the eastern territories excluding Landenburg, conspired to make one final desperate attempt, but…

“Is this all you have?”

It didn’t take long for the thousands of troops they had gathered to be completely annihilated.

– BOOM!

After striking down the vanguard mage at imperceptible speed, Haschal walked calmly through the midst of the shocked enemies as if taking a stroll, spreading the power of her Karma of Murder through the earth in all directions.

– CRACK!

With each step she took, the shadow beneath her feet spread like drops of ink on white cloth, and from those shadows, hundreds of crimson thorns shot up like spear tips.

“AAAAGH! My stomach, my stomaaaach!”

“GWEEEEEK!”

The Karma technique, Extreme Shadow.

Soldiers impaled on bloody stakes writhed like rags hung on poles. Torn intestines mixed with fresh blood rained down, dyeing Haschal’s entire body red.

The Empress of Slaughter, covered in blood and entrails. Haschal had already become the embodiment of calamity and nightmare to her enemies—an unstoppable disaster.

“Invidius! Bestow upon us the grace of darkness!”

Monstrous beings who withstood the stakes of Karma with their demon-like carapaces, regenerative abilities, or defensive magic—presumably cult leaders—rushed at Haschal wielding all manner of weapons, but—

“You never improve, do you?”

They too were torn apart by a casual wave of her hand, unable to even scream. Like eggs smashed against rock.

Moreover, Haschal wasn’t their only enemy.

“Ah, a demon! That’s a demon!”

“You blasphemer!”

A mace from a Church of Order paladin smashed into the head of a knight who was pointing at Haschal while laughing maniacally.

“Gerk!”

A single blow enhanced by holy blessing. The knight’s skull caved in with his helmet, and his protruding eyeballs were crushed against his face guard.

“Gweeeee…”

Killed instantly, the knight collapsed as pulverized brain matter oozed from his eye sockets, widely opened nostrils, and half-crushed ear canals.

“Spare me! Please, please spare meeeugh!”

“Face the sword of Landenburg! Vermin infesting the east!”

A noble begging for mercy convulsed as Nigel’s holy spear impaled him. The lightning power residing in Eberond’s spear cooked the noble’s flesh alive.

“The young lady seems to get stronger every time I see her. Is that even possible?”

After piercing a master-level knight’s forehead with her sword and stirring his brain, Leonore Wittelsbach glanced at Haschal, who was causing a rain of blood, and let out a disbelieving laugh.

An extraordinary talent beyond understanding or comprehension. It was as if the celestial gods had bestowed every blessing upon her alone. She seemed to exist in an entirely different world from everyone else.

“Hmm, this one’s interesting. Mixing beast monsters with human bodies. Wouldn’t this qualify as a werebeast at this point?”

Frider van Faelrun contemplated the taxidermy value of a monster with a human-like torso topped with dog and bear heads as he sawed off its limbs.

Deciding it was worthless compared to real werebeasts, he eventually just cut open its belly and slit its throat.

And so, the coalition of heretics and nobles collapsed like a sandcastle washed away by waves.

The outcome had been predetermined before the battle even began. There were no surprises. Haschal alone was a calamity, but she was accompanied by her companions and Astraea’s paladins as well.

“Praise Astraea! Praise her sword, Lady Astika!”

“Order and justice to the world!”

The fervent cheers and praises of Astraea’s followers rang out like a choir.

All directed toward the Judge of Order who stood calmly in the middle of a lake of flesh and entrails, smiling as she puffed smoke from her Mana Herb.

—-

Using Astraea’s authority, her position as a saint, and her own might, Haschal harvested nobles’ heads like autumn crops and devoured vast territories.

Her advance sent massive shockwaves through the empire’s political landscape.

Throughout the empire’s entire history, there had never been a case where a single noble family exterminated all surrounding nobles and annexed their territories.

The empire’s nobles finally realized:

The Empire’s First Sword—sharper and keener than any other blade under the starry sky—possessed not one but two edges.

And those edges could be turned against them at any moment, not just against external enemies.

For nobles who had considered Haschal a mere leashed beast, this was a truly shocking and terrifying realization.

“How could someone called a saint do such…!”

“Burning lords at the stake and forcibly seizing their lands. I’ve heard the Church of Astraea is full of zealots who don’t think things through, but this is clearly overstepping boundaries!”

Nobles who received news from the east trembled in fear and loudly criticized Haschal.

“We’d be fortunate if she’s satisfied with devouring the east… but if that’s not enough for her…!”

The image of criminals tied to stakes and burned alive seemed all too real to them.

Some nobles even knelt before the Emperor, pleading that the Baroness of Median be punished for overstepping her authority, while others approached Lord Wien, begging him to stop Haschal.

However—

“What do you mean?”

“I see no grounds for that.”

Both men, who had intended to purge the corrupt eastern nobles from the beginning, clearly dismissed the nobles’ petitions, showing complete disinterest in their complaints.

With the empire’s ruler and the head of the noble faction tacitly approving Haschal’s “crusade,” the ordinary nobles had no means to stop her actions.

“One who bears the Stigmata of Astraea is embodying the goddess’s will on this land, cutting out the empire’s tumors. Shouldn’t this be praised? Though I serve a different deity, as a saint who has received stigmata myself, I fully support Lady Astika’s ‘crusade’.”

The church forces, led by Archbishop Lacy Elmaine, went even further by openly declaring their support for Haschal’s actions.

Devout believers were deeply moved by the judgment of sinners who had committed unspeakable crimes, while more secular clergy saw this as an opportunity to suppress noble authority and expand the church’s influence.

“To interfere with this… well, unless one is a heretic, cultist, or criminal deserving the stake, who could harbor such wicked intentions?”

The implication in Lacy’s statement was clear enough for even a fool to understand.

Do not interfere with Astika’s crusade.

Those who interfere will become enemies of the archdiocese.

It was an unmistakable threat—enough to make those who had criticized Haschal and sought to stop her retreat in cold sweat.

Thus, with a single campaign, Haschal imprinted a clear message on everyone in the empire:

If she wished to do something, no one in the empire could stand in her way.

Nobles trembled in fear, knights admired her might, priests praised her actions.

Those liberated from the nobles’ atrocities—the common people who had always been exploited—hailed her as a true hero.

The submission of nobles, the worship of knights, the praise of priests, the acclaim of the people.

These are the qualifications of a ruler.

Though Landenburg’s independence was still a confidential matter not yet announced, she had already taken her first brilliant step as the queen of the east.

Her old nickname, the Crimson Empress, spread once again.

Now it was no longer just a metaphor but something much closer to truth.

Meanwhile, Haschal herself was simply heading toward Landenburg territory with a lighter heart, feeling that she had satisfyingly relieved her accumulated stress.