"They're gone? How is that possible? That's close to ten thousand undead. Although they're all low-level undead, it shouldn't be possible for them to instantly vanish. "
Although it was difficult to discern a lich's expression, Feyman's flickering soulfire and the crackling sounds of his knuckles were all evidence of his extreme shock and disbelief.
Right after he took over command, he unhesitatingly organized an undead invasion. Although the undead were mostly newborns and low-level zombies, an army of more than ten thousand was still quite formidable. The dark mass of undead that stretched as far as the eye could see was quite frightening. There were even a few high-level undead herding in the middle of the undead army, with two liches acting as overseers. They weren't just here to be cannon fodder.
Unlike the other species, the undead's cannon fodder was already so domineering in scouting battles. This advantage in numbers was more than enough to crush any ordinary low-level city. Even if the undead just stood there and let the undead attack, it would take several hours. How could they vanish so quickly?
"… Holy Light?"
Even if they didn't say anything, expressions of "Are you kidding me?" and "Do you think I'm an idiot?" were already written all over the high-level undead's faces.
"The undead were just plants, and they didn't even have a Holy Knight, so how could there be any Holy Light? You couldn't have seen nothing at all, only saw the light, and thought it was Holy Light and ran away in fear, right? Where did this third-rate observer (photographer) come from? I'll deduct all of you from this year's experimental quota (chicken drumsticks)! Bad review! "
The lich who was being scolded didn't try to defend himself. He simply raised his arm. The bones there were already shattered, but there were still bits of silver ash at the joint.
"It really is Holy Light!"
"There's no mistaking it, and it's Holy Light of such high purity. Could it be that the undead have a high-level Holy Knight?"
As the undead were the mortal enemies of Holy Light, how could they not recognize their natural enemy? Naturally, any place that was invaded by Holy Light that wasn't suitable for viewing (corpses) would be removed. And so, this unlucky lich was basically rendered useless by Holy Light.
That was because Holy Light wouldn't let go of anything that wasn't in harmony with Holy Light, unless the undead were resolute enough to remove a part and reattach a completely unrelated part. As for the plot … whether or not the new body parts were compatible or not, that had nothing to do with the Lord of Holy Light. He was only responsible for harmony.
Cough, I definitely wasn't trying to insinuate anything, nor did I hold any grudges against a world that was becoming more and more Holy Light …
Right now, when this unlucky fellow revealed his injuries, which were clearly caused by the Holy Light, it caused everyone to be bewildered.
"Could it be that the Holy Church intervened?"
"How is this possible? The Bardi Empire has already banished all Holy Light job classes! "
"No, maybe they crossed the sea from the port! Spies from the Mage Country? "
"Don't be silly. Mages have a terrible relationship with a Holy Knight. Asking a Mage to ask a Holy Knight for help? That's impossible. "
"Don't be hasty. Let's first figure out if it's an individual or a group of Holy Knights."
They were all mid-level cannon fodder from various planes, so they were still considered important people. Their respect for their superiors only lasted for the first few minutes they met. Right now, the entire scene was so noisy that it was almost out of control. However, Feyman and Gricasio didn't really care. They simply exchanged glances and felt that this was Roland's style.
"Don't be anxious. Tell us in detail what you encountered. Did you see a special lich? "
Seeing that their highest commander had spoken, the lich Adler hurriedly nodded and began to describe what had happened to him.
Not long ago, before he retired from the army, he had led a team to attack that magical forest. This time, it was because he had experience dealing with those plants that he was sent to fight again.
But this time, the situation was even worse than last time. The moment he reached the edge of the forest, he discovered that something was wrong.
"The trees are at least ten times taller than before? Are you joking? "
"I definitely remember correctly. Previously, it was just the size of an ordinary forest. But this time, after we entered, we felt as if we entered a kingdom of giants. We couldn't even see the trees clearly when we looked up, and even the flowers on the side of the road were taller than us. And then … "
"And then?"
"And then my team was completely annihilated. If it wasn't for the fact that I managed to activate an unexpected teleportation spell in time and teleported me back to the entrance of the forest, I would have been killed as well."
Alright then, it was actually an instant annihilation. But at least Adler had time to report the situation, so he didn't lose too badly.
Soon, all the information was gathered. The source of the Holy Light had been discovered, but everyone was helpless.
"Damn it, it's too tall. What do we do!?"
The cannons that fired the Holy Light were specially cultivated golden searchlights (named by Roland). These special magical sunflowers were all hung at the top of the forest that reached the clouds. Every once in a while, they would shoot out a powerful beam of Holy Light. Due to the unique location of the forest, it would be impossible to reach the top using normal methods. But if they sent an aerial squadron …
"It's not that I didn't do anything, but the bone dragons and gargoyles that I summoned were all caught in a strange web of vines. Those vines actually grew on the bones and transformed the bone dragons into their own nourishment. Milords, I've suffered heavy losses this time! "
Medusa's Snake Hair (also named by Roland) was the name of this special parasitic vine. They ate bones as food and would take root in bones to absorb nutrients in order to reproduce even more Snake Vines (the wood spirits' official name).
There were many other examples of this type, such as the Conqueror King's Self-Destructing Pumpkin Carriage (Vulcan Carriage), the Titan Hydra's Fire-Breathing Grass (Fire-Breathing Grass), the background male Magic Slingshot Pea (Stray Bullet Shooter), and so on. The wood spirits, who had such a treasure trove but didn't know how to exploit it, had already evolved into a deranged warring species under a certain person's guidance.
Every warring plant was controlled by a wood spirit. They were grateful for Roland's assistance and viewed him as the father of their entire species. However, they were still unable to understand his special hobbies, which was why they were deeply afraid of his sudden appearance.
"Hurry and run! Father's coming from that direction. Two more of our brethren were killed last night. You didn't see it, the scene was just too horrifying. The victims were in so much pain that they wanted to die and started wailing … He, he's going to give you a super strange name! And then, all of our sisters will laugh at you. "
That's right, my special hobby was to give people names. Over the past few days, seeing so many cute little girls who didn't have names or surnames, I had a great interest in coming up with names for people. But even if I ignored my terrible naming talent, since there were far too many wood spirits, my lack of creativity soon ran out, and I could only come up with all sorts of random names to come up with names.
"Pfft, Cornbread Head, I deeply sympathize with you. I discovered that Father really likes to name people after their hairstyles. "
"Do you have the right to laugh at me? Mantou card, at least I named myself after my hairstyle. You obviously have a pink ponytail, so your name is even stranger. "
"… Actually, we're still fine. It seems that Father's vocabulary has already been used up. Little Red 157 and Smurf 228 actually appeared yesterday. That's so scary."
"That's nothing. I even saw Red Saber, White Saber, Black Saber … What's Saber? Why does Father like this name so much? I heard that Saber's number has already reached 1024. Just thinking about having the same name as more than a thousand people, and being called out by one's name will cause the entire street to turn around. It's so pitiful and tragic. "
"Cough."
I finally couldn't take it anymore and walked out from under the tree's shade. At the very least, I only used a three-colored Saber and didn't create a Saber squadron. I was still quite principled.
"Father …"
"Please punish us, but please don't give us even stranger names! I'm really happy with the name Cornbread Head. "
"… Do you really need to be so afraid?"
Looking at Cornbread Head and Mantou card's terrified expressions, I reflected on myself for a second and wondered if I had gone too far recently. But then, I immediately got angry.
"Don't call me Father! Have you ever seen an unmarried, spinster father? I still intend to be a winner in life. Who would dare to marry me if I suddenly have tens of thousands of daughters this old!? Are you trying to stop me from pursuing happiness in life!? "
Alright then, let's not talk about the pain of my wounds being touched again and my subsequent rage. At the very least, my plans to deal with the undead army's invasion had already been effective. All sorts of special magical plants had been tested, and their further evolution would give the undead commanders even greater surprises.
What the undead didn't know was that the Forest of Dreams was far more adept at fighting a war of attrition than they were. Which low-level undead's body parts would become the forest's nourishment? Not only that, even if the low-level undead's souls were shattered beyond repair, their soul shards would be tossed into the forest's cycle. After a series of reincarnations, they would be purified and combined, finally transforming into newborn wood spirits, which would further increase the wood spirits' power level.
In the undead's eyes, all they knew was that the enemy was difficult to deal with. The cannon fodder army on the frontlines had suffered a terrible defeat and was almost completely annihilated.
When all sorts of pitiful results were gathered, the undead leaders in the temporary command center discovered that none of them had seen the plant lifeforms that were their old enemies. This meant that the plant lifeforms still had backup forces. It seemed that the plant lifeforms hadn't even gone all out before the undead army was completely annihilated.
The undead hadn't even discovered the plant lifeforms' trump cards. The cannon fodder hadn't even been able to display their value before the plant lifeforms had been completely annihilated. Such a sacrifice was naturally meaningless. Sending more scouts like this would only be asking for trouble.
Adding fuel to the fire without a strategic goal would only be a waste of combat strength. It would be far better to accumulate enough troops for a single wave of attacks than to kill the undead in waves. And so, the undead requested reinforcements from the Undead Emperors while continuing to send out scattered cannon fodder to investigate. The high-level undead experts also joined the fray in an attempt to obtain some military information.
Right now, I had just received a response from Wumianzhe, which caused me to sink into deep thought.
"Did Aillé personally come? It would seem that everyone is taking this seriously. Should I? I might as well use the undead to do a little experiment. "
… …
"Why has every Holy War caused such a huge commotion? Did the decision makers of the various countries and species not consider that their own species and countries might perish because of the war? Did no one even try to reconcile with the undead? "
I didn't believe that any Undead Emperor who had the power to become the ruler would be so stupid. But if I thought about it carefully, the answer to many questions was obvious.
"Isn't it all because of the benefits of the war? This is such a headache."
Wasn't the Holy War good? Of course it wasn't good for the victims of the Holy War, but it was a completely different matter for the beneficiaries of the Holy War.
There were no beneficiaries of the Holy War? Ha, how could that be possible? Those who looked forward to the Holy War weren't insane lunatics. In fact, they were all respectable people. Arms dealers would become rich, soldiers would have a chance to accomplish great things, nobles would have a chance to obtain new territories, no king would complain about how extravagant the decorations on their crown was, and even blacksmiths would be happy to receive more orders. Farmers would also be secretly delighted that their crops would be purchased at a good price.
Wasn't the Holy War like this? Was it a clash between Order and Chaos? Actually, it was the same. There would always be a minority of people who truly viewed Concepts and ideologies as the highest goals of their lives. Most people would only care about personal benefits in the end.
For True Gods, the Holy War could be said to be the only shortcut to greatly increase their divine power and Personal Domain. For humans, the more desperate their situation was, the more they would hope for salvation from the Gods. Plus, they would be able to obtain divine power and believers through fighting. As long as they could survive until the Holy War ended, they would be able to save at least a thousand years of cultivation.
After all, there would be no shortage of battles in order to break through an already established faction.
At the very least, that was how the God of Holy Light rose to the top in a single step. According to a fairy report, after the last Holy War, the number of Holy Light believers increased by more than ten times. The God of Holy Light instantly became a Main God among Main Gods.
The human rulers had the authority to start wars. And in the Holy War, the God of Holy Light would be the ruler of Order. If he wanted to strengthen himself, it would be necessary to start a Holy War. As long as he "purified" the undead and demons, his believers would devoutly ask him for help and pray. He would obtain enough power of faith and a new Divine Concept, which would increase his status and power even further.
If this was for the God of Holy Light's personal benefit, there was another reason. It was also because he was fated to be mortal enemies with the Chaos Faction.
The God of Holy Light's "Concept" and the Gods' teachings were "Purification," which meant "erasing (destroying) everything distorted by Chaos." As a Concept that was created and strengthened in the Holy War, the God of Holy Light was also restricted by the Holy War. In his instincts, the undead that distorted life and death and demons that were the incarnations of Chaos were mortal enemies that needed to be purified. This was the most basic meaning of his existence. If he denied this, it would be like how a lamp used to drive away darkness would be useless in the daytime. If he lost the meaning of his existence to correct (erase) the distorted Chaos, there would be no meaning for Holy Light to continue shining.
The God of Holy Light didn't directly destroy the undead in Donglan because his logical judgment was that it would be useless to turn against the God of Law, who was also an Order God. But once the Holy War ended, the God of Holy Light would naturally come to settle the score.
"I definitely can't let him have absolute authority. At the very least, I need to have a third voice appear. "
This was a mutual understanding that Aillé and I had reached from the very start. Since the Holy War would make the God of Holy Light even stronger, no matter if it was from his own Concept of Holy Light's existence or simple benefits, the God of Holy Light wouldn't possibly stop.
"I wouldn't be surprised at all if the God of Holy Light shouted that he wanted to kill all creatures that weren't humans. But if he declared every single one of his enemies to be evil God worshippers and heretics, that would be quite a joke. "
The Holy Church had often gone overboard. If the God of Holy Light said that someone was evil, then that person would truly be evil. And according to his logic, it was likely that all the Chaos Faction's allies that stood in his way would be viewed as evil. In that case, the Holy War would never end, and we would be in great trouble.
In that period of "history," the God of Holy Light had indeed been a cornerstone of the Holy War. The Holy Church had also been the vanguard of the Holy War. First, they had fought against the Elemental Lords, heretic countries, beastmen, and other species. Then, they had fought against the Underground World. Even before the Holy War was over, they had fought against the Undead Emperors. Now, there was even the demon army.
Although the God of Holy Light was indeed quite impressive, if one thought about it carefully, it was precisely because of his pure hostility towards other Concepts and other species that caused many powers that could have been won over to constantly clash against each other. They directly transformed into mortal enemies. The number of enemies kept increasing, while the number of friends kept decreasing.
In stark contrast, my hard work had already achieved partial results. At the very least, the Underground World's powers had been successfully combined. Not only had we avoided more than ten years of internal strife, but we had also strengthened our power to resist future dangers.
"At the very least, we can't allow the God of Holy Light's dangerous ideology of 'undead, demons, and all non-human creatures are evil, and the goal of the Holy War is to kill them all' to spread. That way, the Holy War would truly never end."
That was why, in my opinion, the God of Holy Light's teachings were far too extreme. They needed to be replaced by a more moderate teaching. Originally, this should have been a long and arduous process that I probably wouldn't be able to see for the rest of my life. But due to certain reasons, it seemed that this process could be brought forward.
"Are you trying to steal me away right in front of my face? Aillé, if I dare to think and say anything, then you'll dare to do anything. "
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