By the time I completed my super zombie-level evolution, it had already been one week since the war started.
Why was it called super zombie-level evolution? Why did I feel that this choice would be so zombie-like? Compared to riding on a young girl and wielding a young girl, only someone who was wearing a young girl and holding a young girl … I suddenly discovered that I was missing a mount. Should I go find another young girl …?
"Mr. Police, it's that person!"
Cough, cough, let's forget about the topic of zombies.
The chaotic battle between the Gods ended in front of everyone's eyes. However, the Gods' retreat actually made the situation even more chaotic. Many changes became more and more obvious as time passed.
For the living, victory in the "Holy War" was obviously a good thing …
That's right, it was the Holy War. Considering the current situation, the Bardi Church's Holy Light Bishop, who was stationed in the Mage Country, unhesitatingly took all the glory of victory for himself after communicating with Pope Roland. The inconceivable battle report stated that the Holy War's vanguard had actually traveled across most of Bardi and suddenly appeared in the western part of the country, attacking the undead's capital.
Alright, I knew that this was bad. For example, the Bardi Church actually had an Archbishop of Holy Light. Even though he was supposed to be an Archbishop of Bardi, he ran off to the Mage Country. Also, there was a Holy War's vanguard who suddenly created a "major spatial transfer" and obtained a victory that shouldn't have existed in a place that shouldn't have existed.
To be honest, this was actually quite easy to understand. When the Holy Church was exiled from Bardi, the Holy Church's local faction finally chose to take command of the Holy Church outside of Bardi's borders. The most suitable place to take command of the Holy Church was naturally the Mage Country, since it wasn't difficult for the Holy Church to travel to and from Bardi. This was especially so since Bardi and Bardi were still at war. Even if an enemy's enemy wasn't a friend, it was still possible for them to become friends.
No matter how much the Holy Church was ostracized by the Bardi government, the Holy Church was still a mainstream religion. Even ordinary farmers would thank the Holy Light when they harvested their crops, although no one knew what they were thanking the Holy Light for. Of course, if they were so unlucky that they didn't harvest anything, they would still say things like "This blind Holy Light" or "Cursed Holy Light". Even if the weather was terrible, they would say things like "This damned Holy Light", even if they didn't know what the Holy Light had done wrong.
I suddenly felt that the Holy Light was quite pitiful. The fact that the Holy Light was constantly being criticized reminded me of the government. No matter what country or species it was, it seemed that ever since the concept of a country was born, the government and country's duty was to receive criticism and complaints. No matter if the government did or didn't do such a thing, or how much they did or didn't do such a thing, it was only natural for ordinary citizens to complain and scold the government every day.
Cough, cough, getting back to the topic, this was actually a good thing for the Holy Church. Shallow believers would still be believers, and they would still be able to provide the Holy Church with the power of faith. The fact that everyone was praising the Holy Light proved just how deeply rooted the Holy Light was. If this was a normal country that worshipped the Holy Light, then when the pope announced that he was going to start a Holy War against the domain lords and rulers, the domain lords would probably have to be careful of the large numbers of rebellious believers in their territories, while the rulers would have to be careful of the assassinations of the devout nobles.
Orloss was already quite amazing. He had been doing his best to eliminate the Holy Light's influence ever since he had inherited the throne. However, he had only been in power for less than half a century, and there hadn't been any new generations. Even he wouldn't believe that he had truly eliminated the power of Holy Light.
That was why this "exiled church" with the orthodox Bardi Empire's Holy Light Church also gave the Bardi government quite a bit of trouble.
Originally, the mages didn't really like the Holy Church, but they still took in these Holy Church priests. This was probably purely to annoy Bardi's Emperor Orloss. But after taking them in, the Bardi government didn't bother with them.
Unfortunately, as the "exiled church leaders" who were supposed to be on the same side as the emperor, the Mage Country ignored their requests to send an army to the Bardi Empire's borders dozens of times. Cardinal Stephen of a mega empire should have had a high position of authority, but he seemed to have discovered that if this new news spread in the Bardi Empire and allowed the situation to continue worsening, his political career would come to an end. He would likely become the shortest serving Cardinal in history.
This new news was that the Holy Church's expeditionary army had lost the Holy War. The Holy Church had lost the first battle in this Holy War!
Yes, they had lost. While the battles on the western battlefront were still ongoing, the Holy Army, which had been fighting against Emperor Orloss's heresy, had suffered heavy losses on the eastern battlefront under the command of the veteran general Gordon, who was ranked seventh on the Famous Generals Rankings.
The reason? In front of the enraged Dragons, a berserk Immemorial Black Dragon, three Immemorial Dragons, and more than 40% of the Holy War's Holy Army had been able to successfully retreat in front of the furious Dragons with the help of a berserk Immemorial Black Dragon and three Immemorial Dragons. Not only did this mean that the Holy War's Holy War's Holy War didn't intend to kill them all, it also showed how amazing Gordon was.
Outsiders would find it difficult to understand the Dragons' actions. But for us who knew the inside story, it wasn't difficult to guess the reason.
It was quite obvious that the Holy War's Holy War had made some sort of deal with Orloss. And so, the Dragons once again displayed their unique talent for venting their anger on others and being unreasonable, viciously slapping the Holy Church in the face.
Actually, this wasn't an injustice. The Holy War's target was the Bardi capital, and the entrance to Dragon World was also located there. If the Holy War's Dragon World had been conquered by the Holy War … Fine then, from certain information, it was possible that the Holy Church had been seeking death. But it was obvious that the Holy Church hadn't learned of this secret before the Holy War began.
I felt that this wasn't a coincidence. After all, the Holy Church's declaration of war had been quite sudden. Orloss's response was even more incomprehensible. It seemed that he hadn't organized any allied armies specifically to fight against the Holy War's Dragon World. Instead, he had focused all of his energy on defending Nightrain City on the western battlefront. Orloss's policy of allowing the Holy War's Dragon World to be attacked without resisting caused tremendous pressure from the Bardi Empire. But judging from the end result, our "noblest" Holy Light and "wisest" Pope Bardi had once again been played by a mortal heretic Emperor. Orloss was willing to let his own country be ravaged by the enemy in order to successfully force the Dragons to attack.
Originally, the Holy Church would have been able to endure such losses. Victory and defeat were common occurrences in war. Heroes could simply start over … But it just so happened that the westernmost battlefront had actually won. And it just so happened that the Aillé Faction was faintly becoming the Holy Light Faction's number one competitor. This naturally gave the Holy Church a tremendous amount of pressure.
And it just so happened that in both battles, the Holy Church's armies had "Holy Favorites" who sought "Holy Points," while the Holy Light Faction also had "Contract Heroes" who sought "Justice Points." Both sides met with nearly impossible to defeat. One side had the Holy Light Faction personally holding the line, while their subordinates earned large amounts of Justice Points. On the other side, the Holy Light Faction's subordinates suffered heavy casualties, and the Holy Light Faction didn't even get to see the Holy Light Faction …
This couldn't be blamed on the Holy Light Faction's True Gods for not doing anything. This was how they had been doing for thousands of years. Casually sending a True God to interfere in a battle between mortals would actually be a huge taboo. The Aillé Faction had only personally intervened because they discovered that the Holy Light Faction was an incarnation of the Titan Giants. However, ordinary people wouldn't think so much. They would only feel that the Holy Light Faction didn't treat mortals as humans. Meanwhile, the Aillé Faction had made its stance clear. The adventurers who were currently showing off their spoils of war and returning home in glory were the most successful advertisements for the Holy Light Faction.
"In just this week alone, 10% of the Holy Favorites have already chosen to withdraw from the Holy Light Faction. This is absolutely unacceptable. The local believers, especially those who are still hiding in the Bardi Empire, will have their faith shaken! If news of us losing the first battle spreads, all the believers in the world will lose faith in us. We must win the first battle! Even if it's a false victory! "
And so, after Cardinal Stephen urgently contacted the Holy Light Church and discovered that it would be the end for him if things continued like this, Cardinal Stephen gritted his teeth and made a decision. A battle report with the words "Under the protection of the Holy Light, our brave warriors have achieved a great victory" was sent to every country in the Bardi Empire.
The words used in this report were quite vague, such as "devout believers of the Holy Light have defeated the undead army on the western battlefront," and "driven away two powerful incarnations of the Titan Giants". From a certain standpoint, many adventurers believed in the Holy Light. Some Holy Knights and Holy Light priests had also participated in this battle. It couldn't be said that Stephen was lying. It was just that his battle report seemed to have forgotten about the original main characters, the Aillé Faction and the Contract Heroes.
Nobody was an idiot. Every royalty would have their own sources of information. But when Pope Caloma insisted that this battle report was the truth, many countries that believed in the Holy Light fell silent.
As a Cardinal who lied through his teeth, Stephen was destined to leave his name in the annals of history. He had also mentally prepared himself to be "martyred" because of this. He knew that even if Pope Caloma privately approved of this plan, he wouldn't openly admit it. It was highly likely that Stephen would be the scapegoat in the end.
Everyone who knew the truth was laughing at the Holy Church. Many powerful individuals felt ashamed of the Holy Church's behavior. But in this generation, information spread to ordinary people was incredibly slow. Ordinary people had pitifully few sources of information, and official channels of communication were slow and inefficient. If a well-respected village priest or church priest said something like this, most people would believe it. At the very least, they would be more trustworthy than wandering adventurers.
In the eyes of those who didn't know the truth, it seemed like the Holy Church had achieved a great victory in the first Holy War and that the losses on the eastern battlefront were insignificant. But in the eyes of those who knew the truth, especially the royalty of the various countries, it seemed like the Holy Church was only strong on the outside but weak on the inside. Many ambitious individuals were itching to try.
The battle between royalty and divine authority would never end. The Holy War was both a challenge and an opportunity. According to certain information, some major countries had already requested their subordinate countries to expel the Holy Church. This was an attempt to provoke the Holy Church, as well as a test of the Holy Church's reaction speed and bottom line.
And so, this small battle on the western battlefront was doubtlessly the best opening battle of the Holy War. On one hand, the Holy War had become a lever to change the entire world. On the other hand, it had become a sharp blade hanging over the Holy Church's head that could fall at any moment.
When I finally finished my closed-door meditation, I was in disbelief. So many things had happened in just one week, and the important matters waiting for me to deal with were piling up like a mountain.
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