Noirciel, the center of attention, seemed to be in a good state. Although she had not woken up yet, at least the expression on her face was not as painful as before. She looked like she was in a deep sleep. The tent she was originally in had been reinforced into a temporary bunker. There were all kinds of magic circles drawn on the walls. Her body was also floating on a large magic circle made with reference to the angel summoning circle. This was the key to compressing her power and soul.
Right above her was the soul vessel that the alchemist had created for her. The bead-like power vessel was circling around the special space that the war god had opened up, absorbing her overflowing power bit by bit from the space.
It looked like some kind of weapon was being processed. Only the Scholar, who was in charge of maintaining the system, could enter. Most people could not get close. Even Laeticia and Attie, who came to see her every day, could only look at her from afar.
According to the Archmage's initial calculations, it would take another ten days to complete the initial containment of Noirciel's consciousness. As long as the Church did not launch an attack by then, they would be able to bring Noirciel back to the academy's realm, and the so-called divine retribution would only be directed at the air.
Unfortunately, three days later, the Pope received another oracle. The message was simple: the angels would arrive in three days, and on that day, the Church had completed its final preparations for war. With the Church's military and the support of the nobles, a total of one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers had been assembled. Their rations were ready, and no one could stop the Church from launching an attack.
The next day, the Church's army began to assemble in a small town closest to Arfin. This town was only half a day's journey from Arfin, so it was the perfect place to set up a base.
"That's a lot of people," the Archmage muttered to himself as he read the latest report from Umbra. He did not look nervous, but Tisdale, who sat beside him, looked worried. After all, the Church only had about ten thousand soldiers, including those who were still on the way. Most of them were Vidomina's father's private army, and a few of them were from the Northern Border.
Tisdale was confident in the Voidwalkers' strength, but she still felt a little guilty. Plus, her teacher was not around. "That's a lot of people," the Archmage muttered as he read the latest report from Umbra.
"Dale, this war will show you that numbers are not the deciding factor," the Archmage said calmly. The Archmage said calmly. "Still, I'm surprised that the Church managed to gather so many people in just two short weeks."
"It's a huge organization, after all. If we go all out, we'll be able to make a lot of progress, especially with the Sorcerer's Association's cooperation. They weren't very cooperative before, but for some reason, they suddenly cooperated with the Church and used the portals' mobility to help us complete our preparations," Tisdale said. "But I remember Vice President Grant, who's in charge of the portals, is on our side. Did something happen?"
"Looks like this is his concession," the Archmage muttered. He had received a few secret letters from Grant over the past few days, mainly to report on the progress of the secret portals' construction. He also mentioned that the Archmage had no choice but to keep a low profile in order to use the manpower and resources in secret. He had made a lot of concessions in the power struggle, giving the impression that he was no longer interested in the presidency.
In exchange for these concessions, the Church was able to assemble and prepare at an unimaginable speed. The Voidwalkers also had a secret portal that led directly to Attie's territory, which allowed the Steppe Cavalrymen to descend to Arfin City in an instant.
However, the Archmage was not in a hurry to summon Attie's people. This was the first phase of the war, and he did not want to use this unexpected, mobile force.
"Come, follow me to the city wall." The Archmage said as he led Tisdale to the top of Arfin City's not-so-tall wall. The guards on the wall had all been replaced by the Northern Duke's private army, and when they saw the two of them, they bowed respectfully.
The Grand Duke of the North did not come personally due to health reasons. He only sent his men over and handed over the command to Vidomina. In turn, Vidomina passed the command to the Archmage. So, the private soldiers knew that the Soul Armature in front of them, who looked like a leader, would be their next supreme commander.
However, they did not have any expectations of victory. Through some scattered news, most of them knew that the military power of the Church was several times that of their own. Fear and uneasiness had been quietly spreading, and the discussion of escape in private did not stop. Many people wrote their wills and wrote letters to their families, asking them to prepare the ransom for the captives. It seemed that they were ready to sacrifice themselves and be captured.
Fortunately, the military supervisors were strict enough, or else there would have been deserters.
The Archmage saw this, but he was not in a hurry.
After rejecting the soldiers' company, the Archmage led Tisdale to the highest tower and took out a violin from his storage pouch.
"Grandpa, what are you doing?" Tisdale asked, puzzled.
"I'm trying to calm the army and boost their morale," the Archmage replied. The Archmage replied, "This is what I learned from Earth. The supreme commander plays the harp on the city wall to show his inner peace. Not only does it reassure his troops, but it can also scare off the enemy."
"It's an ingenious tactic designed by an excellent strategist. I admire that strategist very much. Not only is he extremely intelligent, but he's also very good at scolding people. Even when he becomes a heroic spirit, he's still very powerful and can do whatever he wants.
"Huh? I didn't read about this in the book. " Tisdale had read about the Archmage's military counselor from the books Baiyi had brought back from Earth, but what did he mean by 'cursing' and 'heroic spirits'? "Besides, it's not this kind of violin, right?"
"Don't worry about the details. What's important is the form and the process." The Archmage continued, "Dale, don't be fooled by the fact that I've been on the battlefield all my life, but I'm not good at comforting and boosting the morale of my troops. When I was there, the soldiers did not need to be comforted or encouraged."
As he spoke, he picked up the violin and began to play it. Soon, the sound of cotton being plucked could be heard from the tower, and it was amplified by a sound amplification spell.
The guards panicked, thinking that some kind of monster had appeared in the city.
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