The next day, the sun rose as usual, and the dazzling holy light once again illuminated the land. The devout believers gave up their work and knelt on the ground, praying in a low voice.
However, the believers in the Holy City of Canningham were not so lucky. They had to cry as they cleaned up the battlefield and buried the bodies.
Last night, at midnight, a group of roving bandits suddenly attacked the Holy City of Canningham. Due to the heavy losses of the church's main forces and the fact that some of them had been summoned by the angels, most of the defense forces were concentrated in Shansa City, which was under the control of the angels.
One of the bandits, who was dressed as an assassin, tried to climb the city wall and open the gate. However, he was discovered the moment he got close. Enraged, he forced his way in and broke down the gate single-handedly.
Then, a group of barbarians, who were screaming and killing, rushed in, followed by a group of soldiers. After they entered the city, they mainly caused chaos and destruction. They set a few churches on fire and caused chaos in Canningham City. That was until the pope was forcefully woken up and bravely stepped forward, planning to use his outstanding divine arts to save the day.
So, a sorcerer with a staff appeared among the bandits. He laughed strangely and started a melee with the pope and his guards. The other bandits took the opportunity to escape.
In the end, the pope did not manage to stop this strange sorcerer. He watched helplessly as the sorcerer met up with his companions and escaped, leaving behind a mess behind him. Then came another piece of bad news. The tombs of the previous popes were robbed. The roving bandits took advantage of the chaos to force their way into the tombs and stole a large number of holy items and belongings. They even drew a tortoise on each pope's coffin …
The pope, who had been suffering since the start of the war, could not take it anymore. He suddenly had a heart attack and fainted. He was out of danger the next day, but he still did not wake up.
The situation at the Templar Fort in the south was even worse. A large group of undead took advantage of the night to launch a sneak attack on the fort from behind. However, due to the low quality of the undead soldiers and the fact that the defense of the fort itself was extremely complete, the results of the battle were limited. However, as soon as the undead retreated, a few more dimensional rifts suddenly appeared on the other side of the fort. A large group of low-level demons swarmed out of the rifts, putting pressure on the fort once again.
The fact that two of the Church's most important places were attacked in the middle of the night was like provoking their most sensitive nerves. Even if there were no serious casualties, the psychological pressure it brought was immeasurable …
But what could the church do? Send soldiers from the front line to stabilize the defense? Ask the angels if they agreed? Who would ask? Who would dare to ask? Send soldiers from the fort? Would the demons and undead agree?
At such a critical juncture, the Walthart Royal Family had sent an olive branch to the Church. They had allied with a few nobles in the kingdom and agreed to send more troops to Canningham City to assist the Church in defending the city. They did not ask for any extra compensation, as long as the Church cooperated fully and did not interfere with their military power.
The Pope was in a coma, the Grand Inquisitor had been possessed, and the Grand Knight was at the frontline. The young Grand Priest and a few Archbishops who held real power gathered together and pondered. This was a great deal! The royal family and the nobles did not offer too much. All they wanted was that the church would provide them with necessary supplies. The church was only the price. The church and nobles did not have to be. As for the military, it was for they had. Church.. and they could it.
If they could not do such a profitable deal, what else could they do? Therefore, the group of people took the Pope's seal and stamped the contract with a big red seal. When the Pope woke up, they hurriedly went to ask for a reward, thinking that it would be a great achievement to solve this headache of a defense problem, enough to go down in history!
The pope's eyes widened. He spat out blood and fainted again.
These idiots might not understand, but as the pope, he knew what it meant to have an army stationed in his hometown. It was not the same as joining the church in a war.
The Japanese and Koreans were not the only ones who would fork out money, food, and land to support an army in their own hometown.
"They really signed such a treaty?!" The Archmage was shocked. He asked the Charlatan, who had just arrived in the wee hours of the morning.
"It's unexpectedly smooth. Even I'm surprised. Logically speaking, they shouldn't have surrendered so quickly. Although the merchants bribed several archbishops, the pope should still be clear-headed. Perhaps the pressure from the domain lord was too great?" The Charlatan also felt strange. They did not know that the pope had fainted from anger.
In short, this seemingly beneficial but actually humiliating treaty was signed just like that. The royal family and nobles were so excited that they brought out their utmost sincerity. They immediately dispatched an army of 50,000 soldiers to the holy city of Canningham and made it impregnable. They believed that the roving bandits wouldn't dare to invade the city again.
"The emperor was the easiest to convince. All we had to do was say a few words, and he agreed," the Charlatan said.
"As long as it's an emperor with the slightest bit of ambition, he wouldn't be willing to have such a behemoth by his side. Before, he could be said to be powerless, but now that we've opened a gap for him, as long as he's not stupid, he will definitely cooperate." The Archmage was not surprised by the outcome. He believed that the emperor already had such thoughts when the Voidwalkers repelled the Church's first wave of attack. No matter how long the Church insisted on not interfering in the internal affairs of the Voidwalkers, as long as it existed, the ruler would not be satisfied. Moreover, the Church had begun to think about interfering in the internal affairs of the Voidwalkers. If they did not take this opportunity to put an end to this, the Church's authority would soon be overtaken by the emperor's.
Therefore, the Emperor was just pushing the boat along with the current. No matter who won the war, he would still be able to benefit from both sides. This was a profitable business.
The Thane Walker had insisted on splitting up the army even though Arfin was under great pressure. On one hand, he wanted to use the Church's power to alleviate the pressure on Arfin; on the other hand, he wanted to get rid of the Church once and for all.
There were many ways to solve a problem. Some of the Voidwalkers preferred to kill and be done with it, but the Thane Walker agreed with Baiyi's idea. There was no need to slaughter the believers; the Church could still survive. However, the price to pay for that would be the castration of the Church into a purely religious charity organization.
After this, the Thane Walker would continue to lead his army to attack other religious strongholds, including some famous cathedrals. Even after the war was over, the Church would be forced to submit to the Royal Family.
As for whether the Royal Family would turn on the Voidwalkers, that was not important. The Voidwalkers were a peace-loving organization dedicated to the common development and prosperity of mankind. They were friendly and easy to talk to. Other than the Church, no one would be so heartless as to attack the Voidwalkers.
Besides, the Royal Family did not have angels or divine light. Their weapons were designed by Da Xue, and their talents were trained by the Void. It was hard to say who would attack whom.
However, the angels did not care about such things. They only had their own goals in mind.
However, they were not in a hurry to attack. Instead, they spent some time holding a grand mass funeral for those who had died the night before.
Like obedient pigeons, the angels arranged themselves in a beautiful pattern in the sky. Two Archangels stood out and chanted prayers for the dead. Soon, the sky above Arfin City was filled with wandering souls. Under the guidance of the angels, some of them flew to the center of the pattern and disappeared into the light. Some of them fell to the ground like lead and disappeared without a trace.
Under the control of the angels, the grand ceremony was witnessed by every corner of Isythre. It greatly inspired the believers, and their morale was boosted. The defeat they had suffered the day before vanished into thin air. They cried in excitement, praying that they would be chosen to join the Holy War.
For most of the believers, entering heaven after the war and enjoying an eternal and peaceful sleep was their greatest wish. Therefore, when the believers died the day before, they did not feel sad. Instead, they felt envious and jealous.
"But … What's the point of this? Wasn't life already gone? Separated from their friends and family forever? " Laeticia stood in the middle of Arfin City, gazing at the spectacle in the sky. She clutched the Scripture Necklace tightly in her hand as she uttered such blasphemous words.
Unknowingly, the things that she believed in had changed.
After the ceremony was over, the angels launched another attack. This time, they did the same thing. The dimension around Arfin City distorted again, and another hundred thousand believers appeared at the foot of the city wall. They were wearing the same light-forged armor and weapons, and they were protected by the same golden light.
The difference was that a series of violent explosions suddenly erupted under their feet. Before they could even stand firm, they were blown up … A few unlucky fellows who were closest to the center of the explosion were directly blown into pieces. No matter how powerful the protection was, they could not be saved.
"The same trick can only be used once against the Voidwalkers! Do you really think we can't make anti-infantry landmines?! " The Blacksmith Walker said proudly. He was very pleased with the pile of landmines that he had made a long time ago, but had never found a chance to use them. He and his students had spent the entire night to bury those landmines.
Although the first wave of landmines had caused some damage to the enemies, there were too many believers and the angels' protection was too powerful. A small setback like this was not enough to slow them down. Their main goal was to create chaos.
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