Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: The Church's Treachery
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* * *
A short while before the messenger fled from the main force led by the 7th Prince, Modred.
When the Crusaders' strongest forces, composed of the Empire's most prominent lords and the powerful warriors they commanded, reached the 1st Fortress.
A young boy was waiting for them alone at the fortress entrance, his eyes tightly wrapped in black bandages.
But the fact that their opponent was a young boy was no reason to let their guard down. Modred's Iron Cross cavalry immediately assumed a charge formation, and the mages began to accelerate their circles in unison.
Facing the Empire's vaunted grand army, the boy quietly opened his mouth.
The founder of Sachsen, the Immortal Duke, Frederick.
And as 'Eldritch,' the one who stands at the pinnacle of the Shadow Magic Tower in the deepest darkness of the demon world.
"Highest-Tier Necromancy: 《Celestial Watcher》."
At the same time, from the high heavens, a god finally began to look down upon them.
Through a rift torn in the sky, a fissure into another world… a 'god' was watching them, blinking its massive single eye.
And this god had countless tentacles.
It was a god that did not love humans.
Tearing through the rift, the god's tentacles slithered down.
* * *
As the representative of Sachsen, the forces commanded by the 'Black Prince' were as follows.
The Black Cavalry, composed of the Night Raven Knights, the pride of House Sachsen and destroyers of the battlefield.
The black mages under the command of Lord Black.
Furthermore, there was the Black Armor Company, which existed solely for Dale, and among them, a hundred heavy infantrymen armed with artifact armor who served as the 'Black Prince's' personal guard.
And not to be excluded were House York, which had previously formed a secret alliance with Dale, and their famed Blue Rose Order of Knights, as well as the northern lords loyal to Sachsen.
It was just as Dale received the report from Modred's messenger and was about to hastily turn his forces toward the 1st Fortress.
Beyond the horizon where darkness and cold converged, another army appeared.
Heading toward the 4th Fortress, where the 'Black Prince' and his troops were stationed.
The distant silhouettes drew closer, revealing themselves to be the Templar Order of Knights, who served as the Church's standard-bearers, their white surcoats emblazoned with blood-red crosses.
And even the Rosicrucian Knights of Lancaster, bearing the crest of white and red roses.
It was the contingent of the four Crusader armies for which the Church served as the standard-bearer.
At first, he thought they too had heard the messenger's report and were coming to join Dale's forces.
But then, the white magic of the white mages among them began to surge, and the 'Hymn of War' started to ring out.
Furthermore, when the heaven imagined by the 7th-circle white mage, Borenus, was superimposed over the darkness and cold of the Demon Lord's domain.
"Everyone, assume battle formation immediately."
Dale shouted without a hint of hesitation.
"B-battle formation, you say?"
At his words, Lord Yones, standing beside Dale, asked in bewilderment.
"But those are Crusader forces…"
"Yes, and they're carrying out a holy war of their own."
"Don't tell me."
Lord Yones gasped in shock.
"Form a phalanx, quickly. Tell them to grit their teeth and hold tight if they don't want to die."
Immediately after, Lord Yones shouted without hesitation.
"Form an anti-cavalry defensive posture and brace for the impact of a cavalry charge!"
Dale's command spread rapidly through the chain of command to the entire army.
Leading the first line of the cavalry charge was the Master Templar of the Templar Order, followed by the Templars under his command.
Knights of blood armed with fanatical faith. Just as Guy de Lusignan had done, they galloped on their horses, their bodies clad in armor of blood.
On top of that, the hymn magic boasted by the White Magic Tower was added, and their bodies began to be enveloped in a holy light.
*These crazy bastards are actually…*
Even Dale hadn't imagined they would be so reckless. But he couldn't deny what was happening before his eyes. Nothing would change.
Right now, Dale was fighting a war.
The distance between the two sides was closing rapidly. His opponents were the 'Swords of the Church,' already in battle formation and enhanced with hymn magic, but Dale was not one to be taken down easily.
Asking why they had suddenly decided to backstab him would have to wait. The battle had begun, and there was no turning back.
Dale and the Black Armor Company under his command, along with the dismounted Night Raven and Blue Rose Knights, hastily formed a battle line and assumed a defensive stance.
Bracing against the rapidly approaching cavalry charge from the Church's forces.
"In the name of the holy Goddess, I declare! We have come to exact holy vengeance upon the apostates of Sachsen, who collude with demons, to avenge the Lusignan brothers and carry out the Goddess's will!"
The voice of a Master Templar, magically amplified, boomed across the field. Collusion with demons, revenge for Lusignan.
Dale was left speechless by the absurdity.
With a backdrop of a pouring sun, golden clouds, and a celestial landscape, the blood-soaked knights began to charge.
"The Goddess wills it!"
"Kill them all, the Goddess will know her own!"
Paying no heed to the mysterious catastrophe that was likely befalling the 7th Prince Modred and his troops at this very moment.
The swords of the Church, charging with the heavens at their back.
However, for a mage, the advantage of terrain could not be ignored. As Dale's circle accelerated, he could feel it through the resonance of Shub's power rooted in his heart.
The darkness dwelling in this land was a power that existed solely for Dale and Sachsen.
And so, the 'Black Prince' superimposed another winter night over the biting cold and darkness.
Fortunately, the power dwelling in this land was, in itself, the world of the Shadow Lord.
Even if a 7th-circle white mage stood before him, it would change nothing.
The two high-level mages each superimposed their own otherworlds, and the two worlds began to collide.
* * *
The sky was torn, and through the celestial rift beyond, a 'god' was peering into this world.
Blinking its massive single eye, like a person observing a colony of ants on the ground.
From around the god's eye, an innumerable count of tentacles began to slither down.
"Agh, ahhhhh!"
"Help me! Heeelp me!"
"Please don't leave me! Please!"
Jet-black tentacles coiled around the soldiers, dragging them up into the 'heavens' where the god resided.
It was useless to flee. On this endless frozen tundra, there was nowhere for them to run.
The tentacles descended endlessly, violating and devouring the soldiers.
Some were crushed in the tentacles' grip, their bodies imploding; some had their entrails burst out; others were dragged away, struggling, to the 'place where the god resides'…
Screams echoed from all around. Among them were cries of weeping, and even the sounds of those who had lost their sanity, laughing maniacally.
It was truly the madness of hell.
An overwhelming power that a knight's aura or a mage's mana could not even hope to touch.
Faced with this madness, a knight who had joined the Crusade with deep faith and for the cause of the holy war began to think.
Could that truly be the Goddess he believed in? Was this madness unfolding before him really what she desired?
And even if that was merely an evil god, then where was the Goddess who was supposed to save him?
Why were the kind and benevolent Sister Goddesses remaining silent?
"Why…"
The knight pleaded, looking up at the sky. But in that sky, the god he hoped for was not there.
"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me)…"
The knight muttered weakly, and a tentacle that had slithered down unnoticed coiled around his body.
As the tentacle wrapped around him, it began to ascend toward the sky.
"..."
The knight no longer resisted.
No, instead, he broke into a wide smile.
That's right… this is an ascension! The Goddess herself has recognized his deep faith and intends to place him by her side!
*I am ascending to the heavens now!*
How could I not have understood the deep, profound will of the Sister Goddesses! O Goddess, please forgive this unbeliever for his shallow faith!
"Hee, heeheehee…"
The knight laughed.
"Heehee, hee, eeheeheehee…"
He began to laugh, seized by an indescribable, supreme sense of bliss.
* * *
The two worlds of heaven and winter night clashed, and there was no room for the worlds of lesser elders to intervene.
To be frank, even for the current Dale, the realm of the 7th circle was not something to be trifled with. However, just as when he first obtained *The Book of the Black Goat* and faced Cardinal Nikolai, pure skill does not decide everything in a mage's battle.
Within the world of winter night, Dale deployed the avatar of the Shadow Lord.
He snapped his fingers at the blood-soaked knights approaching him.
The area at his feet was dyed in darkness, and from within it, 《Shadow Lurkers》 shot out thorny tentacles toward the Templars.
"O Goddess, grant me light to drive away this darkness before me!"
Against the darkness of the Shadow Lurkers, a blood-soaked knight swung his sword.
At the same time, like a satellite bombardment from the heavens, pillars of light rained down, covering the lake of shadows Dale had spread.
The surrounding darkness hardened like a salt desert, but the pillars of light came no closer to Dale's side.
Because Dale's world was blocking them.
It was undoubtedly a battle between the highest-level mages, but Dale's influence on the battlefield was by no means limited to his abilities as a mage.
"Lady Shadow."
He called to his female knight, who was keeping silent in his shadow as always.
A silhouette took form in the darkness, and Dale looked up with her.
The approaching knights of blood spread wide wings of blood from their backs and took flight.
The avatars of the Templar Order of Knights, angels of blood, soon filled the sky…
Toward them, a black valkyrie spread her wings and soared.
At the same time, the earthbound Templars who lacked avatars and the ability to fly finally crashed into the defensive formations of the Black Armor Company and the Night Raven Knights.
*CRASH!*
World collided with world, and soldier collided with soldier.
Amidst it all, the Shadow Lord finally drew his sword. It was not the jet-black magic sword that had once symbolized Dale.
It was the hero's beloved sword, obtained after defeating Mikhail Lancaster: Peacemaker.
In the world of the pale, dark winter night, a light rivaling the heavens unfurled by the 7th-circle white mage began to rage.
The war had begun.