453

Episode 453: Tell Me Honestly. (1)

Kwajik!

A cold-faced woman smashed someone's head with a mace.

The man with the shattered head wore black robes and had a black sun tattooed on his body.

He was one of the judges, known as the high priests of the Salvation Church.

"Phew… … ."

The woman took a deep breath, straightened her back, and stood up, her long hair fluttering in the wind.

The corpses all around clearly showed that a big fight had taken place here just a moment ago.

The woman who survived also had wounds all over her body and looked visibly exhausted.

"These guys seem to be stronger than before. Why is this happening… … ."

The woman trailed off. Just before she fell into deep thought, several people came running from afar.

"Saint!"

"Your Majesty, are you okay?"

"Get treatment now!"

Those who ran were priests of the goddess of war, Moriana. They surrounded the woman called the saint and radiated divine power.

They were all a head shorter than the woman. From a distance, it looked like the woman called the saint was standing among the children.

But upon closer inspection, it wasn't like that. The priests weren't children, but middle-aged men. In fact, it was because of her large body that she looked that way.

And that's not all. His shoulders are wide open, and his muscles are twitching and writhing all over his body. At this level, he could take down any average man with just one blow to his chestnuts.

She was indeed a saint chosen by the goddess of war.

Saint Parniel turned her head and asked.

"High-ranking priests of the Salvation Church are suddenly going to the Kingdom of Rutania. Do you know anything about this?"

A priest answered, bowing his head.

"It is said that an allied force has been formed centered around the Kingdom of Rutania. It seems that the priests of the Salvation Church are also gathering to deal with them."

"I see. That's where the fighting is at right now. I can see the guys who were hiding like cockroaches flocking there."

"Leave that to you. Now, get ready to go back… … ."

"No, I will go to the Kingdom of Rutania."

"Saint! The Patriarch has ordered you to return now."

The priests were surprised and tried to dissuade him, but Parniel shook his head.

"When I see the priests of the Salvation Church gathering, it is clear that there is someone higher in rank than the priests there. Even if that is not the case, there must be an important reason to occupy that place. I will go there."

Parniel continued, clutching his blood-stained mace.

"The high-ranking priests of the Salvation Church have powers comparable to those of superhumans. Ordinary people cannot deal with them. Shouldn't I, who has been given a mission by the goddess, go and help them?"

Moriana is the goddess of war, honor, battle, victory, authority, dignity, and pride.

She could be said to be a goddess who received support from knights, warriors, mercenaries, and others whose profession was fighting.

The saint chosen by the goddess is Parniel. The mission given to her is to eradicate the Salvation Church.

That is why she believed that only she could deal with the Salvation Church.

"Your Majesty, the Kingdom of Rutania is a military powerhouse. There are many strong people there as well."

"There's no need for us to go that far. Aren't there other places that are urgent right now?"

Although the priests tried to stop him, Parniel remained steadfast. Instead, he spoke in a firm voice.

"The priests of the Salvation Church and the monsters of the Crack are in opposition to the divine power. Who can deal with them as effectively as I can? I am the only saint in this world."

Only one saint is born in each age. No saint is born in another sect until the existing saint dies.

And now the Goddess of War had appointed a saint.

But all the sects have kept this fact a secret for a long time, because the birth of a saint appointed by the Goddess of War is an ominous sign.

Except for a very few people, the fact that there was a saint in the Moriana Church was not even known.

That is why Parniel felt the weight of his responsibility.

"It is clear that my birth in this era was arranged by the goddess. Otherwise, how could the goddess of war have sent me?"

The priests were speechless at Parniel's words. The timing was certainly too exquisite to be dismissed as a coincidence.

Parniel was born with divine powers, which allowed him to be several times stronger than other people.

Of course, if that were all, it would have ended up being just a bit unusual. No matter how strong you are, if you can't control mana, there are limits.

But once she was chosen as a saint and gained divine powers, she became a complete battle weapon.

No one could deny that all of this was a revelation from God to fight against the Salvation Church.

"Okay… … Okay, I understand."

"I will lead you to Rutania."

"First, go meet the person in charge there."

The priests could no longer stop Parniel, for they knew well the saint's stubbornness.

It was even more difficult to stop it by force.

Because she was the 'Saint of War' who was considered one of the seven great powers of the continent in Giselle's previous life.

* * *

The priests of the Salvation Church, under the command of Gator, gathered to take over the Kingdom of Rutania.

However, there was something that Gator and Raoul had not considered. As the priests of the Salvation Church began to move, those who had been opposing the Salvation Church also began to gather to the Kingdom of Rutania one by one.

Already, Erenes, the elven chieftain, had joined hands with Giselle, and the saint of war, Parniel, was also coming to Rutania.

In addition, some of the armies of each Allied nation were dispatched to deal with the Duke of Delphine.

As a result of Giselle's activities, the Kingdom of Rutania was becoming an arena for all powers to compete.

The mercenaries joining from all over the continent were also growing into a formidable force.

"Most of the mercenaries of the Kingdom of Ceylon have been absorbed into the Fenris Mercenary Corps branch."

"More than half of the mercenaries in the Kingdom of Grimwell have joined the Fenris Mercenaries!"

"The new mercenaries are very satisfied with the benefits we provide."

Reports came in from all over the place. Jiselle smiled as she listened to the reports.

"It's progressing faster than I thought. Very good. Tell the new mercenaries to be generous with food and money."

Dominic and some of the Fenris Mercenaries were dispatched to each kingdom to establish branches even before the rift was resolved.

This is something that the real powers of the kingdom are pushing for. Since the administrative processing is fast, the progress cannot help but be incredibly fast.

They also had to block the outflow of mercenaries and use them for domestic affairs for the time being, so they faithfully followed the agreement with Jisel.

As things progressed quickly, there were a lot of administrative tasks that had to be taken care of. It wasn't Jiselle who was handling them, but the people Jiselle had brought in to do them.

"Eww! Stop! Stop! Send me back to the realm!"

Claude spent every day screaming at the Northern Army camp, handling all kinds of paperwork.

At first, when Giselle called Claude and the administrators, they thought they would just have to do all the work related to the Allied Forces and then they could go back. But when they came to their senses, they found themselves being dragged to the Northern Army camp and being put in charge of all kinds of administrative work.

"Damn it! Why is there so much work! Why have you created so much work! Why isn't the work done! Stop bringing me reports!"

Claude realized that he could not return to Fenris for the time being.

The place where Jiselle is is practically the center of Fenris. All business must be handled here and relayed to the various locations.

The biggest thing was the mercenaries. A whopping 20,000 mercenaries were scattered across each kingdom and were still quickly absorbing mercenaries.

As mercenaries poured in, the amount of work to be done and supplies to be sent became overwhelming.

"Ugh, you westerners, you should just do whatever you want. Why can't you just become independent?"

Next came the West. Stabilization work had to be completed, and securing the Allied Forces' entry route had to be secured. So there was a mountain of paperwork to be sent there as well.

Giselle left it all up to Claude!

"Just kill me… … ."

Claude and the administrators worked in a half-asleep state. When they could no longer endure it and collapsed, Fiote would immediately appear and revive them.

Erenes watched the scene closely and then said.

"I thought you were a frivolous guy, but you seem to be quite capable. Since you said we're like 'family' now, I'll help you out a little."

"What can I do for you? I'm too tired to sleep. I haven't slept in three days. Can Mother Nature handle the paperwork for me?"

"No, that's not it, but I think it's a good idea."

Erenes approached Claude, who was trying to buy time by joking and collapsing.

A beautiful green light began to spread from her outstretched hand.

"The energy of nature will energize you, even if it is not as powerful as divine power. Also, the spirits will assist you in your work."

"Ha, don't do that!"

Paaaaak!

A green light enveloped Claude's body. Claude felt a refreshing sensation spread through his body and his strength returned to him.

The water spirit circled around and washed Claude's face. The wind spirit dried it and the fire spirit warmed it.

The earth spirit held Claude's feet and thighs and helped him straighten his posture.

"Why that posture?"

"That's the only way to sit for a long time and stay healthy."

"Eww! Why can't I be happy?"

Now, Erenes came with Fiote and prevented him from sleeping. Even the spirits were forcing Claude to work.

It seemed like it would really end with death.

Erenes said with a motherly smile, not knowing the speed.

"You don't have to be thankful. Didn't I say we should be like family?"

"Wow, sir… … . I guess it's because you're so old-fashioned that I can't understand you."

Claude was going crazy. He envied Lowell, who was enjoying himself at Fenris Castle as the acting governor.

However, as much as Claude struggled, the administrative work related to the Northern Army was quickly and surely sorted out.

And with Erenes joining, dealing with the remaining rifts has become easier.

Keuuuuuuu!

"You wicked ones. I will never again let you be found on this earth."

Erenes, who used to be like a warm mother to the Northern Army, turned into an evil spirit when she went into battle. It was to the point where it was hard to tell which side was her real face.

"Tie it up."

Ddddddddd!

The tree vines summoned by Erenes wrapped around Equidema's body.

The beast tried to move, breaking it, but before that, Fiote, with Belinda's help, climbed onto the beast's neck.

Ugh! Ugh!

After that, I dealt with Equidema in the same way as before. Thanks to Erenes, Piote was able to get on board much more easily and quickly.

Even if the vines broke a few times, it wasn't a problem because the powerful people next to him constantly kept him in check.

Erenes couldn't help but exclaim in admiration at the sight of Equidema being captured so easily.

"You caught that beast so easily… … You guys are really amazing."

Jiselle asked, shrugging her shoulders.

"How did you catch that one?"

"I… … we… … ."

She searched the air with her gaze as if missing something, then soon shook her head.

"No, no."

'Hmm, something is still strange.'

Jiselle narrowed her eyes at her beating around the bush.

Surely Erenes would have come to him as soon as the ban was lifted. That would mean this was his first fight with the rift.

But I wasn't surprised to see the crackers and Equidema. They looked too familiar to have heard the rumors. Their words and actions clearly showed that they had fought the cracks several times.

It was clear that the elf was hiding something.

'You'll find out soon enough.'

I have no interest in digging up things she tries to hide, but if she holds a key to solving this situation, I can't just ignore it.

Whatever Jiselle's intentions, the Northern Army's morale has increased thanks to the increased speed of crack processing.

The Northern Army moved slowly, dealing with cracks and administrative tasks. It was like moving a territory.

Dark also had to create clones and fly around in all directions.

As they were moving towards the gathering place of the Allied Forces after dealing with all the rifts in the East, Jiselle suddenly frowned at a question that occurred to her.

'That's strange. Why isn't it moving yet?'

It's already been a month since Erenes joined. Given the Duke's power, the cracks that opened up in the south should have already been resolved.

The Salvation Church's intelligence power spread throughout the continent would certainly know that the Allied Forces were coming. Reinforcements from some nearby kingdoms had already arrived.

'There's no way the author would just watch that... ... What kind of trick is he up to?'

The current situation was clearly unfavorable for the Duke. It was clear that he would do something to turn the situation around. However, I had no idea what he was trying to do.

Not long after Giselle was pondering this, a messenger came and told her new information.

"The assassins are on the move. Several officials from the territories near the south have been killed."

"What? An assassin? Who was hit?"

"Most of them are lower-level officials. There is no major damage, but the atmosphere has become chaotic."

Jiselle is in trouble again.

'Now? Such an assassination wouldn't have any effect on the overall situation.'

It was a useless act. A high-ranking noble can never be killed unless a superhuman moves.

Even if a superhuman were to step forward and successfully assassinate the target, it would still be a problem, because he would not be able to avoid the pursuit that would follow.

'Even Raviere, who was of superhuman level, died without being able to shake off the knights' pursuit. Even superhumans cannot continue to fight without stopping.'

There was no way I would do something so stupid as treat someone who was almost a superhuman as a discarded piece of trash.

'But the fact that he did it means there is another reason… … .'

While Giselle was observing the Duke's movements for several days, a messenger brought more news.

"The Duke's army has begun its advance! They have currently defeated the 4th Legion of the Royal Army and are moving east!"

The Duke finally started to move.