Chapter 5

It was a rough two years for the Petal sect and the rest of Maplewood Township. It turned out that the Church of Damnation sent over a handful of very strong experts who specialized in assassination and actually took out over twenty elder level figures within the city. This caused a major uproar and all of the security protocols had to change. What was even worse, was the Church of Damnation openly created their own branch sect close enough to neighbor Maplewood Township.

But there was nothing that even the royal family could do to assist Maplewood Township. It was so bad now in the kingdom, that practically every town and city were dealing with the exact same issues. And with some very domineering defensive formations, the branch sect was able to compete with the township to the point where the Maplewood Governor had to just bite his tongue in annoyance and hope that no one else that supplied manpower for the township would leave as the Flying Spear clan once did a while ago as well as a handful of smaller organizations.

Unfortunately, things had gotten so bad, that the Boulder sect, who was the second strongest organization within the township had betrayed the rest of those inside and immediately joined up with the branch sect. It was found out through a spy that the governor planted in their ranks not too long beforehand, that they were offered many techniques and pills to boost their strength to join the branch sect of the Church of Damnation.

"Good riddance to them! I always had a bad feeling about their sect leader but I would never have assumed that they would outright join our enemy without any pushback whatsoever. Luckily, I chose to keep some of the experts that my family sent over not too long ago before things had escalated this far. With them added to the mix now on our side, we still hold a little bit of an upper hand against them."

The Governor's Mansion was filled with all of the strongest experts each organization could offer within the township. Comparatively speaking, as long as the Maplewood Governor chose to be completely defensive and choose not to rush into battle, the Church of Damnation was not a direct threat to them. It was still a very dire situation because a stalemate like this would allow any reinforcements that could arrive later on to sweep them and the rest of the territory within the kingdom fairly easily.

"I've told you before and will tell you all once more. When this is all over, each of you will receive my personal backing and will of course be owed a handsome amount of gold coins by the royal family directly. Just please be patient and continue to grow your overall strength. Some of you have disciples that have grown quite a bit now and with that I will hold a celebratory feast soon on their behalf."

As the Governor was finishing up his speech, a very buff looking man with dark red hair began to speak up with a report. "My scouting party and I went out and saw that the Church of Damnation received some reinforcements. They all looked to be fairly weak, but their reinforcements actually brought many weapons with them. It seems that even during times like this, merchants have no loyalty to anything but the almighty gold!"

This sudden report caused everyone to feel very uncomfortable because most of the merchants that had a branch within the township fled long ago leaving only a single fairly large merchant group that overtook the entirety of businesses. It was made very clear that not even those who were simply selling goods would be safe.

"Since this is the case, I have no choice but to personally buy everything that the Jewel Guild is selling in our town to aid in training. If we are unable to match the Church of Damnation's branch in powerful weapons, hopefully we could make up for the difference now in a different way. However, I would highly suggest that we begin a backup plan of evacuation. I know Maplewood Township has been a wonderful home for us all, but it is not worth dying for."

Immediately, the Governor purchased every last technique manual that the Jewel Guild had in their possession and distributed every last one to every organization within the town. It was clear that a massive battle would be taking place very soon so spending a hefty amount of gold to try to guarantee victory was not out of the question for him. Unfortunately, the majority of the technique and training manuals purchased, were rather widespread of every true major power within the kingdom.

Back in the Petal sect, the Elder Hall was filled to the brim with disciples and elders with grim looks on their faces. The Church of Damnation were absolutely going to strike out with their full force very soon, and each and every one of them that were of the fourth rank and above were ordered to take part in the defensive measures while anyone that was a second rank or lower could help with evacuating the sect as a whole.

The biggest downside to all of this, was that the township's forces would be completely and utterly outnumbered because of these arrangements. So unless a miracle were to occur, chances were that everyone present would perish or live to tell the tale but would have to be forced into a similar battle if they were lucky enough to escape. As for Ace, He had just reached rank one as both a warrior and mage so he was placed in the group responsible for evacuating.

"Everyone is to receive a copy of every last manual available to the sect within their storage rings. At least in this way, if there are successful escapees, rebuilding the Petal sect for the future will be slightly easier. None of you are responsible for rebuilding the sect if the township is lost, the hope of us elders is only for you all to live a fulfilling life." 

Ace was not feeling very well, because he was of course the weakest of his evacuation group but his mother had chosen to stay in the Petal sect during the final battle for the Maplewood Township. If her husband Barrett was going to die, she wanted to die along with him. Ace's group had three rank two warriors and five rank one warriors along with himself. This group was not responsible for escorting other sect members out such as the mortals. Rather, they were responsible for joining another organization elsewhere in a different kingdom!

The Rock Empire was extremely peaceful and sturdy with their political climate. They were actually able to grow themselves to be roughly three times as large and powerful as Ace's own Peacock Nation. The difference however, was that the Peacock Nation expanded their borders and territory by using many heavy handed methods and tactics to suppress many kingdoms to join under their banner. While the Rock Empire did it more diplomatically which caused the Rock Empire to be viewed as a juggernaut type land within their continent which was also unshakable! 

A total of twenty days had now passed and finally that morning, the Church of Damnation began to finally make their move. Over a thousand warriors and roughly twenty mages started to march towards Maplewood Township. Since the township did not have very good defensive formations and virtually no offensive formations, of course the Church of Damnation only had to worry about how they wanted to head into the town rather than how to do it discreetly. 

The Governor along with all of the most powerful warriors and mages that the township had to offer were together on the walls. There were only about half of the amount of experts that they had on their side but where they lacked quantity, they made up for the most part in quality. Both forces were roughly equal in strength, but the leader of the branch of the Church of Damnation was a rank six warrior while none on the side of the Maplewood Township were above the fifth rank. This alone was a testament of how powerful the real Church of Damnation was!

Suddenly the forces of the Church of Damnation halted their movement while a very tall figure emerged in front of them facing the township's walls not too far from the rest of their forces. This figure had on black robes with long gray hair. The sharpness of his crimson colored eyes shone with an ancient looking demeanor. This was of course the leader of the branch that was tasked with the operation of either destroying the township or forcing them to submit to the church; Martin.

"You are outnumbered and outmatched by our Church of Damnation. As you all know, I was sent here by a Deacon ranked figure within the church to either convince you all to submit or die. My blood had been boiling all of this time because strategically, I would love to accept all or most of you into our branch and allow you all to grow your strength. So why? Why must you be so stubborn and force my hand?"

Hearing this, caused the Governor of Maplewood Township's eyes to grow bloodshot. 'You dare try to sway the hearts of my force's men? Well, that is a tactic I was not expecting at all from your little branch. Tell me Martin, how does it feel to be only a little ant in a large organization that has to follow orders like a little dog?"

It was clear that neither side was going to back down after the Governor responded out of anger. It was fully clear now that both sides would begin their clash at any moment. What was well done, was the Governor's response in this way was the signal that those tasked to evacuate the township were waiting to hear. Suddenly, in all different directions on the opposite side, the evacuation had begun!