Zero no Tsukaima:Volume14 Chapter6

Chapter 6: Tiger Highway

Being called ‘Gallia’s spine’ of the Fire Dragon Mountains, the eastern end of the location was extremely interesting. The watershed spanning from the north all the way down south cleanly marked the border of Gallia and Romalia.

At the bottom of the Fire Dragon Mountain, on a piece of the land facing the sea, laid the Street of Aquelia.

A street in perpendicular with the Dragon Mountains.

That was known as the 'Tiger's Highway', a narrow street located in the valley that was more than 10 leagues long.

Taking advantage of the giant 10 leagues fault line, a bunch of mages created that with their power.

Being the only available path from Eastern Romalia to Gallia, the streets were often crowded with merchants and travelers.

To the left and right of that street were huge cliffs; making daytime and nighttime almost indistinguishable.

Back in the days when that street had just been established, tigers brazenly lurked even on clouded days.... the appearance of man-eating tigers cried out loud for brave crusading teams again and again. Just as their existence was fading, then came the rumors of bandits.

Those who had passed through this street, saw no difference between bandits and the already-gone man-eating tigers, and hence came its name - "Tiger's Highway".

Fortunately, ever since the end of border expansions, even the appearance of bandits diminished. Only occasional stories of starving bandits trying their luck. Traces of the previous dark impressions had been completely erased.

The two sides of the cliffs were lit up brightly with torches, even hotels could be found embedded in both sides of the cliffs.

As one of the main trade routes of Halkeginia, "Tiger's Highway" represented the symbol of Romalia's prosperity.

At the customs of Gallia, there seemed to be some kind of dispute.

"What? Access denied? Officer, what's going on?"

The gate of the customs were tightly shut, piling up travelers and merchants in front of it.

"Orders are orders, just sit tight and wait here for the release orders."

A merchant squeezed out from the crowd.

"Hey, wait a second, if this shipment does not reach Romalia by tomorrow night, my losses will be immeasurable. Are You going to compensate me?"

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

The people surrounded the officers by layers.

“The Third Annual Enthronement Ceremony of the pope is about to end. Do you know how long I have waited for this day?”

"My fiancée is sick, I have to see her!"

An officer raised his staff and said: “We don’t care. We're only following orders from above, as for why, we have the least ideas ourselves.”

The gathered crowd looked at each other puzzled; at that moment.....a cavalry came dashing forward. Before he was even able to get off his horse, he was already flooded by the people.

“Emergency, emergency.”

“What happened?”

“Two fleets has rebelled and are currently marching towards the 'Tiger's Highway'”

Rebel? Marching?

“Don't joke with me, rebellion, these kind of stuff.”

The knight did not reply, but instead looked up to the sky. Northwest of where they were.... a few black dots were gradually enlarging.

“T-two fleets!”

However, unlike the past, the tail of the fleets were not hanging Gallia’s warship flag. In other words, the fleet were not acting on Gallia King's Government’s orders.

“We might as well call them the anonymous rebellion fleet ......”

The gathered crowd all stared at the sky with unease.

“Quick, look, something seems to be dangling under the ship,” someone shouted out. Under the few dozen ships protected by other ships in formation, a rope was seen hanging something. On closer inspection, it seemed to be of a human's figure.

"What's that, Golem? Or is it (卡格伊鲁)?"

“They're even brazenly wearing armor!”

Looking at the golem emitting a metallic sheen, the officer's back naturally broke into cold sweats.

The feelings of fear was almost instinctive.

In silence, they watched the fleet slowly steer into Romalian borders.

“What on earth will happen next......”

On the decks of what was originally "Charles Orleans", on the charcoaled face, due to long years of service, of fleet captain Claville, were signs of confusion and anticipation.

“Don’t understand. I just don’t understand.”

He mumbled to himself with effort in each word.

Having spent almost his entire life in the sea of air, he could not understand what his lord’s intentions were.

“Pretend to rebel, turn Romalia into ashes.”

This was the only order from his majesty. 30 years of service since being a cadet, never had he heard a more simple and yet brutal command.

He was more of a person who preferred to command a battle than politics. Most former colleagues who turned to the political line, were involved in civil strifes, bringing themselves to their own destruction.

Bowing his head, faithfully carrying out his orders..... without realizing, he had already been promoted to Governor.

After going through several large-scale battles, both his fame and experience had gradually risen.

Was this position really suitable for me?

In his mind, those issues often appeared.

Duties weren't exactly busy to the point that he had no time to consider these questions.

Time flies.

Just as he was about to retire, perhaps getting a few more medals before returning to his own territory, spending the rest of his life hunting or whatever.....

“I’ll give you Romalia,” was what the incompetent King said.

To be able to get your hands on a country, at the very least, one can lead a life like a noble. No....if it’s a piece of land as large as Romalia, there would be no shame in claiming the title King.

'King'.

An idea that never came across him even once.

There was no sense of ingenuity in it.

Yet, the idea had blew Claville's mind.

“I thought I was a person with no aspirations, no, I definitely am....” as if talking to himself, Claville quietly said.

Determining that it was to question himself, Chief deputy Viscount Julian opened his mouth. “After reducing the land to ashes, exactly what kind of regime would be built, our Highness.”

His words sandwiched irony, but not forgetting respect for their king.

“Don’t know.”

“Straightforward, aren’t you?”

“How long have we known each other?”

“More than 10 years already, I guess.”

"From the beginning, I have always been faithfully carrying out orders. Before I knew it, I held my position I've today....if I were to call myself talented, I wouldn't spit a syllable even if my lips cracked. However,..... as for ambition, I can't admit having none.”

Julian replied with a tired voice. “I’m the same”

"Turning what into how much ashes, it'll all have to depend on my strength. A mission of this level, the king wants to mention as little as possible."

"As for whether this mission will end up smoothly? The guest we picked up at St. Maran.... That mysterious woman and the bounded up knight mannequins. For them, they might really turn Romalia into ashes. After all, no matter which way we think of it, the power to command these ship lies completely in her hands."

Claville recalled that King Joseph had a female Magistrate by the name of Sheffield. That woman exuded an ominous atmosphere. If it was her, she’d really execute the command word by word, transforming the entire Romalia into ashes without so much of a blink of an eye.

"Not only that, between non-commissioned officers, many people have placed themselves against this operation. However, this is natural... according to rumors, at the capital a Knight of the Roses formed a real rebellion, though it seems it was immediately suppressed. If a fraud rebellion turned into a real one, this will definitely become a good plot for future operas."

“After this, every non-commissioned officers on the ship will be given territory, and the status of the Baron. Julian, you will be the Duke. "

Viscount Julian nodded.

“It’s going to start. Speaking of which……”

“What’s wrong?”

“This conspiracy, I wonder how many lives will it claim?”

This operation does not concern only of war, Claville inadvertently discovered.

This was also a simple gamble.

Whether Romalia will turn to ashes was one.

Whether he was able to become king smoothly was another.

Whether the crew would obey was another.

That kind of despicable conspiracy was unheard of, but, it was too late to get out of it already. The pain of his conscience, was nothing in the face of his just awoken ambition.

"Perhaps I myself, am also longing for this gamble.”

Lives including his own, were all thrown into the stake like coins.

Cruel to the extreme, there was nothing worth sparing in this relentless gamble.

“11 o'clock, Romalian fleet," the watchman cried out with a trembling voice.

On the gunning deck of "Harold, Othellon", Second Lieutenant Williams was shaking with anger.

"What's wrong with this, this battle, is there no room for discussion?"

The ship’s non-commissioned officers shared the same mood as Second Lieutenant Williams. Yesterday they were ordered to strike and before they even had a firm grasp of the situation, they came all the way there.

According to what they heard, it was to trigger a war between Gallia and Romalia.

“I don’t understand.....why must we fight with Romalia’s soldiers?”

The soldiers all watched their own commander with the same puzzled eyes.

An aide-de-camp descended from the upper decks, bringing news to the confused soldiers.

“Fleet commander ordered that all the soldiers who participated in this campaign will have a special reward after the war. All non-commissioned officers are to be knighted and all soldiers are to be given noble statuses.”

But even so, no cheers could be heard from the gunning deck, everyone looked at the aide-de-camps’s face coldly.

"Over the reward, we'd rather have a suitable explanation. Why do we have to fight Romalia? Is Romalia not an ally of our country? Although it is our duties to comply orders, this is just too puzzling."

Looking at the questioning Second Lieutenant Williams, the ADC only gave orders “Everyone back into places, we’re about to engage our enemy.”

“Enemy, are you referring to the Romalian Army? Why would the Romalian Army be considered an enemy? For what reasons should we fight them?”

The gunning officer around Second Lieutenant Williams also casted a skeptical eye to the ADC.

“Why, are we not hanging our flag?”

“T-this is because……”

"'We are now rebelling' kind of rumors are everywhere. How are we going to deny this now! Who exactly is at the bottom of managing this rebel."

“R-rebel?”

Unrest in the cannon’s deck peaked. Second Lieutenant Williams grabbed the collar of the ADC's shirt.

"Even if we were to rebel, isn't there a standard rebelling procedure? Aren't you supposed to gather all soldiers and ask for their opinions? What exactly are the captain and commander thinking?"

“Insolent!”

The ADC brandished his wand. In unison, 2nd Lieutenant Williams and the other officers all brandished theirs. The gunning deck was packed with tension.

That time, another order rang out.

“R-report, Romalian fleets approaching! All cannons get ready!"

Hearing the report, the ADC put away his wand.

“.....if you have something to say, leave it for later. We should first consider how to survive through this.”

“Damn!”

Unwillingly, Second Lieutenant Williams punched the wall.

The closing Romalian fleet totaled to forty something ships. Though said they're all the newest version ships, they were still far outnumbered by the opponent - a total of one hundred and twenty something Gallian amphibious fleet.

Even so, the approaching Romalian fleet was alerted for battle. Baring their sides, entering formation, they extended their cannons together.

Shortly followed by issuing their warning.

“To the unidentified approaching fleet. What lies ahead of you is Romalian territory, please immediately turn back. You are entering Romalian territory.”

The Romalian knew that the opponent was the Gallian amphibious fleet. But since there was a lack of identification, following protocol was the most sensible thing to do.

Claville repeated the prepared speech: “We are the ‘Gallia fleet of Volunteers’. We can no longer tolerate the brutality of the Gallian regime and wish to establish the rightful king to the throne. We hope that we can receive the support of Romalia, offering us an escape route.”

This was an absolutely fictional and completely unrealistic reason.

But, as long as they claimed themselves as "a volunteering army for the establishment of the rightful king", then the rules of the Alliance of Kings did not conform anymore. Alliance of all four countries, only functioned if everyone was hoping for pacifism.

“We are seeking orders from the government, please be patient.”

That answer was to be expected.

So marked the end of standard greetings procedures.

The rest of the plan should be very simple to execute.

Defeat the overwhelmed Romalian army, dash all the way to the ceremonial grounds, drop the "armored dummies"....

After that, they would have to wait for the orders of female Magistrate Sheffield, whose authority was just below that of King Joseph's.

To everyone's surprise, the Romalian fleet pressed forward.

It was as if they had seen through their plan.

“They already know of our plan?” Julian whimpered with a small voice.

“Doesn't matter. No matter what happens, they’re fated to turn into ashes.”

The entire fleet turned，and laid parallel to the Romalian fleet.

“Fire all right cannons! Target, Romalian fleet!”

The order was immediately relayed to the gunners' deck and issued to the other ships via flag signals.

However,regardless of how long they waited, rounds of gunfire could not be heard. The other vessels also stayed silent.

“What, is there a malfunction？ Go and check.”

The ADC who was standing on one side dashed downwards, just to find himself coming back up with an embarrassed face. “The gunners' deck are rebelling, they refuse to fight.”

Julian smiled bitterly.

"Looks like our existence is destined to become future opera stories."

Claville’s face turned red.

“Deck officers, pull out your wands, follow me to suppress them."

When Claville was about to rush onto the cannon's deck....behind him came a woman’s voice.

“Commander.”

“Is, isn't this Magistrate Sheffield?”

Claiming the title of King Joseph's personal magistrate, that mysterious lady stood there.

Her body was wrapped with a black cloak similar to the fashion of ancient mages, a hood long enough to shadow her entire face. Her revealing lips, were crimson red like fresh blood.

“Let us down.”

“But.....we’re not over Aquelia yet. We're just at the country’s border.”

Claville indicated at the "Tiger's Highway" below.

“That's alright. Time is precious.”

“Wouldn't that be too risky?”

Sheffield started laughing.

“The enemy army is not worthy of being feared.”

Claville was quickly brought back to reality by her smile.

“An order to all ships, cease fire. Release the ‘package’.”

Sheffield did not turn back. For the purpose of sitting on the Jörmungandr's shoulder, she leapt off the railings of Charles Orleans.

She couldn't be seen using any levitation magic, yet light as a feather, only grabbing her sleeves, she floated down onto the Jörmungandr's shoulders. After confirming she had sat tight, Claville ordered the soldiers on the deck to cut the tethering rope.

From the middle of each vessel, many Jörmungandr could be spotted dropping down to earth, all of them carrying oversized weapons such as cannons, large swords, spears and so on.

Watching that scene from a close distance, one can, amazingly, feel a pressuring aura different from golems, emitted from each one of them.

The gigantic metal bodies all descended slowly. That was probably due to the activation of the "Levitation device" installed within them. If so, then there must be some terrifying power stored within.

According to rumors, the technological advancement of those Jörmungandr, involved elves as well....., granting these Jörmungandr hair-raising abilities.

Those things could use cannons as easily as if they were handguns..... even castle walls won't stand against them.

Plus, imagine that metal puppet swinging its sword. Just how much destruction would each blow cause?

Where on this world would they obtain magic strong enough to pierce the armor of these things?

Even just imagining sent shivers down one's spine.

The woman.... the one named Sheffield - the female Magistrate directly under his Majesty, was planning to expand a battle that she herself did not understand.

Turn Romalia into ashes.

Those may be unrealistic words. On the other hand, with the aid of those murderous Jörmungandr, it might not seem so far fetched after all.

"How the hell did this happen?"

Though he said he was only driven by desire, he was actually starting to want to help.

He should no longer have any ties with those guys anymore, Claville secretly decided.

Putting the skies one side, the camps of Romalia were the first to discover Jörmungandr dropping everywhere from the sky and deployed troops to stand guard, surrounding the exit of "Tiger's Highway".

Since the inauguration of the coronation ceremony, they had been issued an order, alerting them of Gallian army's invasion, and had been standing guard since.

Originally taking the idea of Gallian army invading as a joke, the appearance of Gallian fleet above their heads turned their heads around completely. What reason would there be, which might, even potentially, cause the Gallian army to invade?

As soon as Gallian army crossed the border, the Romalian army got a new order.

'No matter what class of soldiers it is, wiped them out. If a woman with runes engraved on her forehead is found, capture her alive.'

Even the Captain of the Crusaders spoke to himself with a nervous tone. “Those armored puppets that the Gallia fleet dropped......are golems?”

One by one, the armored puppets rushed over to the canyon sandwiched by the two cliffs of "Tiger's Street".

“By just these golems, they're planning to attack us?” Vice-captain scratched his ears and muttered.

"From what it seems, there aren't any more airborne units.... probably still on top of those ships."

“Now what?” The vice-captain asked.

"Ignore them. As long as we take advantage now and take them down one by one. Let’s go.” The Captain's voice could be heard overflowing with confidence. There was a perfectly valid reason to support his confidence. After all, under his command was not any squad.

It was a mobile "artillery" squad.

Seeing the two squads of infantrymen heading into Tiger's street, the "artillery" units paused eating grass, lazily stretching their bodies.

They were the "Tortoise Artillery Units".

On the lands of Halkeginia, they were a very popular choice for armies.

Contrary to popular belief, tortoises were not species with a slow-reaction.

In addition, tortoises had a large weight carrying capacity, through them, an army could quickly deploy cannons across the entire battlefield. It was said that the appearance of that unit, completely reshaped Halkeginia's castle sieges.

Soldiers in charge of steering those tortoises, untangled the rope holding those tortoises in place, allowing "artillery units" to march forward. Heaving cannons on their backs, each step giving a dull 'thud', they emitted an antic feeling out of place with the idea of battlefields.

On the other hand, the cannons they're carrying had nothing to do with the word farce. Less agile golems, if they were to take one of these rounds directly, the result would be scattered pieces everywhere.

Entering the street into around 5 squares on the map, the captain ordered them to stand guard.

That place, of the entire canyon, was the only place where it got wide. Lined up by buildings on both sides, it formed a small-scaled camp.

Usually packed with people, yells everywhere, had become empty and eerily silent then, the only noise coming from the occasional rustles the squad made from waiting the enemy.

Around one square in front of them, a blurred shadow of the enemy could be seen. The captain laughed. Probably a team of amateurs, stupid enough to let golems march in such a narrow space without any coverage.

"Ha, this'll be great target practice! Artillery units, load!"

Soldiers in control of the tortoises, popped cannonballs into the cannon. Those cannons had a range of two squares. If they wanted a lethal shot on targets with size of a golem, they must wait until they were in 500 metre's range.

The captain silently awaited for the perfect timing, thinking of putting them down in one go. In the squad, conversation teasing the enemy could be heard continuously.

Yet, as those "Golems" approached them, laughters turned into shocked cries in no time.

"Wearing armours?"

"How come their motions are so smooth?"

Just by looking at it, the captain instinctively felt fear.

That was no normal golems.

"Fi- Open fire!"

A result of being blinded by fear, the captain impatiently issued the attack orders.

The artillery units' continuously fired into the narrow space in the canyon, echoing thunderous 'booms'. The tortoises retreated into their shells, acting as a better force against the enormous recoil of the cannons.

Although they weren't completely into the 'lethal' distance yet, the target was locked and they had lots of cannons to spare.

The shells beautifully landed in the middle of the "golem" crowd, bringing up a thick cloud of dust. Loud hit-confirming clangs of metal colliding together could be heard.

Those were, after all, cannons fitted for enlarged shells.

If the golems got hit, they were sure to have limbs flying everywhere.....

And yet....among the smoke, those golems were still progressing as if nothing happened.

“Unharmed!?!?” The petrified vice-captain said.

“Not possible.....that was a direct hit from the cannon? Not even the walls of a castle can withstand a shot from even one round of these artillery units!”

“Next round, fire! Continue! Hurry!”

However, the second rounds never begun. The "Golems" were already in front of them, holding big cannons in their hands.

“These Golems can run! Are these Golems at all?”

“They have cannons!”

“Wuahhhhhhhhhh!”

Endorsed into a state of panic, the soldiers all hurriedly threw down their heavy armour, pushing one and another for escape.

At that moment, the Jörmungandr fired their cannons. Hot burning spraying rounds, laid holes in the fleeing soldiers.

After an explosion far more deafening than those of the artillery units subsided, the ground all around where the shell landed looked like a fragment of hell. At such a narrow space, the effect of the power of an exploding shell packed with gunpowder, was not something anyone could stand looking at.

That team, had been entirely wiped out with just one shot.

Surrounded by a sea of red flames, the Jörmungandr slowly marched down the street, their figure as if an army of demons bringing hell down to this world.

A lucky soldier who survived the blast by using the tortoise shells as a shield, looked upwards to the passing Jörmungandr and exclaimed "Mon-monsters......"

At the resting room of St Lutcia cathedral of Aquelia, the crowd buzzed as noisy as a beehive. Continuous reports of the battle status from the country's borders caused those priests to display mixed emotions of fear and uncertainty. An aura of uncomfortableness veiled the entire room.

The captains of the Paladins had long left the cathedral to stay with their teams camped in the fields. Outside of the cathedral, the effects of the news that the Pope was canceling his ceremony due the the invasion of Gallia, were even more visible. Spreading like a spark in a barn full of hay, the entire town was in chaos.

In the middle of the crowd of priests, Henrietta stood by herself in the resting room, dumbfound.

Curses flooded everywhere in the room; messengers delivering news that required immediate attention in hordes.

War?

Gallia initiated a war?

The reality, caused her to doubt her own ears. The "conspiracy" had already been foiled, why would they still need to initiate a war?

A knight, brought news of the standoff between the Romalian and Gallian fleet above the skies of Tiger's street.

"It's Gallian rebels that are attacking us!?"

Hearing this news, the Generals sitting on one side let out a laugh.

"Why would the rebels attack other countries?"

"Because we rejected their request for an escape."

The generals laughed loudly again.

Even Henrietta, couldn't help but shake her head at this lame excuse.

'So the war eventually began', she sadly thought.

Never did she think that the Gallian army would seriously go to war so carelessly.

She was at a foreign country currently, and had no authority over what Romalia decided to do. The feelings of anxiety yet unable to do anything, burned hotter and hotter every second. Despite she technically still had the Ondine Water Spirit Knights and Louise on hand, they were already assigned a job of guarding the cathedral.

Analyzing the reason for Gallia's sudden invasion, it could be because of the recent provocation by Romalia gathering troops near Gallia's borders.

Only able to do theoretical work, in the end.... she gritted her teeth from not being able to do anything at all.

At this moment, the permanent Gallian ambassador of Romalia, escorted by his own cavalry, showed up with a despising face. In place of Vittorio, the personnel temporarily in charge, the generals, stood up to welcome him.

"This is very unfortunate, very very unfortunate indeed. Traitors of my country, have brought serious disturbance to your country. I hereby, representing my King, apologize. Therefore....."

Completely understanding the situation, the generals declared, without any attempts to decorate their sentences at all, "There is not a chance of letting your army in our borders to suppress these rebels. We have no idiots here who would openly bring the wolves in. You tell your Joseph. Our reputed Romalian elite forces, will completely eradicate every single Gallian rebel."

"What are you talking about, this is my country's rebels. To our country, they are....." Just as the Gallian ambassador was about to continuing weaving more excuses, the Romalian general raised his staff, pointing at him straight in the face. Standing beside them, the priests all cried out. "General, general, what if blood were to stain the cathedral...."

Towards the terrified ambassador, the general said "Apologies, our Romalian Generals are all chosen out of the elite Paladins. Hope you can forgive me for my rudeness. However, please be cautious of your words. To you councilors, words is equivalent to the staff in my hand. Before drawing it out, you must know what you're doing."

The ambassador nodded and shrunk away. Seeing how the general beautifully drove the Gallian ambassador away, the entire crowd erupted into cheers and claps.

Watching this show, Henrietta finally genuinely felt the meaning of 'The war has begun'

As the door to the Pope's personal resting room was opened, Vittorio came out leading a band of priests behind him. Henrietta felt a sudden surge of blood rushing to her head and immediately walked upto him. Holding back her urge of smacking him in the face, the emotions built up within her mind exploded.

"Your holiness! Are you going to take responsibility for your actions? Because of your provocation, Gallia finally initiated a war!"

"MY provocation?" Vittorio questioned with surprise.

"Yes! Because of the placement of your army near the borders resulted into this avoidable battle!"

"You must be kidding me. If it weren't for my army placement, I'm afraid we won't even have time to discuss right now. It's only because of the army struggling to defend this country, we are able to sit down and plan for countermeasures."

Vittorio came close to Henrietta.

"For the purpose of 'killing our rebels', Joseph mobilized His army. Isn't the entire event as simple as that?"

In just a few sentences, he had completely reversed what Henrietta believed. Frustrated tears flowed from Henrietta's eyes.

"But, but..... no matter what, there's no need to....."

"You are terribly mistaken, dear Queen Henrietta. This war, is not the product of political affairs, nor is it because of them trying to get the upperside after being exposed of the conspiracy. This is not like the games in court. It is fundamentally different. This war is related to the survival of both countries. There's not enough room for two tigers on a mountain. Being exposed of the conspiracy, is only a part of their plan. War.... is also another part of it.

Henrietta looked at Vittorio in a daze.

To her disbelief, in this Pope's mind..... both compassion and cruelty existed side by side.

"Talks? Mediation? These things are long gone in this battle. Right now, all we can to is to defeat our enemy completely. Being countries of strong power, there is either complete alliance, or total enemies. Other than that, there is no third choice. This matter, if you were to understand is a normal diplomatic issue, then I would be very troubled. More worryingly, King Joseph is probably thinking of the same thing."

Vittorio turned his head to face the general and priests. Speaking of which, all the people congregated in that room, were all the most crucial people of Romalia.

Seeing their state like that, Henrietta couldn't help but ask herself 'Why hadn't I noticed this before?'

'Forcing King Joseph to step down from his throne using the evidence of the conspiracy'

'Elves returning the holy grounds by entering a discussion with them'

If these discussions did not work, what else could they do?

Both sides friendly taking a step back? Don't be silly. If they were able to do that, there would not be anything to worry about in the first place. Vittorio had completely seen through this a long time ago. He must've had planned to resort to war as soon as the diplomatic ties failed. It was only a matter of time....

He once said himself "Believers of Brimir all hope to put a permanent end to this stupid fight."

Ah, from the start Vittorio was aiming for this ideal, using the entire Romalia and its civilians as stake, and began a one-time gamble to settle this all.

He had used all of his chips at once, to finish every single opponent.

"Gallian heretics, have allied themselves with the elves, attempting to destroy us. I, as a servant of God and Founder Brimir, hereby announce, the beginning of a 'Crusade'!"

The entire cathedral was covered with deafening silence for a split second, then quickly ruptured like boiling water "Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

'Crusade'

To the peasants of Halkeginia, this was a gamble that could affect the rest of their lives, their offspring's lives.

In this world, only the talented were allowed to kill endlessly....

There would not be an ending to this frenzy. From that moment onwards, they had become soldiers who were not afraid of dying for their God and Founder Brimir.

Henrietta’s legs turned jelly and she fell to the ground. The 'Crusade' had been announced. Either your survival or mine, never stopping until the complete extermination of the other. The endless, insane war had finally, officially begun.

It was already unstoppable, no one could prevent this war anymore.

That man Vittorio, playing as God in that era, continued and cried out “Gaining victory in the 'Crusade', reclaiming our 'holy grounds' from the hand of the elves. I give blessings to all warriors of God!”

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