CH 79

Chapter 79

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : Attack On Church Of Arnelia, Part 7 — Arnelia's Fiercest Men And Women

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

＊＊＊

Meanwhile, outside the Palace of Deep Green.

「Not bad, humans… they’ve been gone long enough, haven’t they?」

Libido had been stranded on the outer perimeter, but the other Archfiends had already been defeated. The Templar Knights showed excellent coordination, and although they struggled at first, they quickly defeated the Archfiends.

The Templar Knights of Arnelia were originally an excellent defensive order. If they go on the defensive at all costs, it will not be easy to break their stronghold. Historically, the Templar Knights were dispatched for the main purpose of providing support on the battlefield, and their nature and specialty were specialized in defensive warfare. They would disorganize with several platoons, and when the opponent’s consciousness was dispersed, they would send in their friends who specialized in attack. This was their signature tactic.

Those who had the ability to carry out the assault became the captains of the battalions, and the company commanders and above in each battalion were particularly active, inflicting deep wounds with a single blow.

They did this in a dispersed manner, and the members of 2nd, 4th, and 5th Unit successfully finished off the Archfiend without suffering major damage.

Watching the action were two people in the sky, Lifeless and Bloody Maria. These two have been watching Doom since he infiltrated Arnelia. The two of them were looking on from a high place, giving their unsolicited impressions of what was going on.

「They may not have any experience fighting against the Archfiends, but they were well trained for an army in a peaceful world.」

「Right. But the only really strong ones are from the 1st – 7th Battalions and those working at the Palace of the Deep Green. About 8,000. The rest of the civilian soldiers are undeniably small fry. Compared to the armies of other countries, they’re no different.」

「If soldiers of that caliber were common soldiers, there would not be enough Archfiends to go around. How many Archfiends, in your estimation, would it take to annihilate the entire Temple Order?」

「Such things will depend on the commander and the conditions of the battle. You can’t say it all the same way.」

「So what if you are the commander and you are on level ground with no obstacles?」

「…500 would certainly do.」

Lifeless said it himself. Bloody Maria nodded in satisfaction.

「Then I guess the strength our Master is targeting is quite accurate. If we destroy Arnelia here, the countries of the East will naturally fall apart, won’t they?」

「They won’t be that fragile, but they won’t be able to work together. But probably a long way from crushing Arnelia.」

「Why therefore?」

「It makes no sense to destroy this place if Miliazar is still in existence. If the Church is destroyed, the woman will go underground and gather sisters and templar knights from all over the world, and she will be in secret contact with other countries. The specialty tactics of the Arnelian Religion during the Great War were disruption and guerrilla tactics. It was better to have that woman be the Arnelia’s Master Bishop, who was hard to move.」

「I understand now… It’s a bit of a mess, I must say. If it were up to me, I could finish it in a jiffy.」

Bloody Maria smiled cruelly as she twirled her fingertips, but Lifeless,

「Instead, the Eastern part of the continent will be burned to the ground. Let me reiterate that our goal is not the annihilation of the human race. So I must say that you and Dragreo are very difficult to operate.」

「I know that. In such a case, Hidden and the like would be easier to use. I will wait for my turn.」

「If all goes well, though, it may not be that far off… Muh, the trend seems to be changing down there. Libido is about to pull out.」

「Ohh, she didn’t last as long as I thought she would.」

They look down and see Libido about to join the others. But what they saw…

「How could possibly…」

Libido stood still involuntarily. She saw Insomnia, and Man Eater who had already been defeated. Man Eater must have been struck by a large sword quite a few times. Her body is almost in pieces, and Mordaed is standing beside her, carrying a large sword. Man Eater tried to make a last stand, but Mordaed, without any mercy, plunged his sword into Man Eater’s head.

Insomnia, too, had her hair uprooted and her torso cut down diagonally from both shoulders. It was Rafferty who did it. He is not even out of breath, looking down at Insomnia as if it were a matter of course. And Ossyria, too, has been completely captured by Manadil’s sacred magic, and its disappearance seems to be only a matter of time.

「Kuh, then it’s just me.」

「Yes, but that won’t last.」

Libido suddenly turned around to look at the voice, but before she had time to confirm the owner of the voice, she was consumed by the sacred magic.

「Gyaaahhhh!!!」

「You evil demon!!」

The knights kneel to the monk who burnt down Libido and appeared leisurely.

「This was from Archbishop Dryd!」

「Wasn’t it time for preaching in church?」

「You may abbreviate the bow during the battle. This is no time for preaching! Manadil!」

「What is it?」

「How long are you going to let them get away with that! Get this over with.」

「I thought it was someone else’s problem. She looks like this, but she’s pretty stubborn… Nhn?」

「Everybody’s been beaten…?」

Ossyria, who had been unable to move at all due to Manadil’s sacred magic earlier, begins to scurry around.

「What the…?」

「This way of playing… I’m tired of it.」

Then, as if nothing had happened, she tries to walk out of the captivity range of the sacred magic.

「I won’t let you through!」

However, when Manadil further intensified his magical power, her movements slowed down, as if it had indeed worked. But when Ossyria looked at Manadil, the corner of her mouth twisted into a grin and she held her hand out toward Manadil. At that moment, Manadil definitely heard his body creak.

「Guh!?」

「Manadil-sama, my apologies!」

Rafferty pushed Manadil away just in time. However, Rafferty was hit by the aftermath of the wave released by Ossyria and was blown away.

「Guoh!」

「Rafferty-sama!」

Knights and Sisters rushed to the two blown away. The rest of them all surrounded Ossyria.

「Manadil, this is…」

「Hmm, I’m guessing she used to be a high priestess, a sorceress of some sort… Our magic doesn’t work very well. And I’ve seen her use telekinesis.」

「The concerning part is…」

「We will only become meatballs. Mmm, it’s been a long time since we’ve done anything worthwhile.」

The two look at each other and grin. These two are not originally the type of monks who would perform a series of magic tricks. As a young man, he was known as one of the best fighters among the monks, and was even able to go toe-to-toe with the captain of the Templar Knights.

「Don’t overdo it and get a slipped back, Manadil.」

「Aren’t you the one who’s going to get a bad frozen shoulder? You are not as young as you used to be.」

「Get off!」

「You old fogeys… Will you play with me?」

Ossyria points to the heavens, and the armaments lying around her – swords, spears, and arrows – begin to float in the air. And the moment Ossyria clenched her hands, those weapons were fired with tremendous force in all directions.

The surrounding soldiers, sensing the strangeness of the situation, defended themselves with their shields and their own weapons, but the numerous weapons that came at them like a gust of wind caused many injuries in an instant. But Manadil and Dryd, what with their rain-like weapons, charge toward Ossyria. Ossyria releases telekinesis, but Manadil defends with magic, and Dryd pulls out a spear stuck in the ground, consecrates it, and slashes at Ossyria with it.

But Ossyria dodged and tried to counterattack with telekinesis, which is exactly what Dryd wanted.

「That took a lot!」

The telekinesis is reflected with the application of defensive magic, and conversely, Ossyria is off balance. Then Manadil, who was in the shadow of the dryad, slams his all-out fist into Ossyria’s dove tail.

「Nuuhn!」

Of course, he had all the holy power he could muster in his fist. Ossyria was blown away by this, and was blown to the wall far behind her.