## Chapter 232 – The Holy Army
The rain stopped the next day.
The sun, hidden behind dark clouds for days, finally revealed itself, and fragments of descending sunlight evenly illuminated the world.
Beneath that incredibly blue sky, all sorts of metals gleamed.
ㅡOooooooooh!!!
ㅡWaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!
ㅡKroooo!!!!
The village was in a state of utter madness.
The assembled holy warriors all yearned to advance into the lands occupied by the heretics. The holy armies gathered from the three churches numbered just over a single company at best, but from my perspective, it seemed like they could conquer even hell with that many.
“It’s such a moving sight… I can’t contain my joy. An irresistible impulse—that’s exactly what this is.”
Elise clasped her hands together, gazing at the holy warriors lined up in the plaza with tearful eyes. Her voice was filled with elation.
“Yeah, it is something. Looks cool.”
“The long-awaited days have finally arrived. We will soon witness the realization of justice.”
“Yeah, well, with this much, Eja and whatever else will have their asses handed to them, no, not that, they’ll all be crushed.”
“Precisely. The only future left for them is a miserable end, becoming fertilizer.”
Even you’re talking about fertilizer?
I deeply regretted letting my mouth run wild.
I might have unknowingly triggered an agricultural revolution in this world with my modern, overpowered knowledge. If the corpses of heretics have more power than chemical fertilizers, that is.
“Well, fertilizer’s good. If you plant crops there, even the crops will suck up the heretics’ corpses and grow, so there’s no greater punishment.”
“Crops… sucking up corpses…? Oh, oh…! I hadn’t even considered such an idea! Thinking about it that way makes it feel even more righteous!”
“…Justice crops.”
“Truly sacred crop cultivation!”
…If I keep talking, it’ll never end.
Let’s stop the conversation before the mental damage accumulates.
Anyway, it was quite a sight to behold.
ㅡThe lined-up holy warriors.
The paladins of the Bronze Celestial Angel Society had all their armor surfaces plated entirely in brass. That was their identity. And they wore helmets adorned with decorations shaped like angel wings, giving off the kind of vibe that made it seem like the bronze celestial angels blessed by Verde, the god of scales, had descended.
You could feel steadfastness from them.
The brass-shining knights felt like religious guardians.
The paladins of the Savior’s Heaven Society were, in a word, standard. I really liked the blue trim on their pure white armor. The clean color combination created a sacred atmosphere. They were probably the most classic type of paladins.
You could feel common sense from them.
Without any rough edges, they all looked like paladins truly serving God.
However, the Radiant Star Cross Society was on a different level from that general atmosphere.
“Seriously, those guys look so scary. Blackie, I’m so scared.”
“I’m scared too.”
Winea clung to my waist after seeing the shocking appearance of the holy warriors. Claudia quietly said after observing them.
“If you really think about it, our Katt is kind of that style, too.”
“I’m that style?”
“Yeah. When you were making a fuss about being a hero in the arena, you had that kind of feel, right?”
Their fashion had already surpassed Brutal Angel Kim Katt.
Even I, with my modern sensibilities, couldn’t keep up with their fashion. I had already decided to give them the utmost respect and concede defeat.
“That’s nonsense, Claudia. No matter what, I wasn’t that extreme.”
“No, you were. It’s okay, you were cool back then too.”
“Cool? Heh, heh heh… Really?”
“Yeah. Katt is always cool.”
“You’re always pretty too.”
“Hehehe…”
“Hehehe…”
I am cool.
At the same time, Claudia is beautiful.
Winea, frowning, poked my waist as I chuckled.
“Arena? What’s that about?”
“Ah, I worked at the arena before.”
“Blackie worked at the arena?”
“I was a pretty popular gladiator.”
“I seriously can’t believe that.”
It’s a story Winea doesn’t know.
It’ll only lead to scolding if I talk about it, so let’s move on for now.
Anyway, the appearance of the Radiant Star Cross Society’s holy warriors, as if they had crawled out of hell, was enough to make you feel uneasy just by looking at them.
They didn’t properly cover their bodies, simply replacing armor with protruding spikes and unpleasant-looking iron plates. There was no uniformity, just haphazard and disorganized equipment. Their weapons were clearly chosen randomly according to their tastes.
But despite that, no one didn’t know that they were the most dangerous.
Seeing them panting and drooling through the gaps in their helmets during Sera’s incomprehensible violent speeches made them feel truly dangerous.
“For the holy war!”
“For the cause!”
Each of them, religious people, shouted their slogans and drew their weapons.
In the center of the plaza, a temporary commander stood and began to explain something. From what I could gather, it was about how they would join the holy army, excluding the village’s defense forces.
It looked like it would be a large-scale procession.
If we followed, we’d definitely get some crumbs.
“In the end, they sold all the heads here.”
Since we weren’t going back to Isbanth right away, we exchanged all the heretics’ heads we had for prize money. It was a bit of a shame, but we could make more money by following the holy army.
“There are so many. It’s like looking at a desert caravan.”
“Desert caravan? Do they also move around in groups like this?”
“Yeah. Crossing the desert is quite dangerous, so they move around in almost this scale.”
With the holy warriors, the soldiers in the village, and even the adventurers and mercenaries joining, there were almost a battalion’s worth of troops. It was a truly enormous number.
Since the paladins were practically superhuman, it was safe to say that they were equivalent to a tank company in modern terms.
Many supply wagons would follow, and even villagers would join, hoping to make a profit by working hard alongside the army. There were many miscellaneous tasks in a marching army, after all.
The scale was growing more and more.
Even young people from the village were buying swords and joining in groups. There were even old men who had personally taken up farming tools to guide the bandits who had ruined their livelihoods.
And there were middle-aged women… grandmothers… who followed along, thinking of earning money by doing odd jobs… The scale was growing so large that the war felt like a business.
In that way, the march was decided for the next day.
The city was busy preparing for departure.
We also started preparing for a long march to follow the holy army tomorrow, buying supplies, making plans, and things like that. We also paid a little extra to get camping gear since we would have to camp out.
And we rested well.
When the next morning came, the holy warriors finally set out from the village to conquer the heretics.
It was truly an incredible sight.
Countless armors reflected the sunlight and sparkled. These brilliant rays seemed to prove that they were God’s army. The ground was almost completely dry because it hadn’t rained for two days, so there was no obstacle to the march.
It was the official start of the holy warriors’ journey.
“Saint. It seems we’re marching straight to the village occupied by the heretics.”
Elise, who had gathered various information, reported the situation.
Currently, about five villages have been occupied. They were planning to go to the village closest to here, rescue the residents, and crush the heretics.
Baron Dodens had been defeated, but they would never be defeated.
In the first place, since the lords’ subjugation forces were also advancing from other directions besides the church’s holy army, it seemed clear that the war would end in victory.
“But how long does it take to get there?”
“At this speed, we’ll arrive the day after tomorrow. Ah, do we really have to walk all the way there? Are you crazy?”
Winea said with annoyance after looking at the map.
It meant that we had to sleep outside for the next two days, so it was no wonder she was annoyed. It was so amazing that there were only foot soldiers except for the wagons.
We had to walk because it was a pilgrimage.
Truly a holy army.
The first day was spent just looking at the ground and walking.
My body, full of mana, didn’t complain of any particular pain. Winea, who was controlling her stamina with Strength magic, didn’t show any signs of fatigue, and Claudia was even less so.
As the day waned, the army stopped.
They found a suitable place to camp and set up simple tents and lit fires. We also used the camping set we brought to make a cramped and small tent, and then the three of us went inside and slept uncomfortably.
“Blackie, move over a bit. It’s so cramped.”
“Then Claudia will be uncomfortable. This is the perfect space distribution.”
“I’m okay. Should I get closer?”
And so, on the second day.
Since the Radiant Star Cross Society was going in the lead, we naturally ended up walking next to them. It was because Elise was there. Unfortunately, Elise had left the party.
Well, what could we do when the main force came?
Elise had joined the church’s side.
Still, since we could hear about various things if we were with Elise, we were walking alongside them.
“We’ll arrive tomorrow, huh.”
“That’s right. My heart is pounding… I’m just dissatisfied that I can’t increase the speed any further.”
“Yeah, to rescue the village as quickly as possible…”
We were in the middle of talking when it happened.
Suddenly, the front row stopped.
“Hmm? What’s up? Why did they suddenly stop?”
Sensing that something was stirring, we drew our weapons and guarded our surroundings. Could it be that we had encountered the heretics’ army?
Elise also pulled out her mace with a fierce look.
ㅡOooooooooh!!!
ㅡKroooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!
ㅡSuch an absurd thing!!!!!
At that moment, unbelievable screams of anger erupted from the front. Had the enemies finally appeared! The holy warriors next to us quickly formed a battle formation, and we stepped back slightly to take our positions.
“Emergency! Emergency! Prepare for battle!”
A holy warrior shouted towards the back.
That was conveyed and conveyed, and the marching formation quickly began to transform into a battle formation. The movements of the highly trained paladins. Of course, the rabble walking in the back wouldn’t be like that, but at least the paladins and holy warriors had perfectly prepared for battle in just a few seconds.
“…”
But there was no sign of battle.
“What’s going on?”
“What, what is it? Elise, do you know what’s happening?”
“I don’t know either. I thought a battle had definitely broken out…”
Even in the midst of that, unearthly screams were erupting from the front.
What is it?
Did a barefoot holy warrior step on a stray Lego?
“Let’s go see.”
At Winea’s words, the four of us left the procession and cautiously headed forward.
ㅡWhat we saw was.
“T-This… This can’t be! What is this! How could this happen! How could this happen!”
I couldn’t help but doubt my eyes.
“T-This is…!”
“Hmph, it’s distasteful. I can see malicious creativity.”
“I saw something I shouldn’t have, damn it. Are you crazy?”
It was a bizarre structure made of people’s corpses.
It was a more evil object than anything, made as if to show off that this was their territory. They made a skeleton out of human bones, and decorated it by piling up severed limbs and heads, a tower of hellish flesh!
ㅡKroooooooo!!!
ㅡUaaaaaaaah!!!!!!
ㅡOh God! Oh God!!!
The holy warriors were wailing and burying their heads in the ground.
Then they were tearing at their ears, sticking out their tongues, and screaming.
…That’s right.
After massacring the villages occupied by the bandits, they had made structures out of people’s corpses to relieve their boredom. The reason the procession had stopped was because the holy warriors at the very front had seen this and exploded with anger.
I also felt a rage that felt like my head would explode!
To do such, such cruel things…!
Just like the bandit I interrogated last time said, a hellish scene was unfolding in the occupied villages! Cannibalism, of course, and even playing with corpses!
“Ugh, ugh, ugh…!!!! This!!! This can’t be!!!!!! This! How can this exist in reality!!!!”
I also shouted loudly while looking at the tower of flesh. This was clearly a show of force. A warning from the bandits to those who came here to be prepared to die like that!
“Kkeueaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!”
“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Oh God! Oh God!!!”
But it was counterproductive.
The holy warriors had fallen into complete madness.
Wielding their clawed hands and jumping around like monkeys, then resting for a while and pounding their chests like gorillas, it seemed that there was no one in this world who could withstand the rage of the muscular, panty-clad holy warriors.
