Chapter 527

The Bølberg Church Order, which had occupied Barseva and declared war on the Keres Church Order, brought out their secret technique recorded in their traditions against the Holy Legions of the Keres and Shaulite Church Orders.

Using the blood and death of warriors as a catalyst, they performed a miracle to summon Bølberg’s War Angel, the Valkyrie.

An angel with a winged helmet, armed with a storm spear and a gray circular shield, descended onto the battlefield. The summoned Valkyrie spread her crow-like wings wide, gliding through the void, piling up mountains of corpses.

The high-ranking paladins of the Keres Church Order unleashed all their miracles, such as “Death Sentence” and “Black Funeral,” to counter her. However, while their combat power was tied up with the Valkyrie, holy warriors like Wolfgang wreaked havoc on the Holy Legion’s formation like fish in water.

Death was rampant everywhere. Paladins, holy warriors, priests, and soldiers fell like barley during harvest season.

Though the Valkyrie eventually turned into light dust and vanished, unable to withstand the accumulated damage, by then, both sides had already suffered near-catastrophic losses.

Given that the Bølberg Church Order, which values dying honorably in battle, clashed with the Keres Church Order, which worships death itself, the massive casualties were perhaps inevitable.

“This war ends here…”

Confirming the Valkyrie’s disappearance, Bølberg’s Cardinal Wolfgang retreated with the surviving holy warriors.

Unless Cardinal Rosof was among the enemies, there was no point in fighting alone to the death in a battlefield where Rosof hadn’t even shown up.

“Tell Rosof this! Wait for me until I return, and don’t you dare die of old age!”

The Holy Legions of the Keres and Shaulite Church Orders couldn’t pursue the retreating holy warriors.

Everyone was exhausted to their limits, and the damage from a single battle was too severe. If they recklessly chased and were counterattacked, they could be annihilated.

The remaining forces of the Keres Church Order were reduced to a countable number, and the Shaulite reinforcements had lost nearly half their troops.

Instead of risking further pursuit, they focused on rescuing the severely wounded who were still alive. As long as they weren’t dead, they could be saved with healing miracles. Given the unexpectedly massive losses, saving even one more life was crucial.

—

The Bølberg Church Order was excommunicated from the Main Deity Religion.

Eleven main deities became nine, and the authority and rights the Bølberg Church Order held as a main deity church of the Holy Kingdom were nullified.

While the church’s existence was allowed, it was downgraded to the level of an ethnic religion of the People of Dane, no longer a main deity of humanity.

In truth, if the Dane people’s national religion had been labeled a heresy, it would have caused widespread rebellion. Thus, excommunication was the limit. Otherwise, they would have been declared heretics.

The whereabouts of Wolfgang and the holy warriors who retreated from Barseva remained unknown.

Many theories circulated about their location.

Some claimed the holy warriors were scattered across the Holy Kingdom, biding their time for a comeback. Others insisted they had infiltrated the Holy City to launch a suicide attack on Cardinal Rosof, urging heightened security.

Meanwhile, those with a realistic outlook speculated that Wolfgang had led the holy warriors into exile in the Kingdom of Dane.

Rather than staying in the Holy Kingdom and risking execution, it was safer to seek refuge in Dane, a land filled with followers of the Warrior God, and rebuild their influence there.

Thus, with the death of Karnius and Wolfgang’s defeat, the Holy Kingdom’s winter finally came to an end.

After months of bloodshed and chaos, the Holy Kingdom regained stability, but the combat power of each church order had already been significantly weakened.

The Grimnir Church Order was destroyed, and the Bølberg Church Order was excommunicated and fled.

The Keres Church Order lost most of its forces, and the Shaulite Church Order lost several high-ranking officials, including cardinals, along with the cities they ruled and a third of their Holy Legion.

The Imera Church Order, which jointly ruled Arvil with the Shaulite Church Order, also suffered considerable losses.

The cardinals of the Elpinel, Kranus, and Menes Church Orders were all exiled—one to a place of banishment, another to the afterlife, and the last to an unknown location.

Thus, the number of cardinals, which had once been eleven, was reduced to five.

Though new cardinals would eventually be elected, for now, the Holy Kingdom’s decision-making system faced a significant gap.

The storm that Lacey led and Halshar swept through the Holy Kingdom.

The only church orders unaffected were the Ausrine Church Order, which quietly supported Lacey, and the Vimos Church Order, which did absolutely nothing.

The Vimos Church Order, by doing nothing at all, miraculously avoided any damage, proving that in times of chaos, staying quiet is the best course of action.

As always.

—

===== [ Halshar ] =====

Three days had passed since I woke from a month-long slumber, but I still couldn’t move my body properly.

Even my body, which had grown stronger after reaching the Realm of Heroes, struggled to withstand the recoil of a technique far beyond my capabilities. My depleted energy was recovering too slowly, leaving me unable to even lift a spoon.

The only thing I could hold now was a cigarette.

“Phew…”

While Lana was briefly away, I pestered Leonor to hand me a cigarette and lit it.

Normally, Lana wouldn’t care if I smoked, but seeing a pale, sickly patient puffing away like a chimney was too much for her to tolerate.

“That’s toxic, really toxic. How can you smoke magical cigarettes in that state? You’re addicted, seriously addicted.”

“What’s the big deal? It’s not bad for my health.”

If it were like Earth’s cigarettes, which harm the body just by smoking, I’d have avoided it. But this was more like a medicinal herb that clears the mind and sharpens the senses. Even if it’s addictive, it’s not a problem, right?

Instead of answering, Leonor let out a hollow laugh, opened the hospital room window, and sat on the nearby chair.

Her severed arm had been reattached a month ago, and her body had fully recovered. Unlike her, Nigel had to live as a cripple for over half a month, so his walking was still a bit awkward.

“I’m stuck in bed all day. If I don’t have this, I’d die of boredom. I have no idea when I’ll be able to move again.”

“Take this chance to rest properly. You’ve been fighting non-stop without a break lately. You’ll age prematurely if you keep this up.”

…Not that I needed to hear that, but if I rest too long, I might not even get the chance to grow old.

—

My free smoking time didn’t last long. Lana, who saw the smoke spreading outside the window, rushed to my room, snatched the cigarette from my mouth, and launched into a lecture.

I half-listened to Lana’s scolding, vowing to close the window next time I smoked, but when she threatened to smoke them all herself if I kept it up, I had no choice but to give up.

Even if Lana smoked them, it wouldn’t be harmful, but… visually, it would be quite shocking.

After putting out the cigarette, Lana cast a blessing to restore my energy, warned Leonor never to give me cigarettes again, and left the room.

Before I woke up, she had been taking care of me while I was unconscious, but after I regained consciousness, she only came by a couple of times a day to perform healing miracles.

She was worried about me constantly returning badly injured, so she spent all day practicing healing miracles.

It was a bit concerning that she might be overworking herself, but I was also grateful. While I wouldn’t mind her care if I were unconscious, being fully conscious while she tended to me was quite burdensome.

Having her feed me water and food was fine, but having her wipe my body was a bit embarrassing, and… handling bodily waste was something I couldn’t bring myself to ask for while in my right mind.

Honestly, unless I were some pervert with extreme fetishes, how could I ask a girl like my sister to handle my bathroom needs?

Lana said it was something she did every day while I was asleep, but just hearing that made my head spin with embarrassment.

Even if it were Nigel, Leonor, or Hersh, it would have been awkward, but for Lana to take it upon herself… She even insisted on managing my body herself, saying it was her duty as my sister.

It was both apologetic and deeply shameful.