The 2nd Corps of the Holy Alliance began moving out of their encampment after lunch. The one hundred thousand-strong army was brimming with anticipation as they marched toward the city up ahead. “Kekeke! Time for another big haul today!” “Just wait for me, tender little wenches! I’m coming for you!” “I missed the smell of blood! Bwahaha!” The Holy Alliance troops were excited at the thought of carrying out murder, rape, arson, and looting against the heretics. One of the things the Holy Alliance did before waging war across the continent was to declare that all war crimes committed against heretics would be pardoned. This meant that every time a city was conquered, the soldiers of the Holy Alliance were given a free ticket to unleash every depraved urge they had deep within themselves. It was all because they didn't consider those who did not believe in the One True God as human beings. Of course, not all of them thought that way. Despite their influence, the Monotheism Church was a relatively new religion. Many of their troops previously followed different religious sects. These men and women felt deep repulsion toward the unspeakable crimes being committed by the soldiers. Unfortunately, they couldn’t speak up. According to the Holy Alliance’s high command, anyone who was not a follower was automatically labeled a heretic possessed by demons. Anyone who dared to criticize or refuse to participate in the atrocities committed was accused of conspiring with the heretics, and they would be subjected to harsh punishments. In fact, there had even been a case where a captain was tried by court-martial and burned at the stake after refusing to decapitate a little girl. That was how ruthless and oppressive the Holy Alliance’s campaign was... The war crimes they had committed were so cruel that even a demon would shriek in horror upon witnessing them. Check latest chapters at 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝗇𝗲𝘵 “Attention, all troops!” As soon as the 2nd Corps arrived at the outskirts of the city, their commanding officer, Corps Commander Fenril, issued an order to all troops. “Kill them all! Don’t leave a single one of those heretics alive! We are the army of the One True God! We strike down these heathens on behalf of the One and Only Creator! Go forth, soldiers of the Divine! Slaughter those heretics!” All one hundred thousand people charged forward, rushing at the city en masse. What would happen next was all too predictable... The city would be instantly transformed into a slaughterhouse drenched in blood, filled with the shrieks and cries of agony. — Kill them all! Spare no living creature! Men, women, children, and the elderly! Kill and take everything for yourselves! As Commander Fenril’s voice echoed through a magical amplifier— A fireball came crashing down from the city’s ramparts. However, this fireball was not an ordinary one that most mages would cast, as it was the size of a house. The soldiers charging toward the city froze as they stared wide-eyed at the massive fireball crashing down from the sky. And that was the last thing they ever saw... A massive explosion occurred. Blazing inferno surged outward, engulfing everything nearby. The soldiers of the Holy Alliance couldn’t even scream before they were instantly incinerated into piles of ashes. One of the senior mages among the Holy Alliance troops recognized the fireball and gasped. The fireball before them was the apex of all fire attribute offensive spells—Hellfire, a tenth circle spell with cataclysmic power. But that was only the beginning... Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoooooosh! More fireballs—no, Hellfire began raining down from above. From atop the city ramparts, cannons shaped like heads of dragons were spitting out Hellfire after Hellfire. They were the Dragonhead Cannons, an artillery designed to bombard the enemy with the tenth circle spell, Hellfire. A sudden bombardment of Hellfires... It did not take long for the infernal blaze to sweep through the Holy Alliance. The soldiers of the Holy Alliance frantically scrambled in every direction to escape the fiery inferno, but unfortunately, the searing flames of Hellfire weren't something one could simply outrun. Even the slightest touch would char one’s flesh into charcoal, and just being near it caused burns so severe that they were beyond treatment. “W-What are you standing around for?! Mages! Put that fire out! Hurry!” Commander Fenril shouted, urging the mages to suppress the blaze. But it was to no avail... No matter how many spells the mages cast, there was no way they could nullify the fiery blaze of a tenth-circle spell. Soon, over ten thousand troops were roasted alive... In the distance, a massive force of one hundred thousand soldiers from the Proatine Kingdom charged toward the Holy Alliance’s lines, under the escort of the Iron Fleet. “T-The Proatine Kingdom’s forces...?!” Commander Fenril gasped. His face went pale at the sudden appearance of the Proatine Kingdom’s army. This was something he had not accounted for at all. The Holy Alliance had seized control of the Kiev Kingdom’s territory, including its warp gate and warp frequencies. They had completely locked down warp travel into the kingdom to ensure that no third party could intervene in this war. This was the reason that Commander Fenril calculated that it would take at least two weeks to deploy troops to the battlefield. After all, with the warp gates sealed, the Proatine Forces’ only option was to march overland on foot. And yet, a force of this size had arrived in under a week? It was baffling—no, it was impossible to comprehend. “W-What the hell is going on?!” Commander Fenril raged. He was thrown into disarray, but that did not change anything. Unbeknownst to him, the Proatine Kingdom had close ties to dragons, and this meant that they had the means to disrupt the warp frequencies without any difficulties. The Proatine Forces slaughtered the Holy Alliance troops like butchers swinging cleavers through livestock, ruthlessly cutting down anyone in their path with overwhelming combat prowess. And that was not all... “For teams of three! Three is more than enough!” A swift order was given to the Proatine soldiers to engage the low-ranking Fallen Angels in groups of three. It was a brilliant and highly effective strategy. The Proatine Kingdom’s soldiers were all devout followers of the Church of Heroes, and each and every one of them served as paladins of the faith. This meant that they wielded divine power through their faith in Siegfried. When three of them worked together, even a low-ranking Fallen Angel could be taken down with ease. In other words, the battle tilted overwhelmingly in the Proatine Kingdom’s favor from the very beginning. On top of that, the Proatine Kingdom’s soldiers were further empowered by someone. A cross fell from the sky. It was the Demonic Cross that Chae Hyung-Seok was bound to. He cast a powerful buff over the Proatine Forces. “I’ll wipe out every last one of them!” Thanks to the buff, the soldiers of the Proatine Kingdom became unstoppable. Chae Hyung-Seok’s buffs were so potent that they boosted the troops' overall combat power by at least fifty percent. But that still was not the end... The true finale of this battle was soon to come. Siegfried stepped forward, unleashing Embrace of Despair and Eternal Flames as he issued his command. “Annihilate the enemy.” The moment those words left his lips— The Proatine Forces roared as they charged with even greater fury, steamrolling what remained of the Holy Alliance. Siegfried couldn’t help but admire them with genuine awe while watching his troops wipe out the enemy lines. The synergy between his debuffs and Chae Hyung-Seok’s buffs was simply monstrous. “Keke! Is this what a knight of the Holy Alliance is?” Even the low-ranking soldiers of the Proatine Kingdom were now mocking, toying, and slaughtering the Holy Alliance’s knights with ease. That was how powerful Siegfried and Chae Hyung-Seok’s combined abilities were—they made the impossible possible. However, there was no time to bask in admiration. Was it because the battle was still raging? Sure, that was part of it. But more importantly, Siegfried treasured every single one of the Proatine Kingdom’s soldiers, so he wanted to prevent casualties at all costs. Of course, there was another reason too. ‘I should gather soul energy while I’m at it.’ Siegfried was already thinking of using this opportunity to accumulate enough soul energy to use Demon Lord’s Descent again later. Although using the skill came with a massive burden on his mana hall, he still had to stockpile soul energy and be ready, just in case. “Kyuuu! Let’s go! Owner punk!” Clutching his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp, Siegfried dashed into the heart of the Holy Alliance’s lines with Hamchi charging right beside him. And what followed was a massacre. Siegfried began swinging his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp like a madman, killing the enemy soldiers with a single strike. Siegfried stormed into the battlefield like a vacuum cleaner, absorbing the souls of his enemies without stopping even for a second. [Alert: You have absorbed an Ordinary Soldier’s Soul!] [Alert: You have absorbed an Ordinary Soldier’s Soul!] [Alert: You have absorbed an Ordinary Soldier’s Soul!] [Alert: You have absorbed a Low-Ranking Fallen Angel’s Soul!] [Alert: You have absorbed a Low-Ranking Fallen Angel’s Soul!] He absorbed a wide variety of souls. Each one offered a different amount of soul energy depending on its type, but Siegfried did not particularly care. The only thing that mattered to him was the total amount of soul energy he had gathered. Did it really matter how much each individual soul was worth? As long as he killed them all and absorbed their souls, that was enough. [Soul Energy: 1,121.7] ‘A thousand? That’s not enough at all. I will need at least five thousand.’ Siegfried aimed to gather enough soul energy in this battle to meet the minimum activation threshold for the skill Demon Lord’s Descent. Once activated, the skill consumed five thousand soul energy instantly, granting him a short one minute of access to his power as a demon lord. To maintain it beyond that time, an additional one soul energy per second would be consumed. Unfortunately, Siegfried couldn't absorb more soul energy while Demon Lord’s Descent was active, making the skill impossible to sustain indefinitely once activated. Thus, he needed to absorb as much as he could before activating the skill, and to do that, he needed to kill as many as possible. While Siegfried and Irene each led their armies against the 2nd Corps and 3rd Corps of the Holy Alliance... “S-Supreme Commander! Sir!” General Effenberg was in the middle of coordinating a massacre when he received an unexpected report. However, this was not a report of the 2nd Corps and 3rd Corps engaging in battle against the enemy. “Central command has sent a new commander, sir!” “...What?” General Effenberg murmured, furrowing his brow at the sudden news. A new commander? Then that could only mean that he was being removed from his post as the Supreme Commander—effective immediately. Caught off guard by his abrupt dismissal, General Effenberg turned to the messenger and asked. “What reason did they give for relieving me of command so suddenly?” “I do not know, sir! I was simply told it is an official order from the central command...” “I do not have the clearance to access such details, sir.” “Then who’s my replacement? Is it Lieutenant General Bruno? Or perhaps, Lieutenant General Heinel?” The names that came from General Effenberg’s mouth were those of generals who had long been a threat to his position. “Then who? Who could they possibly appoint as the new Supreme Commander? Replacing me even though I’ve been fulfilling my duties just fine—” The tent flap parted, and someone entered the tent; the hem of their coat fluttered behind them. On the uniform beneath the coat was a rank insignia that made everyone freeze in their places. General Effenberg’s eyes widened at the sight. The newcomer held the rank of Marshal, a five-star general. He held the highest rank in the military. General Effernberg’s body reacted before his mind could even process what was happening. He shot up from his seat and raised his hand in a sharp salute toward the man who had just stepped into the tent. ‘Who the hell is this?’ Even as he saluted, a question echoed in his mind. To his knowledge, not a single person in the Holy Alliance’s current chain of command held the rank of Marshal.