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***Another Side***
“The attrition rate of the angel corps is about to break 30 percent!?”
“Will the main cannon be back online soon!?”
“It’s frozen by high-density magic, so there’s no prospect of recovery!”
Confusion reigned within the floating fortress Gorystende.
Because I displayed a divine evasion, the enemy had brought out their full strength.
If they had judged it to be dangerous and retreated immediately, the damage might not have been so severe.
But alas, they were all gathered by those who couldn’t make a decisive move.
“Increase the operational rate of the summoning circle!! Lower-ranking angels won’t do!! Attempt to summon higher-ranking angels!!”
“If we do that, the current front line won’t hold. We should summon as many angel soldiers as possible right now.”
“No!! We should deploy the Hero and make a decisive move to turn the tables!!”
Somehow, they managed.
This gave them even more confidence, and by continuously blocking attacks, they convinced themselves that Gorystende was an unsinkable fortress.
Even after being bombarded with the enemy general’s great magic, the floating units remained intact.
The castle walls had frozen over, but the great barrier units were still functional.
Although the freezing rendered some essential units unusable and the circuits for circulating divine power were malfunctioning, making it difficult to exert their full power, three Archbishops were calculating that they could still win.
Each of them adamantly refused to yield their opinion, and their subordinates desperately tried to implement all of them.
The gap between the upper and lower ranks widened, obvious to any third-party observer.
The Archbishops, blinded by anger, believed they had no other choice.
The priests, lacking initiative, only thought of desperately carrying out the instructions they were given.
And on the very bottom layer, the believers and priests…
“This way, and that way…”
“My throat… but if I stop singing…”
“Oh, God, save us.”
They didn’t even consider what was right or what was necessary.
Having become mere cogs in the war machine, they worked tirelessly, never doubting that their actions were the will of God.
But, perhaps they didn’t realize it.
By spinning their gears at full power, their performance had certainly increased, allowing them to maintain the front line.
However, how long could they continue at their current pace, running at full speed with no leeway?
In reality, the gears were already creaking and screaming.
If even one part cracked and shattered, the whole thing would instantly collapse.
They didn’t understand this.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, everyone was desperately focused on destroying evil.
If Jiro were to witness this scene, he would have likely remarked, “It’s just like my previous workplace.”
No, if anyone other than a shrine official, or rather, anyone with general common sense were present, someone would have pointed out that this was wrong.
However, the collective consciousness did not allow for it.
The evil Demon Lord and his vanguard were present.
Given God’s castle, they couldn’t possibly lose.
God is absolute.
Adhering to these teachings, they interpreted their hardships as a trial from God and threw themselves into it with all their might.
If, by chance, they failed to overcome this trial, it would be dismissed with a single phrase: “Their training was insufficient.”
“Everyone, prepare for the Great Hymn. If we do so, our voices will reach God.”
” ” “Yes!!” ” ”
How many hours had it been since they started singing?
Their throats weren’t dry yet, but it was still excruciating.
The young boys and girls of the choir raised their voices further to supply energy to the castle.
“Repairs on this side are finished!! What about over there!?”
“We’re almost connected!! Then we can use the summoning circles simultaneously!! One will be used for urgent matters, and the other will be used to prepare higher-ranking angels!!”
Inside the frozen castle walls, priests, shivering from the cold, desperately used divine magic to melt the ice and worked on repairing the walls. In front of them, a priest, tethered by a single lifeline, was desperately repairing a magic circle for external summoning.
“Damn it!! This passage is no good!! Use the bypass!! After that, we’ll have the Heroes sortie to confront the wicked pawns of the Demon Lord’s Army!!”
“Prepare for descent!! Prepare all the Pegasi we can deploy!!”
“Strike down the traitors who defy God’s will!!”
And in the lower levels of the castle walls, divine knights, unable to move properly because the hangar for the Pegasi had frozen shut, were preparing to sortie.
Two hundred Pegasus Knights were gathered in this fortress, a considerable number of rare Pegasi.
Few nations could prepare such a cavalry force.
Escorting those Pegasus Knights were the Heroes.
Silently, they awaited their moment to depart, clad in holy regalia, merely observing the scene through their helmets with emotionless eyes.
At this moment, the inside of the fortress was undoubtedly operating at peak efficiency.
They were undoubtedly exerting their full potential.
However, the demons possessed the strength to match that potential.
But they refused to believe it.
In their minds, the Demon Lord’s Army was merely resisting pointlessly because they feared death, judgment, and rebellion against God.
No matter how they resisted, they didn’t doubt that their victory was assured if they went all out.
This counterattack was just a death throe.
They were convinced that soon it would all quiet down, and then it would be theirs.
No one within the fortress was resting.
Without even taking a break, they all aimed to destroy evil with all their might.
Under that conviction, everyone worked tirelessly.
This might be the culmination of exploitative satisfaction, a different form of exploitation than that of a black company.
Destroying evil, justice is on our side, God is absolute.
Having these three principles drilled into them, they didn’t recognize their toil as hardship.
This was a trial.
Therefore, as believers, they would gladly offer themselves to this trial.
With that resolve, they continued their precarious all-out sprint at the edge of a cliff.
They didn’t realize they were sprinting towards their own destruction, nor that they were risking their lives for it, and simply pressed on down the path they believed in.
“Archbishops!! The summoning of higher-ranking angels is ready!!”
“Is that so!!”
“Archbishops!! Reinforcements of angel soldiers have arrived!! Five thousand in number!! We can expect several times that number in additional reinforcements!!”
“Truly!!”
“Archbishops!! The Heroes are ready to sortie!! We can depart at any time with two hundred Pegasus Knights!!”
“Well done!!”
Hoping for victory in the direction they believed in, everyone charged forward with all their might.
Hearing these reports of success, the three Archbishops wore broad smiles as if they had forgotten their earlier argument.
They were so delighted to receive these reports simultaneously, without any need to prioritize.
If they had calmly considered the situation, they would have realized that solo operations had been ordered by their subordinates, but since their plans were being executed, they didn’t care.
They were oblivious to the boys and girls desperately singing to the point of holding their throats.
They were unaware of the priests whose lifelines had fallen off due to the collapse of the castle wall.
They paid no mind to the noble aspirations of the knights who were about to head into a deadly battle.
“Then begin the summoning!!”
“Indeed!! All troops, sortie!! Annihilate evil!!”
“Under God’s will, display the Hero’s power!!”
As if their efforts were a matter of course, the Archbishops consumed the results.
The stored divine power was swiftly depleted, transforming into a divine light and summoning a single angel.
The summoning circles operated at full capacity, and an angel army emerged, engulfing the sky and attacking the Demon Lord’s Army.
The lower hatches of Gorystende opened, and Pegasus Knights carrying Heroes soared into the sky.
This was the moment when the maximum force Gorystende could muster was assembled.
Some believers shed tears, believing they couldn’t possibly lose; this was a miracle from God.
Everyone believed that from this point on, a heroic song to vanquish the Demon Lord’s Army would be sung.
They had overcome the trial.
A sense of accomplishment filled Gorystende.
“We have not won yet!! Keep your guard up!!”
A thunderous voice that seemed to douse their sense of accomplishment brought them back to reality, and the believers bustled about once more.
Remembering that it was indeed true, they returned to the restoration work of Gorystende or began singing hymns again.
The deployment of forces would undoubtedly tip the scales of the battlefield.
A Seraph, wielding a wheel-like weapon, soared from the fortress and, as if declaring “This is the sun,” raised the wheel, unleashing blinding light.
This light empowered the angel soldiers.
Faster and more powerful than before, the angels attacked the demons, causing them to struggle.
By strengthening their great army, they had undeniably pinned down the demons.
And towards the rear of the pinned-down Demon Lord’s Army, the Pegasus unit charged towards the formation where the generals were waiting.
The enemy troops, noticing this, launched anti-air attacks, but their efforts were divided towards the strengthened angel soldiers, and their counterattacks were sparse.
Even these meager attacks were deflected by the light barrier surrounding the Pegasi, failing to diminish their momentum.
A light of hope ignited in the hearts of the believers.
They prayed for the enemy’s main camp to be crushed and for evil to be destroyed, their hands clenching with renewed strength.
“The freezing of the main cannon has been resolved!! The circuits can also be used via a bypass, and although there will be a delay in charging, it can be fired!!”
The good news continued. Thanks to the earnest efforts of the repair team, the main cannon, which had been rendered inoperable by the enemy’s attack, was revived.
This meant that Gorystende’s offensive power had dramatically recovered.
A cheer erupted, and smiles blossomed on the Archbishops’ faces.
“Charge the main cannon with divine power!! With that single strike, we will bring this battle to a victorious end!!”
The end was in sight.
This meant victory was imminent.
The full-speed sprint was over; their hardships would be rewarded.
Their righteousness would be proven.
Such psychological shifts naturally made fatigue disappear, albeit temporarily, from their weary bodies.
When their bodies, which had been suppressed by sheer willpower, were encouraged with “Just a little longer,” and “The end is near,” they naturally moved more swiftly than before.
The Archbishops nodded in satisfaction and turned their gaze to the large screen to watch the unfolding battle.
The angel soldiers were relentlessly attacking the demon army, the Pegasus army was charging into the enemy’s main camp, and the Heroes were wreaking havoc within that camp.
It was clear who was dominant and who was losing.
If things continued like this, they might be able to dispel the prevailing sentiment of disadvantage in the world, the Archbishops mused inwardly, a smile playing on their lips.
“Fuhahaha!! Did you see that!! This is the power of God!! The Demon Race is nothing to fear!!”
“Indeed, their momentum only lasted at the beginning.”
“Quite so, quite so. What is the princess of the Empire afraid of? This is why barbaric empires are so…”
Their attitudes shifted in an instant as they gained an air of superiority.
There was no one present to point this out.
In the end, they convinced themselves that their success was entirely due to the Archbishops’ skill.
Believing in God and pressing forward was the only correct path.
Now, they would simply watch the battlefield unfold.
Without a hint of doubt that it would end there, an Archbishop briefly averted his gaze to signal his attendant Saintess to prepare some wine.
At that moment, the tide turned.
“A, a massive magical reaction!? In the enemy’s main camp, there’s a magical reaction with higher output than before!!”
“What did you say!?”
“Calm yourselves. It’s just a final desperate act.”
“Indeed. Such haste reveals your limited capacity, does it not?”
However, to the nonchalant Archbishops, a colossal blade was forged, soaring high into the heavens as if to say, “See for yourselves!”
***Another Side End***
**Today’s Word:**
Overestimation is fundamentally tiring.
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Pandora Pandemic Panic. Pandora’s Box Has Been Opened Again, but we’re dealing with things in secret bases and such!!
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