Chương 197: 0.5 of the Ten Apostles

Inside the Grand Temple Hall of the Church of the Goddess of Life in Dinas, the royal capital of the Sazos Kingdom. A large gathering of high-ranking church officials had assembled here, whispering continuously among themselves with an unimaginable sense of shock and disbelief in their voices. Right in the center of the hall stood the five surviving Apostles who had fled back—bedraggled, filthy, and forced to endure the judging stares and whispers of the entire crowd.

The Ten Apostles had taken a single trip into the Monster Forest, and good grief, only half of them made it back! With such a heavy loss among their elite high-end combat forces, who on earth could possibly digest such a blow? Most crucial of all, these guys hadn't completed a single objective—the Purity Pendant, the Purity Sword, assassinating the monster leader—not a single task was accomplished. To make matters worse, they brought back dire news: the monster army was marching straight toward Haruyin!

Anxiety burned through the crowd. Their voices were urgent and fast, with several officials pointing fingers at the five survivors in blame. A Grand Priest stepped forward, pointing at the remaining five-tenths of the Apostles and bellowing furiously: "You utter freeloaders! You consumed such vast resources from the Church, yet you couldn't even complete such a simple task! Absolute useless scum!" Apostle No. 1 lowered his head and spoke: "Yes! It was our incompetence.

Whatever punishment you My Lords decree, we shall gladly accept it.

"However, My Lords, please take note: an army of over ten thousand monsters is already closing in on the Haruyin Province! It's entirely possible that while we were hastening back to the Church, the monster forces have already arrived in Haruyin!

"My Lords, for the sake of the Goddess's Terrestrial Divine Realm on earth, we must halt the monster invasion. I implore you all to carefully consider our strategy to counter this threat!" These words injected a sharp sense of urgency into the room. The crowd burst into noisy debate once more, causing the entire vaulted ceiling of the hall to hum with chaotic chatter. Seated at the head of the chamber, the Chief Priest felt as though he were standing in a noisy fish market, thoroughly annoyed.

"SILENCE!" The Chief Priest slammed his double-winged staff heavily against the floor. A sharp, echoing clash of metal meeting marble resounded across the entire hall, instantly hushing everyone present. With a solemn and imposing expression, the Chief Priest declared loudly: "Now is not the time to assign blame! Apostle No. 1 is right—what we must consider now is how to resist the monster army and defend Haruyin Province!

"The entirety of Sazos shall become the Goddess's Terrestrial Divine Realm; I will not allow a single flaw upon it! Now, tell me—what should we do?" After a brief, hushed deliberation among the ranks, representatives stepped forward to speak one after another. A Grand Priest took a step forward and suggested: "I propose pulling legions from other fronts to reinforce Haruyin.

"Preferably, we should recall the Haruyin Legion from the frontlines. They are natives of Haruyin with deep affection for their homeland; sending them back to defend their own hearths will surely guarantee high morale and formidable combat power!" Another Grand Priest stepped out to add: "I recall that the eldest son of Count Fisher is the commander of the Haruyin Northern Expeditionary Legion. He commands 3, 000 cavalry.

Combined with the entirety of Haruyin Province's Northern Legion, mobilizing 120, 000 troops should pose no issue." Haruyin was the primary grain-producing province of the Sazos Kingdom, boasting the highest population outside the royal capital, and it had contributed an immense amount of military force to the Northern War. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

It was fair to say that half of the frontline in the war between the Sazos Kingdom and the Donovan Kingdom was held up by the Haruyin Northern Legion alone. If the Haruyin Northern Legion were recalled, what would happen to the northern front? Donovan—a kingdom that worshiped the God of War—was like a rabid dog, single-handedly mauling the other three human nations.

The Akusi Kingdom, a nation of commerce, had been battered to near ruin, with one-third of its territory occupied; word had it that its royal family had already fled from the mainland to a wealthy offshore island. Facing such a hyper-aggressive, bloodthirsty nation, even rushing reinforcements felt too late—and now they were going to withdraw troops? Wasn't that just tearing down one wall to patch up another?

If the Sazos Kingdom dared to recall a massive army from the north, the joint frontline of the Three Human Nations on the northern battlefield would collapse right before their eyes. When that happened, Donovan's iron hooves would trample Dinas—would they have to frantically swap out their national flag and wave it at the window? Just imagining that scene felt brimming with boundless, chaotic energy! Such a superficial problem naturally occurred to everyone present. But how could it be solved?

Regarding this, the Chief Priest had his own solution.

"Rest assured. War can be resolved through diplomacy.

"The four human nations have been locked in mutual slaughter for far too long; it is high time the people were given rest. Let us pause the war.

"Dispatch an envoy to contact the King of Donovan. Tell him that I have heard he has been tormented by gout for years, and my heart aches for him. If he is willing to sign a half-year truce to let the living beings of this world catch their breath, I am willing to bestow upon him a bottle of Holy Water to completely cure his gout!" At the mention of Holy Water, the entire hall gasped. What was Holy Water? How was it made?

No one knew, but everyone knew that a single drop of this substance could restore youth to a person and extend the life of someone on the verge of death! The 120-year-old King of the Sazos Kingdom was kept alive purely by Holy Water, which was precisely why the entire nation had fallen into the palm of the Church as its plaything. For the Chief Priest to offer an entire bottle of Holy Water in exchange for a half-year truce from the King of Donovan—everyone present believed the other side would undoubtedly agree.

After all, a full bottle guaranteed at least fifty extra years of life. If the ruler of a nation could remain on the throne for an extra fifty years, how many policies could he execute? How many grand feats could he accomplish? One must understand that in a feudal era, nothing was more dangerous to a nation than the transition of power between the old and the new.

If the old king could live fifty years longer and grant the nation fifty years of stability, the citizens of the entire country would gladly sell their souls and pool their money just to buy him that miracle water. The Chief Priest instructed the crowd: "Select our finest envoy and send him north to Donovan.

"Ah, right—have the envoy seek out the King of Donovan's mother; she was a Holy Maiden of the previous generation.

"A few years ago, that little girl even came back to visit me. She holds deep affection for the Church, and I've heard her say that the current King of Donovan is exceptionally filial. As long as the envoy persuades his mother, the King of Donovan will surely choose to cease hostilities." The crowd cheered in unison, praising the Chief Priest's brilliance. However, someone added a concern: the monster army was remarkably powerful—would the Haruyin Northern Legion alone be enough to defeat them?

After all, the shockwaves from the First Monster Invasion War had left too deep an impression on the world. The monsters had started with merely a thousand troops, but the more they fought, the larger their numbers grew, eventually smashing Count Fisher's 80, 000-strong army to pieces. This 120, 000-strong force didn't exactly feel like a foolproof guarantee, did it?

After another round of discussion, the leaders decided to pull several legions from the southern Orc battlefield to march north and joint-fight the monster army. As for what to do about the southern front? It could be temporarily ignored. At any rate, the Orcs were merely a band of pillaging bandits who never actually occupied territory; after plundering a batch of supplies and slaves, they would simply run off, posing no existential threat. As for what tragic fate awaited the southern citizens raided by the Orcs?

Not a single noble lord present gave it a second thought. With troop deployments finalized, the Chief Priest looked down at the five Apostles standing in the middle of the hall and spoke in a slow, measured voice: "No matter how you defend yourselves, the Ten Apostles have failed.

"The other five died at the hands of the monsters, thereby expiating their faults through death. But you five must bear the responsibility for this failure." The five knelt in unison on one knee, lowering their heads.

"We await Your Eminence's judgment." The Chief Priest let out an grunt of approval, fairly satisfied with their posture. Pondering for a moment, he said: "The Church is currently short on capable hands. The deaths of Leon the Hero and Vivian are already monumental losses for us; we cannot afford to lose any more of the Goddess's warriors.

"I order the five of you to take turns kneeling before the statue of the Goddess for three months, piously repenting your sins and cleansing the filth from your hearts.

"When you are not repenting, the remaining four of you shall venture out to seek youths with talent to fill the ranks and restore the Ten Apostles!"