His Holiness the Pope has been in an exceptionally good mood recently, something that everyone in the Vatican has noticed. Prince Chris takes a stroll in the garden every day, no longer holed up in the treasury with Lord Abbott busily doing the accounts. The kitchen has been well-stocked, and over 300 people have even received new robes.
"Good morning, Jessica! You're already making bread so early, how diligent!" Prince Chris made a rare early visit to the kitchen to inquire after their morning.
"Good morning, Your Holiness!" Jessica quickly wiped her hands on her apron and gave a shy curtsy.
"Oh, this must be young John! How strong he is, maybe one day he'll join the Knights!"
"Ah, very good, very good!" Chris departed with satisfaction, leaving a room full of perplexed individuals.
The Vatican's income is very limited. The core of Saint Capital still has the necessary expenses of maintaining the Knights and Intelligence Agency, in addition to the Field Agency's daily expenses, which sometimes are stretched thin. But since the treasury has gained an additional 600,000 Lira, Lord Abbott no longer has to rob Peter to pay Paul, at least they can live well for a few months. Chris seems to have found a way to prosper, too. Currently, there are only six executioners like Ray in the whole church. Two of them are permanently stationed outside, two are required to carry out daily tasks and remain for emergency use, Ray has already gone off to make money, Chris plans to find another, instil some new thinking, to contribute more to the church. While thinking about it, he reached the library, a short-haired girl with thick glasses looked up from her mountain of books.
"Lilith, time to get to work!"
~~~
"Here's what you asked for," Ray, having been unseen for almost a week, dropped a heavy sack in front of Rhondstein as soon as he returned to Sunset Fortress.
"I've told you so many times! Don't break in suddenly in the middle of the night!"
"So you're saying I should just march in right in front of the guards?"
"Forget it! Why is there so much?"
"There's a lot of stuff from the orcs, details of their military deployment, transportation records, plans for additional soldiers, you know their magical technology is not that advanced, most of the data is still on paper, the limited imaging crystals are quite heavy.."
"Alright, alright. Any key intelligence?"
"There are three pieces of bad news. Which one would you like to hear first? The worst or the slightly less bad?" Ray held up three fingers, Rhondstein suddenly froze. Bad news? How bad could it be?
"Start with the less bad one."
"The less bad news is, it looks like the orcs are preparing for a new campaign, assembling more soldiers than usual behind the Eastern Rampart. So conflicts in Panini will likely intensify."
"More than usual?" Rhondstein like he's caught onto something, he huffed and said, "What's the second piece of bad news?"
"The second piece of bad news is that the orcs seem to place great emphasis on this campaign, and their target seems to be the Sunset Fortress!"
"What!? How can you be so sure!? And why would the orcs dare!? Not to mention the walls of Sunset Fortress! They haven't even completely taken over the vast Panini plains yet, how can they siege a city!?"
"Ah, this brings us to the worst news! The orcs and the demons, they have probably teamed up!" After saying this, Ray took out a small magic crystal. The blue projection appeared on the table, it was a bird's-eye view of a Red Clay Wasteland, the scene looked like it was at a narrow pass, countless orc soldiers lined the road neatly, and twelve terrifying behemoths passed through in a single file, the orc soldiers cheering so loud it could shake the world.
"Golden Behemoths!" Rhondstein deflated and slumped into his chair, Golden Behemoths, the orcs had won the Eastern Rampart with just 8 Golden Behemoths! But the projection didn't stop there, behind the imposing Behemoth army, a large group of dark-armored cavalry appeared, their red hooves leaving burn marks on the ground as if they were flames.
"What are those?" Rhondstein wasn't very familiar with the demon race, after all, they were from thousands of years ago, with the exception of the church often tasked with exorcising them, very few humans were familiar with them.
"Nightmare Cavaliers, much stronger than Wolf Riders, each one with near-S-level strength!"
"What!? Nightmare Cavaliers?!" Hearing the not unfamiliar name, Rhondstein clenched his fists and slammed his hand on the table. Although he'd never seen them for himself, this incredibly powerful demon unit that has always been mentioned in human folklore, has always had its place in history."So, it is indeed true that they're preparing to assault Cansole Fortress…" Ray said soothingly, patting the marshal's shoulder. "This is no longer a war that can be won by sheer bravery. But don't worry, their preparations will take a month or two. And the Church is always backing you up. Here's a souvenir." He then pulled out a Nightmare Knight helmet, pierced through by sharp blades, from the void.
~~
The news of the orcs planning a new campaign spread across the continent in just a few days. Secret footage bearing the watermark of the Church circulated amongst the hubs of power in various nations. Stunned by the impending threat, the Human Alliance made their decision in mere three days - reinforcements were to be sent to Panini. They couldn't hold out at Cansole Fortress and risk repeating the awful fate of the Eastern barrier. The once impregnable fortress was no stronger than a cookie in the face of twelve behemoth beasts.
Church Knights, Lain Knights, Wester Mage Corps, Freedom Federation Mecha Puppet Corps, Southern Kingdom earth dragon cavalry, Brenian Empire magical airship fleet, and many more, all of the continent's most elite forces gathered outside Cansole Fortress in less than a month.
"Eliot, I'm suddenly a four-star marshal, commanding all the elite armies of the continent. But I can't seem to be happy about it," Rhonstad observed from the fortress, watching the flags of glory fluttering below while wearing a bitter smile.
"The new offensive by the orcs is even more fierce than the last. Three days ago, the scouts encountered the Nightmare Knights. Out of the three top scout teams from Lain, only five survived," Eliot reported, grappling for words.
"Just as Ray said, the Northern Knights of Lain were our only hope against the wolves, yet they suffered such a tragic defeat. This is not a war that can be won merely by fighting fiercely," Rhonstad said, looking out solemnly at the city's walls, pondering, "How are the Star Marked doing? Haven't checked on these youngsters for a while. I can't say whether they're lucky or unlucky. They were merely a fancy team but are now unavoidably drawn into this human survival war."
"Since receiving news about the impending war, Star Marked's training has become even more intense, Your Highness," Eliot answered, looking serious.
"I see, let's go and visit our 'Star Marked'. War is a curse, but it's also an opportunity. If they survive this war, they'll undoubtedly become brilliant stars in the future."
~~
"Without even deploying our top cards, the enemies see through our strategies. No wonder you foolish orcs struggle to survive on this desolate land," the frail-looking demon spoke out in an orc camp covered in bear hide that gathered the orc chiefs.
"Zhuō wēnyun, Gray Shadow the high commander! Your proud Nightmare Knights have been quite useless! Most were killed even before stepping onto the battlefield! And here I was thinking your kind could only partake in disgusting sneaky businesses," yelled Prince Warren, then proceeded to throw a bloody helmet. The silver blood peculiar to the demons hadn't yet dried on it, eliciting cheers and mocking laughter from the orc leaders.
Gray Shadow looked at the helmet with gritted teeth; a demon's life-cycle was long thus every life was precious. But in the recent half-month, 23 elite Nightmare Riders were killed, their murderer still toying around in the land under orc control, something totally unacceptable.
"Your proud Golden Bimons were heavily wounded, and the Wolf Riders suffered countless casualties. All you know is to mock our brave knights! You orcs are truly despicable scum!"
"If you dare say one more word, I'll twist your neck off!" Prince Warren was enraged now for the demon had hit a nerve. His hook immediately pointed up at Gray Shadow's jaw who, in response, put his dim-blade against Warren's neck."Enough! You're all a bunch of morons!" A robust voice came from outside the door. A burly figure wearing the skin of a snow monkey from the far north strode in, knocked Warren to the ground with one hand, grunted coldly at Gray Shadow, and then sat in the top position.
"Big Chief!" Warren struggled up from the ground. Gray Shadow also gave up the argument and saluted to him with lingering fear.
"Black Flag again." The Big Chief glanced at the helmet on the ground.
"Just like a cunning prairie fox, these human hybrids!"
"Big Chief, the human army of three hundred thousand has already assembled outside the Panini Sunset Fortress. Our attack may not be easy," Gray Shadow reported the military situation first.
"Our deployment and the elite have been discovered by humans, who have also made moves. So there is no need for us to rush. Even if they have an army of three hundred thousand, they are nothing but weak humans. Since humans have foolishly given up the city walls and decided to fight us on the prairie, let them know who is the real master of the prairie!"
"Yes, Big Chief!"
"In addition, Gray Shadow, the Great Commander, you will designate the operation to hunt down Black Flag. Call it 'Cutting the Flag'."
"Yes, I will not let down the high trust of the Big Chief."
