Alne suddenly woke up, having unknowingly fallen asleep on the desk after a night of studying and handling tasks.
Blinking for a mont, she soon hurried to her father with a pale face.
"Father!!"
The Emperor, equally busy with state affairs, saw his daughter's disheveled hair and chuckled softly.
"It seems you fell asleep at the desk again. It's good to be passionate about learning, but be careful not to get sick..."
"Devil worshippers have appeared in Scrap Yard!! Ione has moved there with the power of Dulaneor and is currently engaged in combat!"
"Scrap Yard?"
Alne nodded, sharing all the information with the Emperor in real-ti.
"The saint was found collapsed in the basent, and a giant pillar of light bearing the emblem of the Goddess Lilia is illuminating the entire city. Thanks to that light, all the devil worshippers and dark mages in the city have reverted to their original forms. The White Order's First Company is currently in combat!"
At this, the Emperor imdiately sprang into action.
"Summon the commander of the Black Fortress!! Imdiately!!"
Within just 20 minutes, a man appeared before the Emperor.
A thin, muscular man with an expressionless face.
His plain and dry deanor showed no particular features, yet he was the one who knew the most secrets in the empire.
"Give your orders."
The commander of the Black Fortress, Otto Delmark, asked without any formal greeting.
His attitude might have been considered rude, but neither the Emperor nor Otto cared about that.
"There are devil worshippers in Scrap Yard."
"What would you like done with them?"
"Exterminate them."
"How far shall I go?"
"Mobilize the soulless ones."
"It will be done."
The conversation ended.
As soon as their exchange concluded, Alne raised her voice.
"Father! Please send to the scene!"
"It's too dangerous, Alne."
"I must go for three reasons. I can share information in real-ti with Ione, which will be very useful in understanding the battlefield situation. Secondly, I need to build my rits to beco the legitimate successor to my father. Third, I am well-connected with the Royal Family, the Pantheon, the Tower of Magi, and Karma Company."
Alne's voice was full of conviction.
"I can help suppress the devil worshippers and manage the various organizations that will inevitably be involved during the process. After handling the situation, I can also assist in the city's reconstruction. Trust and leave it to ."
The Emperor gave a wry smile at Alne's earnest request.
He didn't hesitate for long.
"Otto."
"Your command, Sire."
"Take Alne with you. Act according to her commands. From this mont, she is my proxy. I delegate full authority to her to resolve the situation in Scrap Yard."
"It will be done."
"Both of you, depart imdiately."
Otto turned silently and swiftly left the room, and Alne, after giving her father a quick bow, hurried out as well.
"Otto, how quickly can we get to Scrap Yard?"
"We'll move using the Black Fortress's airship. It would take about 5 hours from the capital to Scrap Yard."
"Isn't there a faster way?"
"While teleportation could work, it's only feasible for small troop units. A large-scale teleport that could move the entire airship is still impossible."
At that, Alne stopped abruptly.
"Prepare the troops on the airship for battle. I'll visit the Tower of Magi briefly."
She smiled.
"I know a witch capable of teleporting the entire airship."
****
After several summonings, the entire First Company of the White Order had been summoned to Scrap Yard.
Their leader had also been summoned to the sa place.
"I have responded to your call, Saintess."
Distinguished from the other mbers of Cæteratus by a skull-shaped helt, a massive silver shield, and a sword just as large, Al Madai, the Grand Master of the Legiones Cæteratus, was summoned to Scrap Yard.
"Where are the demons I must tear apart? Give the order!! I will make them all repent!! Ohhh, Dulaneor! I have been waiting for a day like this. After only tearing apart small fry, I finally get a real fight."
Seeing his childlike excitent, Ione rubbed the back of her neck, her expression suggesting her blood pressure was rising.
"Just give the order, Saintess! I will go and kill all the suspicious ones in this city!!"
Seeing him shout, Ione raised her hand to stop him.
"Thanks to the pillar of light, the demon worshippers and dark mages can no longer hide their identities. Therefore, only the clearly confird enemies should be dealt with. Minimize collateral damage as much as possible. Al Maday, do you understand?"
"Yes? But that goes against the Codex Prolilium, Saintess. Those who are suspicious must all be captured and made to repent!!"
At Al Maday's shouting, Ione started rubbing the back of her neck faster.
"Do you rember what happened last ti, when you did the sa thing in the southern region and injured the child of a powerful noble family? I had to speak to my father to resolve it, didn't I?"
"..."
"I'm not telling you to violate the Codex. But how many tis must I tell you that you need to understand Dulaneor’s true intention within it?"
"......"
"When the Codex was written, the threat of demons was far more serious than it is now. It was only natural to accept collateral damage in order to capture the followers. But now, it’s not like that. We must protect those we can protect. And don't we clearly have a situation where the enemies and allies are distinguishable?"
"But the Codex Prolilium..."
Finally, Ione exploded at this frustrating response.
"Grand Master!! Did the Codex tell to obey you or not!!"
"It did."
"Then obey as I command!! Minimize collateral damage!! Make sure no civilians are hard!! The mont any of the Ketraatus mbers harm these workers, you’re banned from going out for a year!"
At those words, Al Maday’s eyes grew wide.
"That... I must make the heretics repent for Dulaneor!!"
"Then stop causing accidents!! You’re not a child!! I’ve had to clean up your ss three tis in less than a month, even though I’ve been in the Order for less than a year!! Three tis!! What do you even do well, if not fight? That’s why, despite having been in the Order longer than Assistant Minister Mirol, you’re still only a captain!!"
"......."
"Follow my orders. Only capture the demon worshippers and dark mages. Got it?"
Al Maday lowers his head.
"But the Codex Prolilium..."
"Shut up!! Go capture demons!! I’ll leave the other squads to you, except for the First and Fourth. I’ll deal with the demons on the surface, you take the rest and head into the underground mines!! Because of the pillar of light, most of the demon worshippers have fled underground!"
At these words, Al Maday's gloomy voice brightens.
"Into the underground mines?"
"Yes. And there’s a strong stench coming from that direction. It seems their stronghold is underground. I’m giving you the order to annihilate them. Al Maday, don’t leave a single demon worshipper or dark mage alive. Understand?"
At this, Al Maday smiles as if nothing had happened, slapping his chest.
"I will obey the order, Saintess! I will make them repent imdiately!"
Ione, looking as though she wanted to cry, glared at Al Maday for a mont before turning her gaze toward Kal Lenaro.
"Please guide this person to the entrance of the mine."
"Pol! Please guide him to the mine entrance!"
Imdiately, one of the labor theorists attached themselves to Al Maday, and he cheerfully picked up his large sword and shield, starting to move.
"It’s ti for repentance!! Heretics!! It’s ti for repentance!!"
Watching him disappear with loud thuds, Kal Lenaro gives a stunned expression.
"Truly... um... reliable. Your Highness."
"You can just call him a brainless fool, Kal Lenaro."
Kal Lenaro awkwardly smiles as Ione watches Al Maday and the rest of the Ketraatus mbers disappearing into the distance.
"This Order causes so much trouble. The White Order. The term ‘accident-prone’ fits them more than anyone. But..."
Their overwhelming desire to eliminate demons and the followers of the Evil God leads them to continuously cause incidents.
That was the essence of the White Order as Ione had understood it.
However, despite their endless blunders, the White Order is considered one of the key orders in the Pantheon, and the Imperial family and nobles continuously give them special treatnt. There’s a reason why, unless the accidents are especially severe, they’re always overlooked.
"As far as I know, they are stronger than anyone else. Demon hunters, the hunters of the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Evil Gods. No matter what is in the underground, they won’t be their match."
****
The demon worshippers and dark mages, avoiding the pillar of light, descended into the underground mines, panting heavily.
Most of them had been severely injured from the exposure to the powerful holy energy.
But the more desperate thing was that they could no longer feel Mammon’s power.
"What the hell happened? Damn it!!"
One of the dark mages swore loudly.
The plan had been going smoothly.
But in an instant, everything had turned into nothing.
Mammon’s power had suddenly weakened, to the point of vanishing, and they had been heavily wounded by exposure to the holy energy.
It was an incomprehensible situation.
But there was no ti to calmly figure out what had happened.
"Dulaneor!! Damn goddamn bastard, they’re coming!!"
"This is hell!!"
The dark mage, unable to hide his identity, gave orders to the abominations that had already transford.
"Go! Block the enemies! We need to buy ti! I’ll bring out that guy who’s preparing down there!!"
[Understood, Priest.]
As the followers rushed to block the Ketraatus, the dark mage hurriedly descended into the mines.
On one side of the mine.
A magical circle drawn in blood caught the priest’s eye.
"Please. Please, hurry!!"
The dark mage quickly gathered his malice and poured it into the magic circle.
The sounds of gunfire and screams were getting closer.
The dark mage's hands moved even faster.
And finally.
At the last possible mont, the ritual was completed.
"Answer my call!!"
Light poured out of the magic circle, but soon after, a damp, dark portal opened, and from within, beings began to slowly erge.
The foul, rotten sll.
Their massive forms.
The sound of their footsteps and the rotting skin.
In the end, these were the words of humans who had offered their souls to Mammon for greed.
They were the corrupted ones.
Mammon’s granted powers had been severely reduced, so only a few hundred of the corrupted beings appeared instead of the thousands that should have erged, but it was still better than nothing.
"Go! Go and swallow your master’s enemies... Argh!!"
With the sound of a thunderous explosion, the dark mage's body exploded.
Having used all his malice to summon the corrupted beings, he had nothing left to defend himself and died.
The corrupted beings approached the exploded corpse of the dark mage, began devouring the flesh, and then, roaring like mad, ran toward the First Company.
"Mammon’s disgusting flesh chunks!!"
Seeing this, Al Maday pushed through his own n and stepped forward.
Powerful holy energy began to gather around his shield and sword.
"Lower your guns and pick up your swords and hamrs. Brothers! Bullets won’t work on those rotten bastards. Each company’s Igniter squad, move forward and burn the enemies!!"
At those words, all the Ketraatus mbers holstered their guns and raised their cold weapons.
The Igniter squad, carrying huge tanks on their backs, stepped forward, and they snapped their fingers.
Fuel mixed with concentrated elixir sprayed from the tanks and ignited as it ca into contact with Dulaneor's holy energy.
Brilliant blue flas erupted above the holy knights' hands, and soon, they were shot toward the rotten flesh.
Terrible screams erupted.
But none of the Ketraatus mbers quivered in fear.
They charged forward.
They struck and hacked at the burned rotten flesh with their swords and hamrs.
Al Maday shouted.
"We are the swords! We are the wrath!! We are the last thing you will see on this earth!! Brothers! Do not stop!!"
He swung his greatsword.
The brilliant holy energy-infused greatsword cleaved through the corrupted ones.
He roared like a beast.
"Rip them apart, and kill them!!! Until Dulaneor’s thirst is quenched!!"
Flas and tal.
The sound of flesh colliding, creating a dizzying noise.
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