1119 Arrival

The moment they had seen the rest of the second wave of the Church move so that their attacks could strike their brethren, Jonah had felt the Bishop open and close her mouth beside him before stuttering out a single sentence.

"Are-are you kidding me?"

The question was only met with silence from the commanders, who were all equally dazed from what they were seeing.

Jonah knew that they had all repeatedly told themselves that what had happened with the first wave would not repeat…so he could tell that as this promise was shattered, so were they.

Almost all the commanders who had been elevated to the position due to their power began to stutter or stare just like the Bishop, and it was only the veterans who had gone through many battles that managed to stay silent. Their shock knew no bounds too, but because they had lived long enough to be able to control themselves even if their world fell apart in front of them, they maintained their dignity while the rest simply stopped caring about what anyone thought.

Feeling the Bishop finally move, Jonah turned and saw that she had raised her hands and was looking at them as if they held the answer to her question. Alas, there was nothing of the sort that could be gleaned, so she buried her face in them and began to shake her head to and fro after bending while muttering a single word over and over and over again.

"No, no, no, no…."

For the briefest of moments, Jonah once again glimpsed that simple girl who could almost be called innocent. It didn't last that long, though… because a figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the room.

"Humph. Look at you all. I always did say that the Church is becoming too soft…do you know how much we had to go through to establish what you see now? You face a few difficulties, and you revert to the squabbling children that you are? It's shameful. Shameful! Control yourselves! Now! Bishop, I expected more from you. Commanders, perhaps you do not deserve your posts. And analysts… get in here and do your damn job."

It almost seemed as if the Saint had been waiting to arrive at just the perfect time so that he could catch them all red-handed. The familiar spike of fear due to his encounter with this man before once again swept through Jonah's mind, but surprisingly, he managed to shove it aside in barely a few seconds.

After thinking about why he had been able to do so…he realized that it was because of all the victories that Angaria had achieved so far.

He had made it his life's goal to get Angaria past this hurdle, and even without him doing much, they were performing wonderfully. If the third wave was also destroyed in the same way…he could die in peace.

He decided to simply wait to find out the reason behind this new turn in events, but just as he was about to avert his eyes like the rest so that his defiance would not be noticed, the Saint turned in his direction and looked at him with those unwavering eyes.

They were the same eyes that had pierced deep in his consciousness before, but Jonah only stared back after finding the courage within himself somewhere to not bow down any more. He was proud of his disciple and his homeland, and he would not let this individual besmirch that pride in any way.

From the way the Saint's mouth tightened as he saw this, he knew that man must've decided to take care of him later, but at the moment, Jonah couldn't care less. He was curious, though, about how Angaria had achieved this victory, so he waited for the explanation of the analysts once again.

They were even more terrified than before, but the terror also spurred their leader to respond quickly. As soon as she appeared in the room, she began to give the answer.

"During the last assault of the Church, an ancient consciousness helped us to sacrifice enough Energy sources to facilitate the teleportation of an entire squad. In return, that consciousness was promised a body and a position at the head of the next force that would attack. He was a highly valued asset as he was also supposed to give information about the target…but during the return journey, a mishap occurred. He was reported to always have been very arrogant, but he reportedly picked the wrong people to piss off. After insulting a squadron leader to his face and then actively attacking his consciousness, he was killed in a single blow. Compared to the major loss that we faced then…this seemed to be a pretty unremarkable accident that was only investigated a little and then closed. That squadron leader…is the same one who was in command of the backup wave that defected. He specifically pulled strings so that he would be in that role…but as it is normal for those like him to try and get positions that are relatively danger-free, nothing untoward was noticed. It is obvious now that that consciousness somehow took control of the squadron leader."

She paused here to take a breath, as she wasn't powerful enough to be able to survive without needing air. In the brief moment of silence, though, the Bishop blurted, "That's absurd. We saw his power level…he was a weakling! How could he have targeted and brought down someone whose level is even beyond what these insects are capable of?"

Jonah hadn't been watching when the Bishop had composed herself, and when he glanced at her now, he saw that she almost looked like she was back to her normal self.

Only…her voice had broken at the end of the question she had asked, and at that moment, he could swear that he had seen her breakdown again for the briefest of moments.

His disciple had clearly played with her so much that she was now like a fragile piece of pottery that was trying to keep itself together even though it was being thrown around the room again and again. It was commendable that she had managed to put on an act for the Saint to see, but as expected…the man was not fooled.

Unlike normal people, he did not need to bang his hand down on a table or stand up and kick back his chair to show how displeased he was. All that was needed…was a simple narrowing of his eyes, and instantly, everyone in the room felt themselves being thrown into the air and then slammed down onto the ground, face-first.

This shocked Jonah, as he had been thinking that only the image of the Saint was present. If he could transmit this much power over such a long distance so freely, then what was stopping him from stepping into the confrontation directly?

The answer to this came when Jonah raised his head with difficulty to see that an object in the center of the room was glowing brightly. The tiled floor was made of a dark substance that was made to look like it had the sun and stars hidden within it, and as far as he knew, it was only a special type of flooring that was famous on the Mainland. He hadn't even noticed it until now…but when he saw that one of the tiles was the source of the light, he realized right away that he had forgotten one very important function of them.

They could hold Energy, and be used for various things even if someone was far away.

Typically, people only used them to do things such as power light sources, but the Saint was so proficient in handling Energy that he was able to use the small amount present in the tiles to show them their place.

What he had done wasn't all that powerful, but the main thing that was impressive was that he had done it so quickly and in such a way that none of their defensive trinkets had been triggered. Any of them could break away from the pressure if they wanted to now, but no one dared to do so.

"These 'insects' are responsible for more losses than any of you can afford. If word gets out, we would be the laughing stock of the Mainland. Analyst, continue."

Even she had been slammed to the floor, but feeling the pressure on her vanish now, she stood up hastily and said, "After studying the information available, I found out that this being has survived since the age of the Empire, as they call it. During that age, there was a talented individual who created techniques that are comparable to those on the Mainland. It is probable that he might also have created something that could be used by a powerful consciousness that has lived for so long. Judging from what they were capable of, my guess is that it is either one that sacrifices half of one's consciousness to take control of the entirety of another, or one that sends the user into a long hibernation after taking control…either way, my calculations say that if enough planning is done beforehand, it is entirely possible for something like this to happen as it would be completely unexpected. No one was anticipating that consciousness to turn on us, especially after murdering tens of thousands of his own citizens to take the side of the Church. When taken completely unawares, after entering the private space of an individual… success is easy to achieve."

Hearing her, Jonah was reminded of his own actions when he had placed that repugnant guy in the infirmary. After having it pointed out in this way, it certainly seemed possible…but he just couldn't believe that Arnold was the one responsible for this incredible victory.

If he, himself was feeling so much disbelief, then he could imagine just how much astonishment the rest must be feeling. It truly was as if the Heavens, themselves, were working against them, but putting all such thoughts aside, he waited to hear what the Saint would say.

As their lifespan was measured in the thousands, he had always thought that Saints must be experienced enough to be able to hide their emotions when needed. He seemed to be wrong, though, as Saint Hisos made his displeasure felt clearly when he shouted, "Defeat after defeat. I will not stand for this! This mission is being carried out under my name! If it is besmirched…you will pay with blood. If I could, I would send more soldiers, but the absolute limit has already been reached. Besides…this continent is very important to the TriCobra sect, for some reason. We have received news that they might even be planning an attack on our headquarters in the Mainland to distract us so that we won't be able to send reinforcements! I don't care what you do. The third wave is your last chance. Either win and return, or give up the lives you've gotten used to so far. That will be all."

The echoes of his words were still present in the air when Jonah, the Bishop, and the rest of the commanders started to recover.

The Saint had not stated directly that he might intervene, but the anger he had seen made him fear that there might be something going on again that he was not aware of. After a moment, though, his thoughts went back to that ancient consciousness that he had assumed, like everyone else, to be one of the many forces in his disciple's path. He relived that moment when victory had been snatched from the jaws of defeat, but after a second, he couldn't help but imagine what would have happened if Arnold hadn't acted, and this made him turn to the Bishop.

Everyone had thought that she had only meddled with the numbers of the first wave…but it was obvious now that she had done so with the other two, too. The third wave was the biggest and strongest, so if she had somehow managed to double it, too, did Angaria stand a chance?

Only time would tell, but in Jonah's heart, the conviction that Angaria would get out of this without too much damage began to take root, accompanied by a thought that echoed in his mind.

Two down, one to go.