CH 280.

Battles took place on all the borders between the central and eastern regions of the continent.

The central kingdoms hadn’t expected the Eastern Kingdoms Alliance to have gotten this big and were taken aback.

For them, it was the definition of a dire situation.

The Iberian soldiers had gained momentum and it didn’t seem like they would go down easily even if the central kingdoms attacked them. However, they were afraid of being excommunicated by the Holy Kingdom and couldn’t retreat back to their own countries. 

But from the beginning, the answer wasn’t going to change.

No matter how afraid of being excommunicated they were, it was better than losing their territory that had taken multiple generations to build up.

‘Those who retreat from the frontlines with their troops will unconditionally be excommunicated!’

When the Holy Kingdom got wind of what they were planning, the kingdom once again threatened the central lords, but it didn’t change their minds. The central kingdoms had already decided to retreat. 

Every hour was important. 

Having been weakened by the long war, there was no way the central kingdoms could withstand the eastern region’s attacks. On top of that, with their main force gone from the frontlines, it wouldn’t be strange if the borders were to collapse.

If they delayed, then they may completely miss their chance.

But unfortunately, the lords could not escape from the frontlines.

The Northern Cavalry that had been heading north lingered around the frontlines and massacred all the soldiers that managed to desert the garrison.

However, unlike before, the nobles didn’t give up on leaving the frontline.

“Even they won’t be able to recklessly attack us when we have 4,000 troops.”

In their anxiety, some of the nobles decided to leave the frontlines by grouping together, but the nomads that had split up into units of hundreds had come back together. 

In the end, the nobles who had placed their faith in the 4,000 soldiers to leave the frontlines were attacked by more than 10,000 cavalrymen and died alongside their soldiers.

“From this beginning, this war was unwinnable! We used up a lot of manpower against the Demon King, but unlike us, they had fully conserved their power!”

The nobles finally realized how ridiculous this war was, but it was too late.

They couldn’t propose a truce just because the war situation had become unfavorable for them, at least, not when they’ve been energetically attacking Iberia before. 

“The Pope wants Iberia to be destroyed. As faithful believers, we must carry out His will.”

“Are you a nobleman of your country, or are you a priest of the Holy Kingdom?! Are you saying you do not understand what’s more important in our situation right now?”

Every day, nobles who had come to their senses argued with the enthusiastic fanatics who continued to insist that the war against the heretics continued in accordance with the will of God. 

But from the beginning, they didn’t have a choice. It was the Holy Kingdom who had started the war, and it was still the Holy Kingdom who held the command.

“The noblemen at the frontlines shouldn’t worry about the rear and instead, obey the will of God and put all their hearts and souls into the Holy War. All the heads of the heretics you give as an offering will be the stepping stone for you and your family to enter paradise.”

The rulers of the central kingdoms, who all promptly did the bidding of the Temple, declared the continuation of the war.

The order was enough to cast a shadow over all the hard work the nobles had done until then to defend the border.

“Even if we are lucky enough to win this war, we won’t be able to find the prosperity our kingdom has built up over the generations.”

The desperate nobles mocked themselves. During the war with the Demon King, their countries had been filled with people friendly to the Holy Kingdom and now, their countries were merely vassals of the Holy Kingdom. When they realized that the royal families of their countries all obeyed the order of the Holy Kingdom, even if it would destroy their country, the noblemen gave up. 

“We will continue attacking again.”

The attacks, which had somewhat slowed down, resumed. However, the Iberian Army, whose momentum increased as soon as they heard that the Eastern Kingdoms Alliance had entered the war, didn’t readily give up their borders.  

But, having completely given up on returning home, the nobles unflinchingly resumed attacking the Iberian fortresses.

Once again, several fortresses fell. In the process, the damage suffered by the Central Kingdom Alliance was enormous. The nobles had always ordered soldiers around while they themselves stayed safely in the back. But, unlike usual, they stood at the front and were exposed to the Iberian army’s concentrated attacks. Countless nobles fell. 

It was almost as if this reckless action of throwing away their lives was their last homage to their royal family as well as a protest to their monarch for throwing their long history into the gutter. 

But the monarchs of each country didn’t care about their intentions and labeled their deaths as martyrdom while also giving them a title none of them ever wanted in their lifetime -  martyr.

When so many nobles fell as martyrs, the Holy Kingdom declared a Crusade against the Eastern Kingdoms Alliance. 

However, the Crusade had lost its shine and didn’t interest the Eastern Kingdoms Alliance at all. 

“If the Holy Kingdom goes to war, it is always a Crusade. It has reached the point where the Temple is mistaking their will as God's will.”

Instead, the eastern kingdoms ridiculed them. 

However, for the Holy Kingdom, a Crusade was not something to be taken lightly. 

They said that the war would never stop as long as there was still one believer who was alive and that they would even use the forbidden power that they had never brought out before. 

“There’s something wrong with the enemies, sir!”

The first ones to notice were the Iberian soldiers who had been fighting as they advanced and retreated as they fought against the Holy Kingdom. 

“Die! Die, you evil bastards!”

Squelch. 

The enemy soldier had been stabbed with a sharp spear, but he merely pushed forward more. The Iberian soldier thought his enemy was merely struggling in pain.

But he was wrong. 

The enemy soldier tugged on the spear as he used it to pull the Iberian soldier closer to him. The gesture was so terrifying that the Iberian soldier faltered without meaning to.

Thud. 

He was unfortunate. The Iberian soldier’s eyes widened when as he stepped backward, he tripped over a corpse and fell down. At some point, the enemy soldier had gotten so close to the Iberian that the enemy was able to shove his face close enough for the Iberian to feel his breath. 

“Huh?”

The Iberian soldier’s eyes widened when he saw the enemy’s strangely bloodshot eyes.

“Guh.”

At that moment, the enemy bit the pitiful Iberian soldier’s neck. Blood poured out of the Iberian soldier and he died right there. However, the central army’s soldier continued to bite the victim’s neck with red, bloodshot eyes. 

Soon after, he himself died. 

That scene repeated itself everywhere. 

The central kingdoms’ soldiers acted as if they felt no pain and as long as they could breathe, they charged towards the Iberian soldiers. 

Their bloodshot eyes as they ran towards their enemies while disregarding their lives were similar to those of berserkers in the legends.

The damages were immense. When the tide of the battlefield began to change from the equal footing it was before, even the Iberian army’s commander noticed that the enemy’s condition wasn’t normal.

“We, we can’t stop them!”

But they realized it too late.

By the time the commanders tried to change the situation, the enemies had already turned into beings possessed by an evil spirit and had climbed over walls to leap on top of the Iberians while snapping their teeth.

“Give up the outer wall and fight in the inner fortress!”

In the end, the Iberian army had no choice but to give up their outer fortress and make their final resistance inside the walls.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

A company commander, who was overseeing his retreating troops until the end, glared at the horrendously hellish scene in front of him

“What on earth is this…”

He saw a soldier dragging his leaking intestines while belligerent trying to somehow kill at least one more enemy. Right next to him was a soldier, whose legs were cut off, crawling towards the direction of the garrison, clawing at the earth with his broken nails. 

The young company commander had once faced enemies with the same appearance as them before. They looked exactly like the army of the undead that had been led by the Demon King.

But these were not the undead. The hot breath that was exhaled out of their mouths covered in flesh and blood was proof that they were alive. The red blood they shed was still warm and in its wet, liquid state. 

Grab. 

While he hadn’t been paying attention, an enemy approached to grab his ankle. 

“Hup!”

Belatedly paying attention, the company commander raised his sword high and cut off the undead’s head. The soldier had been constantly moving even with his legs cut off, but only then did the soldier stop moving. 

“Ah.”

The company commander noticed that there weren’t any allies left on the wall. He turned around and tried to leave the battlefield, however, he was surrounded by red-eyed enemies that he never noticed approaching him. 

“This is a nightmare…”

He gripped his sword, but the company commander didn’t last long and his limbs were ripped apart by the enemies who rushed at him like evil spirits. 

Soon after, the fortress’ inner walls were also captured.

***

In the span of a couple of days, close to a dozen Iberian fortresses were captured by the enemy. The fortresses that had endured the enemy’s onslaught until then all collapsed at once.

It was incomprehensible. The Iberian army’s commanders couldn’t understand why the frontline’s balance had suddenly collapsed.

“That place was hell.”

Fortunately, some survivors had escaped from the captured fortress, and through them, the situation on the frontlines was known.

“The enemies were like berserkers, but yet at the same time, also like the living undead. Even if their legs were severed or their limbs crushed, they didn’t seem to feel any pain and ran towards our allies until their heads were cut off.” 

Although the fortresses were all located in different places, the testimonies of the survivors were all the same.

“Can’t be…”

The Iberian Grand Duke exclaimed as he realized in his gut that the Holy Kingdom had done something.

“What is the situation on the other fronts?!”

The officer who received the order from the Iberian Grand Duke quickly left the conference room and returned shortly thereafter.

“It’s, it’s all the same, sir!”

His complexion pale, the lieutenant cried out that the same thing was happening on all the other frontlines that the Eastern Kingdom Alliance was fighting the war on. 

“Sir, they’re saying that after hearing an unfamiliar hymn they had never heard before, the enemies all suddenly changed.”

The terrible news didn’t end there.

“They’re saying that a horde is approaching the border right now, sir!”

“Can’t be…”

“All of them have bloodshot eyes and are being led by a priest, sir.”

The Iberian Grand Duke staggered at the lieutenant’s words.

“There’s a report that the mainland is speculating that the current situation is due to the Holy Kingdom’s secret art which makes their followers into berserker zealots, sir.”

He had thought it was strange that the thoroughly weakened Holy Kingdom would wage a war against the mighty Empire and the eastern kingdoms, but there was a reason. 

Believers all across the continent had been mobilized for this war by the Holy Kingdom. 

“At this point, is there even a difference between the Demon King and the Pope?!”

The Demon King had turned the people of the West into demons and mobilized them for war while the Popo had turned his followers into berserkers and pushed them into battle. In the eyes of the Iberian Grand Duke, both of them were the devil.

“Except for the Seville fortress where Duke Roachim is located, all fortresses have been captured, sir!”

At that moment, another terrible piece of news flew in. 

“Th, the border has completely fallen! The central kingdoms’ forces are flooding over the border, sir!”

The Iberian border had finally collapsed when it could not withstand the attack of the berserkers created by the evil secret arts of the Holy Kingdom. 

“Do whatever it takes to push the frontlines forward. Do not let Iberia become a battlefield!”

While the leaders of Iberia and the Eastern Kingdoms Alliance were taking measures against the Holy Kingdom’s evil secret arts, the missing Indomitable Grand Duke finally returned.