A massive spell fired from within the Order’s occupied territory.
The light streaked toward the middle of the advancing Legion forces.
A location crowded with soldiers and tanks.
If that attack landed directly, catastrophic casualties would be inevitable.
Flap......!
At that moment—
A gigantic figure appeared from somewhere and blocked the Legion’s advance.
KWAANG......!
The magic unleashed by the Order believers struck the enormous figure and vanished.
It was a devastating attack that would have inflicted severe damage even upon Legion soldiers.
No matter what kind of creature had appeared, everyone watching assumed it must have suffered fatal injuries.
But when the dust from the impact cleared—
The sight revealed before them was utterly shocking.
Pasasasak.......
There stood a gigantic winged monster.
Its wings had been violently torn apart by the impact, and its flesh was covered in burns.
Yet—
Srrrrk.......
Its wounds were regenerating at an astonishing speed.
The Order believers stared in horror.
'That thing is......!'
Before anyone realized it—
The wounded creature’s wings had fully regenerated, and the monster flapped them as it rose into the sky.
And behind those enormous wings—
'Those monsters from back then......!'
Grotesque creatures with eerie crimson eyes appeared alongside the advancing Legion forces.
Not long ago—
Legion soldiers had infiltrated deep into the Order’s territory before escaping.
Looking only at the outcome, it seemed as though the Legion had fled from the Order.
But thinking back on it carefully—
That battle had essentially been the Order’s defeat for failing to capture a tiny group of enemies who had invaded their own territory.
Even a dog fights harder on its own turf.
While the Legion soldiers had penetrated deep into the Order’s territory—
Countless troops stationed throughout the region had converged to surround them.
No matter how elite the enemy force was, the difference in numbers should have been impossible to overcome.
And yet the reason they failed to stop the Legion soldiers was simple.
PUBUBUBUBUNG.......
While the gigantic bird blocked enemy attacks—
Legion tanks hidden beneath its shadow opened fire.
KUUUNG!
An enormous serpent slammed its head into the defensive wall—
And the barricade collapsed.
“All forces, breach the line!!!”
Through the shattered wall—
Legion soldiers and countless monsters surged inside.
That was right.
This was the reason.
The gigantic monsters that had blocked the Order believers.
Those creatures had rampaged through the battlefield, making it impossible to stop the Legion’s escape.
'I suspected it back then too.......'
Only now did the Order believers become certain.
Though the Legion itself was already an absurdly powerful awakened force—
'The Legion controls monsters!'
They were commanding creatures perhaps even greater than themselves.
“Stop them!!!”
The Order desperately unleashed firepower to resist.
And meanwhile—
Shin Youngjun watched the scene and thought:
'I expected this would be difficult.'
Those forces belonged to Ariella originally.
Naturally, he had anticipated the possibility they might participate in this battle.
But only as a possibility.
He had not believed it likely.
'Fighting on separate battlefields is one thing.'
In reality, Shin Youngjun himself had only used Ariella’s forces in situations where the Legion soldiers could not see them.
But now?
—Advance.
“Move forward under the royal guard’s protection!”
This was not a separate battlefield.
Nor was it like the escape from the Order’s territory, where the Legion received mysterious one-sided assistance without understanding what was happening.
—Krrrgh.......
“The giant bird’s injuries are severe!”
“Provide support fire over there!”
Monsters and Legion soldiers.
Even Shin Youngjun had believed the two sides would struggle to fight alongside each other......
'And yet they’re actually pulling it off.'
They were coordinating perfectly in battle.
And while watching the monsters fight beside them—
The Legion soldiers themselves fell into thought.
'Monsters......'
'And vampires, no less. Never thought we’d fight alongside them.'
Perhaps newer recruits would feel differently.
But {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} veterans who had served in the Legion for a long time still remembered the vampires they once fought against.
Cruel enemies who had devoured innocent humans and turned them into soldiers.
Even when those creatures had helped them—
Most Legion soldiers had still felt uncomfortable accepting that aid.
Ordinarily, cooperation like this should have been impossible.
—As head of the Karshtein Bloodline.......
That is—
—And as the captain of the Legion’s royal guard, I am Ariella.
It would have been impossible without persuasion from the person herself.
***
While the Legion executives were absent—
The vampire queen had revealed herself to the Legion soldiers with the help of escort personnel already familiar with her existence.
Naturally, the backlash had been severe at first.
Some soldiers drew weapons.
Others retched from trauma.
—Today, before all of you.
But—
—I intend to confess the sins I committed.
Unlike the figure preserved in their memories—
The queen was no longer arrogant or savage.
Despite possessing overwhelming power—
She lowered herself completely, confessed her crimes, and explained how she became entangled with the Commander.
And then—
—I will not ask for forgiveness.
Even so—
She did not seek absolution for those sins.
—Even if I am never forgiven...... I only ask for a chance to atone.
Not every Legion soldier accepted her.
Many still harbored resentment.
As long as the weight of her crimes remained, fully accepting them would inevitably take a long time.
But—
'There’s no reason not to at least give her a chance.'
Someone who sought atonement despite possessing such overwhelming strength.
Separate from forgiveness itself—
The Legion soldiers decided to grant her that opportunity.
“The barricade has been breached......!”
And the result—
Was the current battlefield.
“......To think the Legion was cooperating with monsters like those.”
“As expected. Proper faith was never spread among them.”
“To receive the System’s love and still cooperate with creatures meant to become offerings to the System.”
Those monsters appeared to be willingly cooperating with the Legion.
They were cooperating with sacrifices meant for the System.
“Fools.”
Of course—
The Order was not simply standing by helplessly either.
If the Legion intended to deploy vampires, then the Order possessed its own methods as well.
“Go forth, soldiers of the Divine Army!”
—KRRRROOOOOAR!!!
Monsters shrieked as they charged forward.
The Divine Army originally consisted of those who should have perished as sacrifices for failing to be chosen by the System.
The Order had implanted faith in the System into them and granted them the right to die as slave soldiers.
If the Legion’s monsters fought beside humanity in a cooperative relationship for mutual survival—
Then the Order’s monsters were slaves thrown into certain death on disposable missions.
Once the barricade collapsed—
The Order’s Divine Army surged forward to block the Legion forces attempting to push through.
Those rejected by the System charged the enemy as expendable infantry on the front lines.
'Monsters can be answered with monsters.'
Their numbers had already been considerable.
And now, under their Pope’s influence, those numbers had increased even further.
'As long as they hold back the Legion’s advance, our firepower will continue accumulating damage on the enemy.'
Of course—
The Divine Army soldiers intercepting the Legion were being slaughtered mercilessly in the process.
Even worse—
KWAGAGAGAGANG......!
—KRRRRAAAAGH......!
The bombardment intended to strike the Legion soldiers was grinding apart the Divine Army troops fighting mixed among them as well.
But—
The Order believers did not care in the slightest and continued firing relentlessly.
'They were destined to die as sacrifices from the beginning anyway.'
The Order had merely given their lives an opportunity to serve a more valuable purpose.
That alone was already extraordinary mercy.
There was no reason to value their lives beyond that.
'The Divine Army’s numbers are vast anyway.'
As long as they held the line—
Even if every last one of them died, they could still inflict even greater losses upon the Legion.
Thinking that way, the Order believers attacked without hesitation.
Creeeak.......
However—
Contrary to their expectations that monsters could be countered with monsters—
Srrrrk.......
“Continue advancing!!!”
“......!?”
Even after the Divine Army entered the battlefield—
The Legion forces continued pushing forward, crushing through the enemy formation.
“How......!?”
Both sides were clearly deploying monsters as part of their military forces.
And considering the Order held the defensive advantage, the battle should have favored them.
Yet the monsters under their control were being utterly overwhelmed.
And meanwhile—
Their Pope watched the scene and thought:
'In the end, the only monsters the Order could control were unintelligent creatures beneath the level of a true pack leader.'
No matter how exceptional the Pope’s abilities were—
He could not break through the Legion forces surrounding the Order and venture outside to capture new monsters.
The only creatures he could turn into troops were those the Order had already captured beforehand.
Which meant—
'They never captured intelligent species alive in the first place.'
Had they captured all kinds of monsters alive, his power might have converted even those into troops.
But the Order had captured monsters solely with the Crown in mind.
Naturally, the strength of those captured monsters fell far behind Ariella’s kin.
And that was not all.
'Ariella’s kin...... have become stronger than I remember.'
Certainly, the Order’s Divine Army was weaker than Ariella’s followers.
However—
The Order’s forces had consumed dishes created by Shin Youngjun.
To begin with—
'Even they ate food made by me.'
The Order believers who consumed the Pope’s dishes.
Blocking the overwhelming firepower they unleashed should not have been easy.
Yet those creatures were casually enduring the bombardment with their own bodies while escorting the Legion forces forward.
The reason was simple.
First—
They too had consumed dishes he created in the past.
Those effects might pale compared to his current cooking, but they remained tremendously powerful.
Second—
The Legion soldiers were intercepting part of the bombardment aimed at them.
Unlike the Order’s firepower, which indiscriminately ground down even its own Divine Army—
The Legion soldiers were actively minimizing accumulated damage inflicted upon the allied vampires.
And third—
'That equipment.'
Those creatures were not merely monsters.
They were equipped with specialized gear.
[Clothing of the Giant Bird Infused with the Dedication of Supreme Craftsmen]
The equipment blended naturally into their feathers as though it had always been part of them—
Yet dramatically enhanced the wearer’s capabilities.
Back when most vampires retained humanoid forms, the Legion had occasionally outfitted them with standard military gear.
But after the majority became monsters, no equipment had ever been distributed to non-humanoid kin.
There had been no way to explain to production-class awakened individuals why such equipment needed to be crafted.
'As expected, she’s incredible.'
That was no longer the case.
The Pope smiled bitterly.
'Squad Leader Lee Sanga.'
The master craftsman overseeing the Legion’s production classes.
The kin wearing equipment clearly touched by her craftsmanship displayed power even greater than before.
