[Vol. 8] Chapter 18: War in Progress
Following the direction of the loud rumbling sound from before, Violet looked up as if she sensed something.
On the tall city walls built between two mountain peaks, walls as high as mountains, large clouds of dust were rising from many places. Even thicker and darker smoke was shooting straight up from the [Iron Ridge], sending a terrifying warning to everyone watching.
At the empire’s border, the Iron Ridge defense line guarding the country was under a massive enemy attack and in great danger!
Following her gaze, the Saintess instinctively looked toward the same place and was shocked.
“This is... the Austre Empire’s Signal Fire?! This is the most urgent call for help, showing that the Iron Ridge is under a full-scale army attack. War has come. At this time and place, how could there be an army...?”
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Before Frederica could finish speaking her doubts, a series of even louder explosions and shaking came from the distant Iron Ridge!
By now, most people in the group finally realized the truth and showed shocked expressions.
This was not an earth dragon rolling over... it was the sound of an army using powerful siege weapons to smash the walls of Iron Ridge, trying to break in!
“Saintess!”
In just a moment, the leader of the elite Holy Knights quickly came over, saluted hurriedly, and reported.
“Your Holiness, the team is organized, no one is hurt, and the horses and beasts are calm. We’re ready to continue traveling at any time. But... what should we do now?”
“Um...”
Frederica glanced at the priestess beside her. She saw that Violet was staring steadily at Iron Ridge and didn’t seem ready to give orders. Frederica was a bit surprised, but then showed a small, almost hidden look of shame. She quickly shook her head to steady herself and said,
“Ahem... If there really is a foreign force attacking Iron Ridge, no matter who they are or what their goal is, we, standing for the Holy Empire, cannot get involved. Otherwise, we could become the spark that causes the war to fully break out.”
“Send my orders, the team will stop moving forward for now and find a safe place nearby to rest. Send scouts toward the border to secretly check the situation, but do not let the empire find out or catch them. Sir Leonard, the Holy Knight captain, you’re smart and know how serious this is. Make sure you send your best people for this, understand?”
“Yes! Your Holiness, please rest assured!”
The Holy Knight captain nodded firmly and turned away quickly, the sound of his armor clanking as he left. Frederica was silent for a moment and let out a worried breath. She was about to say something to the black-haired girl beside her, who had clearly avoided the previous topic, but the girl shook her head and spoke first.
“This attack... feels really strange. Frederica, I will go check what is happening. Later, we’ll meet again after I know more. The war has broken out suddenly, and many things are unclear. You all must be careful, especially about some things in the sky...”
“Uh, what...?”
She glanced at two angels nearby. Leila’s face quickly showed understanding and she nodded, seeming to get the hint. Violet didn’t waste time. Before the bewildered Saintess could say anything, the white wings that had quietly appeared behind Violet gently fluttered, and together with the blonde girl following silently, they rose into the sky and quickly disappeared over the horizon.
“Ah! Please wait...!”
Only now did Frederica, who was stunned by someone suddenly hitting her on the head and making a wild decision, finally react. She wanted to stop it, but the priestess had already flown away without a trace.
“...This really is exactly like the description in the Revelation, what an honor...”
The Saintess had nothing to say and just held her six-winged holy badge tightly against her chest, closing her eyes to pray quietly for a moment. After calming down, she took out a thick, beautifully bound notebook from a small storage space inside and began carefully writing down some notes.
At that moment, two angel sisters came over one after another. They looked at the Saintess’s mysterious actions with curious faces.
“Sister Feli? What are you writing in such a hurry? I’ve seen you do this a lot lately... By the way, didn’t Edwina also like to suddenly write or draw at strange times? Is this some special tradition of the Cecilia family?”
Miss Rene, curious, leaned her head closer, but the Saintess quickly closed the notebook she had just finished writing in and put it inside her holy badge. She shook her head nervously.
“Don’t look! This is an extremely precious original holy text that many believers spend their whole lives trying to see... Ahem, anyway, the contents will be made public someday. Just be patient, alright? For now, let’s hurry and get moving!”
“...?”
………………………………………
Above Iron Ridge
White wings flapped softly, stirring a gentle breeze. The priestess floated with her pet higher than the mountains, quietly looking down at the fortress below, where smoke was rising everywhere. She looked curious.
“There really is a large army attacking the Austre Empire border, but this army... seems to have a complicated makeup.”
At this moment, outside Iron Ridge, dark shadows rushed wildly toward the walls. Hundreds of catapults were lined up behind the troops, launching powerful “cannonballs” into the fortress, causing loud explosions and rising clouds of dust. This was clearly the source of the loud noises Violet and the others had heard before.
But this alone could not explain the strong shaking and earthquake-like tremors that even the Holy Empire team, still half a day’s travel away on another mountain, could clearly feel, making them almost lose balance.
So the real source was something else, and even more shocking.
It was a giant beast.
Just standing on two legs, it was hundreds of meters tall. Almost one-third the height of Iron Ridge’s walls. Its gray body was thick like a small mountain, covered in rock-like muscles and thick fur. Its yellow eyes showed wild, savage power, making anyone who saw it tremble with fear.
The beast looked a bit like a giant ape, but much more fierce and powerful. Its huge hands had long, sharp claws like giant blades. Compared to it, the “Giant Hammer Demons” from the demon world looked like children playing with toys, silly and weak.
This giant beast seemed to be with the army attacking Iron Ridge. It used its huge body, over 100 meters tall, to smash the thick walls again and again. Each hit made the fortress and the surrounding mountains rumble loudly.
Though the shaking was not as strong as the first explosion, together with the army’s constant attacks, in just a short time, the Iron Ridge border fortress of the Austre Empire was in great danger.