novelraw #263 - Section 263
#263 - Section 263
Imperial soldiers were already renowned for their combat prowess, possessing a wealth of new equipment and having waited for years, they demonstrated what it meant to be a tiger descending from the mountain.
They unleashed their painstakingly honed new tactics and defeated the enemy in their most proficient form of combat, staging a complete and utter psychological blow.
Roger, as the primary architect of the Empire's current tactical and strategic system, naturally felt a sense of pride and the satisfaction of watching his own 'problem child' grow up.
Judging by their condition, the Imperial First Fleet was far from perfect; two days ago, they were still on Target A planet, engaged in a decisive battle with another Pope, with no rest or resupply in between before rushing here to continue fighting.
Admittedly, this force was riding high on morale and held the advantage of a complete surprise attack, but from another perspective, they were also somewhat underestimating their opponents, launching into battle with outdated intelligence.
The Eternal Night Empress, once in combat mode, was indeed ruthlessly tough, often pulling off various illogical maneuvers, using relentless offense to crush her enemies.
The scenes that e-sports audiences love to admire are team fights as beautiful as a painting, and Her Majesty just happens to be a lover of creating grand scenes, executing fluid commands that often push operational limits, leaving enemies spitting blood while losing inexplicably.
She was, after all, an outstanding student who, in her teens, used her even more barbaric offensive logic than bandits to shatter the defense lines her elder brother had painstakingly designed!
Therefore, the First Fleet, with its powerful mobility and no weaknesses exposed by even the most powerful traditional forces in the universe on both offense and defense, was a sight to behold when attacking, even to a layman.
The war correspondent for 'Long Live the Queen' newspaper used magical drones to continuously film the battle scenes from multiple angles, along with the Eternal Night Empress's decisive and unparalleled demeanor.
This footage, when taken back to show the citizens of the Empire, would definitely drive the alcohol sector up by twenty percentage points or more.
In the past, the Empire also had great victories, but without such comprehensive filming and publicity methods, nor such a terrifying technological advantage.
Roger also viewed this "small test of strength," which was even more spectacular than a game's CG final battle, from an angle not shown in the game.
After all, game development funds were limited; such scenes involving nearly a million combat units would make the artists vomit blood and the rendering servers overheat.
After Xia Na inherited Nali Nai'er's memories, her emotions towards the Eternal Night Empress became even more complicated.
She was the culprit who tricked her, a nightmare for a long time, but also one of her creators.
At the same time, she was also the most perfect monarch in Nali Nai'er's heart; Little Ao and a series of clones created based on the Eternal Night Empress were the beings Nali Nai'er had the most contact with in her later memories, naturally leaving an extremely deep impression.
When Xia Na arrived in the Empire, it had already entered a period of recuperation, so she had never seen the Eternal Night Empress in true combat.
Now, watching her beat the alien hicks from close range, even as a woman, Xia Na felt a surge of excitement.
She suddenly understood why Margaret became a fan of the Eternal Night Empress; as the top figure in the military, constantly witnessing such an absolutely confident and stunningly beautiful woman, being swayed was a very normal occurrence.
Especially after comparing countless worlds and regimes in her memory, her sense of recognition for the Azure Vine Empire was even higher.
The ordinary life she had taken for granted was already a paradise that many people dreamed of.
So when Pope Louis gave up and wanted to pull off some crazy moves, Xia Na, with the keen sense of a top-tier believer, discovered that he wanted to play a suicide game.
Thus, once again, with her understanding of divine arts, she directly broke through the heavily guarded Church headquarters with Roger, rendering all defensive measures useless—
Many of these technologies were developed by Nali Nai'er's subordinates and sold to other believers of the gods, so Xia Na naturally knew their advantages and disadvantages like the back of her hand.
She didn't grasp many of the Seven Gods' secrets, because that would expose herself, but she knew everything about the methods below the gods. Even angels of the same rank would have no secrets or off-table operations against the Empire in the future, all under Xia Na's control.
Pope Louis was not a combat-type talent; he was a management and diplomacy talent cultivated by the Church, maintaining the War God Church's detached status by navigating among many powerful countries at the lowest cost.
Therefore, facing two combat units above the legendary level breaking through his meticulously arranged defenses during an uninterrupted and focused spellcasting process, he was naturally captured without resistance.
The plan to cripple all believers with the Faith Spirit Orb was something even his subordinates couldn't know, because even the purest faith would rather die in battle than be a drooling idiot for the rest of their lives!
So the Pope's plan never materialized; the Faith Spirit Orb was happily accepted by Xia Na, and his actions and intentions were announced, causing the Church's most resistant forces to be greatly indignant towards the Pope.
At the same time, they were surrounded by the First Fleet's inescapable net, so the remaining forces of the Church either committed suicide or surrendered, completely abandoning resistance.
"Store energy, prepare for the warp to Target C planet!" The Eternal Night Empress looked at the remaining supplies, estimated that it could support her for two more enjoyable battles, and excitedly gave the order.
"What are you devils, destroyers, world-destroying scum, what are you after?! Just destruction and venting?!"
Pope Louis heard that these madmen were winning and leaving in a hurry, and his whole being was about to collapse.
The things he had schemed for his entire life were like garbage that could be discarded at will in the eyes of others; he really couldn't accept it.
"Before you accuse the Empire of invasion, I want to ask you, have you really protected this world?"
Hearing the defeated's exasperated questioning, the Eternal Night Empress was not angry, but rather asked about his feelings with interest.
Chapter 240: Undetectable Evil
Protect this world?
Pope Louis pondered, not knowing how to answer for a moment.
For a ruler in his position, everything he did was hard to say whether it was good or evil; protecting this world was also to harvest more faith power for the gods, not such a pure "protection".
But, an invader righteously questioning whether he had protected this world, what was that all about?
So for a moment, he couldn't figure out if the enemy general's words contained any traps, and didn't answer immediately; instead, another prisoner next to him, an emotionally agitated young man, shouted loudly:
"If we didn't protect our world, how would we be here?"
His name was Hardt Pandit, Pope Louis's younger brother, the vice-commander of the Paladin Order.
But unlike his brother, who was an administrator, he was a true paladin, keeping the creeds of protection, honor, and compassion in his heart, always rushing to the front lines of battle.
After failing to fight the Empire's virtual magic god with external assistance, he chose to commit suicide in despair, but because his physique brought powerful self-healing abilities, he didn't have the strength to give himself a follow-up blow, and his suicide failed.
Then he was casually saved by the Empire's medics; he had no chance to commit suicide again, and secondly, he felt a little embarrassed.
After all, suicide is always a product of emotion; most suicide attempts will be regretted halfway, and many who have died once and been rescued will live normal lives.
There is a saying that the only way to truly test the determination to commit suicide is to refuse food and starve oneself to death.
The process is long enough to allow for repentance; being able to resist continuous hunger and not eat really means giving up hope.
For example, a knight with Hardt's super-high physique could probably resist hunger for a long time, right?
At this moment, as one of the high-level members of the War God Church in this world, he was also brought before the Eternal Night Empress, but in fact, his brain was in a relatively blank state, thinking about nothing.
As a result, he suddenly heard the Eternal Night Empress's question, and his emotions exploded.
He could accept defeat, but he couldn't accept being accused by the invaders that they hadn't protected their world.
They really tried their best; braving the artillery fire to reach the edge of the Empire's battle formation, constantly watching one comrade after another fall, he knew very well how hard everyone tried.
But so what? Their equipment couldn't compare, their personal strength couldn't compare, and the enemy's command post was in the fortress in the sky, looking unapproachable, not even giving them a chance to gamble on a surprise attack.
In fact, the Eternal Night Empress was very disappointed that the enemy didn't even try to cause her trouble.
She used to be the Empire's biggest trump card and turning point in the war, and of course, she is still one of the trump cards now, but the enemy is not strong enough, and she doesn't even have a chance to play...
Because among the many trump cards, she is the most stable, the one whose power has been fully verified, and it is impossible for her to be called upon until the other trump cards have been forced out.
The Imperial soldiers all felt that in the past, Her Majesty protected everyone, but now everyone's strength has improved, their combat power has increased, please let us protect Her Majesty.
To this, the Eternal Night Empress can only say, if you are not the Empress, how can you know the Empress's joy?
I don't need you to protect me, I want to go blast fish!
Hardt didn't know that it was precisely because they had no chance to sneak attack the Eternal Night that they avoided the greatest despair in their lives, and could still be in the mood to discuss good and evil with this elegant and beautiful woman in front of him.
The Eternal Night Empress looked at this paladin who, although he had entered his youth, still had a youthful air on his face, and saw at a glance that he was probably a single-celled organism who only knew how to fight.
There are many such people in the Empire, there are many all over the world, and in the past, they were the easiest fools and cannon fodder to be driven.
"With your personality and intelligence, to be able to live to this level, you really have to be grateful that you have a good brother."
The Eternal Night Empress responded to Hardt with a smile, "You should be more patient and listen to how your brother answers my question."
Louis's face immediately became even more strange, and he put on the righteous look he usually put on in front of the believers: "You evil woman, don't sow discord between our brothers, just kill me or let me go!"
"Before the next step, are you unwilling to face my question directly?" The Eternal Night Empress took a step forward.
Louis suddenly felt that many of his Church colleagues were looking at him strangely, as if they were wondering about his hesitation on this issue, and had to say loudly:
"I... of course I am protecting the world I live in. Since the establishment of the War God Church, it has eliminated countless invaders from other dimensions and protected the believers in peace and prosperity. This is an undeniable achievement."
"In the past three hundred years, your world has encountered a total of fourteen invaders from other dimensions. This frequency is much higher than similar planes. Can you explain this deviation?"
"It should be that our world has some special attraction to invaders like you..."
"That's just nonsense. This world is just one of the most ordinary and commonplace worlds in the entire multiverse. Although it is vast, it does not have any unique products that are worth the attention of other worlds."
The Eternal Night Empress opened an analysis report on Target B plane, pointing to the important information discovered by Margaret, "The frequent invasions in the past were just your means to raise the status of the War God Church and control the surrounding countries that had to rely on the Church!"
"You are slandering me. The Church is righteous and protects the believers. How can it collude with invaders?"
"Then how do you explain why, in the past, the countries and forces that were the first to be hit and suffered the most damage during invasions were all those who opposed the War God Church?"
The Eternal Night Empress had the history books of this world on her desk. She read a lot when she was bored. Those public information didn't need to be particularly concealed. Many legendary powerhouses present were long-lived and survived those eras.
By mastering the speculation and conducting targeted investigations, many evidences were easy to obtain. She directly found the devils who had dealings with the War God Church back then.
With just higher chips, those greedy and shrewd guys used various means to bypass the confidentiality agreement they signed with Louis back then and revealed their transactions in detail.
Louis was exasperated: "Bastards, those bastards, saying they were order creatures, but they didn't abide by their promises at all..."
"Devils only abide by contracts. It's just that you have too little experience in trading and were set up with loopholes—but then again, devils have been studying contracts for generations. The smartest way is to never trade with such beings, but it's a pity you were too greedy."
As the Eternal Night Empress slowly revealed the evidence, many members of the War God Church who heard of such things for the first time subconsciously moved their steps, distancing themselves from Louis, and some even cursed directly with excitement.
The information revealed by the Eternal Night Empress was very shocking, and the truth was not complicated. A simple explanation is just a strategy of raising bandits to maintain self-respect:
In order to maintain its lofty image in the hearts of believers, the War God Church of this world regularly colluded with devils to invade the world, suppressing dissidents in the process, while also establishing their image in the hearts of believers and nobles, so that those disobedient guys would firmly hold on to them.
In the face of powerful enemies from other worlds, only the Goddess of War can protect everyone and bring hope to everyone.
This is a very cruel operation, but it is very effective. Louis relied on such means to maintain the high-cost religious court without having to maintain the high-cost religious court, and also maintain the purity of everyone's faith.
The faith is pure, submitting more faith power, and also performing a very wonderful conspiracy, the Church can get the reward of the Goddess of War, and then get more faith, expand to the outside world, and embark on a sustainable development cycle express lane from then on...
Louis is indeed an excellent Pope with outstanding management skills, but the past Popes were not simple people, and they were all layers of screened management.
The reason he could lead the War God Church to flourish at a rate dozens of times faster than his predecessors, achieving remarkable feats, was because he had the lowest bottom line, creating difficulties even where none existed, and completing outrageous maneuvers with shameless methods!
"Brother, is all of this true? Did the Church really do such things?"
Hadd was incredibly shocked. It wasn't that he was truly stupid, but that he simply didn't want to waste his mind on schemes and intrigues. The information presented by these people from another world was too obvious. He looked at Louis as if he were seeing him for the first time, with an extremely unfamiliar gaze.
Louis sighed softly, "Gods need offerings from believers, and our Church is the same. Your weapons and equipment, your food, clothing, and everything you use, the entire Church's massive expenses, all need more believers to support..."
"But those are enemies, evil enemies! We are supposed to protect believers, how can we actively harm them, and even cause the deaths of so many comrades..."
Hadd punched Louis in the face, knocking his brother, who was protected by divine power, to the ground.
Louis didn't expect to be hit by his own brother. Touching the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, he said coldly:
"Hadd, the enemy is deliberately trying to provoke our relationship, watching our foolish infighting..."
Louis reminded Hadd to pay attention to the occasion, to the mocking smiles of those Imperials, and not to embarrass himself as a prisoner.
"Infighting? Have you done any less of it?"
Hadd didn't stop, punching his brother again and again.
Remembering the displaced refugees he saw on the road to expel foreign enemies, remembering the comrades who sacrificed themselves resisting alien races, remembering his brother's sanctimonious teachings of justice and compassion, he felt waves of nausea in his stomach...
For so many years, he had been executing his brother's orders, completing his instructions, thinking he was protecting the world, but in the corners he couldn't see, how many innocent people might have been harmed?
The dignified Pope, one of the most sacred beings in the eyes of the world, was actually making deals with devils, and more than just this.
He couldn't help but use Detect Evil, casting it on Louis, on the teachers who were deeply connected to him, on the important figures who managed the Church's expenses and had interests with those nobles and great powers...
The light of righteousness shone on the heads of these hypocrites. The divine spell showed that every major figure in the Church present was an absolutely kind and pure being, with not a trace of evil or ugliness in their hearts.
But could a divine spell truly reveal the human heart?
Divine spells, spells bestowed by God, their fundamental purpose is to help the gods earn more faith. Of course, they must protect their loyal servants who bring more faith, how could they allow these precious sheepdogs to fight among themselves?
How could the masters revolt against themselves?
Hadd no longer had the strength to beat Louis. He was his brother, and he truly loved and cared for him. Even if he beat him to death now, it wouldn't bring back those fallen comrades...
He could only blame himself for being too naive.
The resolute knight covered his face and began to sob.
Failure hadn't defeated him, separation hadn't defeated him, powerful enemies hadn't defeated him, but suddenly seeing the true world, he collapsed, crying like a child.
Louis's face was swollen. With his eloquence, he could have woven a beautiful excuse to make his foolish brother continue to believe the lies and be his sword.
But he didn't want to do that now. Looking at his brother, as helpless as when he broke his father's favorite pipe as a child, both afraid of punishment and brave enough to admit it, he simply sighed softly:
"You are always a good boy. For you, living in a lie might not be such a bad thing..."
The world isn't just black and white, there are many shades of gray.
We live under the feet of the gods, yet we are not strong enough. It's not really possible to get rid of those eternal existences just by saying you want to.
But Hadd couldn't listen to his words. His brother's choices and reasons were also reasonable, representing a certain kind of correctness, but he just didn't like it.