Chapter 284: The Final Battle by the Star River

“Someone eager for redemption, huh… that’s an interesting title.”

The White Fox Girl, looking at the paper that naturally turned into specks of golden light, seemed to be deep in thought.

As a character who had existed over three hundred years ago, the true strongest of the Cecelia family, Losa Cecelia, undoubtedly knew more about the truth than Fleidetrika. But it appeared that she hadn’t fully disclosed many things to these descendants.

What a cunning fellow…

This letter not only guided them to a location at the end but also served another equally important role—expressing her stance.

Clearly, Losa Cecelia was not the one directly responsible for the distortion of the Church of the Goddess three hundred years ago; rather, she seemed to be an informed bystander who couldn’t—or wouldn’t—stop it, merely fulfilling her duties while going along with the tide of the times.

Thus, she called herself a heretic, claiming she and her family had never abandoned their faith, yearning for redemption.

But there’s still one thing that doesn’t add up.

If that were truly the case, when Losa Cecelia believed the time had come for yet another transformation and thought that Xī was some kind of origin light saint envoy, she should have firmly sided with them.

Instead, her current attitude seemed indecisive—helping but not fully committing, and her descriptions of the situation were vague, hinting at some unspoken burdens.

She seemed to have deliberately led Ella to some place, uncovering the Church of the Goddess’s genuine core secrets and leaking information in advance, warning the others to take precautions so that the latter couldn’t reach their goals without complications.

She anticipated that Xī would leave traces on Ella to monitor her safety, and triggered this to attract Miss White Fox’s return, leaving a guiding letter behind.

A double agent, huh…

At this point, what a double agent gets is usually dissatisfaction from both sides. But if I connect the dots with Losa Cecelia’s past…

The White Fox Girl squeezed her empty palm and turned to gaze out the window, a slight curve appearing at the corners of her lips beneath the mask.

How amusing, I think I’ll accept this sincerely offered invitation.

…

Province of Fran, Sacheno City.

“Knights of the Goddess! In the name of the Goddess, it is time to counterattack! Slay the demons!!!”

“Kill!!!!!!”

The battered gates swung open simultaneously, and under the dazzling beam of light rising in the city center, echoing the command of the Saint of Bright Light, the demons below the city walls retreated, and the troops poured out like a rushing tide!

The holy knights in white armor clashed with the pitch-black sea of demons in the fields by the Star River, creating two distinct waves intertwined together, the shouts deafening and the sounds of clashing weapons and galloping hooves pushing the war to its grand climax.

After two months of back-and-forth and attrition warfare, this key battle surrounding the small city at the edge of the Star River was finally nearing its decisive moment.

The arrival of the Redeeming Saintess and the Holy Healing Corps tipped the scales of the war in favor of the Holy Empire. The elite tactics and long-term strategies the Holy Empire excelled in were thoroughly displayed in this battle, while the demons had expended far too many of their active forces in the long siege.

Especially, Edwina’s active maneuvers in the rear of the battlefield made it difficult for the demons to maintain their positions, as they had to divert many of their forces to secure their back due to her strangely mobile attacks.

After all, demons aren’t abyss beasts; they are essentially a military force formed by a civilization and also need to eat and be resupplied. This was precisely the core theory behind that certain Miss Fox’s earlier proposed “surrounding Wei to rescue Zhao” strategy.

But this battle clearly hasn’t reached a settled conclusion yet.

The once vast numbers of magical beasts among the demons had been reduced through warfare and adjustment to less than half, with the high-ranking and mid-ranking demons circling the city still possessing significant power.

The demon commander was no fool. After frequently being attacked from behind and constantly unable to find traces of that raiding troop, they had already largely guessed at the Holy Kingdom’s intentions.

Since they couldn’t stop it, they could only go with the flow.

Such a frontal showdown was also a scenario that the demons were eagerly awaiting.

Unlike a city defense battle, as long as they could defeat the Holy Kingdom’s main force outside the city walls, the results would far exceed the gains from the previous two months of warfare. By then, no matter how fierce that rear troop was, it wouldn’t impact the overall situation.

Thus, they had already prepared the means to reverse the tide today.

*Crackle… crackle crackle crackle…*

With the issuance of certain commands, ten hundred-meter-tall distorted gates suddenly rose behind the demon army, an odd aura emanating from them, and countless new demonic figures surged forth!

“Your Highnesses! It’s a demon portal!”

Standing above the most intense battlefield on the southern city wall, someone from the royal guard protecting the Redeeming Saintess and the Saint of Bright Light gasped in alarm.

“Ten seven-tier demon portals… [Killing] is really investing heavily, when this side is just…”

Gazing at the ten gates from which demonic warriors were continuously emerging, General Yuna Summerfield slightly furrowed her brow and murmured.

The seven-tier demon portal, as its name implies, is an extraplanar passage capable of transporting demons up to the seventh tier. The reason demons can frequently invade other worlds is due to their mastery of this technology.

As long as a sufficient number of high-ranking demons first pass through the sacrificial ritual summoning, they can open portals of varying levels in the world they arrive at, allowing more kin to reach the other world.

Of course, due to the power suppression of this world, seventh-tier demons, even if they utilize such means, find it challenging to descend upon this realm. Even if they do come, their power will be significantly weakened, so seventh-tier is basically the highest-grade portal ever opened by demons in history.

Opening a portal doesn’t come without cost. Although the Holy Kingdom doesn’t know the specifics, it’s easy to deduce.

Even in the crucial battle involving the Judging Saintess at Saint Sanos City, the demons reportedly only opened two seven-tier portals. Yet here, merely at the southern city gate, they simultaneously opened over ten. Even taking into account previous demon wars in Holy Kingdom history, this might very well be the first time.

“Your Highness Yuna, what should we do now? The portal’s position is too far back; it may be difficult for the main assault force to destroy it in a short time.”

Watching the towering gates that seemed almost city walls, the Redeeming Saintess Philomina Lambert also looked somewhat grim. However, having undergone two months of real war training, the once slightly naive her had gradually matured and wouldn’t lose her composure in front of others like when she first arrived.

“If the enemy continues to bolster their forces like this, our advantage in strength might reverse again. If we get entangled on the plains, the Holy Healing Corps may struggle to support the frontline warriors. Should we retreat for now?”

“We can’t retreat, Your Highness Philomina! Retreating now would deal an unprecedented blow to morale, which is more serious than mere casualties. Right now… both sides have reached the most critical moment; whoever retreats loses.”

Since the three Saintesses were primarily led by the Saint of Bright Light, Yuna also exhibited exceptional strategy and calm wisdom matching a leader’s throughout countless previous decisions, and her words were naturally taken seriously by the Redeeming Saintess.

Before Philomina could respond, Yuna smiled and shook her head.

“It’s alright. While it might seem overwhelming, it’s still within expectations. At this point, we should be ready to reveal our trump cards.”

The Saintess turned her attention to her trusted aides.

“Deploy the Inquisition to destroy the demon portals on the other two fronts; the defensive forces over there aren’t as formidable as the south city gate. Let [Wing] arrange the personnel.”

“Understood!”

   

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