YM778.TV Chapter 91: The Clash of Faiths
Chapter 91: The Clash of Faiths
War broke out as promised the following morning. As soon as the fog dissipated along with the scattering of sunlight at dawn, the quiet streets outside the Labyrinth Villa became filled with deafening war cries.
The battle escalated at an unimaginable rate, as both sides began going all out right away. The intentions of Wade’s allied armies were made blatantly obvious—they were planning to use everything within their means to crush the enemy and capture Victoria.
The ranks of Wade’s allied armies were filled with many heretics. While they were termed as heretics, the truth was that many of them were born in the Theocracy and grew up here, only to be discriminated against on the basis of their lineage and Origin Attributes. They felt that this was extremely unfair. Why should an otherwise upstanding member of society be discriminated against, just because they are deemed a heretic? Meanwhile, no matter how corrupted, any member of the Genesis Goddess Church can act as they please.
This was a question without an answer in the current era; the conflicting moral compasses of the people wouldn’t allow it; making it the greatest dilemma of the present age Theocracy.
For these heretics, Wade’s revolution was a ray of hope. It was an opportunity for them to challenge the system and create a new future for the next generation. They wished to build a new society that promoted equality, where people wouldn’t be treated unfairly just on the basis of their lineage and Origin Attributes.
To be honest, for the freethinker Roel from the modern era, he felt that the heretics were justified in their actions. Perhaps it was due to the firm conviction in their mission that the heretics showed unyielding determination, charging ahead without showing any fear of death.
In order to quickly subdue Victoria’s forces, they completely gave up on using arrows and long-ranged weapons for additional support. They used the tower shields in their hands to fend off the spells directing toward them while charging ahead with unstoppable momentum.
Needless to say, such a death charge brought about great casualties, but whenever a soldier died, another one would swiftly rush forward to take his place. They grit their teeth and stood firm in their beliefs.
The greatest strength of humans lay in their ability to overcome their primitive tendencies. It was in the nature of all living beings to avoid dangers, but for their faith and ideals, humans were willing to brave mortal danger. While this could go both ways, Roel felt that it was such a spirit that allowed human civilization to develop this far.
However, it wasn’t just the soldiers in Wade’s faction that had conviction. Victoria’s forces also carried justice in their hearts. As knights and military men serving the Theocracy, they were the guardians of the Theocracy, and they were duty-bound to ensure the peace and security of the common populace. The ones standing before them were enemies who had caused great casualties within the Holy Capital. It was their responsibility to stop them!
Flags with hundreds of years of history were held high above their heads as the soldiers from Victoria’s faction retaliated ferociously against the charging enemies. Even when their prestigious armor inscribed with the insignia of their affiliation was stained with blood, they still stood fearlessly against those who dared disturb the peace in the Holy Capital. Their honor was on the line here, and they wouldn’t allow anyone to trample on it.
The intense battlefield was like a meat-grinding machine. Not a single second passed without someone collapsing amidst a pool of blood. Soon, as the first face-off came to an end, the leaders of both factions entered the battlefield too. From the very back of their respective formations, the teacher-pupil duo faced the liege-subordinate duo. Both Victoria and Wade had complicated looks on their faces, but their eyes were firm and resolute.
At the same time, Ponte stopped the labyrinth artifact too since it was pointless now that the enemy was already inside their hiding spot. Under the intense rays of the morning sun, the two royal siblings tried their last attempt at negotiation.
“My royal sister, have you forgotten the tragedy our mother encountered? In order to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again, as well as for the greatness of the Theocracy, we need to put all of our strength together and push for a difficult but necessary change! To stop an inevitable revolution and be content with staying stagnant, how are you different from those nobles who brought about the death of our mother?”
Before the soldiers of the two factions, Wade questioned Victoria’s actions with a look of fury. He even resorted to mentioning the death of Consort Mary, something no one had talked about for a long time, the topic was too heavy and depressing. His speech brought about some unrest within Victoria’s forces, shaking their morale. There were many soldiers who knew Consort Mary personally and felt deep sympathy for her plight.
Even Victoria looked a little downcast being reminded of her deceased mother. Ponte reached to grab her hand and squeezed it, and she smiled in response to his warm gesture. She quickly calmed her emotions before she stepped forward and responded.
1 reply – 3 minutes ago
“Wade, I’ll never forget what happened to our mother. I don’t question your vengeance, but the revolution you seek comes at a heavy price. Look at what you have done so far. In less than a month, rivers of blood are already flowing through our beloved homeland! How many people have died for your ambitions? Do you feel no remorse over the innocent lives you have taken?”
“Sacrifices are inevitable in a revolution. In history, revolutions would always infringe on the interests of those in power. If we don’t tear down the old systems, a new era will never arrive! What you preach are mere ideals that will never come to fruition! A revolution without blood will only be gradually stifled by the nobles and clergymen before eventually being extinguished!”
“I don’t deny the possibility of what you have just said, but that’s why the royal family exists! Our very responsibility is to become leaders that set a direction for the country and bring everyone toward a more desired future. If blood has to be shed in the process of doing so, I would rather it be mine than those of the innocent civilians! Wade, it’s the blood of your very countrymen that is fueling your ambitions! Have you already forgotten the teachings of our house?”
“... It looks like there’s no way for us to come to a compromise.”
“It seems so.”
With the two standing firm in their stances, the final negotiation broke down. Their words had guarded the morale of their respective factions, as well as driving in the fact that it was impossible for the two factions to come to an understanding. The soldiers tightened their grip on their weapons as they resolved themselves for a fight to the death.
Wade drew his sword, and the golden-haired Felder at his side quickly followed suit. He turned around to face his own guards standing behind him, eyes filled with burning passion, and roared furiously.
“For justice!”
Wade’s war slogan was responded to with a deafening war cry from his soldiers. He raised his sword up high as the symbol of revolutionary change. At this very moment, the morale of the soldiers rose to the peak.
Similarly, Victoria and Ponte also stepped forward alongside one another and drew their swords in unison.
“For peace!”
They also received an earth-shattering roar in return, as if baring their fangs against their enemies. In terms of morale, it would appear that both armies were equally matched with one another.
Following that, the war horns sounded, and the main forces of the two factions began charging at one another.
“Are the two of you ready?”
“We are ready, commander. Please feel free to return to your platoon.”
“I understand. May Sia be with you.”
A towering knight commander bade Roel and Nora farewell before charging into the battlefield with his men.
Roel, standing together with a pale-faced Nora, looked at the chaotic battlefield before him and sighed softly. He couldn’t help feeling that this battle was nothing but a terrible tragedy. Thinking of the reasons behind it, there was no right or wrong, just a difference in opinion and ideals. Both Victoria and Wade sought the best for the Theocracy and their people, but their means simply differed from one another.
For Nora, who had grown up with a clear sense of right and wrong under the indoctrination of the Genesis Goddess Church, she felt uncomfortable facing such a blurred sense of morality. She might have matured early, but ultimately, she only had 10 years of experience living in this world.
No matter how talented she might be, this is still too much for a child to bear.
Roel thought to himself as he shot a glance at Nora. All of a sudden, he felt Nora grasping his hand. He turned his head over and found himself faced with her eyes. Instead of carrying their usual confidence, her sapphire eyes reflected weakness and confusion. Her sudden show of vulnerability made Roel’s heart violently skip a beat.
“I... don’t know who is right here. My grandfather has told me to bear witness, but I still don’t know even after spending long hours thinking it over.”
“It can’t be helped... The world isn’t so simple that we can simply divide everything into right and wrong. More often than not, it’s just a difference in positions and perspectives.”
Roel’s words brought some clarity back into Nora’s eyes. She turned her head over to look at the commanding Princess Victoria, and determination slowly returned to her face.
Roel wasn’t too surprised by the changes Nora was going through, and a helpless smile emerged on his lips. It seemed like his words had struck a chord in Nora’s heart. Yet, here he was, still wavering between both sides himself.
There were still slightly more than 10 hours left until the end of the Witness State, and Roel knew that this was the crucial moment of the whole trial he was being put through. Whether he would be able to advance a step further and obtain the best rewards would depend on his choice and his actions here.
While Roel and Nora were deep in their thoughts, Victoria turned to Ponte standing beside her and nodded her head. Ponte immediately caught her drift and stopped his bombardment of magic spells to take out a colorful gemstone.
“Teacher!”
“Got it.”
Indeed, Ponte had started using the labyrinth once more. It was their greatest trump card after all, so it was impossible for Victoria’s weaker forces not to make use of it. From the very start, this battle had been a trap. Ponte had only released the labyrinth for so long in order to lure Wade’s allied armies in deeper.
The spell which he had been channeling for half a day since the arrival of dawn finally began working its magic. It took only a few moments for fog to settle in amongst the formation of Wade’s allied armies, severely limiting their visibility. This was extremely dangerous as it impeded the military commanders’ ability to assess the battlefield and make adjustments.
So, Felder immediately ordered the army to charge ahead to further pressure Victoria’s forces, and the opposition did likewise.
As a result, the soldiers of the two factions crashed into one another like waves. The Knight Orders on Victoria’s side, which had stationed on the nearby higher terrains ahead of the battle, rushed down along slopes and gained tremendous speed, allowing them to claim a decisive advantage in the first charge. Many of Wade’s soldiers were skewered by their spears.
However, the momentum of Wade’s allied armies barely faltered at all. Their formation continued pushing ahead with great speed.
At the same time, Wade had begun channeling the same crimson lightning spell once more, causing his body to be cloaked in a crimson glow. Innumerable lightning bolts crackled around him, dissipating the fog Ponte had summoned. However, the effects fell short as he was still unable to effectively dispel the fog and turn the tables around.
Cloaked in the fog, the soldiers of Wade’s allied armies had their formations continuously breached and torn through, resulting in them being unable to put up a proper fight. The gap between both sides began to swiftly narrow until Victoria’s forces finally claimed the upper hand for the first time since the clash started.
“We have only managed to disperse their formations thus far. They can still regroup and fight back given sufficient time. We need to hurry up and grasp the decisive victory.”
Ponte’s attempts to forcefully tap into the power of the labyrinth artifact had taken a huge toll on him, causing his complexion to pale. He anxiously warned his pupil as he tucked the colorful gemstone back into his clothes before drawing a short sword out.
This was a short sword that Roel was fairly familiar with: Saint’s Blade—Twelve Wings. However, Ponte had already exhausted himself far too much, such that he ended up needing Victoria’s help to steady the short sword in his grasp.
At the center of the battlefield, this teacher and pupil pair exchanged gazes and saw each other’s determination to push it through at any cost. Their intersecting hands moved to point the short sword toward Wade, who was still channeling crimson lightning around him in the distance.
In the next instant, a destructive burst of silver light traversed across a thousand meters, illuminating the faces of every single fighting soldier on the battlefield.
Spell of Oblivion, Angel’s Chorale.