Global Game: Developing a Knight Clan-Chapter 80 - 79: Church Schism, the Demon Beast Tide Rises
In just three days, public opinion had been building.
The Swamp Territory was thrust into the spotlight.
A Miracle! A Miracle had undoubtedly descended upon the Swamp Territory!
At the same time, the entire Silver Lion Duchy was in an uproar.
Because, from the Duke’s Mansion in the Silver Lion Duchy, Tyr—one of the Truth Church’s six Cardinals, the most respected and famously low-key of the Ascetics, and a legendary figure in his own right—had issued a proclamation to the entire Kingdom!
He declared that, due to the selfishness of the current Pope and several Cardinals, the Truth Church had long been reduced to a slave of secular power and money.
They were the ones who had betrayed their faith in the Truth—the true blasphemers and the greatest of false believers.
The Truth Church is meant to teach people truth and knowledge, the vessel through which the great God of Truth disseminates the light of civilization and all wisdom to the mortal world.
It is the vital link between mortals and Deities.
Just look at what the Truth Church has done!
Was His Majesty, the thirty-fourth King, Ackman, not a Believer in Truth?!
The bloodline of the Royal Family has, since ancient times, been most devout to the God of Truth. It even carries the blood of the Divine Son.
Would a man so noble betray his faith in the Truth?
How laughable!
What is faith? Faith is the love for the Deities that comes from the sincere hearts of mortals!
It is not the superficial reverence and obedience extracted through power and oppression!
Tragically, the current Pope and countless Missionaries continuously distort the Truth for their own selfish gain.
How infuriating and sorrowful this is.
The thirty-fourth King, His Majesty Ackman, merely discovered all this and wished to stop it.
But I am sure you all know what happened next.
The Pope’s betrayal, along with that of the Seven Northern Dukedoms, is the true blasphemy and abandonment of the Truth.
As one of the Cardinals...
I, Tyr, was once lost. I was even perplexed as to why the Truth had not made its Descent for so long.
Thus, for years I have sought the reason, paying no heed to the affairs of the world or the Church.
But now, looking back, I have finally realized the truth.
The great God of Truth was never far from us.
He has been watching over the mortal world all along.
He was merely testing us, seeing what flames of civilization mortals could kindle by relying on His teachings and enlightenment after the Deities’ departure.
However, I believe the answer is now clear.
The Truth Church has brought shame upon the great God of Truth!
Indeed, without the intervention of the great God of Truth, the entire Eagle Kingdom would have fallen into terrifying turmoil.
And so, in His compassion and mercy, He has once again sent down an Oracle!
O, Believers in Truth!
The time has come to purge all impurity and corruption from within the Church!
Come! Here, in the Silver Lion Duchy, I, Tyr, shall prove the truth of this Oracle to all Believers in Truth, and under its guidance, I shall lead everyone back into the embrace of the Truth!
...
The Royal Family was overjoyed at the release of Cardinal Tyr’s proclamation.
The Royal Family of the Eagle Kingdom quickly followed suit, issuing their own proclamation to crusade against those who had betrayed their faith in the Truth.
At the same time, the Royal Family also dispatched an envoy to the Silver Lion Duchy.
This envoy was none other than the Old Lion himself, the Duke of the Silver Lion Duchy.
He would be returning from the Royal Capital to his own fiefdom.
Thus, in less than twenty days...
a large number of Believers in Truth had already gathered within the borders of the Silver Lion Duchy.
Tyr’s appeal should not be underestimated.
Nor should the extent of the Royal Family’s cooperation.
During this time, the Royal Family released large numbers of the Believers in Truth they had under their control, placing them under Tyr’s command. The subsequent impact was, naturally, even greater.
Meanwhile, Tyr’s proclamation caused immense turmoil throughout the Seven Northern Dukedoms.
In fact, two of the Dukedoms switched sides immediately following a series of internal conflicts!
Unfortunately, the Green Vine Duchy did not defect.
It remained one of the Pope’s staunchest supporters.
And so, on the 238th day of the Inference...
the entire Silver Lion Duchy officially declared a crusade against the Green Vine Duchy for its insubordination and betrayal of the faith.
At that moment, the entire Silver Lion Duchy, along with the neighboring Jade Duchy, declared war on the Green Vine Duchy.
This was also York’s first time participating in a war.
Leading nearly five hundred soldiers levied from his territory, York marched to war. By Tyr’s arrangement, his forces served as an auxiliary unit for the Defensive Corps.
Meanwhile, on another front.
As per Tyr’s declaration, the earthly Giant Dragon sent down by the Truth would use its Divine Power to pin down the forces of the Green Vine Duchy.
As for how it would pin them down?
With a Beast Tide, of course!
Yes.
The Green Vine Duchy was situated in the grasslands to the west of the Wilderness.
The human territory with its extensive Great Wall built along the Wilderness border belonged to the domain of the Green Vine Duchy.
And at this very moment.
It was finally Lince’s time to perform!
It was rare for Lince to have an opportunity to participate so openly in such a grand battle. Naturally, he wouldn’t pass up this chance to gain a massive amount of ’experience’.
And so, on the 256th day of the Inference...
the vast army of Demon Beasts set off!
The Rock Steel Giant soared through the heavens.
Behind the Rock Steel Giant followed several thousand Flying Demon Beasts of all kinds.
Meanwhile, in the forest on the ground below, a dense horde of Demon Beasts was running at full speed.
The commotion they caused was immense. In their wake, roars echoed ceaselessly, and trees swayed back and forth as countless Demon Beasts carelessly crashed into them.
One couldn’t expect Tierless Demon Beasts to be perfectly disciplined.
All in all, just getting them onto the battlefield was an achievement in itself.
After a three-day march...
Lince finally led his army of over fifty thousand Demon Beasts to the border of the grasslands.
The Rock Steel Giant landed on a familiar cliff, looking down and observing the entire grassland from afar.
At the same time, more than three thousand Flying Demon Beasts circled over the Rock Steel Giant’s head.
Below, in the forest, the fifty thousand Tierless Demon Beasts arrived in a vast horde at the riverbank that formed the border with the grasslands.
A dense mass of Demon Beasts emerged from the forest’s edge.
From near to far, their ranks stretched for at least several kilometers!
At the roars of numerous Entry Tier Demon Beasts, the Tierless Demon Beasts all halted their advance.
But every one of these Demon Beasts stared at the grasslands with immense greed.
The figure of a Tier Five Shadow Wind Giant Eagle streaked across the sky.
It was like a Military Governor, surveying all the Demon Beast formations on the earth below.
It used its Spiritual Sound to directly warn or remind the Demon Lords to restrain their respective beast packs.
The Shadow Wind Giant Eagle was largely to thank for assembling this fifty-thousand-strong army.
In the preceding days, it was with the Shadow Wind Giant Eagle’s help that Lince had managed to spread the renown of the Master of the Demon Dragon much further into the eastern part of the forest Wilderness.
Such actions risked attracting the attention of the Quasi-Overlord Level Demon Beasts from the peaks of the Demon Beast Mountain Range.
But at this stage, Lince couldn’t be bothered with such things.
Besides, Lince had learned much from the Shadow Wind Giant Eagle. In recent days, he had come to understand the specific situation in the outer areas of the Demon Beast Mountain Range.
The Overlord Level Demon Beasts in the depths of the Demon Beast Mountain Range almost never paid attention to the ruckus caused by the beasts in the outer regions.
The existence of the Quasi-Overlord Level Demon Beasts was, in fact, merely a defensive line established to guard against the Human Race.
The ’leadership’ structure within the Demon Beast Mountain Range wasn’t even particularly strict.
It could only be considered an incredibly loose organization; most of the time, the Overlord Level Demon Beasts deep within the mountains refused to submit to one another.
Only when facing a large-scale human invasion would these Overlord Level Demon Beasts occasionally unite.
Therefore, even if some Quasi-Overlord Level Demon Beasts in the outer region died, the Overlord Level Demon Beasts in the depths of the mountain range wouldn’t so much as bat an eye.
As long as the Human Race didn’t cross the first line of the Outer Mountains, Lince, as a ’Demon Beast’, was completely free to do as he pleased for the time being.
As for a Quasi-Overlord Level Demon Beast discovering him and looking for trouble?
Given Lince’s identity as a ’Sub-dragon Species,’ any Quasi-Overlord Level Demon Beast would probably turn tail and run the moment they saw him.
’A noble young master from the capital has come to the countryside to play house. What are you supposed to do about it?!’
’It’s completely hopeless.’
’Ignorance would be bliss. Once you know, wouldn’t you be forced to act as a bodyguard?’
’You’d be at his beck and call, and if you didn’t do a good job protecting him, you could get into huge trouble. That kind of thing is just asking for misery.’
Therefore, most Quasi-Overlord, Tier Six Demon Beasts would turn tail and run if they discovered Lince, pretending they had seen nothing.
Only those looking to curry favor, or those who were simply oblivious, would dare to get close to the Rock Steel Giant.
Therefore, once Lince understood this principle, his spirits soared.
He was curious to see which oblivious Tier Six Demon Beasts would show up to serve as free labor.
Even if some had malicious intent, with the Power of a Giant Dragon, the Tier Five Lince wasn’t afraid of facing one or two lone Tier Six Demon Beasts.
In short, as long as his identity as a Sub-dragon Species wasn’t exposed, Lince had plenty of room to do as he pleased.
Thus, Lince naturally wouldn’t pass up this golden opportunity to strive for the Growth Level rewards from the Inference Day war.
So, now that he had gathered an army of fifty thousand Demon Beasts, Lince deemed it sufficient.
By this point, the entire grassland was in an uproar.
After all, a massive horde of Demon Beasts had appeared on the other side of the river, with countless predators circling the sky.
The Demon Beasts of the grasslands weren’t blind.
Therefore, on the side of the grasslands bordering the forest, large numbers of Demon Beasts began to shriek and flee in a panicked stampede.
Watching the herds of grassland beasts flee, the predators in the Demon Beast army on the forest side were growing restless.
But in the end, the Demon Beasts could only look on eagerly toward the Rock Steel Giant on the distant cliff high above.
More than 350 Entry Tier Demon Beasts and over 50,000 Tierless Demon Beasts all turned their gazes toward the Rock Steel Giant.
They howled and rumbled, as if on a pilgrimage!
The clamor of the Demon Beasts echoed all along the border between the grassland and the forest.
And now, the time had come.
Finally, the Rock Steel Giant moved!!!
"ROAR!!!"
Its aura immensely powerful, the Rock Steel Giant took to the skies once more.
But its direction was not straight toward the grasslands; instead, it flew diagonally, heading north toward the long Great Wall of the Green Vine Duchy.
At that moment, the Shadow Wind Giant Eagle also shrieked.
And so, at the very front, led by several Tier Three Demon Bears, the entire Demon Beast army began to charge toward the river, quickly setting foot on the grass.
They charged straight for the defense lines of the Green Vine Duchy, howling as they went.
It was a tide that blotted out the sky and covered the earth.
On the Green Vine Duchy’s side, soldiers on the Great Wall were the first to see the vast army of Demon Beasts that had suddenly appeared on the grasslands.
"Gods above!!!"
"Have we truly been abandoned by the God of Truth?! Are we the ones who are traitors?"
"It’s a Demon Beast Tide!!! It’s a Demon Beast Tide!!!"
"We’re done for! It’s all over!!! Most of the Duchy’s soldiers have been conscripted to fight the Royal Family’s army!"
"What are we going to do?!!!"
A clamor of gongs and drums erupted as the border soldiers frantically beat the alarm bells and even lit the signal fires.
But only despair awaited them!
