Inside the church.
Incarnation was dressed in a white nun's robe. Under the sunlight streaming through the windows, she looked especially radiant and beautiful.
A faint smile rested on her lips. Standing there, she looked like a holy angel.
"Bishop Incarnation, they've sent out the knight order."
Rvy stepped before Incarnation. The Church dispatching knights meant only one thing—they had branded them heretics.
"Shall I form our own order to eliminate them?"
The Church of Revelation, with its ability to heal the Honkai Black Plague and perform miracles, coupled with Incarnation's identity as one blessed by God, had already won over the nearby towns and villages. Almost all the surrounding populace had become followers of the Church of Revelation.
When the believers attending mass heard that the Church had sent knights to suppress them, fury rippled through the crowd.
They had trusted the Church, and many had suffered divine punishment because of that faith.
The Church's lies had even led some men's wives and daughters to be burned at the stake.
"How dare they come again."
"Bishop Incarnation, I'm willing to fight for God!"
"Me too!"
"These vile, filthy wretches—how dare they show such disrespect to God."
Aside from the God they worshiped, everything else about the Church of Revelation was a direct challenge to the old Church.
Many of its followers had originally belonged to the Church.
Incarnation would ask them, "Do you believe in God, or in those fallen sinners whom God has already abandoned?"
With those words—and a few special means—the believers would soon come over to her side.
After all, their faith was in God, not the corrupt clergy.
As one blessed by divine favor, Incarnation not only bore that identity but also possessed the power granted by God.
Many believers had begun questioning the Church.
Why could the Church not heal the plague, while the Church of Revelation could?
Incarnation raised both hands to her chest, gazing softly upon the gathered crowd. Her voice was gentle. "Everyone, be still."
Her words carried a strange power, and those present quickly fell silent.
"Those deceived by lies think we are their enemies—but it is God Himself they stand against."
"For that, I am deeply saddened—because of the Church's lies." Incarnation looked upon her people. "They have blasphemed against God, and for that, they shall face His punishment."
"My angel has sent forth her soldiers."
Behind Incarnation, two golden vortices appeared.
From within them emerged white-haired girl soldiers—dressed in black, white, and red, wielding scythes, spears, longbows, twin blades, and sword-shields. They stepped out one after another, forming neat ranks beside Incarnation.
Their sudden appearance drew the astonished gaze of all the believers.
Angelic soldiers!
They looked identical—as if carved from the same mold.
They were clearly not ordinary humans.
"Rvy."
"Yes, Bishop Incarnation? What are your orders?"
Rvy stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
"Rvy, I entrust the angel's soldiers to your command."
"By your will, Bishop Incarnation. I will not betray your trust."
Rvy's eyes gleamed as she dropped to one knee, accepting Incarnation's command.
"The angel's soldiers need neither sleep nor food. They know no fear. When they fall, they return to the angel's side and await her next descent."
"This world cannot withstand the angel's own power—thus she cannot descend directly. But she can endlessly create these soldiers."
"...!"
Hearing this, Rvy's eyes widened. She glanced sideways at the angelic soldiers standing nearby.
The hardest part of any war was logistics.
An army that needed no food or rest, that knew no fear, and that could revive upon death—such an immortal force, given enough numbers, could sweep across all of Europe and conquer the world.
Incarnation placed her hand upon Rvy's head and said softly, "May God protect you from harm."
At her words, the power of divine speech burst into golden light upon Rvy's body.
A blessing formed around her.
Rvy could feel something new within her—something divine.
"The angel wishes to grant you divine power, but your will is not yet strong enough. Your body cannot withstand the angel's full grace. Therefore, I can only bestow upon you my blessing."
"Rise."
Rvy stood up, her emotions mixed.
Not strong enough in will?
Did the angel mean her faith in God was not firm enough?
The very existence of the divine had already shattered her understanding of the world.
Deep down, she longed for power like Incarnation's—such overwhelming strength.
Her years as a doctor saving lives could not compare to what Incarnation had achieved in mere days. The number of people she saved was simply incomparable.
After the mass ended, Rvy led a group of zombies to the training ground.
In truth, it was just an open space in the small town.
Following her were fifty-three male believers.
Facing the twenty-six white-haired girls before her, Rvy, who had never led troops before, felt at a loss.
After all, she was just a doctor.
"Lady Rvy, may I join your ranks?"
A young man approached her.
Rvy turned to him—she knew him well as a doctor of the town. "Cain, aren't you afraid of death?"
"To fight for God is my greatest honor," Cain said fervently, his eyes alight with devotion.
"..."
This was exactly why Rvy had come to despise the Church.
So many believers were mindless, blindly trusting every word the clergy said and following them into madness.
And now?
God had truly appeared—and had brought divine punishment upon the world.
Could the old Black Plague have been a punishment from God as well?
"Very well, join us for now."
"Yes."
Cain nodded.
Given that their enemies were the Church's experienced knights, Rvy accepted all who volunteered.
In war, one could never have too many soldiers.
At least they could train—perhaps they would be useful in time.
The Will of Ruler, with her third-person perspective, could clearly see the Church's crusading forces—their structure, number, and position.
There were three spirit users, one hundred knights, and eight hundred regular soldiers—squires, by the looks of it.
Though called squires, they were still trained fighters.
To deal with a small town of only a few thousand people, the Church had dispatched such a force.
Three spirit users, too.
They were taking this very seriously.
The Church had likely realized the immense value of Incarnation's healing ability—and wanted to capture her alive.
The Will of Ruler glanced toward Ai Enma's side. After some time expanding her zombie forces, Ai Enma now commanded over three thousand undead and had seized much of Oda Nobunaga's territory.
Those three thousand zombies possessed combat power surpassing that of tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers.
Human armies crumbled before the undead legions.
With Sirin's omniscient map view monitoring everything, Ai Enma knew every enemy movement clearly.
Ambushes were pointless—they'd be surrounded instead.
Cutting off supplies was futile—her troops neither ate nor slept.
Night raids? Equally useless.
Their only option was to fight head-on.
Ai Enma herself could slaughter entire armies without taking a single wound, leaving fields of corpses in her wake. To ordinary humans, she was like a god of death.
With each victory, morale rose higher—the campaign turning into a relentless advance.
The fear of Ai Enma and her undead army grew so deep that many soldiers fled before the battles even began.
The Will of Ruler considered this carefully and reallocated the flow of Honkai energy, assigning two-thirds of the daily output to Incarnation.
This world, she realized, was unlike any she had known—it truly harbored mysterious powers.
That meant the Church's strength might be even greater than expected.
Her first priority was to fortify Incarnation—grant her sufficient Honkai energy and an army strong enough to stabilize their hold.
She acted with great caution to prevent a repeat of the Honkai world, where humans had once learned to wield Honkai energy against Honkai itself.
In anime and novels, she had often seen humanity, faced with invincible invaders, harness the enemy's own power to fight back—and ultimately triumph.
Though the resistance in this world was weak, the Will of Ruler refused to underestimate them. She would rather slow her invasion than risk giving them any chance to weaponize Honkai energy.
After all, the Church's faith was itself a form of idealism—a power born purely of belief.
Incarnation's spiritual power, fused with Honkai energy to create her Kotodama, and Ai Enma's Hell ability—both were manifestations of will and faith.
She couldn't help but fear that one day, this world's humans might awaken such overwhelming willpower that even she could be forced back.