Because of their offense against the Anti-Crusader Alliance, Gaul and several other nations formed a coalition army, preparing to besiege the Church of Revelation.
The Church of Revelation's public doctrine proclaimed that they were angels sent by the Lord—descended to purify the mortal world, eliminate sinners, reclaim all lands and power, and redistribute them to the true chosen of God.
Kings, nobles, popes, bishops—all members of the ruling class—were branded as sinners, stripped of the right to possess land, authority, privilege, or any form of wealth.
What ruler could possibly accept such claims?
This was a direct declaration of hostility against every throne and crown in Europe.
The Crusader Church denounced the Church of Revelation's angels as demons in disguise, claiming that their words were wicked temptations meant to deceive mankind and seize dominion over the world.
They urged all nations to rise together—to resist the devils and destroy them.
Unfortunately for them, such rhetoric found little support. Instead, the common people began to stir.
After generations of oppression by nobles and the Church, many had long harbored rebellion in their hearts.
Some had even taken action before.
Now, with the Church of Revelation's spark, all of Europe was aflame—revolts erupted across the continent, large and small.
Gaul and its allies began to muster their armies.
Once their forces were assembled, the Church of Revelation would face the combined might of two great coalitions of Europe.
Medieval European wars were usually small in scale, but with temporary levies, armies could still number in the tens of thousands.
Moreover, the European custom of not counting conscripted peasants as formal soldiers meant that actual troop numbers were always far higher than official figures.
...
At the Crusader Alliance's camp—
Upon hearing that the angel of the Church of Revelation had thrown an envoy into a moat, and that Gaul and others were now sending troops, Iron Maiden frowned deeply, concern flickering in her eyes.
Something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
Shouldn't the Church of Revelation have joined with Gaul and those other nations against them?
Why were they fighting each other instead?
What could the Church of Revelation possibly gain from this?
When Iron Maiden learned that Gaul had sent envoys, she had already prepared herself for the worst—a grand alliance of her enemies.
But reality defied logic.
Instead of joining forces, the Church of Revelation and Gaul were now at war.
Iron Maiden was completely baffled.
Then a chilling possibility crossed her mind—one that made her heart race.
Those angelic soldiers.
Unlike the heretical cults of the past, the Church of Revelation could create monstrous soldiers seemingly out of thin air.
No one knew how.
The Church claimed they were creations of the angels.
So far, no one knew how many of these angelic soldiers existed in total.
Was the Church of Revelation deliberately enraging every nation—waiting for them to gather all their armies together, only to annihilate them all at once?
The thought sent a shiver through her.
Iron Maiden quickly rose from her seat and began writing a letter to her father—the Duke of the Holy Roman Empire.
...
The war between the Church of Revelation and the Crusader Alliance continued.
The Crusader armies resorted to plundering nearby towns and villages for supplies.
With Sirin's support, Zofia organized a new War Knight Order, commanding a thousand zombies and a thousand human soldiers to ambush and cut off the Crusader Alliance's supply lines.
At the same time, Kiana Kaslana slowly reinforced Rvy's Revelation Knights with another thousand zombies.
Aside from the zombie legions, any army of this world—once its food supply was cut off—would crumble from fierce lions into helpless sheep.
Only if someone could sever the zombies' source of Honkai energy would they stop moving.
In the Far East, the key to victory in every battle was simple: Ai Enma.
A being that defied common sense—her individual combat power could easily slaughter six thousand men.
In ancient times, such a being would be worshipped as a god.
Even the emperor himself would have to kneel and speak humbly in her presence.
The number six thousand was merely the most she had ever faced at once.
Originally, Kiana Kaslana had planned for Incarnation to conquer Europe, but soon realized her methods were unsuitable. Though she could do it slowly, it would cause unnecessary casualties—and capture too few soldiers alive.
Kiana Kaslana needed a power capable of massive destruction—a force guaranteed to inflict catastrophic casualties.
Sirin's empowered servant, Zofia, was precisely the kind of overwhelming might she required.
From her true body's perspective, Kiana observed the movements of the Gaul coalition forces. Small raiding units had already begun invading her controlled territories, looting and burning.
Most of them were mercenaries—bands of thugs and outlaws.
After thirteen days, the armies of Gaul and its allies finally completed their mobilization and prepared to march.
Seeing this, Kiana Kaslana immediately deployed two thousand zombies and one thousand Seraph-class Honkai Beasts she had long since prepared.
The allied armies of Gaul and its neighboring states numbered nearly thirty thousand.
They believed the Church of Revelation possessed no more than ten thousand troops in total.
Five thousand were already engaged against the Crusader Alliance; the rest, scattered across the land, numbered only a few thousand more.
If the Crusader Alliance's five thousand were not drawn into this front, that meant the allied forces of thirty thousand would only have to face two to three thousand of the angelic soldiers.
Thirty thousand against three thousand—how could they possibly lose?
Before assembling their forces, Gaul and the other nations had repeatedly sent envoys to propose negotiations, offering to maintain their current power and privileges in exchange for peace.
Every offer was rejected.
Having seen what the angelic soldiers could do, the kings of these nations were terrified.
Creatures that did not eat, drink, or sleep; that feared neither pain nor death; that wielded supernatural powers—
Were those even human?
No, they were not.
And their numbers only continued to grow—as if there were no limit.
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the rulers of Europe were overthrown.
If they could join the angels while keeping their power, they would have done so—but to join meant surrendering everything.
Impossible.
Well... not for everyone.
Some did choose to join—the outcasts, the lesser nobles, a few desperate knights, reckless gamblers, and fervent believers. The majority, however, still watched and waited.
All of Europe's eyes were fixed on this coming war.
They wanted to know where the Church of Revelation's confidence came from—to wage war against so many nations at once.
The allied army of thirty thousand marched forth in great formation.
As they crossed a wide plain, one soldier looked up and noticed something approaching in the distant sky. Squinting, he tried to make out the shapes.
They looked like birds.
But as they drew nearer, diving lower—he finally saw them clearly.
"Look at the sky!" he shouted.
A formation of Seraph-class Honkai Beasts, pure white with glowing violet halos above their heads, soared overhead. Beneath each one hung two Honkai bombs, each strapped with additional explosive packs filled with crystalline fragments to amplify their destructive power.
Before the soldiers could react, the beasts aligned in a single sweeping formation and began dropping their bombs along the length of the marching column.
Boom... boom... boom...
Explosions erupted in a chain, merging into one continuous roar.
A long serpent of fire devoured the earth.
BOOOOM!
Screams and detonations filled the air.
As the Honkai bombs fell, the Seraph-class beasts banked, circled, and dove again.
They began a second round of attacks.
The soldiers who survived the first wave staggered to their feet, dazed and trembling, surrounded by charred bodies and the moans of the dying.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What just happened?
Before he could think, another Seraph-class beast swooped down, flaring its wings—six short arrows shot out like lightning.
Whoosh!
Two arrows pierced the stunned soldier's chest; the remaining four buried themselves in the dirt.
After just two waves, thousands lay dead or dying.
As predicted, the thirty-thousand-strong army broke instantly after the bombardment—panic and terror spreading like wildfire. Soldiers fled in every direction.
Then came the slaughter.
A thousand Honkai Beasts pursued the fleeing men, killing them one by one.
Kiana Kaslana personally led two thousand zombies and one thousand Honkai Beasts, advancing rapidly across Gaul's territory—cutting a path straight to Paris.
Their speed was so great that the enemy didn't even have time to surrender.
Sirin's front saw the same results. Empowered by her new strength, Zofia led the charge like a storm—tearing through the Crusader Alliance ranks as if none could stand before her.
Wherever she went, familiar faces fell beneath her blade.
The Crusader Alliance was utterly crushed—driven back all the way to Vienna, the heart of the Holy Roman Empire.