Episode 213: The Kingdom of God
“The time has come!”
A solemn voice, amplified by magic, echoed from the terrace of the majestic temple.
“The glory of our God of Law (Prava), Bok, shall now illuminate the entire land!”
An old man, clad in black robes adorned with lavish embroidery, raised his voice.
“We have endured. Again and again. For years and years!”
Around the towering sanctuary of the temple, a multitude of people had gathered.
Tens of thousands, a dense throng of humanity.
“We have persevered, and spoken with words. We continued to speak! But—but! To the very end, they did not accept our salvation (Spasyeniye)! They continued to ignore the words of our God (Bok)!”
The assembled faithful remained silent, but listened intently to his words with an unusual fervor.
“Our benevolent God of Law (Prava) has finally made a decision! I hereby declare—a Holy (Svyataya) War (Vayna)!”
A collective gasp rippled through the air.
The believers began to chant prayers (Maritova) in unison.
Tens of thousands of voices swelled into a great wave, echoing through the Holy (Svyataya) City (Staritsa).
“Priests (Svyashchenniki), advance!”
Even amidst the prayers (Maritova), the Pope’s voice remained resonant.
“Vanquish our divine enemies, liberate the people, and make known the name of the God of Law (Prava)!”
““Amen!!””
The response erupted like a thunderclap.
The priests (Svyashchenniki), soldiers of God, were all mages. Their amplified magic formed the reply to the Pope.
“Annihilate (Zistroy)!!”
““Annihilate (Zistroy)!!””
“Salvation (Spasimenya)!!”
““Amen!!””
The great doors of the temple slowly opened, and the priests (Svyashchenniki) in formation, along with fully armed Holy (Svyataya) Knights (Rytsari), began their march.
Thus, the Holy War of the Prava Theocracy, an expedition against all surrounding nations, commenced.
◇◇◇◇
“The situation is that dire?”
“Yes. They do not accept surrender. The royalty and nobility are all killed, and the surrendered soldiers and citizens are all enslaved. All property is confiscated, and most are taken away as serfs.”
“Those who do not serve their so-called god are all considered divine enemies, and they are saved by spending their lives as slaves in the name of God. Was that the gist of it?”
“Yes. Such notifications have been sent to neighboring countries for about 10 years. An envoy came to our country as well. Well, no ordinary country would accept that. They have been coming every year, but this time it was a final warning, so to speak.”
“Incorrigible.”
Duke Amadio Silverhead of Eitai sighed at the report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“But we cannot overlook it. Can we?”
“Indeed. If their foreign expeditions continue as they are, they will eventually reach our country. Having acquired a large number of serfs, their country will greatly increase its national power. Also, unlike an empire, it is a country ruled by priests. We cannot expect weakening due to expansion or internal corruption. We don’t know about 50 or 100 years from now, but it won’t waver for at least 10 years.”
“I see.”
Indeed, religion is troublesome.
Especially an exclusive monotheism that blindly believes in its own justice.
“If we had another five years, we would be ready.”
The Repuitari Kingdom’s army is currently undergoing major reforms and is generally weakened.
The navy is strong, but the enemy is a continental nation. Although there are cities facing the sea, all major functions are far beyond the mountains. Naval guns do not have sufficient range and are useless.
“The modernization of the army won’t be in time. Even if we provide support, will they last a year?”
“It would be impossible for the northern nations. In the first place, the number of soldiers is on a different scale.”
“Priests continuing their eastward march while devouring food. Like locusts.”
“Yes. Absolutely…”
But even so, we cannot just sit idly by.
We need to take immediate action to slow down their advance.
If we can hold them back even a little, they should quickly dry up due to lack of supplies.
However.
“However, they are too far away and we lack the number of soldiers. Even if we aim for the rear, it won’t be effective because the enemy doesn’t have logistics in the first place. All we can do is sandwich them from the front and back and grind them down…”
Amadio Silverhead stroked his chin and ran his finger across the map.
“In any case, we don’t have enough troops. We have no choice but to buy time somehow.”
Thus, the western part of the Northern Continent would be drawn into a quagmire of war.
◇◇◇◇
“So, what exactly is the situation?”
“It’s a large-scale war of aggression by the Prava Theocracy in the western part of the continent. The surrounding small nations are being swallowed up one after another. The Repuitari Kingdom is close, but fortunately, it is separated by the sea. Their naval power seems to be almost non-existent, so there should be no impact for a while.”
A large-scale military invasion occurred in the Northern Continent, as revealed by satellite photo analysis.
The Prava Theocracy is subjugating surrounding countries at a considerable pace, and each country seems unable to cope with its rapid advance.
“Sister, shouldn’t we advance our underwater base for information gathering?”
“Hmm, I guess so.”
The underwater base for the Repuitari Kingdom is in operation, and we have accumulated sufficient know-how.
If it is over the Repuitari Kingdom, we can keep the drone in the air without hesitation, so there will be no problem with the communication range.
However, the opponent is a land-based nation.
Approaching from the sea is somewhat inefficient.
“Ringo, do you have any plans?”
“Yes, Ma’am. It would be best to have underground bases on mountaintops. If it is a mountain far from human habitation, there is almost no possibility of it being exposed.”
I guess even if we build a normal base instead of an underground base, it will hardly be exposed.
Ideally, we would find a mineral vein, but things won’t go that conveniently.
“Hmm, I guess so. Let’s go with that for the time being.”
We will secretly construct an underground base and build an intelligence network around it.
If we can gather information, we can add more underground bases.
“There are several candidate locations, but first, the underwater base. If we can make it a base, we will first advance to the coastal area from there.”
“Hey, hey, Sister. Wouldn’t it be better to build a base in the Repuitari Kingdom?”
“It’s an allied country, so I think it’s totally possible~”
Commander (Eve) pondered Utsugi and Erika’s proposals.
Well, honestly, it’s not like I didn’t consider that option.
“It feels a little premature… I feel a little hesitant to demand that much from a sovereign state.”
The Repuitari Kingdom is ruled by that former player, Amadio Salmon.
No, he’s just one of the nobles, not actually ruling.
To build a military base in such a country that threatens its sovereignty is, to be honest, something I hesitate to do.
“Considering their national power, if we build one forward base, we could conquer the entire country…”
If it’s the Repuitari Kingdom, which has few unreasonable (fantasy) elements, Ringo’s simulation can predict with high accuracy.
If we build a forward base of The Tree standard in that country, the prediction result was that we could easily seize the territory.
“Besides, do we even need to get involved in this war in the first place?”
“The imbalance of power in the surrounding countries, not just the Repuitari Kingdom, will lead to overall economic deterioration. If possible, we want to maintain a tense situation where pressure is evenly distributed and checked.”
Eve nodded in agreement with Akane’s opinion.
We are still trading with the Repuitari Kingdom.
At the very least, I don’t want the situation to interfere with securing those imported items.
“Hmm. Direct intervention is not a good idea. I wonder if there is a more peaceful way to intervene.”
“Providing aid to the Repuitari Kingdom is the least disruptive way to participate.”
For example, if we were to fire a wide-area annihilation weapon with a ballistic missile, the foreign expedition would be thwarted.
However, The Tree has no particular reason to go that far. It’s just a massacre.
It’s an interaction between nations. An outsider shouldn’t intervene so cleverly. We’re not aiming to conquer the world.
“I understand a little how a time traveler feels when struggling with whether to intervene in history.”
“…Sister, I think it’s probably completely different.”
“Is that so?”
However.
We might as well provide aid to the Repuitari Kingdom, with whom we have a connection.
It will probably be a considerable national crisis.
And how will that country respond?
If she (Eve) could honestly ask for help, then ＜The Tree＞ would extend a hand.
However, that would be the same as accepting control by a super AI.
Could that Amadio Salmon tolerate that?
――――――――――――――――――――
Chapter 7, Land of God, has begun.
Please give us ★★★ and follow! It makes us happy!!