The Demon King is unfathomable

Chapter 641 I swear in the name of the Colin family that I will fight alongside my brothers who also believe in the Holy Light.
As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Yan closed his eyes, letting the tendrils of his spiritual power spread out in all directions.

The vast spiritual power surged like a tide, swiftly traversing the frozen earth beneath its feet and the crisscrossing tree roots, crossing the desolate wilderness outside Graystone Town that had been plowed by artillery fire, and climbing up the distant gray-brown mountain ridge.

His master-level strength was on full display at this moment!

Sensing that vast spiritual power, the mages of the Imperial Mage Corps accompanying the army all showed expressions of shock.

What terrifying mental strength!
Is this the power of Prince Colin?
No wonder Miss Ophelia Castellion proudly mentions His Highness's name to everyone she meets!
Many magicians felt ashamed when they realized that they had judged him by his appearance and thought he was just a pretty boy who was good-looking but not good at anything.

Just as the magicians were exchanging glances and whispering among themselves, Prince Colin, with his eyes closed, had already detected the presence of a large number of living people in a sheltered mountain valley less than ten kilometers from Graystone Town.

Those were residents of Graystone Town who had fled, numbering about a hundred.

Wrapped in patched winter clothes, they huddled around a dim campfire for warmth... Clearly, the Salvation Army soldiers who had taken them to safety had already received news of the victory.

Otherwise, they would never have risked making a fire for warmth while they were taking refuge.

Luo Yan retracted his outward-expanding spiritual tendrils and concentrated his scattered spiritual energy on the simple camp. The images projected into his sea of ​​consciousness became increasingly clear.

On a high rock outside the crowd stood two guerrilla soldiers holding muskets. The barrels of their guns were gleaming and well-made, even more so than those of regular soldiers.

Not far behind the two soldiers stood a figure clad in heavy knight's armor.

That was Leiden, the first Grail Knight of the Salvation Army.

Although Luo Yan wasn't particularly familiar with this person, he recognized the "Holy Grail Shield" on the guy's back. That was the divine artifact he had bestowed upon this person in the name of the divine son, Flame King, through the hand of the saintess, Kallen.

Luo Yan opened his eyes and looked at the two people beside him.

"found it."

Coser and Wesley looked at him at the same time, their faces lighting up with joy, and they spoke almost simultaneously.

What did you see?

"where?"

"It's in the mountains northeast of Greystone Town, about ten kilometers away."

Luo Yan pointed in a direction, drawing their attention to the mountains behind Graystone Town. "There are hundreds of local residents hiding over there, along with two soldiers with guns and an officer in knight's armor... That officer has an extraordinary air about him; he must be a high-ranking member of the Salvation Army."

He paused for a moment, then shared his speculation.

"As expected, the Salvation Army must have notified the residents of Greystone Town to evacuate in advance and take refuge in the mountains."

Upon hearing that the person he was looking for was nearby, Koser immediately tightened his grip on the reins.

"Let's hurry and go meet them."

After speaking, he turned to look at the cavalry behind him, about to issue the order for the entire army to advance.

Upon seeing this, Field Marshal Wesley immediately called out to him.

"Wait a minute, General, we don't need to make a big fuss. Three people will be enough."

Koser frowned.

"But what if there's danger?"

Those guys are heretics, after all.

Although he was prepared to cooperate with them, he couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't have ulterior motives.

"With Prince Colin here, what danger could we possibly be in?"

Field Marshal Wesley joked, then turned his gaze to the vast cavalry behind him. "The locals were already wary of us. With over three thousand men marching into the mountains, I don't think we can have a proper chat."

“That’s what I think too,” Luo Yan nodded slightly, agreeing with Marshal Wesley’s point of view, and then looked at Coser. “We’re just going to talk to the Salvation Army, not to wipe out bandits.”

Seeing that Prince Colin had said so, Coser did not insist and finally nodded.

"Since you think so too... then let's listen to Field Marshal Wesley."

Originally, Marshal Wesley was the nominal commander-in-chief. However, being from the Holy City of the Empire, he was merely a military advisor and staff officer, and in reality, he could only command the spellcasting squad composed of two hundred mages.

After saying this, Coser gave a few instructions to his adjutant beside him, then turned his horse around and followed Marshal Wesley, who had already set off.

As for the three thousand cavalrymen, they set up camp on the spot and deployed simple defensive fortifications in Graystone Town.

Examples include barricades to resist cavalry, trenches to avoid arrows and spells, and simple firing platforms and watchtowers.

Regardless of the success or failure of their negotiations with the Salvation Army, they need to remain vigilant in the Graystone area against any potential ogre hordes and hold out until reinforcements arrive.

Luo Yan rode ahead of the two, leading the way while keeping watch for any non-existent enemies around them.

Having already scanned the land with his mental power, he knew the terrain like the back of his hand.

Not only that, he also took the opportunity to send a divine message to the crystal ball in the pocket of a certain chosen one, telling that guy to stay where he was and not move.

Of course, all of this was done in the name of Saint Karen, who was far away at Spruce Manor…

Three warhorses trod through the soft snow, crossed the forest path, and soon entered the mountains.

As they cycled along the ridge, the deeper they went, the denser the dead trees became, and the thicker the snow on the ground grew.

As they crossed a ridge, Luo Yan was the first to spot the two sentries he had previously sensed through his mental power.

Two young men stood behind a huge rock, their eyes wandering aimlessly.

At the same moment Luo Yan saw them, the two young men also spotted him and hurriedly raised the muzzles of their guns.

Just as they were about to aim their Roxay rifles at "Roxay Collin," a broad, calloused hand landed on the shoulder of one of the young men and patted him gently.

"Put your gun down, it's not the enemy... As for whether they're friends, I'll check."

Upon hearing the voice behind them, the two sentries immediately lowered their guns, stood at attention, and saluted respectfully.

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Koser's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the heavily armored man emerge from the camp entrance.

Unbelievable.

He actually saw a holy aura emanating from that man.

Soon, Koser was surprised to discover that the holy aura seemed to emanate from the shield the man was carrying—

That was actually a divine artifact?!

Noticing Coser's gaze, Leiden said nothing, but simply glanced at the three men riding up on horseback.

The gaze lingered on Prince Colin for a moment before casually shifting to Marshal Wesley's face.

"You really did come."

Upon hearing this, Marshal Wesley smiled, patted his restless warhorse reassuringly, and looked at the knight carrying a large shield.

"You seem to have known we were coming?"

"To be precise, it is the Divine Child who knows."

Leiden made the sign of the cross on his chest, his resolute face filled with piety.

Koser's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Son of God?"

“That’s right, He sent a divine decree to the Holy Maiden Temple.”

Looking at the disdainful rider, Leiden continued in a casual tone.

"The oracle says that three messengers will come here today, representing the Empire of Os, the Duchy of Campbell, and the distant Duchy of Colin."

"...It seems you guys are really good at intelligence gathering; you even found out our identities."

Coser rode forward a step, looked at Leiden with a faint smile, and continued in a teasing tone.

"Since the so-called oracle has already told you that we are coming, it must have also told you the purpose of our trip."

"of course."

Leiden nodded, looked at the unexpected rider, and spoke decisively.

"Her divine message from Princess Karen says that you have come to discuss cooperation. In order to fight against the ogre invasion, you need to rely on the power of the Salvation Army."

Upon hearing this, both Coser and Field Marshal Wesley showed expressions of surprise.

They had just finished discussing this matter, and this Salvation Army officer already knew about it?!

Koser's expression became particularly strange as he thought about this.

Could it be... that divine child really be Saint Sith's child?
But this is too blasphemous.

Leiden did not elaborate on the details of the oracle.

Seeing the obvious surprise on the faces of the two men, he performed a knightly salute and introduced himself.

"My name is Leiden, a Grail Knight of the Salvation Army. May I ask your names?"

Field Marshal Wesley took the initiative to introduce himself.

“I am Marshal of the Duchy of Campbell, you may call me Sir Wesley. And this gentleman beside me is General Coser from the Empire, and—”

“Your Highness Colin, I know… there is no one in the entire Twilight Province who does not know this kind and generous prince.”

Leiden smiled at Colin, then turned his gaze back to Marshal Wesley.

"It's windy in here, let's come inside and talk."

Field Marshal Wesley and Coser exchanged a glance, then both turned their gaze to Colin.

Luo Yan nodded, said "Since we're already here," then dismounted, handed the reins to the sentry on duty, and followed behind Leiden, who was heading deeper into the camp.

Marshal Wesley and Coser did not hesitate any longer and dismounted one after another.

The three of them walked into the camp together.

The civilians huddled under the shed looked up and their eyes fell on the three strangers.

An elderly woman shielded the child in her arms behind her back, while several young men watched their every move with wary expressions.

They only lowered their guard when they discovered that it was Knight Commander Leiden who brought the three men in.

Coser glanced at the group thoughtfully, then his gaze fell on the man named Redden.

"They seem to trust you a lot?"

“Are you talking to me?” After walking for a while, Leiden realized that the person behind him was talking to him, so he smiled and said, “It’s not so much that they believe in me, but that they believe in the name of the Salvation Army.”

“How did you do that?” Coser asked curiously. “Nothing special,” Redden shrugged. “The Green Forest Army and the Court of Justice pushed them into the abyss, and we pulled them out of the abyss…that’s it.”

Upon hearing this, Koser's expression became somewhat complicated.

As an officer from a commoner background, he had a deep sympathy for the people in these remote border regions.

He even felt that St. Clement's Cathedral had handled the matter somewhat hastily.

Moreover, even from the perspective of the outcome, the bloody suppression did not eradicate the heretical beliefs from these people.

in contrast.

Because of the misdeeds of the tribunal, the New Testament sect, which was originally as faint as a firefly, has spread everywhere.

The group quickly arrived at their destination.

It was a crooked tent, no different from the shacks where the local civilians lived.

Leiden lifted the curtain and went inside, leading the three to an open map. He picked up a water pouch from the wooden table, took a sip, and then handed it to Koser.

Koser took the water bottle, glanced at it, but didn't drink from it.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke.

"I apologize for the matter concerning the Tribunal. Of course... I can only speak for myself, not for the Empire or the Papacy."

Leiden paused for a moment, seemingly not expecting his brother to still be thinking about this, and chuckled as he spoke.

“I know. Um… Your Excellency Koser, please don’t feel too guilty. I won’t assume that the Senate has recognized us just because you walked into this tent.”

Upon hearing this, Koser breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart clenched again.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but was interrupted by Leiden's next sentence.

"Let's get down to business. We've heard about what happened at Broken Blade Pass, although we only heard about it recently..."

As he spoke, Leiden picked up a stone from beside the map and placed it on the map at the location of Broken Blade Pass.

"Without Brass Pass and Broken Blade Pass, the dwarves are probably having a tough time. Of course, things aren't much better for us here either, so they don't have time to gloat."

"The ogre's reinforcements are still on their way... The number of troops heading in our direction is probably no less than the number that attacked the High Mountain Kingdom. Moreover, judging from the strength of the ogre leader who led the vanguard, they have probably already obtained the Blessing of Kalmandes thanks to their victory at Brass Pass."

Koser gripped the water pouch tightly, his eyes fixed on him, trying to find a clue in his face.

How do you know all this so clearly?

"How would I know? Ha, that's a good question. After all, we never thought the Os Empire could really hold onto Brass Pass forever... Let's be frank, we have scouts in the Dimensional Desert, and we have our own methods for transmitting intelligence."

Leiden kept his head down, staring at the map, never looking up, as if it were a superfluous question.

After dismissing Koser, he picked up a few more pebbles and placed them in several ravines from the Yellow Copper Pass to the eastern part of the Twilight Province.

"This is the approximate route of the ogre army that our scouts have discovered. They have sent out a large number of hunting parties to search for passable mountain paths as they advance, which has caused them considerable delays."

"This is good news for us."

"By the way, judging from the map, we are closer to Brass Pass than Broken Blade Peak, but the actual situation is exactly the opposite of our intuition... The mountain road from Brass Pass to this area seems shorter, but it is actually more circuitous than the road to the High Mountain Kingdom. I suppose that's why those fat, bloated bastards found the dwarf brothers' side first."

"How many people are coming towards us?" Koser asked, taking a deep breath.

"No less than 500,000, with no upper limit. Nobody knows how many reinforcements those guys have. We still don't understand how they support so many people."

Leiden grinned, his expression gradually losing its previous ease and becoming serious.

"In short, no matter how many of them there are, if we can't stop them in Graystone, they'll spread all over the forests of Dusk Province, build their altars with severed heads, and expand like a snowball... It will be much harder to stop them then."

“The problem is indeed very tricky, so we plan to build a defensive line around Graystone Town,” Marshal Wesley picked up the conversation, looking at Leiden and saying, “Let me be frank, we don’t have enough manpower, we have to mobilize the local forces as much as possible… Also, it would be best if that divine child could personally intervene. Do you have a way to contact him?”

Leiden shook his head.

"No one can get in touch with him."

Wesley looked tense.

Is there really no way to do it?

"Unfortunately, that man has always been like this. He only appears when he deems it necessary. Apart from that... even Her Highness the Saintess cannot find him and can only occasionally receive his teachings."

At this point, Leiden paused for a moment, then gave Marshal Wesley a relaxed look.

"However, Her Highness told us not to worry. If we really encounter an enemy that we cannot defeat, she will naturally take action."

“You’re talking as if he’s right next to us,” Kosel chuckled.

“That might be it,” Leiden shrugged slightly and said seriously, “Princess Karen said that he could be anyone, maybe the beggar you saw in the camp, maybe the crow perched on a branch, or even the child in his mother’s arms… He can hear everyone’s prayers.”

Looking at Leiden, who was speaking earnestly, Luo Yan remained silent.

Because Youyou, floating beside him, was like a joyful snow leopard, laughing so hard that it made the ground swarm with pupae.

Even someone as composed as him has to put in some effort to maintain an elegant demeanor.

Unlike Prince Colin, who was able to keep a straight face.

Upon hearing this ambiguous statement, Field Marshal Wesley's expression immediately betrayed his unease.

He placed his hands on the map and couldn't help but speak.

“Lord Redden, we cannot entrust the lives of everyone in the Twilight Province to a mere ‘possibility.’ Are we to defeat the ogres with prayers when they attack?”

Leiden shook his head and answered decisively.

“I never said that. In fact, even if the Divine Child were standing next to us, we couldn’t possibly stop all the ogres with his power alone. We should just throw down our weapons and hide behind him to pray. We have to do what we can… like you said, we have to build a reliable defensive line outside Graystone Town.”

Upon hearing this, Coser lowered his arms, placed his hand on Marshal Wesley's shoulder, patted him, and gave him a look that said, "Leave it to me."

Then, he looked at Leiden and said in a serious tone.

“We have two hundred mages at our disposal… plus Prince Colin, who is a powerful mage himself, with considerable expertise in earth magic. However, even so, we cannot repair the fortifications at the front lines with mages alone. We need at least ten thousand… or even more local laborers, which may require your assistance.”

Organizing those who had already sought refuge to return to the front lines was no easy task.

Perhaps only the Salvation Army in the entire Twilight Province has such mobilization capabilities.

However, when faced with Coser's request, Leiden gently shook his head.

"There's no need to trouble them. There aren't that many residents near Greystone Town, and it's too late to mobilize them from further away."

Field Marshal Wesley had a sudden thought.

"what do you mean……"

Leiden nodded slightly.

“That’s right, we still have ‘them’ to use… the spirits of our ancestors who returned to this land. Although we can’t contact the divine child, we can awaken them.”

Upon hearing this, Koser's eyelids twitched.

Deep down, he still couldn't fully accept the concept of the "Holy Spirit," as it fundamentally conflicted with the doctrines he had been taught since childhood.

However, he also had to admit that this was the only force they could rely on at the moment.

If you want to save the people of the Holy Light on this land.

Leiden clearly saw through his thoughts, staring directly into his eyes.

“I do not expect to form an alliance with you, nor do I expect anyone’s prejudices to change with a few words. However, for the sake of our common enemy, I need you to swear an oath to temporarily put aside your prejudices against us and stand with us.”

“We are all children who serve the Holy Light. I don’t want us to face chaos while also having to guard against the daggers hidden behind us… If that’s the case, even if the Son of God descends upon us, or even if Saint Sith himself descends upon us, it probably won’t change our fate of destruction.”

The atmosphere inside the tent fell silent for a moment, with only the increasingly heavy breathing of a few grown men.

It was Colin who finally broke the silence.

Abandoning his usual taciturnity, he placed his hand on the map and spoke in a solemn tone.

“I swear in the name of the Colin family that I will fight alongside my brothers who also believe in the Holy Light, even if we have different understandings of the Holy Word… I am willing to take any risk for this.”

"Your Highness?! Are you serious?"

Koser stared at Prince Colin in surprise, momentarily stunned by the prince's sudden action.

He never imagined that this prince, whose territory was thousands of miles away, would take such a huge risk for the people of this unfamiliar land!
Endorsing heretical beliefs is no laughing matter, especially when these guys plan to use blasphemous undead on the battlefield!

Even nobles who serve the Holy Light have no right to overstep their bounds and pardon heresy on behalf of St. Clement's Cathedral.

The thought that he was still weighing the pros and cons made him feel a pang of shame.

“I am absolutely serious, Your Excellency Koser,” Luo Yan smiled at Koser and said in a very soft voice, “I think... if my father knew my choice today, he would not think that I have blasphemed the gods, but would be proud of me.”

"Since even His Highness Colin has said so, I have nothing to hesitate about."

Field Marshal Wesley, who had been silent, suddenly sighed and took the sword from his waist and placed it on the map.

“I swear by my surname… even if it is not a prestigious one. I will stand with my people in the Twilight Province, whether they believe in the New Testament or St. Clement’s Cathedral.”

He paused, then added a sentence.

“His Highness Edward bestowed this knife upon me, and I believe he will approve of my choice.”

Compared to Coser from the Holy City, Marshal Wesley didn't have much of a psychological burden; the secularization of the Campbellians was even ahead of that of the Twilight Province.

not to mention--

Back when they were in the Wanren Mountains, he had already set a precedent of turning a blind eye to some things.

He simply hadn't spoken to the imperial officer or the prince standing next to him.

Seeing that both of them had said so, Koser took a deep breath, and his wavering gaze finally turned firm again.

He placed his hand on the map.

“I apologize for my hesitation… Lord Leiden, I swear to you that my men will fight alongside yours until we achieve final victory. I will do everything in my power to help you withstand the pressure from the Holy City!”

A smile spread across Leiden's face.

"With your promises, I feel at ease. I believe you are all people who keep your promises."

"So, when do our 'Holy Spirit' brothers plan to make their move?" Marshal Wesley hung his sword back on his waist and looked at Leiden seriously. "Currently, we only have three thousand men on the battlefield. They are deploying around Graystone Town, but they can only build some simple fortifications."

Now that a temporary alliance has been reached, he naturally hopes that his allies can take action as soon as possible.

Meeting Marshal Wesley's expectant gaze, Leiden simply smiled and answered in a calm tone.

"They're already in action."

(End of this chapter)