Chapter 40 | Reborn as the Pope's Heir in a Matriarchal Theocracy

Northland, Gargo region.

It felt as if coagulated blood clots were floating in the air, exuding a dense, bloody stench at every moment.

The dark clouds of war hung perpetually over this sky. This was the Holy State's last stronghold in the heart of Northland. If they lost this place, they would lose the leverage to threaten the capital of Northland.

Thus, Celine had only one goal: to expel all the enemies here. To win this war, this was an indispensable step.

“Commander, what should we do?”

The adjutant walked over to Celine's side, turned to look at the absurdly young girl next to her, and asked.

Celine shifted her gaze away from the distant city and let it fall upon her adjutant. She did not speak, simply staring at her quietly.

Being stared at by those eyes, a sudden chill rose in the adjutant's heart.

If anyone stared into those eyes for too long, they would surely feel the fire burning beneath that calm lake.

That might be the gaze of a beast, or perhaps the gaze of God, but it was absolutely not a gaze belonging to a human.

“Uh... I mean, do we have any tactics?” The adjutant swallowed hard, struggling to ask under the invisible pressure.

The girl stared at her with eyes like the deep sea, saying word by word, “Our tactic is—follow! My! Charge!”

C... Charge?

The adjutant was dumbfounded.

Although she knew Celine had always commanded battles with a bold, aggressive style and they had won many victories, the problem was that Gargo City before them was a heavily fortified military stronghold!

Just like that, a charge?

Exactly as she did before every battle in the past, Celine rode her horse alone to the city walls and shouted to the Holy State defenders inside:

“This is the decree of God!

“Go home!

“If you do not return, this place shall become your grave!”

Her words reached the ears of the defending soldiers, who then conveyed them to Legion Commander Eleanor.

Eleanor ascended the wall clad in armor. She looked down at the lone rider and her horse, killing intent swirling in her eyes.

Strictly speaking, this was Eleanor's first time meeting Celine, yet even before this, the young girl had already become a stumbling block that they had to eliminate.

Had she not suddenly burst onto the scene, the Holy State's expeditionary force would not have been forced to stay trapped inside Gargo City.

Eleanor looked at the accompanying adjutant beside her and gave her a look. The adjutant understood immediately, turning and jogging down the city wall.

“Celine, I know of you.”

Eleanor looked down from above at the young girl, her tone grim. “You are nothing but an ignorant girl deluded by a demon. It is not too late to give up your resistance; the Holy Court will purify the sins you have committed.

“But if you persist in your obstinacy, then even the great Lord will not forgive you.”

After Eleanor finished speaking, without waiting for a reply, she drew her bow, notched an arrow, aimed at her, and released the string.

A sharp whoosh pierced the air. Celine's pupils shrank instantly. She rolled off her horse to dodge; the arrow grazed the tips of her hair and landed on the empty ground behind her, letting out a deafening explosion.

It was an arrow tipped with a red mercury bomb. The expeditionary force had not been equipped with many of them for this trip. Seeing that it had missed her at such close range, Eleanor could not help but find it a pity.

Celine broke into a cold sweat from the blast of the explosion. She had seen that weapon before, but brushing past death at such close range was a first for her.

She was just about to raise her head to curse Eleanor for such a shameless and cowardly sneak attack, but at that exact moment, a sudden sense of crisis rose in her heart.

Two figures fully encased in armor suddenly appeared above her, their longswords slashing down at her without mercy.

Holy Relic Knights!

Celine recognized the special armor with pitch-black wings spread on the back. It was the Holy State's peak fighting force—killing machines on the battlefield.

The Holy State's Holy Relic armaments were indeed powerful, but she was not only protected by God; she had also received power bestowed by God.

Faced with the relentless, dual onslaught of the two Holy Relic Knights, Celine decisively tugged the reins, leaped onto her horse, and fled swiftly.

Whether it was Holy Relic armaments, power armor, or Resurrection Armor, they all shared one common characteristic: they were extremely inconvenient to use.

The requirement that Holy Relics had to be preserved in low-temperature environments at all times meant that bringing them onto the battlefield demanded an extraordinarily expensive logistical expense.

On the other hand, although power armor and Resurrection Armor did not need to be preserved in low-temperature environments, they were complicated to put on and highly reliant on red mercury as a power source.

Red mercury reserves were limited, and its price was even more astronomical.

Therefore, the expeditionary force carried only a limited number of Holy Relics, whereas Northland, facing a war of national survival, could deploy all of its military forces without holding back.

This was precisely why Eleanor had made her decision the moment she saw Celine: deploy two Holy Relic Knights to finish her off here once and for all!

Yet, the reality turned out somewhat beyond Eleanor's expectations. Even without wearing any armor, Celine was still able to flee frantically under the joint assault of the two Holy Relic Knights.

Eleanor watched her figure grow more and more distant, her face turning completely pale with anger.

In truth, Celine's situation at this moment was not nearly as easy as Eleanor imagined. Even with the divine power bestowed by God, without the amplification of her Resurrection Armor, she could only barely fend off the attacks of the two, and her energy consumption was staggeringly high.

Fortunately, her objective was not to defeat these two; she was not so foolish as to engage in a life-or-death struggle against the enemy without putting on her gear first.

Eleanor helplessly watched her escape back into the camp, and an involuntary wave of unease welled up in her heart.

She could not understand how Celine could achieve such a feat. Even figures as formidable as the Twelve Sacred Knights, relying solely on their mortal flesh, would be no match for Holy Relic Knights with activated Holy Relic armaments.

Could it be that Celine was even stronger than the Twelve Sacred Knights?

And as the defending soldiers witnessed the girl—the one rumored to have received an oracle from God—actually escape to safety from the pursuit of the Holy Relic Knights as if protected by a divinity, their will to fight began to waver.

If they themselves were not the subjects protected by God, and the Holy See was not the shepherd chosen by God, while their opponent brought with her the decree of God, was there really any point in continuing this war?

Soon, the unease in Eleanor's heart manifested.

Having returned to camp to reorganize her forces, Celine brought her vast army and swept back like a furious dragon!

Although her figure possessed only a single wing and seemed unable to fly, on the ground, none could match her even for a single exchange.

Even the Holy Relic Knights, whom the Holy State soldiers had deemed invincible and all-conquering, were now retreating step by step before her.

Gargo City could not be held.

Eleanor had a grim expression, already prepared to order a retreat, but the words of her adjutant in the next second instantly revitalized her spirits.

“The reinforcements from the holy capital have arrived?

“Wait, how many did you say?

“Thirty?

“Thirty Holy Relic Knights?”

Give her thirty Holy Relic Knights, and never mind attacking a tiny Northland—even taking the entire Eastern Continent would be a trivial matter!

But the question was... was that even possible?

Sure enough, the adjutant looked at her imaginative legion commander and gave a helpless, bitter smile:

“It is the newly established ‘Order of Light.’ Although they are indeed registered Holy Relic Knights, they only carried a single Holy Relic with them on this trip.”

“Then who is their leader? Is it one of the Sacred Knights?” Eleanor's eyes dimmed upon hearing this, but she asked anyway, unwilling to give up hope.