Blood Warlock: Succubus Partner In The Apocalypse

Chapter 1088 The Advance Of The Holy Church Meets Its Halt

The video recorded on the battlefield by Naomi, a video which covered every angle from her perspective, reached each and every base of the Catholic Church. 

The first to gasp were the upper echelons, but it didn't take long for the video to reach every corner of every base. Knowing how important it was to restore the lost faith in the hearts of those with a greater sense of freedom and autonomy to prevent the sheep from getting out of the sheepfold and causing trouble, the highest ranking priests and soul evolvers immediately began to work together.

...

On one of the most crowded streets of Firenze City's largest base, the heavy atmosphere could practically be felt floating in the air.

This was a shopping street where survivors could buy, sell, or trade things that were no longer of use to them for other items that they could get more use out of or that they needed.

There were even soul evolvers with their own stands selling knives, swords, armor, shields, shoulder pads, and other items that despite being only Rank 1 at most were still much needed by those without the skill Blacksmithing or without a blacksmith friend.

This street always crowded to the point where it was difficult to walk had suffered a drastic decline, and now the number of normal survivors was less than 80% compared to the past. Even the most powerful soul evolvers were no longer as visible as before.

This had started two days ago, when they learned that they would soon be attacked by the demon race. 

If it had been earlier, the survivors and soul evolvers belonging to the Holy Church faction would have laughed at the inept demons who boldly attacked the serfs of the Almighty. However, the continuing victories of the demon race over the Catholic Church made them realize for the first time in a long time that no one, not even the most loyal to the Lord, had their lives assured in this world.

Even if after their death their souls entered the embrace of the Lord, no one really wanted to die. Therefore, most stayed in their homes without going out except to work; some even absented themselves from their jobs despite knowing full well that the demand for work was tremendously high but the supply relatively low in comparison.

On this particular day, when the sun had just begun to shine on the horizon and the first gates opened, the survivors and soul evolvers were surprised to discover several holographic screens floating in the sky at different points around the base.

"What's this all about?"

"I don't know..."

"Surely it's about an important announcement."

"Important announcement?"

"Oh, you must be new here... Every time something important needs to be broadcast, these screens are displayed. Look, see that person on top of that building? He's the one in charge of this screen."

"... Could it be related to demons?"

"Let's hope it's not anything bad..."

"Almighty Lord, your faithful serfs have loyally followed you all this time, please protect us..."

The increasingly loud murmurs made more and more people peek their heads out of their houses, and upon seeing the huge screens they were shocked before going out or opening the wooden windows to pay better attention to the announcement.

At exactly 7 a.m, a time when traffic was stabilizing as 80-90% of the survivors on the base were awake by then, the more than 800 giant holographic screens displayed at different points in the main base of Firenze City began to light up.

The eyes of everyone immediately focused, and in less than 5 seconds all sound and voice had ceased to exist as each survivor paid special attention to the message that would soon be transmitted to them.

Soon, the scene of two huge clouds approaching on the distant horizon appeared before their eyes.

In addition to the black cloud in the sky and the dust cloud on the ground that could not yet be identified by those present, the image of the most powerful legion riding horses and other types of elegant and powerful mutant beasts appeared before them.

"It's the Legion of Holy Knights!"

"That's Lord Matthew, our most powerful guardian after His Holiness Israfel!"

"When I get older I will definitely join the Lord's main troop..."

"..."

The more in-the-know immediately recognized the Legion of Holy Knights, something that was not too difficult after visualizing on screen figures of supreme importance to the pyramid such as Matthew, Naomi, Mikhail, and others.

However, it was then that everyone understood what the two clouds represented.

"D- Demon..." A survivor automatically took half a step back before freezing as he stared at the screen with wide eyes filled with fear.

"S- So many demons..."

"How can this be possible... There's no way we can win in the face of so many enemies!"

"Lord, the heavens really want us to disappear from this world?"

"Even if it is the Legion of Holy Knights... how are they supposed to fight all those monsters...? God preserve them and keep them in your glory..."

"..."

Some despaired and began to cry after falling on their knees, others complained to heaven and God for being so cruel towards those who prayed and worshipped him. Only those whose will was strongest and could remain calm were smart enough to realize that something big would definitely happen next.

Indeed, the next moment, there was a soft but powerful voice that stopped the Holy Knight Matthew just as he was about to lead the charge towards the now visible horde of demons.

"Wait."

It was only a short word, but there was no one who did not recognize the owner of that voice.

"Your Holiness!"

"It is the Supreme Pontiff!"

"Lord Israfel is also on the battlefield!"

"Maybe... maybe with God's representative present our humanity will have hope to fight against the creatures of hell..."

As Israfel's image was projected on every screen from his back and his words filled with sincerity and power reached the eyes and ears of the survivors, a new wave of silence hit every base.

He... The Supreme Pontiff really said he was going to face all those demons from hell by himself?

Everyone who had not seen the video earlier swallowed audibly and automatically began to sweat as they watched silently as hundreds of thousands of magical attacks along with what seemed to be millions of arrows and sword slashes launched by the demons were directed to Israfel.

Suddenly, the white light that burst from inside Israfel's body illuminated the entire screen in such a way that the survivors just stared at the blank screen before them; even all sound was eliminated or muted.

However, no more than a few seconds later and as the white light began to weaken and recede, they all felt their hearts slowly begin to beat harder and harder as if it wanted to escape from their chests.

Seeing Israfel's slim body standing unharmed in the middle of what seemed to be an abyss of darkness and destruction after the demons' attacks hit their target was like a scene out of a fantasy movie. But what happened next was even more fantastic for all of them.

"Repent, creatures of darkness."

"Stop your hostile actions."

"Our Almighty Lord God has a wide heart and his kindness is boundless so even you can enter his kingdom if you wholeheartedly show your repentance. I have received your word, and the Lord knows that it is not your fault that you were born this way."

"Kill yourselves."

"..."

The voice of the Supreme Pontiff, His Holiness Israfel, sounded holy like that of a true servant of God.

His every word, his every prayer projected so much power that the seemingly endless army of demons underwent drastic changes in a matter of seconds.

After stopping dead in their tracks either in the sky or on the ground, the demons began to kill each other or commit suicide.

It really seemed as if repentance had struck them and as if they wanted to stop being creatures of hell and enter the Lord's Kingdom.

Watching from the footage clearly recorded from a distance as demons exploded into blood mist or fell from the sky while the whole area became a hell filled with magical and physical explosions, the survivors slowly began to come out of their daze after the first minute.

One, two, three... a thousand... two thousand... three thousand... ten thousand... twenty thousand... thirty thousand... 

At each base, one by one, the survivors and soul evolvers knelt in front of the screens. A good part of them, especially those who felt that their faith was not enough or had been shaken during the last days because of the constant defeats suffered by the Catholic Church, began to pray with their eyes closed.

As the cracks in the faith of the majority were quickly restored, the two oceans of enemies, one on the ground and one in the sky, began to become emptier. On the other hand, all those who always trusted in the Lord and his faithful followers watched as the Supreme Pontiff Israfel advanced step by step towards the demons, spreading his word and effect deeper into the enemy ranks.

"This power does not belong to me, it is the power the Lord has granted me to save your souls. Do not fear, losing your fleshly body will only cleanse you of the vile sins you have committed but your souls will be saved and you will go to paradise."

The words of the Supreme Pontiff Israfel in which he himself said that Lord God was lending him his power to eliminate the vile beings that threatened the safety of mankind finally proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

The survivors who had been suffering from anxiety and fear all this time immediately started shaking their clenched fists towards heaven and shouting all kinds of curses towards the demons while praising and worshiping the Legion of Holy Knights, the Supreme Pontiff, and the God of Heaven.

The video was cut off after Israfel looked directly at the allied troops and said with a touch of coldness on his angelic face that God's message was the salvation of the demons.

Everyone understood based on the words Israfel had said earlier that "salvation" was not necessarily a good thing for the demons, so when the holographic screens went out and disappeared everyone knelt down to pray with tears in their eyes.

Those high-ranking priests waiting for the perfect opportunity to usurp Israfel's throne silently clicked their tongues and went back to hiding in the darkness, waiting for the next occasion while disguising their intentions behind smiles and kind eyes.

Faith was one way to keep the masses in order, particularly in times of chaos and big changes such as this. However, this did not mean that faith was enough to "brainwash" everyone.

The human heart was unpredictable, so even among those who pledged loyalty to the Almighty there were some black hearts.

...

Under Israfel's leadership, the Legion of Holy Knights took only 2 days to regain the lost territory of Pisa.

Unfortunately, the more than 900.000 human lives that had been lost in the process of the war, as well as all the resources could never be recovered unlike the land.

It was when the Legion of Holy Knights crossed the first 50 kilometers to Livorno that the seemingly unstoppable advance of the soul evolvers was finally stopped in its tracks.

Israfel watched with cold eyes from the front of his army as a sea of enemies much larger in comparison to the first day stopped on the horizon.

The enemy troops opened up, and under the watchful eyes of the 10 Great Holy Knights and the rest of the Legion of Holy Knights two demons slowly advanced.

One was male and the other was female; both rode mutant beasts that appeared to be giant lizards above level 150.

"Your Holiness." The voice of Matthew Sanchez was serious, and without waiting for orders he unsheathed his sword as he looked with utmost attention at the two demons in front of him.

Israfel knew that this time he could not continue using his methods of before with the same ease, so as he advanced to meet the new enemies he ordered in a deep voice: "Get ready to fight .... In the name of the Lord, eliminate the entire threat!"

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