"Damn it?! What's that noise?"

The sudden booming made quite a few people's faces change.

Such a huge commotion suddenly appearing in the city—you didn't need to think to know it wasn't good news.

"Templars, Templar Order, send people out to see what's happening! Damn it, the God of War still won't respond to us. If he'd responded, we could've used heresy trials early on and everything would be over. We wouldn't have come to this! Damn it!"

Inside the cathedral, chaos erupted.

It wasn't that they couldn't imagine what was happening—they just didn't want to believe they'd face all this!

In the darkness.

Torches and magic crystal lamps appeared throughout Krig City's streets and alleys like stars. Each light represented a person.

The temperature in the Month of Revival had risen considerably, but in these mountains, under this night sky, there was still a bit of chill. But this chill made everyone even more clear-headed.

Almost everyone who walked out had a flame burning in their hearts.

Everything that had happened recently kept stimulating them. Extreme fear had actually stimulated everyone's fighting spirit.

Curfew?!

Prohibition of gatherings?!

What bullshit!

Torches, pitchforks, clubs—various implements held in hand, continuously approaching the cathedral in the core area.

"Everyone, don't be afraid, don't hide! From the moment we left our houses, it's either we take out those damn frauds who've lost the God of War's blessing, or we die!"

"Heh, when did we ever have a way out? We can't even eat anymore if this keeps up! Kill those damn frauds!"

Shouts rang out from the crowd from time to time, stimulating everyone. More people kept coming out of their houses one after another.

Firelight flickered. Throughout the city, sparks had ignited everywhere.

Actually, even at this point, they didn't know who'd leaked the news first, didn't know why it was tonight, why it was now. But they knew that if they couldn't kill those high-and-mighty church folks, they'd be the ones to die!

They knew that when they opened the city gates, outside there'd be clergy who truly believed in war and protection who'd come in to help them, rather than following these war maniacs to face increasingly harsh realities.

As explosions rang out one after another, they clashed with some clergy from the Church of the God of War.

Chaotic sounds and screams began echoing under the night sky.

The soldiers guarding the city watched the suddenly appearing firelight, watched these aggressive residents one after another, their faces changing drastically.

"Open... do you need us to open the city gates?"

Without waiting for these gathered people to speak, a trembling soldier guarding the city asked.

Having guarded the gates for so long, he'd long understood who he could stop and who he couldn't, who he could charge and who he absolutely couldn't. Although this was his first time seeing such a scene, he could guess a thing or two...

So much had happened recently. If he were one of them, maybe he'd also betray his faith and choose to flee.

Even if opening the gates might let the enemies outside in...

The sound of the winch rang out, the sound of chains rang out. The massive city gates were finally opened.

The instant the gates opened, all the gate guards trembled. At some point, a troop had gathered at the gates, all wearing pitch-black armor. The moment they saw them, their eyes emitted a bit of red light, looking rather eerie.

"Proceed according to plan!"

A deep voice rang out. If the war church's high-level officials were here, they'd instantly recognize that this was Lava General's voice.

He was also one of these 'soldiers' wearing pitch-black 'exoskeleton armor.'

This was the standard equipment prepared by Roster territory's technology combat force—the 'War Soldier exoskeleton.' Made from high-strength lightweight alloys and some flexible materials, it could protect all body parts well. Through magic runes, it could achieve night vision, thermal imaging, and other functions, plus increase strength and speed.

Besides that, there were new-model ray guns, single-soldier magic conductor cannons, and many other portable weapons.

Honestly, if normal people used this equipment, they'd probably just get stuck in place, unable to even move. The weapons probably couldn't be used normally either. But combined with the technology combat divine arts system, even the lowest-level clerics could easily control these weapons!

The heavy exoskeleton, under the control of these technology combat forces, moved as if unarmored, moving rapidly through the city.

The soldiers who'd opened the gates hid in corners one after another, crouching on the ground, silently watching all this. Only two thoughts remained in their hearts: 'So you weren't trying to escape!' and 'With this kind of power, why drag it out so long?'

Was it just to wait for them to fight among themselves? To watch the show?!

They really couldn't figure it out and didn't want to. They just wanted to crouch to the side and quietly wait for their judgment to come.

"War should never be like this. The Church of the God of War has long since deviated from the faith of war. I used to be a cleric of the Church of the God of War too, but after that day, I was no longer..."

Suddenly, a broadcast started playing throughout the city.

Lava General had recorded his journey, the journeys of countless 'traitors' from the Church of the God of War who'd joined the technology combat force, and was now broadcasting it throughout the city using the Magic Net.

After this recent period of brainwashing flyer distribution, after residents observed the behavior of the Church of the God of War remnants during this time, listening to their journeys would surely eliminate the thoughts of even the most stubborn people in the Church of the God of War as much as possible...

"Damn it! Who are you people!"

"Stop right now!"

Templars wearing the most elite armor quickly followed the sound to find Lava General and his group.

Seeing that the technology combat force didn't even slow down, the Templars seemed insulted and all charged at them.

Facing the most 'die-hard' faction among the Church of the God of War remnants, Lava General didn't even bother wasting words. He just raised his hand lightly.

Instantly, all the soldiers on site raised their weapons.

"Fire!"

Bang—

Bang—

Bang—

Explosive gunshots erupted at close range. Metal fragments directly broke through the solid plate armor, setting off a storm of blood and flesh inside the armor.

Shrill screams and wails filled the air. Many Templars were directly blown to pieces.

The power of the 'War Soldier' exoskeleton combat force was fully displayed in this instant. Everyone stood there stunned, watching it all.

In a daze, people finally understood why, in such a short time, Lava General had been able to completely uproot the Church of the God of War forces in eighteen countries.

This... was basically crushing them.

Even if the God of War were still alive and could still grant them miracles, it probably wouldn't be much different.

Or perhaps, what they were using right now was a miracle...

If the last knight order of the Church of the God of War was like this, how could clerics who'd lost divine arts resist?

"Clec, you have no way out."

In just the time of two or three broadcast loops, Lava General led the technology combat force to the front of the cathedral.

When arm-thick single-soldier cannon barrels aimed at him, when he heard that familiar voice, Clec sighed. "We used to be brothers working toward a common goal in the same church!"

"But you chose the wrong path. Your god also chose the wrong path." Lava General's voice didn't change at all.

"War will never stop. As long as humans exist, war will always exist. Even if you kill us all, the Church of the God of War will still exist." Clec's tone was terrifyingly firm.

"You've got something wrong. We never planned to eliminate the faith of war. What we want to eliminate is only the old god's influence. The Church of the God of War will still exist, in a new form."

"The new war order, huh... But how can you be sure your god won't be wrong?"

"At least I can see hope." Lava General paused slightly. "Tell me your choice, last archbishop of the Church of the God of War. If you're willing to give up your faith, I can give you a good position."

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