387 – Last Resistance (6)
Allied Command Barracks.
If you look at the atmosphere inside the command barracks, it is dark and subdued, like the funeral of your parents who suddenly passed away in an accident when they were in the prime of their working age.
As expected, the Archduke of Warsaw, commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces, narrowly escaped death, but his health was so bad that it would not be surprising if he just died without knowing when he would fall into a coma again.
In order to somehow take over the castle, he appointed the Archbishop to capture Peter Yeager and the others imprisoned in Bastion Castle and declared them heretics, thus elevating this war to a sacred battle to suppress heresy.
We were unable to capture Bastion Castle again today.
In this subdued atmosphere, Captain Greenwich slammed his desk and spoke.
“aaahhh, Peter Yeager! Peter Yeager, you filthy bastard who would have homos*xual relations with Satan! And Lieutenant Colonel Landel, the son of a b*tch, followed that crazy guy and learned the same thing, selling his soul to Satan! “How on earth could something so terrible happen?”
Normally, when someone is angry like this, I would have sympathized with their anger and cursed Peter Yeager or Lieutenant Colonel Randel, whose name has just been revealed.
None of them responded to the words of Captain Greenwich, who had been serving as second-in-command under the Archduke and had now temporarily assumed overall command.
This is because it was expected that if the commander caught him by saying a word incorrectly, he would be subject to all kinds of ridicule and personal attacks even if he was not at fault.
Furthermore, because the Archduke has no energy right now, he is unable to sympathize with or stop Captain Greenwich, who is getting angry on his behalf.
After cursing Lieutenant Colonel Randell and Peter Yeager for 30 minutes, Captain Greenwich moistened his thirsty throat with a gulp of cold water and spoke in a suddenly calm voice.
“Hey, I’m sorry for being so rude. “The situation we are in is so desperate that we have shown this disheveled appearance.”
“No, the captain’s anger is something that everyone can sympathize with. Above all, didn’t His Excellency the Archbishop of Warsaw reveal that Peter Jaeger sold his soul to the devil to survive? So isn’t the captain’s anger a just accusation born of sacred faith?”
In another world that believes in the Deus religion, it is natural to think that any heretic, from the emperor to a commoner, should be struck down and killed.
Peter Jaeger and Bastion Castle are cities that are already violating the taboo of ‘devil worship’, so if you think about it according to this logic, it is normal for anyone who serves Deus to want to kill those guys as soon as possible when they see them.
But the important thing is that no one here, including the Archbishop, believes that Peter Yeager sold his soul to the devil.
So, the atmosphere became tense for a moment because of the tactless person who mentioned that Peter Yeager had sold his soul to the devil, but no one came forward to blame him.
On the surface, Peter Yeager should be the world’s deadliest man who has already sold his soul to the devil.
“How about we first condemn Lieutenant Colonel Randel, who sold his soul to the devil, as a servant of the devil, and then burn him at the stake in front of all the Allied Forces? “If the Archbishop condemns him as a heretic and purifies him by burning him at the stake, the soldiers will inflame their hostility toward the Reich Empire.”
According to the original, it is right to give a respectful funeral to the body of an officer like Lieutenant Colonel Landel who fought honorably to the end, no matter how much of an enemy soldier he was.
The current Allied Forces had no such conscience or composure, so no one opposed such an inhumane proposal.
“Good. “Let’s just burn it brightly and purify the traces of heresy.”
“Lieutenant Colonel Randel, the reason this man was able to fight to the end even though his body was so horribly damaged was because he was a heretic. “A man cannot fight like that without selling his soul to a pagan god.”
“We must purify his body with sacred fire and let everyone know that his soul has fallen into hell!”
But no matter what they say, Deus, the god of this world, has already sent the soul of Randel, who devoted himself to his country, to a place reserved for the most honorable people in heaven.
Rather, the hottest and cruelest place in hell has been reserved for those who are immersed in creating heresy, but the world of the dead is something the living cannot know.
They focused solely on solving the problem at hand.
“By the way, according to the rumors brought in by spies, Peter Yeager, that pagan bastard is considering surrendering. “What do you all think?”
No one answered that question.
However, the Archduke answered while taking a deep breath.
“Hey, he, that damn, Gag, Peter Jaeger, must be killed. What kind of freezing surrender do you mean? “You can’t treat me like that.”
“Your Majesty, even Peter Jaeger himself knows that he will have to sacrifice his own head to save the soldiers in the castle.”
The Grand Duke of Warsaw spat out the blood that had accumulated in his mouth and spoke with difficulty.
“Bloody hell, Peter Yeager and his gang are all bastards who must be exterminated in that castle. Otherwise, if even one survives and joins the imperial army, the morale of the empire will go up like crazy from then on.”
“What the Archduke said is correct. However, while His Majesty and His Excellency the Archbishop were directly leading the army after declaring the suppression of sacred heresy, the Archduke was injured. The morale of the soldiers is very low now. So…”
The Archduke spoke in a much more relaxed voice after once again spitting out quite a bit of the blood in his mouth onto a dry towel.
“It will take another month at the earliest for enemy reinforcements to arrive at Bastion Castle. However, if we push our exhausted soldiers too hard now, the fall of the castle will actually be delayed. Okay, let them rest for a few days to store up their strength, and then… Immediately, they will send the soldiers back in to fight with all their might. “I will cut off Peter Yeager’s head.”
“This is a wise decision. Then, I think you will accept Peter Yeager’s surrender…”
“If he really surrenders, the solution will be to immediately cut off the head of the Jaeger who surrendered and then condemn everyone in the castle as heretics. By the way, Archbishop. “Has Deus responded to anything?”
The archbishop hesitated for a moment at those words.
“……What do you mean by response?”
“Didn’t you say that today? They say they are heretics. Then, Deus must have given the archbishop a signal on how to subdue them.”
The Archduke’s remarks were clearly intended to manipulate Deus as he pleased, so the generals were shocked the moment they heard that bullsh*t.
However, even though a million troops were mobilized, the bigger problem was dealing with the aftermath if Peter Yeager was not defeated.
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Everyone kept quiet and did not make any objections.
‘If you go to a Deus priest later and confess this matter, you will be able to avoid going to hell. But if we lose here, not only I but perhaps my family will be destroyed.’
The archbishop was momentarily agonized over whether to keep his conscience as a priest of the Church of Deus or to compromise to maintain his power within the Grand Duchy of Warsaw…
‘Looking at Peter Yeager’s terrifying power, he must have sold his soul to the devil.’
I have sold my conscience countless times to get ahead and have reached the position of archbishop, so I decided to sell my conscience again this time.
“All I have to do is offer a prayer of repentance to Deus for three days for our lack of faith. When we heard the rumor that Peter Yeager was about to surrender, wasn’t Deus trying to give us time to repent? In addition, His Highness, the Archduke, please do your best to ensure that soldiers who have concerns or fears can receive the sacrament of confession and receive forgiveness for their sins.”
The Archduke and other commanders were also convinced that their combat power would definitely increase if they let the soldiers rest for three days and relieve their emotional wounds by having them receive confessions through priests.
That’s why everyone here expressed their strong approval with enthusiastic applause.
“The soldiers are tired from the long war, so if they get rid of their fears through the Sacrament of Confession and get enough rest, their combat power will increase significantly.”
“Isn’t there still over a month left before reinforcements arrive to assist Peter Yeager? “If we rest for three days starting tomorrow and recover our stamina, our troops will definitely achieve victory.”
“And won’t 400,000 additional troops to support us arrive in about a month? “Right now, our troops must have three days of sufficient rest and time to repent.”
In that way, they made a decision that human beings should not make, selling their souls to buy victory.
The next day, the priests, including the archbishop, received the sacrament of confession from the soldiers and officers to relieve their hearts. Afterwards, the archbishop personally went out and burned Randel’s body in front of everyone.
As if it were a witch trial, all the Allied forces present cheered loudly as Randel and the dead of the Reich Empire, as well as Peter Jaeger and the remaining people of the Imperial Army, were all accused of having sold their souls to the devil.
“Yes, of course Peter Jaeger, that rotten bastard and the Reich Empire sold their souls to the devil! Deus will definitely give us victory and judge them with justice!”
“Long live Deus! Long live Deus! Judge Peter Yeager!”
“Please bring justice to Peter Yeager and his henchmen!”
If Deus had heard it himself, it would have been astounding and stuffy.
Of course, this news reached Peter Yeager’s ears, and instead of getting angry when he heard it, he opened the Bible, found this verse, and read it in a low voice.
“That day will come like a thief. “You condemned and insulted Lieutenant Colonel Landel and those who died here while fighting honorably to protect themselves and their families, calling them devils and insulting them. The day when you will pay for your sins will come soon…”