"Hmph, legend has it that the elf rangers can shoot arrows accurately from a hundred paces away, but in my opinion, there are so many of us, so no matter how many arrows they have, can they still match our numbers?"
"Then in this way, can we kill the elves by surprise on the 15th? By the way, I heard that the plan was proposed by the bankrupt old man in Skool Village?"
The Redemption Army no longer believes that the elves and monsters in the forest will pose any threat to them.
With the absolute advantage in numbers, even if the elves can shoot arrows accurately from a hundred paces away, the Redemption Army uses the corpses of their companions as shields to advance, so that the dead can go to heaven earlier and the living can have meat to eat - under the leadership of such a fearless spirit, what can the elves use to fight them
Use their arrows? What a joke! Everyone knows that elves are a perfect race. It takes dozens of days to make an arrow. Doing dozens of days to make an arrow? Humph!
When your arrows are used up, it will be your doom!
Whenever they thought of this, the morale of the Redemption Army would rise a little more.
Especially since the Redemption Army has now grown to a point where it has more than 50,000 actual combat forces, excluding the "food reserves", everyone is full of confidence in the "general offensive" on June 15th.
The commander of the Redemption Army believed that instead of waiting for the main force to set off in August, September, or even October, it would be better for them to go to the Monster Forest and make some money themselves.
It doesn't matter if we lose. If we win, every member of the Redemption Army will get money, eat meat, and maybe even fuck a few elf women.
Considering that these useless elves have no other strengths except archery, this further boosted the morale of the Redemption Army.
After all, in the eyes of the Redemption Army, these elves are not as terrifying as the barbarians of the past!
"For the God of Light."
The Redeemers prayed.
He said it was for the God of Light.
In fact, it is just for the gold, silver, jewelry, wine and women.
They returned with the carts in high spirits, as the hungry soldiers were still waiting for their fresh meat rations.
Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, Bishop Stephen was counting the gains and losses of May.
Ever since the "Battle of the Demon Clan" began, the diocese has been making money much faster than people imagined.
Those fanatical gamblers risked their entire fortunes in the arena of the Demon City, cheering for the victories of the demons they supported and wailing for their defeats.
They even pawned their underwear in order to gamble for more "atonement", so now in some small arenas in the magic city, you can often see poor people with no clothes on nervously waiting for the results of the competition.
He used all his wealth to win the fate of becoming a superior person. A month ago, he could only kneel on the ground and eat moss, but in the next month, he could use the money he won to fuck nuns and demon girls that he had never dared to think of before, and eat fresh meat that even the nobles in the capital might not be able to eat.
The "Fighting Demon Clan" is too attractive to the lower class. The big ones are already showing signs of being beyond the control of the diocese.
But looking at the bright gold coin income in his account, Bishop Stephen's rising worries were affected by the interests and finally turned into -
"Happy… "
Bishop Stephen was truly very happy because he had created the strongest economic income in the history of the diocese.
And it's not just the money that comes in. After those untouchables become addicted to gambling, they basically choose to borrow money from the banks opened by the church.
Once they borrow money and lose it, the future that awaits those untouchables is to become "serfs" -
Even the saints and ascetics in the underground could not refute this, because it was legal and reasonable. Therefore, the diocese not only made money, but also gained people. It was simply a win!
But then again...
"With the recent increase in the number of people, food is becoming less and less available."
Bishop Stephen muttered to himself, and his attendant handed him a new account book at just the right moment.
That is the account of the Redemption Army.
Originally, the Redemption Army was established to kill manpower and capture demons for the parish to meet the needs of "fighting demons".
When it was first founded, Bishop Stephen believed that the Redemption Army could, while ensuring its own food supply, in turn provide enough food for the newly established "Magic City" of the diocese.
But now... With more and more people joining the Redemption Army, and fewer elves shooting arrows at the Redemption Army patrols, the Redemption Army's own food has become a problem...
…
"Um… "
Bishop Stephen frowned, thinking about how to get food quickly.
His attendant stepped forward at the right time and made a devilish suggestion that no one else dared to think of:
"My lord, the Redemption Army is not considered part of the Northern Expeditionary Force anyway—since the demons and elves don't take the initiative to kill their patrols, why can't the Crusaders do it and pretend that the demons did it?"
"oh?"
"This will not only stimulate the Redemption Army's desire for revenge, but also ensure the Redemption Army's own food supply. More importantly, the extra food can be fed back to the Demon City, and then attract more refugees, and those refugees will choose to join the Redemption Army when they are desperate...
In this way, we have established a stable internal circulation line, which should be able to support us until the day when the 300,000 northern expeditionary forces complete their training and head north. "
"Is this... too bad?"
Originally, Bishop Stephen was a little worried.
After all, the equipment of the Crusaders is somewhat different from that of the Demons and Elves, and the damage caused by those war hammers and chain hammers is only inflicted by the Crusaders themselves.
But then I thought - can't we just kill all those who know about it
Using the reasons of "questioning superiors" and "shaking the morale of the army" - this will not only clear up the unstable factors within the Redemption Army in advance, but also further increase food reserves.
Not to mention that the Redemption Army was the final destination for people with nowhere else to go. If even the Redemption Army did not accept them, then that group of scum would have no place to stay in the Roman Empire.
In this case, is there anyone who would really oppose the various policies of the parish? Even if they knew the facts, they would just keep silent. They would choose to numb themselves, and those who couldn't numb themselves would just add more addictive herbs to the food.
Wonderful. Wonderful!
Bishop Stephen admired his own wisdom. He sipped the expensive wine imported from the coast with satisfaction, and ate a bite of lamb from the western pastures. Suddenly, he remembered something:
"By the way, the previous bishops' council has already said that we must have more people die... After all, the more people die, the more their assets in the bank can belong to us."
"Then send them to the Redemption Army together, or use them as the reserve for the Northern Expeditionary Army. Anyway, if enough people die, we win. If we can take down the Elf Forest, it will be a great victory.
My Lord, please remember that in this northern expedition, victory is secondary. Our core goal is money and the elimination of excess population!"
"I remember, of course I remember... Hahaha, it's great to be rich. At least when the nobles outside can only eat ordinary pork, we can eat the best lamb..."
"You're right, but I prefer salmon."
"Hey! Fish is good, but it doesn't go well with wine..."
The bishop of the diocese and his servants smiled at each other. But in the prosperous magic city, it was another scene.
Werewolf Snow was originally a native of the werewolf tribe in the Monster Forest.
As the strongest human race in the primitive tribe of the Monster Forest, werewolves have unparalleled combat power.
They can use their noses, which serve as magical organs, to smell blood from a very long distance and judge the other person's physical health. Their limbs are extremely flexible and they can even crawl quickly while hanging upside down on the ceiling.
Even such a powerful demon tribe could only become prisoners in humiliation after being surrounded by the Redemption Army.
Because of her good figure and wild aura, the woman was sent to the underground court in the Demon City after her nails were cut and she was gagged.
The strong men without disabilities were bound by divine magic. Unable to even commit suicide, they were forced to work hard in the arena under the control of priests and were forced to fight bloody battles with other demons.
Two days ago, Snow had used his claws to kill a cat-man. The cat-man's flexible but fragile body was ripped open by his claws, but Snow did not feel any joy of victory or relief for being alive. He knelt on the ground and could only cry while watching the cat-man in front of him look relieved.
Today, Snow's enemy is his own kind, another werewolf.
The werewolf seemed to have undergone a strange transformation. I don't know which gambler gave him the nickname Iron Dog, Iron Dog.
The werewolf known as Iron Dog lost his left hand, and the parish deacon forced him to replace it with a metal spear as a prosthetic.
Those spears themselves are not capable of serving as prosthetic limbs, and installing them on werewolves can only cause intense pain, and the parish hopes to make the gladiators feel more pain.
Because under the stimulation of pain, even without divine magic, they will lose their rationality - not to mention that werewolves themselves are demons who can easily fall into bloodthirsty frenzy because of blood.
But even so, the "Iron Dog" was still no match for Snow. Snow used his sharp claws to rip open the belly of his fellow tribesmen, and used his teeth to bring them the fastest relief.
All around him were people cheering excitedly and crying miserably, and Snow could only look down at it all in a daze.
He wanted to return to his home in the Monster Forest, but for the rest of his life he would be imprisoned in a human city, with humans controlling his cheap life and killing his fellow humans.
When he thought of this, he couldn't help but burst into tears.
The audience on the surrounding walls saw this and started to make noises, "Merciful werewolf! Merciful werewolf! So the demons also understand the emotions of "merciful" and "carrying on one's back"? "
"Maybe I'm just drooling from excitement! Don't mistake my saliva for tears!"
"That cruel beast! If you are so merciful, then let the Iron Dog rip him open! Why are you pretending to be merciful, you big-tailed wolf!"
Those who placed their bets on Snow were there simply to watch the competition, and those who lost the bet were either admiring and sighing, or simply cheering, or gritting their teeth.
The only thing they had in common was that they didn't regard the demons as human beings - no, maybe when they were in the bed of the underground court, they regarded those beautiful demons who only had some strange organs compared to humans as human beings, but they were just high-end products for venting desires. Who would regard a piece of meat that couldn't even make a sound as a human being
Maybe she looks beautiful after being dressed up, but to those noble gentlemen, she is just meat for venting.
Just like the beautiful girls who were kidnapped from their mansion, these demons were not much different from those girls in essence—
Maybe it is tighter, maybe more comfortable and sensitive, but in the end it is just for venting and enjoyment, and in the end who knows what will end up being eaten by someone.
The demons are such useful things.
After finishing today's battle, Snow was thrown into the pig trough where the demon gladiators ate.
He and several demons inside looked at each other in silence. Perhaps they spoke different languages, or perhaps they didn't understand words, but they could all see the despair in each other.
Whether it's the nimble cat-man, the burly bear-man, or the werewolf like Snow, they no longer have hope.
A bear man was crying bitterly. Snow wanted to comfort him, but he saw the cat man next to him gesturing at something.
Snow roughly understood what was being gestured: the bear man's child seemed to have been divided up. Literally. The meat was eaten, the organs were blatantly used to make medicinal wine, and the peeled skin was hung on a wooden board and was booked by a human noble lord to be made into a high-end shawl two months later.
When Snow was a child, he had heard that the skin of a bear man could block the spells cast by some dangerous monsters - perhaps humans also need these things to protect themselves.
He opened his mouth, but could only let out a low wolf howl. They couldn't even commit suicide here, because divine magic would prevent them from doing so, simply because they were the most "precious treasure" of the parish.
He could only lower his head and eat the vomit-like food in the pig trough. Even in a desperate place, the instinct of living things would still force them to eat.
But what about after dinner? Do they eat just to fight with their own kind and please the humans
They were captured for no reason, and their families were killed and enjoyed, just to satisfy these human desires
They have lived in the forest for generations and have never even been to the edge of the forest - what have they done wrong to deserve such hatred from humans
Despair and exhaustion permeated the bodies and minds of these demons. They lay staggering on the wet ground. There was no light in the whole room, only two grille windows used for ventilation leaked light from the outside.
All the demons were sighing, sighing over their fate, sighing over the bad news they had suffered, sighing over the cruel treatment of their own people, and begging God to spare those of their people who had not been caught.
And at this moment - I don’t know if it’s my hallucination.
Snow suddenly saw a ray of light appear in front of him. It was a faint, invisible white light, and unlike the golden light of the priests, this white light did not give people an aggressive deterrent, but instead had a faint warmth.
It was so small that it was almost invisible. But in Snow's eyes, it was extremely dazzling.
He got up from the ground, and then he found that others had also gotten up.
They stared at a spot together, where a faint white light was suspended like phosphorescence.
[Pray.]
The white light made a faint sound.
[Pray for your future, pray for better possibilities.]
[If you pray, I will answer you.]
A tiny light, it is just a ray of light.
But for some reason, Snow still knelt in front of Guang.
With tears streaming down his face, he prayed that his people could escape. Even though he knew that this ray of light could only bring him spiritual comfort, he was willing to pray.
Not only him, but other demons also knelt and prayed. Not only the demons here, but all the demons in the demon city who were still able to move, those women who were tied to the bed and treated as prostitutes by the fat pigs on their bodies, those skinny old, weak and sick people who were about to be executed and skinned and bones removed, those dying demon gladiators, and those demons who were just captured.
A ray of light appeared in front of them. They prayed in their hearts, and those who had the strength to do so knelt on the ground and expressed their clan's highest prayer.
But the Light does not need them to do this. He said, you should stand up, you are praying for your future, not for the Light.
You should pray for a better future for yourself.
Not for a dying god.
…
After finishing her prayer, Mother Teresa stood up tiredly and left the church built for her by the elves.
This small church is located in the courtyard of the green courtyard of Fingal in the Sky Garden. It is a church built specifically for "light". From now on, Theresa no longer has to complete all the worship services in her room - she has her own place to pray for the Lord, and more importantly, she finally has a church again.
For clergy, the church is another home. And for "light", every additional church means a greater possibility of "light" revival.
And in order for the "light" that Theresa believes in to be revived again - although she doesn't expect this useless guy to bring her any good divine revelation, in short, Theresa at least hopes that "light" can become an ordinary minor religious god and live, rather than die completely.