Chapter 74: The Crusade
The ground trembled long before the vanguard came into view.
Five thousand heavy combatants—a brutal mix of Orcs, Ogres, and howling Goblins—marched out from the jagged northern canyons, their iron-shod boots churning the freezing desert sand into a dense cloud of dust.
C-class grey skinned Ogres.
D-class One eyed Ogres.
C-class black spotted Ogres.
B-class crimson haired Orcs.
C-class dual horned Orcs.
D-class Green Goblins.
C-class grey spiked Goblins.
Dozens marched, hundreds marched, thousands marched.
The sheer weight of the armor and weapons created a rhythmic, mechanical clanking that echoed off the distant rock faces.
The Orcs formed the heavy center line, their thick iron shields locked together, while the massive Ogres lumbered along the flanks, dragging enormous spiked clubs that left deep grooves in the earth.
Hundreds of Goblins scurried between their legs, their manic laughter muffled by the low, guttural war chants of the larger beasts.
At the absolute front of this terrifying horde rode Troll General Tagar.
The veteran commander sat high atop a colossal, twenty-four-legged Arachnid Beast.
A Beast-Stage F-class Abomination.
Kentaural
The monstrous creature was the size of a small fortress.
Its multiple segmented legs needles of black chitin that stabbed into the ground with terrifying precision, leaving deep, smoking craters in the earth.
Tagar himself was a mountain of blue muscle, his chest encased in heavy, ice-rimed plate armor.
He held a massive, double-headed frost axe carelessly across his lap, his pale, cold eyes fixed entirely on the southern horizon.
A suffocating, violent pressure radiated from his frame—the unmistakable, crushing aura of a newly evolved Martial General.
Directly behind his monstrous mount rode dozens of Troll captains, each mounted on heavily armored desert wolves.
Their weapons gleamed under the pale northern sun, their faces grim and eager for slaughter.
They weren’t moving for a mere border raid; they were moving to erase a civilization.
The columns of dust rising from their march stretched for miles back into the canyons, a clear, unmistakable signal to the rest of the desert that the West had officially unleashed its military might
Meanwhile, far to the north, the atmosphere inside the hidden encampments of Tempest City was deathly still.
Eurenia quietly slipped back through the defensive mana arrays, her newly repaired slate-grey battle uniform bearing the faint, scrubbed stains of her previous failure.
Her head was held high, her eyes cleared of the frantic madness that had nearly cost her life in the northern tunnels.
She walked with a steady, deliberate pace, her posture radiating the quiet, cold resolve of a master who had stared into the abyss and survived.
She paid a visit to the Headquarters of the Holy Crusade.
Each official division founded by Roy had a building built for them, their headquarters were their forces are gathered.
Even Mandraxx has their own headquarters but it’s not an official building, it was an underground bunker.
Designed based on Roy’s ideas on the modern secret intelligence organizations built few hundred meters underground.
As Eurenia made her way into the headquarters of the Crusade, she was immediately met by six figures waiting in the dim light.
Standing at the front were her three primary commanders—the core pillars who managed the active defense of the city.
Commander Argo, Hedro and Commander Vian.
Their expressions were deadly serious, their weapons already oiled and loosened in their sheaths.
Beside them stood three other veteran crusaders, individuals whose bodies bore the scars of a dozen brutal skirmishes with the northern factions.
Tora, a Sun-Tiger man and the younger brother of Commander Trojan.
He’s a newly evolved Martial Warrior, still at the Initial-enlightened stage just like the three commanders.
The other two are Obez and Juero.
Obez, an Hyena-kin who once served under Alpha Brenda’s faction but was released by Alpha Brenda when he requested to join the Crusade.
He’s also an Initial-enlightened stage Martial Warrior, the same goes to Juero.
A black spotted Frogman cultivator.
They didn’t speak a word as she approached; the silence between them carried the heavy weight of an unspoken brotherhood.
"The western horde are marching through the desert storms," Argo, one of the core commanders spoke, his voice low, breaking the silence of the woods.
"Five thousand heavy infantry. They’re marching under General Tagar’s banner."
"Who is that?" Eurenia asked.
"A newly evolved Martial General who serves the Troll King" Juero calmly answered, "It was already in speculation that he would be leading the charge weeks ago"
"Was this information obtained by Mandraxx?" she asked.
"Yes" Juero answered.
Eurenia stopped, looking at the familiar faces of her comrades.
The memory of the slaughtered slaves in the tunnels flashed briefly behind her eyes, but it no longer made her tremble.
It only hardened her mana cores.
She adjusted the heavy daggers at her waist, her amber eyes reflecting the flickering light of the distant watch-fires.
"Let them march," Eurenia said, her voice entirely devoid of fear, carrying a chilling, steady cadence that made the surrounding crusaders tighten their grips on their hilts.
"Tempest is ready. We have given our lives to the God of Beasts, and we will turn these woods into their graveyard."
"How many crusaders do we have?" Eurenia questioned. She was quick in changing her attire to the formal crusader battle suit.
Each division had their own uniforms.
"A two hundred and fifty Crusaders" Obez answered, "We have been training them relentlessly in preparations"
"They are all loyalists of the Church" Obez explained.
"Good" Eurenia nodded, "Crusaders live to serve the Church, to defend the city is the role of the Adminstration"
"But if the High Priest gives us the command to join the war, we will obey" Eurenia stated.
"The order came yesterday my lady" Commander Argo chipped, "High Priest Croak has given the order"
"We must support the Adminstration and Captain Eurenia of the Crusad must stand with Commander Trojan"
"That is the order" Commander Argo explained.
"I see" Eurenia’s lips curled faintly, "This is better, I’ve just been thinking of ways to vent out this frustration"
"Let’s destroy the enemies of the Church!"
"For the Glory of the Church!"
"For the Glory of the Church!"
"The Crusade will March" Eurenia crossed her arms and so did the commanders.
"And all heretics shall be purged" they uttered in unison