Chapter 930 - 30 The Beginning of the Empire - 1: Non-Violence
Seemingly aged by ten years, Zellin Stolten’s figure appeared especially faltering at this moment. The thorough defeat at the Plovdiv battle nearly eradicated Galle’s potential for war, and the collapse of both the Golden Oak Legion and the Blue Dove Corps led to Hoffman’s resignation and retreat, meaning Galle lost one of its few supports. Now, it seemed nothing could stop the power coming from the east.
Zellin knew it wasn’t fair to blame Susanov; under these circumstances, the fact that Susanov had managed to bring back so much of the Galle Army was already quite remarkable. As the master, the Galle Army had suffered much less than the Golden Oak and Blue Dove corps, which were but guests. This was both ironic and somewhat comforting; after all, what remained were Galleian.
The bizarre retreat of the Thunderhorse Knights led to the defeat in this war. Zellin was speechless; he had no control over nor could he influence these Church powers, only amazed at their abnormal behavior. He didn’t understand why the Knights of the Church of Light, after supporting him enthusiastically initially, turned against him at a critical moment. If this was a plot, the signs didn’t quite fit.
Undoubtedly, Deneby was the key figure in all this. Exactly what caused this situation seemed only clear to him. But none of it mattered anymore. Now, the issue before Zellin was how he was supposed to face the unstoppable Homer People, or more precisely, Komer.
The influence of St. Vasily Church in Nicosia could almost be declared dead after this battle. The continuous failures, coupled with the poor performance in the battle of Marco, ended at the hand of one opponent—a contrast that made it hard for the Nicosian to believe this power, this faith, could help stave off foreign aggression, especially under immense pressure from the Beastmen, where they saw little use of St. Vasily Church.
"Is there not even a glimmer of hope left?"
Lowering his head in awkward pain, Susanov, as an old military man, really didn’t want to face such a bleak question from the Duke. He would have liked to confidently shout no, but the reality was so cruel—the current state of the Galle Army couldn’t even properly be called an army anymore. They might still be numerous, but an army without spirit or dignity wasn’t really an army, a fact Susanov knew better than anyone else.
"Duke, there is no hope left. The Galle Army now isn’t even as good as a private army. The battle of Plovdiv has completely destroyed their confidence and pride. The barbarous bravery and fearlessness displayed by the barbarian armies also surpassed ours. The general from Myron Duchy is indeed talented; he has trained those barbaric and undisciplined Beastmen into such an army. I truly admire that. We no longer have the strength to compete with them."