Chapter 124 – The Great Northern War (1)

The human army’s counterattack began at the same time news about Iron becoming God’s apostle spread.

His holy power was so powerful that thousands of void insects could not get past it. It was playing an especially huge role in extinguishing and clearing the areas where the dark elves had already reached their claws at. It was only natural. After all, even the dark elves risked being purified once they got exposed to Iron’s holy power.

“The priests won’t be able to compare, right?”

“I know. I saw a bishop-level priest exerting his holy power in the Northern Army but his results were less than half of that.”

Rumors about Iron, starting with the rumors here in the Northeastern Army, began to spread in the North.

Reaching the 6th Stage before 20 years old.

Owner of the powerful divine beasts that creates a stir in the battlefield.

And on top of all those, an apostle.

No one would think that all of these rumors were related to a single person. However, with the rumors spreading widely, starting from Lion Castle Fortress, as well as testimonies and statements being released, the people began to think of Iron as…

‘The North’s hope.’

It was a moniker that a newspaper company had given Iron. Right now, it did not take that long for him to be hailed as the North’s hope, a title that was far beyond the title of hero.

The dark elves were also fully aware of this fact. That was why they continued to attack the Northeastern Army and to assassinate Iron all the time the deeper they went into the forest. But no matter how many times they tried, the entire army continued to surround and protect Iron.

However, the dark elves’ army that came and attacked them on all sides seemed to be unstoppable. Fortunately, Iron’s holy power was able to block all of their attacks.

Thanks to his enormous holy power, he was able to create a sanctuary that covered the entire Northeastern Army which gave them an overwhelming advantage over beings who used the power of the void. With a moving sanctuary, the entire army was able to advance forward little by little and eradicate the dark elves’ territories and spheres of influence in the forest.

“If we keep going on at this pace, then, we will be able to win!”

“Let’s lighten up and work a bit harder!”

“We can win!”

The moving sanctuary increased the morale of the troops together with the encouragement of the officers. But the more the Northeastern Army advanced, the stronger the resistance they received from the dark elves and their army. It was only natural especially because the territories that they painstakingly took were being taken over and decreasing day by day. Nevertheless, the dark elves’ attacks and resistance were useless in front of Iron’s holy power.

They believed that they would really be able to reach the world tree quickly at the pace that they were going in.

“Hoo… We should have been able to take over and occupy the area where the world tree is by now but…”

Iron looked bitterly at the battlefield.

The Northeastern Army was currently unable to advance forward because they were protecting him. They were actually in a situation where the territorial forces, the Northern Army and the Lion Family had joined them.

They also realized that this was the golden opportunity that they had been waiting for so they quickly devised a strategy centered around Iron to quickly eliminate the dark elves’ hold on their territories. Because of that, a huge area of the Northern Forest had been purified and taken over in an instant. Even the military scholars and experts had judged that they would be able to end the war within a month if they continued at this rate.

However, reality was different from their expectations.

They had encountered a problem. Iron’s body couldn’t withstand the full extent of his holy power. For some reason, he was able to easily get used to the holy power the more he used it but the more he got used to it, the faster he got exhausted. In addition, the more holy power he used in one instance, the longer he fainted. And this was on top of being exhausted.

At first, Iron thought that his lifespan was being reduced, but according to the records provided by the priests, that wasn’t the case at all. It seemed like it was mainly because the human body couldn’t bear God’s direct power. They said that Iron was safe even after releasing such a huge amount of holy power because he was a warrior who had reached the 6th Stage.

However, no one was able to replace Iron’s role. And because of Iron’s current condition, the army had no choice but to stop. Even though they wanted to speed up as much as they could, they had no choice but to remain in regards to Iron’s condition.

“I think we should first build a camp here before trying to advance little by little.”

Crimson nodded his head at Caeden Wall’s recommendation.

The more they approached the black fog, the more Iron consumed holy power. In the end, the only one that was getting exhausted was Iron.

The Northeastern Army had no choice but to stop advancing to manage and care for the most important figure in their army. As a result, the forces from the North and the Northern Territories also had to change their movements.

The territories that had been weakened by Iron’s holy power had been turned into a fortress with the help of the priests and wizards’ purification. After reducing the dark elves’ territory by a huge margin, they were now setting up a strategy for their next huge operation.

The black fog casted all over the entire Northern Forest was now gradually being cleared away due to the holy power that lasted for a long time and the large-scale purification magic.

As the fog slowly got cleared away, their view of the contaminated world tree. The problem was its distance. It was just too far.

North! If things continued at this rate, this might become permanent?

The entire Northern coalition had planned to stage a short-term war as they quickly advanced forward. However, it was extremely hard to pierce through the solid defenses set up by the dark elves and the plants that were tainted and transformed by the contaminated power.

The contaminated power, which was different to the contaminated mana from the dimensional gate, had changed the terrain and made it into a place where beings from the void and the space could live. This made it hard for Iron to purify it with his holy power.

However, it was difficult to break through it with just the power from the Northern coalition alone.

“Hooo… In the end, are we going to gamble?”

The expression of the executives from the Northeastern Army hardened when they heard Crimson sigh.

It seemed like they had to take a gamble and do the operation that they had planned before Iron had gained the stigmata.

All of them bowed their heads at the thought of coming back full circle and doing the operation where they had to put everything at stake to fight and end the war in a short and quick battle.

“Anyway, I think it’s time we start the meeting.”

All of them nodded as they agreed with Crimson’s words. All of them knew that they couldn’t afford to fight a war in the long-term so they now had to make a decision. Fortunately, they were able to reach the vicinity of the contaminated world tree with Iron’s help.

Although they were still expecting to make huge sacrifices, it was not entirely a hopeless gamble like the plan that they had at first. After all, they had successfully reduced the front and had all of the forces of their coalition stationed nearby.

Everyone began preparing for the day where they might probably fight their last war.

― The Main Quest: ‘The North’s Final War’ has started.

The North and the dark elves are both preparing for their final bout. Completely purify the roots of the contaminated World Tree. This is a main quest and is an important quest and its result would determine the direction that the entire continent would go in the future.

― If you succeed : The rewards that you will receive will be based on your Contributions + Stability of the North + the help that you can bring to the Main Quest in the future.

― If you fail : Progression of the North Destruction quest + Activation of the Complete Contamination of the World Tree quest.

Unlike the special quests that were only given to Iron, the main quest was officially given to all of the users.

Iron was wondering why the main quest was not yet issued in the West, East and South but it did not matter. Since the North was the first and only place to issue a main quest, all of the users in the continent had begun to flock to the North.

Of course, no user who aimed to survive, make money through the gates and those at the top who were currently conducting important quests in each region had appeared. It was more advantageous for users who had entered each region because of their needs to stay in their region rather than join in late in the North. Just like the White Whale guild in the East. Although there were quite a few users who did not participate because of their own thoughts and calculations, most of the users still flocked to the North. However, it was not just the users who flocked to the North.

“The weapon spoke?”

“That’s what I told you.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

The mercenaries snorted at their colleagues’ words as they smacked him on the back of the head.

However, the mercenary was not the only person to have experienced something like that. Some people heard voices from an old cane, some from a necklace and there were even some who heard from animals. And all of them had been telling them to go to the North.

If they were just speaking nonsense, they would have definitely gone to the priests and attributed it to ghosts but they weren’t the only ones to have heard these things talk.

“You signed a contract with a spirit?”

“Yeah! Isn’t that what I told you? It was a cute beast that came out of the necklace!”

“Ha… I can’t believe that this guy has become a spirit’s master…”

“Let’s go to the North together. This guy keeps on telling me to go, there must be something there!”

The man’s colleague pondered for a long time before nodding his head.

Scenes like these continued to happen all over the continent. In every case, they heard or saw a weapon or an object move and speak. Some heard the request of an old soul while some heard the voice of a divine and noble being. And because of this, they all moved. What they all had in common was the fact that they should head North.

Shortly thereafter, the Divine Nation announced God’s revelation to the world.

[ The evil that will swallow up and devour this continent is being awakened in the North, stop them!

For the chosen, do not doubt. Do not hesitate and question the voice and head to the North!

Then, blessings would be given to you. ]

Those who had been suspicious began to head to the North after hearing the Saintess’ deliver God’s words.

But light had always existed together with darkness.

If there were people who wished to gain new strength through God’s voice and the voices of transcendental beings on the same level and went to the North to give strength and finally end the war, there were also people who willingly devoted and sold their souls to evil.

― Do you thirst for revenge? Then, sign a contract with me.

“Then… can you give me the revenge that I wanted?”

A girl suddenly heard a strange and eerie voice from somewhere. However, for a girl, who was wrought in despair and had everything that she had ruined, she had no other choice but to grab this hand.

Before I died, I wanted to at least get revenge.

And the devil reached out to her at that moment.

― Believe me. You will gain the power to take revenge the moment you sign a contract with me…

“I’ll do it!”

― Good! You will be able to take revenge as soon as you finish signing a contract with me. After that, you will go to the North and help the dark elves according to my will. You will, right?

“Yes!”

Black energy began to soar in her body the moment the girl answered her agreement. Her eyes slowly turned red as the power of the void engulfed the surrounding area.

And on that very same day, a loanshark’s home, who smashed a small girl’s house, was turned into a sea of blood. The corpses of the people in the house were terribly and brutally shredded until none of them could be recognized. But no one grieved for their death. After all, they had been vicious as they ferociously gave high-interest loans to the people of the village.

The villagers guessed that the culprit was the small girl since she disappeared and none of them could find her anywhere. Even the guards tried to find her with the help of the people’s testimony but they couldn’t find a single trace.

These events began to take place all over the continent.

“The village is on fire!”

“The lord vomited blood and collapsed!”

“A baron died after having an affair!”

There was a sudden increase in mysterious and strange events. Because of this, the security guards and inspectors’ work had increased dozens of times. However, they had long been stained with corruption and were unable to completely investigate the case.

However, after a while, a priest found out that there were traces of evil energy from the places that these rumors had surrounded. Because of that the Imperial Inspectors and the Divine Nation were thrown into confusion. They were afraid that they would be reprimanded because of the actions that were done by black mages or those who had contracted with the devil. They were sure that the people would protest. And they felt afraid at the thought of going to jail with their clothes off.

Fortunately, the people paid more attention to the North than these small rumors. This was because signs of the beginning of a great war, the next great war after the Northeast and the East, had appeared in the North.

“Extra! Extra! A great war has begun in the North!”