Chapter 57: The Annihilation of the Redemption Army (part 1)

At dawn on June 15th, in the darkest part of the night before the break of day, the courier from Bishop Stephen’s Holy Guard arrived at the Redemption Army’s camp. He was shocked to find that the entire camp of tens of thousands of soldiers had vanished. Aside from a few dozen supply soldiers organizing arrows and other gear, no one was there.

“Where did they go?!” The courier grabbed one of the supply soldiers by the collar. “Where’s the priest?! Does he even realize he’s defying Bishop Stephen’s orders?!”

Bishop Stephen had strictly ordered the Redemption Army to wait for the Northern Expeditionary Force before initiating any large-scale military actions. 

But apparently, having a military mind didn’t mean that his priests did as well. Stephen might never have guessed that the primary reason the priest was unwilling to follow orders was that he saw the true motive behind the Northern Expedition was profit, with victory being secondary.

In this scenario, the best outcome for the Redemption Army would be to be used as slaves. The worst outcome would be to become reserve rations. For the priest himself, this meant he would barely earn a single coin from this grand expedition.

To avoid leaving empty-handed, the priest decided to take a gamble. Before the arrival of Bishop Stephen’s courier, he broke camp and began marching in the dead of night.

To boost the morale of his 80,000 elite soldiers, the priest ordered the cooks to lace the morning’s breakfast with all the addictive substances they had.

Naturally, by the time Bishop Stephen’s courier arrived, they were already gone.

Not only had they left, but this massive army had already marched over ten kilometers away.

The soldiers were panting from the long march, but the drugs coursing through their veins provided them with a relentless, almost manic drive.

“Praise the God of Light! Praise the God of Light!”

Every soldier shouted their prayers, their eyes bloodshot. As they looked at the dark expanse of the monster forest ahead, there was no fear—only the greedy anticipation of a treasure vault thrown open before them.

The priest and his Holy Guard were positioned safely in the rear middle of the formation. There, the priest was giving final instructions.

“You will stay close to me, just outside the range of the elves’ longbows. I will ensure everything is secure and then lower the thickness of the magical shields to provide these eager soldiers with area-wide magical enhancements,” the priest rambled on, emphasizing his safety. “Group shields, tranquility spells to prevent morale collapse, pain-nullifying spells, and berserk spells to make their attacks even more ferocious. With these, even if the elves still have arrows, they won’t be able to withstand our assault.”

“But in doing so, we can only enter the Monster Forest. The Elven Forest is still a mysterious place to us,” reminded the captain of the Holy Guard. “Once there, the elves’ mage corps will have the advantage.”

“Hmph! Elves wouldn’t cast large-scale destructive spells in their own forest. Just follow my lead. And that guy, the bankrupt village chief from Skool, keep a close eye on him. That coward will surely find an excuse to sneak back. Kill him on the spot to save us from sharing our spoils.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Holy Guard’s prompt response brought great satisfaction to the priest.

Dawn was breaking. The brilliant sunlight from the east illuminated the marching formation of the Redemption Army.

Seated in his palanquin, the priest raised his wine cup with a smile and declared, “The God of Light is celebrating with us. This time, victory is assured.”

“Victory is assured with the blessing of the God of Light!”

“For victory!”

The Holy Guard raised their wine cups as well, and with a tilt of their glasses, they drank the red-purple wine, praying for success in today’s battle.

***

Meanwhile, in the Monster Forest, an army of over 10,000 composed of elves and various demon folk was busy preparing. 

5,000 demon volunteers of various types were digging pits and carefully watching as cheap stone-and-clay golems were lowered into the holes before covering them up.

They then covered their bodies with green and earthy-colored paint to enhance their camouflage in the forest. Under the elves’ command, they moved to an underground passage system called the Monster Forest Trail, located about 600 meters from the forest’s edge.

These passages were left by some underground-dwelling demonfolk and had been magically reinforced by the elves. Now, they served as a vast underground shelter capable of hiding thousands of soldiers.

The tunnels had been modified to be extensive and interconnected, designed to create maximum confusion when the Redemption Army fell into their trap.

The elf commander in charge of field operations knew that the key to the tunnels’ effectiveness lay in successfully “decapitating” the priests and the Holy Guard.

“Quick, quick, quick! All riflemen, get up in the trees and prepare your magical shields to deflect arrows. Do not fire or reveal your positions until the priests and the Holy Guard are within range.”

The commander ran through the elf ranks, directing the Carpa 1404 riflemen to hide and wait in the treetops.

“Don’t forget your invisibility spells. There’s enough magic in this area, so don’t worry about conserving it. Hurry up! They’re almost here.”

The core of this battle was to use the Church’s current lack of knowledge about the elves to launch a perfect ambush.

The key to the ambush was to initially use bows and arrows to confuse the Church’s judgment, making them believe that the elves were still relying on their traditional archery.

Once the Church made this miscalculation, the priests would become overconfident and position themselves beyond the range of the longbowmen, preparing their spells.

At this point, the longbowmen were to slowly retreat, giving the Redemption Army the illusion that the elves were withdrawing.

Meanwhile, the riflemen were to remain in the trees, enduring even if the Redemption Army launched a barrage of arrows at them.

They had to hold their fire until the priests advanced and the Holy Guard appeared on the battlefield.

When that moment arrived, the riflemen would receive the command to fire a synchronized volley at the priests, aiming to take out the enemy commanders and reserve forces.

If everything went as planned, the gunfire would signal the golems and demon folk axe-wielders buried underground to launch their attack.

The golems would rise and strike, presenting an unstoppable force to the ordinary soldiers.

The demon folk axe-wielders would complement the slow-moving golems, and the elf recruits, while not as powerful as the regular army or the rangers, would provide precise mid-to-close-range support.

In the simultaneous chaos of a priest’s death, spells failing, and being attacked from above, below, in front, and on both sides, even the most resilient army would break. Those who didn’t flee would be quickly wiped out. 

At that point, the Redemption Army would crumble, and those fleeing back would spread the news of defeat, further demoralizing their forces and becoming a problem for the district itself.

***

‘If only everything could go that smoothly,’ 

The elven commander, sweating profusely, thought to himself that the more complex a plan, the more likely it would fail on the battlefield due to unforeseen events.

To prevent the complete failure of the main plan, the elven commander had prepared several backup plans. But those were just contingencies, meant to ensure survival, not to achieve the primary objectives.

“Commander, we got the signal from the Roc Eagle scouts. They’re coming!”

As the commander was contemplating, a rifleman perched in a tree shouted, pointing towards the sun in the east. 

‘Damn it, we’re facing the sun, we’re backlit Couldn’t the Redemption Army have chosen to attack in the afternoon?’ 

The elven commander shielded his eyes, quickly climbed a tree, and from his vantage point saw the massive army approaching the Monster Forest.

Just as the intelligence had reported, a force of around 80,000 was closing in.

Among them, the most elite were the four leading legion formations, their armor gleaming in the sunlight. It was unclear if they were actually fully armored or if it was just for show, but it was obvious that these four legions were far more elite than the ragged infantry formations trailing behind them.

The changing formation of the Redemption Army further confirmed the elven commander’s suspicions.

The four elite legions stopped to rest about 1200 meters from the Monster Forest, while the disheveled rear infantry advanced in a chaotic formation into the range of the elven longbows.

Further in the distance, the elven commander spotted the priests’ palanquin and the cavalry positioned around it.

“Not good, they’re too far away. We need to get closer,” he muttered to himself and then turned to the waiting ranger captain below, signaling with a wave, “Fire at will. Five volleys, then retreat.”

“Fire at will! Five volleys!”

“Fire at will!”

The elven commander’s orders were promptly relayed.

The waiting rangers, regular army, and some young archers skilled in long-range precision drew their simple yet effective elven longbows.

All the elves murmured prayers, perhaps for their loved ones, for honor, or simply for revenge for husbands lost centuries ago.

Whoosh—

Even without verbal communication, the elves had an innate ability to act in unison, leading to a coordinated volley.

A dark cloud of arrows suddenly rose from the edge of the Monster Forest, their tips gleaming as they flew toward the Redemption Army’s vanguard.

However, it was clear the Redemption Army had thoroughly studied the elves’ typical tactics. At the sight of the arrows, many soldiers shouted and raised their overlapping shields. These makeshift shields were numerous, and the soldiers also had the benefit of protective spells.

The fastest arrows abruptly halted in mid-air, colliding lightly with the wooden shields after a visible burst of golden light.

The God of Light Church’s area-of-effect spell, Group Shield.

While the individual strength of this shield was lower than a single-target one, it protected all units within a certain area.

Possibly due to the expendable nature of the vanguard, the group shield cast on them was particularly weak. Still, the shield granted the vanguard an extra second or two of life.

Thud, thud, thud—

The foremost arrows were blocked, but the arrows from the back, unobstructed, struck hard.

Powered by the elves’ longbows, these arrows easily pierced one wooden shield, then another, and finally several bodies, but no further.

The Redemption Army’s cannon fodder soldiers used their comrades’ corpses, now riddled with arrows, as makeshift shields. It was as if those bearing the shields were not their fellow believers but convenient barriers.

“Heartless bastards!” the elven commander cursed upon seeing this. 

The first volley had only taken out a few hundred men. 

“Keep shooting! Keep shooting! Then fall back. Lure them into our trap. Hurry.”

The elves were anxiously preparing for a second volley.

For the Redemption Army soldiers, their morale remained unbroken. Partly because of the drug-laced rations they had eaten at dawn, partly due to the dulling effect of long-term cannibalism on their minds, and partly because the fallen were not themselves. Additionally, they were fortified by the enhancement spells cast by their priest.

“Great God of Light! God of Light! Let us ascend to heaven!”

The divine spells had twisted their minds, turning them into wild beasts frenzied for battle. They envisioned angels from heaven, while the Monster Forest appeared as a weak demonic boar.

If they could slay the demon, even those guilty of the gravest sins could be forgiven and ascend to heaven. Those who survived would gain wealth and glory because plundering the monsters and elves had the divine blessing.