From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 652 March
I curse you all!

On the towering walls of the newly established Sanctuary, built by Ivy with a magnificent fortress of eighth-circle magic, Nura Dandiva, chained to the gallows, was cursing loudly.

As a short but normally proportionate halfling, Nura's appearance is closer to that of an eight or nine-year-old child, and her smooth golden hair and fair skin can win her a lot of favor.

But now, all that goodwill has vanished because of the twisted and crazed expression on her face.

"I curse you! You filthy bitch, Godfrey!"

"I curse your holy war! I curse your country!"

"I wish the demon would devour you all! No! That would be too good for you. I hope the demon will eat you slowly and deliberately, so that your suffering before death can be prolonged!"

"Your holy war is doomed to fail. Neither the magnificent golden dragon nor the high and mighty gods can save you from your inevitable defeat!"

"Your will and spirit will be crushed and shattered, and the self-proclaimed holy knights will hide in the shadows and weep like prostitutes in the streets... The smiles on your faces will soon turn into endless tears!"

"Soon, you self-proclaimed gentlemen will be begging for a swift and clean death, but all you will receive is purple flames from the abyss, the searing pain piercing through your bodies and souls until all the soldiers of the Crusader are reduced to an indescribable filth!"

"This will all come true eventually, you all know that! You've been fighting for lies, fighting for Godfrey's naiveté! All of this..."

The Crusader soldiers lined up below the city wall stared blankly at the cultist standing on the gallows. Everyone understood that the seemingly playful and cute halfling was no different from a real demon. She was not only insane, but had also completely deviated from humanity.

But the Crusader soldiers could not ignore her curse.

The difference between the demons and the Crusaders has always been obvious. This can be seen from the constantly retreating battle lines in the first four Holy Wars. Kanaburi was originally just a transit city that provided logistical supplies for the Holy War, but it became the front line in each Holy War. A month ago, the demons even broke through the supposedly indestructible Guardian Stone defense line and turned the entire city of Kanaburi into a sea of ​​fire.

Although a group of refugees and defeated soldiers, led by the knight commander Ilinica, successfully reclaimed Kanaburi from the demons, who knows if such miracles can continue to occur, and even if they must continue to occur?

As Nura Dandiva continued her mad curses against the Crusaders, Ivy, standing atop the city wall, suddenly raised a hand. Her calm voice instantly drowned out the wind on the mountaintop, drowned out Nura Dandiva's vicious curses, and reached the ears of the Crusader warriors.

"The time has come. Execute him."

Regil Tyrenger, the deputy enforcer of the Claw Knights, with faded purple hair, emerged from behind the battlements and came to the foot of the gallows.

The Hell Knights are known for their strict adherence to laws, and are therefore quite skilled at crafting instruments of torture.

Besides the five-headed whip used to enforce internal discipline, there was a wide variety of torture instruments used for interrogation.

The gallows before him, which Regier considered "ordinary and boring," were merely the kind of torture instruments best suited for prisoners.

Although the Hell Knights of the Claw Order believed that traitors deserved more rudimentary instruments of torture, they did not disobey Ivy's orders and diligently crafted Nura Dandiva's gallows.

This gallows has a small platform to support the prisoner's body. By pulling the ropes on one side to secure it, the released pins will cause the platform to tilt, suspending the prisoner, whose hands are bound, in the air.

The sudden weightlessness caused Nura Dandehua to scream, but the rope, tightened by the fall, abruptly silenced the scream in mid-air.

His fair face quickly turned purplish-brown, and the halfling who had been spouting nonsense was already dead.

Gazing at the corpse swaying in the cold wind, the Crusaders below did not erupt in cheers or screams.

Because everyone knows very well that demons are never easy opponents to defeat, and every battle for the Crusaders could be their last.

Not to mention that more than half of those who followed the knight commander all the way here were complete recruits just a month ago.

“In my homeland, there was once a saying: ‘Only the wise and the foolish remain unmoved.’” Avina’s calm voice, amplified by magic, echoed across the hilltop where the fortress stood, reaching the ears of every Crusader warrior below. “Due to the passage of time, wise men have offered various interpretations of this saying. My preferred interpretation is this: those who remain steadfast either possess extraordinary wisdom that allows them to see through everything, or they simply refuse to listen to anything and cling to their ignorant views.”

"Those in the middle are the most likely to waver in their stance due to changes in the external environment."

"Such situations are quite common even within the Crusader."

"When the demon lord Descari breached Kanaburi and beheaded the silver dragon Terendilifer, many Crusaders felt their faith shattered. They went from being protectors of the city to demons who vented their fear and rage on the innocent."

"However, do these people who turn to the devil really have no other choice? Is turning to the devil truly the only way to survive?"

"I'm afraid even many people standing here don't really know what demons are. They are abnormal creatures born from the chaos and evil nature of mortals, and they shouldn't have entered the material world. But the existence of the World's Sorrow has created a path connecting the two worlds, allowing these demons to flood into our world."

"From the perspective of the world's workings, the entry of demons into the prime material plane is an anomaly. Therefore, the best outcome for those cultists who join the demons is to become demons themselves, becoming 'one of their own' in the abyss. However, there is no true order among demons; only the fear that compels those cultists to join is the only factor that can maintain the existence of the various classes of demons."

"Therefore, those cultists who join the devil in order to escape the fear of death are actually seeking refuge in a wicked and chaotic place where death is always a threat."

"And all they did was throw themselves into a hellish abyss where they could die at any moment."

"Lord Doom!" a bold soldier suddenly shouted, "Fighting demons might mean death, joining demons is even more certain death. Is there really no way for us to survive?"

“No.” Ivy glanced at him indifferently. “We can still win. And you’ve already tasted victory, haven’t you?” “Think about how we defeated the tornado on the banks of the West Seren River, how we destroyed the demons of the fortress and captured that position, and how we thwarted the traitor’s plot, crushing the monstrous worms that blotted out the sky and the gargoyles that attacked from the sky one by one?”

"We've been winning all along, haven't we?"

Ivy's speech was less about conveying "divine wisdom" to the Crusader warriors and more about presenting a set of "Crusader Winning Principles." Anyone can talk about grand theories, and those who listen to them all say they are good, but very few people can truly take them to heart and put them into practice.

Therefore, developing a set of "Crusader Winning Strategies" to boost morale is only to be expected. In any case, Ivy has indeed been leading them to victory.

As long as he can maintain his undefeated record, even if Ivy is wrong, his subordinates will force him to believe that he is right.

What if we really lose the battle and the entire Crusade is wiped out?
Ivy still has the magician Ze; at worst, she can pull the Crusaders up from the ground and fight again. Ivy certainly has a way out, but as for where the Crusaders' way out lies, well, that might really depend on the gods in the heavens.

In any case, Ivy had already made up his mind that as long as he remained the full military advisor for the Fifth Holy War, he would do his best to secure victory for the Crusaders, as long as it did not conflict with his own objectives.

If they suffer any significant losses, they'll simply flee at lightning speed. Turning the entire Crusader into undead is just the easiest way for Ivy to escape. With Zechariah, the great lich, in front of them, there's no way he'll be held accountable.

The worst-case scenario for the Fifth Holy War only flashed through Ivy's mind, while his impromptu speech continued.

"Victory favors the bravest. We have devised a comprehensive plan. Now, all we need is for all soldiers to be of one mind and do their utmost to fulfill their duties so that we can reclaim Jueze City from the hands of the Holy Army."

"As for the traitor's curses and insults, they are actually a compliment to us Crusaders. The cultists' slander stems from fear."

"The knight commanders, blessed by the gods of the Crusade, will lead the charge, penetrating deep into enemy territory. Queen Godfrey of Montevideo will also be on the front lines, fighting alongside us, together laying the foundation for victory in the Fifth Holy War."

The Crusader warriors under Ivy's command mainly worship their successor, Iomede, but judging from Irina's behavior, she seems to be closer to Desna, the goddess of dreams in Elysium. Her displays of divine power on several occasions also seem to bring her closer to the unrestrained Elysium.

Fortunately, Queen Godfrey of Montevideo was also a woman blessed by the gods, and unlike the ambiguous Irina, she was a living saint jointly recognized by her successor and the Church of Iomede. With these two divinely favored figures present, it was naturally possible to unite the diverse religious forces under one banner.

Seeing the two women who had successfully stirred up cheers after appearing on the city wall, Ivy announced at the opportune moment: "Marching towards Juanze City!"

A soaring rainbow of light flew from the mithril staff in Ivy's hand, stirring up the abnormal weather of the World's Tragedy.

The Crusaders looked up at the sky and saw that the rusty clouds that had previously hung over them had disappeared, and the cold wind blowing across the north had turned into a gentle breeze.

The newly established Holy Land and the City of Favor stand on opposite banks of the upper reaches of the West Seren River valley, connected by a suspension bridge.

In such favorable weather, the Crusaders could complete the journey from the fortress across the river to launch their attack in less than fifteen minutes.

"First Legion!" Erabes was the first to draw his longsword, pointing it forcefully to the north. The dilapidated walls of Juanze City looked like they were on his face in the favorable weather. "Advance!"

“It’s time to seize our victory.” Ivy nodded to the officers who were also standing atop the fortress. “Please set off to catch up with the vanguard, Your Majesty. I need to cast a teleportation spell for the commander and the Hell Knights to send them into the city.”

"Really?" Godfrey tilted her head, her gaze shifting between Ivy and Illinika. "You can teleport her into the city, but you can't send me to the front of the group?"

“I think it will help boost the morale of the soldiers by having you walk through the entire column,” Ivy said grandly. “After all, this may be the only chance for many soldiers to see you up close.”

“Very well, then I want to ride your mount, that golden horse!” As a ruler of a nation, Godfrey was well aware that politics was the art of compromise, and instead made another request.

Ivy couldn't refuse, so she waved for the other bystanders to leave and leaned closer to ask in a low voice, "Excuse my impertinence, Your Majesty, are you... still a pure young girl?"

"What do you mean by that?" Gao Furui looked surprised, a hint of anger flashing in her eyes. "Who doesn't know I'm a hundred-year-old woman?"

"Ahem." Ivy coughed halfway and leaned a little closer. "What I mean is, are you still Chu Nu? Golden Horn is, after all, a unicorn."

The anger in Godfrey's eyes turned to embarrassment and annoyance. She turned around with a flick of her cloak and walked down the city wall: "I'll only give you the time it takes to drink a cup of tea! Otherwise, we'll see if your mount can catch up with Lord Irabes's vanguard!"

"Wow!" Irina exclaimed with a grin, "I never imagined that that hundred-year-old woman didn't even have a man! Do you think she might like women? Like me?"

Many times, Ivy felt that Irina shed her celebrity image too quickly. He had seen it all before, but he had only ever encountered Irina's behavior of going straight to the top and getting her face thrown into the air. This kind of behavior was something he had only seen when Feren and Evil were being completely honest with each other.

Ivy summoned Golden Horn from the Grimoire of Destruction, whispered a few instructions, glared at Illinika, and walked down the city wall to join the ranks of the Hell Knights.

[Legion Teleport] was the second war spell designed by Ivy, and the first to be cast.

This spell will be performed by Ivy herself, and it can teleport a far greater number of targets than teleportation spells, and it can also identify the knights' mounts as targets. However, it will require additional space when teleporting creatures that are too large.

Furthermore, the [Legion Teleport] spell has a casting time of ten minutes, cannot utilize various supermagic techniques, cannot cross planes, or target a teleportation array that is extremely far away. The teleportation destination can only be a place that Ivy knows about.

Within visual range, the city of Juanze is a suitable location for the [Legion Teleportation] spell to be cast.

Several gems dissolved in Ivy's hands and then spread out among the densely packed military formation. In an instant, the assault force of over a hundred men vanished from their spot.

(End of this chapter)