Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 236: Church Withdrawal
Damo Franky, the mage leader of the 100-man scout group, sat in his tent and asked in disbelief, "What? Are you sure you saw it right? Did a small group of demon soldiers really appear near Broken Tooth Valley?"

The scout mage, carrying the Spear of Annihilation on his back, hurried back to the outpost camp and nodded. "Sir, you are absolutely correct. Whether it's the footprints of the mounted demon beasts or the remaining traces of the demon soldiers setting up camp, we are all familiar with them."

Franky was stunned and said, "How is it possible... We have deployed three regiments of mage scouts throughout the entire Evil Moon Mountains. How did they secretly circumvent our defenses and cross the mountains into the southern border?"

Along the entire Evil Moon Mountains, there are only three mountain gaps that allow the demons to march on a large scale to invade the southern border. These include the hilly highlands where the Federation has built permanent fortifications, the Eagle's Beak Canyon defended by the church's garrison, and the Green Mountain River Beach where the Seven Nations Wizard Alliance is stationed.

In addition, if the demons want to enter the southern border, they can only risk crossing the steep snow-capped mountains, but this is difficult for ordinary demon soldiers to do. Only those powerful demon priests of the same level as high-level spellcasters will occasionally force their way over the Evil Moon Mountain and launch surprise attacks on the human coalition forces on the south side of the mountain.

"Could it be that there's another defensive trap on the Green Mountain Riverbank?"

Franky shook his head and said, "Impossible. With the recent slowdown in the demonic offensive, the Wizard Kingdom coalition has regained the initiative in Green Mountain's defense and has even sent in a significant number of additional troops..."

Compared to the two passes heavily defended by the Church and the Federation, the Green Mountain River Beach where the Wizarding Seven Nations Alliance is stationed is indeed a historical defensive weakness. It has experienced several repeated battles since the outbreak of the war between the two races.

When the situation was at its most dire, the demon army even directly captured the Green Mountain River Beach and marched southward to the outside of Black Stone City, forcing the human race to pay a huge price and spend several years to push back.

Therefore, Green Mountain, the bloody battlefield of the war between the two races, has always been the focus of the three parties of the human alliance. It is impossible to ignore it easily and allow any demon army to enter.

Franky stood up and walked over to the map of the area hanging on the wall of the tent. He stared at the human coalition stronghold closest to the cliff valley. Suddenly, he turned to his scout mage and asked, "Our scout team responsible for monitoring this area, how long has it been since we contacted the local Church Inquisition Army?"

The scout mage was stunned for a moment, then replied in confusion, "Sir, we haven't dealt with those guys since we started our counterattack. The Church has always been dissatisfied with our excessive focus on the defense areas they are responsible for, thinking that we are overreaching..."

Franky's heart sank upon hearing this. He raised his hand and pointed heavily at a Judgment Army camp near Broken Tooth Valley. He said in a deep voice, "I have a bad feeling... I'm afraid something happened to the Judgment Army troops stationed nearby!"

……

A fierce gust of wind carried several figures down from the sky, stirring up the screams and cries of birds and beasts in the originally quiet wilderness and dense forest.

Franky and Raphael appeared in the storm tornado, followed by several mid-level scout mages who were carried by them from the air using flying magic.

"I think this worry is completely unnecessary..." Raphael, the leader of the scouts, tugged at his wind-ripped robes and complained to Franky with a frown. "Perhaps they're a branch of a demonic force that invaded the southern border a while ago, accidentally left behind south of the Evil Moon Mountains and didn't have time to evacuate, so they've been hiding and roaming around here ever since..."

Franky shook his head, completely disagreeing with this statement. "How is that possible? How many strengthening secret drugs could they carry? How could they maintain their strength and activity for years? If they were truly isolated troops left in this area, they would have long since died of weakness from lack of drugs."

Raphael shrugged noncommittally. "No matter how they got here, we'll just send out a few scout teams to find them and wipe them out completely... With the Annihilation Spear in hand and the scout mages' reconnaissance skills, it'll be no different than slaughtering a few pheasants..."

He paused, then sneered disdainfully, "Supposedly, this area is the church's defensive zone, but it's common for us to clean up their messes and wipe their asses. These hypocritical bastards would probably prefer to stay in the parish, holding up their scriptures all day to fool those foolish believers..."

Franky gave a wry smile and advised, "When we get to their garrison, don't just curse. I don't want to start a fight on their territory. I'll be questioned by the Alliance Committee when I get back, and I'll have to stay up all night writing a self-criticism report..."

Raphael curled his lips and was about to sneer a few more times when several scout mages who had been sent to the church garrison camp in advance hurried back.

"My Lords! Something really…something really happened!"

"The gate to the Judgment Army's camp was wide open, and the interior was empty and in ruins. No signs of attack or battle were found, but... but there was no one left!"

Franky was stunned and said coldly, "What? There's no one in the camp? Where are the Church's Inquisition soldiers? If I remember correctly, there are a thousand Inquisition soldiers stationed here?"

Even if they left the camp for patrol or combat missions, they would have left at least a few personnel behind to maintain security and provide liaison. It's impossible for them to have completely vanished. "Sir, if you look, you'll see. Not only is the camp empty, but even the Holy Light Beacon Tower on the hillside, which required constant manning and warning, is missing!"

Raphael finally realized the seriousness of the situation and frowned, "No wonder... no wonder these remnants of the demonic army appeared nearby, yet we didn't receive any notification from the Church... Turns out there's no Judgment Army left here. This leaves a huge gap in the defense, allowing those damned demons to roam freely!"

A scout mage who had followed behind him spoke with a worried look on his face, "Sir, these remaining demonic soldiers roaming around here are quite numerous. Judging from their marching traces, there are at least several hundred of them, and they're carrying mounted demonic beasts... If they get past the Judgment Army's fortifications, there will be large villages and towns inhabited by civilians to the south..."

He was a local spellcaster from the Western Territory, his hometown being a fertile farm near the Broken Tooth Valley. He couldn't help but subconsciously start to worry about the safety of his hometown and his people.

"Quick! Immediately use your magic to send a message to the nearest spellcasting unit to rush for reinforcements! Have all the scout mages active in this area spread out and quickly locate the movements of those remaining demonic troops!"

Raphael suggested softly, "Should we notify the high-level spellcaster regiment and ask those adults who can provide flying support to cooperate with us in clearing out this demon army?"

Franky sighed and said self-deprecatingly, "The last supply line raid, which relied primarily on our scout mages and used them as bait, has already caused secret dissatisfaction among most high-level spellcasters. If this matter is not reported to the commander, who will be able to command them?"

……

The temperature in the western border in early autumn has not yet dropped sharply. Golden wheat grows in large fields on the flat and fertile black soil. It will be the harvest season in a few days.

An old donkey cart creaked along the dirt road. The driver was dozing off while pulling on the reins, trying his best to prevent the animal from straying from the road. There were dense woods on both sides, and the cart would overturn if not careful.

The old donkey pulling the cart suddenly stopped, pricked up its ears and let out a low neigh. The driver turned his head to look at the woods beside the road in confusion, and found that there seemed to be some rustling movement in the bushes.

There have never been any large wild animals active in the plains of Broken Tooth Valley. In addition, the church has stationed troops here for a long time, and even refugees and bandits dare not be active nearby, so it is unlikely that they are bandits who block the road and rob people.

But the footsteps coming from the woods became heavier, as if there was more than one person, and there was also the heavy panting of some animal...

The driver stood there in a daze, and was about to shout out a greeting or something.

Suddenly, a four-legged beast larger than a camel rushed out of the dense forest. On its back rode a strange man with bright red skin and armor. He was shouting in a completely incomprehensible foreign language and was rushing straight towards the donkey cart in the middle of the road.

The driver was so frightened that his hair stood on end as he watched a ray of cold light coming straight towards his head.

In his last moments before losing consciousness, he had only one desperate thought in his mind: How could the demons appear here? Where had those knights of the church gone?
The morning mist was thick, and a group of ferocious red-skinned demons emerged from nowhere, riding on huge and terrifying monsters, and rushed into the fertile and peaceful village, breaking the original tranquility.

The roars of monsters, the hideous grins of aliens, the cries for help of civilians and the sounds of sharp blades piercing flesh and blood all intertwined together, forming a cruel doomsday scene.

Flames suddenly shot up from the thatched roof, and the raging fire illuminated the sky red. Dozens of young and strong villagers gathered spontaneously, holding iron farm tools and resisting in vain for a moment. After the iron hooves of the demon cavalry charged, they all turned into miserable headless corpses, lying in all directions on the streets of the village, and were ruthlessly trampled into bloody mud by the monsters.

The elderly, the weak, women and children desperately tried to find secret places to hide, but the demon soldiers had a keen sense of perception and they were picked out one by one, pushed against their blades into the still burning barns and houses.

There wasn't a trace of hesitation or mercy in the eyes of these demon soldiers, only endless crimson brutality and murderous intent. Screams rang out one after another, and blood flowed everywhere along the dirt village roads, staining the ground black and red.

When the first rays of morning light pierced through the thick smoke, the small village that had once housed hundreds of people had been reduced to ruins. Only the shattered walls, still licked by the embers, and the remains of mangled corpses lay scattered everywhere...

(End of this chapter)