A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 360 Where is the promised greatness, glory, and righteousness?

The sun hung palely high over the wasteland, its light weak and powerless, insufficient to warm the people, while a cold wind howled from north to south across the land.

The formation that "Ninja Natsu" was in was centered around a large, movable bell. The inner circle consisted of the Christian guards and their servants, who held high their banners, while the outer circle comprised the unfortunate sinners, Rorschach. Rorschach guessed that the bell must be a sacred relic.

Led by the "Master," the leader of the paladins, the knights, having completed their pre-battle mass, lined up in squadrons on the left and right flanks of the infantry. The commanders raised two greatswords and struck them together with the blades.

The crisp metallic clang signaled the start of battle; the drumbeats and horns, no longer adhering to hymn melodies, grew faster and louder. The infantry, led by the serfs and the penitents, began to move!

"The Lord of Order shines upon you! Fear not the enemy's swords and spears, for your bodies will be as strong as iron! Fear not the enemy's armor, for your swords will be invincible!" The bell-ringing priest shouted hoarsely in the phalanx, driving the phalanx to charge head-on at the enemy.

Rorschach's unit seemed to be stuck in the era of cold weapons, with the infantry advancing steadily towards the enemy's front, while the enemy seemed to be cooperating by not building any fortifications.

However, this is reasonable. The battlefield is nominally located on the side of the Holy Kingdom. If the Imperial Army spends too much time repairing its positions, it is easy to be harassed by small groups of Holy Knights in the vanguard. It is better for the main army to move together and deploy directly.

Some of the men around Luo Xia were still hesitant. They could already see the dark lines of the enemy on the other side. If nothing unexpected happened, the enemy's guns were pointed at them. The loaded ammunition was ready to be fired, and their fingers were on the triggers, waiting for the commander's order.

"Fire!" The bullets from the Empire were launched! Rorschach saw smoke rising in front of the line of men directly in front of him, and the rabble around him trembled under the sound of gunfire.

when!

However, the deep tolling of the bell was followed by the gunshot. Rorschach couldn't help but turn around and see that the bronze bell he had set up was emitting golden patterns. Although the sound waves were deafening to everyone, everyone was surprisingly unharmed in the face of the incoming bullets.

When bullets hit people, it was as if they were hitting iron armor. Rorschach could feel the enormous kinetic energy transmitted by the bullets, but his body was not damaged.

It seemed that at the instant the bell was rung, everyone received a protection akin to heavy armor. Rorschach sensed it, and the duration of this protection was extremely short, essentially disappearing as soon as the bell's echo faded. However, this proved surprisingly effective against the Imperial army, whose primary anti-infantry tactics were muskets and shotguns: firearms have reload times, and unless firing freely, simply ringing the bell during a volley was sufficient.

When it was confirmed that the bell-ringing priest's words were not false and that everyone was truly invulnerable, all the infantrymen were invigorated and their advance speed increased. They cheered as they approached the enemy.

Another round of volley fire and the "Guardian Bell" took place. The Imperial Army commander realized the enemy's countermeasures and switched to free fire after reloading the muskets.

Not to be outdone, the bell-ringing priest put all his strength into ringing the bell repeatedly, making everyone except Rorschach's humus-covered head buzz.

(Thousands of miles away, the original body, who was in sync with the clone, was also experiencing a buzzing in its head, and even tinnitus was starting to appear.)

Although the effectiveness of the divine spell seemed to have weakened after continuous strikes, the bullet density of free fire was lower than that of volley fire, and a delicate balance was achieved between offense and defense, allowing the attackers to continuously close to within a hundred paces of the front line. Everyone could see the tense faces of the Imperials.

Seeing that the time was ripe, the commander of the formation gave the order: "Charge!"

The bells didn't stop ringing, and the criminals and bandits excitedly took off, charging forward with a roar. If they could reap the heads of the regular soldiers, they could brag about it for the rest of their lives.

Seventy steps, fifty steps, thirty steps

The enemy had finished reloading, but the charging Redemption Army faced the gun barrels without fear. On the contrary, the enemy was nervous. Everyone believed that the "Holy Army" was invulnerable to bullets and blades.

Rorschach silently charged forward at a slightly slower pace, lowering his stance to shield the Redemption Army members in front of him.

boom!Boom!

Another round of gunfire erupted, and Rorschach's temporary comrades all fell, ending their lives burdened with sin. The indulgences made from scraps of parchment were stained red with blood.

Not wanting to draw attention, Rorschach plunged into the fallen soldiers, casting a [Spirit Armor] spell on himself in the process. Even a clay body should be protected; if he blew off an arm or something, the dirt scattered everywhere would give him away.

When he realized that the divine magic was carried by the sound of bells, he guessed that the blessing might weaken significantly over distance, otherwise there would be no need to have the Redemption Army on the periphery. The subtle changes in the magic in the environment when the moving bell tower was far away also confirmed Rorschach's idea.

When only a few of the charging Atonement's soldiers remained standing, the Church's apostolic army and servants approached the lines without casualties. They were not surprised by the deaths of the Atonements; many probably even considered it a blessing that these scoundrels could die gloriously for the Lord.

The first two ranks of the formation set up extra-long muskets and fired a volley at the Imperial army from fifty paces away. At close range, the more precise shooting instantly inflicted heavy casualties on the Imperial army.

Where's the glorious and righteous image? How can their hearts be so filthy?! Rorschach, crouching to watch the battle, craned his neck at an impossible angle for a better view. He gripped the "pre-battle atonement ticket" tightly—good heavens, this was a death warrant!

His stronger feeling was that the Empire was now at a disadvantage! Rorschach was somewhat surprised, after all, he had sent a clone here to investigate the Empire's methods of suppressing the divine magic of the Church of Light and Order, but so far the Empire had only been able to take the beating.

Richard, in command post, was equally surprised, witnessing the Imperial army's losses from his vantage point. "I should have joined the battle. The enemy is now protected by divine magic; ordinary weapons are ineffective."

"No, follow orders." Major General Carl, Richard's mentor in the army, put down his binoculars. There were higher-ranking commanders on the battlefield, and he was only responsible for his own division: "Order the artillerymen to take their positions. Send two columns of infantry reserves to fill the flanks."

Should they deploy the cavalry? Richard knew that only a cavalry attack would create gaps on the left and right flanks of the battle line that needed to be filled.

But if the enemy still has divine magic, the cavalry will only sacrifice themselves in vain, and so far, the paladins have not been deployed! The 1,500-plus cavalrymen have an overwhelming advantage in both quality and quantity over the Empire's 300 cavalrymen. Richard wanted to find out the reason why Major General Karl was taking such action.

But before he could speak, Major General Carl, who had timed things perfectly, dispatched Richard back to Andorella: "Captain, please board the docked airship. Your teacher is waiting for you there."

Richard’s teacher, in this context there is only one person—the Imperial Army’s chief military mage!

(End of this chapter)