So I'm a sheep.

It is said that Pope Leonard did not die suddenly from a serious illness, but was cursed by a demon during pre-war mobilization!

Many soldiers who survived that war said in fear, "Before we even fought the enemy, all our officers were cursed and fell down."

The rumors of a 'demon's curse' have become increasingly fantastical, and repeated denials from the church have been completely ineffective.

Even before the 'final battle' had begun, the church's soldiers were already wavering.

"The demon's followers are attacking!"

"What should we do? Another war is about to break out."

“The powerful demons are in their army; we cannot win.”

When the Church was on the verge of collapse, Pope Zorn quickly took office.

Upon assuming office, the Pope and the bishops jointly issued a statement: We stand with the Church to the death and will never bow to the evil believers!

Then, Pope Zorn recalled all troops to headquarters.

The church abandoned the rest of the battlefront and vowed to fight the Brotherhood of the Black Hand in front of its headquarters.

The unity and determination shown by the church leadership during this time of crisis has greatly surprised the outside world.

These charlatans...

I didn't expect him to actually have some guts!

The Church's desperate move also affected the Brotherhood of the Black Hand, slowing down their army, which was advancing at full speed, eager to crush the Church.

"It's a tough nut to crack."

Having realized this, the Black Hand Brotherhood's weapon users stopped forcing ordinary soldiers to rush on their way.

"We need to make sure we're well-rested before the final battle; the soldiers can't keep up this pace."

"That makes sense. We shouldn't underestimate the church."

"Well, if we feed and water them along the way, we won't have enough food."

"Haha, there are so many villages around. Not enough food? Go rob some!"

"Rob it? But what about Miss Winnie's situation..."

"The president doesn't value her much anymore. What are you afraid of about a woman who has no say in anything?"

With the indulgence of the weapon wielders, the Black Hand Brotherhood's army began its atrocities.

At first, they only looted grain, but after a village that had reached its limit of tolerance launched a counterattack, the soldiers began to burn, kill, and plunder indiscriminately.

"Father, please stop those crazed soldiers!"

"They're having a good time right now, it would be such a spoilsport to stop them."

Chairman Simon, who was completely covered up except for a pair of ominous red eyes, seemed completely unconcerned.

"But they are destroying villages and slaughtering people who could have served us!"

"..."

"So what?"

Simon tilted his head: "People are like weeds; they'll grow in large patches after a while."

"If we need manpower after this batch is harvested, we can wait for the next batch to grow."

Looking at her father in disbelief, Winnie bit her lip hard.

'He's gone mad! No, he's become a complete demon!'

"President"

A demon weapon user approached, a twisted smile on his face.

"I also want to go down and have some fun."

"Huh? You should have gone down to play earlier, why haven't you gone yet?"

Simon scolded, "You're not ascetics, why are you suppressing your desires like this!"

"Go, all of you, go."

"Father!"

Winnie shouted, "We should press our advantage now and completely crush the Church of Dawn!"

"Those charlatans? Let them tremble in fear for a while longer."

"Can......"

As soon as she opened her mouth, Winnie was startled by Simon's cruel gaze.

For a moment, she almost thought she was going to be killed.

Fortunately, Simon quickly looked away.

"I don't need your instructions, and don't provoke me any further."

Seeing Winnie nod vigorously, Simon snorted and walked away unhappily.

'Troublesome, that man left behind such strong feelings.'

..............................................

Encouraged by President Simon, all the magic weapon users let loose.

The primary task of 'destroying the Church of Dawn' was completely forgotten, and they unleashed their savagery.

After a standstill of more than a month, the Black Hand Brotherhood's army finally began to approach the church headquarters again.

Volume 1: Chapter 33 Prayer

"Those bastards from the Black Hand Brotherhood, they looted all the food and then set the village on fire!"

"They're robbing us of our food, our money, and our lives! They're leaving us no way to survive!"

"Waaaaah, my daughter."

The village was destroyed, families were killed, and people filled with hatred fled to the church.

Led by the missionaries, they tearfully recounted their ordeal to the church soldiers.

Most of the church's soldiers came from villages affiliated with the church, and many of the people who fled to the church were known to the soldiers.

Upon hearing that their hometown had been destroyed, their father killed, and their wives and daughters violated by those beasts, the soldiers of the Dawn Church were filled with rage.

With such deep-seated hatred, nobody cares about any damned demonic curse!

"Kill those beasts!"

"Drink their blood, eat their flesh!"

When will we be able to fight?

"We've been waiting, waiting for so long. Is the Church still planning to fight the Black Hand Brotherhood?"

Seeing the crowd's anger, the missionaries immediately reassured them, "Tomorrow, the war can begin tomorrow."

“You said the same thing last time, the time before that, the time before that, and the time before that.”

"But we haven't even seen a shadow of the enemy yet!"

"I'm not kidding you, you really can get your revenge tomorrow."

"The divine messenger will pray for everyone in the main hall of the temple tonight, and the church will start its war against those sinners first thing tomorrow morning!"

"..."

"Really?"

"I'm definitely not lying to you this time!"

"That's wonderful..."

...................................................................

"All the able-bodied men who fled from the disaster area to the church have been incorporated into the army. With the addition of mercenaries provided by the neutral zone, we can fight a good battle tomorrow."

"Thanks to His Holiness the Pope's hard work, the support provided by the Neutral Zone this time has far exceeded expectations!"

Zorn quickly shook his head at the bishops' flattery.

"Thanks to the important information provided by Lady Sasha, it turns out that three of our powerful figures have intricate connections with the Black Hand Brotherhood. The people in the neutral zone are stunned."

"It was precisely because of the church's exposure that they were able to eliminate three hidden dangers in one fell swoop."

"They were already prepared to offer their full support, so after this happened, shouldn't they show their appreciation even more?"

Zorn's feelings were also very complicated. To be honest, at first, he was suspicious of the three names Sasha gave him.

Those three Zorns had all dealt with each other to some extent, and they didn't seem like villains from the Black Hand Brotherhood at all.

However, rather than harboring doubts, he chose to believe the divine messenger's words.

No one knew how uneasy he felt when he righteously exposed the three guys' true colors.

Fortunately, the divine messenger was right. After an investigation, the true colors of the three villains were completely exposed.

'Forgive me, great goddess, for I had doubts about the words of the divine messenger before.'

At that moment, Pope Zorn's faith deepened considerably.

“I think the reason they’re spending so much in the neutral zone this time isn’t just because the church helped them find the mole. The Black Hand Brotherhood’s recent actions have really scared them.”

"..."

The bishops fell silent for a moment, truly baffled by the Black Hand Brotherhood's perplexing actions.

If the Black Hand Brotherhood had come charging in a little over a month ago, the Church probably wouldn't have been able to withstand it.

At that time, they not only lacked troops, but their morale was also low.

How can they win against the Black Hand Brotherhood's massive army in this state?

However, the enemy gave them a respite of more than a month!

The massacre of the village was indeed destroying the foundation of the church, but the backlash from such a heinous act was too great.