After my rebirth, Miss Saint turned evil

"—I won't let him get away. Absolutely. I won't let him go."

Eltis still had a gentle smile on her face, as if she was confiding in a friend.

However, the blue eyes were another matter, and the graceful atmosphere just now was blown away.

Now, like the bright lights, the ferocity that seemed to devour the heart was clearly imprinted in those eyes.

It must have been out of anger, because Valette's cheeks, which were slightly dyed red, suddenly lost their color. She knew very well what her master's eyes meant.

"Murphy, you said you would never let me escape."

Those were the words they had exchanged in the tower, sweet memories known only to Altis and Murphy.

Whenever he thought of that time, Eltis' heart became hazy.

If only that time could last forever, I even had this ridiculous thought. How happy it would be to be in the tower with him and me.

And Murphy did say that he would not let Altis escape and would not let me leave.

"So I also decided not to let him escape. I decided what this means, you should know, right, Valette?"

The words Eltis spoke at this moment were no longer as cheerful as before, and the gentle tone no longer sounded like talking to a friend.

There was no doubt that it was the calm and clear voice of Queen Gasalia.

"—Yes, Finn Eltis. Your decision is the collective will of us elves, of Gasalia."

Hearing Valette's slightly stiff voice, Eldis opened her green eyes wide and nodded.

Then, in order to lighten the mood, he shrugged lightly, and the blue-eyed man had returned to his usual self.

Eldis opened his lips as if he were chatting.

"Murphy seemed to accept the gift very seriously. Really, just seeing that gesture makes this ceremony worthwhile."

In response to his master's gentle words, Valette nodded slightly.

"Yes, those are the military uniforms and decorations prepared for this day. I hope you like them."

Nodding at the maid's words, Altis's eyes flashed with the image of the dark green military uniform and several decorations that Murphy wore during the day.

Her little lips couldn't help but curl up, rippling with joy.

The expression on her face was not so much one of pure joy after giving the gift, but rather a smile that seemed to indicate that her plan was going very smoothly, with a seductive hue to it.

Chapter 18 Shadow of War

A few days after the combined forces of the Cathedral bravely sounded their horns from the east, the combined forces of the Church of Heraldry and Gasalia also set out from their base in Crossmaria.

In other words, the Heraldry Cult completely abandoned the strategy of using the walls of Crossmaria as its shield.

Needless to say, this was a very unexpected behavior for the people within the Church of Heraldry.

Regardless, the city of Crossmaria's greatest strength in war is defense.

Unless the situation is like when Mattia captured Crossmaria in the past, where chaos is first caused from within and then guided, the city of Crossmaria will not fall easily.

It was precisely because of this that many people opposed this practice of abandoning absolutely favorable conditions, shouting at the top of their lungs in the meeting: "The best strategy is to hold on!"

But even amidst such voices, Saint Madia of the Church of Heraldry and Queen Fen Eldis of the Hanging Garden Gasalia still insisted on defeating the incoming enemy head-on in battle.

There were actually many reasons why they made that choice, but the biggest factor among them was the military strength of both sides.

The Heraldry Church alone has a force of only 8,000 soldiers, and even after merging with Gasalia's army, it only has a force of just over 10,000.

Apart from that, we just need to recruit as many mercenaries as possible to make up the numbers.

Of course, if we bring elderly people who can't even lift a spear, or even children who know nothing, to the battlefield, perhaps the number will increase a little.

However, such a group of people could definitely not be called an army, and it would be impossible for them to take disciplined actions.

Therefore, as far as the Heraldry Church is concerned, there are only about 10,000 people who can guarantee to function as an army.

Honestly, this is an unreliable number.

In contrast, the number of troops sent by the Cathedral a few days ago was about 20,000, which was about twice the strength of the combined forces of the Church of Heraldry and Gasalia.

It is obvious that in order to devour the influence of Crossmaria or the Church of Heraldry, the Cathedral has bared its ferocious fangs.

What's even worse is that for the Heraldry Church, the number of 10,000 is undoubtedly the force they have gathered with all their efforts.

But for the Cathedral, the number of 20,000 was just the strength of the advance troops they sent out.

After this, they could easily send out more than 100,000 troops. At this moment, they were just staring at the Heraldry Church with a blatant look and showing off their power to it.

Then the question of what plan the Heraldry Church should adopt became an unavoidable topic.

Saint Matthias said that this is why it is meaningless to hold on.

If the goal was simply to defeat the advance troops, then they should have held their ground, but what should they do after that? Wait for the main force behind the cathedral to emerge, and then allow them to encircle the entire Crossmaria?

If it comes to that, there will be nothing that can be done. Everyone will be doomed and will have no choice but to use Crossmaria as their coffin.

To be honest, when Murphy heard Mattia say these words, he felt very incredible.

Of course, he understood the meaning of that sentence, and he had no intention of refutation, but -

In the past Gospel War, the Church of Heraldry did choose to hold on to Crossmaria.

As for the result, they eventually went on the road to destruction, and Saint Matthias finally died using the underground temple as her coffin.

There was no doubt that this was the result that Murphy had observed in the past world.

That's why he thought that in this Gospel War, Matthias would probably still adopt the strategy of defending the city.

But...what exactly caused her change of heart this time? Or was there some reason in the past that forced her to defend the city?

In short, no matter what, it would be great if we didn't choose to defend the city.

After all, Murphy didn't want to repeat the path that had destroyed him once. In his opinion, since he would die anyway, it would be more meaningful to explore the possibilities first and then die.

"How's it going? Does it look like we have a chance of winning?"

After deciding on the campsite and the Heraldic army began to rest, Murphy sat carefree in the big tent, chewing some candy, and spoke to An, who was busy organizing the materials needed for the meeting.

Perhaps it was because this was a tent used to gather all the generals and commanders. Although it was just a tent, it seemed extremely spacious and even made people feel strangely calm from the bottom of their hearts.

As for the fudge, it is made of precious honey and cream, and has always been a high-end product that only upper-class nobles and wealthy businessmen can enjoy.

For Murphy before, that was undoubtedly a luxury, but because he had just obtained the status of a hero in the Church of Heraldry, he was now qualified to enjoy even such a luxury.

But Murphy actually didn't like candy very much, so he only kept some of it to eat a few when he wanted to smoke, as a transitional tool for quitting smoking, and basically gave the rest to Hawke and his sister.

As for An, who was working hard on the preparations, her cheek twitched violently, perhaps because of Murphy's sudden appearance.

The expression on her face seemed to tell Murphy that she was surprised.

Ann, could you please not look at people with that kind of eyes...at least it would be good to be more open-minded? Murphy couldn't help but shrink her neck when she was stared at by Ann with strange eyes.

It was not until he felt uncomfortable being stared at that An finally responded to his voice.

"Master Murphy, you also attended the joint meeting, right? So, if I said there was no chance of winning, what would you do?"

As she said this, Ann, who was looking at Murphy, had a teasing expression on her face and shrugged slightly.

Pressing the gummy bear against his teeth, Murphy took a deep breath and began to think about how to respond.

Although it is true that he did attend the joint meeting, what was the point of attending there just to make up the numbers?

In short, everyone in the meeting was talking to themselves, and their words were layered with meaning. For Murphy, who was not used to this official language, he really couldn't understand the meaning of those words.

Just to understand one sentence, he had to frown and ponder over and over again. Even then, he might not be able to fully understand the hidden meaning of the words.

After all, in Murphy's opinion, it was not as good as the jargon in pubs and back alleys. After all, if it was jargon, he could understand some of it even if it was spoken nonsense.

As for what An asked, what to do if there is no chance of winning, in his opinion, this is also a stupid question.

after all.

"You're not the kind of person who would waste your enthusiasm on a war that has no chance of winning, are you? Even if there's no chance of winning, you'll create it with your own hands. I believe you are that kind of person, An."

This was the understanding Murphy had gained of the girl named Lalga Ann through their not-so-short acquaintance.

The girl named An is full of sincerity in her attitude. She is wholeheartedly devoted to everything she does and always longs for the best solution. She is such a person.

Indeed, it was an indisputable fact that she had once been defeated by the Cathedral.

Madia, the saint, died in the underground temple, and her future as her confidant also emerged to some extent.

When Murphy thought of this, she couldn't help but feel her eyelids a little sore.

However, even if such a future were to come, An must have been pursuing the optimal solution as he approached the end.

Among all the measures she could take, what would lead to the best results and what would be most feasible? This thought must have continued until the last moment of her life.

Murphy believed that the girl Lalga Ann was such a person.

Because of this, he could never imagine that An would blindly rush to the battlefield without even considering any means of winning.

So he actually didn't really believe what An had just said. In his opinion, An must be thinking of some evil idea in his mind.

Although Murphy was indeed expecting this, when he said this, Ann looked away in an instant and blinked frequently.

That expression was as if he had heard something unexpected.

Just as Murphy began to get confused, An thought for a while before looking away with a stern face. After taking several deep breaths, he opened his lips.

"So you haven't considered anything yourself, Lord Murphy? I was planning to ask you what you think at the next military meeting."

After hearing this, Murphy didn't know if it was his illusion, but he always felt that An seemed to have become a little too tough towards him recently, even though she was very polite to him not long ago.

Perhaps satisfied with Murphy's wide-eyed look, Ann relaxed her cheeks a little, revealing a smile with ripples on the corners of her mouth.

"I was just kidding. Of course, I don't want to fight a battle without a chance of winning. As you said, if there is no chance of winning, even if it means rewriting the script, we must create hope of victory. I believe that as long as it is Master Murphy, he will definitely be able to do this."

Murphy was stunned for a moment by this sudden remark, and then he said, "Are you talking about me?" while gently raising his hands.

At the same time, as if to hide his shyness, he slowly shifted his gaze away from An.

Soon after, in this big tent, generals from the Church of Heraldry and Gasalia began to appear one by one to attend the military meeting.

Chapter 19 Weathervane

"For us, who cannot count on reinforcements, time is no friend. Even a single blink of an eye will become a burden later."

The voice of Saint Matthias resounded in the big tent, and the generals from the Heraldry Church and Gasalia listened carefully to every word.

However, their eyes seemed to be trying to figure out Mattia, especially the elves from Gasalia.

But, that's only natural.

Although Madia has been leading the Herald Cultists until now, that does not mean she has the talent to be a combat commander.

What's more, the scale of this force is completely different from the forces that Madia has always led.

It can be said that the number of soldiers led by Mattia so far was at most nearly a thousand, but now, the order of magnitude is different.

The number of 10,000 is not considered to be very good for the military strength of a city-state, but it is not too small either. It is enough to call itself a force.

Even Madia doesn't have the experience to lead such a large number of people in a life-and-death struggle, right?

During the meeting, Mattia's voice sounded a little deeper than usual, and everyone looked at her with wide eyes.

They all wanted to find out whether this man was a famous general who could lead so many troops, or a mediocre person who would lead himself into death.

However, the person being stared at in that way was not just the saint, Madia, but Murphy as well.

Unconsciously, perhaps because she was sitting in the upper seat near Madia and Eldis, Murphy had felt a stinging gaze constantly directed at her face and limbs since a while ago.

To be honest, Murphy was in a bad mood and felt a little uneasy.

He didn't want to know that other people's gazes could bring such pressure to others in this situation.

But that was inevitable. After all, he accepted the overly heavy title of hero and heraldic name at that ceremony. Once a person is placed on the stage, the demands from others will increase, and it will be easier to create enemies.

For example, now, the look cast at Murphy not only seemed to be evaluating him as a person, but also contained something close to hostility.

I really don't know what I have done that is so outrageous that you all look at me like this... Feeling the weight overflowing from these gazes, Murphy leaned on the armrest and squinted his eyes.

"Besides, we need more than just a simple victory. To end this battle and break the dragon's jaw, we must deliver a fatal blow."

That was the most difficult and troublesome thing in this battle. It sounded like a joke. Murphy could even hear the expressions of the people around her froze.

The enemy has nearly twice as many troops as ours, and is marching towards us with high morale, determined to retake Crossmaria.

In comparison, although our morale is not inferior, there must be some people who feel despair due to the difference in troop strength, right?

Besides, it is difficult to say with a clear conscience that the quality of the soldiers is good.