After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

As for other races...

Succubus can be ignored. Compared with the clash of weapons, these guys obviously care more about the unspeakable things of the body and mind, and never participate in frontal combat.

The dark elves are extremely powerful, but these black-skinned, pointy-eared creatures don't have much interest in humans. Instead, they devote almost all their energy to confronting their relatives and mortal enemies, the elves, and rarely attack humans.

The Undead had been engaged in a brutal war of attrition with the human allies in the North for half a year. Uriel and her Silver Star team had been dispatched to fight them many times and had no spare energy to take care of this place.

The witches, after their main force suffered heavy losses and Villian fled, were no longer trusted. They themselves actually enjoyed this situation and had actually returned to their previous state of near isolation.

……

……

……

So, it turns out to be the Faceless Man who appeared before?

Planning to rely on his camouflage ability to severely damage the Empire in the chaos?

In this case, the best time for an ambush is not halfway, but after the Imperial Army successfully recaptures Lierbas.

After all, when the city fell two years ago, many civilians were unable to escape. Under the rule of the orcs, the living conditions of these humans were understandably not ideal.

Therefore, even if the city is recaptured, it will take time to restore order, which gives the Faceless Men an excellent opportunity to take action.

But...that's not right.

Aize's intuition told him that what the sinister Faceless King wanted from Rosaline was more than just a victory.

So, there is still no conclusion.

After all, no matter how strong Aize's analytical ability is, he will have no idea where to start without intelligence.

I could only stand up again and ask:

"Doesn't we have an informant in Lilbas? Does he have any news?"

The "clerk lady" who was sorting documents on the table suddenly stopped when she heard this, and a slight fluctuation appeared on her usually calm face.

He shook his head and said:

"No, the informant lost contact about a week ago. Considering that his last contact was when he was seriously injured, he should be considered dead."

"What did you say? He was killed?"

Aize suddenly became alert:

"Doesn't that mean our intelligence network has been exposed? Why didn't you tell me such an important thing earlier?!"

"Weren't you busy with your lovely apprentice at the time? I'm sorry to bother you. And don't worry, his death has nothing to do with his identity as an informant, nor does it have anything to do with you. The intelligence network has not been exposed."

"Nothing? Then why are you hurt?"

"Heh, do humans living in the demon-occupied area need a reason to get hurt?"

Across a long distance, someone far away in the Holy City and the civil servant who was nearby both smiled playfully and gently stroked their right wrists.

"Vampires can, on a whim, suck the life out of any child they encounter. Orcs, drunk and not paying attention, will casually trample on passersby's arms. As for Balrogs... you know, they love the smell of burnt meat. Which category do you think this informant belongs to?"

"you……"

Looking at the strange yet familiar girl in front of him, Aize wanted to say something, but swallowed the second half of the sentence and fell into silence.

"...Forget it, just let me know if there's any news. I'm leaving now. Bye."

After saying that, he slowly stood up, turned around and walked outside.

This expedition is not just a gamble made by a big shot for his own future, it is closely related to more people who are suffering.

It must be started and it must be completed.

In that case, don't think too much about it. Just bring it on if there are any conspiracies or tricks.

Anyway, this time Aize doesn't need to command the battle. He has enough energy to deal with it and just respond to each move as it comes.

Behind him, behind the counter, and in a dark room in the holy city thousands of miles away, the girl who controlled and the girl who was controlled cast overlapping gazes on Aize.

"Goodbye, I wish you all the best. I'm still waiting for you to return to the Holy City to finish reading it~"

The simultaneous sounds, accompanied by a broken connection, echoed in the two lands with subtle differences, without exception, being heard by no one.

Chapter 77 Blood Road

So far, the intelligence work on the demon expedition can be said to have basically failed. For Aize, this inevitable game has officially entered the staring game stage where you don't move and I don't move.

For the planning maniac Aize, this was certainly not the best situation, but there was nothing to be afraid of, so he left the town and returned to the Imperial Army's base.

During the time he was away, Chris had already made arrangements, and each unit, led by its commander, headed to the designated location.

The final preparations are expected to be completed within a few hours - this applies to both the humans on this side and the demons on the opposite side.

In the tense and suffocatingly silent environment, time quickly advanced to noon of the next day.

As it was a day in the middle of summer, the sun was shining brightly.

Under the scorching sun, the tent serving as the headquarters was extremely hot and stuffy.

As it was lunch time of the day, some simple food dishes were placed on the central table, but no one, whether it was Aize, Chris, or the other imperial army generals present, opened their mouths.

Amidst the extremely high temperature, the atmosphere was as cold as freezing. Only the panting sounds, which became increasingly severe due to the heat, echoed in the space.

Everyone is waiting.

Finally, at that moment when time seemed to have frozen and slowly flowed past an invisible point—

boom! boom! boom!

In the distance, from the direction of the front line, three huge noises like thunder suddenly arose.

The signal to begin the attack.

In an instant, the entire earth was enveloped in a dead silence, and even the chirping of insects was torn to pieces.

The continuous roaring sound, like the explosion of a frying pan, echoed without interruption. This was the sound of the combat magic corps under the Royal Guard, suppressing the fire and venting the empire's long-accumulated anger.

Each explosion that sounds somewhat dull here represents a groundbreaking force at the front line, tearing the enemy's flesh apart and ravaging their spirit and will.

Then came the earth-shaking war cry.

Aize and others were still several kilometers away from the front line, but these sounds, which should have been blurred, were now clearly audible and still as powerful as a rainbow.

Even if you close your eyes, you can see the empire's steel front slowly advancing.

Affected by this, riots also broke out here.

In the military camp outside the tent, cheers and even whistles broke out from the array of soldiers under Chris's command who were lined up for battle.

Even some of the generals in the tents could not stand it any longer and ran outside to look towards the battle line.

If it were night, one would be able to see countless attack spells streaking across the sky.

But alas, it was daytime.

But the movement itself is still enough to inspire people.

Chris closed her eyes and sat at the end of the table, with her hands clasped in front of her, motionless.

But Aize, who was beside her, could feel that his apprentice's breathing became heavier.

There was no doubt that she was nervous too, and I seemed to be trying my best to calm down.

This situation did not last for a few minutes. The blue-haired girl opened her eyes, looked at Aize, and smiled softly:

"Master, I'm going."

"Well, let's go."

Chris nodded, stood up suddenly, and the smile disappeared from her face at this moment:

"Notify all units to begin operations according to the predetermined plan. Send out messengers every ten minutes to liaise with the friendly forces on the front lines. Ensure that as they advance, we can follow and protect His Royal Highness's flanks! The enemy may have set a trap, so do not be careless!"

"Yes!!!"

The subordinates' responses echoed in the tent, and then they began to get busy.

Yesterday, after confirming that there was no intelligence available, Aize returned to the military camp and informed his apprentice of the situation as an advisor.

As for Chris, her abilities certainly enabled her to be aware of this hidden danger long ago, and she had made corresponding preparations to ensure that any possible ambush by the demons would be discovered and met immediately no matter which direction they attacked from.

Never give them any chance to launch a surprise attack on the Royal Guards on the front line.

All that's left to do is wait.

"Report! Lord Karseid, news from the front: His Royal Highness the Prince has just ordered a full-scale attack on several demon strongholds along the front!"

"Report! Lord Karseid, according to the news, the Crusade Army, led by the brave Lady Rosaline, has made contact with the Orc troops and is now engaged in battle!"

"Report to the lords! The battle is ongoing, but Lady Rosalyn's troops have already penetrated the first line of defense and are currently engaged!"

……

……

Messages were sent back one after another.

For Chris and her troops, the battle line has not changed yet, so it is not time for them to take action yet. They just need to be on high alert.

But Aize has other things to do at the moment.

He stood up and left the headquarters, came to a corner of the camp, entered another tent, and asked:

"Vir, how are things going here?"

"The monitoring technique is functioning normally."

This was the tent Chris had specially cleared out, and no outsiders were allowed in. Ever since arriving at the barracks, Villian had been staying here, monitoring the situation with the spell she had laid earlier.

A huge magic circle was imprinted on the ground. In the pattern projected by it, countless tiny light spots and rays formed a complex structure like a human neural network, surrounding a largest light ball in the center.

This is the concrete image of the network of faith that Rosaline controls.

It is quite appropriate compared to its name.

The witch stood in the middle, touching and fiddling with the lights from time to time with her hands, her expression serious and focused.

Not quite understanding what was going on, Aize sat on a bench at the edge of the room and asked:

"how is the situation?"

"Not very good... or is it very good? Since yesterday, the entire network has begun to activate, and now it's more active than ever. The amount and frequency of mana flowing in and out has increased several times over."

The day before yesterday was almost the day when armies across the empire began to move, and the rumors of a major counterattack turned into a definite truth for the people.

This also once again proves Aize's inference about the belief network.

He nodded:

"Anything else you've discovered? Anything is fine, as long as it's something we didn't know about before."

Villian waved her hand, causing a light source to drift away like a firefly. Then she sighed and shook her head.

"No, don't look at me fiddling around here. There's actually no way to interfere from the outside. Even surveillance can only give a rough idea. I can't find anything for the time being."

"It's okay, this is just the beginning. When the battle situation changes, there should be a reaction. Don't worry."

"Yeah, no problem, leave it to me, and you can go with peace of mind... Yeah?"

Suddenly, a series of small but dazzling spots of light closest to the light ball began to vibrate and operate at a very terrifying speed.

It was like a frightened little animal running around, or like impurities churning in boiling water, getting faster and faster, faster and faster.

Then, like fireworks, they exploded one after another and disappeared without a trace.

The unusual situation made Miss Witch stunned. She looked up in confusion.

"……This is?"

"Who knows? Anyway, something must have happened. Don't worry, we can just wait and see."

Aize spread his hands and leaned lazily against the tent. He didn't say anything more, just waited quietly.

After a while,

"Lord Aize, Lord Karseide invites you!"

Outside the tent, the voice of the messenger suddenly sounded. Since they were not allowed to enter, they could only report in this way.