After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

After exchanging a glance with Villian and nodding to each other, Aize turned around and asked:

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Yes, news from the front line: Lady Rosalyn's Crusade Army has broken through the first line of defense and is currently advancing towards Lilbas. Lord Karseide asked us to follow up immediately, so I'm here to inform you!"

Aize stood up with a "whoosh", and with so much force he even flipped the bench under him to the ground.

Then he rushed out of the tent and grabbed the messenger by the collar:

"What did you say? The front line has been breached!? Are you serious?!"

"Y-yes! It's true!"

Startled by this reaction, the messenger hesitated in his response.

This made Aize's expression suddenly become very unhappy.

"That bastard..."

"Uh, what did you say? Who?"

"It's nothing. Tell Chris what to do. I'll be right there. Don't worry about me!"

"As ordered!"

The released messenger saluted and left, while Aize returned to the tent angrily.

The witch hurried forward and asked:

"what happened?"

"On the front line, the orcs' first line of defense has been breached."

"Uh... isn't this good news? Why do you look unhappy?"

"A quick breakthrough is certainly a good thing, but Weier, what's the price?!"

Currently, the orc army guarding Lilbas is only a few thousand strong, at most ten thousand strong, and most of them are new recruits who were temporarily recruited after the previous disastrous defeat.

Their combat effectiveness is extremely poor, they lack decent equipment, and they are all basic filler units. Advanced items such as Orc Shamans or Orc Elites are even rarer.

In this case, it would be difficult to leave a few people alive in the first line of defense deployed at the front line after several rounds of bombardment by the empire's most elite combat magicians, so it was not difficult to break through.

The problem is that the ones responsible for the breakthrough are the so-called "holy war army" led by Rosaline.

If the orcs consisted of remnants of defeated troops and able-bodied men, then Rosaline's side was simply a mob.

In addition to their fanaticism, the huge gap between humans and orcs means that even if they face such orcs, they will be beaten badly in a head-on battle.

So, Aize's advice to her was to show weakness.

After a brief confrontation, lure the orcs into actively pursuing and then counterattack.

Faced with the absolute gap in strength between the two armies, the orcs who were pushed to the front line and refused to flee were either extremely fanatical and fearless of death, or they had given up and were not prepared to live.

After enduring unilateral long-range bombardment and feeling pent up in anger, they watched a group of incompetent troops fleeing in front of them. It was impossible for them to resist their desire to fight and kill, and they had to give chase.

In this way, if the Jihad Army counterattacks again, it can rely on its advantages in numbers and equipment to win with minimal losses.

It doesn’t matter if the other side doesn’t fall for it. The result will be that after a while, when the imperial army’s line comes up, they will crush the other side just the same.

Anyway, Prince Adrian didn't expect Rosaline to really achieve any results.

Then just play around and fight casually.

But in the end, they actually broke through the front line.

There is only one possibility - Rosaline did not follow Aize's plan, but relied on the power of the faith network to lead the believers to launch a desperate charge.

Despite the huge losses, they relied on their own strength to smash through the already weak defenses. The abnormal phenomenon in the faith network just now was likely caused by this.

The sheer disregard for human life made Aize extremely angry.

And the facts soon confirmed his guess.

After reuniting with Chris, they immediately set off as the second echelon and followed along to ensure that the demons would not have any chance to cut off the prince's retreat.

Before they had set off for long, they saw several carriages slowly coming towards them.

What was placed on it was a corpse.

There were hundreds of human corpses, all of them were as skinny and emaciated as those seen at the Jihad Army’s base when supplies were delivered.

And now, these bodies that have suffered so much are covered in blood and are broken.

Being disemboweled and having limbs and legs broken were the basic sufferings. Some were even torn apart and ripped apart by the orcs' brutal strength. Some had their necks bitten off, and some were cut in half by weapons that were much larger than their bodies.

It can be said to be horrible.

"These guys were like crazy people, not afraid of death at all. They just roared and rushed forward like a swarm, more fiercely than us."

The Imperial Army officer in charge of the vehicle looked at the fragments and said with regret:

"In the end, alas, we had to watch helplessly as the orcs hacked them down like wheat, leaving them in this state. Why bother? These so-called crusades don't look like they can fight at all."

The heavy weight of the carriage left behind a series of bottomless ruts that were stained red.

Hundreds to dozens, ten to one, or even more.

Their blood was shed in vain. The preparations made beforehand were deliberately ignored and did not play any role at all.

Indeed, how could it work?

Thanks to the decryption of the faith network, the indescribable image of Rosaline in Aize's mind became more concrete and no longer as vague as before.

Plus, she looked quite honest these days, which gave him an illusion.

Hasn't this guy always been like this?

Aize was so angry that he was shaking, even his teeth were chattering, and his expression was so ugly, which was extremely rare in his entire life.

He remembered the crystal in his pocket, the crystal connected to the detonation spell on Rosalind's body. It was lying quietly in Aize's pocket.

I subconsciously wanted to touch it, but I held back.

Because of Aize's current mental state, Rosalind would probably explode on the spot the moment they came into contact.

Before resolving the faith network, this should never be done unless absolutely necessary.

"Tsk——"

The result of forcibly suppressing the murderous intent was that Aize felt dizzy and his body shook.

Chris quickly stepped forward to support him:

"Master, are you okay?"

"It's okay, it's okay, let me go, I'm fine-"

After pushing his apprentice away, Aize turned aside. Even though his eyes were about to burst, he still asked Villian in a gentle voice:

"Weir, is there any change in the faith network?"

As expected, the only response he got was Miss Witch's meaningful expression and silent shake of her head.

"...Okay, continue monitoring."

After leaving these words word by word, Aize didn't say anything else.

At this moment, less than two hours had passed since the battle officially began.

The follow-up troops led by Chris continued to advance the front line while maintaining a state of alert, guarding the rear and flanks of the attacking forces.

The iron-clad formation, the highest level of combat readiness, and the large number of sentries deployed to cover almost every corner did not give the opponent any chance to gank.

Outside of Lilbas, the imperial armies that were ready to go in various places also began to attack the demon armies in various places at the same agreed time.

No matter what the demons and the Demon King himself were planning, their choice to turn a blind eye to the expedition turned into real retribution as soon as the battle began.

The front lines were undermanned, and subsequent reinforcements would take several days to arrive, making the Empire's offensive quite smooth.

Of course, for Aize and others at this moment, they are not clear about the situation on other battlefields.

But on their side, things were going just as well.

One line of defense after another was quickly broken through by the overwhelming magical bombardment of the Imperial Army and the fearless charge of the "Church Army".

These lines spread out by the orcs just to delay time did not have any practical effect and were destroyed one after another.

The price is the blood that the Jihad Army does not need to pay.

Every report of victory was followed by cartloads of corpses.

By evening, the battle line had left the plains and entered the increasingly dangerous central mountains.

Because they advanced too quickly, there was no time or need to set up camp, so the imperial army under Chris stopped in a relatively flat place to rest for a while.

Aize sat on a big rock by the stream, silent and letting the cold water droplets hit his face without moving.

A while passed like this—

“…Huh? Oh my god—what the hell!”

The cold feeling and the sudden contact of a hard object made Aize jump up.

Turning around, he found that Villian had come to his side at some point, holding a... uh, a stick that was emitting cold air, and handed it to Aize.

"……This is?"

"Hmm, I think it's called popsicle? It's the kind of cold drink you get back home. I asked the Imperials for some juice and made it fresh. Want to try it?"

As she spoke, Villian sat down at the base of the big rock, picked up her penis and started masturbating. Perhaps it was too cold or something, but her expression suddenly twisted into a knot.

But he immediately relaxed and even seemed to be enjoying it:

"Great! Having something like this on a hot day is perfect! It's so easy to make, why didn't I think of it before? What a waste~"

Then, he raised his head and looked at Aize:

"Why, you don't want to eat it? Don't like Booneberry flavor? Can I change it for you?"

The berry plants in this world are much sourer and more pungent than those similar-looking things in Aze's original world. I wonder if it's due to breeding differences.

So Aize really doesn't like it.

But now, I don’t care about that anymore.

"No, I eat."

He closed his eyes, as if wanting to vent something, and stuffed the popsicle into the deepest part of his mouth.

The cold feeling and strong sour taste spread in his mouth, making Aize's expression twisted like Villian's just now.

But thanks to this, my brain calmed down a bit.

He bit off the popsicle, chewed it, swallowed it, and then let out a long breath.

"Um...thank you."

"You're welcome. I just want to eat some myself."

The witch licked the rod in her hand and shrugged with a relaxed look on her face.

"Feeling very unhappy?"

"Ah."

"There's no need to get angry with that kind of person. Isn't this the result of uncontrolled mass fanaticism caused by faith in the Internet? I'll solve the problem, so don't worry~"

Aize's expression became serious again, and he slowly shook his head:

"...No, it's not a matter of being angry. It's just...how should I put it, I feel it's not worth it."

"not worth?"

"Ah."

Aize nodded.

"Whether it's the Crusades, the Knights, or the Royal Guards, as long as there's a war, there will be casualties. This is an unavoidable price to pay, even for me. After all, even victory is built on blood."

"People remember how many battles I won, but does anyone remember how many people died under my command? I remember - 34000. If you have to be more specific, it's about 34327. This number is not accurate."

"No, don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming myself for this. They had their own reasons for fighting and sacrificing, and my job is to minimize the chances of their sacrifice, or to achieve greater results. We each have our own responsibilities, and that's what war is like: disgusting and ruthless."

"But this time is different. Rosaline—if you can call her a commander—she has completely failed to fulfill any of her responsibilities in this regard. And the reasons for the deaths of those who died are so specious compared to the actual battlefield... I can even imagine them shouting the names of the goddess and Rosaline before being chopped to pieces by the orcs."

Fear of death is human nature.