After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

Out of caution, and to deal with possible backup plans and traps of the demons, Prince Adrian reserved ample time for this process when making the plan.

As a result, the demons didn't put up any decent resistance, and the empire's combat magicians were too brutal, rushing straight to the door of the boss's room in one breath.

To put it bluntly, this so-called smooth advance was completely expected and had nothing to do with the suicidal behavior of Rosaline and her followers.

Now that this matter was brought up, Aize felt as if the top of his head was buzzing.

However, after learning about the full picture of the so-called Jihad Army, no one expected them to be of any use, so it doesn't matter.

Aize is more concerned about another thing:

"You stormed the orcs' defenses, didn't you?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Rosalyn nodded very calmly.

"Everyone was really great! They all rushed forward at once. Those demons didn't even have a chance to resist. They were all defeated."

"No resistance at all? You—look around you, hundreds or even tens of thousands of people are killed every time, and you actually call that no resistance!?"

"This is a necessary price, a noble sacrifice and martyrdom for one's beliefs and goals. Isn't this also something that is inevitable in war? What's so strange about it?"

"Did you make a mistake?"

Aize narrowed his eyes.

"In war, the primary goal is always to make the enemy sacrifice themselves for their own goals. How can you say that the foolish and aimless death of your own people is also part of the war?"

For a moment, the smile on Rosalyn's face froze.

And Aize's questioning continued:

"Why didn't you follow the plan I gave you earlier? And after the heavy losses in the first attack, why didn't you simply withdraw and let the Imperial Army take over? What's the point of such disregard for human life?!"

If the Royal Guards were to deal with the scattered orcs remaining after the bombing, they could even achieve the same goal at a faster speed without any casualties.

In response, Rosalin quickly calmed down and smiled again, saying lightly:

"Because this is a victory for believers, how can we give it to the ungodly?"

"You fucking——"

"As for why I didn't use your solution, Aize? It's simple, because it's too slow."

Rosalyn interrupted Aize's swearing.

"If we follow your plan, will this attack be so smooth? I'm afraid it will take much longer, right? And the believers won't agree."

"They felt that feigning defeat in the first attack would bring shame to their faith and make them look like cowards, which is absolutely unacceptable. They didn't mind sacrificing their lives to prove their faith, which is why I say this is the highest form of martyrdom. Eze, as I said before, your understanding of faith is still so shallow."

Waves of chills rising from deep within his heart blocked Aize's mouth, preventing him from answering.

At present, it seems that the belief network is a collective subconscious that does not reflect the specific thoughts of an individual, but only represents a large common denominator and tendency.

All humans are extremely looking forward to this expedition and are extremely enthusiastic about it. Therefore, it is very likely that they will drag the most affected people from the Pure White Saint Sect into a staged suicide martyrdom.

That should be the case.

Or so Aize hoped.

Because if that weren't the case, wouldn't sending people to their deaths become a test of obedience to one's faith?

That's a bit too scary.

In any case, Aize once again realized the fact that their worldviews were completely different.

There's no need to waste time anymore.

"...That's all. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

"No, please wait a moment."

Just as Aize was about to leave, Rosaline called him back.

Facing the disgusted look, the latter didn't care at all. He just walked up slowly to Aize's ear and whispered:

"Aize, you seem very anxious now. Why? You weren't like this before."

why?

You asked me!?

The anger that Aize had tried so hard to suppress almost got out of control, and his hand almost subconsciously reached for the control crystal in his pocket.

however--

"Haha, this is all your own fault, huh? If you had accepted the invitation before, things would have gone much more smoothly. What a pity~"

“…What are you talking about?”

Under Aize's surprised gaze, the pure white hero took a few steps back, and just like when they first met, he leaned on his holy staff and bowed lightly:

"It's nothing, don't worry too much, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Well, this meeting is of no value to me. Since the mass is over, please allow me to take my leave and reunite with the believers. Goodbye~"

After saying that, Rosalyn turned and left.

When he passed by Chris, he took a look at her and said abruptly:

"Your faith is weaker than before. It's only been a few days. What happened? Is it really necessary to make yourself so miserable?"

"This is my choice, what's it got to do with you!?"

Chris, whose sore spot was touched, retorted angrily.

Rosalyn didn't show any displeasure. She just smiled lightly, glanced at Villian with a somewhat strange look, and then left.

The moment her figure disappeared from sight, the temperature seemed to rise a little, and the heavy and suffocating atmosphere also eased a little.

Villian, who had been trying not to speak, almost immediately burst into a barrage of curses:

"That woman is really getting crazier! Oh no, I was so excited that I forgot to check the status of the faith network. I need to check... Hmm? Aize? Are you okay?"

"..."

Aize stood there, motionless, his eyes fixed on the white dot that was about to disappear in the distance.

This scared Chris and Villian to death.

"Hey, talk to me! Don't scare me! Aize!"

"Master! Master! What's wrong with you? Didn't that woman do something strange? Miss Villian, please think of a solution!"

"Hmm... I understand. Anyway, take him down first. I'll check him out and then—"

"What are you doing? I'm fine!"

Seeing that he was about to be pinned to the ground by the two men, Aize finally recovered from his dazed state.

He quickly broke free from the two of them and jumped to the side.

Villian replied unhappily:

"Why don't you give us a response? Are you really planning to scare us to death?!"

"Isn't this just thinking about something?"

"Thinking about something, what?"

"What did she mean by accepting the invitation at the end?"

In the past few days, I received two things from Rosalind that could be called invitations.

One is to get yourself back into the team.

Secondly, when I went out with Chris before, she got the news and sent a bunch of believers over, who kowtowed and bowed in the street to invite me to attend the sermon.

The former should be adapting to the change in public opinion and wanting to adjust his relationship with Leah.

The latter, judging from the subsequent events, was not only the wish of the believers themselves, but was also intended to ruin their original plans and cause trouble for themselves.

Either way, it shouldn't have risen to a level that would affect the situation.

So, is it just a bluff?

Not like.

After recognizing the existence of the faith network, it is not difficult to look back at the various strange events in the past and find that Rosaline Meredith would not lie.

No matter how distorted and abstract the words are, in her opinion, they must be the truth.

That is to say, the act of inviting yourself has some more practical value.

So, what is value?

Thinking of this, he looked up at the setting sun that was about to disappear completely at the end of the horizon and shook his head.

"...Forget it, let's talk about it later. Meeting with Prince Adrian is more important. Let's go."

The faith network is certainly important, but it is ultimately a difficult problem that cannot be solved in the short term.

Right now, it is more important to ensure the success of this expedition.

So the three of them walked towards the tent.

The tents in the original orc camp had been completely destroyed by the imperial army's magic bombing.

Even if they are not destroyed, the smell of things used by orcs is not suitable for humans to use directly.

Therefore, this tent was set up temporarily and the furnishings were quite simple.

There were only a few candlesticks, a large table covered with a map, and some chairs.

Prince Adrian himself was standing at the innermost table, leaning against the surface, his brow furrowed as he examined the objects in front of him without saying a word.

The originally beautiful blonde hair had turned a little gray after the day's tossing and turning.

After noticing the movement, he raised his head:

"Oh, it's you."

His voice was a little low, revealing a kind of fatigue that was hard to conceal. His face looked rather ugly, and even traces of eye sockets could be seen around his eyes.

For the prince of the empire who had been fighting for years, this was only half a day and could not be considered an intense battle. It should not have been possible for him to become like this.

The reason——

"Your Highness, you look very tired. What's wrong? Are you troubled by something?"

Aize asked knowingly with a wicked smile.

The prince almost immediately showed an unhappy expression, even to the point of being a little crazy:

"What do you think? Isn't it that woman's fault?!"

"Rosalyn?"

"Don't say that name, I don't want to hear the name right now!"

The prince's facial features trembled to the point of almost melting.

"What's wrong with that guy? He hasn't said a single word the entire afternoon. It feels like we can't communicate at all! How can he actually send his own people to their deaths and still have that smile on his face? Has his acting really reached this point!?"

"There's no real communication going on. Everything they say is half-truthful. I've seen fanatics in the church before, but none like this!? Is this the God's Chosen Hero? Is he like this because he's the God's Chosen Hero? That's not what I heard before!?"

Prince Adrian is essentially a character somewhat similar to Aize, which is why he has a strong sense of competition.

This also means that he and Rosaline are naturally incompatible.

It is normal to have such a reaction when you are pushed to the extreme level without any mental preparation or even expectations.

Aize also noticed that there was a small, inconspicuous scar on the prince's forehead.

Then he asked:

"That injury, what happened? You didn't go directly to the front line today, did you?"

The prince exhaled and covered his forehead:

"This? While inspecting the battlefield, a wounded Crusader lost his mind and mistook me for a heretic, so he recklessly swung his weapon and injured me. He soon died of his injuries, and that's how it happened."

For the prince, it was normal to express his end-of-life concern for the dying in front of everyone, to go up to them and say a few kind words, to encourage them, etc.

I didn't expect to encounter such a thing.

The prince himself didn't care too much about this.

But Aize immediately understood something and asked: