At the same day, at nine forty-one in the morning.

The battle of defense and offense in Dibiles' capital has been going on for three hours now.

It was not Inran's army that initiated the attack, but the genuine Holy Army!

The Holy Kingdom allied with Inran not only upheld the alliance verbally, but also responded to the ally's instigation of a large-scale war through actual military actions.

As for the motive behind this proactive attack, whether it was for the sake of allies or purely for self-interest, remains unknown.

The attack on the capital can be considered sudden in various aspects.

In this era, no matter which direction the countries on the continent are located or how shameless their monarchs are, the formalities of declaring war are never skipped.

It's like a polite thug who must shout at the person they're going to hit before starting the fight.

However, those monarchs were not thorough enough, and compared to them, the Holy Pope truly waged war without declaration.

In this regard, he was considered quite impolite among the rogues, with a thicker skin.

If it was only a military sneak attack, it wouldn't have been a big deal for Dibiles.

Isabella had long been prepared, knowing that one day she would go to war with the Holy Kingdom, and the current situation of the Empire just meant that the war day had arrived earlier.

Even facing attacks from two major forces, Dibiles could rely on its impregnable strongholds and formidable main forces to deal with both enemies at once.

The so-called "impregnable" strongholds mainly referred to the eastern fortress.

Ye Chuxue was deeply impressed by the formidable defensive capability of this fortress, but since she was not on-site, she couldn't offer any insights.

Without direct proof from outsiders, even the Pope knew that launching a strong attack on this place was equivalent to committing suicide in a roundabout way.

Yet avoiding this "suicide" was very difficult.

From a geographical analysis:

This fortress is located in Dibiles' direct territory, between the Holy Kingdom and the Empire;

In theory, the latter would have to deal with this place if they wanted to approach the capital.

How could this be resolved?

Earlier today, after a period of contemplation, the Pope finally came up with a perfect solution.

Yes, he realized that:

To bypass the eastern fortress was not difficult at all, the best way was --- to not go through the eastern fortress!

It should be noted:

The Pope was not insane, he simply chose to give up.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

With this idea in mind, the Pope, more clearly than any military strategist, even more so than Le Song, understood:

To approach Dibiles' capital, there was no need to first conquer the fortress.

Of course, a second route of invasion did not exist, relying on some secret passage left over from centuries ago was definitely not feasible.

Since walking was not an option, they might as well not walk at all.

The Pope came up with the idea of "teleportation," a very fast way of moving troops.

The military teleportation arrays of the Empire could teleport over ten thousand soldiers at once;

If the army was moved in this way, the troops could arrive at the forefront of Dibiles' capital in an instant.

However, regular teleportation required the step of "setting a destination."

As Dibiles was a completely independent nation, the Church could not freely set up teleportation arrays in such a country.

Consequently, the usual method of teleportation would not work.

Even so, the Pope did not give up on his far-fetched strategy.

A few days ago, he deliberately visited the largest library in the country, where he read a large number of ancient books related to magic.

Eventually, he found a magic spell in a forbidden book that could make his strategy a reality.

The Rota Blood Sacrifice spell--- it was a forbidden magic!

Even the most brutal demon lords were reluctant to use it;

But just because demons didn't want it, didn't mean the Pope wouldn't.

This spell was a cruel form of teleportation magic that allowed individuals (or armies) to appear within a hundred-mile radius of the sacrificed target.

Moreover, the individual using the Rota Blood Sacrifice spell must be Nation-Toppling level or above, making the strength requirement extremely stringent.

Excluding a certain Holy Maiden who had left the country, the only person in the country who could meet this strength requirement was the Pope himself.

For a brief moment, the Pope hesitated because he noticed a supplemental explanation about the forbidden spell:

"This spell can only be used once per person in a lifetime."

In other words:

The Pope could only use this spell on one nation;

And he happened to choose the weakest country among the Three Empires as the target.

Was it worth using a forbidden spell on a weak country?

After much contemplation, the Pope ultimately decided:

This opportunity could not be missed!

The fact that he couldn't use the forbidden spell on the Sue Eo Empire was a shame in his eyes;

But looking at it from a positive perspective:

The "pieces" in Inran, one of the Three Empires, were about to take action soon;

As long as these pieces succeeded, Inran would be completely within the Pope's grasp.

Before that happened, if the Empire could capture Dibiles, it would have conquered two empires in succession!

At that point, the Empire would have no more adversaries across the entire continent.

With this in mind, he made a firm decision.

Thus, the plan to raid the capital was officially set in motion.

On the day of action, today, the Holy Kingdom began casting spells through altars set up in the country to enact the ritual from distant regions.

The sacrificial targets were not one but all missionaries related to the "Church of the Supreme God" in Dibiles' territory!

One of the rules of the forbidden spell:

The number of sacrifices must not be fewer than ten thousand;

Another rule:

The sacrificial targets must have some connection to the army being transported, sacrificing unrelated outsiders was prohibited.

Under these restrictions, the Pope had no choice but to sacrifice the missionaries of the Kingdom.

Unlike soldiers, missionaries could move in and out of various countries during times of conflict;

It was because they were ordinary people without weapons that Isabella did not expel them from the country.

And it was this decision of hers that brought about an unprecedented disaster to the beloved country.

A different light emitted from the altar, followed by the darkening of the sky above it, as if a sunny sky was instantly covered with layers of dark clouds.

The holy power enveloping the Pope's body, due to the influence of the forbidden spell, became different from the holy powers exhibited publicly, giving onlookers a sinister visual impression.

At some point, the Pope's chanting reached its last line:

"With the devout from our nation as sacrifices, teleport our great army within our nation..."

At the moment the unknown light completely burst forth, on the martial field far away from the altar, the sixteen thousand Holy Army soldiers, accompanied by eighty thousand large angelic-looking puppets, were completely swallowed by the dark light.

Simultaneously, inside the churches across Dibiles, bloody scenes unfolded one after another.

Kind old priests exploded, elderly nuns turned into blood mist;

Smiling youths were torn limb from limb, friendly women had their limbs severed one by one.

As hell merged with the mortal realm, panic and screams echoed throughout the capital, as a massive army of destruction descended upon the Empire, arriving at the outskirts of the capital from that moment on.

Bypassing the impregnable fortress, they entered the core of the target in an unpredictable manner.

Now, the twenty thousand troops belonging to the Holy Kingdom were set to bring an end to the thriving city.

The news of the enemy's appearance, as reported by the messengers, was swiftly known by the Empire's chief military officer standing on the city walls, a golden-armored female.

She was the duchess of the Empire, also holding the title of Grand Knight, and her subordinates who knew her well generally referred to her as the "Great Knight."

In the moment when she saw the Holy Kingdom's flags, she skipped the steps of questioning and dialogue, making a direct judgment:

Those ahead were the enemy troops, and the Holy Kingdom had officially declared war on them!

(softly) "How timely, it's still morning and the Empress is still unable to awaken, our strongest combat force cannot be deployed..."

Biting her nails, the Great Knight made a decision.

There were still over ten hours left until the Empress would awaken;

During this time, she would rely on the fifty-three thousand reserve soldiers stationed inside the city to repel the enemy forces that outnumbered them fourfold.

Unaware that:

Due to a recent treatment by Ye, Isabella's negative effects from the curse had significantly lessened compared to before.

On the basis of the familiar time for the Empress to awaken, another four hours were shaved off.

In other words:

It was only around six in the morning now, and in less than eight hours, Isabella would awaken.

The Great Knight was unaware of this, assuming that she still had to defend for over ten hours.

With a determined mindset of fighting fiercely and without regard for casualties, she commanded her poorly trained troops to put up a resilient defense relying on the city walls.

After fighting desperately for three hours, entering past nine o'clock, the shouts had not halted, and the Holy Army continued its assault.

Countless soldiers of the Holy Church pushed forward their pointed war chariots, sprinting boldly towards the city walls.

Once they ran up close, they slid under the war chariots and, using the pointed wooden tops as cover, charged straight towards the city walls.

The Great Knight waved and shouted orders, catapults launching heavy stones that pummeled the tops of those pointed war chariots.

The boulders soared through the air and came crashing down heavily, hitting their numerous targets below.

The thick pointed tops collapsed upon being hit by the boulders, and the soldiers underneath were smashed to the ground, emitting loud screams mixed with the sounds of bones breaking and limbs snapping.

The fleeing soldiers couldn't linger on the battlefield and could only retreat to the rear, diving under other war chariots, pushing the vehicles forward with their companions inside, continuing their advance.

As the huge stones continued to rain down, whistling over the sky and crashing heavily into the enemy troops.

The artillery squads were getting more proficient in their operation, their skill improving.

The field below the city was filled with war chariots, almost every boulder brought down hitting its target.

The sounds of the wind howling, wooden planks shattering, and the screams of the soldiers being hit reverberated across the morning battlefield.