Chapter 647 The Root of Suffering
"If we continue like this, we will definitely not win." Ranta gave a cold answer.
Guli had thought that he would be able to hear some good news from the missionaries who must have seen much better than them, the lower-level soldiers.
The result was cold, bad news.
If we remain as we are, we will surely fail.
Guli was silent for a while.
After helping him take care of his injuries, Ranta left without saying anything else.
If Ranta wants to say something inspiring, he can talk for a whole day and a whole night.
But now, simple words can at most make some people acknowledge the coldness of reality, but they cannot give people the courage.
…
At this time, flames were burning outside the New Holy City.
Karin, Grand Knight Commander, and Archbishop Kahn are all here.
"What's the situation?" Rand's messenger found Karin in the lounge.
"There are a lot of undead, but everything is under control." Karin replied, and asked his subordinates to hand over a detailed battle report to the messenger.
In fact, the New Holy City can also use vibration communication devices to transmit messages, but the reliability of messages that are too long cannot be guaranteed, and communications are not stable nowadays, so messengers are still needed.
Karin waved her sword and looked at the sky full of undead birds and the flying ashes that were like tangled silk threads.
The outside of the New Holy City has been burning for a long time. Looking down from the sky, the New Holy City is like a volcano that erupts frequently.
Limestone and ash, along with boiling lava, have become the main themes here.
The messenger did not stay for long and left immediately after receiving the battle report.
Much of the first line of defense has now been breached, or is about to be breached.
For example, the defense line that Rand inspected before.
This line of defense is located in a remote area, and the number of undead it needs to face is far less than that near the New Holy City.
But correspondingly, the quality of the soldiers here is also worse.
Everything is reasonable, soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals, the weak against the weak, the strong against the strong.
Except for the main forces of both sides hiding in the dark and waiting to strike, everything else is in the open. The undead army is stronger, while humans are at a disadvantage.
But the disadvantage is actually not that big, at least if we only consider combat effectiveness.
In theory, the plague could be contained by the Great Retreat and the Codex of Health, but the endless lines of defense in the wilderness would consume the souls of every undead with their cold stones.
Unfortunately, at least for now, this is not the case.
Because there are many cowards.
In fact, it was the commander's mistake to send these soldiers who had never faced such terrible creatures as the undead to the front line, but now everyone has no choice.
Most of the remaining soldiers on this line of defense had already fled, and the supervisory team had already gone to the front line, so there was no extra force to deal with these fleeing people.
However, not all soldiers were fleeing, such as some warriors wearing high-quality iron armor.
They were believers who voluntarily applied to come to dangerous areas to complete missions. There were only four of them, two from the Torch Church and two from the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health.
Since the Moon Kingdom's industrial system is much more advanced than that of other countries, all missionaries coming to the front line can wear full body plate armor.
They were no longer able to inspire the soldiers to fight with their words, so they had to take up arms themselves.
They have actually done a lot of work. If it weren't for their arrival, this place would have collapsed half a month ago.
But now we have reached our limit.
"Looks like we're doomed." A Torch Church missionary complained after hacking to death an undead in front of him.
"Those cowards all ran away." A member of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health curled his lips.
Another missionary from the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health who was with him stopped him and said, "Don't say that. Their behavior just means that our work is not good enough."
After finishing speaking, the much older missionary of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health and the other two missionaries of the Torch Church exchanged glances and said, "Oren, when we came here, we were given a dragon-blooded eagle. Now we need you to go back and report our situation to His Majesty Rand, summarize the mistakes in your work, and provide examples for other colleagues."
The youngest missionary of the Goddess of Harvest and Health, Oren, who called the other soldiers cowards, looked at his respected predecessor angrily and said, "Are you saying that I should be a coward and run away now?"
While the two missionaries of the Torch Church were fighting the undead, they still had time to cast funny glances over here, as if they were watching someone else's noisy family affairs while taking an afternoon walk.
The cold roars of the undead mixed with the summer night breeze squeezed the four warriors who still had some courage left.
"I'm not going." The young member of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health was a little stubborn.
"This is an order. I am the chief officer of this operation. Do you want to disobey my order?" the older believer shouted.
The two missionaries of the Torch Church nodded frequently, acknowledging the authority of the older chief missionary of the Goddess of Harvest and Health.
"But……"
"No buts. Do you remember the oath you made when you joined the church? Do you want to break your oath, break the trust that Lord Rand has placed in you, and break our faith?"
This elderly missionary of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health seldom spoke like this, and the young believer also knew why his predecessors were bringing out these things to pressure him at this time. He wanted to refute, but his poor knowledge made him not know how to refute the teachings of his predecessors.
"Haha, look at you, you can't even refute me, you are too weak and too stupid, practice more in the future." The older missionary looked at the younger generation with a red face, chuckled to ease his expression, and then turned serious again: "Oren! Follow the order now!"
The young believer gritted his teeth. Because of the high-quality food from the Holy Land, his teeth were not damaged by wear and tear like those of many people in other areas.
But because of the long hours of work and the current battles, his lips were cracked and stained with rotten blood and burning ashes.
In the end, he still obeyed the orders of his seniors. Maybe he was just afraid of death...
And watched the youngest person riding the Dragon Blood Hound leave.
Several church members re-faced their end.
The dead have filled the entire sky and the entire earth.
If you look down from the sky.
So in fact, the undead here cannot be considered a vast ocean.
But for the scattered soldiers in the defense line, they had been overwhelmed.
The enemies that the few warriors who were still fighting had to face were not strong, but their numbers were too many, too many.
And people get tired.
As dawn approached, a missionary from the Torch Church was finally knocked to the ground by festering rats, followed by another missionary from the Torch Church.
The remaining missionaries of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health were also exhausted, but as an old man who had followed Rand in his early years, he still had some solutions.
That is to use those forbidden powers. The old people will not let the newcomers know about such powers, and they themselves will not use them, but now they have no scruples.
"I remember I learned from Bishop Ranta what to do." The tired missionary took off the armor on his hands, which was already covered with scratches and unevenness.
Then bite your fingers.
"The Great Dark Feng..."
As the flesh swelled, the high-quality armor plates produced in the Holy Land on his body were bounced off, and some of them were shot out and cut through the bodies of rotten ratmen and zombies.
His Majesty Rand said that if you use this kind of power, you may not even be able to keep your soul.
But he felt that it would be a good deal if his useless soul could be used again.
Huge black tentacle creatures grew among the rubble.
…
Rand read the battle reports over and over again.
He was well aware that many of his own men were now overwhelmed, but Rand could not lead them to victory.
From the moment it was expected, from the moment the Torch Goddess gave him the oracle, many things were destined.
Every country in the world has its own interests and its own stance, and no one is willing to make drastic changes before anything happens.
Rand was outraged, but couldn't do much more.
All he can do is try his best to ensure the final victory.
During the previous meeting, some people doubted the existence of the elite main force of the undead, so he came to the Ratman City to preside over the war first. The pressure here was gradually increasing.
As for what to do if the Undead really have elite main forces...
Rand also has a way to remedy the situation, and Rand has not given up on his guard.
"Many defense lines near the New Holy City have been breached. Now the second line of defense has begun to be attacked by small groups or even larger numbers of undead." Olenna reported beside Rand.
Borlan and Quirrell, who were stationed in the Rat City, were also here.
"How are we coping?" Rand asked.
"Although many countries are dissatisfied with our forceful interference in their defense, after all, we have authorized you to do so, and your actions have effectively boosted the morale of the defense line, which has caused many countries to complain." Olenna replied.
"Has there been any progress in the study of the plague?" Rand asked again.
"We have made some initial progress. Divine power does exist. It is easily transmitted between humans and rats. It is highly contagious and deadly. A single plague cell can survive in the air for three days. Units killed by the plague will be infused with undead power and resurrected. However, this plague is not unstoppable."
Olenna read the contents of the report word for word. Having served as Rand's secretary for many years, Olenna had a rough understanding of various industries and directions.
As for why a single plague pathogen is called a plague single, it is naturally because Rand really cannot tell whether it is a virus, a bacterium, a fungus, a mycoplasma, etc.
Of course, it could also be some kind of inorganic harmful substance.
Anyway, it is named plague cell.
"The plague spreads more slowly in cold environments and is more difficult to survive. If it is in an environment like the White Country's winter, the plague can only survive in the air for an hour, or even shorter. The plague cannot resist flames, even if it is not the flame of the Torch Church."
Rand nodded after listening and looked at Bolan and Quirrell who were present: "Do you have any questions?"
"So as long as we hide in the north, we don't have to worry about the plague?" Quirrell asked.
"That's what it looks like right now, but the problem is that the undead can attack in cold environments, and the threat posed by the undead army alone is not small. Also, the land in the north can hardly produce enough food to feed too many people," Rand replied.
"But at least there seems to be a way out," Rand said, "assuming the massive deaths in the current situation don't allow the Scourge Apostles to gain even more terrifying power capable of destroying the world."
Bolan breathed a sigh of relief. This was finally some good news. At least she didn't have to worry too much about losing Rand, provided that Rand didn't take the lead in taking risks.
…
at the same time.
The two missionaries, Ranta and Chad, were watching the dead souls under the city wall.
In terms of rank, the two of them had actually reached the level of local bishops a long time ago, but when they went out to work, they were still more accustomed to being missionaries.
The summer wind is blowing hard now.
The air was filled not only with the smell of rotting corpses, but also with the smell of horse manure, grass, and food mixed in.
It was a little gross, but Ranta and Chad were used to it.
"The commander here still doesn't like us very much." Chad and Ranta chatted.
"But he can't do anything to us," Ranta responded with a smile.
At this moment, Chad thrust out the spear in his hand, smashing the head of the undead that was crawling up directly. Faint green flames flew, and the skeleton would never get up again.
"Everyone, pay attention. The undead have very low intelligence and combat power. For these ordinary skeletons, they can be killed as long as they are scattered once. Those high-level skeletons cannot withstand the attack of the materials scattered by the Torch Church or the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health." Chad loudly explained the undead to the soldiers around him.
When soldiers have enough knowledge about the undead, they are less likely to be afraid.
"But the undead don't feel fear, nor do they get tired." Some soldiers around talked about the horror of the undead.
"Yes, the undead are not afraid or tired, but this is not entirely an advantage. Their intelligence is not high and they are not afraid, which means that the logic of their actions is very easy to guess. We can easily use traps and terrain to eliminate a large number of undead." Chad continued to explain.
In order to make himself more convincing, he also demonstrated it by using himself to lure an undead to fall from the city wall, smashing it to pieces.
"Look everyone, as long as you don't panic and use your brain, the undead aren't that scary."
"What if there are more undead? I have seen the overwhelming undead with my own eyes." A soldier who looked quite educated and was probably a free man spoke up.
"It is indeed difficult to deal with the undead when they unite, but does that mean we are weak if we unite?" Chad smiled and pointed to the city wall below him and the soldiers standing on it.
(End of this chapter)
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