42: Chapter 42 Holy War

The crusade began.

As the Saint's orders were passed down one by one.

All the priests returned to their respective territories, loudly proclaiming what they had seen and heard, announcing the Saint's intention to launch a crusade.

Because the priests described the miracles with such vivid emotion, everyone was deeply convinced of Saint Sabbat's image as a saint.

Furthermore, what Saint Sabbat intended to do was exactly what they wanted most: to end the evil Cult of Burning with a crusade.

It must be known that after centuries of propaganda by the priests, the Burning Cult was, in the minds of the people, essentially no different from demons.

Everyone longed to become a hero who extinguished demons, just as prayed for in "the holy word."

The immense cohesion brought about by this faith began to manifest rapidly, as a large number of soldiers and knights began to gather at the border city of Watchtower.

This was the front line where the Burning Sect and the Imperial Cult stood in opposition, with the God-Emperor Faction having deployed nearly three thousand troops here to guard against surprise attacks from the Burning Sect.

Xia Xingchen had not been idle during this time. The mobilization of troops would take at least a week.

During this period, a large number of reconnaissance drones from the dream star began to pour into the territory of the Burning Cult.

Based on the intelligence gathered, Xia Xingchen could basically determine that this was a cult sworn to Chaos Khorne.

The eight-pointed star patterns visible everywhere, the red blood-skull markings, and the fact that all residents took pride in slaughter and combat, all served to confirm this.

Xia Xingchen really couldn't understand how their rule was maintained, as all the tribes here were in a state of mutual hostility.

Rather than calling them a theocratic state, it would be better to describe them as a loose tribal alliance.

Although many tribes shared faith in the same deity, to please the deity, the fighting between tribes never ceased; even when the God-Emperor Faction had intentions to attack, their internal strife never paused in the slightest.

According to the intelligence sent back by the drones, except for the tribal leader located in the core area who possessed terrifying strength, everyone else was basically still within the category of ordinary mortals.

And that most special leader did not look like a mortal at all.

Have you ever seen a mortal nearly three meters tall, with a physique comparable to an Astartes?

Xia Xingchen compiled the collected intelligence one by one and subsequently handed it over to Saint Sabbat, allowing Saint Sabbat to also understand the situation on the other side.

"Now, all the military operations here are handed over to you for command. My army will also take orders from you, including the dream star in space."

Xia Xingchen handed over the temporary command of all armies entirely to Saint Sabbat.

"Feel free to act."

Upon hearing this, Saint Sabbat looked at Xia Xingchen with gratitude.

Saint Sabbat did not expect that Xia Xingchen would trust her so much.

Saint Sabbat stepped forward and gratefully hugged Xia Xingchen.

Xia Xingchen was stunned by this sudden hug and only reacted after a moment.

But Saint Sabbat had already released her hands immediately and turned to rush to the front line.

Just then, a mechanical cough came from behind Xia Xingchen.

Xia Xingchen did not expect Nuwa to be behind him.

"Nuwa, hello. Have you finished the tasks?"

Xia Xingchen had previously instructed Nuwa to go and handle the future government construction projects.

Nuwa looked at Xia Xingchen's manner of hurriedly changing the subject and did not say much, instead reporting straightforwardly:

"Everything is being prepared in an orderly manner. We have selected enough talent from the 150,000 crew members to form our Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Military Affairs, Adeptus Arbites, Ecclesiarchy, Adeptus Mechanicus, and the department you additionally established—the Academy of Sciences."

After finishing her report, Nuwa immediately asked Xia Xingchen about the establishment of other basic departments.

For example, departments like the Imperial Astropathic Choir that maintain the basic operation of the Empire require personnel essentially trained and provided by the Empire.

Just like the Astropaths of the Astropathic Choir, these Psykers need to face the Emperor's psychic power directly.

Only then can they finally become members of the Astropathic Choir to transmit inter-sector communications for the Empire.

Xia Xingchen pondered for a moment; he currently had absolutely no ability to accomplish this.

After all, the Empire could not possibly provide him with any help.

In the eyes of the Empire, they were outsiders, what they called "lost lambs."

"Let's put this matter aside for now. First, build the basic government framework and transform this theocratic society into a modern society as soon as possible.

Anyway, for the next year or so, we will at most be active within this star system, and we are not lacking in existing means of communication."

Nuwa nodded after hearing this.

Over the next week, soldiers gathered one after another at the Watchtower.

Saint Sabbat also arrived at the front line.

Soon, nearly ten thousand soldiers had gathered in the entire Watchtower, with cavalry accounting for over four thousand.

When the soldiers and knights of the God-Emperor Faction arranged themselves into neat military formations outside the Watchtower.

Everyone was waiting for the arrival of the Saint, waiting for Saint Sabbat to announce the beginning of the crusade.

On a specially constructed high platform, the young girl wearing blue and white power armor stepped onto the main stage step by step.

Her emerald green eyes were filled with sharp edges as she slowly scanned the soldiers and knights below the high platform.

The moment the soldiers' gazes met with Saint Sabbat's, they all subconsciously straightened their chests.

They felt that the one gazing at them was not a person, but a true messenger of God, an angel from legend who had come to guide them.

At this moment, Saint Sabbat exerted all her strength and proclaimed loudly:

"Believers of the Emperor!

The Emperor is watching us! The entire Imperium of Man is watching us!

Pray to the Emperor for victory; we shall seize victory with our own hands, for the God-Emperor!"

Cheers like a landslide immediately erupted from below.

Saint Sabbat drew the power sword from her waist and pointed straight to the north, the direction where the Burning Sect was running rampant.

"Now, follow me into battle!

Bring the Emperor's true judgment and death to those traitors!"

Looking at the direction pointed to by the power sword in Saint Sabbat's hand.

All the soldiers immediately raised the weapons in their hands, letting out a sky-shaking roar.

Saint Sabbat flipped onto her warhorse and then led the army, like a giant dragon released from a gate, launching a crusade towards the Burning Cult in the north.

Xia Xingchen mingled in the expeditionary force, with over a hundred elite guards following behind him.

This time, the opponent they primarily had to deal with was that tribal leader who was almost completely corrupted by Chaos.

Meanwhile, the various tribes of the Burning Cult.

Although they had already learned the news that the God-Emperor Faction was about to launch a crusade, no one took it to heart.

Between the various tribes, endless bloody battles continued, using cruel blood sacrifices to please the Burning God they worshipped, as if the crusade by the God-Emperor Faction did not exist at all.

In fact, they were not afraid of this crusade at all.

Because in the nearly one hundred years of fighting against the God-Emperor Faction, they had always been the attacking side.

In countless past battles, the God-Emperor Faction could basically only rely on sturdy castles to barely win; otherwise, they would have long been completely wiped out by the Burning Sect.

Therefore, the people of the Burning Sect basically treated this crusade by the God-Emperor Faction as a joke.

They were just waiting for the God-Emperor Faction to enter their territory, be beaten to a pulp, and then use the blood of these people to offer a blood sacrifice to the Burning God.