267: Chapter 267 The War Begins

The Holy Light Monastery's offensive came even faster than expected.

On the first day of the thirteenth month of the Descent, a boundless golden light suddenly surged into the sky from the west, obscuring the entire heavens.

Almost all satellite views were obscured at the same time.

"It's coming!"

Zhang Huaiyuan, who was constantly observing the monitoring system, looked grim, and his consciousness quickly connected to the thought network.

Although the Three Major Academies had different focuses, some basic disciplines were common to all. He naturally knew that the opponent had ways to counter satellite monitoring, and he also had countermeasures.

He had pre-deployed many trigger-based spider mines on every essential path. As long as he lost their signal in the thought network, he would know which path the opponent was taking.

Meanwhile, beneath the boundless golden light.

A mixed legion, stretching as far as the eye could see, was rapidly advancing.

"Roar~"

Amidst a resonant dragon roar, dozens of giant dragons flapped their wings and moved forward.

Standing atop each of their heads was a warrior clad in full-body armor, remaining motionless despite the bitter winds of flight.

Parallel to them were over a dozen elders holding staves and wearing luxurious magic robes.

Various colored runic magic circles glowed beneath their feet. Although they appeared physically frail, their presence was not inferior in the slightest.

These were the two strongest classes on this continent: Dragon Knights and God of Magics.

Below them.

Slimes, goblins, wolf riders, mammoths...

Well-equipped knight orders, mage legions...

These ethnic groups, which were originally as incompatible as fire and water, were now gathered together in extraordinary harmony.

They emitted a faint golden light from all over their bodies, exuding a sense of holiness as they all charged in the same direction.

"Is everyone here?"

In the rear, on a luxurious carriage pulled by nine Earth Dragons, a woman in a golden divine robe asked indifferently.

"Your Highness Saintess, all surviving living beings in this region—a total of 1,796,320,047 people—have wholeheartedly come to believe in the great Lord of Holy Light."

Nine Missionaries bowed and saluted respectfully, as if the deity themselves were present.

"Mhm..."

The woman nodded gently and casually pointed her finger. A branch immediately broke off from a tree by the road and floated into her hand. She gave a light shout:

"Come."

Instantly, bits of starlight flew out from every believer and gathered beside the woman, shining like a galaxy across the sky.

"Believers forcibly converted by the Word of Power provide too little faith. I can barely unlock Rank 5 Faith Divine Arts... Never mind."

The woman shook her hand in distaste, and the starlight in the sky immediately converged onto the tree branch.

In just a moment, the originally rough bark became as smooth as jade, emitting a faint glow. Two more twigs grew from the tip, perfectly embedding an orb of light condensed from faith between them.

"Heavens... this... this is the aura that only legendary Transcendent Artifacts possess! A mere tree branch has become a Transcendent Artifact just like that? Is this the power of the Lord of Holy Light!"

The local creatures nearby saw this scene and couldn't help but gape in astonishment.

But just then, a violent roar came from the front of the procession.

"Hmm?"

The woman in the golden divine robe and the nine Missionaries looked over at the same time.

They saw a surge of fire soaring into the sky, and hundreds of wolf riders at the front were blown to bits in an instant.

Quite a few people in another elite knight order reacted, raising white energy shields.

But the warhorses beneath them weren't so lucky and were also blown to pieces.

"Technological methods... my detector didn't sense a remote control network, so they should be trigger bombs. However, given the opponent's level, there's a high probability they have methods we don't know about."

A Missionary turned a compass-like object in his hand and reported softly.

As elite students of this year's Holy Light Monastery, although they were most skilled in faith-based methods, their knowledge of mechanics and kinetics had also reached Level 40. They were naturally familiar with some basic methods.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

While they were speaking, dozens more spider mines exploded.

In an instant, another thousand believers were blown to bits.

But the army blessed by faith seemed to ignore it completely; even as they were struck by scattered flesh and blood, their footsteps did not falter in the slightest.

"It seems our position has been exposed."

Saintess Jiang Nian looked thoughtfully at the phalanxes where fire was breaking out and casually waved the staff she had just forged.

Instantly, countless points of light rose, forming a complex magic circle filled with a holy aura, casting down beams of light onto the mangled corpses.

Rank 4 Faith Divine Art: Mass Resurrection.

The next moment, those warriors whose bodies had been obliterated stood up from the ground with looks of shock. Then, as if understanding something, they hurriedly knelt and bowed toward Saintess Jiang Nian.

"Thank the Holy Light for its protection, thank the Saintess..."

"A miracle has descended, a miracle has descended..."

And the other warriors nearby, seeing this scene, couldn't help but look even more fanatical.

"Devout believers, fear no difficulty. Under the radiance of the Holy Light, we are eternal and indestructible. All heretics shall eventually be purified..."

Seeing this, several Missionaries chanted piously at the right moment.

A gentle voice that made one feel an instinctive affinity quietly flowed into every warrior's ear.

The already high morale reached its peak with the miracle of resurrection.

"Well, this faith power is used up too quickly."

On the other side, Saintess Jiang Nian looked at the orb of light that had clearly dimmed a bit and couldn't help but frown.

"Your Highness Saintess, Mass Resurrection is inherently the most costly among the Rank 4 Faith Divine Arts. Among these people, those whose faith has reached the level of fanaticism or higher account for less than one in ten thousand. The faith power they provide daily is too little..."

One of the Missionaries said somewhat hesitantly:

"Your Highness Saintess, are you sure you want to send all the believers to the front line? Perhaps we could keep some fanatics in the rear to continuously provide faith. Besides, those Zerg fellows also harbor ill intentions..."

"No need, I have my own plans."

Saintess Jiang Nian's gaze shifted, suddenly thinking of the fellow who had scored one point higher than her in the previous round.

She interrupted, "Since our position is exposed, let's launch a direct assault. I will distribute some of the faith power for you to use. Resolve that greatest threat as quickly as possible."

Saying so, she waved her staff again, and nine orbs of light the size of bottle openings flew into the hands of the others.

"Yes, Your Highness Saintess."

Seeing that she had made a decision, the nine Missionaries immediately accepted the order respectfully and said no more.

For the Holy Light Monastery, which focused on faith, the orders of the Master of Faith were absolute. Suggestions could be made before a decision was reached, but once it was made...

Then even if they were being sent to their deaths, they would smile and thank the god for their blessing.

One of the Missionaries turned around to face the vast legion, carefully held up the small orb of faith power with both hands, and began to chant softly.

Streaks of invisible light fell upon every warrior, and their overall speed suddenly increased by thirty percent.

They rushed quickly toward the Steel Walls where the Time Book House was located.

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