Standing on the platform, Duanmu Huai gazed coldly at the distant city. This time, when dealing with Herman, Duanmu Huai could be said to have gone to great lengths—aside from a 64-meter-tall Emperor-class Titan, he had also equipped an armored battalion. This included three Shadowsword super-heavy tanks, fifteen Leman Russ siege tanks, and six Valkyrie gunships.
Frankly speaking, using these against a country with a medieval level of civilization was basically like using anti-aircraft guns to swat mosquitoes, or killing a chicken with an ox-cleaver.
In fact, if combat alone were considered, just a few Leman Russ tanks would have been enough, or even pulling out a single Night Raven Blackstar on its own.
But for Duanmu Huai, the purpose of this battle was not merely victory.
Although due to insufficient intelligence, Duanmu Huai couldn't figure out why the AL Church had chosen to act against him, no matter what, the moment the AL Church made a move against the Inquisition, the nature of this war had turned into a holy war.
Originally, Duanmu Huai had planned to deal with the lives and deaths of these native gods only after taking care of the Creator God. But since the other side had now come knocking on his door, changing the order a bit wasn't unacceptable.
In truth, the reason Duanmu Huai was making such a big deal out of this was the same as when he had used orbital bombardment against the Na'vi on Pandora.
To establish authority.
If it were many web-novel protagonists, they would often like to play the pig to eat the tiger—clearly capable of winning decisively, yet insisting on acting cautiously and hiding their trump cards until the very end. As a result, enemies would think the protagonist's victory was just luck, grow careless, and then cause trouble later.
Of course, purely from a tactical standpoint, this might be correct. But the problem was that the nature of a holy war was completely different.
It could be said that from now on, the Inquisition was going to compete with the AL Church for believers across this continent—put bluntly, they were going to openly steal believers!
In this situation, it was absolutely essential to display the Inquisition's unparalleled strength and unstoppable majesty to all believers. The strategy of playing the pig to eat the tiger was absolutely unacceptable at such a time. They had to be strong, strong, and stronger still—directly pressing the AL Church into a corner until it could only tremble in fear.
This was also the reason Duanmu Huai had built this Emperor-class Titan and deployed it.
He wanted to tell the believers of this continent: I'm just that badass! Even if your goddess Alice herself came, she'd still have to kneel in front of me and sing "Conquer"!
Duanmu Huai simply didn't believe the AL Church had anything that could compare to an Emperor-class Titan. Once the AL Church lost its momentum, believers would naturally dwindle. And on top of that, the Inquisition even offered discounts and promotions, and could even provide free medical treatment—no need to ask who the believers would choose.
Many times, when believers chose a god, at the root of it all they were just hoping to have someone to rely on. And if they discovered that their backing wasn't badass enough, then changing allegiances was only a matter of time.
Of course, another reason was to give Maria some experience. As a mechanical engineer, she couldn't just stay in the back reading books—she also needed to go to the front lines to observe how these machines performed in real combat, then determine improvement plans. So Duanmu Huai simply put together an armored formation and handed it over to Maria to command.
As the Inquisition's army advanced, the soldiers of Herman's Fourth Legion likewise discovered these massive steel constructs. They were terrified and at a loss, having no idea what to do. Very quickly, the commanders requested instructions from the general, and then they received the order he issued.
Charge with the entire army! Eliminate the enemy!
Charge???
Looking at the order before them, many officers couldn't even believe their own eyes. He wanted them to use flesh and blood to confront these enormous steel monsters? Not to mention that mountain-tall giant—how were they supposed to charge at that?
Charge over there to die?!
However, military orders could not be disobeyed. Very soon, the entire Fourth Legion moved out. With Herman's knights at the forefront, they charged straight toward the armored corps ahead. Of course, deep down they still harbored a bit of reasoning—after all, they had tens of thousands of troops, while the enemy, though terrifying, was limited in number. In such a situation, perhaps it wasn't impossible to fight?
Probably?
But just as they began to move, the armored corps ahead had already taken action.
"BOOM—————!!"
The first to fire was the Shadowsword super-heavy tank positioned at the very center. Accompanied by a thunderous roar, an earthquake shell screamed out—these shells were no ordinary munitions. What filled them wasn't high-explosive chemical compounds like gunpowder, but fragments from planets destroyed by Exterminatus.
Simply put, the fragments inside these earthquake shells were remnants blasted free when entire planets were completely annihilated by Exterminatus—the explosion and shockwave of a planet's destruction had been preserved, and after multiple processes, loaded into the shells.
When they detonated, that power would be reproduced on the battlefield.
Just like now.
"—————————!!!!"
The howling shell tore across the battlefield and slammed directly into the Fourth Legion's front lines. Immediately after, a hellish scene unfolded—the ground began to tremble as a massive earthquake erupted without warning at the center of the battlefield, directly engulfing more than half of the Fourth Legion. Roaring shockwaves swept across the field, shredding everything in their path into fragments.
As for the soldiers farther away who weren't directly affected, they fared no better. The earthquake caused the ground beneath their feet to behave like a spasming trampoline. Almost in an instant, those soldiers felt themselves flung high into the air, then smashed heavily back down. Not only that, the quake loosened the ground, and the constant shaking made it impossible for them to stand steadily, let alone fight.
Next, the Leman Russ tanks opened fire.
High-explosive shells flew straight into the crowds. Because of the tremors and shockwaves, the soldiers' bodies swayed left and right, unable to stabilize themselves—much less raise their shields to block the attacks. Of course, the shields wouldn't have been of any use anyway.
Soon, as fiery explosions blossomed within the Fourth Legion, soldiers who hadn't even managed to regain their footing were blown completely apart into mangled chunks of flesh and blood.
In just a single exchange, the Fourth Legion suffered catastrophic losses. Although they had a full fifty thousand troops, they had absolutely no way to deal with the battle before them.
But for the soldiers of the Fourth Legion, this was only the beginning. As the thunderous guns of the Leman Russ continued to roar, the Valkyrie gunships circling in the sky rapidly dove downward like eagles of death, bringing endless disaster and destruction to the ground. Hellstrike missiles burst forth one after another, multi-barrel rocket pods spewed continuous fire, and beams of laser light descended from the heavens, sweeping across the battlefield and turning everything in their path into scorched earth.
At this point, the Fourth Legion had completely fallen into chaos. They had never faced such enemies, nor experienced such combat—each cannon blast was deafening, making it impossible for them to hear one another. In the blink of an eye, the soldier beside them might be blasted straight into the sky, only to come back down as shattered chunks of a corpse.
But Herman was, after all, a fiercely martial nation. Even under such circumstances, the Fourth Legion did not immediately collapse. Instead, they desperately tried to evade enemy fire, reorganize their units, and survive as much as possible amid this annihilating bombardment.
"General! We can't continue resisting any longer!"
When the messenger appeared before Nero once again, he was already covered head to toe in blood.
"We simply cannot withstand the enemy's attack! Please give the order to retreat!"
"Retreat?"
Hearing this, Nero immediately jumped to his feet.
"What a joke! As soldiers of Herman's glory, this is precisely the moment for you to repay the nation with your lives! Pass down my orders—charge! Charge! Charge again! As glorious soldiers of the kingdom, even if you die, you must die on the road of charging forward! Retreat is not permitted! Do you understand?!"
"What…?"
Hearing this, the messenger's face turned deathly pale. After issuing the order, Nero turned and left the city wall without even looking back. Watching him leave, Adjutant Krim let out a sigh and looked at the messenger.
"Pass down my orders. All units are to retreat immediately. Surrender is permitted. Preserve as much of our remaining strength as possible!"
"But…"
"I'll handle the general."
"Understood."
The messenger saluted Krim, then turned and left at once. Krim silently shook her head, then turned and departed as well.
When Krim descended from the city wall, she saw Nero hurrying toward her. Upon spotting her, Nero hurriedly spoke.
"Ah, you came at just the right time, Krim. I want you to immediately take troops to guard the South Gate. Absolutely do not allow those monsters to approach. Do you understand?"
"Lord Nero? May I ask what you're—"
Seeing Nero's hurried manner, Krim frowned. The latter let out a cold snort.
"What I do is none of your concern. In any case, go guard the South Gate immediately!"
"...…Yes."
Hearing this, Krim could only silently give a salute, then turn and leave with her subordinates.
When Krim arrived at the South Gate, the battle situation before her eyes had already descended into total chaos. After receiving the orders, the remnants of the Fourth Legion had almost immediately chosen to retreat. Krim did not hesitate either, directly ordering the gates opened to allow all the fleeing Fourth Legion soldiers to enter the city.
"Adjutant Krim, what should we do next?"
While processing the battered troops entering the city, the messenger looked at Krim uneasily. Krim gazed at the approaching steel giant in the distance and let out a quiet sigh.
"We surrender."
"Surrender? But General Nero, he…"
"Lord Nero is probably no longer here."
Krim shook her head.
"We can't really do as he said and fight to the death here. What about the people of this city, then?"
"...…"
"We cannot win."
Krim raised her head again, her gaze becoming much firmer.
"So, I order you—open the city and surrender."
(End of Chapter)