I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 659: Beginning of the Holy War (1)

The holy war has begun.

Soldiers from countries around the world, war mages, knights, paladins, high priests, saints, and clergy.

Magicians from the New Magic Tower, Old Magic Tower, and School Union.

Mercenary groups, hunters, bounty hunters, and world relief organizations.

In addition, armored machinery, steam golems, all kinds of gunpowder and firearms, artifacts, supplies, and more.

Here, the firepower and strength of the entire continent were concentrated.

Their goal was only one: the overthrow of Demon King Heathcliff van Bretus.

For the greater good, they responded to the holy war, and were about to begin.

In front of everyone, Salesin van Bretus stepped forward.

"Everyone. Nice to meet you. I am Salesin van Bretus. Though insufficient, I am also called the Holy Emperor of Bretus Holy Nation."

The first start was a light self-introduction.

By speaking while lowering his head, he implanted a sense of unexpected humility in people.

Not everyone gathered here had come for the greater good.

The leaders who command people were instilled with brainwashing, but those under them came either because they were ordered to or because they wanted to gain something from this war.

Therefore, some had slightly negative thoughts about Salesin.

Although the Bretus Holy Nation was now in the position of a victim, they did not have a particularly good image throughout history.

In today's world where religious colors have faded, the Holy Emperor, their leader, was in some ways the head of an uncomfortable gathering.

Arrogant, selfish, with fanatical faith.

Especially since this Holy Emperor was said to be young, most had such prejudices, though they wouldn't call them prejudices.

But with Salesin's first greeting, those prejudices were considerably diluted, like being dissolved in water.

"As you all know, terrible things are happening on the continent right now."

Everyone's minds recalled the events of this year.

The Liberation Army's terrorism? That doesn't even make the list.

The revival of the Nightmare at Kunst Auction House.

The Black Storm incident in the Empire's capital.

The Kasar Basin collapse incident.

The Theon demon incident.

And the mass slaughter, including the cardinal.

"Behind all those incidents was one man."

Heathcliff van Bretus, the illegitimate child of the former Bretus Holy Emperor and the brother of Salesin, who is now speaking.

"Yes, that's right. Demon King Heathcliff is certainly my brother according to the family register. But he went astray. He abandoned his duty to serve Lumensis and used his outstanding talent and power to serve the evil god worshipped by heretics."

Salesin's voice was full of dejection, as if he were truly sad.

"And eventually, he caused discord in the Bretus homeland, seized the capital's inner castle, and even mercilessly executed my sisters and brothers. Including all the people inside."

This was quite a shock to those who were unaware of this fact.

To think that the other siblings of the Holy Emperor's bloodline had been killed.

It meant a very significant loss of power.

But at the same time, it made sense.

If they had been alive and well, the Galahad Castle would not have fallen so easily.

"But just before his death, my brother conveyed an important fact to me. The fact that Demon King Heathcliff is now trying to summon an evil god from another world."

An evil god.

At those words, unrest spread among the crowd.

The unrest subsided quickly, but the shock delivered by Salesin's words was beyond expression.

Is it possible to summon an evil god?

It was questionable whether that was possible in their common sense, but the events that had occurred so far had also far exceeded common sense.

"The followers of the evil god, including Demon King Heathcliff and those who follow him. And even the demons that have been hiding and causing chaos in this world. The enemies we must fight are by no means weak. They might even be setting traps for us now in the Holy Nation."

Salesin clenched his fist.

"But even so, we will not give up. Because that's our history. Human history. We have always faced crises, but we have overcome them by joining forces!"

The sacred power embedded in his voice spread widely.

The intense divine power Salesin emitted brightened the surroundings and sprinkled a deep sense of inspiration.

"Even if we are wounded because of this battle, and many people die, we will always rise again. Because that's who we are. That's the history of humans."

Everyone was so focused on Salesin's words that they even forgot to breathe.

Some unconsciously clenched their fists, while others wanted to rush out immediately due to the boiling fighting spirit.

"Heroes of the continent. Wills that record and continue the history of mankind. Let's show them. That evil can never triumph in this world."

-Waaaaaah!

Cheers erupted loud enough to shake the world.

Soldiers boarded landing craft and airships.

Armored vehicles, steam golems, and self-propelled artillery were loaded onto large transport ships.

The continent's elite forces, prepared to prevent the revival of the evil god, were ready to cross the sea.

With the start of the holy war, ships set sail and airships took flight.

Salesin watched the scene with satisfaction.

'Well, little brother, how will you deal with them?'

Of course, Salesin was also planning to join.

However, he intended to arrive leisurely after they had depleted their strength from the front line and the situation was over on his side.

'Besides, many others are not visible.'

Originally, the saint should have been present at such an occasion, but neither she nor the priestesses were showing their faces.

'Well. It's not the first time the saint and I have been at odds.'

Saint Catherine did not particularly like Salesin.

Other priests followed the orders of the Holy Emperor's bloodline, but the saint was a complete being in herself, so she did not need to listen to anyone's orders.

And it was difficult to brainwash her because, although Catherine was a manufactured saint, the power she possessed was real.

The power to discern evil and see the future, obtained through fragments of power left by Saint Arkenis.

Therefore, the power of brainwashing did not work on Catherine.

'Well. But her hostility toward Heathcliff is the same as mine. It's like joining hands for a single purpose.'

Catherine hated Heathcliff.

They had been friendly at one time, but that was already a distant past from 20 years ago.

Catherine did not forgive Heathcliff, who had abandoned her and fled the Holy Nation.

'It would be quite amusing if they fought and destroyed each other.'

Salesin's eyes gleamed sharply.

'Well, Heathcliff. What are you trying to do in the Holy Nation? Why did you deliberately let yourself be captured? How will you deal with this military force? And the heroes that will come after?'

Show me quickly the truth you are hiding.

"The sea is calmer than I expected."

On a ship crossing the strait toward the Holy Nation, a deck guard muttered, checking the sea with binoculars.

A comrade listening beside him asked.

"Isn't it good if it's calm?"

"It's not usually this calm. This area often has winds, causing rough seas."

"We're on our way to subjugate the Demon King. It seems God is blessing us."

"You bastard. You didn't believe normally, but suddenly you've become a believer?"

"I'm not a believer. But it's a holy war, so I'm just trying to give that kind of feeling. Satisfied?"

As they gradually approached Bretus, the sea became calmer, and clouds began to appear in the sky.

Although they had clearly departed in broad daylight, the surroundings grew dark due to thick dark clouds.

Just when they couldn't shake off that uneasy feeling, something began to appear in the distance.

"Lookout report! Forward distance 2000! Something is approaching!"

An alarm sounded throughout the battleship as the lookout report came in.

Because of the darkness from the dark clouds, they couldn't see clearly, but something coming over from Bretus was approaching in this direction.

Infantry climbed onto the deck, gripping their guns.

Behind them, magicians and priests prepared their arts to prepare for a possible attack.

Just as they were about to pull the trigger the moment they came within firing range.

"Wait, hold fire! It's not the enemy!"

As the distance shortened and they could see the form properly with the naked eye, everyone was astonished.

"Are those... people?"

What was coming from the opposite side were people.

They were ordinary citizens living in the Bretus Holy Nation.

They were in the midst of evacuation, riding ordinary fishing boats, ferries, and Holy Nation vessels.

"What... is this...?"

There was no energy in the refugees' faces.

As if their souls had been drained, they just blankly stared at the direction the boats were moving.

Even seeing the large number of vessels heading toward Bretus, their faces did not brighten.

More than the light of hope, their faces were filled with fear and despair.

-Gulp.

The soldiers watching the scene from the deck swallowed hard, feeling an indescribably strange sensation.

Parents embracing their children.

An old woman wrapped in a blanket.

A child sleeping soundly.

That despair was somehow quiet. It felt like looking at the darkness of a deep forest where no one exists.

At that moment, an old woman began to sing.

It was a folk song in an unknown language, but it seemed to be a hymn of the Lumensis Order.

However, the hymn, which should have been sacred, was lifeless due to the lack of strength in her voice, making the mood rather depressing, as if sinking into the deep sea.

The calm sea and the punitive expedition and refugees crossing each other.

The eerie song echoing between them created a strange harmony.

Among the refugees were paladins and priests.

The captain asked them for an explanation after bringing them aboard the ship.

"Who are you, and what is happening here?"

The paladin answered in a trembling voice.

"I, I am Paol, a paladin belonging to the Third Checkpoint City. I am currently trying to evacuate with the citizens of Bretus from the country."

"What? Evacuation? What about the other forces?"

"The forces of the First Checkpoint City and Second Checkpoint City were completely annihilated. Those who went to Galahad Castle to fight never returned."

Paladin Paol's pale lips trembled.

"The citizens of the First Checkpoint City and Second Checkpoint City took refuge in the Third Checkpoint City. We were planning to gather them and buy time. But, but..."

"But?"

"Suddenly, that thing. Hiiieek! Aaargh! I don't want to remember!"

Paol suddenly grabbed his head and had a seizure while answering.

"Hey! Calm down!"

"What's happening!"

The priests who had accompanied them cast holy spells toward Paol.

Despite the divine power that calmed fear and soothed the mind, Paol's seizure showed no signs of stopping.

"What is going on here?"

In response to the captain's question, a high priest answered instead.

"It seems that tremendous fear has been imprinted on his mind, beyond our holy spells."

"Fear? This man is a paladin, isn't he? I heard that paladins are armed with iron-like faith and their minds do not break."

"How can a person always maintain composure? Probably unspeakable horrors are happening in the homeland right now."

"What on earth is it!"

The captain shouted in frustration, but even the high priest had no way of knowing.

At that moment, Paol shouted toward the captain.

"Don't, don't go! You mustn't go to Bretus now! If you go, everyone will die! Mon, monsters! Hiiieek! Monsters are coming! Wolves, wolves are coming!"

Paol continued to mutter like a madman before rolling his eyes back and fainting.

At that sight, the soldiers on the bridge were disturbed. The officers were no different.

"What on earth is happening in the homeland?"

They encountered difficulties from the very beginning.

Even now, refugees from Bretus continue to cross the sea.

As a result, the vessels naturally had to stop navigating.

They couldn't continue moving and risk colliding with each other, or causing harm to citizens on small fishing boats due to the swell of the ships.

"Sigh. Yes. It's just a slight delay in time anyway. Besides, we have airships."

Although the ships had stopped, the airships crossing the sky would be heading straight for the homeland.

At that moment, with a crackling sound, a wireless message came to the captain.

The captain, picking up the artifact for exchanging signals, asked.

"What's going on?"

[Crackle. This is the Second Airborne Squadron. Requesting support.]

"Support? Don't tell me it's an enemy attack?!"

[It's not an enemy attack. However —crackle! The weather conditions are not good! As we get closer to Bretus, the wind is too strong for the airship to approach!]

"What?"

Wind? But the sea is so calm?

Is it because the airships didn't stop and went far while they were stationary?

'No. That can't be.'

They said the wind was so fierce that it was difficult for airships to approach.

Even if they had widened the distance during that time, if the weather conditions were that severe, the effects should have been visible from here.

That was common sense.

"What are you talking about! The sea is calm! Are you dreaming or something?"

[What? It's almost a typhoon here! The wind —crackle! We simply cannot proceed!]

Indeed, beyond the communicator, the sound of fierce winds blowing could be heard with a whooosh.

"What on earth..."

[Wait. What is that?]

At that moment, the person on the other side of the communicator exclaimed as if discovering something.

[In the dark clouds, what is that? Wings? No, how can such a deformed structure be floating in the sky?]

"What? What are you saying? What did you discover! Hey!"

[Observer! Check that...!]

The captain asked, but there was no response from the other side.

As if someone had intended it, the signal was abruptly cut off.

After a wave of commotion swept through the bridge, silence settled.

"What on earth?"

The high priest, with trembling eyes, looked out the window, across the sea of the homeland where Bretus refugees were flooding in.

"What is happening over there?"