”Commander, should we redirect the troops and attack the other three churches?” one of them said coldly.
Since they dared to disrespect their god, they should be prepared to be killed.
“Are you stupid?” Antonio nearly had a heart attack hearing his subordinates.
Although he hated to admit it, they were weaker than the other three churches combined.
Once he started a siege against them, the very next day his body would be floating in the sea.
“I just said make the puppets retreat! As for the rest, just wait…” Antonio said coldly.
“Yes, Commander!”
…
In the Border of the Etherium Empire.
As soon as the puppets retreated, a hint of puzzlement appeared on the soldier’s faces.
“What happened?”
“Could it be that the enemy is scared?”
After a bit of shock, they suddenly remembered how helpless the enemy was in front of them.
Over ten billion puppets were reduced to about 8 billion in just a few days.
If this continued for a few more weeks, the enemy may be reduced to rubble.
Thus, it’s no surprise that the enemy retreated.
However, thinking of the casualties that they sustained in the beginning, they couldn’t help but be angry.
“Why are they retreating? I haven’t had enough!”
“Tsk, what cowardly enemies!”
“Come back! Daddy isn’t finished yet!”
“The food is still being cooked, yet you’re already leaving!”
“Damn, what a bunch of eunuchs!”
Billions upon billions of soldiers yelled, venting their frustration at the enemy.
All the suffering they received these days couldn’t be vented if they didn’t tear the enemy into pieces.
If not for the military discipline, they would probably chase the enemy without command.
…
In the Military Outpost:
“What do you think, Field Marshal?” Johnson quickly asked for Isabella’s opinion.
“Let them rest, they deserve it…” Isabella said after thinking.
“Should we just leave the enemy be?” Johnson muttered reluctantly.
He wanted to pursue the enemy, sealing victory.
Or at least let the enemy know that the Moonlight Empire isn’t somewhere you can just come and go.
“Hmph! How could we let the enemy go so easily?!” Isabella said with a hint of murderous intent.
“Then what-“
“Just do what I told you.”
“So it is!”
…
In the Westle Empire:
A few days later.
After the news of billions of puppets retreating, there was a buzz in the empire.
“What happened, why did the puppets retreat?”
“Do any of you have any news?”
In a plaza, people couldn’t help but discuss the ongoing war.
Despite the peaceful and prosperous front of the Westle Empire.
All of it would vanish once the enemy won.
Originally they were confident thinking that over ten billion Tier 8 puppets attacked the Moonlight Empire.
However, upon hearing the news that even such a power retreated, their morale wavered.
Many people even started to lose their confidence in the empire and prepared to escape.
“Hmph! It’s because of the Gods!”
“What about them?”
“It’s because these God treated us as caged cattle and didn’t want us to intervene in the war!”
“The Soldiers of the Westle Empire of the past was now a mere decoration sitting around.” Jarob, a former soldier spoke.
From a glorious soldier, now he muddles away in some corner.
He still couldn’t accept that His Majesty disregarded them like used paper, after the arrival of the Gods.
All the supposed to be merits, achievements, and titles that he dreamed of vanished just like that.
Now, although he still had the strength he previously had, all the glory and honor were gone.
Hearing what he said the people in the park were enlightened.
Indeed since the Gods appeared, the soldiers of the empire became a decoration.
From conquering other territories, social security, law enforcement, etc.
All that was supposed to be done by the empire’s soldiers was gone.
The churches of the Gods seemed to control the Empire at the neck, not letting the struggle.
“How could the Gods control us?!”
“We should take back our rights!”
“The Emperor and his people should be the leader of the Westle Empire, not some outside force!”
“We are the people of His Majesty, we should only follow him!”
“Hmph! We must banish these blood-sucking worms!”
“Banish these blood-sucking worms!”
“Banish these blood-sucking worms!”
“Banish these blood-sucking worms!”
…
Khan, who was up above the throne, just watched all of this commotion with a cold smile on his lips.
“However, the Moonlight Empire is really not simple…”
Although Khan didn’t help the god in the quest to conquer the Moonlight Empire.
He watched and analyzed everything that was happening.
From every detail to every hidden strength.
Khan wanted to ensure everything was in place before he moved.
As for the riots and the boycotting of the believers of gods.
Khan even wished it was bigger so that these maggots could be expelled from the empire without much effort. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent s ovl(F)re.et
Khan was confident in his strength and didn’t need the gods to add chaos to his plate.
Suddenly, a mind-throbbing pain appeared in his head.
“Argh!”
“J-Just what is this?!” Khan held his head in agony.
For a few months now, this hellish pain, as if something were squeezing his brain, had been recurring.
After that, unknown memories, too distant to grasp, began to surface.
Knowledge, life experiences, thoughts, ideas—epoch upon epoch of information—lodged in his mind every day.
Too much information was loaded every day that he had no time to process it.
Until now, these chaotic memories were still unknown to him, leaving him bewildered.
This was also the reason why, despite being confident in his strength.
Khan didn’t dare to confront the Moonlight Empire.
He didn’t know when these unfamiliar memories would appear.
Maybe while he was in battle, a surge of memories suddenly appeared leaving him in a vulnerable state.
Khan would leave something like this in front of his enemies.
He would rather take it slow than take this kind of risk.
“Huh~”
As the pain subsided, calm returned to his face.
“Just what are these memories…”
…
Amidst the chaos in the Westle Empire.
Antonio sat lazily, admiring his work.
“Hmph! This is what you get for dumping all the work to me!”
Although most of the criticism was directed at him for being an ineffective commander, Antonio didn’t care.
Since this muddy water wanted to pull him down, he didn’t mind dragging a few others with him.
“Go spread more about the ‘glorious’ deeds of the three churches!”
“Are you sure, Commander?” His subordinate asked, trembling.
Although they believed the God of Puppets would protect them, fighting three churches at the same time would be suicide.
“Hmph! We’re just telling the truth!”
“If they can’t even accept this, then they should leave this continent as soon as possible.”
…
Soon, another rumor about the three churches began to spread.
“So these three churches didn’t even help in the war?”
“They’re just sitting around, sucking our blood, yet they do nothing?”
“These Gods are really disgusting!”
A crowd gathered, discussing the recent rumors.
“Besides asking us for donations and fooling us into believing in some god, they didn’t even contribute anything to the war!” A disheveled man sneered, fanning the flames.
“Are they really that shameless?”
“So it had only been the Church of Puppets who had been fighting?”
“Yes, furthermore, didn’t you know that all these people had been paid by His Majesty?”
“So they’re workers of His Majesty!”
“A bunch of shameless pigs who get the money but don’t work!”
“That’s right!” The disheveled man smiled.
In truth, all of this was to lower the standing of these churches.
He and the other former soldiers had set up an organization wishing to throw away these Gods away from their empire.
All the recent rumors belittling the gods were spread by them discreetly.
There also seemed to be other organizations doing the same, which made their work easier.
As for all he said, that the gods didn’t contribute to war, being a worker of His Majesty, or getting paid, it’s all a lie.
Although he didn’t know the rest.
One thing he knew is that these Gods invested massive resources in the Westle Empire.
This is also the reason the Westle Empire ruled over almost all of the Curse continent in just a few years.
This milestone of conquering a continent in just a few years was built upon mountains and mountains of resources.
If they’re not helping, then what are the massive resources for? donation?
Working for His Majesty? They could even drown the Westle Empire with resources.
Getting paid without working?
What do they need it for, if they’re richer than the Empire?
Looking at the chaos that was happening, he just smiled and disappeared into the crowd.
…
As the criticism continued to pile up, the three churches had enough.
“What’s happening these days? Why do these people keep attacking us?!”
“They’re the ones who didn’t do anything, yet they couldn’t just be thankful!”
“Hmph! This is really a cursed place! Illuminating it with the light of God is downgrading!”
“What a bunch of ungrateful wolves!”
The Divine Priests of the three churches murmured in dissatisfaction upon hearing all the bad news against them.
“What do we do now?” Hans, the Divine Priest of the God of Thieves, asked.
“Of course, we conquer the Moonlight Empire and end this once and for all,” Looyt, the Divine Priest of the God of Shadow, said.
“What about these people?” Popo, the Divine Priest of the God of Gambling, asked.
“Hmph! A mortal life is after all just a few hundred years. Once everything is settled, we can restart the plan.”
“Indeed, history is after all in the hands of the victor.”