Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level?

[Vol. 5] Chapter 202 - The Temporary City

[Vol. 5] Chapter 202: The Temporary City

Now that a countermeasure has been agreed upon, Yuna will no longer insist on sacrificing the people of the Holy Empire who have been contaminated by the toxin.

After adjusting their strategy and providing simple explanations and instructions to the anxious and fearful crowd, the white fox girl directly used ?Seal of Mountains and Rivers? to create a rift space, sending them inside.

The rift space… is likely an empty void, but Yuna will certainly dispatch some knights to carry materials and supplies inside to quickly set up a temporary camp for the refugees and monitor them.

This is something Violet doesn’t need to intervene in.

While Edwina appears to finally breathe a sigh of relief, the truth is that it’s just the white fox girl temporarily helping to suppress this crisis. If the former fails to find a solution for treating the ?Defilement? toxin within a certain timeframe…

The gathered toxin carriers, which will only continue to increase in number, will eventually erupt in a more intense backlash.

Not everyone understands the concept of gratitude, especially in life-and-death situations.

Whether a chosen hero, legendary figure, or transcendent being, Violet believes that relying solely on divine gifts and assistance is far from enough to become a true hero.

After that, the army continued to move forward as planned.

As they drew closer to the Holy Capital, the number of disaster-stricken civilians encountered along the way began to increase in density and frequency.

With the formidable enemy ahead and the ?Defilement?’s potent potential for lurking and infection, the army naturally had neither the time nor the resources to check each individual and determine whether they were carriers of the toxin.

They could only send everyone into the rift space of ?Seal of Mountains and Rivers?, where the Knight Templars arranged by Yuna would manage and separate them.

The number of refugees continued to grow, and by the following morning, the army had already gathered over fifty thousand displaced individuals.

This was only in one direction of the army’s movement, indicating just how severe the repercussions of the fall of the Holy Capital were.

However, as they continued to march forward, the rate of growth soon began to slow again.

The number of civilians encountered on the road started to decrease steadily, which could only indicate one thing:

They were now very close to the territory actually controlled by the demons.

On February 7, 1377 of the New Calendar, over one hundred thousand main forces of the Holy Empire, led by the Saintess Yuna Summerfield and the candidate Saintess, the divine descendant Edwina Cecilia, arrived at the Sacchino City, just 50 kilometers away from the Holy Capital.

This town was one of the few remaining cities in the Holy Empire that could maintain intermittent contact with the rear, situated nearly a hundred kilometers outward from the Holy Capital. It had become an isolated island in the sea, precariously standing under the demons’ surveillance.

Although communication through faith-based magic was more convenient and accessible than ordinary magical means, for a third or fourth-tier small town with a population of only around one hundred thousand and merely a few hundred temple personnel, maintaining continuous and stable information exchange was unrealistic, even in times of peace.

According to intelligence reports, the last plea for help from Sacchino was received twelve hours ago. It was said that at that time, they had already endured a small-scale attack from the demons for a full two days and nights.

Although Sacchino City has managed to persist until now due to its small size, sparse population, and unique geographic location, with only a few hundred Knight Templars and around a thousand guards, once the demons successfully conquer the surrounding cities, they will definitely…

That fragile defense line, relying only on walls barely ten meters high, would likely collapse completely within a few hours, or even less.

Moreover, due to its proximity to the front lines, the small town was unable to receive the instructions from Yuna in the Angel City in a timely manner and had taken in many fleeing civilians from the surrounding area. Internally, the spies and the ?Defilement? plague had likely already spread secretly.

Describing the situation as precarious is not an exaggeration.

However, in the following prolonged period of war, this small Sacchino City would play a crucial role for the Holy Empire, which is why the Saintess was in such a hurry to march here first, hoping to secure the city before the demons could do so.

The reason for this urgency lies in the overall terrain of the Fulan province, which had already become a battlefield.

As is well known, the Star River is the longest river in the Holy Empire, with flow rates reaching their peak, not just the longest but vastly surpassing the second largest by several times.

Within the Holy Empire, at least two-thirds of the provincial jurisdictions contain the main stem or tributaries of the Star River, and the Fulan province is no exception.

In fact, this large eastern province, adjacent to the capital province of Miguang, is one of the areas most significantly influenced by the Star River in the Holy Empire.

The Star River can be considered the mother river of the Fulan province.

The main river flows in from the edge of the “Ten Thousand Demons Mountains” in the west, passing through the area surrounding the Bright Light City. There, it splits into several tributaries, avoiding the St. Bergen Mountains, which stretch across the east and are known as the ?Wall of Heaven?. It then converges back into the main stem in the eastern part of the Holy Empire, arriving in the heartland of the Fulan province.

From east to west, the Star River runs through the entire province for over a thousand kilometers, bringing traffic, resources, and various conveniences that have fostered vigorous development across all industries. Nearly all the large cities within the Fulan province are located near this river, one of the three longest rivers in the world.

Without the Star River, there would be no prosperity in the Fulan province.

This small city called Sacchino, though unremarkable in many aspects, happens to be situated in the suburbs of the Star River and lies to the west of the long river, facing the Angel City across the water.

In this location, the main stem of the Star River forms a shape resembling a short U, nearly enveloping the town on three sides, with the only completely open gap facing west into the interior.

Therefore, although Sacchino City is quite close to the Holy Capital in a straight line, the vast and treacherous barrier of the Star River prevents most demons from attacking.

Only a few individuals with flying abilities can approach directly, the rest must circumvent the town from the sides. However, due to the obstacles posed by other cities along the way, they have yet to successfully conquer this town.

Its existence is like a soft nail embedded in the current map of the demon forces within the Fulan province. Although it may seem insignificant and easily destroyed at a glance, if the army of the Holy Empire arrives and establishes a stronghold there…

“It could serve a role akin to that of the already-fallen Angel City,”

the golden-haired Saintess summarized while standing on the hillside, pointing towards the distant outline of the small town and the rushing river before it.

Beside her, the white fox girl leaned against a tree, playing with a tuft of horse tail grass she had picked up from somewhere. Her fluffy ears flapped intermittently atop her head as she tilted her head to look at the small town below the hillside and suddenly asked with curiosity,

“Speaking of which, whether it was the Angel City before or this Sacchino City now, it seems the Holy Empire’s army always needs a foothold to rely on before they’re willing to confront the demons head-on. Could it be… that you can’t really take on those guys in a straight fight?”

Upon hearing this, Yuna couldn’t help but smile wryly and shake her head in resignation.

Such reckless speculation and belittlement of the army, even if it were true, would likely lead to punishment for the speaker, who could be accused of sowing discord among the troops in other circumstances.

But ?Dawn? had the privilege to speak so frankly, and Yuna was not the type of leader to be arrogant or easily angered by such remarks.

“To be honest, if both sides lined up their main forces and engaged in a direct battle on the plains, our army would indeed be at a disadvantage, especially given that we don’t yet know how much strength the demons have deployed. That would entail a significant risk.”

“After all, most individual demons are quite powerful. Even the demon beasts, which are often treated as cannon fodder, possess their own lethality and threats. And then there are the truly terrifying creatures like the Giant Hammer Demon, which are like walking weapons of mass destruction.”

“Even if our strong fighters could win in one-on-one combat, dealing with such colossal beings is not as simple as just having one or two individuals engage them in battle.”