Sakura Country.
Kyushu Island.
South Coast.
Caesar stared at the piles of Holy Light Crusaders before him, his face contorted:
"Arthur?! What are you doing?!"
Arthur maintained his sunny, harmless smile, patting Caesar's shoulder:
"Hey, brother, didn't I already tell you?"
"We're launching a holy war! We're going to launch a holy war!"
"To cleanse the sins of this island, to clear the darkness from this island, so that the entire Kyushu Island can see the light of day again, and regain its former glory..."
"I believe that no follower bathed in the Holy Light would refuse such a duty, right?"
Caesar's face turned green:
"But you never told me that the entire elite of the Holy Light Church would be mobilized!"
"And that it would be initiated by you as the leader!"
Arthur waved his hand dismissively:
"Whether I'm the leader or not, it's not important..."
"What's important is that we should expand our sphere of influence as much as possible right now."
"Within Europe, even in countries where the Holy See holds the sole faith, the spread of the Dark Council has reached an uncontrollable level..."
"If we don't do something, won't the endless darkness swallow everything we have?"
"Besides, although the volunteers here are indeed elites of the Holy See, they are far from being a full mobilization."
"It's just twelve cardinals, several hundred archbishops, four vice-judges, thirty-six holy light deacons, nearly a thousand grand knights, and a hundred thousand knights and a hundred thousand priests..."
"As for the Holy Light Dragons, Holy Light Behemoths, and the like, they are merely accompanying animals, not actual combatants."
Caesar felt his worldview about to crumble:
"What?! That's not a lot?!"
"All the things you've mentioned, I feel like even draining all the elites from every church wouldn't be enough to gather that many!"
"Where did you people find all of them!?"
"And even if, for argument's sake, our Holy See truly possessed such immense power, wouldn't it be more logical to encircle and annihilate the Dark Council on European soil?"
"Sending all these fully armed warriors here now, isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"
Arthur couldn't help but sigh and shake his head helplessly:
"Nonono... Brother Caesar, you still know too little about the Holy See!"
"The true strength of the Holy See is definitely not just a few cats and kittens openly displayed in the churches..."
"Otherwise, we would have been overrun by the Dark Council long ago, how could we have lasted until today?"
"As for your second question, it's even more laughable..."
"Do you believe that the outcome of our war with the Dark Council can be decided in the mortal realm?"
"Of course not!"
"If we truly want to crush the Dark Council, we must continuously transmit faith power to our Lord..."
"So that our Lord can heavily suppress our nemesis, Satan, in the divine kingdom."
"This way, the spread of the Dark Council will naturally collapse on its own."
"And the faith power in the European region is basically saturated. No matter how hard we try, we can't achieve particularly good results..."
"Since that's the case, why not turn our gaze to other undeveloped regions?"
"The Dragon Country is too strong for us to provoke, but how difficult is it to handle a small Sakura?"
"You must know that this small Sakura Island has a population of over a billion people!"
"If all these people were to convert to the Church of Light, what a vast amount of faith power that would be!"
"With the augmentation of this faith power, the victory of our Lord will only be a matter of time..."
Caesar was stunned by Arthur's words, speechless and unsure of what to say.
After all, in his heart, this seemingly frivolous young man was never a devout follower of the Holy See. Why would he suddenly appear at this peculiar time to say such things?
But before he could fully comprehend it, something even more shocking happened.
The four vice-judges and twelve cardinals, after confirming that all members were present, flocked towards Arthur and soon stood respectfully behind him, appearing ready to take orders.
Arthur seemed completely unfazed by this, even enjoying it, and naturally began to direct them on their upcoming combat plan.
Caesar finally couldn't hold back and spoke again:
"Ar... Arthur..."
"You... you are..."
Seeing Caesar's frightened and shocked expression, Arthur finally came to his senses and smiled, patting Caesar's broad shoulders:
"Hey, I almost forgot to tell you, Brother Caesar..."
"In fact, before we even arrived at Kyushu Island, I was already bestowed the title of Grand Steward and Chief Judge by His Holiness the Pope, so these elites of the Holy Light Church naturally have to obey my command."
"However, you are a prince of the Holy Empire and do not hold a specific position within the Holy See, so you don't need to be humble in front of me. We are equals!"
Caesar's pupils began to shake violently, and his head throbbed intensely.
Looking at Arthur now, he felt that the man he had known for nearly twenty years was so unfamiliar.
Even his signature bright, sunny smile now seemed particularly distant...
Unable to say anything more, Caesar could only sigh:
"Then what is this Red Moon and Grey Stars all about?"
"Did your holy war cause them?"
Arthur shook his head:
"I don't know, but it's not important. It's just one of the new members recently added to our purification list, nothing more."
"Who it specifically is, truly doesn't matter."
Caesar asked again:
"Then what about the resistance from the noble families of Sakura Country..."
Arthur continued to shake his head:
"One of the purification list, that's all."
Caesar asked again:
"Then the opposition from the Sakura royal family and the impact on their original beliefs..."
Arthur still shook his head:
"Not important, just a purification list..."
"All I can say is that anything that dares to stand in our way will be incinerated by the fire of the Holy Light!"
Looking at the terrifying glint flashing in Arthur's gem-like eyes, Caesar gave a bitter smile:
"Can I ask you one last question?"
Arthur also smiled:
"Of course, my good brother..."
Caesar took a deep breath:
"So, the you who used to drink and chat with me, was that all a disguise?"
"Or rather, are you, the current you, truly... you?"
Arthur's smile instantly shifted from gentle to cold:
"Oh? Caesar... do you think... that matters?"