in the name of the queen.

"You passed the test!"

The examiner, Christine, said this expressionlessly, which made Irelia feel relieved.

She hadn’t expected Christine to be so strong, and she hadn’t expected this actual combat assessment designed to test her comprehensive combat capabilities to be so brutal.

Christine wiped the blood from the corner of her lips, looked up at Roland who was standing in the audience and was so nervous that he didn't dare to sit down, and said calmly:
"Don't be nervous, I know what to do."

You have a hammer's measure!

Roland complained bitterly in his heart, but the smile on his face was as bright as the sun.

Upon learning that the strongest fighter of the Darkin tribe except the Demon King had arrived, Christine asked for a sparring match without hesitation.

Her reasons are very sufficient. We cannot just rely on her one-sided opinion to know whether Irelia can fight or not. We must test it in actual combat.

Although Roland objected verbally, he eventually acquiesced to the competition.

Christine was right. Although Irelia’s fighting ability was definitely very strong, what one saw could still be deceiving. Only action could reveal the truth.

So Christine took the initiative to invite her to compete.

Irelia accepted it gladly.

It has been a long time since she had a thorough exchange with an opponent of the same level.

After decades of hard training, she had a very solid foundation in fighting against heaven, earth and air, but the fighting skills she had learned had not been put into actual combat.

Roland would not refuse to spar with her, but this guy was very cunning and did not try his best, so the fight was really boring.

But Christine was different. She saw the biting coldness in the other person's eyes.

She wanted this fight more than Christine did.

The two battle maniacs entered the Arena of Truth with smiles on their faces and began to debate.

Light and darkness are opposing attributes that restrain each other and can cause excess damage.

The battle just started, and after a brief test, the situation got out of control.

Roland, the only spectator, was shocked to find that neither side seemed to have any intention of stopping. To be more precise, they were determined to fight to the death from the very beginning.

By the time they realize something is wrong, the best time to mediate has already been missed.

He could only be prepared to activate the divine protection to save people at any time.

Both light and darkness have complete means of treatment and even resurrection, but because their attributes counteract each other, any sudden death of one of them will become a real death and no one can save them.

Christine was better off, as long as she was thrown into the Holy Spring of Resurrection in time, she would most likely be saved. But if Irelia died, there was no chance of saving her.

Fortunately, the strength of both sides was very close, and without using their best skills, neither of them won.

The battle ended in an exhausted draw.

Irelia's knees went weak and she clutched the handrail outside the arena tightly, dirty blood dripping from the corners of her lips.

Roland didn't have time to take care of her. He just said "Please have a good rest" and floated away with Christine in his arms.

The power of light in Christine's body has been exhausted and must be replenished immediately.

Roland could transfer the power in his body to her, but it was too slow. The fastest way was to use both methods at the same time.

Stay close to each other in the holy spring, and you will recover fastest.

Of course Christine knew what Roland was going to do. She did not object, but her cheeks turned slightly red and her heartbeat quickened.

After confirming her relationship with Roland, she was a little worried that Sylph and the others would not accept it, but she did not expect to receive three precious gifts right away.

Sylph, Alina, and Lisa all accepted her.

Sylph and sister Lisa even visited her in person to express their congratulations.

Alina was at a critical moment in her astrology research and could not come in person, but she sent a handwritten letter to subtly express her sincerity in wanting to share with her.

Christine naturally became Roland's "girlfriend".

In order to take care of the feelings of some believers, she would not marry Roland, but she wanted everything except the empty title of wife.

She wants Roland's love, his fiery passion, and his cute baby.

In the past, she always felt that enjoying love in the holy spring was disrespectful to the goddess and she didn’t dare to do it.

Now she knows that enjoying love in the holy spring is a great disrespect to the goddess, but she not only dares to do it, but also enjoys it very much.

Christine soaked in the holy spring for three days. When she walked out of the spring, her face was rosy and she could even clearly feel the lively little life growing inside her body.

She fully recovered, but at the cost of Roland continuing to soak in the holy spring, exhausted.

Alelia stayed in the State Guesthouse for three days. She looked pale when she walked out of the bedroom. Although she had excellent recovery ability, she had consumed too much energy and it would be difficult for her to fully recover in a short time.

She had just walked out of the yard and wanted to take a walk on the street when she saw Christine, who was in full health, walking towards her. She was so surprised that her eyes widened.

She lost after all.

Alelia felt a little lost.

Seeing her disappointed expression, Christine, who had wanted to take the opportunity to give her some strength, instead put on a kind smile.

"Miss Eleliya, don't be discouraged. I only consume more power than you. It's just that I am lucky. There happens to be a holy spring in Val City."

It turned out to be the case.

After all, it is a holy spring. As long as the person is not dead, he can be restored once he is carried in.

Irelia had long given up any feelings between men and women. Of course, she didn't expect that the recovery effect of the holy spring was not so amazing. Christine's miraculous recovery speed came from Roland's dedication.

Although Christine was very polite, Irelia's attitude had changed a lot.

She was somewhat arrogant at first, and although she spoke modestly, her eyes were looking down on others.

After this assessment battle, her gaze became much more normal, at least she no longer dared to look down casually.

Christine realized that her goal of beating Irelia had been achieved, so she did not become aggressive. In fact, she did not want to dampen Irelia's spirit.

We are allies now, so why would we demoralize our teammates?
Simple comfort is meaningless and may even have a counterproductive effect. We must do something practical.

Christine suddenly had an idea and remembered the internal problems that Irelia had told Roland about.

"The Carlo you mentioned."

"This is an internal affair of our clan. It has been handled. Please don't ask any more questions." Irelia obviously didn't want to continue this topic and even interrupted it rudely.

After all, there was a traitor in the family, and she really didn't want to mention it again.

In order to prevent Roland from misjudging the situation, she would not hide it, and she knew that Roland would not hide it from his wife, but Christine's initiative to bring it up still made her a little irritated.

"I don't mean anything else, I just think this is a good opportunity."

"What do you mean?" Alelia frowned.

Christine's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and she said lightly: "Fishing, big fish in Lisenburg."

Irelia was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

The existence of the God's Punishment Legion is a huge hidden danger.

They are loyal dogs of the Three Goddesses and will never betray them no matter what. They are also strong and well organized.

The only weakness of the God's Punishment Legion is the difficulty in replenishing personnel, but this is not a fatal problem.

After all, their missions have long been different.

They do not have the ability to wipe out the blasphemers of the plane by themselves, the first thing they have to do is to exist.

As long as it continues to exist, it can pave the way for the goddess to come on the day of her final return.

The existence of this force makes blasphemers very uncomfortable.

It's like an eye stuck outside the high ground. You know it's there, but you can't remove it.

"Do you have a solution?" Alelia's eyes lit up.

"Of course, as long as we make the God's Punishment Legion believe that they can land through internal forces, they will come, and at least send an elite force."

Christine said calmly: "We can cut off one of their arms."

Irelia was surprised, then shook her head.

"It's too late. Carlo has already been executed. They must know it."

Looking at Irelia's innocent eyes, Christine felt as if she was looking at an idiot.

"Idiot, Carlo was executed. Did all his family, friends, and subordinates die? Don't these people want revenge? Even if they don't want revenge, aren't they afraid of the liquidation expanding?"

Alelia's cheeks turned slightly red and she lowered her head quietly.

Over the past few decades, she has been obsessed with spiritual practice and ignored worldly affairs, resulting in a significant deterioration of her already poor political abilities.

This is also the fundamental reason why she insisted on letting Milones lead the tribe.

She knows her level and won't do anything beyond her ability.

Christine did not embarrass Irelia too much. She waved her hand, motioning Irelia to come over, and whispered the action plan in her ear.

What Irelia has to do is very simple. She will clean up a group of people first, so that Carlo's family and followers will think that she is going to continue to carry out large-scale purges, and they will be in constant fear.

In order to protect themselves, these people will definitely take the initiative to contact the God's Punishment Legion.

The key point of this operation is to use speed to defeat slowness, and act before the God's Punishment Legion can react.

To ensure victory, Roland mobilized almost all of his high-end combat forces, set up an ambush in Darkness City, and waited for the God's Punishment Legion to support the remnants of Carlo to launch a coup.

This should have been a battle without suspense.

However, the advance troops of the Divine Punishment Legion that participated in the coup were very powerful, almost three times the combat effectiveness of the direct troops of Irelia and Milones.

The leader of the God's Punishment Legion was indeed very cautious, but he still miscalculated. He didn't expect Roland to move so quickly.

Likewise, Roland did not expect the God's Punishment Legion to be so cautious.

The brutal battle destroyed the city of Darkness, hundreds of thousands of residents died in the fighting, and the entire city was reduced to ruins.

The damage to ordinary people caused by the reckless attacks of the extraordinary beings and war machines is like the arrival of a nuclear bomb.

The God's Punishment Legion did not regard the Darkin as human beings at all and acted without any scruples.

"Since you stand against the great God, you are blasphemers."

This is what the God's Punishment Legion thinks.

Since we are standing in opposition to the great God, there is no mercy or compassion.

God loves the world, except those who blaspheme.

The arrival of the God's Punishment Legion was like the end of the world. Their plan was to destroy the Darkin capital with thunder and let ordinary people in the Blasphemer camp know the consequences of opposing God.

However, Roland and the Special Mobile Force arrived.

His extraordinary allies also came.

Princess Catalina of the Sea led the fleet to blockade the ocean, cutting off the support and retreat routes of the Divine Punishment Legion, making the war no longer suspenseful.

Without any reinforcements, they are doomed to fail. The only suspense is how long they can hold out and how much damage they can inflict on the blasphemers.

The commander of the advance army, Adar, issued a cold-blooded order to massacre all the humans in Darkness.

Regardless of race or religion, everyone will be killed.

The army of believers under the God's Punishment Legion is responsible for the specific implementation.

Believers are different from the backbone of the God's Punishment Legion. They are not elemental life forms, but human beings with flesh and blood.

They felt guilty about raising the butcher knife against their fellow countrymen, but they did not dare to offend the core members of the God's Punishment Legion, so they could only grit their teeth and wield the butcher knife against their fellow humans.

This is a holy war, and all sins are borne by the gods.

This is the excuse they use to comfort themselves, but their trembling hands and pale faces reveal their true thoughts.

In the nightmare, these believers acted like zombies, eliminating any potential security risks in Darkness City and turning the city into an impregnable fortress.

Aidar did not want to surrender, he planned to defend the city and wait for rescue.

Even if there is no rescue, there is plenty of food and supplies in the city, so it will not be a problem to hold out for a year.

If he must die in battle, he will make the blasphemer pay a heavy price.

The human coalition did not expect Adar to be so ruthless. Although the strategic goal of blocking the advance troops of the God's Punishment Legion in the city was achieved, they had to face huge difficulties.

How to break this hard turtle shell?

In the previous melee, the human coalition's extraordinary people showed extremely strong combat effectiveness, but the follow-up troops did not keep up, and the extraordinary people who entered the city had to retreat to avoid being besieged.

Three generals of the Divine Punishment Legion were killed, and the current commander was previously only ranked fourth.

The battle has gotten to this point, with no reinforcements from outside and no hope of breaking out. If this were a human civil war, we would have surrendered.

But this is a holy war, a bloody war of life and death.

There is no reconciliation or draw in this kind of war, and it must end with the destruction of one side.

The raid turned into a long siege.

The isolated city of Darkness is surrounded by the elite of the entire human world, like a lone boat in the ocean, in danger.

If the cost is not considered, the city can certainly be conquered, but Roland does not want to do that.

Extraordinary people and strong people from other cultivation systems are the wealth of all mankind and cannot be consumed at will.

If an army composed of ordinary people attacks head-on, it will be a waste of their lives, no matter how many people they send.

It's no use dragging it out. This damn hamster, Milones, is probably too poor in the dark to eat up so much supplies that they can't be consumed in a year or two.

War requires efficiency. If it is dragged on, the sea blockade will be difficult to maintain for a long time and enemy reinforcements may arrive.

The purpose of sending out the advance troops alone is to consume the enemy. If reinforcements arrive, it will be ourselves who will be consumed.

Should we launch a violent attack?

Roland hesitated and could not make a decision.

It was really difficult to be a military commander. This battle was of great significance, and the number of participants was not particularly large, with the total number not even exceeding 100,000, so he naturally took charge of the command.

If I had known this earlier, I would have let Christine take over.

Roland thought with a headache.

He patted his chest in front of Christine and assured her that everything was under control. It was just a small accident and he couldn't back down.

Roland began to brainstorm and think hard about countermeasures.

Just as he was struggling and hesitating, there was a knock on the door.

It is Duke Reinhardt, the commander of the Special Mobile Force.

Roland was a little curious. Duke Reinhardt's physical strength was not very strong and he had gradually fallen behind the times. He himself had also accepted the reality, gradually handed over power and chose to live in seclusion.

He even joined the Afterglow of Doom and began to enjoy his old age.

Roland did not harass Duke Reinhardt in this operation, but led the team himself.

"Mr. Reinhardt, why are you here?"

"How can I, the commander-in-chief of the Special Mobile Forces, not come for such a large operation?"

The old duke smiled and teased, "Are you in trouble?"

"It's not difficult to take down Darkness, but the difficult part is how to reduce unnecessary losses. A strong attack will cause too much loss, so it's hard to make a decision."

"Have you ever thought of letting those who have no hope of making it past the Day of Return lead the charge?"

Reinhardt said calmly.

Roland didn't respond. Of course he had thought about it. In fact, this was indeed the best solution.

The Day of Return is an action governed by the rules of the universe, and no one can go against it.

However, the number of promotion spots on the day of return is limited, and those who rank low will surely die.

The day of the return of the sanctuary is transmitted to all extraordinary people through the voice of the soul, almost announcing the death sentence for those who come later.

It is better to be a hero in a foreign war than to die miserably in a fratricidal war.

If we do not mix in emotional factors and treat people as numbers, this is the best solution.

But people have emotions. If we consider people's feelings, this is the worst solution, no doubt about it.

Roland could have such thoughts, but he would never say them out loud, not even a hint of them.

Otherwise, once morale drops, there's no point in leading the team.

He shook his head slowly. "They are my subordinates, my brothers, not cannon fodder. On the day of return, who can advance depends on their own ability. The weak also have the opportunity to turn the tables and take advantage of the opportunity. I am not qualified to let them die."

Reinhardt looked at Roland with a half-smile and said calmly, "Is this what you really think?"

"People have emotions and cannot be absolutely rational. This is what I really think."

Reinhardt stared at Roland, trying to find a hint of deceit in his eyes, but there was none.

Roland's eyes were gentle and sincere, which could not be faked.

Reinhardt has lived for hundreds of years and has seen all kinds of people. No one can lie in front of him.

He was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Everyone says that you are treacherous and cunning with no bottom line. It seems that you have been wronged."

It’s not unfair, even if this sincerity is also the result of weighing the pros and cons.

Roland thought to himself, but said nothing, just smiled.

Reinhardt could read Roland's mind. Although Roland's bottom line was flexible, it was not without it.

At least he has a bottom line towards his own people.

Without any hesitation, Reinhardt took out an exquisite little box from his arms and handed it to Roland.

Seeing the old duke being so serious, Roland quickly took it with both hands, looking puzzled.

"This is the soul box. My soul fragments are stored here. If you can see the light of the new era, please revive me for the sake of this old thing who has burned out his life."

"Duke Reinhardt!"

Roland understood that Reinhardt chose to die bravely, burning himself to open the road to victory.

The old duke stood up straight, twisting his silver beard, and said with a smile: "I will go and talk to the children. I think they will make the right choice. After all, there is still a glimmer of hope lying in the soul box, which is better than meaningless internal consumption."

At this moment, the setting sun was shining into the room, and the old duke's departing figure looked particularly tall against the sunlight.

The moment he walked out of the room, his body even blocked the sunlight, making the room slightly dim.

The old duke's footsteps disappeared at the end of the corridor.

The sunset is as red as blood, enchantingly beautiful.

Tomorrow, the sun will rise again.

"Everyone will come back, I promise."

Roland's voice was gentle, but it was full of unquestionable determination. (End of this chapter)