Back at the Vatican palace, the command room somehow became more hectic than before. Inside this place were people that had both the minds and the experience in regard to dealing with disastrous situations like this one, with most of them being former generals and strategists of the Crusader armies...
But now, they could barely even understand what was happening anymore
Archbishop Isaac was standing at the center of the room, trying to carefully analyze every single piece of information that was being shouted at him...
"Report! Enemy hostiles are spotted in areas B-4 of the easter sections! They're destroying anything that they see and have slaughtered an estimate of ninety civilians! With a hundred being gravely injured! And contact with squads four and five sent to intercept them was lost..."
"How many are them?"
"O-Only two, Archbishop. But from how the way things are going, they're extremely dangerous..."
"...Send squads nine, eleven, and twelve to intercept. Tell them to prioritize stalling the enemy and civilian evacuation above all else"
"Roger!"
"Sir, we've received a message from the guards of the Grand Museums. They say that there are hundreds of animatronic-like animals breaching their security. They've already busted through security zone five and wiped out half of their fighting force. They're requesting reinforcements!"
"Tch...Tell them to hold them off for at least five minutes. Then order squads three and four to assist them on the double!"
"Understood!"
"Archbishop, we've lost contact with the squad that we sent to investigate what was going on with that explosion in the southern areas of the city. And there's been reports of civilians killing each other for no apparent reason..."
"There's no way they'll do that just because they feel like it. Send in the Special action division to investigate for any curses or wide-range spells and wipe out any potential enemies. We need to control that fire before it gets any worse"
"Already ahead of you archbishop"
Once the opportunity presented itself, he quickly took a seat down and let out a heavy sigh. Seeing his tired expression, Aamon quickly handed him a cup of coffee
"It's gonna be a long night, Archbishop"
"It sure is. I don't think the city has directly experienced a problem this big ever since its founding..."
"Yeah, and if they're brave enough to do this they must have some serious backing behind them"
Isaac could only nod silently
Carisville city wasn't just any ordinary city, it was a place that was said to be favored by the Great Gods themselves once they were still roaming the earth. Thinking about it that way, these people were not only incurring the wrath of the faithful believers of the Holy order, which was more than half of the world's population but also spitting on the very gods themselves...
"I personally don't think any country would be foolish enough to do something like this"
"Really? But by how things are going, this seems to be a well-planned out attack. If these guys weren't helped by other hostile countries, then they must be a real deadly bunch to cause damage of this scalewithin mere minutes..."
"Yeah..."
His mind was filled with questions about this, but there were so few answers. Everything was just too jumbled for him to think about this clearly. So for now, he decided to just keep things under control and gather information about their enemy
"I hope that we'll be able to end this quickly...Though we could use the personal forces of the other Archbishops, the Sacred saints as well as most of the High-knights of the pope are off to the Elven Kingdom. If things get worse, then we'll be toast"
"You got that right, they really picked a hell of a time to attack. But I shouldn't worry too much if I were you. The ones that we have may not be as tough as them, but they're experienced enough to take care-"
"A-Archbishop Isaac...T-This is strange. I can't contact HQ"
"I've been trying for a while as well, all I'm hearing is static from the other side...
"Wait hold on, I've got someone here...Hello? HQ, this is the central command from the Vatican castle, verification number:7548. Whoever is on the other side of the line, please give me your name, rank, and the statu-"
{"W-What? Oh thank the gods, finally I got in contact with you guys. I-I beg of you, please send us help here. W-We're being overrun by the prisoners and two hostiles! T-They already killed our captain and they demolished half of the building so the rest of us are-!"}
Isaac heard a loud explosion coming from the other side of their communication artifact. Even without being in the scene itself, they could tell that it must've been really destructive. The room went silent as they waited for their comrade to reply...
"H-Hello? Soldier, are you still there?"
{"...Haaaaa...S-Save us please, t-they already found us. We're hiding in our communications room and they've already busted through the magic barrier that we placed up. F-Fuck man! We used like an artifact for that shit, how the hell can they break through it that easily?! Shit! Hold the line! If any one of you bastards can stand up and hold a sword then fight off those monsters!"}
Isaac quickly stepped in and grabbed the artifact from the operator's hands
"Son, calm down. This is head archbishop Isaac of the Holy order. Now then, I want you to take a breather and tell me what's the status there"
{"A-Archbishop please...W-We don't wanna die here. Send us help, please. I-I beg of you. W-We can't beat those monsters alone...We just can't..."}
"Don't worry son, we will send you help. But we've gotta know what exactly is going on in there so that we could-"
{ "Oh fuck...T-They're here!"}
"Son, calm down and explain to me what that means. Who is there? And what are-"
{"P-Please don't kill me! I-...Arck!..."}
They heard the sound of flesh being sliced as well as the artifact being dropped to the ground. A few more seconds of silence passed before it was picked up. And a voice of a woman could be heard from the other side...
{"Why, hello there~ Sorry for cutting off your little chat. Though from my point of view, it looked more like a child crying to their parents. Fufufu, this really is a rough night for you folks out there at the Vatican castle. Speaking of which, I hope you forgive us for disturbing your little outing with your niece...Archbishop Isaac"}
"That I can overlook, but there are many things that you savages did tonight that will not be forgiven by the Great gods. Now tell me, who are you animals and why are you doing this?"
{ "Well, we have many reasons actually. Some wanted to do it for the thrill of it, others did it for curiosity, some of us did it for money and others...Well, let's just say they have some unfinished business with you and your gods. And as for who we are?...Fufufu, I bet you'll know soon enough"}
"...I think so as well. We can squeeze all the answers from your throats the moment we capture you and place you behind bars. I don't know if you're aware of this, but while we strive to be holy and virtuous, you may find use being quite...creative when it comes to interrogations"
{"And I'll look forward to that day which will never come. Whoops, look at the time, I still need to do something. Anyways, I won't disturb you guys anymore. Toodaloo!~"}
They could hear the sound of the artifact being crushed, and their communications were soon cut off
"Aamon, I don't care If they throw a hissy fit. I want every personal force of the other Archbishops to head out to the east and kill those bastards. Now!"
"Understood-"
"A-Archbishop, bad news! Squads nine and eleven were reportedly wiped out by the enemy! Most of squad ten's men were also gravely injured and are falling back!"
"What?! Damn them...Order a retreat on all active forces in the west and send in squads five and six from the south to make sure to cover their retreat-"
"Report! The special actions division is surrounded by hostile civilians! They're being overrun. Squad fifteen is already on the move to support them, they may arrive in five minue-...Wait, they're already in contact with the enemy?!"
"Enemies on the Grand museums have reportedly busted through security zone one and have wiped out all personnel. Squads three and four have already fought with the gigantic animatronics and have suffered severe casualties. They're requesting reinforcements!"
"Members from squad fifteen were ambushed by a mysterious cloaked figure and have suffered heavy casualties, they're requesting permission to fall back!"
"How are they getting picked off this easily?!"
Each squad must have at least fifty well-trained knights and mages who were considered the cream and crop of the Holy order. For them to be swatted down like this as if they were flies...Isaac was having trouble believing it
"Report! Contact was lost with squad ten! They're most likely wiped out already. Should we still send in squads five and six?"
Isaac tightly clenched his forehead
"H-Hold on a minute. Yes, send in both squads but make sure they prioritize civilian evacuation above all else. And try not to get spotted by the enemy. For the ones at the museum, make sure that they hide all the artifacts for now and hold the line until our reinforcements arrive-"
*BOOM!*
As if their problems weren't enough. They felt yet another massive explosion, and this time around, it was on their own turf. All of them simultaneously felt a massive surge of magical energy quickly making its way up the castle...
"What is it now?!"
"There was an explosion that affected floors ten through fifteen!"
"The guards are saying that there's a suited man that came out of the smoke. They're approaching him with caution as we speak and are ready to restrain him"
Their entire room trembled once more, and the reporter seemed to struggle to get the words out of their mouth
"C-Contact with them was lost..."
"Damn! Send every guard we have on that man and make sure he doesn't get away. Place up the sky barriers to make sure he can't teleport and set up our security traps to pin down that bastard!"
"W-We have, Archbishop. And from what I can see, he's broken through each one of them with ease! He seems to be headed towards the upper floors without any signs of stopping!"
"What?"
Isaac thought that he was after their treasures and artifacts, but that was located below the castle itself. If the person that attacked was with the same group, then he should've known that. And the only thing that is remotely valuable that is located on the upper floors were...
"Dear gods..."
Isaac's eyes widened as he finally realized their objective
"Set up the capacity of barriers at the pope's chambers to one hundred percent!"
He was after the holiest relic that they had. The one thing that is capable of calling in the Great gods from the heavens
"He's after the Divine scepter!"