A large number of Roman soldiers were stationed on the island, always ready to quickly assemble, especially near the church where the defenses were particularly tight. Under these conditions, the slaves had almost no chance of success if they attempted an uprising.
Meanwhile, the Roman soldiers had started climbing the walls, and the shield wall at the entrance was steadily advancing. The stones thrown by the slaves bounced off the shield wall without effect, causing their morale to gradually drop.
"Listen," a middle-aged slave said, struggling to sit up, "I can't hold on much longer, but you must keep fighting. If we don't, we'll remain slaves in life and in death, suffering in hell or singing in heaven, never free."
Someone blurted out, "But we can't win like this."
The middle-aged slave replied firmly, "We are followers of Dionysus. Alive, we drink freely. Even in death, we enter Dionysus's kingdom."
"Too bad there's no wine here."
"I do!" An old slave stood up, pulling a small jar from deep within his clothes. When he opened it, a faint sour smell of wine wafted out. He walked over to the middle-aged slave and said, "Sadly, there's only one mouthful. You drink it."
"No, pour it into the bucket, and we'll all drink together," the middle-aged slave said.
The old slave poured the wine from the jar into a large laundry bucket. The middle-aged slave took the first sip and said, "This is really good, better than my master's wine... No, I have no master. I am free. I have a document given to me by Dionysus himself! This is the best wine, the wine of freedom!"
Saying this, he stood up, his body regaining strength, with a fierce fire lighting up in his eyes. Even though he had only taken one sip, and the wine was so diluted it barely tasted like wine, his faith ignited, and he entered a frenzy.
"Kill!" The middle-aged slave walked slowly towards the shield wall.
"Kill!" The other slaves also drank the wine from the bucket, entered a frenzy, and charged at the shield wall.
A powerful force of faith surged into Linley's body, filling him with a furious strength. He heard the system prompt in his ear: "Received pure faith power. Bavaria's injuries are fully healed and can be summoned again. Dragon Eye's injuries are fully healed and can be used again."
Both Bavaria and Dragon Eye had been injured by holy light, but now they were finally restored. With a thought, Linley summoned Bavaria, who appeared among the crowd. This tall barbarian was quite famous, and many people cheered upon seeing him.
"A miracle!"
"A miracle has come!"
"Linley did not deceive us; he sent an apostle!"
"Kill the Romans!"
"Cut off their heads!"
Bavaria laughed heartily, raised the angelic sword, and shouted, "Follow me, victory is ours!"
Many slaves charged forward, crashing into the shield wall, completely ignoring the short swords thrust through the gaps in the shields. They grabbed the shields and threw them back. Even though they had already taken seven or eight deadly wounds, they paid no mind in their frenzy, instantly breaking through the shield wall, collapsing the defense, and pulling the Roman soldiers from behind the shields to throw them into the crowd behind.
The slaves didn't hesitate to use all sorts of weapons—knives, swords, armor, stones, and even their hands, feet, and teeth—to quickly tear apart the Roman soldiers. Bavaria was exceptionally skilled. He charged into the Roman ranks alone, decapitating over a dozen soldiers with whirlwind-like strikes.
Meanwhile, the slaves who couldn't join the direct fight weren't idle. They used makeshift slings to keep pelting the Roman soldiers in the rear, causing chaos and successfully halting Roman reinforcements.
These Roman soldiers had been drifting at sea for a long time and had just landed. They were relaxed and completely unprepared for such a sudden and intense battle. Facing such fierce and fearless enemies, they quickly panicked and had to retreat from the laundry area.
At that moment, dozens of Roman soldiers tried to climb over the wall to launch a pincer attack. However, when they saw the front legion had already been defeated, they immediately turned to flee, but it was too late. The slaves pulled them down and killed them like slaughtered livestock.
"Victory!" "Victory!" "Kill!" "Glory!" "Kill the Romans!" The slaves cheered loudly. Linley seized the moment to release the dragon eye to monitor the surroundings. The dragon eye flew out and relayed the scene outside the laundry area. Roman soldiers had already gathered outside, with many senior officers organizing them into formations.
These soldiers were fully armed, equipped with swords, shields, armor, javelins, and bows and arrows. They even brought in large carts to tightly seal off the laundry area's exit, preventing any breakout.
At this point, there were about a thousand slaves, while the Roman soldiers outside numbered over five thousand, with more reinforcements on the way. The slaves' berserk state was about to end, and their physical strength couldn't sustain such intense combat for long. Once the berserk state ended, they would become weak and defenseless.
Their only chance for victory was to kill the Cardinal. The dragon eye kept flying and soon reached the church. It was already dark, the church doors were closed, but the worshippers were still gathered outside singing hymns. The church was brightly lit inside, with only the Cardinal and the priests remaining, making it appear empty.
This was the opportunity Linley had been waiting for. He carefully kept the dragon eye invisible, monitoring the situation around the church to avoid being discovered by the Cardinal.
Linley returned to the divine kingdom, sat on the throne, and issued instructions to the slave believers: "Create a bigger commotion." Upon receiving the order, the slave believers immediately shouted loudly and charged out from the entrance. The Roman soldiers outside had not yet fully assembled and were caught off guard. They threw javelins and shot arrows around obstacles in an attempt to keep the slaves at bay.
However, the slaves at the forefront, clad in armor and holding shields, were unafraid of pain after going berserk. They completely ignored the ranged fire and quickly charged into the Roman soldiers, engaging in close combat.
As the battle raged on, Linley took the opportunity to change into Roman soldiers' clothes and armor, blending into the enemy ranks. Amid the chaos and under the cover of darkness, Linley's different appearance went unnoticed. He moved around and finally found an opportunity to sneak into the church.