Chapter 1103 Arrival
Row after row, the soldiers were arranged in neat lines. Their absolute discipline was renowned throughout the Mainland, and seeing them now, Jonah once again wished that something like this was possible to be achieved in the Heroes of Angaria.
Alas, in his home, Heroes were always too busy tooting their own horn, so he knew that was extremely unlikely.
He was still reeling from the surprise that the Bishop had prepared for him, but his mind was already one step ahead of him. It had started pitting the imaginary forces of Angaria that he estimated to be present against this group, and the results were definitely not pleasant.
The command that she gave had clearly been heard in the place where the squadrons were standing, as they turned around and began to walk toward one end of the room where the wall began to slowly be lowered.
Beyond that wall, as the landscape began to be revealed, Jonah took in a deep breath of air and inadvertently smiled.
All he saw was the stormy sky, but that was enough to let him know that he was near Angaria. He had been away for so long that even the fury of the Heavens felt like the anger of a lover who was throwing a tantrum, so forgetting himself for a moment, he just enjoyed the feeling.
That changed, though, when squad after squad began to fly out of the opening.
Known as warrior priests, they were dressed in sky blue armor that was unique to the regiment. It could only be owned by veterans who had gone through at least 10 wars of conquest, and so, they were the peak of the peak of the army of the Church who had both experience and power on their side.
Each of their power levels was so carefully calibrated that if two of them ever fought, it was guaranteed that there would be no victor. Unlike the armor of the captain which was made of individual parts, theirs was in the form of an almost liquidy metal that perfectly encased their entire body from head to toe.
Only their eyes were visible, and above this armor, they wore a cassock of the same color with a hood to hide the creepy sight of a face encapsulated in metal.
Jonah read the name of the regiment, and the same feeling of discomfort that had passed through him when he had first done so back in the Headquarters of the Church greeted him again.
'Endbringers', they were called, and he believed that it was an apt name that dictated the fate of most continents going up against them.
Each squadron had seven people. In the air, after exiting the ship, each one arranged itself in an assault formation which was certainly only the first of the many that Jonah would see today.
In every squadron, there was one warrior-priest whose robes were a deeper blue than the rest, and it was he who stood at the front while all of his fellow soldiers took up positions behind him and formed the shape of an arrowhead with him as the point. A few moments later, each of them did turn into an arrow that shot off with blinding speed, and so, it was almost as if the ship was a bow that was shooting them into the air.
Looking satisfied with the way they were being deployed, the Bishop raised her finger again and the image changed. Once again, the view from the highest point of the ship was in front of him, but seeing it, Jonah was puzzled.
There was naught but the air and the sky and the sea in front of them. They endlessly stretched forth, with nothing standing out no matter in which direction he looked, so with a confused expression, he began to follow the stream of arrows with his eyes.
He continued to watch them for a few seconds, but then… as if there was an invisible gigantic being in front of them with his mouth wide open, they all disappeared into thin air.
Furrowing his brow, Jonah tried to see whether they had activated some formation to hide their approach. However, raising her hand again, the Bishop changed the view once more, and that was when he understood what had happened.
The first wave…had entered the part of the Endless Sea around Angaria.
The view they were seeing was clearly from the rear of all the soldiers sent forth. Each of the arrows was piercing through everything that came in its way, and slowly, the pinprick that he knew was his homeland which was visible in the distance began to grow in size.
The Bishop hadn't bothered with him after the slap, but folding her hands below her breasts, she spoke now.
"Look at them. Each of them has undergone decades of training, honing themselves until they stood alone, at the peak, among all the others with their level of talent. Against such an organized enemy, what chance can a continent like yours have? Yet, your damn disciple has made me doubt everything I thought I knew. Well, he won't be able to hide his secrets for long… soon, we will know everything. Their scouting missions told them what we already knew: there is nothing we need to be concerned about besides the land, itself. The variation of spell casting that was created before to circumvent the natural pressure of the Will of the World still works, so they don't even have that to protect them. All of the soldiers have replenished the Energy reserves spent during the scouting in the ship, and they have even rested until they are in their peak form. By all accounts, the first wave should be enough… yes, nothing will go wrong. Nothing."
For the first time, he heard the Bishop doubting herself, but Jonah was too busy watching the forces of the church finally approach Angaria.
He had been dreading this since a long time ago, and now that it was finally here… he found himself holding his breath and waiting to see what would happen.
A minute was all they needed to reach within a few kilometers off the coast of Angaria. So far, they had not been challenged, but that was to be expected as fighting above the Sea would be disadvantageous to both of them.
The soldiers started to slow down now, and as Jonah continued to watch, he realized that the part of the shore they were aiming for was ironically the same place from which he had left Angaria.
It seemed empty now, and as he traced the familiar lines of the land that he remembered perfectly, he heard the Bishop let out a gasp beside him.
Turning to the other wall in the circular room which had been bare until now, she raised her finger and made a different image appear.
Jonah knew that the room that was being shown was inside the ship as the walls were made of the same material. Over 20 members of the Church were sitting around trinkets of all sorts that showed many images and numbers, and as they came into view, one of them rose and spoke quickly.
"The report has been corroborated by the others here, ma'am. There is a continent-wide formation present that managed to hide itself from the scouts. Only the advanced analysis capabilities of this ship managed to uncover it. Threat level of the continent has been raised, but it is within the worst-case projections, so no new forces are being deployed."
The Bishop nodded, but the set of her face made it obvious that she was definitely not pleased with this development. In fact, even Jonah was so shocked that he didn't know what to say.
Continent-wide formations were so difficult to create that even many continents on the Mainland did not possess them. He didn't know the exact level of the formation, but still, it was a feat that exposed the terrifying capabilities of Angaria that none of them had expected.
No change appeared over the soldiers, who were still slowly approaching the spot that had been marked for infiltration. Ignoring them, the Bishop began to walk around, but finally, as they came within a few hundred meters, she seemed to have made a decision.
"Change in plans. We will not be taking any chances despite our numbers. Initiate infiltration process 'TFT'."
The moment she was done speaking, all of the arrows sped up.
When they neared within a hundred meters(330 feet) of the shore, Jonah waited to see the first response that must surely be ready to meet the soldiers.
When it appeared, a happy smile almost came on his lips.
Four gigantic humanoid figures that were each at least 40 feet tall appeared on the shore, and all over their bodies, multiple attacks that were each capable of killing a Peak Hero were ready.
He recognized them right away. They were the Heroes of the Order that he had heard about, and his trust in his disciple had been maintained: he had somehow brought them together, and made them train to fight in a formation.
Their numbers were almost nothing compared to those of the first wave of the Church, but they had the home ground advantage.
The formation that had been mentioned before lit up in the sky. All over the skies of Angaria, orbs of yellow light began to form that shot toward the four figures on the shore after they coalesced.
Instantly, the power that he could feel from all four of them shot up to such a level that he couldn't believe it.
Already, things were not going according to the Bishop's plan, and this was visible from the way she was tightly holding the armrests of her chair. The data regarding Angaria they had had told them that they should be prepared for scattered groups of Heroes and Champions, but here, they were up against a cohesive force that was powerful enough to threaten them.
Jonah expected the battle to begin instantly. The arrows looked like they would soon attempt to pierce through each figure, and he hoped that they were all-powerful enough to withstand the barrage.
Only… the moment the arrows crossed the sea, they did something that shocked both the Heroes on the shore and Jonah.
Immediately grinding to a halt, all the squadrons fell to the beach together.
Their formation changed in a heartbeat, and seeing what they had transformed into, Jonah couldn't help but look between them and the Bishop.
"Like I said, no chances."
As she muttered this under her breath, he finally understood what she had meant.
Turning his gaze back to Angaria, he saw that the white, circular fort that had sprung to life on the shore was quickly being strengthened by all the soldiers of the Church.
In war, it was often said that those who could escape the expectations of their enemy were guaranteed to win.
It seemed that the Bishop was following this old adage, as instead of believing in the power of the Church and attacking to sweep away the enemies as was expected from her, she… had decided to do the opposite, and go on the defense.