Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 300 - 6: Then let All Gods come to vanquish me!

Laisa’s spellcasting was at its most efficient during the full moon night.

On the following night, it happened to be a bright moonlit night.

She used the Moon Stone to absorb certain powers from the moonlight, which she then amplified in Gwivelle.

Roman had excellent vision and could faintly see a very subtle glow on the surface of their bodies, like moonbeams.

Laisa’s performance also made Roman nod to himself as it seemed to increase Gwivelle’s spell effectiveness by about one-third.

Turning one acre of land into 1.3 acres, this efficiency was quite considerable.

After all, she was just a low-level witch.

Roman would see in the future if he could fish her out of the pond and elevate her level.

The stronger Laisa’s talent spells were, the better, preferably turning into universal magic.

Or rather, most universal magic started that way.

Witches possessed a relatively complete system of spells.

There were dozens of types of universal magic alone.

A middle-rank witch only needed to master a dozen or so universal spells.

These universal spells, at first, were the talent spells of certain witches.

Any system was built from nothing to something.

For instance, a witch awoke to find her talent spell was Spiritual Shock.

She tried to teach this spell to other witches but found that they did not have her powerful talent and had to lower the threshold for casting and refine the spell.

Eventually, it became universal magic.

For that awakening witch, Spiritual Shock was instinctive; she could use it by merely blinking, and its power was immense.

But other witches had to learn the Alpha Seal first, use handprints to improve their success rate, keep trying and failing, and slowly master it, until they could cast the spell without handprints and fully control the spell.

This was the heritage of civilization, the passing on of the torch.

Even if one day all the witches in Witch Forest died, the witches born in the future could slowly grow stronger if they had this knowledge.

But the Church Court saw it as taboo knowledge and sought to destroy it at all costs.

...

"Lord Roman, you probably still don’t know that there are evil witches lurking in your midst, yet the Holy Seat’s eyes penetrate everything. Your Highness, please assist us in our search operation. Once we find a witch, we will surely regard you as a Righteous Disciple. As well as a beneficiary of All Gods’ blessings."

The priest in front of him said so.

But Roman had no interest in this.

The Pope tried to negotiate with him, claiming he was oblivious, kept in the dark, and that as long as he handed over the witch, the River Valley King would be forgiven by All Gods, past grievances would be wiped out, and he would also gain a large sum of money.

And the status of a Righteous Disciple was also a special declaration.

In the Gods’ World, with this declaration, he could pass unobstructed everywhere, and the doors of churches and monasteries everywhere would open for him.

Roman sat lazily in his chair; he did not reply to the priest’s words but, seeing a figure pass by, called out, "Gwivelle, come here."

"Roman, what is it?" she walked over, and the River Valley King said to the priest.

The priest’s pupils contracted sharply, and his hand trembled as he pulled out the Purple Crystal from within his chest, seeing the flawless crystal’s interior manifesting a scene of clouds and mist, dazzling lights, as if countless hands were transforming.

Then, the Purple Crystal underwent new changes.

Laisa came over, and the Purple Crystal began to radiate silver light.

He looked at the scene before him, too shocked to speak.

The River Valley King picked up Gwivelle and placed her on his lap, kissed her cheek, and then turned to look at the priest, "Is she the witch you’re talking about?"

The priest staggered back two steps, almost falling on his backside.

At this moment, more footsteps were heard.

"Hey, what’s a missionary doing here?"

"Your Highness, I’m so scared."

"Are we not going to cause any trouble here?"

"He won’t burn us alive, will he?"

The witches, viewed as evil, terrifying, and demonic incarnations in the eyes of the priests, laughed and joked, half-surprised, half-mocking as they passed by him.

The priest’s mind buzzed for a moment, as though he had wandered into a den of devils.

"I will report this to the Holy Seat! I will report this to all the Believers!"

He exclaimed loudly,

"You will be punished by All Gods!"

"Then let All Gods come and punish me!"

The River Valley King sat boldly on his throne, his features rugged, his hair thick and spilling over his shoulders, his eyes fiery red. His movements were relaxed, his demeanor composed, like a newly matured male lion, exuding an aura of dominance and confidence. One hand rested on the armrest, while the other wrapped around the waist of a witch. She leaned obediently against him like a gentle doe, exuding an indescribable aura of command that took one’s breath away.

...

The early autumn of July.

A common season, also a convenient one for deploying troops.

Duke Gael Riptide and Pirate King Alex were making preparations for the final battle on the Northern Front. The former had suffered defeat again and again, his army routed multiple times, but reassembled, and now faced his last stand with the pirates. If he failed, Black Iron Land would lose the entire Northern battlefield, and the pirates could take advantage of this to press in on the heartland of Black Iron.

It was also at this time that many birds flew from the Monastery to the distant Holy City.

Several days later, more birds flew from the Holy City to the entire Gods World.

Like a stone dropped into a dark well, the ripples they created would not calm for a long time.

This was a great tremor in the Gods World.

An ennobled Black Iron King, a Lord Conqueror, blatantly sheltered evil witches, witches who brought chaos to the Holy City.

All Gods’ Guardians called the River Valley Guardian a "Blasphemer"!

All Believers believed that the young, arrogant King was courting his own destruction.

As Duke Riptide was preoccupied, as Fury tacitly allowed it, and as Oak watched with indifference, the entirety of the Gods World, after a century of stillness, began to mobilize.

All Believers believed that they would launch a Holy War, one for the history books.

To spread the glory of All Gods, to ultimately elevate divine authority to the highest position, and to have all those proud secular Nobles and Kings tremble and shiver, eventually kneeling before the brilliance of All Gods.

The Church Court and Nobles close to it organized an army of twenty thousand for a Holy War, to subdue Blasphemer Roman.

The first to strike the Blasphemer was not the regular Holy War Army.

It was a few priests from the outside world who, upon hearing the news, privately organized a rogue Believers army.

To fight for All Gods, they vowed to take the head of the Blasphemer!

For such fanatics, Roman also showed considerable respect.

He had the leader’s head chopped off and nearly three thousand captives taken, along with seventy to eighty decrepit boats—these people were so poor they clanked when they moved, and some boats even had a few skinny sheep on board, making one wonder if they were moving house or going to war.

"How dare they?" sighed Roman.

Was it that he could no longer wield a sword, or had these fools lost their minds?

After seeing their approximate situation, he did not attack them mid-crossing but waited for them all to land before ordering his troops to capture them.

Reportedly, this was not their entire number; several thousand more remained.

But without ships, they could not cross.

Roman found this regrettable.

Dealing with prisoners of war was not as simple as dealing with slaves.

Now, with food being scarce, slaves got two meals a day, but one meal a day was enough for prisoners of war.

Moreover, Roman could have them work in special occupations without the slightest guilt—for example, as miners and demolition workers in the mines, and those who did not cooperate were hanged.

By mid-July, the response from the Church Court could be considered swift.

Even so, the regular punitive army would not arrive until next month.