Polly sprinted forward at full speed when she suddenly froze in place. She coughed up a mouthful of blood as though she had been struck by an invisible force. The instant a Lord died, every Divine Chosen bound to them would sense it immediately and suffer severe mental backlash.

"So Richard really is dead. What an idiot."

Wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, Polly let out a mocking chuckle.

"If he weren’t such a fool, he never would have worked with us in the first place. It took so much effort to secure such a useful pawn. What a waste."

"My mind took quite a hit as well. I’ll need some time to recover."

Casting aside the distracting thoughts, Polly continued on her way.

Meanwhile, after searching without finding any trace of her, Phield and the others had no choice but to return to the fortress.

As soon as they approached the southern gate, waves of chanting erupted from the rebel camp outside.

"Blood Sacrifice to the True God!"

The priests were whipping the soldiers into a frenzy.

"It looks like the third assault isn’t far away."

Phield let out a long breath and climbed onto the city wall. Beyond the fortress, the rebel encampments stretched endlessly across the land until they disappeared beyond the horizon. Countless soldiers were being assembled by their officers.

The formation of the undead army had taken shape once again. Clover had gathered vast numbers of corpses from corrupted cities and villages to replenish the previous losses. Even so, the undead force had only recovered to around twenty three thousand. The newly created undead were also far weaker than the ones they had before.

What troubled Phield the most were the four massive trebuchets and the countless ballistae that continued bombarding the fortress’s defensive structures.

"At least they don’t have cannons."

Phield muttered to himself. It would be utterly humiliating for a transmigrator to be blown apart by artillery.

"Hmm..."

The pillar of golden light rising behind him suddenly began to fluctuate violently. Countless pale violet and golden specks drifted through the sky before converging into the beam like a brilliant sea of stars.

Phield’s vision blurred for a moment. The minimap in his mind slowly unfolded once more, and the haze that had clouded his thoughts over the past several days gradually faded away.

"Phew... It looks like the birth of the Divine Chosen of Destruction has entered its next stage. Thank goodness my minimap is back. It felt so strange without it."

With a relaxed stretch of his shoulders, Phield drew the longsword at his waist and carefully inspected it.

It had become a habit of his to check his weapon whenever he had the chance.

The dramatic change above the fortress naturally caught the attention of the Shadow World Sect’s upper ranks as well.

Larson narrowed his eyes and reached toward the pillar of light with one hand.

"Do you see that beam? The Divine Chosen of Destruction will be born very soon. She should belong to me. Such overwhelming power deserves someone with the character to control it."

"But... it may not necessarily be the Divine Chosen of Destruction."

Veronica looked distinctly unhappy as she secretly glanced at her own Lord.

"We’ll know once we get inside."

Aurora of the Church stood there in her nun’s habit. Her full figure radiated mature charm that was impossible to ignore.

Tilting her head with amusement, she rubbed her chest.

"Of course, that’s assuming we can actually break in. When I came to support you before, one of their ballista bolts struck my chest. It hurt so much. Look."

After everyone had shamelessly admired the sight, the meeting continued.

"We must capture the fortress as quickly as possible, no matter the cost. The Imperial noble armies and the royal forces have already gathered nearby. The grand noble coalition of Rick Province has engaged another one of our main armies. Fortunately, the Four Knights have managed to hold them back."

Larson clicked his tongue in frustration.

"Our luck has been terrible. None of our previous experiments succeeded despite having no interference. Now that this one has finally worked, someone else wants to steal the results."

"Isn’t that because Polly and Jamie are complete idiots? They neglected their duties and lost such an important city."

Sistina rolled her eyes elegantly.

"You could lock two hundred pigs inside that fortress and they’d probably hold out longer."

"If I remember correctly, you didn’t accomplish much either."

The woman holding a noble rapier burst into laughter.

"You were so frightened that you ran away. Once I reach Tier Three, I’ll be replacing you. Oh, and by the way, that fake dignified act of yours really makes quite a few of our superiors want to conquer you."

"Tomoe, I don’t think you’ll live long enough to see that day."

Sistina slowly drew her curved blade, her eyes filled with menace.

"Enough. This isn’t the time to shift blame or attack each other."

Larson impatiently adjusted his collar before raising his voice.

"Veronica, follow the usual plan. Use your Divine Skill to strike the city gate first. The rest of the Tier Two Divine Chosen will cover the siege engines. Once the gate is breached, Miss Mushai, lead the undead legion inside. We’ll provide support and cover for your advance."

"Oh... alright."

Mushai scratched her head. She wanted to offer a suggestion, but nothing came to mind, so she simply agreed.

"Wait, Sister Mushai."

The little undead girl, Clover, hugged her stuffed doll and looked at everyone with innocent, pitiful eyes.

"The backbone of our infantry has already been completely destroyed. Even though we’ve absorbed more undead, they’re all the weakest cannon fodder."

"Even if we force our way into the city, we won’t be able to crush the defenders. We’ll only waste the opportunity and drag the battle into a stalemate."

Clover looked so helpless and adorable that she resembled nothing more than a sweet little girl next door.

"It’s fine. My Divine Guard and heavy cavalry haven’t suffered any losses at all."

Completely missing Clover’s real concern, Mushai confidently jabbed her own chest with her thumb.

"As long as my heavy cavalry charges in, it doesn’t matter how many enemies there are. We’ll slaughter them all with ease. Besides, I’m unbeatable in single combat. Hahaha!"

"Uh..."

Clover nearly coughed up blood from frustration.

You idiot. If all of our core forces die, we’ll be the ones in danger!

"Speaking of which, we still have a Tier Three..."

Mushai was about to continue.

"Alright, alright. Big Sis, you’re talking nonsense again. Go get some rest."

Clover hurriedly pushed Mushai away while desperately signaling with her eyes.

Tilting her head in confusion, Mushai simply picked Clover up with one hand and swung her gently through the air.

"I think you’re the one who’s acting strange. Your eyes keep twitching like that. Are you feeling sick?"

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Sistina said,

"Enough. I’ll take the vanguard assault. Just break open the city gate. I’m not like a certain woman who only knows how to run her mouth and spew nonsense."

"There’s no need to worry too much. This battle is thirty thousand against fewer than three thousand. The advantage is clearly ours."

Larson proudly mounted his warhorse.

"And they probably don’t have any high ranking Divine Chosen either. There’s nothing to be concerned about. Speed up the mobilization. We’ll launch the assault by noon tomorrow."

By noon the following day, the Shadow World Sect’s massive army had fully assembled.

The deep sound of war horns echoed across the battlefield.

"Blood Sacrifice to the True God!"

"Blood Sacrifice to the True God!"

Countless rebels roared with fanatical madness.

Unlike the disposable cannon fodder from the previous two assaults, the soldiers standing in the front ranks this time were well equipped and powerfully built. They were clearly the elite forces of the rebellion.

"Kill even one enemy and you’ll earn the chance to receive the True God’s Baptism, along with gold and slaves!"

The priests shouted as they stirred the soldiers into an even greater frenzy.