"Your Holiness, there's good news, Grand General Julia has escaped and returned. The Empire still has a chance to rise again..." the herald said...
"Good news? Ten thousand Crusaders, plus thirty thousand Imperial knights, all lost? What's the point of him escaping back? Forty thousand! That's forty thousand troops, with thousands of them being Elite Level! Do you know that we are facing the threat of an additional forty thousand Undead Army on the other side? Even if they were forty thousand pigs, they couldn't have been defeated so quickly." The Female Pope's chest heaved with anger.
"On the other hand, at least it preserves Grand General Julia's Quasi-Legendary Level combat power..."
"Oh, thank heavens, he's a coward who only knows how to run. Twenty years ago, he fled with the army and betrayed the Grand General, and after decades, he still only knows how to run away? I suggest the Empire first choose a general who won't flee!"
The Female Pope seemed to chuckle in anger, "I've heard it said that within the current Imperial army, the saying goes, 'Whoever runs slower will be condemned beyond redemption.'
"Pope Alola, I'm here on behalf of the Empire to ask for reinforcements. We need only 1,000 Holy Knights this time, and we are confident we can hold off the Undead Army outside the Imperial Capital..."
"Get out!" the Female Pope shouted.
"Your Holiness, I represent the Empire, the will of the Great Emperor! You will regret this!" the herald argued.
"I am the Pope!"
With those words, the Holy Knights in the hall raised their warhammers, glaring angrily at the herald sent by the Empire.
Light flowed faintly on their warhammers, and the imposing presence of the two-meter-tall Holy Knights in heavy armor nearly suffocated him.
"You will regret this..." Terrified, the herald almost fell to his knees; he hurried away.
"Did I say you could remain standing?" the icy voice of Pope Alola sounded.
The herald dared not speak further, fearing he wouldn't make it out of the hall, he could only curl into a ball, muttering under his breath, "Fine, I'm leaving..."
"Your Holiness Pope Alola, the Empire is beyond saving. What should we do next?" asked a priest.
They could already tell the Empire's fate was sealed. Ever since the death of the previous Grand General, there was no one left in the Empire who could suppress the Undead calamity.
They could only let the Undead calamity ravage the Empire's borders, the defenses eroded step by step.
Now this great defeat only meant burying the already doomed Empire, even at the cost of sacrificing ten thousand Crusaders from the Church.
"Escape? Where else can we run to?" the Female Pope retorted.
The entire hall fell into complete silence.
"We have nowhere left to flee. Behind us is the sea, the endless sea that many thousands of warships have sacrificed to search for, but in vain!" the Female Pope shouted.
She had enough of this Empire. Since the former Pope's death twenty years ago, she, being the Saintess, took on the responsibility amidst this upheaval and managed this mess until now.
The Empire became worthless after the previous Grand General's death, with deserters becoming generals. There were no more valiant warriors in the Empire; each battle with the Undead Army was a race of who could run faster.
Whoever ran slower would bear the same infamy as the previous Grand General!
That event was purely a political struggle. Before that, the Empire had only three Legendary Level masters: the Imperial Palace Mage, the Pope, and the former Grand General Barak.
That was the period when the Empire was at its strongest. The three legends, even when facing the Witch Demon King who had caused undead calamities sweeping neighboring small countries, could keep it outside their borders, even having the strength to slay that Witch Demon King.
But a foolish political struggle ruined everything. The Empire was dissatisfied with Grand General Barak's Holy Knight origins; even though the Barak Family were old Imperial nobility, due to their questionable loyalty, the Empire deemed them absolutely untrustworthy.
In that political struggle, General Barak died and became an undead, and the Pope also perished, killed by General Barak.
The Empire claimed a decisive victory, weakening the power of the Church to the extreme, but at what cost?
Years later, when the Palace Mage also died of old age, the entire Empire had not one Legendary Level warrior!
The external Undead Army rolled over, swallowing 80% of the Empire's territory, with the Witch Demon King now the strongest being on the continent, the only Legendary level.
The Empire's demise, the Undead calamity! Utterly laughable!
"How far along is the purification of General Barak's undead?" the Female Pope asked the Bishop of the Inquisition Court seriously.
"Your Holiness, as of yesterday, it has been over 80% purified. At the current rate, it will take just four more years to complete the purification. We will then gain an eternally inheritable Holy Sword and Holy Spirit," said the Cardinal.
"Four years..." the Female Pope murmured softly.
There wasn't enough time, the Empire was like a dying camel, and the last straw had already broken, losing its last chance for resistance.
"Take me to the underground chamber. I will talk to General Barak," the Female Pope seemed to have made a decision.
"Wait, Your Holiness."
"You cannot, the General is still an undead."
"We cannot be certain if the General will attack you directly..."
"Enough, I am the Pope!" Alola's roar silenced all the bishops.
Indeed, they had no other solutions. They had already broken ties with the Empire, and with the Undead Army at their doorstep, there was nothing left to lose.
Given the circumstances, they could only hope that General Barak still cared for the Church and could rout the Undead Army.
Pope Alola panted ceaselessly, her chest heaving up and down.
She seemed to have made her final decision, even if it meant death, to release the now only Legendary Level warrior, Undead Barak.
She harbored a secret untold to everyone: by bloodline, she was the granddaughter of General Barak.
Her mother was the illegitimate daughter of the General, taken care of by Church friends, later marrying a gifted Holy Knight, and giving birth to her.
Twenty years ago, the Barak Family was massacred, leaving her line hidden and survived, a secret the previous Pope shared with her before his death.
Choosing her as the new Pope was due to this identity; for whoever could best wield that Demon Sword would be none other than a surviving member of the Barak Family.
The former Pope predicted, even with enormous resentment, General Barak would protect his only kin.
For, he had no other family left.
And in the future foresaw by the previous Pope using Great Prophecy Art, only that Demon Sword was the key to slaying the Witch Demon King and ending the Undead calamity.
All other futures were apocalyptic!
So he risked his life to seal General Barak, betting destiny on the future! Betting on that singular possibility to end the Undead calamity.
"Buzz..." The sudden earthquake shook everyone with shock.
Then, faces of the Inquisition Court members changed drastically, "Not good, it's the chamber sealing the Holy Sword! Damn, General Barak might have rioted."
But they had no time to check as a tremendous impact shattered the ground.
The earth cracked, buildings trembled.
A Skeleton Demon over five meters tall burst into the sky, hovering above the Great Cathedral. Its figure blocked the sunlight, its bony wings spread wide, resembling a demon from Hell.