Chapter 46 - Unholy War - Part 11 - The End Of The War

The spear hit Athena's shield, pierced the metal, and Athena thought that was enough for a test of strength.

"[Erase]" Athena said and all that power disappeared like it was a lie. "Wow! That's too much power to be in a little church..."

The people around her were looking at Athena as if they saw a ghost, amazed and incredulous at what they had just seen.

Serien and the Valkyries had their mouths open as if they had dislocated their jaws and Arladele had a stunned furious expression.

Athena looked around and all she had was dirt churned with blood and the corpses of soldiers wearing white armor.

The woman looked at Arladele with contempt for him killing his own soldiers as if it were nothing.

Athena took the white spear attached to what was once her shield and examined the weapon. She could feel a power almost like Death's presence in it and looked again at Arladele.

"I'll keep this." Athena said, but it was only audible to those close by.

When Arladele saw his weapon disappear into thin air, the man drew his sword and advanced at a heavy run.

Athena smiled. "Back off!!" She screamed.

Mercenaries and soldiers who had already left the city were confused when they heard the order and Lobana from the wall scolded them.

"Your queen has ordered you to retreat, obey!"

Athena smiled at Lobana, who didn't see the smile, and ran with her sword in her hand towards the man who ran like an enraged ogre.

The temple soldiers, seeing the enemy retreat, advanced as if their lives depended on it, and then a shock wave of energy occurred when Athena and Arladele met halfway.

"Return my sacred treasure!" Arladele demanded. His voice was both low and squeaky.

"I don't think so! You going to die anyaway." Athena said in a hearty laugh. "[Eradication]"

Arladele felt something bad coming from Athena and then he saw that around them, in a circle where there were soldiers and a plain, had become a lake of white sand.

"Huh? H-how?" Athena looked at the man with disbelief just as the man looked at her.

Around Arladele was a clear yellow bubble that seemed to be resisting something trying to crush it.

"Heh..." Athena laughed as she realized what was going on. (The armor is probably made of the same thing as that spear.)

"I don't know what unholy power you used, but it seems to have no effect on me." Arladele said, full of self-concept.

"Let's see then." Athena said while crossing her arms and then speaking in a powerful voice. "[Eradication]"

The air vibrated again and this time Arladele's bubble screamed a sharp sound of metal being dented and soldiers who were stepping on the sand circle disappeared and the amount of sand in the place increased.

"Can it handle a third? With how much I've killed today, I can use it three more times without too much trouble." Athena bluffed, at best she could use it one more time.

Arladele sweated cold as he felt the overwhelming energy trying to hit him as if he were her only target.

He felt he needed to get out of there, took a step back and then several cracks quickly spread through the bubble.

"No one escapes Death." Athena laughed at her own joke as she watched the bubble that protected Arladele break and the man disappear into a mound of sand. "Ah! I forgot to ask his name... Tsk! Screw it."

There had nothing scarier than Athena on that battlefield.

The temple soldiers made way for the woman, unwilling to fight this beautiful woman who now had a terrifying presence even to the other Divine Swords.

But this did not mean that the war was over, they ignored Athena and advanced against Basilica's soldiers.

The Valkyries fought with skill and ferocity and the soldiers, knights and mercenaries were not far behind.

The war only ended when one of the sides gave up or lost their leaders.

What few soldiers in the temple army knew was that the leader and queen of Basilica had already advanced beyond their lines and faced their leaders now.

"Valkyrie, retreat to the ship! Let's use the cannons!" Lobana said and Sahari and Hale covered the back of the others. (Looks like this war is going to be easier than I thought.)

The terror of the religious was just beginning.

At the enemy base, Athena was surrounded by other Divine Swords, nine to be exact, as she faced the temple leaders.

Poston and his bishops trembled with twisted expressions of fear as Athena smiled gently as a sinister aura covered her body.

"You…" Athena looked at the Divine Swords. "Disappear or I will kill everyone here."

"How can you speak like that with the swords of the goddess Lhia?" Poston scolded Athena and shivered again when Athena looked at him.

"I came here to talk." Athena said without look at him and then beyond the men, Athena saw the Glory of the Goddess move, she laughed and look back to Poston. "You even have until the cannon blasts to decide if it's going to be surrender or death."

"Surrender?" Poston questioned indignantly. "We will not surrender!"

"I thought you were smarter..."

"Just because you have a strange power and managed to kill Arladele, that doesn't mean we'll lose. We've come too far to give up now!"

"So it's decided? You still have time." Athena asked and smiled as she got the name of the man she had killed. (So ​​his name was Arladele...)

"Swords, kill that unholy bitch!" Poston ordered.

At once the men and women drew their golden-bladed swords and hacked at Athena, who dodged by jumping into the air.

Athena looked at the mana of the Divine Swords and saw that she had no chance to fight and win with the remaining mana she had and would have to finish it quickly and then Gloria's cannons exploded in unison.

Athena smiled, activated [Eradication] without being heard and saw everyone in that place turn to sand except for the Divine Swords who had the bubble around them like Arladele.

"If I were you, I wouldn't move too much. You know? Arladele moved and... Well, you know what happened." Athena said grimacing and signaling with her hand, her neck being cut.

Athena turned to the battlefield that rained fire from the sky and explosions happened there and here with the use of spells and skills and then she looked at the soldiers that were left in the enemy base.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and blow the damn trumpet of your defeat!"

***

The battle started in the middle of the night, didn't last even an hour and ended.

However, the death toll was not something to be overlooked.

There were seven thousand troops in the temple army, but now it was just under four thousand.

The soldiers were just believers who had been persuaded to fight the war by faith and the goddess Lhia.

They were ordinary people who lived to support their families and pray to their goddess and not actual soldiers.

Of the seven thousand soldiers, two thousand were holy knights and clerics, who had their greatest casualties against Athena, and another fifteen hundred were soldiers of Basilica who chose faith over duty.

Athena sat on a improvised throne and saw all these people unarmed from above the city wall.

"What are we going to do with them?" Lobana asked.

"There's not enough space in the dungeons and prisons..." Serien said.

"I have a skill that I've never tried before..." Athena said, her voice uninterested. "Have them dig their graves."

Lobana looked at Athena with amazement and Serien with dread.

Lobana understood what Athena was trying to say. She had seen many war outcomes in her mercenary career.

The losing side was the sinner to be punished and in the case of rebels, it was almost always death.

However, Serien saw the end of just one war and the most the empire demanded was that Serien heal his soldiers as well.

"They surrendered, your majesty." Serien said in a shaky voice.

"No. We made them surrender." Athena replied. "They are a danger to the kingdom and as you said, there is no room to imprison them all."

"But your majesty, they are for the most part low-ranking members of the temple and commoners. Those people down there are only ordered around."

"I'm sorry to tell you that as of today there is no more temple of light." Athena said as she got up. "Order them to dig their graves and those who don't, tie them up and torture them. Lobana, come with me for a bit? I need to ask you something."

Athena and Lobana talked for a while, Serien looked at those people with a heavy look and with a hurt heart.

***

At noon that day, on the left side of Basilian's main road, thousands of graves were open with their residents standing beside them.

A crowd had come to see the execution of the thousands of rebels, which Athena decided to execute even after Serien suggested slavery.

It didn't take long, it was a matter of seconds, when Athena ordered them to stand at the foot of the graves and when everyone was in place, it happened.

Athena didn't say a word whether as a speech of the motive for the execution or presented herself to the people, it wasn't necessary.

She simply reached out over the damned, channeling mana to each of them and when she felt everyone was within her reach, she used the skill in a flat, cold voice.

"[Harvest]"

In seconds, one after another, the condemned fell backwards into their graves, whitened and lifeless, while their souls were visibly and darkly ripped from their bodies.

The souls traveled from their bodies in a line to Athena's palm and formed a white ball of energy that seemed to struggle to escape.

"With that, the execution is complete." Athena said and then, as if she were mesmerized, she took the souls to her mouth and sucked them one by one.

The people there. Mercenaries, citizens, soldiers and knights felt an icy chill and a shiver on their skin.

That was fear.

The vision of a beautiful woman in an elegant black dress, devouring souls as a sound was heard, almost a lament, coming from each soul before it was devoured.

This war was as short as the battle that day, but it became famous to the four winds as the 'Unholy War' where the 'Queen of Death' ascended to the throne.