Doomsday. Aside from that word, nothing else could describe the tragic scene before them.
The flames of war had swept through the core territories of the Goddess of Light Association, a region that had enjoyed peace and stability for centuries.
To these believers, the news of disasters breaking out in remote, distant regions had been nothing more than idle gossip or interesting tales to pass the time. Even the news of the appearance of alien monsters like the Great Devourer had been dismissed as mere rumors circulating through the cosmos.
But in just a few short months, the situation had completely reversed. The doomsday disaster that once seemed so far away had shattered their long-standing peace and struck them head-on.
Even the power of the Goddess, which had sheltered all living beings for ages, found it difficult to withstand this fierce and terrifying alien catastrophe. The war did not just spread to the frontier pioneering zones; many territories of similar or even greater strength were invaded and fell one after another.
Refugees evacuated by the order fled in all directions, their hearts filled with terror as they recounted the tragic reality of the monsters ravaging outer space.
“Stop them! Prohibit the spreading of these rumors! The Goddess will surely protect us! We ourselves must also defend our homeland and our hearths!” The high-ranking officials of the order did their best to suppress the spread of panic.
They repeatedly emphasized that only by remaining steadfast in their faith and fighting until the very last moment could they protect their foundation. Absolute faith was the very bedrock of their sacred civilization.
The holy power condensed and refined by the believers was the core energy source for the order’s high-end machinery and astral formulas. If their holy power—the source of their energy, combat ammunition, and primary tool for offense and defense—began to waver, the full-scale war they had spent so long preparing for would never even begin.
“The dead cannot return to the dust; their bodies and souls will be devoured by bloated, pitch-black monsters, becoming new Great Devourers.” Just as Elise had predicted and Celia had analyzed, the faith in the people’s hearts had begun to gradually collapse.
“The lights flickering in the heavens are the eyes of monsters; the pious prayers of the world will be heartlessly stolen, shattering all faith and hope. Heavy-armored Great Devourers crush the mountains, and toxic tail stingers flow with poisonous blood that corrodes the rivers. They swallow the power of thunder and spit out pitch-black shafts of light to ravage the land.”
A doomsday ballad that painted a picture of absolute despair began to circulate quietly. The refugees, filled with hopelessness, and the defeated soldiers who had narrowly survived bloody battles, felt fear deep in their marrow.
These Great Devourers, born for slaughter and predation, possessed hideous and terrifying forms that were enough to break the mental defenses of most people.
“Remember the path of the monsters; they never settle or take root. Instead, they devour entire planets, leaving behind nothing but scarred, empty husks. When doomsday falls upon a planet, even the moon in the night sky turns a ghastly red.”
Faith was collapsing, holy sanctuaries were being put to the torch, and even the name of the Goddess was becoming a mockery within the monsters’ shrieking songs. This folk ballad had now spread everywhere along with the conscription decree.
Listening to the report from Alvaro, the Captain of the Empyrean Star Guard, Archbishop Rabiel slammed his hand onto the desk in a rage. “Insolence! How dare they utter such blasphemous lies against the Goddess! We still have the strength to fight; this war will end in our victory!”
Meliodas watched the scene in silence, his heavy gaze fixed on the floor. Even the ordinary citizens of the home planet, Arcadia, were being conscripted into the army, donning armor and taking up weapons to head for the battlefield.
This war, which was supposed to be a solemn and holy war, had been shrouded in despair and fear long before it even officially began.
“How did it turn out like this... I was supposed to start school soon...” Inside a conscription point within Arcadia City, a group of still-youthful students huddled together in terror, forced to gather there.
Would they really be sent to the battlefield? Would they have to fight those vicious monsters? Leonel, who had been an ordinary student just a few days ago, was now one of these new recruits.
The order had conscripted every citizen within its borders who was capable of fighting. Those who could carry a gun were drafted into the army and sent to the front lines, while those skilled in labor or crafts were sent to workshops and munitions factories to rush the production of war supplies.
The paladins and priests who came to recruit them all claimed that this war was a holy war. They stated plainly that the battle was to defend the divine will, resist the invasion of alien monsters, and protect their homes. While their words were logical, the innate fear in everyone's hearts remained impossible to suppress.
Leonel clumsily put on his standard-issue armor and took his standard-issue firearm, his body unable to stop trembling slightly. Although a full-scale war had been declared, the Goddess of Light Association had historically rarely experienced such large-scale, all-encompassing conflicts.
The Goddess of Light rarely initiated large-scale wars directly, mostly following the examples of powers like Terra or Earth by quietly expanding her territory through factional competition. Consequently, the soldiers among her followers lacked actual combat experience, and their fighting methods were clumsy and immature.
Leonel had never received systematic military training before he was hurried along with his classmates to assemble at the Stargate passage leading to the front lines.
“I am Meliodas, the Southern Cross Legion Commander of the Empyrean Star Guard. From this moment on, I will lead you to the battlefield.” To Leonel, the only point of comfort was that the general leading them was the renowned and powerful Meliodas.
A glimmer of hope appeared in Leonel’s eyes. However, as their commander, Meliodas could only force down the turmoil in his own heart and feign composure as he looked at the recruits.
How could these young, green recruits possibly stand against those ferocious monsters? Could they even be considered qualified soldiers? Scenes of the tragic battles he had fought against the Great Devourers flashed through Meliodas’s mind.
Those living weapons, possessing incredible destructive power and not a shred of mercy, were difficult even for veteran paladins to handle. There was no emotion in their eyes, and they knew no pity; they were like agricultural tools designed to harvest souls, slaughtering living beings at will.
Facing such terrifying monsters, could this group of hastily assembled recruits with zero combat capability really hold the front-line positions? “I...”
Facing the recruits who had pinned their hopes on him, Meliodas ultimately could not bring himself to make a promise. He could not say that he would keep everyone safe or that they would successfully repel the monsters. “Fight with everything you have to survive. You must come back alive.”
Those were the only words of comfort he could offer. As his voice fell, the massive force conscripted from the home planet, Arcadia, quickly departed for the various battlefields where the fires of war were raging.
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