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Chapter 1044 - 1044 144 Withdrawal of Troops

1044: Chapter 144: Withdrawal of Troops 1044: Chapter 144: Withdrawal of Troops Above the Holy Mountain, the atmosphere at the Church Headquarters was oppressively suffocating.

As the direct responsible party for the worsening situation in the Central Continent, public opinion pressure was sweeping toward the Clergy overwhelmingly.

There was no way to shift the blame.

According to the internal task division within the Human Alliance, the Dwarf Kingdom was precisely under the jurisdiction of the Clergy, and they had actively taken on this task.

The Clergy’s active performance was, apart from taking the opportunity to weaken the Kingdom of Rusenia, mainly for expanding the influence of the Clergy.

If a religious organization lacks presence, it’s truly terrifying.

Especially since a rebel had arisen in each of the North and South continents constantly aiming to overturn their sacred status, the Clergy needed even more to assert their presence.

However, from the current situation, things were somewhat contrary to their wishes.

Through this war, the Clergy’s influence had indeed expanded, and the declining Kingdom of Rusenia had been infiltrated by them like a sieve.

Unfortunately, an unexpected event occurred in the Dwarf Kingdom, not following the set script, which ruined the great situation for the Clergy in an instant.

Had they not overly trusted their allies and neglected the enemies at the rear, allowing the Dwarf Kingdom to take advantage through the vacuum, the situation in the Central Continent wouldn’t have deteriorated to the brink of collapse so suddenly.

Having suffered such a big loss, the countries of the Central Continent naturally would not let the matter rest.

Unable to tackle the Clergy directly, they retaliated through public opinion.

Regardless of the final outcome, with such a significant oversight, the Clergy had to provide everyone with an explanation.

As a result, the new round of the Human Alliance Council directly turned into a criticism conference targeting the Clergy.

Representatives from various countries seized them for a harsh scolding, nearly depressing the representatives of the Clergy.

The more polite representatives harshly criticized them for “indulging Different Races to damage the Human Race”; the less polite representatives directly accused them of “colluding with Different Races to eliminate dissidents.”

Lord of the Dawn, in the issue of the worsening situation in the Central Continent, they at most had the suspicion of indulging Different Races, definitely not to the extent of “colluding with Different Races to eliminate dissidents.”

After all, from any aspect, none of the countries of the Central Continent could be considered mortal enemies of the Clergy.

Even if there were indeed collusion with Different Races and elimination of dissidents, it should be aimed at the Kingdom of Alpha and the Frank Kingdom, two heretical members.

“Captain Gulay, I need a reasonable explanation for the Dwarf Kingdom deploying troops to invade the Central Continent!”

The words of Shelter VII made everyone’s heart shudder.

Hastily recalling the Commander in Chief from the frontline, anyone with clear eyes knew that this was aiming at accountability.

If it were a direct scolding or even a burst of swearing, it would mean there was still room for remediation, but the most feared were these kinds of non-statements.

“Your Majesty, this incident was completely an accident.

The military forces of the Dwarf Kingdom were all held by us on the front line; no one expected them to form dozens of second-tier regiments…”

Gulay hadn’t finished his explanation when Shelter VII’s face broke into a mocking smile, coldly interrogating:

“Nice, ‘no one expected,’ how about you go to the Human Alliance Council in front of the representatives of various countries and explain the matter clearly?

Dozens of second-tier regiments, equating to hundreds of thousands within The Hundred Thousand Army, aren’t just dozens or hundreds of Dwarfs.

And you, the front-line regiment commander, are telling me you didn’t know!

Very well, excellent!

If those troops were not heading for the Central Continent but instead appeared directly on the battlefield in the Kingdom of Rusenia, would you also tell me—no one expected it beforehand?”

The movement of large troops is very hard to keep completely secret.

This kind of matter isn’t about thinking; as long as more scouts are deployed, something would definitely be discovered.

The Clergy is not without an Air Force, no matter how tightly the enemy guards, it’s impossible to block the entire border.

Just find an opportunity and you could fly over.

If really not possible, one could sneak in under the cover of night.

The Dwarf Kingdom might just have tight frontline defenses; the rear does not have so much Air Force protection.

By being a bit more diligent, one could have noticed the irregularities.

Even if the intelligence was somewhat delayed, everyone could accept that.

However, the reality was that the Clergy knew nothing about the military movements happening in the Dwarf Kingdom.

If the enemy truly had targeted the Kingdom of Rusenia, with hundreds of thousands of enemy troops suddenly appearing, the Clergy-led Allied Forces would have inevitably suffered a great loss.

No matter how sufficient the reasons, the crime of dereliction of duty, Gulay couldn’t escape this time.

It would be good if he could salvage the situation, but if he couldn’t pull the Central Continent back from the abyss, the tragedy wouldn’t just be Gulay personally; the entire Clergy would suffer a political blow.

“Your Majesty, please give us a chance to remedy this!

Since the situation in the Central Continent worsened, the Arbitration Knights have launched a fierce attack on the front lines, striving to defeat the Dwarf Kingdom in the shortest time.

The worsening situation is only temporary, once we can defeat the main forces of the Dwarf Kingdom, we will immediately march into the Central Continent to support the various countries, help…”

Before Gulay could finish, his old adversary, the Leader of the Judgement Knights, Blake, stood up and interrupted:

“Anyone can talk big, what matters is the performance on the battlefield.

The Dwarf Kingdom, if it were so easy to defeat, this war wouldn’t have dragged on to this point.

If a mistake is made, admit it!

Stubbornly resisting to the end will only lead to more mistakes.

From the current situation, it’s likely that before we defeat the Dwarf Kingdom, the situation in the Central Continent will collapse first.

The urgent priority now isn’t to quickly defeat the Dwarf Kingdom, but to first stabilize the countries of the Central Continent.