บท 5: The Holy Trials 5
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
Ephesians 6:10-18
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The Holy Trials 5
A man with a somewhat high-pitched voice called out to Luke, "The Captain told us to gather in front of the meeting room.".
"Uhh? Again?!" Luke muttered to himself, with a slow, sleepy tone.
"Get the fuck up you moron! If you are late, everyone in the platoon will be punished!" yelled the first man rather heatedly, unwilling to suffer the consequences of Luke's actions.
"Alright, alright…"
"Fucking hell, quicker!"
After arriving at the sizable flat area in front of the meeting room, which was in truth just a bigger tent than the others, the pair took their positions next to the other soldiers. Tanya's settlement was located in the middle of a zombie-infested region at the frontlines of the Empire's attack. Because of the sheer number of corpses scattered around the old battlefield, the survivors were repeatedly assailed by these creatures every day and found it difficult to make any significant impact.
While the battle between the Empire and Albion had been lengthy and bloody, the true tragedy of the situation rested in the fact that most of the zombies were not even soldiers, but civilians. As soon as the Commonwealth realized that their long-time allies were about to lose to the militaristic might of the Empire despite their support, they set up multiple bases in the Francois Republic which resulted in its lands being used as an experimental ground by the Commonwealth.
They became aware that the Empire was setting its sights on its territory and believed they would not be able to stop it. In response to that, they unleashed the zombie virus which permanently changed the face of Europe. In addition to the destruction of the land of the Francois Republic, most of its citizens were transformed into abominations—abominations which, in return, drove The Empire back, regardless of its vast and powerful military forces. Now the Francois Republic was a no man's land, full of mutated zombies and other monsters that even Tanya dreaded encountering.
Afterward, Albion took a step further - contaminating every country in Europe from within. As a result of successful espionage, most major cities in Europe were now in ruins, and only a fool would dare to enter them. Although the virus was deadly and extremely rapid in its spread, it was successfully quarantined in the Empire - if you ignore the fact that the country lost over half of its territory due to the virus.
Several other European countries were not so fortunate and suffered the full brunt of the effects of this virulent biological weapon. While Albion could not have predicted the global catastrophe they wrought, considering that they had also experienced zombie outbreaks in their land— they seemed to be far more prepared for it than the victims of their plague, evidenced by the quick and successful steps they took to contain it.
All other entities in the world refused to deal with the Commonwealth politically, putting an embargo on its affairs. Everywhere, Albion spies were hunted down by local authorities and witch hunts were conducted for the people originating from Albion and their descendants.
The virus ravaged not only most of Albion's enemies, but also destroyed Albion themselves from the inside.
Her gaze hovered over the rest of the soldiers under her orders as she looked to see if anyone was missing. The fact that Tanya was a Captain was a testament to the fact that she was the most effective weapon against zombies—something that the higher-ups in the Empire's military council were not willing to waste by promoting her and putting her within the safety of the few cities remaining of their nation. As a result, she was one of the most famous figures in the empire, and by extension, the entire world. She was a thorn in the side of zombies, and her ability to channel Holy Energy had been an open secret ever since she had been commissioned as a Holy Knight by the head of the church.
It was because the Church had been ineffective against the zombies and had had to curb the bleeding of its power in some way, despite its immense power all over the world. Thanks to Tanya's reputation as a mage who could vaporize reanimated corpses thanks to her Holy Energy, her presence as a being who could make the zombies cower in fear - if that was possible - was an opportunity they couldn't pass up.
Tanya knew that the Church's reputation was entirely dependent on her efforts, so they had no choice but to bow to her wishes. And she abused that power in various ways.
Every soldier under her was thus inspired by her presence, for they met her gaze with a sense of pride and none of them were willing to contradict what the bodacious woman ordered.
"Men, today the Church, for the first time since the beginning of the end, several years ago, sent us a secret weapon. Someone that possesses the same power as mine," Tanya spoke, her modulated voice stunning the soldiers standing in front of her.
It was extremely difficult to verbalize their shock, but the general disbelief could be felt rippling throughout the battalion. The thousand people gathered here could hear her clear and loud, and the silence that followed her words was only punctuated by the croaks of birds and the gulps of a few soldiers.
"Having failed to assist us through the darkest days of the Empire, despite our unwavering loyalty to the Church, they finally thought it necessary to aid us in our fight against the abominations," she continued, raising the soldiers' emotions even as they kept them in check.
Saying that the Empire was simply dissatisfied with the Church's useless works, would downplay the general sentiment of the nation. There were rumors that Tanya was the only true follower of God, sent by the Lord to save the Empire, and how the Church was full of traitors and not fit to hold the power they possessed. Tanya and the Church may have many ties, but that fact did not change the fact that they simply watched Tanya dive on the battlefield, doing what they should have been doing.
Despite being a captain, she held an entire battalion under her command, which proved how valuable she was to the Empire.
Compared to that, the stumbling influence of the Church was a miserable sight.
"Therefore, I present you—Adam!" she declared, gesturing for the Church member to step up from the shadows and show himself. Adam realized from her words that trying to follow the religious administration was a bad idea, and he no longer was interested in doing so.
Compared to Tanya, the rightful figure of a half-angel who disguised herself as a normal, faithless human to help them through the catastrophe, the useless church appeared almost blasphemous.
So, Adam walked near Tanya, his posture copying hers, and looked over the gathered soldiers. A sad sigh exited his body as he looked through the thousand-strong group recognizing the complete lack of faith that the Empire members displayed towards the Lord.
While not all of them rejected God, the average level of faith was about 40%.
It wasn't at the point where Adam felt like he could trust them in battle. They were better than his world's civilians, but it was such a low bar that he decided that it wasn't anything noteworthy.
"My name is Adam," he said, curtly. "I am a member of the Church whose purpose is to eradicate the zombies and other vile creatures from this world."
Adam's introduction was short and went straight to the problem at hand. He had no intention to stay in this world much longer since he knew that he would be able to come back anytime he wanted. Through the killing of the evil reanimated corpses, his immediate goal was to become stronger, but he knew his long-term aim was to eliminate every last monstrosity, or at least to increase the chance of accomplishing it.
It was the Lord's will after all, and he would see it to completion.
Adam nodded upon seeing the soldier's motivation increase after his words, gratitude bursting from within at the Lord's gift, his Sacred Gear, providing him with the necessary information about the skill [Dungeon Dimension].
Regardless of their lack of belief in God, at least their will to eliminate the zombies deserved respect.
"Adam here possesses the same type of energy as me," said Tanya, letting it sink in. Compared to previously, the reaction of the soldiers wasn't as muted and several gasps of shock and understanding resonated in the settlement.
Since only the higher-ups were privy to certain secrets of the Church, Tanya was forced to tell them a part of the truth and of what she knew, none of the soldiers currently standing here truly understood Tanya's words. However, all that mattered for them was the fact that someone else would be able to unleash devastating power upon the zombies.
Tanya's constant vigilance and sheer power were the only reasons the battalion was able to make it through these cursed lands without too many casualties. Therefore, having someone else able to push through the waves of zombies was a gift given from the sky for the Empire, and more directly for these men.
"With his help, we should be able to successfully clear the large castle that has been our target for months now," Tanya trailed off, her voice rising just a little bit higher in an attempt to incite joy in her men, something that succeeded.
"By dividing our group into two parts, we should be able to deal with the entirety of the castle. I will lead the first group inside the south part of the castle, dealing with the more tenacious abominations while the other group, led by First Lieutenant Karl, will fight against the waves of enemies storming from the catacombs."
"This way, our group will not be swarmed by enemies the moment we step into the parts of the castle that we are targeting, and we will finally be able to unravel the secrets this place holds. Thanks to Adam, we will be able to be part of one of the most crucial victories against the plague that has devastated our lands!" shouted Tanya, making her soldiers cheer as the idea of being able to push back the virus appeared in their minds.
Adam internally had no idea what Tanya's plan was, but since she was an agent of the Lord, he would do his best to follow and purge the enemies.
"Details of the mission will be distributed today and we will depart at our earliest convenience, which means tomorrow morning, taking advantage of the fact that the zombies are not as active during the day as during the night," stated Tanya, the heated voice she took earlier disappearing as her cold persona once more settled over her feature.
"You are dismissed."
At her words, she turned around and returned to the meeting tent, where all of the more important people supervising the operation were situated. Adam followed her, having already met Tanya's most talented soldiers. The Empire, a nation that advertised itself as being one of the few countries putting talent over birthright, actively hunted down talent even before the cataclysm. Now, with the lack of population, and the lack of food that was slowly being corrected over the years with aggressive policies on provisioning and farming on the few remaining viable land still left in their hands, the nation was even more talent-hungry and had no patience for incompetence.
Because of this, all of Tanya's Lieutenants were the most talented in service of the nation, put under her because she was the only true game-changer of the Empire. Maybe putting all of their eggs in one basket was a bad bet in the case of something happening, but the truth was that without Tanya, none of them could individually make a huge difference on the frontlines.
Tanya by herself decided the path of the Empire. She was allowed a lot of things and given a lot of gifts for her work, effectively trumping most higher-ups' authority within the military council despite only being a Captain, so long as she kept fighting the hordes back.
Still, this whole situation somewhat confused Adam, not truly understanding Tanya's importance even after she told him. Without any explanation, Adam could not understand why the powerful military of the Empire would be so hard-pressed against the undead.
It was because the only maleficent creature he had met was a recently raised zombie and he possessed Holy Energy—that he used to easily cut down the flesh of the monster. Normal soldiers wouldn't be able to take down zombies even after putting bullets after bullets in their heads. The rest of the body was useless to hit anyway, and the zombies regrew entire body parts within days if left alone.
"Captain Tanya!" called one of her Lieutenant, the one that brought him before her from his prison cell.
"Lieutenant Kayle, what can I do for you," she responded calmly, her stern expression seemingly being a permanent feature of her face.
"The General sent us his instructions," curtly stated Lieutenant Kayle.
Tanya's expression changed so rapidly that Adam nearly missed it, but he could swear that it seemed like she was annoyed for a split second.
"I see, where are they right now?" she asked.
"They are in your office, Captain."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Kayle."
Tanya walked past the bowing man and Adam hesitated for only a moment before following her. Of course, he didn't miss the sideway glance Lieutenant Kayle gave him, but he paid no mind to the gestures of a heathen.
On the way to her office, Adam decided to ask some questions about some of the things that have been troubling him ever since he was informed of this situation, "That dependence on you… Are normal soldiers unable to take on zombies?"
"It's not the case," answered Tanya, looking surprised by the question. "Do you not know how hard it is for normal weaponry to get rid of even the weakest zombie? Did the Church not inform you of that?"
"No, I have never been in the situation where I had to fight against the undead previously, and no serious outbreak has been recorded in the last century. It's completely new to me, especially coming from a country off this continent. Most of the time, it's independent necromancers or worse, devils raising the dead."
Tanya abruptly paused, "Devils exists?" she asked, an incredulous gaze breaking her normally stern look.
"Yes, they do… They have been the natural enemy of the Church since the dawn of time," stated Adam, knowing that the half-angel Tanya maybe did not know about them due to the different world they were in. He felt like it was his job to give Tanya all the knowledge she maybe didn't have about the enemies of the Lord.
Meanwhile, Tanya's lips twitched, thinking about how Being X hid a few things from her.
'However, if Being X has enemies, that means that he is not as omnipotent as he claims to be and that I can subvert his authority if I ever get to meet one of those devils. The problem comes from the price of such an action…' pondered Tanya, her expression displaying the fact that she was in thoughts.
At the same time, Adam noticed it and thought how inspiring it was to see an agent of the Lord discovering the existence of God's foes. He thought that her general expression, the small smirk—barely visible—were telltale signs of her realizing that there were enemies to the Lord that she needed to slay. The same smirk that he himself sported when killing devils, a reaction that his late mentor praised.
Adam felt like Tanya was truly one of his people.
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Beta: Darklord331 and Novaclysm
A/N:
So the misunderstanding gets worse and worse, but that's a given since it's Tanya, and they're going to go fight some zombies! After that, return to the main universe--DxD.
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