Translator: CinderTL
The Holy Army of the Church of Light suffered a devastating defeat on the plains of Socalo.
If it had merely been a rout, it would have been bad enough, but what they endured was no ordinary defeat—nearly all of the seventy thousand soldiers committed to the battle were annihilated.
In their effort to deploy every available force into the battle, the Holy Army had reduced their perimeter of vigilance around the battlefield. As a result, they failed to notice that the Gabellans had not only deployed troops to the front but had also sent forces to the left, right, and rear of the Holy Army, cutting off any escape routes for the collapsing enemy. The Battle of Socalo had been a trap from the very beginning, a plan the Gabellans had devised with absolute confidence in their victory.
The Gabellan Empire, or more precisely, the Arcane Order, had been plotting this war against the Church of Light for a very long time. Through both public and covert channels, the Arcane Order had never ceased its collection and study of information on the Church's military forces. They were intimately familiar with the Holy Army's organizational structure, combat methods, and even the personal temperaments of its commanders.
In particular, the Arcane Order had conducted extensive research on the Church's greatest trump card—the War Elephant Legion.
In earlier times, before the advent of standardized magical weapons like the Fire Crossbow and the Thunder Hammer, which could be deployed en masse on the battlefield, the abilities of mages were diverse and their skill levels uneven, making it difficult for them to function as a cohesive army. Lacking effective means of direct confrontation, the Arcane Order had once deeply feared these colossal beasts.
They concluded that the chances of victory were slim if they fought on the Church's territory, or even in the border regions of the empire. Thus, they devised a plan to lure the enemy deep into their own territory, exploiting the War Elephants' vulnerability to unfamiliar environments. This strategy also allowed them to weaken the power of the empire's old noble factions through a series of early defeats.
Thanks to Marianna's efforts, the Arcane Order acquired the Fire Crossbow and the Thunder Hammer. These weapons required only the infusion of magical energy to unleash attacks far more powerful than those of traditional weapons, effectively leveling the playing field among mages of varying abilities. Before this, due to the lack of a systematic tradition, most members of the spellcaster community were incapable of casting offensive spells. The Fire Crossbow and the Thunder Hammer finally gave value to those spellcasters who had previously only known a handful of useless spells, allowing them to take to the battlefield.
With these two weapons, the Arcane Order was finally able to establish a true army—the Fire Dragon Legion, a force composed entirely of spellcasters, a true army of mages.
However, the earlier plan of luring the enemy deep into their territory was still carried out, albeit with some modifications. The Fire Dragon Legion was given a spectacular debut.
The news of the Holy Army's annihilation spread like wildfire through the occupied territories. The once-proud vassal armies—those groups of believers and minor monarchs who had voluntarily come to serve the Church—were thrown into chaos akin to the apocalypse.
Their banners were taken down, and garrison commanders fled with their trusted aides, taking with them the sacred silverware from the warehouses, leaving the soldiers bewildered in the morning mist. On every road leading to the Holy City, discarded gilded armor and tattered banners could be seen, like a path of shattered faith paved by the remnants of a rout. Occasionally, straggling Church clergy were recognized by Gabellan civilians. These once-feared figures in white robes now became obvious targets for hurled stones.
Some of the occupying soldiers fell into a drunken stupor. They did not flee but instead locked themselves in their fortresses, guzzling the sacred wine from the cellars and tearing pages from the Holy Scriptures of Light to toss into the fire. A small number, however, began a final frenzy, setting fire to houses in the towns, even the churches, looting everything of value before burning it all down. But they often faced fierce resistance from the martial Gabellan populace—with the Holy Army annihilated, who would fear a pack of lackeys?
As for the former Gabellan lords who had surrendered, they were now busy tossing their Church-appointed commissions into the fire and sending messengers to reaffirm their loyalty to the emperor.
The destruction of the War Elephant Legion was like severing the central pillar of the Church, plunging this once-arrogant religious regime into unprecedented turmoil.
In the Church's long-standing propaganda, the Neos Jungle Elephant was a divine beast bestowed upon them by the Lord of Light, a being that transcended the mundane. Yet these sacred creatures had been utterly annihilated by the evil mages of Gabella.
Beneath the gilded dome of the Holy Cathedral, the voices of the cardinals echoed as they gathered in the sanctuary, shouting accusations and shifting blame. Some condemned the frontline commanders for sacrilege, others denounced the intelligence department for its failures, and still others pointed the finger directly at the Pope's decisions.
Despite the cardinals' efforts to suppress the news, rumors spread faster than any messenger. The loss of seventy thousand soldiers to Gabella was too significant to conceal, and it soon became the talk of the populace. In the streets of the Holy City, anxious believers noticed that the priests who had daily preached of "invincibility" now spoke of "trials sent by the Lord."
The stained-glass windows of the grand cathedral reflected the sparse candlelight, and the once-crowded square of pilgrims was now home only to circling crows. A terrifying rumor began to spread: if even the sacred War Elephants could fall to the "heretical" magic of Gabella, was the divine might of the Lord of Light truly as omnipotent as the scriptures claimed?
Not long after, an even greater shockwave hit—Emperor Antonio of Gabella announced the recognition of the legal status of spellcasters.
As the foremost power on the continent, and with its strategic location connecting east and west, Gabella's recognition of spellcasters' legal status had an immense impact, far surpassing that of the minor nations in the Horns Bay region.
The emperor's decree was like a boulder dropped into a calm lake, sending ripples of political upheaval across the continent, eventually forming wave after wave of massive change.
The Church of Light, fresh from its crushing defeat at the hands of the empire, was the first to issue a proclamation condemning this as "a godless act of collusion with dark forces." However, having lost the War Elephant Legion, the Church was unable to muster the strength to punish Gabella in the short term. They had a mountain of problems to deal with: the remnants of their forces still within the empire needed to be withdrawn—though few remained—and they had to begin preparations for the defense of their homeland. Who knew if the Gabellans would launch a counterattack?
Within Gabella, the emperor's decree had been disseminated. On a legal level, the spellcasters who had once hidden beneath cloaks could now step into the open. However, in most regions, spellcasters still needed to remain cautious, as the power of tradition was strong.
The areas near the imperial capital were the first to change. Already, mages could be seen in the marketplaces hawking alchemical potions, and children laughed and chased after the fire tricks conjured by mages. Anyone who dared to harass a spellcaster without cause would face punishment from the empire's enforcers.
As time passed, the presence of mages became increasingly common in more and more regions of Gabella.
(End of the Chapter)
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