Chapter 184 – Guerrilla Warfare (3)

Guerrilla warfare.

It refers to irregular warfare without a fixed base, and urban guerrilla warfare specifically involves using the city’s buildings to wage small-scale skirmishes.

The purpose of guerrilla warfare, which utilizes terrain and buildings to scatter the enemy, includes instilling fear, launching surprise attacks, and, most importantly, preventing the enemy from leveraging their numerical advantage.

The former hero party we were fighting against wasn’t a large force, but I knew well that when they were together, they could exert several times the power they had individually.

‘I had seen it firsthand when they were alive.’

The Saintess blocked the miasma with her divine power, the mage cast shields on the party members, and they swept away the skeletons with area-of-effect attacks.

The two knights, wielding swords imbued with divine power, dealt with elite undead, and together with the hero, they fought the minions of the Demon Lord. They truly resembled the hero party from the stories.

Even in death, it seemed to be the same.

Though their mana and divine power had been replaced by miasma, the combat power of the former hero party was far superior to when they were alone.

The Lich continuously created shields with endless miasma, swept through the surroundings, and the Death Knights became several times more resilient as they attacked the enemy.

Moreover, I had heard that the Death Saintess had even used miasma to resurrect the Demon Lord, whose head had been severed.

Since she had reattached the Demon Lord’s head, it was clear that even if I cut down the Death Knights with my sword, she would resurrect them again.

If I didn’t want to experience their endless resurrection, I had to separate them.

Using buildings and terrain, or the right bait.

Using information they didn’t know.

I had learned about them from the hero who attacked Pyongyang, but they didn’t know about us.

Since they had already seen the hero and the Saintess, they probably thought of us as an ordinary party.

They wouldn’t refuse the bait that would make them fight separately.

But even so, I couldn’t be sure we would win.

Honestly, I couldn’t be certain we would win either.

But still, as a knight, I couldn’t run away and leave the people behind.

“Would I have run away before?”

I jumped down from the building and smiled bitterly.

Truth be told, during my time as a free knight, I did a lot of mercenary-like work and was even called a knight who only cared about money. Back then, I might have run away.

“But they moved as I expected.”

As anticipated, the enemy was an ordinary (?) undead who didn’t understand strategy.

If they were mindless undead, they wouldn’t have fallen for it, but the gray-haired Saintess had human intelligence.

Seeing her eyes, which looked at me just as they did when she was alive, I knew the hastily devised plan was a great success.

The enemies were divided, and now, all we had to do was each fulfill our roles.

While Zahina held off the Lich, and Hofmann and Yerim captured the Death Saintess, I would turn the two knights back to dust.

It was a dangerous plan if even one of us failed, but I trusted our party members.

And I trusted my own grown strength.

As a Sword Master, I could handle the two Death Knights created from the former hero party.

As I landed on the ground, I raised my sword.

In front of me stood the two knights I had once respected, now undead, waiting for me.

* * *

When I began my battle with the two knights, Yerim was waiting for the Death Saintess in a parking lot in front of a building.

“Will it really go as the knight said?”

If his words were true, just as Zahina and the Lich were fighting in the sky, Hofmann would lure the Death Saintess here.

Of course, Knight Egar had also explained other methods to everyone in case this plan failed.

Abandoning the gate and luring her to a safe zone to fight together.

And even abandoning the safe zone and the gate to flee.

But Yerim didn’t like either of those options.

In both cases, the people in the safe zone would inevitably die.

“Please let it succeed.”

If it did, she would have to fight the undead Saintess, but that was better than all the apprentice knights and priests in the safe zone dying.

A moment later, Yerim glanced at the rooftop of the building behind her and steeled herself.

From the front, a pure miasma was approaching.

Knight Egar’s plan had succeeded.

As the miasma drew closer, Yerim, feeling tense, recalled what Knight Egar had said earlier.

In his hurried explanation of the plan, he had mentioned something unexpected: guerrilla warfare.

Even Yerim, who knew little about military strategy, had heard of it from war movies.

“Originally, guerrilla warfare is a last resort for the weak against the strong. Naturally, it’s hard to win, and most of the time, it ends with just harassing the enemy.”

Contrary to Knight Egar’s words, in the movies Yerim had seen, the enemy eventually left due to political reasons after being continuously harassed by guerrilla tactics.

Of course, that enemy was America, and there was no way the Demon Lord’s army would leave because of something like a peace protest.

“But with a few additional conditions, even the weak’s guerrilla strategy can become a winning strategy.”

Knight Egar’s eyes sparkled as he continued, making Yerim tilt her head in confusion.

“Those conditions are local support and external aid.”

“But there’s no external aid, and the locals are all on their side. In fact, almost all the remaining locals are zombies.”

Yerim immediately countered the knight’s words.

It would take time for the gate to open, and even if it did, there was no guarantee that reinforcements would arrive immediately.

Moreover, local support? Almost all the remaining locals were zombies.

“You’re right, there’s no one left. But this land isn’t Ea, it’s Earth. It’s neither our world nor the Demon Lord’s world.”

Recalling Knight Egar’s final words, Yerim turned to look behind her again.

“On this Earth, there are others who can help besides people.”

Above the building, a cross looked down upon her.

“How annoying.”

The Death Saintess, the undead who had been called the holy Alina in life, frowned at the arrows flying toward her.

The arrows shattered upon contact with the miasma she spread around, but the divine power within them irritated her.

It was a divine power she had never seen before, which piqued her curiosity, but it was still divine power.

For her, who lived on miasma, it felt like being constantly pricked by tiny needles.

Irritation and curiosity.

That was what had driven her to move alone to this place.

Of course, the fact that she sensed no other mana or divine power nearby was the biggest reason.

Confident that there was no danger, she had moved alone.

A moment later, the Death Saintess realized her assumption was correct.

In front of a building that resembled those from Ea rather than the rectangular buildings of this world, a woman stood alone.

The divine power she sensed wasn’t insignificant, but it wasn’t on the level of a Saintess either.

Perhaps a priest in charge of a parish, or at best, a bishop of a small city?

“But judging by her appearance and clothes, she seems to be from this world. How strange. Do people from this world awaken as priests too?”

The woman before her wasn’t wearing priestly robes; in fact, she was dressed like the undead the Saintess led around.

Sturdy blue pants, a long-sleeved shirt underneath, and a thick coat with a design on it.

In truth, Yerim’s coat was a school jacket, but the Death Saintess had no way of knowing that.

To her, it was just clothing from this world.

In any case, the moment she saw Yerim, the Saintess’s curiosity was satisfied.

If she was from this world, it was only natural that her divine power felt unfamiliar.

Although there were only traces of destruction, all the religions in this world were ones she had never seen before.

However, instead of satisfying her curiosity, she felt deeply disappointed.

If she was an awakened from this world, then her divine power wasn’t cultivated through ancient faith but gained through awakening.

It was impressive that she had attained this level of divine power through awakening, but most of the Saintess’s curiosity had now vanished.

She had thought it might be a new divine power capable of stopping the Demon Lord, but the woman before her was just an ordinary awakened.

Now, no more arrows flew toward her.

While she was observing Yerim, the archer who had been hiding and shooting arrows had disappeared.

It was strange for an archer to have such a significant amount of mana, but to suddenly hide like this…

“Was she a drug addict?”

If the effects of the drug had worn off and she couldn’t be found, the Saintess didn’t need to worry.

By now, she was probably rolling around in the agony of hell.

Or perhaps passed out from a potion.

In any case, the hidden archer was no longer a concern.

She had been a nuisance, but not someone who could harm the Saintess.

Moreover, the reason she had been lured here had now appeared, so there was no need to pay attention to her.

The Death Saintess stood before the priest from another world who was waiting for her and smiled.

“Why are you waiting here alone? Did the others abandon you?”

She wondered if the priest might not understand her, but the otherworldly priest understood the Death Saintess’s words.

“No.”

As Yerim shook her head, the Saintess tilted hers in confusion.

“Then do they trust you? Even with such a difference in power?”

As she spoke, the Death Saintess began to emit miasma.

Black streams spread in all directions, darkening the area.

Yerim, standing before her, couldn’t avoid the force.

Her divine power was pushed back, barely maintaining a shield around her, and Yerim’s face turned pale from the excessive use of divine power.

But Yerim didn’t stop answering.

“Do you really predict outcomes based on power alone?”

At Yerim’s retort, the Saintess chuckled.

“Isn’t that how it is? Oh, right. When I was alive, I didn’t think that way either. Is it faith then? Are you, who gained divine power through awakening, talking about faith?”

To Yerim, her laughter seemed incredibly sad.

But the Saintess didn’t seem to realize what expression she was making.

“Let me, your senior, tell you something. Divine power can’t be cultivated by faith alone. Faith must be honed and polished continuously to grow divine power.”

She spoke as if revealing a secret to a junior, explaining patiently to Yerim.

“Priests and temples might keep it a secret, but in truth, divine power isn’t much different from mana. It’s just a slightly different form of mana granted by the gods. Once a connection with the gods is established through faith, cultivating it requires training, just like mana.”

Finally, she looked at Yerim and wagged her finger.

“Of course, Saintesses and heroes are a bit different.”

“So, in the end, I can’t stand against you?”

At Yerim’s words, the Saintess smiled again. This time, it was a pure, bright smile.

But her words were cruel, contrary to her smile.

“Yes, that’s right. Consider it a gift to you, who possesses a divine power I’ve never seen before. It would be a shame for you to die without knowing anything.”

Yerim nodded at her words.

Indeed, her divine power couldn’t withstand the miasma of the former Saintess.

Though she had fought alongside the Demon Lord, she had still defeated the new hero party.

Yerim, who had once been called a prospective Saintess, was no match for her.

That would have been the case, if this were not this world, this land.

But here in South Korea, the story was different.

She was still an inexperienced priest, but this world was her world.

Her faith, her religion, had taken root in this land.

Countless temples were established in this city.

There weren’t many priests with proper faith, and most followers attended church merely for their own wishes, but Ea was no different.

Moreover, the temples in this land each held at least one holy relic.

Though each relic wasn’t particularly powerful, they were weak relics that had received the prayers of the faithful.

But these relics were scattered throughout the city, as numerous as the temples.

Instead of emitting divine power, Yerim prayed in her heart.

To become one with the city’s relics.

For the city’s relics to lend her their power.

Having done it once before in Daejeon, she could easily connect with the relics.

Boom!

As if a god had descended upon the city, a massive surge of divine power gathered toward Yerim.

Simultaneously, the relics glowed and rose into the air.

Hundreds of red crosses floated into the sky.