"Never thought I'd run into you under these circumstances, sir. What a... coincidence!" The Black Knight Caius, who was escorting military supplies to the front lines, looked at the Lava General before him with eyes full of wariness. "But why are you being hunted by the Church of War's Knight Order? If you can't give me a reasonable explanation, I'm afraid I can't trust you. After all, last time I saw you, you were trying to convert me, hoping I'd become a follower of the God of War!"

The Lava General gave a bitter smile and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a mass of gruesome wounds. "You should be able to tell—these are all the work of Church of War priests. And... I've lost the God of War's blessing. I can't use divine arts to heal myself."

Worried that the Black Knight Caius wouldn't believe him, he tried to invoke the War divine arts using his old techniques. However, the moment the divine arts were activated, before they could manifest any power, they dissipated completely.

Anyone with a good eye could see that the Lava General's movements were textbook perfect—a flawless execution of War priest divine arts, following proper procedure. The power should have manifested in the next instant, but instead it vanished.

This was a sign of rejection by the God of War.

He, the Southern Archbishop of the Church of War in the Kingdom of Dawn, had actually been kicked out by the God of War himself!

"What happened?" The Black Knight Caius frowned, his eyes full of disbelief. This was the first time he'd heard of such a thing. But he quickly adjusted his thinking.

This world was changing at breakneck speed. When he'd gone into the wilderness to hunt down a bandit legion for dozens of days, hadn't the world undergone massive changes while he was gone? When he'd left, a bunch of Magic Conductors had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, the Kingdom of Dawn had been invaded but counterattacked instead, some minor viscount became Finance Minister, and then there was that mysterious Magic Net... Recently, he'd witnessed so many impossibilities, seen so many dreamlike scenes. Against that backdrop, a Church of War archbishop getting excommunicated was actually pretty normal.

"I did something that went against the God of War," the Lava General said, taking a deep breath. "I thought the God of War blessed those who fought wars to protect others, wars they had no choice but to fight. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The God of War just wants war, just wants bloodshed, wants violence... I tried to stop the Missionary Knight Order's actions and got isolated, marginalized... I tried to stop the Knight Order from attacking my homeland, tried to protect a childhood friend... but in return, my war powers rapidly declined... In the end, I wasn't the kind of believer the God of War needed."

The Black Knight Caius looked shocked. Clearly, he hadn't expected this at all. After a moment of silence, he said, "So the Church of War wants to hunt you down?"

"No, I've been sabotaging their operations. I don't want to see the land I once fought to protect get plundered again. I've lost count of how many Knight Order soldiers I've killed, how many Missionary Knights, and even some bishops and priests. Anyone who plunders this land, I'll make sure they die..."

As the Lava General spoke, his anger seemed to ignite completely. By the end, he actually sounded terrifying. "So what if I don't have war powers?! I used to be the kingdom's strongest knight! Even without war powers, I can still stop and wreck most of their plans. What can they do? Nothing but gang up on me!"

Even though he was badly wounded, his defiant voice echoed through the convoy. Whether it was the Black Knight Caius or anyone else, in that moment they finally understood why this man was called the Lava General!

Turns out, during his years in the church, he'd been suppressing his hot-tempered personality and violent power the whole time. It seemed like he relied on war powers because his own abilities had declined and he needed divine arts to compensate. Little did anyone know, he simply didn't want to cause greater destruction. He just wanted to pursue his dream—to protect.

When his dream was shattered, he'd already become one of the most terrifying beings in this world!

"..." The Black Knight Caius didn't know what to say for a moment.

He'd originally wanted to test the waters. If the guy really had issues with the Church of War, he'd invite him to join the upcoming operation—might bring some good benefits. If he was faking it, he'd find a way to send him off. But now that things had developed this far, he didn't know what to do.

Should he invite him, or...

Maybe he should ask those people in the capital for their opinion?

The second the Black Knight Caius had that thought, he immediately shook his head, throwing that absurd idea out of his mind.

No way!

Those people in the capital would only consider things from a profit angle. They wouldn't care whether he and his men faced threats. Or rather, his risks were just part of their profit calculation. If he asked them, he'd get sold out without even knowing how...

BOOM—

BOOM—

BOOM—

Suddenly, thunderous sounds came from outside the convoy, followed by chaos and shouts of "Enemy attack!" echoing throughout.

The Black Knight Caius, who'd been agonizing just a second ago, immediately snapped back to attention and headed outside. The moment he emerged, he saw a huge mob of people charging at them—people without any armor, dressed in rags, but with bodies built to a bizarre degree. They were everywhere: from the hills, from the valleys, even from areas they'd just passed through.

The Black Knight Caius frowned deeply, his eyes full of disbelief. If these were nobles or knights, they couldn't possibly have no equipment. But if they weren't nobles or knights, how could they have such massive builds?!

In this era, forget about serfs and slaves—even freemen and relatively wealthy city residents would find it hard to develop bodies like that, right?!

At least in all his years of traveling, the Black Knight Caius had genuinely never seen many freaks like this.

"These are the Knight Order's 'War Strongmen,'" the Lava General's voice rang out. "The Church of War's priests use blood sacrifices to gain blessings from the God of War. Anyone covered by these blessings becomes this kind of strongman by burning through their life force. Their current strength rivals low-rank knights. Pretty terrifying. Even with your ray guns and magic bombs, under the siege of so many War Strongmen, you'll probably have a rough time... I'll find a way to hold them off while you break through in one direction, cut a path out..."

"No need!"

Before the Lava General could finish, the Black Knight Caius waved his hand. A bunch of strange devices the Lava General had never heard of, along with bizarre Magic Conductors making constant noise, were positioned in front by the soldiers!

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