(During the Northern Continent trials, they really did sentence those who ate people, performed sacrifices, or acted as spies betraying the country to burning, death by a thousand cuts, tongue-pulling, and water torture—the Children really did that.)
And they even ate intelligent beings!
(The rumors about Grand Commander Lynn eating Orcs in his early days were definitely just rumors, right?)
Fisherman Deliaka looked outside through a crack:
The amphibious tanks had already crushed their way onto the beach, their tracks rolling over shattered bunkers and corpses as they pushed inland without stopping.
Behind the tanks, the Empire's infantry spread out in practiced tactical formations, covering one another as they cleared the remaining pockets of resistance layer by layer.
They were well-equipped, tall and powerfully built, their faces brimming with spirit. Even those whose looks were nothing special had regular, well-proportioned facial features. There was little fear to be seen on their faces; instead, every one of them seemed valiant and heroic.
Just as the propaganda said, demons were the beautiful ones. They deceived and seduced humanity.
Angels might be somewhat uglier and more terrifying.
In the sky, the Alliance's carrier-based aircraft began circling. Every now and then, they swooped down, strafing with machine guns or dropping small bombs to clear out stubborn strongpoints.
The battlefield had become a one-sided slaughterhouse. All resistance from the defenders appeared pale, fragmented, and hopeless before absolute firepower density, a generational gap in technology, and systematic strikes.
They were like primitive people wielding Flintlock Muskets and spears against machine guns and heavy artillery.
Fisherman Deliaka saw a young defending soldier. Perhaps terror had driven him mad—he leaped out of a shell crater with a bayoneted rifle, screaming wildly.
But a bullet struck him in the leg at once, followed immediately by several more finishing blows.