Meanwhile, in the duke's city more than a dozen miles from the allied army's ranks, the Church and the Dark Creatures had finally reached the moment to begin their plan.
Within the castle complex halfway up the mountain, the once-spacious forecourt had been occupied by all manner of grotesquely shaped stone carvings.
These stone carvings were strange and misshapen, their surfaces covered in intricate golden patterns.
Upon closer sensing, one would discover that Earth Essence was actually flowing within those golden patterns.
The carvings were arranged in two sections, left and right in perfect symmetry, with a space of roughly a hundred meters left in the middle.
At this moment, the Pope of the Church stood at the very front of the statues with several archbishops.
Naturally, beside the Pope stood an armored knight clad in black armor, black mist billowing from his entire body.
The armored knight's face was completely hidden. At a glance, only a pair of scarlet eyes could be seen beneath the black mist.
"Lord Black Envoy, the Earth Essence is ready. Shall we begin now?"
At that moment, the Pope asked the armored knight beside him.
"Begin!"
Though his features could not be seen beneath the black-armored knight's helmet, a deep and strange voice of assent emerged from within.
"Activate the teleportation array!" Having received the armored knight's confirmation, the Pope immediately gave the order.
At once, the Church members took out clumps of Earth Essence and tossed them into the pools at the center of the stone carvings on either side.
As the Earth Essence was cast in, it flowed like streams of water, spreading toward the various statues along channels that had been dug beforehand.
And throughout this process, the throwing of Earth Essence did not stop.
In just over half a minute,