Chapter 39: The Eye of Truth

The internal battles within the Empire were on the verge of erupting, with both sides ready to strike with deadly force. 

When enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hatred. 

The animosity between Queen Laya, Prince Char, and Duke Andrew was palpable; they would love nothing more than to twist off each other's heads and use them as chamber pots. 

However, the True Faith Church was different. Their grievances with the Empire had long been festering. 

Once a behemoth capable of contending with the Church of Light, and even influencing the politics of the Karad Empire, the True Faith Church had been in exile for over a century. 

The problem was their interference in the Empire's politics—religious meddling in governance is a taboo in any country. 

As a result, the rulers of the Empire at the time turned against them as soon as they came to power, teaming up with the Church of Light to annihilate this religious faction that had supported their rise, declaring the Church of Light as the Empire's sole legitimate religion. 

This action infuriated the True Faith Church. They could accept the Empire's opposition, but watching the Church of Light rise above them was more unbearable than death. 

Driven by hatred, the True Faith Church realized that mere religion wasn't enough—they needed their own army, even their own country. 

These religious zealots planned to establish a theocratic state within the Empire. 

"The path to truth is inevitably paved with bones and blood; this has been an unbroken rule for millennia, and it too is part of the truth," the bishop of the True Faith Church declared before launching the war. 

Indeed, fanatical religious followers prove to be formidable in battle. 

The three knight orders of the True Faith Church marched in three different directions, leaving destruction in their wake. 

They were the Eye of Truth Knight Order, the Raven Knight Order, and the Black Spear Knight Order. 

As their names suggest, the Eye of Truth Knight Order is the main force of the True Faith Church, also serving as the bishop's guard. Its members are the most devout and powerful warriors within the Church. 

The Raven Knight Order, led by the bishop's brother, is a hastily assembled force consisting of mercenaries, prisoners, slaves, and peasants. 

The Black Spear Knight Order is unique—they were originally a legitimate knight order of the Southern Empire. However, after offending a powerful noble, they were marginalized and suppressed. Fed up, their leader, Kemal, decided to rebel.

These three knight orders, in the early stages of the war, unexpectedly began to seize cities and territories, even capturing a castle of the Southern Empire and using it as a stronghold to expand their influence. However, the empire's vast territory was not something merely fabricated by wandering poets' tales.

Soon, the nobles of the empire reacted. Even before Queen Laya's army could arrive, they hastily formed a formidable force of about 500 men and charged towards the invaders. Their target: the Knights of the Eye of Truth.

The equipment of the Knights of the Eye of Truth was beyond impressive; it was lavish. Clad entirely in plate or chainmail armor, each knight rode an imperial warhorse. Even though their bodies were shrouded in black robes, the clinking of their armor resonated as they marched – a force built on wealth.

The empire's nobles, however, paid no heed to their opponent's strength. Instead, they looked upon the symbol of the Eye of Truth embroidered on their robes with disdain. Religious involvement in politics inevitably brought with it assassination and political persecution, experiences many of the empire's nobles had endured due to the actions of the Church of Truth against their ancestors. Another crucial reason for the empire's rulers to suppress the Church of Truth upon ascending to power was to appease the anger of the nobles.

In the eyes of the empire's nobles, facing off against the Knights of the Eye of Truth was like having a numerical advantage of 500 against 200. To eradicate the Church of Truth, they spared no expense, mustering a hundred-strong cavalry unit comprising elite imperial armored cavalry and heavy cavalry.

This was a direct confrontation, a showdown between age-old adversaries. The normally cunning and deceitful empire's nobles opted for direct confrontation this time; they were determined to crush their opponents without playing any tricks.

These empire's nobles, usually timid and afraid of death, now took the lead, intent on slaying these religious zealots. The bishop of the Church of Truth, seeing the various banners raised by the empire's nobles, burned with intense hatred. It was these despicable individuals' ancestors who had expelled them from the empire a hundred years ago, forcing them into exile like dogs without a home. Today... it was time for retribution!

"Wherever our eyes gaze, there lies the truth. Be it life or death, we fear nothing, for even in death, truth remains, eternal and unwavering. Those who come after us will steadfastly follow in our footsteps."

"We fight for truth, paving the path to truth with our flesh and blood!"

"We fight for righteousness, using our swords to cleave through the veils of deception!"

The warriors of the Knights of the Eye of Truth sang their battle hymns loudly, and on their grand robes, the patterns of the Eye of Truth suddenly began to flicker.

The Bishop of the Church of Truth also noticed this and shouted excitedly, "It has answered us! Look! The Eye of Truth has responded to our devotion! Our path is righteous! Charge, children! There is nothing left to fear!"

Underneath their face masks, each warrior of the Knights of the Eye of Truth bore an expression of fanaticism they had never felt before. They had never experienced such intense power throughout their entire bodies, as if only battle could unleash such power.

Two hundred fully armored zealots, imbued with mysterious power, charged fearlessly towards an enemy twice their number. Flesh and blood flew, the sound of spears piercing armor echoed everywhere, cries of pain filled the air, desperate roars resounded, and the deepest hatred and killing intent hidden deep within their hearts surfaced.

The outcome of this battle between secular and religious forces was unexpected. The temporary force hastily assembled by the nobles was routed. Even as they fled, they were pursued by the Knights of the Eye of Truth for several kilometers.

"Bunch of useless idiots." Queen Laya had just finished assembling her army and had not marched far before receiving the frontline report. Watching the 500-strong force being chased and killed by the enemy's 200, she couldn't help but slam the table and curse.

"How did you high-ranking imperial fools manage to be twice the enemy's number and still get chased and killed? And these aren't even hastily assembled peasant militias; they're your own elites. Forget relying on these worthless nobles who do nothing but feast, boast about their ancestors, and have affairs with mistresses. I'll have to handle this myself."

She immediately assembled a 1,200-strong anti-rebellion force, ready to annihilate these now frenzied zealots.

"Do you exile weaklings even deserve to play at overthrowing the government?"