Chapter 458: Gaining a Firm Foothold

Before the Dawn Church entered the Red Moon Plane, this plane had two holy cities, one of which was located in the northern Gothic Continent, called Metro Castle. This castle is the place where the Red Moon Goddess was deified, and the Goddess's kingdom is also near Metro.

The other holy city is located in the southern part of the central Deen Continent, called Gruin, which is also the city of saints of the Red Moon Church. It is rumored that the Red Moon Goddess was born and raised near this castle, and this castle is also the core of the Red Moon Church's control area.

Three thousand years ago, the Dawn Church discovered the coordinates of the Red Moon Plane and opened up a plane channel. Taking advantage of the fact that the Red Moon Goddess and the Undead Lord were both injured, they destroyed the power of the undead in one fell swoop and sealed the Red Moon Goddess.

Not long after suppressing the Red Moon Goddess, the Dawn Goddess was involved in the struggle between other gods, and fell into a deep sleep less than a hundred years later.

Even without the command of the Dawn Goddess, the Dawn Church once completely controlled the Red Moon Plane for the next 2,500 years and successfully colonized this plane.

However, the natives of the Red Moon plane were unwilling to abandon their faith. Most people had been secretly believing in the Red Moon Goddess. With the continuous blessing of the power of faith, the Red Moon Church hidden in the dark developed faster and faster, and finally had its first legendary priest in five hundred years.

The body of this legendary priest had a very high affinity with the Red Moon Goddess, and could carry the body of the gods, which could actually allow the Red Moon Goddess to descend in the form of a saint.

Even though the Red Moon Goddess's body was sealed by the Dawn Artifact and could not exert the full power of the saint's body, she could still exert the power of a demigod at a critical moment. The Dawn Pope of the previous generation died at the hands of the Red Moon Goddess's saintly body.

With huge power, the Red Moon Church openly raised the flag to resist the colonization of the Dawn Church. Soon the rebellion grew bigger and bigger, and the southern Hagen Continent was the first to break away from the control of the Dawn Church.

Seeing that the situation was out of control and the goddess had not awakened, in order to maintain the rule of the Red Moon Plane, the Dawn Church could only invite the Holy Glorious Empire to enter the Red Moon Plane. Relying on the incarnation of the God of Gloriousness, they defeated the Red Moon Church and laid the foundation for the current situation of the Red Moon Plane.

In this way, another five hundred years passed, and the Red Moon Plane roughly maintained its balance.

However, in recent years, the God of Gloriousness was defeated in other planes and lost two incarnations of the gods. He decided to shrink his power and gradually give up the management of the Red Moon Plane.

Richard had no idea about the intelligence of the upper echelons of the multiverse. Even the headquarters of the Dawn Church was not well-informed because the planes involved were very rare.

After the death of the silver-armored man, the Holy City of Gruin was immediately alarmed.

The high-level officials of the Red Moon Church gathered together. Many people did not know the reason for the death of the silver-armored man. Because the legendary professional had an accident, many people had some worries on their faces.

The Red Moon Pope Saint Gloria has the highest status. She sits in the middle of the Red Moon Cathedral and speaks first: "Sklar's attack failed. His soul has entered the Red Moon Kingdom and returned to the embrace of the goddess."

Sklar is the silver-armored man killed by Richard. He is a legendary warrior of the Red Moon Church and is responsible for commanding the 60,000 defenders of the Corolla Castle.

Corolla Castle is located 260 kilometers away from the Biers Castle and is considered an important town in the south of Biers.

Legendary professionals are considered high-level no matter which side they are in. Sklar died inexplicably, so other people in the Red Moon Church must ask for clarification.

"What happened to Sklar? Why did he leave the Corolla Castle garrison? He rashly attacked the enemy and lost his life for no reason?"

The person who asked the question was named Amata, who was also a legendary warrior of the Red Moon Church and had a close relationship with Sklar. He was the first to ask the question.

Gloria explained: "It was my order to Sklar. Recently, the plane channels have been frequently opened, and the goddess sensed that a noble from another plane named Richard will become our enemy. This person carries the power of the evil god, and we must kill him before he grows up.

According to the goddess's perception, Richard has not yet been promoted to a legend, so I ordered Sklar to attack him.

I didn't expect that we underestimated Richard's strength. This person has a legendary warlock under his command, and his own strength is not weaker than that of a legendary magician. In order to prevent Richard from bringing great changes to the situation in the Red Moon plane, I think we should draw forces to eliminate the minions of this evil god as soon as possible."

"Since the enemy can kill Sklar, they must be very strong. Our battle line is 1,600 kilometers long, and it is difficult to concentrate our forces. Even if we draw out one or two legends and tens of thousands of soldiers, it is difficult to deal with Richard. Unless we transfer troops from the Oro Empire, but this requires communication with Emperor Haishan, which is not feasible in a short time."

The person who spoke was the legendary magician Susman. Although he was not very pious to the Red Moon Goddess, he was still a core senior member of the Red Moon Church because of his strong strength.

The Red Moon Church has been able to hold out against the Dawn Church and the Holy Light Empire for many years, so its strength should not be underestimated.

The Red Moon Goddess Church alone has nine legendary professionals, and the Oro Empire in the southern continent, which also believes in the Red Moon Goddess, also has six legendary professionals.

Although Gloria's strength is far inferior to Saint Larry five hundred years ago, the Red Moon Church is stronger than it was five hundred years ago, and the number of legendary professionals that can be mobilized is as many as fifteen.

Although Richard killed the silver-armored Scola, the number of legends owned by the Red Moon Church still exceeds that of the Dawn Church and the Holy Light Empire coalition.

"Notify Emperor Haishan immediately and ask him to mobilize troops as soon as possible. This is an oracle issued by the goddess herself, so let Emperor Haishan hurry up."

The Red Moon Church was preparing to withdraw personnel from the southern Hagen Continent, and when targeting Richard, he was completely unaware.

After Richard killed the legendary professional Silver Armor Man, he immediately retreated to the city of Biers. Encountering an enemy attack during the first reconnaissance made Richard more cautious.

After all, the Red Moon plane is also a high-magic plane, and there are gods among the enemies.

The power of gods has always been mysterious. In order to maintain the mystery, the Seven Gods Church will try to limit the spread of this knowledge. However, Richard has traveled for more than 30 years and climbed to the top, so he can collect a lot of secret information.

According to Richard's understanding, gods are a special kind of spiritual energy body. They have eternal life. Even if the body of the saint who descends is shattered, the damage to the gods is still not fatal.

Under normal circumstances, the body of the gods descending in the flesh is called the body of the saint.

The body of the saint is generally the original body of the gods before they ignited the divine fire, or the body of the holy and pious, and has a high affinity with the gods.

If the body of the god saint is completely destroyed, the god will not be able to descend in the flesh and can only use the incarnation to move.

Gods can teleport to any place. This power is heavenly, cast at will, and will never go wrong. As long as they are in a plane with believers, they can even travel across planes easily.

Gods can understand any language, sense soul fluctuations, and use almost all conventional magic with just a thought. Even the prophecy magic that is difficult to master can be used easily by gods.

Gods have powerful deformation abilities and can turn themselves into objects of any size, including living and non-living things. They also have extremely high magic resistance. Magic with damage below 200 points will not have any effect on gods, and physical attacks are even less likely to harm gods as spiritual energy bodies.

So even if there are hundreds of thousands of professional armies, only professionals above level seven can cause minor damage to gods.

Even in the Holy Glorious Empire, the number of professionals above level seven is estimated to be only a few thousand. Even if these thousands of people are formed into an army, they may not be able to beat a god who is good at fighting.

The gods also have very strong perception, especially when it comes to themselves, they have very mysterious special induction, and can accurately foresee something.

Richard estimated that the reason why Harland was ambushed was probably because of the special induction of the gods. They noticed some abnormalities, so the Red Moon Church dispatched high-level people like the Silver Armored Man.

The gods also mastered the secrets of life and death. They can kill creatures below demigods through curses, and can also easily resurrect dead creatures. Some gods with special priesthoods can even turn back time.

The gods also have divine powers, granting priests who believe in them to use divine arts.

Because they have various mysterious powers, killing a god is bound to be difficult. To complete the feat of killing gods, you need to kill the body of the saint first, and then eliminate the incarnation of the gods. The most critical step is to strike the church of the gods and limit the spread of faith. Without the power of faith provided by believers, the gods will perish and die.

Although the Red Moon Goddess is only a primary god, and can only grant the believers the magic below the sixth ring, according to the publicly available information, the pope of the Red Moon Church, Saint Gloria, is already a legendary fourth-level priest. Even if Richard, Sophia, and Sylph join forces, they have no chance of winning against such a ruthless person.

Fortunately, the Red Moon Goddess has been sealed by the Dawn Goddess. Her saintly body was completely destroyed by the Dawn Church three thousand years ago, and the two incarnations of the gods were also killed. The only remaining saintly body was also severely injured by the incarnation of the God of Light five hundred years ago, and dared not act rashly.

Today, the Red Moon Goddess has become a toothless tiger. Otherwise, if the gods personally participate in the battle, the Dawn Goddess cannot wake up, and the situation in the Red Moon plane will immediately be unsustainable.

Because the enemy situation is unclear, although Richard is not weak, he dare not blindly mobilize troops.

For a period of time, the Red Moon Church will transfer troops from the Hagen Continent in the south, and Richard will be stationed in the Biers Castle wholeheartedly.

Time just flew by, and eight months passed in the blink of an eye, and it was February of the 3278th year of the Dawn Calendar.

Eight months later, the first echelon of Harland County had completely entered the Red Moon Plane, with a total force of more than 5,000 people.

The first echelon was the elite carefully selected by Harland County. Among the more than 5,000 soldiers, the number of professionals accounted for 80%, and the total number was about 4,000.

Among the remaining more than 1,000 people, they were basically high-level apprentices, and there were only more than 100 apprentices below the middle level.

Even the warrior students had very good physical fitness, and with good medical care, although they were not used to entering the Red Moon Plane, only more than 200 people died of illness.

The death of more than 200 people surprised Richard.

After realizing that the situation might be serious, Richard reduced the conscription of soldiers entering the Red Moon Plane.

After all, the quality of the second and third echelons is far from comparable to that of the first echelon. Once entering the Red Moon Plane, the number of soldiers who died of illness will increase rapidly.

According to statistics from the medical department, with good medical care, the probability of a professional dying from illness when entering the Red Moon Plane is about 30%, so the loss is not serious. Among the more than 4,000 professionals in the first echelon of Harland, 14 people died from illness. However, the probability of senior apprentices dying from illness increases dramatically, reaching almost one in eight. More than 900 senior apprentices died from illness, and 116 people died.

The remaining more than 100 people are basically elementary and middle-level apprentices, with relatively average physical fitness. Even with adequate medical care, the mortality rate is still more than half. Such terrible casualties make Richard a little frightened.

Up to now, although Harland has 170,000 troops, there are only 26,000 professional soldiers in it. Among the remaining soldiers, there are about 30,000 high-level apprentices and more than 100,000 middle-level and lower apprentices.

If you want to deploy 60,000 troops in the Red Moon Plane, at least tens of thousands of people will die of illness. Such terrible deaths from illness are a burden that Harland cannot bear.

Reduce the number of troops deployed in the Red Moon Plane and maintain the front line. You can only recruit soldiers locally.

Although many local people believe in the Red Moon Goddess, it seems unreliable. But the situation forces Richard to rely on the locals of the Red Moon Plane.

In the past eight months, Richard has recruited 6,000 soldiers in the occupied area near Biers Castle.

In order to ensure the loyalty of the 6,000 recruits, Richard thought of many ways. He not only guaranteed the soldiers' lives in terms of materials, distributed land to them, but also pardoned their families' slave status.

In addition, he also tried to control these recruits mentally, requiring the priests of the Dawn Church to enter the recruit camp and monitor the recruits mentally at all times. In order to make the soldiers feel fulfilled, Richard also arranged many entertainment activities in the recruit camp.

Arrangements were made in advance, and Richard did not find any Red Moon believers in the recruit camp during these eight months.

However, the Red Moon believers were hiding in the dark and might engage in some underground activities. The secret preaching in the extraordinary world was impossible to prevent.

The Dawn Church suppressed the Red Moon plane for 2,500 years without success.

Therefore, Richard did not trust the recruits of the Red Moon plane from the bottom of his heart. Now this batch of recruits is still in training and has not formed combat effectiveness. At critical moments, they can only barely defend the castle and cannot play a role in field battles.

After the training of the recruits is completed, Richard will also disperse them and divide them into different armies.

In addition, in addition to the breathing method, the threshold of invisibility should also be raised to prevent the natives of the Red Moon plane from infiltrating the upper level in a short period of time.

Of course, the time for the new recruits in the Red Moon plane to obtain the breathing method is relatively short. It is almost impossible to be promoted to the level of captain within three to five years.

In more than eight months, Richard has handed over six border castles and more than a dozen rear towns to the Holy Glorious Empire, controlling less than 40,000 square kilometers of land, and gradually gaining a foothold in the Red Moon plane.

During this period, the situation in the Red Moon plane was relatively stable.

In today's Red Moon plane, the northern Gothic continent has been infected by the dead and is not suitable for human survival. The southern Hagen continent fell into the hands of the native nobles of the Red Moon plane. Although the Oro Empire still obeys the orders of the Red Moon Church, it has a strong independence after all, and will not send all its forces to the Deen Continent to fanatically launch a holy war to drive out the Dawn Church.

Just when the Oro Empire had drawn up its personnel and was ready to attack Richard, the two-legged flying dragon in the air had already detected the enemy situation in advance.