There were no cheers when the commanders heard the Bishop"s battlecry, but they did fervently nod before beginning to leave the room in ones and twos.
Jonah overheard many of their conversations. All of them seemed on edge, and there were multiple pairs who decided that they would get together and open a cask of wine. A few others started to contemplate whether they would have enough time to partake of hallucinatory drugs which were often used by soldiers to condition themselves before they would have to kill, and hearing them, Jonah raised an eyebrow as it was seldom that he had heard of experienced individuals like these think of escaping reality.
He didn"t know whether he should feel proud that Angaria had become such a big threat in their eyes, or whether he should worry about the fact that this might mean that there could have been changes to the war effort that he was not aware of.
True, he had heard the Saint"s answer then, but he had not been privy to any high-level details after that. Still, it would be extremely unlikely for something like that to happen as the limit of resources to be spent on a continent had already been exceeded by the Bishop, so after watching them all leave, he waited to be dismissed by her.
Even after 10 minutes pa.s.sed, she did no such thing. Sitting beside him, she seemed to be deep in thought while the hum of the s.h.i.+p that could be felt beneath their feet intensified.
Jonah had always been interested in the exact process that would be used to travel to a distant continent, as information about this was restricted to only the highest-ranking personnel. Now, he would finally be finding out more about this topic, but the worry that he felt eclipsed all interest that he might have.
However, when the Bishop snapped her head up a few minutes later and raised her finger to point at the wall, his curiosity was piqued and he decided to use the opportunity to distract himself.
The wall was equipped with formations that Jonah had not noticed, and on her command, they activated and made the surface they were on turn transparent. At first, he didn"t recognize what they were showing, but after looking around and comparing the image that was visible with what he had seen when he arrived at the feet of the Saint, he realized that they were seeing the view from the topmost point of the s.h.i.+p.
Only the front portion of the quarters could be visible, and an empty area beyond that where many people could be seen scrambling around. It seemed to be a control center, of sorts, as there were many tables with all kinds of controls in the form of glowing lights visible, and seeing the captain of the s.h.i.+p fussing over them, he confirmed this theory.
The captain was unmistakable as he was an outsider. Unlike the rest of those on the prow who were garbed in the traditional ca.s.socks of the Church, he was wearing crimson armor whose breastplate shone so brightly even though there was no source of light in this underground area.
An eagle sat on his shoulders, and two ma.s.sive mastiffs each 10 foot tall stood on either side of him. That was enough to identify him as a Beastmaster, but because it really wasn"t important to know who he was, Jonah diverted his attention to the changes happening to the s.h.i.+p as they began to set out.
Over the course of five minutes, he waited to see an opening that they would fly out of. It was obvious that the sun he had seen before was capable of propelling such a ma.s.sive structure in the air, but how would they leave the headquarters to begin their journey?
He also wondered about the six-hour window of time given by the Bishop. Was that really all the time that was needed to go so far?
He knew for a fact that the distance between the Mainland and any continent being conquered could not even be quantified in exact terms. It was definitely in the range of hundreds of thousands of kilometers, and because of the treacherous conditions, it was folly to think that they would directly be flying there.
Only teleportation seemed to be the option left to them, but the reason behind any Hero not being able to teleport over the Endless Sea applied to the area beyond the Mainland, too.
While Jonah repeatedly tried to brainstorm for an answer, the Bishop looked at him and shook her head before giving a command.
"You can take the villager out of the village, but you can"t take the village out of him. No matter how much you try to look for an answer, you won"t find it. So watch, and tremble as you witness the means of the Church. Begin first teleportation."
As soon as she said the last three words, a gigantic formation bigger than any that Jonah had ever seen lit up below the s.h.i.+p.
As he watched on with a bewildered expression, the circular formation began to gather Energy from an unseen source until it grew so bright that it blinded him. Only a part of it was visible to them, but that was enough to make him cover his eyes and squint as there was no way that he would miss this opportunity.
The formation kept growing brighter and brighter until, at one point, the entire wall on which they were watching everything turned white, and after that, Jonah experienced the familiar feeling of being soaked in cold water that accompanied teleportation.
Teleporting such a ma.s.sive object… How much Energy must that have taken?
The calculation"s made his mind reel, so he stopped and waited for his eyes to adjust.
When they did, the sight that was waiting for him on the wall made him gasp.
It was the most chaotic and violent image he had ever seen. A moment after he saw it, he also felt the atmosphere suddenly fill up with invisible rage from an unfindable source, but that faded when a formation activated on the s.h.i.+p and began to s.h.i.+eld them.
As for what lay around them… tt seemed to be a place straight out of h.e.l.l, if such a thing existed.
They were floating above water that was writhing with grotesque monsters of so many shapes and sizes that Jonah felt he might faint if he tried to study them all. If it was just them, it would have been no different from the Endless Sea around Angaria, but the thing that would make anyone"s mind go blank when they gazed upon it… was that the water was the color of blood.
Still, that wasn"t all. The sound of thunder made him look up, and that was when he laid his eyes on the most striking detail of it all.
The sky was the same color as the sea. The clouds that were filled to the boiling with lightning were such a deep color of red that he wondered whether millions of people had died up there, and as he watched, a blood-red bolt struck down and was stopped by the defenses of the s.h.i.+p.
Tearing his eyes away from it, he finally came to the last detail of the image which was in the form of a tall black spire that rose from below. Even though its width was only such that three men would be able to encircle it if joined their hands, it stayed strong and did not sway in the extreme winds that were also present.
"Saintess Ahora. Destination: Quadrant 78, Region 1056. Prepare for dimensional teleportation."
Dimensional teleportation? What the h.e.l.l was that?
The moment this question came to his mind…a peculiar feeling swept over Jonah that overwhelmed his mind and made him scream with pain.
It was as if he had suddenly been thrust into flames, and a moment later, he found himself falling unconscious as it was too much to bear.
The next thing he felt was a stinging feeling on his cheek that made him come awake and look around groggily.
The first thing he laid his eyes on was the wall from before, on which a different image was being shown. It was that of a large area whose walls were made of the same material as the s.h.i.+p, and in it, squadrons after the squadrons of Peak Heroes were visible standing at attention.
Even though he was in a state of disorientation, he unconsciously began to count them all. The final number made fear spike through his body and made him rouse himself completely, after which he repeated the count and saw that he had been right before.
Unwilling to believe it, he stuttered, "Th-this must be wrong! Only 40 squadrons were supposed to be in the first wave…why have they been doubled? Why…"
Hearing him speak in a daze, the Bishop who was sitting beside him slapped him on the other cheek and made him understand the reason behind the pain before.
When she answered, it was in a scathing tone that also had an edge of satisfaction to it, and hearing her, Jonah almost wished that he could go back to the place without fear or worry that he had just left.
"Your love for your homeland is truly something. You experience dimensional teleportation for the first time, blackout because you felt the power of the Saint, sleep for six hours, and when you finally wake, that is what you ask? Well, let me answer. 40 squadrons was the size allotted to the first wave… before it was decided by the Saint after going through your head that there was a high probability of an external force helping them. Now, even if that is the case… they will be crushed. First wave, commence the attack! Onward, to victory!"