Chapter 361: Church Of IronHold

"Zara." Adrian said as he looked at her, "Your job is to act as my daughter’s personal body guard, and I won’t ask anything more from you."

The woman nodded silently.

Adrian looked back at Kaelen.

"It’s the exact same for you," Adrian said, his tone growing dangerously serious. "But your primary goal is to make sure that my daughter is safe no matter what. She has the freedom to do whatever she wants on this battlefield, but it is your job to keep her safe."

Adrian stepped a little closer to the knight.

"Of course, if she’s jumping into situations that make it literally impossible to protect her, then you have the freedom to stop her," Adrian continued. "But you must report exactly what happened to me after the battle is done and we are all in a safe situation. I will be the one deciding whether you did a good job or not."

Adrian’s eyes darkened.

"And if I find out that my daughter was killed, or even injured just a little bit while you were watching her, just keep in mind that you will not be getting a light punishment. You two might be S-rank knights, and I do value you guys a lot. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have demanded for you to be sent to me. But the value of my daughter is worth infinitely more to me than all of the lands combined under my name, and all of the people combined under my rule."

He stared into Kaelen’s eyes.

"I would always choose her over anything else," Adrian warned softly. "So keep that in mind before you do anything foolish."

Kaelen and Zara both nodded, but there was no real fear in their eyes.

"Good," Adrian said, his tone instantly returning to a casual, pleasant one as if he didn’t notice their lack of fear. "Now, I’ve taken a lot of time to get this paperwork done, but here you go."

He reached into his jacket and pulled out two fully written Soul Contracts. He handed the first one over to Kaelen.

The male knight didn’t hesitate. He took out a small dagger, pricked his thumb, and pressed his bloody fingerprint directly onto the bottom of the magical parchment.

Zara stepped forward and did the exact same thing without complaining.

Adrian smiled as the contract disappeared back into his dungeon storage.

"Okay then," Adrian sighed. "Let’s just hope that this war is gonna be easy, because I really don’t want to lose my soldiers today."

Somewhere deep in the center of the Ironhold Kingdom, far away from the front lines of the war, stood a massive church.

The King of Ironhold walked inside through the huge doorway.

He wasn’t wearing his lavish royal robes or his jewel-encrusted crown. He was just wearing a regular, commoner-style tunic made of cheap brown wool and some basic cotton pants. He looked no different than a random peasant walking off the street.

But if one looked closely, they could easily tell that this man was slightly different from the commoners just from the way he walked. His posture was perfectly straight, his steps were measured, and he exuded an aura of confidence that demanded respect.

As he walked into the main hall of the church, the nuns and priests sweeping the floors immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed deeply to welcome him.

The man nodded, raised his hand in a silent greeting, and walked directly toward the towering stone statue at the very front of the church.

He stopped at the altar and turned to look at the priest standing nearby.

"Bring me my robes, Bishop Kael," the King ordered quietly.

Bishop Kael nodded quickly. He turned and gestured to a group of nuns who immediately rushed over holding a set of pristine, gold-trimmed white robes.

The King took the clothes from them and walked into a private room at the back of the main hall before coming back out two minutes later.

He looked no different than a high-ranking priest now, the Archbishop robes draped perfectly over his shoulders.

Archbishop Aldric, the King of Ironhold, looked down at Bishop Kael.

"Get the items for the Mass Prayer ready immediately," Archbishop Aldric commanded. "My younger children have been abducted by the army of Oresfall, and we do not have enough information about their current location to forcefully take them back yet."

Bishop Kael bowed his head. "Everything is already prepared at the altar, Archbishop Aldric."

"Good," Aldric nodded. "Then let’s get to work."

The massive group of priests, nuns, and high-ranking clergy gathered around the altar to begin their prayers.

It was a completely different ritual from the dark, bloody sacrifices Roderick had performed in the cave. There was no blood, no skin, and no live human sacrifices. Instead, the things they offered to their god were completely material.

They stacked mounds of fresh food, masterfully forged steel weapons, and huge pouches bursting with gold and silver coins.

At the front of the church stood a towering statue of a breathtakingly beautiful woman. The stone was carved so perfectly that her divine robes looked like they were actually fluttering in the wind. She looked like she was dancing in a light breeze.

In front of this magnificent statue sat a massive, circular plate made of pure, solid gold. The metal was covered in intricate carvings and designs.

All of the offerings were carefully placed on top of this golden plate.

The entire clergy fell to their knees and began to chant in unison. Archbishop Aldric stood at the front, raising his hands high into the air.

Suddenly, the massive pile of gold, weapons, and food on the golden plate simply vanished. There was no flash of light and no puff of smoke. The offerings just ceased to exist.

A moment later, Archbishop Aldric slowly opened his eyes.

His normally pale blue pupils had completely transformed into a blinding, glowing golden color.

The aura in the room instantly shifted, becoming overwhelmingly heavy and divine.