Cthulhu Gonfalon

Chapter 901: The Great Mobilization (Part 1)

A notice was posted next to the four gates of the capital of the Kingdom of Light, pinned on the bulletin board in the public square in front of the royal palace, and stuck everywhere that could be used for publicity and notices in every country and city.

On the notice, a few concise lines of words were written in the various vernaculars and local official languages:

[On the occasion of the New Year, we plan to launch the final battle against the Orcs. By that time, heroes from all lands, princes, marquises and lords of various countries, as well as human gods from the various God Systems shall participate in this war. Recruitment of warriors who are willing to participate in the battle and fight alongside us is now open. All traveling expenses will be covered. Meals and accommodation will be provided. Equipment will be supplied, and warriors will be generously rewarded. There will be gods specifically put in charge of receiving and leading souls of deceased, and there will be high pension and consummate funeral arrangements.]

Many of these notices had people responsible for publicizing them stationed right next to them. These publicists' statements were not limited to the content of the notice. There was a motley variety of presentations.

For example, someone publicized the notice as "In defeating the Orcs, if you have made a meritorious contribution, you can become a lord. If you have made a considerable contribution, you can become an officer. Even if you have no contribution and merely helped in moving things about, at least you can earn enough wealth to feed your family well for several years."

There were also people publicizing the notice as "Indeed, there's always death when there's war. But everyone has to die eventually. Risking your life this once to fight for a bright future for your family, how worthwhile! In everyone's entire lifetime, we should always do something that could leave something behind for our families! All martyrs of this war will receive the care of the various churches. Even if you die, at least you could ensure that your families will live in peace and stability!"

There were people who went "All these years, it has always been the Orcs attacking while we always defended. Now, it's finally our turn to attack them! What else is there to think about? This time, we must defeat the Orcs, and thereafter, we shall never have to worry about the Orcs coming to invade us again!"

Some other people would say, "What are we usually most afraid of? We are not afraid of death, just afraid that we will fall into the underworld and drop into hell after death. Although we believe in gods, who can be confident enough to say that after we die, we will definitely go to the God Kingdom? This is the best chance now. So long as we join this war, regardless of whether or not we are to die on the battlefield, we will definitely be brought to the God Kingdom after death! So what's there to hesitate about? This is your chance to solve the problem once and for all. You will never come across it again in this lifetime!"

At the same time, there were countless bards had taken to various pubs, public squares and the streets to launch publicity for the event. They either extolled the exploits of the various heroes who had fought the Orcs or boasted about the lucky ones who gained wealth and status in the wars with the Orcs. They also denounced the Orcs for the numerous invasions and attacks they made on the humans in the past.

The churches of the human gods also sprang into action. Clergymen went out among the followers, calling upon them to fight for the glory of the gods, for the glory of humans and for their own glory. They encouraged the people to muster courage, show determination and keep their heads high as they stepped into the battlefield. And all the churches had promised that in this battle, whether king or archbishop, all high-level figures of human society would join the battle. Not a single one would cower in safety at the hind of the troop.

Not only that, this time, all the human gods would be fighting this battle. Not a single one would be left on the sidelines. They would do their level best at all costs and leave no way for retreat. It was either they won a complete victory or suffered a crushing defeat. The humans would not accept a third outcome!

All kinds of publicity, reliable or unreliable, reasonable or unreasonable, was like an explosion of information. They filled all media and channels, and even in the "television video program" of Void City, there were people spending exorbitant amounts to buy advertisements… If the "Sleepless War God," Shoggoth, who was in charge of the textual publicity work, had not found out in time, it might really have been rented out. That would really make a great joke.

Because of this, Shoggoth flew into a rage and reprimanded the group of people working in the presswork department. The most frightening thing about him was that he was an elector, and thus he had an inexhaustible vigor and could go on for an entire day, from day to night and night to day. He could start scolding from the morning and then continue scolding from the night to the next morning without any problems at all. Just being scolded by him once, even an iron-boned, copper-skinned, gutsy, good man would be terror-stricken and petrified. There was not a single soul who dared to ever commit the same mistake again.

With such strong publicity, the entire human society was quickly and thoroughly mobilized. Whether north or south, east or west, everyone was busy.

The brave or devout people signed up for the army. Among them, the strong ones were armed and received military training. Those who were not strong enough were assigned to carry out military production, prepare weapons, consumables, as well as to stock up on the reserves of grains and grass.

The production of all territories was no longer freely circulated but distributed after research. This would ensure production with the highest efficiency where they could gain the most benefits. Those living in remote areas were collectively relocated back to the prosperous hinterland to engage in various production jobs. And those people who originally had massive wealth were donating their assets to buy all sorts of things they needed.

The entire human society was gradually transforming into a terrifying war machine.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Leon Igor stood at the peak of the terrace of the mansion of the city lord and looked in the direction of the transportation portal in the city.

Many humans and Orcs were hurrying through the transportation portal. That public square where the transportation portal stood would have been in chaos if there had been no guards to maintain order.

His wife, Kalisa Riley, who was the nominal city lord of Garth City, came up behind him.

"Since the Great Mobilization Order was issued, more and more people are heading to the Kingdom of Light," she said in a worried voice. "Should we just close the Transportation Portal now? To steer clear of future trouble…"

"The time our lord decides to close the Transportation Portal will be the time the two sides formally declare war. Until then, no matter how much pressure is on us, we still must continue to maintain operation of the Transportation Portal," Leon replied. "Moreover, this bit of chaos is nothing much at all."

He smiled and said calmly, "Don't worry. I'm here."

Kalisa hugged him from behind and pressed her cheek to the middle of his back as she listened to his slow and steady heartbeat.

Gradually, her heart that was originally full of worry started to calm down.

"The Queen of Fire (a.k.a. the Goddess of Love) just sent a messenger to tell me that this battle is going to be massive. Both the Human God System and the Orc God System are prepared to do their level best. Both sides are frantically wooing allies. It's highly possible that this may eventually develop into a massive war involving 10 or more God Systems—this is going to be the greatest war in the history of this world."

"No matter how many gods take part in this war, it's just going to be like that anyway. There's nothing much to worry about," Leon smiled and said. "No matter what, I'll protect you."

Kalisa said nothing more. She hugged him tightly and closed her eyes.

Although the war was impending, she had no fear.

He was her hero. Back when they faced that great crisis, they had pulled through together. No matter what happened after that, there was nothing to be afraid of!

Leon looked into the distance. He wore a calm smile on his face, but his heart was full of worry.

He thought, Your Majesty, the Void Mask, insists on taking a neutral stand. But if both sides are to go on a crazy killing spree, when the situation reaches the point where both sides threw away all regards and go to the most extreme lengths, can we really maintain neutral?

With a deep sigh, he kept all his worries to himself as he silently deliberated on the matters that required his attention for some time to come.

The more dangerous and difficult things were, the more he had to stay calm and patient. His Majesty was a jellyfish. He had never been bothered about what others thought of him. But as the leader of the people of Garth City, as the archbishop of the Church of the Void Mask, he had to let everyone see his peaceful and calm self. This was the way to stabilize and calm the military's mood!