How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 254: Miracle at the Ashes (1)

Alonso... couldn’t bring himself to look up.

He couldn’t even dare to describe what he had just witnessed.

He could hear the groans of the Spanish soldiers who closed their eyes, finding it painful even to look at him.

Conversely, he could also hear the exclamations of the Florida soldiers who, forgetting their injuries, stared with wide eyes.

Amid these contrasting emotions of frustration and joy, despair and hope... Alonso forced himself to open his eyes.

There stood a naked man.

He was as clean as a newborn child. He was pure, as if never touched by the dust of this world.

This man stood barefoot on the ashes... looking down at his own hands. freewebnøvel_com

With eyes filled with pure amazement, like seeing something for the first time.

Each of his movements was a marvel unfolding before their eyes. Alonso found himself kneeling without realizing it. It felt as if the entire sky was pressing down on him.

How could anyone dare to stand on two feet in this place?

How could anyone commit such disrespect in this place?

The high celestial atmosphere pressed down on his body, forcing him to kneel.

In this state, Alonso, like others, looked up at ’him.’ He briefly looked around with curiosity, then slowly...

Descended from the ashes.

His body shimmered in the moonlight like pure silver in mud. It stood in stark contrast to the dismal debris around him. His naked form didn’t appear shameful or embarrassing but seemed to show what Adam in the Garden of Eden might have looked like.

He truly...

Did not seem to belong to this earth.

Then he stepped down from the ashes onto the soil and dead grass.

"...Is it over?"

That single sentence, heard in various human languages, made Alonso tremble.

But the trembling Alonso felt was nothing.

Several Spanish soldiers collapsed, foaming at the mouth from the voice resonating in their heads. Some trembled then got up and fled into the darkness of the night.

And still, he seemed unconcerned with the commotion around him, as if he had nothing to do with such trivial and insignificant things... he looked up at the sky with clear, pure eyes.

His voice echoed again.

"Is the fight over?"

A heavy, emotionless voice stretched out like a spear toward everyone gathered here. The Spanish trembled in fear as if stabbed by a spearhead whenever the voice reached them.

Some wailed and bowed their heads at those words. Some lost their minds and babbled nonsense, some fled, some...

"Ugh, ugh..."

Simply cowered on the ground in fear.

He walked toward that cowering Spanish soldier.

The one who rose from the ashes, the nameless one, the true messenger of the Lord, approached.

And lifting the Spanish soldier’s chin...

"’Raise the war cry, you nations, but you will be shattered.’ (Isaiah 8:13)"

He spoke in a whisper, yet clearly.

So everyone could hear.

Yes, a fragment from the Book of Isaiah.

A fragment of prophecy the Lord conveyed to Isaiah.

A warning to the Assyrians who invaded the land of Judah.

Those who do not fear the Lord and do not revere Him will ultimately be defeated if they try to attack the land the Lord protects.

The soldier, meeting the eyes of the Lord’s messenger, trembled in fear and could do nothing. To him... the nameless one whispered with a smile.

With an astonishingly bright smile.

"It’s not too late yet."

And all the remaining Spanish soldiers threw down their weapons.

Alonso looked at him.

He turned his head and looked at Alonso.

He smiled.

Seeing that smile, Alonso felt his entire body relax with relief as he sat down.

It was over.

He was the end of this war.

==

The Spanish army defeated at San Agustin met various fates.

"Ugh, ugh...! Mo-monster... devil...!"

Some scattered in all directions, trembling in fear.

They were soon spotted and captured by freed civilians living nearby, or they returned to San Agustin to surrender on their own. Otherwise, they turned to theft in the vicinity.

"Commander! The ships! If we can just board the ships, we’ll survive...!"

"Everyone maintain formation! We must prevent those ships from falling into enemy hands somehow!"

Another group retreated while maintaining some composure.

These remained Spanish soldiers until the end. They carried fallen or injured officers and barely reached the coast, escaping on docked ships.

Unfortunately, the Florida forces also suffered severe casualties and couldn’t pursue them all. They only managed to capture a few warships left behind.

These ships and expensive cannons were valuable additions to the Virginia community, which already severely lacked such items. Vicente, who returned after late reorganization, was delighted.

And the third group...

"I still don’t know what I saw that day..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"But one thing is certain. That’s why I surrendered.

The Lord was not on our side at that time."

Those who surrendered on the spot.

They lost all will to resist after witnessing Kin Issei’s ’miracle’ and chose to surrender. About 1,000 to 2,000 became Florida’s prisoners this way.

Some of them died, some returned to their homeland, and some remained bound to Florida, but in a way, all their fates were the same.

In that their lives were forever changed after that day’s miracle.

Of course, the miracle wasn’t everything.

If Kin Issei had performed a ’show’ of cutting off his arm and reattaching it before the battle, would they have given up fighting?

No. They would have charged forward in fury, claiming that the beast of Revelation, the Antichrist, was with the enemy.

Conversely, if Kin Issei had simply slaughtered enemies with his excavator without any miracle, would they have retreated?

Again, no. They were too elite and well-trained to be disbanded by the appearance of such a strange mechanical device alone.

Kin Issei struck fear into them with his excavator.

Then Kin Issei used it to completely obliterate their secret weapon, the siege cannon.

Finally, Kin Issei was resurrected before their eyes through an inexplicable miracle, which broke them.

They had no choice but to be defeated.

Around 1,000 Spaniards who chose to remain soldiers until the end crossed the Atlantic in fear.

==

As mentioned earlier, not all Spanish stragglers safely returned to their homeland or surrendered to the Florida forces.

Those who belonged to neither group numbered at least 1,000. And these more than 1,000 scattered and fled, avoiding the eyes of the Florida forces.

Naturally, the fate of such deserters who fled aimlessly is similar across history and geography.

They had to move secretly to avoid the enemy army’s eyes, they stuck together as foreigners in a strange land, and they were even armed.

"Hey! Just put down everything you have and leave, and I’ll spare your lives!"

"D-d-damn it! Bandits... bandits!"

They possessed all the right characteristics to become bandits.

The Spaniards couldn’t even choose to blend into crowds.

No matter how vast Florida might be, it wasn’t an empty land but one where natives had originally lived.

And the lands ceded to the Spanish government by the natives now belonged to liberated Africans. The only Europeans living in Florida were supporters from Virginia and the few collaborators in San Agustin.

Since they stood out too easily by appearance alone, they had no choice but to choose swamps or mountains where people rarely came as their dwelling places, and maintain their livelihood by raiding the surroundings.

"How’s today’s harvest?"

"...Three potatoes. You?"

"Five corn. Mierda, even if we collect it all and make a stew, it’s still not enough for a dozen men to share."

But easier said than done.

African farmers who had just been liberated from slavery couldn’t possibly be wealthy. Whatever they stole was just meager vegetables or poor grains.

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