When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 904 - 855: The Essence of Divine Art and the Second Phase of Military Reform

"Aiyah ah ah ah—"

On the sweat-glistening muscles appeared the blessing of "Lifting Heavy as Light." The laborer, practicing the three-stage breathing method, grunted and bore the heavy spring warehouse on his shoulder.

Nodding in thanks to the monk who bestowed the blessing beside him, the laborer stepped forward towards the Mud District.

Yet unexpectedly, the uneven and muddy ground did not slow his pace.

Upon closer inspection, one could see the laborer's feet were at least seven to eight centimeters off the ground.

This was one of the blessings monks excelled at, "Divine Technique of Walking on Flat Ground."

In the nearby swamp, the rotary holy machine pump that had replaced the mountain copper spring was continuously extracting sewage from the muddy pond.

In the Mud District on the outskirts of the ry Court Barracks, numerous laborers stepped on the ground as if using the Divine Technique of Walking on Flat Ground.

The muddy pond miraculously formed a hard dirt road in just one day.

This was constructed by several Miracle Priests who transformed mud into stone and then drove stakes to build it.

It merely required the Miracle Priests to occasionally perform miracles to maintain and repair the damaged road.

This once abandoned area was transforming into dry and flat land at a pace visible to the naked eye.

"You see, once this area is leveled, a mortar road can pass through. I have a plan..."

A carriage was parked behind, and Vite was enthusiastically discussing his construction plan for Autumn Dusk Island with Horn.

Horn gazed at the bustling area, his attention focused on the harmonious Miracle Priests.

It must be said that the path combining divine art and spell construction was not guided by Horn.

Originally, the Holy Path faction's monastic monks capable of bestowing blessings did not get along with the Miracle Priests but had to work together.

However, as their cooperation deepened and after joint training (including military training), the gap rapidly diminished.

Though many monastic monks were reluctant to acknowledge miracles as opposed to spells, for "political correctness," they would never express it or act upon it.

Fortunately, the ry Court Barracks' environment was open enough; among the younger generation of priests, this gap was far less than it was among the elders.

On the side of the Secret Faction wizards, similar to the priests, many only regarded Miracle Priests as titles.

Among young people, there's little gap, or they're more accepting.

It was against this backdrop that this unique mode of cooperation naturally emerged.

Under this model that harnesses diverse strengths, the city construction and expansion speed of the ry Court Barracks far exceeded Horn's expectations.

"Your Eminence, Your Eminence?"

"Hm?"

Looking at the absent-minded Horn, Vite nervously asked, "Do you have any guidance on my ring road plan? Because I think, with the current rate of population growth in the ry Court Barracks, it might not be enough..."

"No, no, your plan is detailed, I'm quite assured leaving it to you."

"Then you were just now?"

Focusing on those blessed monks, Horn scratched his head, "It's related to divine art, nothing to do with you... Remember to build more monasteries."

"Oh, okay." Vite nodded and instructed the monks beside him to record.

Once, Horn thought that divine art and blessings were like the breathing method, bound to the monk personally.

Yet through his research on monasteries and holy water over this period, he gradually realized that divine art seemed bound to organizations such as monasteries.

Leaving the monastery for too long or too far seemed to lead to a significant reduction in the power of divine art and blessings.

After switching monasteries, it took up to a month of prayer and adjustment to restore divine art to normal levels.

Currently, Cheka had gathered a group of radical wizards and theologians, conducting experiments related to divine art in Black Snake Bay.

Research into the essence of divine art and blessings was a taboo topic with the Church.

According to the Church, being researched equated to an attack on religious authority.

"Don't worry about so much, just believe" is the correct attitude.

The Holy Path faction, however, didn't have this issue; natural theology instead required them to study the world to manifest the existence of the Holy Father.

The various taboos of the Church were non-existent within the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance.

This too was key in attracting foreign monks and reformist priests.

Among their proposed hypotheses, one drew Horn's considerable interest.

It was put forward by a theologian named Michal, who suggested that monks' divine art stemmed from collective prayer.

If divine art and blessings were compared to fabrics, then monasteries were textile workshops, and praying monks were weavers.

As for those monks using divine art, they were merely peddlers selling the fabric.

This explained why Extraordinary Monks experienced a decrease in divine art power when away from monasteries for prolonged periods.

Because "restocking" wasn't timely.

However, this "Monk Fabric Peddling Theory" was merely hypothetical.

Thus far, the occurrence of divine art and spell remains a black box, with unknown internal processes.

"Your Eminence, since you mentioned building monasteries, I have a plan to replace all domes with depictions of the Battle of Cheese Bay, and the holy images swapped for you, the Saint Master, and the Holy Father..."

"Alright, alright, you and I both know you're telling me all this because you want me to allocate you a fiscal budget, right?" Horn glanced at Vite, directly pointing out his little scheme.

Vite was not shy and said confidently, "Yes, Lord Qianqian said I've already used up this year's construction funding, and he won't give me even a copper coin more."

"It's only April, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Horn knew he was a construction enthusiast who liked to create marvels, and with Cheka's supervision, there shouldn't be any embezzlement.

But faced with Vite's request, he could only spread his hands, "I've used up all my favor on research funding; no matter what he says, he won't provide more money."

Vite looked at Horn's expression, which seemed genuine, and his whole demeanor slumped, "At least a third of the projects will have to be postponed, like the current one. Is there really no room for negotiation?"

"... I can show you a clear path; the Holy Treasury has no money, so go ask the civilians."

"The civilians have no money either, and my returns are slow. Everyone's buying industrial bonds and Holy War Bonds."

The concept of real estate was still quite underdeveloped in this era.

Horn had specifically developed cheap Insula Apartments to gather industrial population.

Otherwise, relying on land sales, Vite's city government wouldn't be lacking funds.

"You should go to the army; each Battle Group, after finishing their wars, has money to spare," Horn said with a smile. "In the future, the Imperial Guard will be stationed permanently on Autumn Dusk Island, while other Battle Groups will rotate their stationing."

"Are you referring to legion territories?"

The carriage moved smoothly along the level road, as Vite continued to contemplate how to integrate legion territories into the ry Court Barracks.

Yet Horn was flipping through the new recruit training report handed over by Boned.

A Battle Group of 5,000 from Black Snake Bay and a new Battle Group of 5,000 from Norn were both training in the new recruit camps at Joan of Arc Castle and the ry Court Barracks respectively.

"These two new Battle Groups can be trained according to the latest organization."

"You mean?" Boned tentatively asked, "To start a second round of military restructuring trials? We're still at war, isn't it too rushed?"

After the widespread adoption of Divine Favor technology, Horn could essentially bring in nearly 4,000 Holy Gunmen and Alchemist Priests each month.

Simultaneously, due to the popularity of breathing techniques and the refining of mithril, the weight of firearms and other weapons significantly reduced.

The Holy Gunmen of the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance had already begun to phase out gun racks initially.

Currently, many Holy Gunmen retained gun racks only because they mounted ax blades or bayonets on them for close combat.

With the evolution of spring weapons, old tactics fell behind the times, unable to maximize the battlefield potential of these weapons.

So the previous unit structure of 2 Holy Gunmen to 3 Long Spearmen, due to insufficient Holy Gunmen, could now be phased out.

Similarly, officers didn't have to be overly concerned about Holy Gunmen being breached since there were sufficient replacements.

"Is it rushed? I don't think so," Horn shook his head, "Currently, the battles between the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance and the Leia people are occurring within Thousand River Valley's homeland.

We always have the advantage of favorable terrain and societal support. What if our battlefield were outside the Thousand River Valley?"

"Outside the Thousand River Valley?"

"Indeed, if we persist with the current military system, we will perpetually lack the ability to attack Leia."

Even before the success of Divine Favor technology, Horn was pondering—

Should we thicken the formation of Holy Gunmen?

Should we change from the original 20x5 formation to 20x6?

Should we switch from Maurice style retreating rotation fire to Gustav style advancing rotation fire?

Adding a row of Holy Gunmen, paired with the advancing rotation fire brings about this effect:

The first three rows fire in semi-kneeling, bent-over, and standing positions respectively, and after firing, the back three rows advance forward to fire simultaneously with this tactic.

Long Spearmen would not remain stationary as they currently do, but instead, follow the volley to charge and counterattack, seizing more initiative.

This three-stranded volley had been proven effective against Extraordinary Knights, unless they were insanely powerful Titled Knights.

Thus, it might be possible for the new Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance Army to withstand the assault of the Cheka Cavalry on enemy advantageous terrain.

In other words, barring unexpected events, the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance Army is about to experience a second military restructuring.

However, elimination isn't simply executed.

The entire tactical system of Gallar is intrinsically linked with the 3:2 Gallar Array.

Horn still needed to follow the sequence of trial, then promote and test, and finally adapt to local conditions.

Seeing Horn's contemplative face, Boned felt a mix of emotions.

Attacking the Leia Kingdom? The Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance stepping onto Leia's land?

Such a ludicrous proposition, yet somehow, inexplicably, Boned felt perhaps this could truly happen.

Suddenly, a commotion came from outside the carriage, and then the speed of the carriage gradually slowed until it stopped.

Boned stuck his head out, dissatisfied, "What happened? Why stop the carriage?"

The visitor was a Cheka, who rode up to the carriage window on horseback and handed a document to Boned, "Please deliver this to His Majesty."

Recognizing the Cheka insignia, Boned knew he had no authority to inquire further and directly handed it to Horn.

Upon opening the envelope and taking a glance, Horn's brows slightly furrowed, "This King Jiji, why always with these sneaky tricks?"