In this central area of London, the minor skirmishes between the Reincarnators and Apostles hadn’t interrupted the war between the Crusaders and the British military police.
To be fair, the British forces had done their best. After the Mobile Crusaders invaded, all the British police and troops across the city had fought while retreating. Eventually, almost ten thousand gathered in the city center around Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park. Using the advantageous terrain, they reorganized their defenses.
Being the heart of London, it had the most complete air defense systems. Early on, they even managed to repel a few impressive counterattacks, downing quite a few of the Crusaders’ armed helicopters.
Though the Crusaders from the Vatican had formal training, the Holy See was not truly a country and lacked the capability to organize a proper, modern army. The enhanced soldiers weren’t used to this kind of warfare. Once their numbers grew as large as an battalion, they seemed to forget how to fight coherently. Instead of tactics, they just charged forward in swarms, causing pointless casualties.
However, the individual abilities of these enhanced warriors were far superior to ordinary troops. Having already seized control of all other parts of London except North London, the Crusaders gradually focused the majority of their forces on this last, toughest bone to crack.
Once the Crusaders in this area surpassed two thousand, quantity finally shifted into quality. Through sheer brute force, they broke through the British ground defenses.
Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Downing Street, and Westminster Abbey fell one after another. London’s once bustling city center now lay littered with bodies. British resistance ended in the most brutal fashion.
Naturally, the victorious Crusaders also suffered heavy losses. Combined with casualties in North London, over half of their six thousand strong force perished. The survivors were all wounded, some even losing their enhancements due to pushing their potential too far in the fight.
For the Apostles, however, the end of this war was a positive development. Having just finished their conflict with the outsiders, the Apostle numbers were still around fifty. Internal conflict had barely sparked when the sudden flood of Crusaders extinguished it.
Although these drop items were only worth a few hundred Shattered Crystals, it was still a gain. At this point, the Apostles finally remembered that unlike ordinary humans, the Crusader soldiers were enhanced beings. Even if they weren’t top-tier superhumans historically significant like Captain America, they still held killing value.
But problems arose alongside this discovery. The Crusader soldiers rarely operated alone, moving in groups instead. They wielded modern weapons and had armed helicopters for aerial support. A Professional Apostle might kill one or two, but they would immediately face a swarm attack. The risk simply didn’t match the potential reward.
So, the Apostles naturally turned their thoughts towards targets offering greater value with relatively less risk: the Avengers Alliance, the Green Hunters, and other superhuman figures from the story who had come from all over Europe to offer aid.
Under normal circumstances, they never would have considered targeting these people. Most Apostles in this world were only at the initial stage; attacking top-tier superhumans from the Divine Comedy World would feel like overestimating their abilities.
But tonight was different. The British government had completely collapsed. All these story superhumans now found themselves isolated, cut off from national support, stranded in hostile territory.
Meanwhile, the Apostles, having fought the Reincarnators earlier, had formed at least small teams of three to four. They could even form temporary alliances with other squads as needed. If a team possessed a good mix of ability users, they actually stood a chance attacking story-strong figures.
Crucially, eliminating vital story characters like Captain America or Iron Man would yield significant gains. Split among the Apostles, the share might not seem huge individually, but it was more than enough to offset penalties for failing the Main Plotline.
Once they grasped this, the Apostles began disengaging from the London center. Seeking the darkness before the dawn, they sped towards North London.
“Leader Qin Lun, it seems your pre-battle prediction is about to come entirely true!” Lace’s voice echoed softly in the Team Channel.
“The battle has entered the third stage!” Ignoring Lace’s sarcastic jibe, Qin Lun exchanged a knowing smile with Grant.
The truth was, after the Reincarnators invaded this world, the Apostles were destined to target the story-strong figures. Imagine if Qin Lun and Grant hadn’t intervened forcefully. Both Apostles and Reincarnators would still be scattered globally.
If the Reincarnators attacked any Apostle, regardless of the outcome, it would wreck the Apostles’ relationship with the story characters. Continuing the Main Plotline would likely become impossible.
Due to the ratio of numbers, even if Apostles won a fight, their losses couldn’t be replaced. Most would have to turn against the story figures for survival. Without reinforcements, their situation would be even worse than it was now.
Before plotting the Battle of London, Qin Lun and Grant had recognized this. For Major Montana, the battle had only two stages. But for Qin Lun and Grant, the so-called second stage could be steered into revealing an additional, third phase.
Luckily, despite the confusing initial phase, the Apostle and story battlefields ultimately separated. Guided deliberately by Qin Lun and others, the vast majority of Apostles concentrated within inner London. They fought the Reincarnators without simultaneously battling the strongest story figures, preserving most of their strength.
“Our risk is now at its lowest. We just see how much we can gain!” Grant declared confidently, his mood lifted significantly.
His confidence wasn’t unfounded. Even against formidable opponents like Lancelot, they could potentially escape with the help of approaching Apostle teams. Compared to the earlier extremely dangerous situation, their lives were now far safer.
“Hah, don’t be too careless! We still don’t know the type of Lancelot’s Relics. If it isn’t a restorative one like the Holy Grail, but something like the Lance of Longinus, we could still easily lose our lives,” Qin Lun reminded him with a light smile.
“The other Apostles will take some time to get here. Should we act immediately?” Grant asked Qin Lun, his tone carrying fresh respect. He knew the favorable situation owed much to his companion.
“No, wait a bit. Monica just messaged. The River of Death heads this way. Alucard and the other strong characters seem to be gathering together.” Qin Lun frowned and sighed helplessly, “We misjudged how much Integra’s death affected Alucard. After living for centuries, this Vampire had surprisingly deep affection for an ordinary human.”
“Do we need to change plans?” Grant shrugged nonchalantly, “You decide. Not getting any Relics is acceptable. The remaining Avengers like Captain America and the Green Hunters are still valuable targets.”
“No! We’ve come this far. Giving up isn’t an option!” Qin Lun scratched his teeth, his eyes narrowing into a smile, “The Allied superhumans are at their weakest. The Crusaders have no reinforcements in North London. Even if they group up… we still have a chance to assault them head-on!”
“You mean… Hans and his team?” Grant paused thoughtfully, recalling their advance assault team, then frowned, “That’s odd. For a team of their strength… it’s been unusually quiet over there!”
“Hah, you finally noticed. I believe this is likely Major Montana’s arrangement.” Qin Lun shook his head with a wry smile, “This entire Battle of London was planned to eliminate the Allied superhumans while conserving our own strength as much as possible. With the battle going far smoother than imagined, that fat man is naturally pulling back his forces.”
Actually, Qin Lun’s judgment somewhat wronged Major Montana. The Nazi Major’s zeal for war far exceeded Qin Lun’s expectations. The silence from Hans’s assault unit wasn’t due to conservation, but because they were occupied with tasks beyond direct combat.
As Qin Lun had suspected before the battle, Major Montana had heavily invested in sowing discord between the Allied superhumans and the HELLSING organization. He had indeed planted a traitor within HELLSING whom no one expected: Walter, the old butler who had served the Van Helsing family since Integra’s grandfather’s time and had watched her grow up.
Walter was an exceptional Vampire Hunter and had been HELLSING’s ace since the era of Integra’s grandfather.
But beyond being a top hunter and the family butler, Walter was also a battle maniac nicknamed the “God of Death.” His desire for combat, in some ways, mirrored Major Montana’s war lust; both were intensely fixated.
Differing from Integra’s view, Walter never approved of Alucard’s existence and intensely desired a fight with the Vampire. Yet Alucard had never rebelled, famously helping the young Integra quash her uncle’s coup. Walter had buried his yearning deep inside.
However, as his body aged, Walter’s craving for a life-or-death duel with Alucard only intensified. He ultimately succumbed to Major Montana’s temptation.
He cast aside his lifelong loyalty to the Van Helsing family, underwent Dr. Shahil’s human transformation, reverting to his prime youth, and sought that final confrontation with Alucard.
At the start of the war, though Qin Lun had been intercepted by Alucard and failed to catch up with Integra, Captain Hans’s assault squad managed to stop her Roll-Royce before she reached HELLSING headquarters.
Then, Walter the “God of Death,” pretending to cover their retreat, let himself be captured by Captain Hans and taken to the Zeppelin airship. Completing this crucial mission first meant the assault team laid low for a while, lying in wait for Hans’s return.
By the time Hans did return, however, Integra had already been forced by the Crusaders’ invasion to unleash Alucard. The Millennium Bug assault team, alongside the Allied superhumans, got trapped in the resulting sea of Necros.
Then, after Qin Lun killed Integra, triggering Alucard’s River of Death eruption, Walter became completely useless. The Allied superhumans were already locked in deadly combat with Alucard. Major Montana’s painstakingly placed pawn had been wasted.