After returning to Newfando, Erwin didn't immediately set off to Fort Lungpierce to check on the progress being made there. Instead, the first thing that he did was pay Lia a visit.

During these past few days, Erwin had almost fallen into a state of anxiety. The cause of his distress wasn't the fact that his army was far outnumbered by Sanfesa's forces. After all, even prior to traveling to Finklan, he had been roughly aware of the Delair Dukedom's military prowess, and he hadn't been anywhere near as distressed as he was now. Instead, the cause for his distress was his wariness of Sanfesa, and he was also very concerned about the support that Prince Xar was lending to Sanfesa.

"What's wrong? Your complexion is terrible?" Lia asked with a concerned expression as he cast his gaze toward Erwin. "Did something happen during your trip to Finklan?"

Erwin shook his head in response, merely staring at Lia in silence.

It seemed that he had something serious to say, but in reality, he was merely lost in his own thoughts again.

"We can't continue like this," Erwin said in an urgent voice. "We have to rally all of our people to propagate this war as a religious war. You have to pledge a greater effort to promotion and propaganda. We have to make the citizens of the City of Freedom realize that if we lost this war, then everything will go back to how it was before. The nobility will continue to oppress them and suck their blood, and all of the land that was given to them would be taken away again."

"I've already had that arranged. That's what all of our missionaries are telling the people right now," Lia said in a calm voice.

"Perfect! Looks like we're on the exact same page here," Erwin said with an elated expression. "You have to realize that this is not just a revolution, but also a religious war."

This was already the second time that Erwin had mentioned the term "religious war", and he was doing this to emphasize to Lia that this was the core of the upcoming war. In his frenzied state, Erwin had already lost all of his usual composure and tactfulness, and his blatant emphasis on this concept was clearly a little forced.

Seeing the frenzied look in Erwin's eyes, Lia shook his head as he sighed, "The war against the Delair Dukedom is imminent. You have to make sure you're in a stable state of mind in preparation for this war. You need to understand that this religious war is going to be a long and grand war, and there's no way we'll be able to secure the ultimate victory in just a single battle, so don't take the upcoming battle too seriously. Our ultimate goal may only be accomplished after several generations of work."

Erwin couldn't help but roll his eyes internally upon hearing this. His ambitions wouldn't allow him to make progress so slowly.

"I have some good news. Joe and Menpo have been diligently preaching our church's teachings to the people, and through their efforts, they've managed to recruit 3,000 more people to join our freedom army," Lia said.

"That is good news, but I'm not sure 3,000 newbie soldiers will be able to change much," Erwin said.

"I've already instructed Joe to take them to Fort Lungpierce," Lia said. "That's where you're going to need the most people."

Erwin nodded in response. "Hopefully the new fort can ward off that old slut's army."

Lia faltered slightly upon hearing this, then realized that Erwin was referring to Duchess Silon, upon which he asked, "Did you fall into a trap of hers at Finklan?"

"I almost did," Erwin replied with a dark expression.

"Don't pay her too much heed," Lia said as he made his way over to Erwin and patted him on the shoulder. "We have to set our sights on greater things. She is not our ultimate enemy."

"Apparently, even Prince Xar has sent people to help her," Erwin said.

"Are you scared?" Lia asked with an amused expression.

Erwin turned to Lia with a perplexed expression. He couldn't understand how Lia was so relaxed even in the face of such a formidable foe. He couldn't understand where Lia's confidence was coming from.

"How are you so calm and confident? Could it be that the Universal Lord appeared in your dreams and assured you that we would win this war?" Erwin jibed.

"Abolishing the rule of the nobility is the will of the people. They cannot stand against the rise of the new era," Lia said in a calm voice.

"You don't seem all that concerned about the loss of human lives anymore," Erwin jeered.

Back then, when Erwin had declared that all revolutions were built upon the foundation of countless human lives, Lia had been so shocked that he had been stunned speechless.

"I've already begun walking down this path, there's no way I can turn back now," Lia said. "Even an old man like me isn't scared, surely a young man like you feels no fear. Or are you scared of the prospect of losing?"

Lia's final statement struck the nail right on the head.

"Of course not! How is that possible?" Erwin said, brushing off the notion entirely.

"Everything has gone too smoothly for you so far, so you're naturally worried that you'll trip up somewhere," Lia said.

Erwin shook his head and offered no comment on this.

After that, the two of them discussed some trivial matters, following which Erwin rose to his feet and took a glance up at the sky, then said, "Alright, I don't have any more time to waste chatting with you. I have to set off for Fort Lungpierce now."

"Don't think so much. Overthinking is not a good thing for the general of an army," Lia said right as Erwin was about to leave.

Erwin nodded in response.

After that, Erwin traveled to Fort Lungpierce, accompanied by Onean, Lana, Theresa, and the 10,000 or so soldiers stationed in Newfando. As for Lanyon, he was instructed by Erwin to pilot Christine's airship to the battlefield. In order to prepare for this upcoming war, Erwin was mustering up all of the forces at his disposal. Among the people who were accompanying him, Aglea was the only unpredictable figure. Erwin had no idea if Aglea would lend him her assistance during the upcoming battle.

As for why there weren't any soldiers left behind to defend Newfando, that was because Erwin was placing his trust in Emma. He was of the opinion that she would definitely have a way to keep the Farody Family at bay. Prime Minister Henry clearly cared a great deal about the situation on the western side of the empire, so Erwin knew that he wouldn't just stand by idly and watch as the City of Freedom was attacked from both sides. However, despite this, he had prepared for the worst anyway. Even if Mackney were to raise an army to attack Newfando, he would be taking over nothing more than an empty city. At this moment, the city was occupied only by completely defenseless commoners and clergymen of the Universal Church, and Erwin didn't think that Mackney was so demented that he would dare to slaughter those people. As long as he could overcome the Delair Dukedom in the upcoming war, he would be able to deal with the Farody Family with ease once he returned to Newfando.

...

Upon arriving at Fort Lungpierce, Erwin couldn't help but be genuinely impressed with Sherry's work. Thanks to his tireless efforts, the fort was already beginning to show signs of completion. The outer city wall and turrets had already been constructed, and even though the barracks still only consisted of a cluster of tents, this was already very admirable progress considering the short timeframe.

Erwin's arrival greatly boosted the morale of the Universal Church Freedom Army, and all of the soldiers who were busy at work greeted him enthusiastically upon seeing his arrival.

Sherry was issuing instructions to everyone, and as soon as he spotted Erwin, he immediately jumped down from the ladder that he was on before rushing over to Erwin.

"You're finally here!" Sherry said with a wide smile, then invited everyone into the main tent.

"Given the current rate of progress, we should be able to complete construction on the outer wall before the battle begins," Sherry said as he pointed at the blueprints on the table.

At this moment, Shiba and Bracken also arrived in the tent.

Erwin took a glance at the two of them before asking, "Where's Chahan? Why isn't he with you guys?"

"He's more than keen to flirt with noblewomen, but I don't think he has the guts to step onto a battlefield," Bracken said with a derisive sneer.

Erwin shook his head with a faint sigh, then gestured for everyone to gather around.

"The Delair Dukedom has sent an army of roughly 70,000 troops to attack us, so this is definitely going to be an arduous battle," Erwin said.

"Even with the 10,000 troops you've brought with you, we've only got roughly 33,000 men. That's not even half of the size of their army," Shiba said with a concerned expression.

"Are you scared?" Erwin asked as he turned to Shiba.

"Of course not!" Shiba immediately declared. "All you need to do is give the order, and I'll be charging at the very forefront of our army!"

"That's right! We may only be a bunch of mercenaries, but we've never been afraid of a fight! Tell us where you need us on the battlefield, and we'll go there without any hesitation," Bracken chimed in with a serious expression.

"I was just making a joke, there's no need to be so serious," Erwin said with an amused smile.

Erwin's joking remark alleviated the tense atmosphere in the tent significantly.

"If everything goes smoothly, we should have close to 10,000 more troops coming soon," Erwin said.

There are still more reinforcements coming? Everyone was rather perplexed to hear this. All of the troops that the City of Freedom had managed to recruit were gathered in Fort Lungpierce, so how were there still more reinforcements to come?

However, Erwin didn't seem to be lying, nor did he have any reason to lie about something like this. As usual, they could only admire Erwin for seemingly always being able to pull something out of the bag in important situations.

With this piece of good news, everyone's mood was also lifted slightly.

Sherry was just about to refer to Erwin as "Your Excellency", but he recalled just in the nick of time that Erwin had told him not to use such a title when referring to him, particularly when they were in the presence of other people.

Erwin was immediately able to tell what Sherry wanted to say, and this just so happened to be something that he was about to bring up as well. Thus, he spread open a golden holy decree in front of everyone.

"Even though I've always been the leader of the Universal Church Freedom Army, I've never had an official, but the pope has issued a holy decree, assigning me to be the general of the Universal Church Freedom Army," Erwin declared.

Without a clear title, it was very difficult to establish a clear hierarchy and implement a system of command. Hence, this was the solution to the problem that Erwin had thought of. With this official decree, there was now a complete system. With Erwin officially adopting the role of general of the army, the likes of Sherry, Shiba, and Lanyon were naturally all promoted to become commanders.

In reality, this holy decree didn't come from the pope of the Universal Church at all. Instead, it was a decree passed by Lia as the archbishop, and the golden seal of authority on it was naturally also a forgery.

This was a decision made out of expediency, and it was also a way to boost morale and inspire greater unity among the troops. Back when Erwin mentioned this to Lia, the latter had agreed immediately without any hesitation. This was what Erwin liked most about Lia. In pivotal situations, Lia was also extremely decisive and quick to act, rather than becoming intimidated by the gravity of the situation and becoming more hesitant and timid.

"General Erwin!" Shiba, Sherry, and Bracken immediately yelled in unison with elated expressions.