Book 9: Chapter 42: The Rift

Looking at the four beautiful women, each with their own unique aura, the Avengers sitting opposite them also had serious expressions, their gazes shifting toward the Captain America at the center.

“Hey, folks, I told you earlier that this wouldn’t work!” Iron Man, hovering in mid-air, flipped down and landed, placing himself between Green Hunter and his companions.

Tony Stark lifted his iron mask and curled his lip, spreading his hands as he spoke to Captain America, “Steve, I don’t care what orders Nick gave you. Stopping these ladies from eliminating vampires isn’t my style. Even for those who’ve already died, do you really want them to remain restless after death, turned into undead slaves by vampires?”

Captain America reached up and pulled off his blue face guard, his strong face showing a deep frown under thick eyebrows. He turned his head to look at the two giants beside him.

“Hulk doesn’t like this either. Hulk doesn’t want to fight friends!” The green giant among the two, one white and one green hunched over and yelled in a deep, muffled voice. But the other pale-skinned giant showed no reaction, merely turning his head to gaze toward the HELLSING headquarters, his eyes growing colder.

Seeing this, Captain America sighed inwardly. His tense expression suddenly relaxed, and he spread his hands with a laugh. “To hell with those bureaucrats in the White House! Brothers, do what you think is best. Whether the enemy is vampires, Crusaders, or those damned Nazis, I only have one request: kick their butts hard!”

“That’s the Captain America we know!” Both groups of powerful figures shared a smile.

“So be it. Before the Undead Army spreads widely, let’s split up and secure the nearby streets,” Captain America said seriously, removing the super-alloy shield from his back.

“Steve, what about that Vampire? There are countless casualties in London now. If we don’t act, the Undead Army will keep growing,” Iron Man, rising back into the air, asked with some concern.

“Professor Liv, we’ll leave Alucard of the HELLSING organization to you expert ghost hunters,” Captain America said, sighing helplessly as he looked in the direction Alucard had left.

Actually, the main goal in London for the Avengers Alliance, led by him, was Qin Lun and the three major Nazi organizations behind him.

However, from the moment tonight’s war began, this objective seemed increasingly out of reach. First, MI7, which had already suffered one attack, became the primary target once again. Then came the ensuing missile saturation attack.

Although only about one-tenth of the hundreds of air-to-ground missiles ended up hitting the urban area, the resulting damage was immeasurable. Most of the aircraft carrier fleet at the Thames estuary was damaged, half of the urban anti-air defense forces lost their combat capability, and London’s communication network was severely disrupted.

Of course, with a population of tens of millions and an area exceeding 1,500 square kilometers, Greater London was far from being completely crippled by a few dozen tactical missiles. In comparison to the losses suffered by the navy and anti-air defenses, the biggest threat to the British capital was the civilian casualties and the numerous fires caused by the missiles.

After a brief period of chaos, London’s military and governmental systems began to take action. Due to having anticipated the attack, London’s firefighting systems and police force were already prepared and ready to be deployed.

Meanwhile, the Avengers Alliance and the Green Hunters, poised for action, used subsequent intelligence to pinpoint the enemy’s exact location and set out to surround and eliminate the Millennium Bug assault team led by Qin Lun and Captain Hans.

However, none of them had expected that the Millennium Bug assault team and the missile attack were only the beginning of the nightmare. Soon after, massive air mobile forces, marked with black and white crosses and white backgrounds with red crosses, arrived in overwhelming numbers via helicopters.

These troops, clearly belonging to the Vatican’s Crusader Knights, instantly plunged the already devastated British into deeper despair and left the Avengers and Green Hunters at a loss.

It must be explained here the deep significance behind the Vatican’s attack on London, England. In fact, after World War II, this world’s historical progression had drastically changed due to the existence of the Space-Time Rift and the mysterious structure that fell from the Egyptian pyramids in 1983.

Capitalizing on the benefits from the two World Wars and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the United States remained the most powerful nation in the world by the end of the 20th century. Moreover, due to the influx of top scientists during World War II, its research into human evolution and biotechnology far surpassed that of other countries, resulting in the most powerful Superhumans within its borders.

This American advantage peaked toward the end of World War II. However, as time passed, this advantage gradually diminished, and the decline accelerated.

Unlike the Earth Federation where Qin Lun came from, the decline of U.S. hegemony in this world wasn’t primarily related to economics, politics, military strength, or technology, but rather solely due to the influence of the Space-Time Rift.

The Space-Time Rift that spans Earth’s stratosphere is the point where two different spatiotemporal worlds meet. The World Laws of both sides affect each other.

Regardless of Earth’s influence on the other world, as that world gradually approaches this space-time, all scientific laws on Earth undergo corresponding changes. The emergence of some Magic Law beginnings is evident, with the increasing number of Superhumans worldwide being clear proof of this shift.

The problem is, even with the influences of their own Constitution and technological development, the evolutionary effect of the Space-Time Rift on humans is universal. Population base is the largest factor driving the emergence of Superhumans.

The population of the U.S. is not particularly small, but it certainly doesn’t match its status as a global hegemon. Currently, America’s Superhuman strength indeed leads the world, but that doesn’t guarantee it will remain so in the future.

To counter the resurgence of Eastern civilizations, the U.S. had to lower its stance and ally with Europe. Europe’s population is close to 800 million, it is technologically advanced, and its people generally possess better physical Constitution than Easterners, making the likelihood of becoming Superhumans several times higher. Thus, Europe will be the largest birthplace of future Superhumans.

Although Europe will become the primary birthplace of new humans in the future, looking at individual organizations, the Vatican, headquartered in Rome, is the biggest beneficiary.

The appearance of magical creatures and futuristic technological structures worldwide has reignited a fervor for religious faith. Seizing this opportunity, the Vatican has greatly expanded its power. Nearly one-third of Europe’s newly emerging enhanced humans have joined the Vatican.

Of course, the strength of these Superhumans cannot be compared to veteran powerhouses like the Avengers or Green Hunters. Essentially, they are enhanced humans with low evolution levels and little combat experience.

However, with a base exceeding 8,000 enhanced human Crusaders, major global powers and Superhuman organizations were left stunned, hesitant to provoke them. For a time, the Vatican once again exuded an aura reminiscent of the Middle Ages, where it dominated European nations and religious authority overshadowed political power.

In reality, given the current stage of human civilization, any attempt by the Vatican to replace secular governance with religious rule would fail. Even the most fervent Catholics don’t entertain such thoughts.

However, merely replacing other religious doctrines with Catholic teachings and waging limited holy wars doesn’t concern secular governments. If this could secure the Vatican’s support, it would be a cheap bargain.

In fact, even without the Millennium Bug’s attack on London, the first target of the Vatican’s Ninth Crusade would still have been England. The reason is simple: among Europe’s three major powers—England, France, and Germany—France practices religious freedom but is predominantly Catholic. Only Germany and England are Protestant.

But Germany has no monarchy, and its secular government is indifferent to religious affiliations. England is different. It has a constitutional monarchy; the royal family has historically been staunch supporters of Protestantism, significantly influencing Parliament and the cabinet. Catholicism has no foothold in the British Isles.

Therefore, the British were actually unaware that although global Superhuman organizations ostensibly presented a united front, their respective secular governments had tacitly sold out the British.

The British Royal Family, the HELLSING organization, and MI7, whose main combat force consists of Protestant Ascetic Monks, are primary targets of the Vatican’s holy war.

Following the skirmishes in Washington, London, and Moscow, only the clearly personal rival Fairy Tale Girls Team from the Grimm Academy came to London. Other Green Hunters scattered across Europe did not rush to London immediately…

Why did the incredibly powerful Avengers Alliance ultimately send only a handful of members to support England? If not for the unauthorized actions of the three Iron Man members, the actual Avengers supporting London would have been only Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow—and Hawkeye and Black Widow aren’t even considered Superhumans.

In fact, the uncanny timing of the Millennium Bug’s attack and the Vatican’s holy war also concealed ulterior conspiracies.

The desire of the three major Nazi organizations to restore their nation didn’t conflict with the Vatican’s objectives. If they could trap the Allied powers’ Superhumans in London, the three organizations might even be willing to sell the post-restoration religious authority to the Vatican.

Eliminating England and acquiring Germany—after changing the religious faiths of these two major European powers, aside from Russia to the north, Catholicism would achieve a largely unified faith across Europe. This was a goal not even achieved during the Vatican’s peak in the Middle Ages. They might willingly sacrifice everything for this.

However, the collaboration between the Church and Nazi remnants is shocking; such dirty political dealings cannot be openly stated. Major Montana wouldn’t tell Qin Lun, and the Vatican wouldn’t inform their Ascetic Monks. Even with some speculation, both sides remained enemies on the battlefield.

The Vatican’s Papal Chamber organized over 6,000 Crusaders to land in London. Their primary targets were the British Royal Family, Westminster Cathedral, Downing Street, MI7, and the HELLSING organization. Among these, the British Royal Family and Westminster Cathedral were the main objectives; the latter three were secondary, and failure there was acceptable.

During the battle, the three major Crusader Knights deliberately avoided residential areas. The civilian casualties they caused were, in some respects, fewer than those accidentally caused by Alucard after unleashing the River of Death. This was the main reason the Avengers and Green Hunters shifted from unity to conflict, and then back to unity.

Before the satellite communications were cut, Captain America had actually received orders from the White House. They demanded that the Avengers Alliance remain neutral during the war and try to bring Britain’s Superhumans back to the United States—clearly repeating the opportunistic behavior seen during the two World Wars.

But the Green Hunters were different; they were largely unaffected by political factors. At the start of the war, they chose to fight the Crusaders due to the invasion. After Alucard released the River of Death, they decisively decided to kill the Vampire and protect the British people, which led to their internal conflict with the Avengers.

It wasn’t until Alucard, greatly distressed upon sensing Integra’s death, caused an undead rampage that the two sides reached a compromise again.