Chapter 339 God is Man
Amy's large-scale conscription this time actually seems irrational - but with Leon missing and her father trapped, no one can keep Amy sane in this situation.
Recruiting soldiers for war was a necessary act in itself, but the problem was that the large-scale conscription of civilians caused the news of Li Ang's disappearance to spread quickly.
Of course, this news was not easy to keep secret - the city defense forces had fought a battle with the Knights of Dawn for Leon's reputation, and the people of Firthsway also knew about it. Even if a gag order was issued, it could only be concealed for a few days at most, and it could not be kept secret.
But this kind of news can have a big effect even if it is only concealed for a few days.
Now there is no cover-up for a single day, and the incident has caused such a big uproar that the Crow Kingdom, which was originally in the process of fulfilling the cooperation agreement, directly withdrew its troops. The Crow Kingdom soon learned that Li Ang was missing, so the previous agreement was naturally useless, and the Crow Kingdom would naturally not continue to lose troops in vain.
Although tearing up the agreement was tantamount to declaring war, Gregory IV had no choice but to rush back to deal with Ursula.
Then, things became very difficult for Sarleon.
The departure of the Ravenclaw caused the situation in Rocky Bay to take a sharp turn for the worse. Brennus got a chance to catch his breath, and while Godric and Leofric were trapped in Misty Marsh Castle, he quickly launched a counterattack.
At the same time, the Bacchus Empire also responded quickly. Anson's Karen Deer Castle faced his old friend Governor Justus; Sava River Castle was also quickly captured by General Agasson.
——If Leon was still alive, Emperor Marius would definitely give Leon face. But if Leon is missing, then Emperor Marius would definitely not give face to the Kingdom of Sarleon...
On the contrary, Anson had more face, so Justus politely asked Anson to take all those who were willing to leave back to Changhe Town, and did not directly launch an attack on Karen Deer Castle.
Of course, this was also for Alina's sake - Alina was currently in Sarleon City, so Justus would naturally not be too tough.
After hesitating for a while, Anson remembered a letter Leon had written to Emperor Marius: If we lose the land but keep the people, both the people and the land will be saved; if we lose the people but keep the land, both the people and the land will be lost.
So he wrote these words into a military report and sent it to Amy. At the same time, he brought all the people from Karen Deer Castle and Salem Village back to Changhe Town, without blindly wasting strength.
In this way, the entire county of Karenluk was returned to the Bacchus Empire.
At the same time, problems also arose on the D'Shar side - the lord of Singal, Caliph Tahir, led his troops to attack the southwestern border of the Kingdom of the Sarleon, and Ramon did not respond to this.
If Leon hadn't been in trouble, Ramon would have given a warning in advance, and he might even have stopped Tahir directly, but Leon was gone...
In just these twenty days, the Kingdom of Sarleon was suddenly surrounded by enemies.
Amir and the distant village were recaptured by Brunus' counterattack, and Leofric was trapped in the Misty Castle and put up a hard fight.
The area around the Sava River Fort was captured by Agathon, the Qicha Fortress has not yet been rebuilt, and the newly formed cavalry of the Empire has appeared near Yaragal.
Longhowl Castle and Shorthowl Village were both occupied by Firdsvain, and Count Ali 'Forkbeard's team had appeared in Azgod.
Kelredan Castle and Belmont Farai fell into the hands of the D'Shar people, and Balanli, the burial place of successive Fierce Lion kings, was also in danger - the burial objects in the king's tomb were enough to make the D'Shar people give it a try.
The capital, Sarleon City, is about to face direct attacks from various countries!
Fortunately, Amy ordered the recruitment of some new troops, otherwise the empty Sarleon City would have to face a tough battle now...
All of this happened for only one reason—Leon was missing.
Until now, the talents of the Fierce Lion Kingdom have fully realized that it turns out that Leon, the young Grand Duke of Changhe Town, did not rise to power through nepotism. He is the one who makes other countries dare not act rashly.
Without Leon, the Kingdom of Fierce Lion has become a tempting big cake.
The only good news is that after recovering the lost territory of the Bacchus Empire, Emperor Marius gave Amy a chance to breathe. Emperor Marius said that out of the sisterhood between Alina and Amy, as long as the Sarleon Kingdom is willing to provide money, food and military supplies, the Bacchus Empire is willing to help the Sarleon Kingdom deal with several other countries...
This is an open strategy, a method that both Marius and Leon are good at - they really have similar interests.
Amy knew very well that if she didn't join forces with Bacchus, the Sarleon Kingdom would most likely be doomed.
But if Emperor Marius were to "help" the Sarleon Kingdom, it would be like drinking poison to quench thirst. The towns around Sarleon City would probably soon become bases for the various legions of the Bacchus Empire - using the Sarleon Kingdom's money and food to attack other countries on Sarleon's territory would be of great benefit to Bacchus no matter how they fought. Of course, Marius would do this kind of business.
Emperor Marius's intention was actually to use the Kingdom of the Sarleon as a battlefield, use the national strength of the Kingdom of the Sarleon to accelerate the recovery of the national strength of the Bacchus Empire, and drag other countries into the quagmire of war in the Kingdom of the Sarleon.
Even if the Sarleon Kingdom and other countries don't want to fight anymore, with the Bacchus Empire's "assistance" and instigation, this war will never be over.
By the time the Bacchus Empire has sucked enough blood and become strong enough to conquer the continent, the Fierce Lion Kingdom will be finished.
Before that, the Fierce Lion Territory will be caught in the flames of war without a break.
This deadlock can only be broken by force, by conquering all the countries - but without the Noldor elves, it is impossible to break it.
Or, give up the entire western part of the Kingdom of the Fierce Lion... retreat to the most stable area in the eastern part of the kingdom, away from the quagmire of war, then sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, quietly accumulate strength and wait for the opportunity.
However, Godric was still besieged in Mistyfen, and the main forces of the kingdom were either in Mistyfen or in Sarleon.
Amy couldn't give up the western part of the kingdom, and she didn't dare to give up either - if she dared to abandon Sarleon, all the nobles and the city defense forces would definitely surrender to the enemy! These were all noble children from Sarleon and the surrounding areas, and they would never abandon their territory and leave their hometown.
Therefore, although Amy was not happy, she had to accept this "covenant", and all the nobles in Sarleon City hoped that Queen Amy would accept it...
Alina did not leave Sarleon City. She stayed with Amy all the time and gave her many pertinent suggestions sincerely.
But the fall of the Sarleon Kingdom was already inevitable.
"Boy, your safety is directly related to the survival of a kingdom and the war situation of the entire continent... You are very much like me in my old days, you are worthy of being my blood..."
After talking about the current situation of the Sarleon Kingdom, Kavala gave his summary.
Li Ang frowned. Judging from the current situation, the situation might deteriorate further.
There are many things that Kavala doesn't know.
If I disappear, the large-denomination magic coins that were just issued not long ago will probably lose their credibility, and banks will definitely face a run...
This will inevitably trigger an economic crisis in the entire East.
His subordinates might also fall apart. In his absence, lords like Fothert and Inna would not obey Amy's command, and Sigismund and others might also find another place to live.
And Wendy will definitely not return to the Noldor Forest honestly. She will definitely try her best to find herself - if she is not in the Noldor Forest, and without her "Sindarin" identity to suppress her, what will the Noldor do?
What would Aldarian do?
The trust that has been established between the Noldor elves and humans is likely to be broken again.
If he and Wendy were not there, the area around White Hart Castle would inevitably be captured by Aldarian in one fell swoop - Aldarian had always wanted to let humans kill each other and take the opportunity to control the continent with the Noldor.
By then, there will be no peace in the entire continent, and it will be really difficult to recover.
"It seems that I must return quickly, otherwise the Sarleon Kingdom may be gone... and the Noldor elves may also be in great danger... But how can I return?"
Leon looked at the brazier.
Althea also became worried. She could imagine what would happen if Leon, the bridge connecting humans and the Noldor, was gone.
"If the code was with you, it would be easy to go back. But since the code is gone, there is only one last way left... Go back the same way you came here."
There was also a hint of helplessness in Kavala's voice.
"But... I used lightning to make the code..."
Li Ang frowned, looked back at the gate of the temple, and stopped talking.
He realized what Kavala wanted him to do...
The main door of the temple is exactly the same as the pages in the codex, this is the large 'Gate of the Abyss', or 'Gate of Heaven'.
"It seems you have understood... Child, what the code can do, can also be done here."
Kavala said softly.
"What exactly is the code? The three prophets said it was the gate to the abyss, and Aigram said it was the gate to heaven... What exactly is it?"
Leon asked, frowning as he looked at the gate of the temple.
"Ha, the abyss is actually heaven... The heaven that Aigram has been searching for is actually where he originally lived - it's actually here. You will understand if you shine a real torch on the dome of the temple."
Kavala seemed to smile.
Li Ang looked up and there seemed to be nothing on the top of the temple.
He went outside to the embers of the fire, relit a torch, and looked up.
You still can't see anything when you look directly, but the firelight casts a shadow on the dome.
There was something suspended there that was invisible to the naked eye but cast a shadow in the firelight. It looked like an elliptical cantilever structure - probably the same as the galaxy pattern on the door.
Li Ang turned his head to look at the soul fire on the wall, then he realized that although the soul fire could illuminate the temple, it could not leave a shadow on any object - this was completely inconsistent with optical logic. No wonder he always felt that this temple was a little unnatural.
"Is that the abyss?"
Li Ang seemed to understand a little.
"That is not only the abyss, but also a door to the void. I don't know what it was originally called. But I know that every god left through this door, and must return to the earth through this door..."
There was a hint of something else in Kavala's words: "But... the gods who have left should not come back."
"Who built this temple, then? And who brought you here?"
Li Ang asked.
"I don't know who built this place. I only know that it was Eunomia who brought me here, but she left three hundred years ago. She asked me to be the gatekeeper here... because only I can prevent the return of all gods, including Eunomia herself!"
Kavala was very nice to Leon and answered almost every question he asked.
"Prevent the gods from returning? Why?"
Li Ang was a little surprised: "Why did Eunomia stop her from returning to the earth?"
"Because the order that Eunomia wants is an order without gods... an order that belongs to ordinary people. Only in this way can the earth not be destroyed - you should know what the Sindarri elves did before ? At that time, the Sindarri, dragons and Titans were equivalent to the gods of the earth..."
Kavala told Leon a secret that no one had ever mentioned before: "In fact, God is a human..."
In the days of the Sindarri and the dragons and titans, there were no gods in the land—these transcendent beings were gods in their own right.
But after the Titan War, the magical weapons created by the Sindarien elves destroyed the continent of Gwendarian, and the surging magical storms caused the extinction of most magical creatures.
Without the suppression of various magical races, humans rose rapidly with extremely strong adaptability and reproduction speed, and gradually some people with special talents emerged.
These people are basically the leaders of various continents.
After gaining power, they naturally began to pursue immortality - this is the inevitable thinking path of human beings.
Some people are indeed outstanding . I don’t know who was the first to discover that people’s devout beliefs can bring about some special spiritual power, so these people began to try to define themselves as gods.
They made up various myths and legends, and discussed and allocated responsibilities to various fields.
When a leader intends to create a god, the common people are usually easily fooled.
Thus, a group of 'gods' who were deliberately intended to be recognized by people were born.
In fact, it was less than two thousand years ago - that was when Avadain led the Noldor elves to migrate continuously, trying to find a place to settle down in various places. At that time, Althea and the little dragon Kualis had already met the real gods on this island.
Of course, in the scriptures of various gods, they all boast of themselves as being very ancient and natural. After all, in order to gain faith, they have to beautify their image a little.
In fact, the real god will never show himself in front of people, and will deliberately hide his mark, and even erase all people's memories related to him. When it is really impossible to erase him, he will use some exchanges to restrict the freedom of those who know him - just like the real owner of this island.
But man-made 'gods' are different - they need belief, they will make a big fuss, they need everyone in the world to know their name.
They did gain devout believers and became extraordinary people.
But the human body will always age. This is the law of the world and cannot be reversed.
In order to achieve immortality, these "artificial gods" who gained the power of faith threw away their physical bodies and became complete spiritual bodies after their physical lives came to an end.
The power of faith can allow their souls to exist for a long time and not dissipate.
But there is always a price to pay for every gain. It is possible that spirits are immortal, but they cannot touch physical entities.
Therefore, these gods cannot directly interfere with humans. They can only create some seemingly mysterious events to demonstrate miracles.
For example, the goddess of justice likes to send down oracles through dreams; the goddess of darkness will stimulate people's souls to inspire the potential of believers.
The Dark Goddess cannot actually grant power to people, but she can make people's subconscious mind no longer restrain the body, which can fully tap people's potential and give them enormous power - but the price is heavy.
People can only use the force that your body is willing to let you use. This is a form of self-protection.
In theory, human bones and muscles can actually transmit thousands of pounds of force. But exerting this kind of force comes at a heavy price, causing irreversible damage to bones, muscle groups and internal organs at the least, or even sudden death at the worst.
This is actually the reason why heretical summons such as the Three Prophets or the Fallen have strange powers. They have either lost their minds or are using other people's bodies, so naturally they have no sense of self-protection.
Originally, these man-made gods were quite harmonious. After all, they all just wanted to gain faith and thus achieve immortality. Their starting point was simply that they didn't want to die.
At first they were just trying to find ways to increase the number of believers.
But later, they discovered more mysteries about the soul, and found that the stronger their faith, the more things they could do - they could occupy the bodies of others, cast spells like the Sindarin elves, and even move mountains and seas, becoming omnipotent.
Thus, the competition among the 'gods' for population and faith began.
