Volume 1: Stranger in a Strange Land Chapter 37 Puppet
There are four endings in the game "End Watcher" .
The best one is the full moon ending. After sealing the Moon Realm Rift, the heroes of Endwatch retired and became legends. William's perfect save file was after completing this ending.
The normal ending is the New Moon Ending. Although the protagonist repelled the invasion of the Moon Realm, the largest rift could not be closed, and the End Watchers began an eternal watch in the Dusk Fortress.
Then comes the ending of the waning moon, where the protagonist sacrifices his soul and becomes the incarnation of the Seven Holy Spirits, driving the three Void Kings of Destruction who have already entered the real world back to the Moon Realm. But after the protagonist's sacrifice, the next invasion is brewing in the Moon Realm.
The darkest ending is the Eclipse Ending, in which the protagonist betrays the Endwatch, turns evil and becomes the fourteenth Void King. Together with other Void Kings, he uses the real world as his chessboard to control the fate of mortals.
William was not satisfied with any of the endings, especially the last one. If it wasn't for the purpose of completing the collection of all achievements, he wouldn't even want to touch that ending.
The reason is very simple. In the game, those Void Kings who call others mortals and play with the fate of others at will are really disgusting. However, the game developers did not design an ending where one can rush into the Moon Realm and chop off the heads of those Void Kings.
Even in the entire game, the Void Kings’ health bars never showed up, and the protagonist could only fight against their incarnations.
William didn't know if he would have the chance to beat up the Void King if this game had a sequel, but now that he had traveled here and was able to make choices without being forced by the developer's plot framework, he would have the opportunity to make up for that regret.
It was like a very controversial game at the beginning of the century. If that option was not in the game, he would definitely kill the enemy who shot his adoptive father in the head with a golf club with his own hands instead of choosing to forgive her.
Of course, dealing with the Moon Realm is a war, not a simple RPG adventure, so he must first seize power.
"Everything? What does everything include?"
Vincent asked in a serious tone.
“What is included is not everything.”
William said.
"Everything means everything. This mine, the entire source silver industry, Thorn City, Blackwater Province, and more importantly, the people under your rule."
"You want to be the king of Blackwater Province?"
"I will choose someone more suitable to be the king of Blackwater Province, but that person will not be me."
If anyone else had said this, Vincent would have simply thought he was a lunatic, but when a magic caster who had reached the divine realm said this, the weight of the words was completely different.
Many people say that the reason Duke Simon can sit firmly on the Throne of Thorns with such a strong ruling style is at least half because he has a "number one person under the legend" who is loyal to him as his trump card.
Vincent did not completely agree with this statement, but he had to admit that his existence gave Duke Simon more confidence to make some radical changes.
If Duke Simon's political enemies had a magic caster with the same strength as him, the balance would definitely be broken.
And this is just the pinnacle of the master realm.
What about the legendary realm?
What about the divine realm?
Vincent had no doubt that the man in front of him had the ability to turn the entire Thorn City upside down, so he did not question it, but spoke directly.
"You choose a king and then make that person a puppet for you to manipulate? Sir, we seek independence from the empire in order to avoid having our fate controlled by others."
"So you choose to let your fate be controlled by the Void King? That's a good choice."
"So you don't deny that the new ruler will be your puppet?"
"That person will agree with my philosophy and will not have anything to do with Yuejing. If you think this is also my puppet, then I have nothing to say."
“What is your philosophy?”
Vincent asked, staring into William's eyes.
The other party hesitated for a moment before answering.
"No longer will humans let gods control their own destiny."
All the words he had said before were not half as arrogant as this one. For a moment, Vincent didn't know how to respond to him.
After a long while, Ascent murmured.
"This is impossible... Even someone as strong as William Kane couldn't sever the connection between the Moon Realm and the real world."
"That's because he didn't have the conditions before, but now he has them."
The man did not elaborate on the specific conditions, but continued to talk to him.
"I am willing to tell you this because, on the one hand, I know your daughter, and she has given me some help before."
Vincent couldn't help but feel a toothache when he heard William's words.
You've made progress, Liliana.
Vincent thought.
But how could she, an apprentice-level magic caster, provide help to a wizard in the divine realm?
William ignored the other person's suddenly weird expression and continued.
"On the other hand, I've noticed since you came in that you don't have the aura of the Moon Realm. So even though you claim to be a believer of the Moon Realm, you haven't actually traded with the Moon Realm so far, right?"
Vincent nodded slowly.
It was the Duke's plan to replace the Seven Holy Spirits with the ancient faith of the Three Goddesses, and he was actually opposed to it at first.
The reason is just as mentioned before, handing over one's fate from the hands of the empire to the hands of the void king is not necessarily the right choice.
But as humans are all controlled by humans, the gods may not be merciful, but the price paid for mortals' greed is even greater than that of the gods.
After taking back the source silver industry, the empire tightened taxation on Blackwater Province year after year, increased support for hostile families, reduced the quota for magic casters in Blackwater Province , and dispatched multiple legions to the border between Blackwater Province and Platinum Province under various names.
These real pressures cannot be ignored.
In addition, if Duke Simon wants to awaken the power of the "Holy Tomb", which is his last trump card, he must get the help of the three goddesses.
In this way, even from the most pragmatic point of view, the plan to replace the seven holy spirits with the faith of the three goddesses is imperative.
Like many other decisions, these are necessary sacrifices.
But for Vincent personally, he only believed in his own strength. So he never chose to embrace the power of the Moon Realm like other compatriots in the Mage Hall.
Even though the Duke found him a Moon Spirit powerful enough to allow him to break through the legendary limitations, he chose to give up that opportunity.
On this point, he held the same view as the mysterious magic caster in front of him, but he was unable to express his agreement due to his position.
Power is something that belongs to you and is yours. No one can ever take it away from you. Power borrowed from others does not belong to you after all.
"So what exactly do you mean?"
Thinking of this, Vincent asked.
"Didn't you say before that if you become the king of Blackwater Province with my help, you will only become my puppet?"
William said with a smile.
"Then if you believe in your own will enough, how about you being the puppet?"
