Volume 3: The Land of Mist Chapter 23: The Lord of Mist
"So, what was the final result of your negotiation?"
Morton Bloodblade, the lord of Fengyan City, wearing dark gold scale armor and holding a dark red dagger, walked up to the Fire Tower. He first glanced at the thick fog in the distance, then took a deep breath to calm the expression on his face, and then asked Remedios who was standing on the edge of the tower platform.
"As expected, they want to continue to remain neutral, so they have made it clear that they will not participate in this war."
Remedios answered while gazing into the distance.
There was no disappointment in her tone, as if she had already guessed this would happen.
"But... why? This is their only shelter. Even if the Empire plants the Dragon Sword Flag here and opens the Moon Realm rift here, don't they care?"
Morton asked doubtfully.
"Maybe they care, but what's more important is the Platinum Rule. After more than two thousand years, they still haven't gotten over the shadow of that incident."
Remedios replied.
The ancient Takma sect has always followed the ancient path of ascension. In their long history, they have only tried to interfere in real politics once - that was during the Golden Calendar. In order to end the rule of the demigod tyrant on the continent of Vic, they passed on the creation model and magic concepts they had researched to the human rebels at that time.
The result of that attempt directly led to the strong rise of the Holy Spirit Church and the establishment of the foundation of the classical magic system. After that, the entire Vic continent entered the Platinum Age dominated by mortals. But unlike what they expected, this era was more superstitious and cruel than the past eras with demigods or heroes with divine blood.
After all, in the past, wars were mostly decided by battles between heroes of divine blood, and ordinary mortals only existed as spoils of war or sacrifices. But after the power of magic became popular, wars changed from confrontations between gods to wars between people. The suffering brought about by this conflict with a wider impact and greater damage greatly nourished the power of the Moon Realm, laying the groundwork for the subsequent Moon Realm crisis.
Later, the Takma Order reflected on the loss of control caused by the dominoes they had pushed, and formulated a regulation called the "Platinum Rule" - from then on, it announced that the order would never directly participate in any struggle for secular power again, and would never interfere in any historical development.
"Just because of this?"
Morton asked in disbelief after hearing what Remedios said.
Even in Ava, the information about the Takma Cult was shrouded in mystery. They were mysterious and would hardly have any private contact with anyone except the ruler of Ava. So although Morton had heard about the Takma Cult's old-fashioned and stubborn nature, he had never imagined it would be this far.
Remedios turned around after hearing this. She looked at Morton and said with emotion in her tone:
"To be honest, I can understand their approach."
"What part do you understand? The part about sticking to outdated rules even when the enemy is at the gate?"
"Understand that you regret the choices you made, and then spend the rest of your life making up for that mistake."
Remedios said calmly.
As she said this, the scene of that day in the round table hall of Dusk Fortress emerged in her mind. More than a thousand years have passed like a trickle of water, slowly and patiently eroding and smoothing out most of the details. When she recalls that day today, the faces of her companions have become blurred, and only their names are left standing around the obsidian round table.
She should have kept that person that day.
If he could stay, nothing would turn out like this.
Or, at least I should let that person take me on a new adventure.
Seeing a rare desolate expression on the face of the Shadow Queen who had been in power for eight hundred years, Morton remained silent for a while.
After a long while, seeing that the other party's expression gradually returned to its usual indifference, he slowly spoke:
"Another thing is that the result of the impeachment vote will be announced tomorrow. As for the specific situation... I can only say that it is very pessimistic. If you had not summoned this fog, it would probably still be a fifty-fifty chance. But now your arbitrary behavior makes it difficult for the people not to recall the dictatorial style of the King of the Mist."
"I can't spend a week holding a citizens' meeting on this."
"I know. Even the young man from the Fengge family knows about it. But he and his allies will definitely make a fuss about it."
Moulton replied.
“What are the chances that I will be successfully impeached?”
"More than 80%."
"Changing the leaders before the war? I don't think they are that stupid, are they?"
Remedios asked expressionlessly in response to the other party's prediction.
In any case, the change of the continent master will inevitably lead to a large number of personnel changes and redistribution of benefits. In addition, it is necessary to hold a ceremony to unbind the Holy Fire Spirit and the Mist Spirit, and to hold a ceremony to bind the spirit of the new continent master. During this period, the protection of the entire Ava continent will fall into an extremely fragile state.
Even if Ava State really decided to surrender to the Empire, it would not do such a self-defeating act. After all, the conditions that can be obtained by surrendering depend largely on the bargaining chips in the hands of the surrenderer. The Empire was able to offer such generous conditions before because the armed forces of Ava State were not an easy bone to chew.
But in response, Morton just smiled bitterly and said:
"According to the information I received, Ward had secretly invited an important figure from the Holy Spirit Church earlier, hoping to complete a high-standard baptism ceremony before the Empire's fleet landed, and then return Yinsu City to the protection of the church."
The moment she heard these words, a cold murderous intent flashed in Remedios’s eyes.
"Where did this information come from?"
She asked without changing her tone.
Based on Remedios's understanding of Ward Windsong, although he was extremely ambitious and always liked to be smart, he was never a fool. With his intelligence, it was unlikely that he would do such a stupid thing at this critical moment.
"A few days ago, a warship sailed out of Swan Harbor alone, carrying a high-ranking figure of the Eighth Order, heading towards Ava Continent. And just a few days ago, the communication spells in Yinsu City were destroyed due to magic overload, and the coordinates stored in it could not be traced back to explore."
Moulton replied.
"These two things may not be related at all... In other words, this is just your guess?"
“I trust my instincts.”
The other party said immediately.
Remedios looked back at the distant mist after hearing this, and after a long moment she spoke:
"Not long ago, the spirit in the mist told me that it sensed the breath of a dragon."
"That's impossible."
Morton said almost subconsciously.
"Nowadays, no dragon will leave the Dragonbone Islands. Even magic casters who have practiced summoning spells to the divine level cannot sign a contract with a dragon to summon them."
"But there is still another way to bypass the restriction and summon a dragon, right?"
Remedios said.
Hearing her words, Morton's face instantly showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.
"God-level illusion [Shadow of Truth]."
He said.
Remedios nodded and said:
"When the Star Law was formulated, all the divine-level spells were handed over to various forces in the empire for safekeeping as a guarantee for maintaining their status in the future. And the spell that was assigned to [True Shadow] seems to be..."
"The prototype of the Eighth Order, the Hermit Order."
Morton took over the rest of her sentence.
"Nowadays, apart from the monks of the Takma Order and the high-ranking officials of the Eighth Order, it is estimated that no one in this world can use that spell. Since you sensed the dragon, it at least proves that a high-ranking official of the Divine Realm Church is on the way to Ava Continent."
Morton looked into Remedios's eyes and asked:
"How should we deal with this?"
"Bring that man here."
Remedios replied coldly.
But Morton shook his head and said:
"No, Ms. Yueying, I'm not asking what the higher-ups of the Holy Spirit Church should do."
"Bring that person along, and..."
Remedios slowly closed her eyes and immediately opened them again.
"Implement military control over Yinsu City, Fengsui City, and Clockwork City for a week. During this period, suspend the impeachment of the continent master. Everything will be discussed after Ward Fengge and the high-ranking member of the Holy Spirit Church are brought here... This won't be a difficult order for you to execute, right?"
Upon hearing this, Morton Bloodblade immediately crossed his hands in front of his chest and made a Fire Phoenix Salute, then replied in a very serious tone:
"This is my honor. The warriors of Fengyan City will always be your sharp blades, Your Majesty."
Huo Fengli, calling himself Feng Ren, and calling her "Her Majesty the Queen".
These were the customs of the High Elves as a whole before the Free City-States of Ava, when they were ruled by the "Lord of the Mist".
Under normal circumstances, Remedios would never accept these titles and etiquette.
But now she is tired and no longer has as much energy and patience as before to constantly balance the forces of all parties at the Moon Wheel Conference and win the support of the majority.
Today, even though the threat of the empire is imminent, Ava is still full of factions and is like a pile of loose sand.
In fact, after failing to gain the power of the Takma Cult, Remedios had already prepared herself mentally. If she wanted to win, or at least not lose so badly, she had to forcibly hold the power of the entire Ava Continent in her own hands.
Since they labeled me as the "King of the Mist" in the hope of using it to bring her down, then I will just do as they wish and truly become the King of the Mist.
Looking at the back of Morton Bloodblade as he left, Remedios felt a little relieved.
As long as she could gain his support and loyalty, the situation in Ava would be completely under her control, at least until the crisis of the imperial invasion was over.
After all, in the entire Ava continent, the only two city-states that can really fight on the battlefield and play a key role are the Magician City of Moon Magic and the Warrior City of Phoenix Fire.
The high elves divide their professions according to their surnames, which is a bit like the caste system, but in fact it is more complicated - because your surname is not determined by your bloodline, but by the blessing inheritance that the newborn receives during the Holy Fire Blessing Ceremony. The entire high elf tribe has more than 70 surnames, and each surname represents a profession, or according to the elven tradition, a "path".
Only after the Holy Fire Priest interprets the shape of the flame during the blessing and determines his/her future "path", will the newborn be given the surname of the corresponding "path".
Humans may be able to recruit young men from farmers and craftsmen for simple training to form an army, but the high elves will never do that. Unless you choose to become a "Ranger" and leave Ava to gain experience without the blessing of the Holy Fire, your surname will be your life's mission.
From priests to farmers, everyone needs to devote all their energy to their own path. Therefore, every warrior of the High Elves has been tempered through thousands of trials and tribulations, and they spend their entire lives preparing for battle.
"But even so, this will be my last battle."
Looking at the mist in the distance, Remedios muttered to herself as she imagined the countless warships with dragon sword flags that would emerge from it in the near future.
The "road" tradition of the high elves made their troops far superior to any army known in the world. But at the same time, it also gave them a huge inherent flaw - they were always at a disadvantage in terms of numbers.
"But I tried my best..."
Having said this, she placed one hand on her heart and a wry smile appeared on her face.
Because no matter success or failure, this will be her last battle.
…………
After discovering that the other party was just a memory from the past, William became curious about how Remedios had killed him back then.
Even if it was just an illusion, it would take some effort for William to kill him.
Of course, there was a reason that he was also an illusion. But the two offset each other. If the two real bodies met, it would not be a one-sided battle unless he used some extreme means.
At the very least, as an authority, the unknown god that Terra chose to resonate with is much stronger than the god of death Vera chosen by Duke Simon.
Although Remedios was a powerful god, her strength was not among the best in the Judgment Seat. Because she lost the protection of the Phoenix Holy Flame, many of her talents as a high elf could not be fully utilized.
And this Terra Riel is an extremely powerful authority holder. William estimated that his physical strength is roughly as strong as the commander of the Damon Continent Expeditionary Force back then, or perhaps even stronger.
Not only does he have high attack and high health, he also possesses a powerful instant-death skill - an instant-death skill that can hit him even if he doesn't have instant-death resistance equipment.
Before William threw the [Black Hole] in his hand to crush the opponent and his boat into a pool of pulp, the opponent also crushed the black and red heart in his hand.
Then William experienced for the first time the reality of being hit by an instant-death skill.
