Chapter 1052: Act 234 – In the Darkness
The wind swept across the Four Borderlands. It was a sea breeze from Silver Bay, or perhaps the summer breeze of White Mountain, carrying the scent of the wilderness. The airflow meandered through the sky, pushing the cotton-like clouds slowly northward. Near the horizon, the clouds resembled a goddess, her hand reaching out from the clouds to gently caress the distant undulating hills below.
When the wind crossed the hills, the meadows rose and fell in sequence, forming patterns of varying depths. To the south of the Clouden region lay the forest, like a shadow of dark green, blending various tree species such as the thick-leafed maple and the Elsian black pine. The gray and white trunks of the trees were like toothpicks concealed in the shadows.
The forest formed a distinct boundary line with the low riverbanks beneath the clover tributaries. To the east lay the land of the elves, facing the allied forces of the Temple of Fire across the river.
“Mr. Darus, have you ever seen such an magnificent scenery in your homeland?”
“The wilds of the Four Borderlands are unique in Vaunte, and in terms of grandeur, even the Saintly White Plains can’t compare. Princess.”
The general, clad in armor, gazed at the horizon on his horse, looking for signs of the elves’ movements, but found none – the Altania mountains cast ominous shadows from the horizon, with clouds eternally swirling over the Whistling Peaks. Few eagles soared in the vast sky.
He turned to look at the imperial princess. Her face was as chiseled as stone, showing strong determination, and reminded him a bit of Brendel, but her lips were thinner, her eyebrows deeper, characteristic of highlanders.
Her brown eyes shone with intensity, supporting her powerful will.
“But Erluin has its own beauty, just like the empire. The mountains of Charlot, the pine needles of Elsian, the towering tower ruins on the highlands.”
“I understand. Erluin is the only civilization opened by the sages after the Return of Radiance and a land of order, no land is more radiant. Its people are hardworking and brave, and the nobles who lead them are excellent and honorable.”
The princess stared intently at the knight by her side.
“You flatter me.”
The princess smiled faintly and turned her gaze to the distance, looking to the horizon, her eyes soft like water, “That is the land of the elves.”
“The wind elves turned their gaze north after the entire summer. They don’t seem to plan to fight with us here in the Four Borderlands. Perhaps they will retreat into the mountains.”
“Before and after the Sage’s War, our ancestors – Gilt, Queen Saint Ausoor, Fanzan, and Erlandta – established nations that existed in harmony with each other, but now we regard each other as enemies.”
“So is it why, Princess, that you have worked for peace within the empire?”
“Yes, but the Holy War has been too devastating, and it will take a long time to wash away the bloodshed. But from my position, I truly understand, that fighting over living space is not wrong, and I cannot blame my country and allies, nor can I blame the elves. The sages once expanded the territories, but since the Chaos Calendar ended, the Pioneer Knights have almost disappeared. It’s not because people are conservative, but the strength of order is declining. Every year we produce fewer fire seeds, not enough even to replace those who will grow old and die. The Noble Council even legislated to limit the amount of new territories every year to avoid the mature Order lands from decaying without replenishment.”
The princess said softly, “But we cannot tell this to the people, lest we cause panic. What should we say? Should we tell them that Lady Martha is abandoning us? But I have confidence in Mother’s strength, but the current situation is still worrying. The temple is unsettled within. Last month, my teacher, Varla, and the Grand Seat discovered that someone of the temple’s high ranking had joined the Everything Returns Society. Although it was only an archbishop, the implications behind it are troubling. It shows our faith is declining, and people are becoming increasingly lost. If this trend cannot be reversed, the consequences will be unimaginable.”
The general listened quietly.
“I have a plan. I hope to visit Ausoor and Fanzan after this Holy War. On the one hand, it is to end the hatred, and on the other, I believe that it’s not just the Temple of Fire that is lost. All civilizations should be facing the same problems. A thousand years ago, we could make a sacred agreement to fight for a common goal. A thousand years later, we can do the same.”
“If I cannot convince the temples of Ausoor and Fanzan, I will seek the approval of the Sage Lord at the World Ring. Lady Erlandta stayed behind to guard this world. She surely won’t sit idle.”
“Under the identity of an imperial princess?”
The princess nodded, “Mr. Darus, would you be my accompanying knight?”
“The greatest honor.”
The princess smiled contentedly, “This is my dream, Mr. Darus, and I’ve never told anyone. I hope the four great temples can return to their glorious era. In the distant future, we will open up even vaster lands, and the civil war between civilizations will come to an end. I want to prove that everything the four sages did in the past was right. Once we succeed, people will no longer fall into confusion.”
The general thought for a moment, nodding lightly, “If that day comes, I will be extremely honored to be your knight, Princess.”
“But it’s difficult, we might not see it in our lifetime.”
“It’s indeed hard, but there will always be successors. Any noble cause will never lack people who will dedicate themselves one after another.”
The princess nodded.
Constance looked at the face like reflected in the mirror, standing face-to-face. The gentle face exuded kindness and persistence, her pale silver eyes sparkled with the vision and hope for the future, but there wasn’t just innocence in them, instead, they displayed strength and unbending will.
That face made her feel both familiar and strange.
Pale-faced, with tight facial muscles, stiff like a stone, “Enough,” she growled deeply, her hands tightly gripping her hair, the knuckles white like ghost claws.
The image became fragmented, merging into the study’s darkness. The edges of the heavy curtains refracted the lights from the distant city, the tall bookshelves stood quietly in the shadows. On the desk, scattered documents of parchments were strewn about, the signatures as if written in blood, glaringly prominent in the faint light.
Outside the study door, Queen Gwendolyn silently withdrew her gaze, shaking her head.
“This is destiny, laughable yet real, but not worthy of pity, because everyone must face it, no one is nobler than anyone else. The day the Tower of Babel was destroyed, they too deeply felt this piercing pain.”
She turned and walked down the corridor.
Inside the reception room, a knight had been waiting for a long time, showing some restlessness.
Queen Gwendolyn, whose identity was openly the Viscountess, had taken in the knight’s performance and asked, “The Emperor does not wish to receive guests at the moment. I am fully authorized to handle emergencies on her behalf. Speak, what is the matter?”
“Adult, we cannot reach Lord Barlock. Before he left at noon yesterday, he passed on the emperor’s command to order the Silver Maple Castle City Guard to leave the garrison. However, before evening, insiders sent a message saying that the cultists are inciting riots in the city. Now, thousands of people have gathered in the Goldenflower Business District and the Silver Horse Square. If we cannot stop it in time, the consequences will be unimaginable.”
“Is this the message you received before leaving the garrison or the latest message?”
“Before leaving the garrison, Adult.”
“How long has it been since then?”
“Half an hour.”
“What about the patrol cavalry?”
“I don’t know, Ma’am. I didn’t see them on the way here.”
“That’s good.”
The knight was slightly surprised, looked up, and saw the eerie smile on the face of the woman Viscountess Gwendolyn in front of him.
Before he could react, his consciousness was enveloped by an endless darkness.
Gwendolyn coldly stared at the body on the floor. The young man lay dead, his eyes wide open, his head severed and lying separately from his body, his blood appearing black in the darkness. The shadows of the corpse seemed alive, wriggling until eventually dissolving into nothingness.
She looked regretfully at the carpet with a large hole in it and muttered, “Lord Barlock will not give you any orders. But then again, you wouldn’t hear them anyway.”
Her figure began to dissolve into the darkness.
…
The scenery before Brendel’s eyes swiftly changed. The forest raced past behind him at a speed faster than light. One by one, oaks, horse chestnuts, and heather hidden under the rocks, due to the tremendous speed, their trunks and branches almost blending into lines, indistinguishable from each other, like colors merging on a palette.
Then, there was a pinpoint of light ahead. In the blink of an eye, the light reached him, expanding into a serene nighttime scene in the East Bank of the Goldenflower River. The river shimmered under the moonlight, an ancient bridge stretching across the waterway between Cold Dew Forest and the business district. In the distance, the roofs of the urban area gleamed faintly with a layer of silver light.
Brendel hesitated for a moment, realizing he was now at the foot of Cold Dew Manor’s mountain.
“Lord!”
Brendel turned around to see Medisa and Himelam. Without speaking, he waved his hand and opened several light portals in the air. Charles and Medephis fell out in succession, and finally Andisha landed heavily on the vampire girl.
“Ah—”
Andisha used her hands to push herself up from her younger brother, simultaneously pressing his head into the mud.
Without even a glance at him, she stood up, brushing off the dirt on her skirt, then silently stepped a few paces away from the riverside. Although the bloodline descendants did not fear water as much as in the legends, they certainly didn’t favor it.
Brendel watched Medephis, who was still wiping the mud off his face with a disappointed look, shaking his head helplessly. Although cards had transformed Medephis and Andisha into twins, the latter doesn’t always recognize it.
Himelam gave Andisha an angry glare, then went over to help Medephis clean his face. The High Priestess’s kindness and kindness was well-known in Cold Fir Territory — albeit for her predilection for strange animals that made her seem somewhat difficult to approach.
“Lord,” Medisa exhaled with relief and asked kindly, “The previous battle…?”
“There was a minor mishap. Where is Sidney?” Brendel glanced around while answering, quickly forming an impression of the riverside and the forest in his mind. This should be the edge of the Goldenflower Business District, near Twelve Fingers Alley, where the headquarters of the patrol cavalry was located at the junction with the Queen’s District.
“Ms. Sidney and the Regiment Leader left earlier than us, have they not arrived yet?”
“It appears that they were intercepted. Apart from Rojer and Siban who are at the extremes, the Crusians do have the capacity to achieve this,” thought Brendel. “The Queen certainly has some defenses.”
He responded, “Do not wait for them. Sidney and Ms. Veronika both have ways to extricate themselves. I don’t know when the Queen will catch up. Although the abilities of the Traveller Mages might confuse them for a while, Rojer and Siban, the top wizards of Crusians, will definitely have their own means to detect the direction of my escape.”
He gazed at the west bank of the Goldenflower River.
“We will proceed along the canal between the Goldenflower Business District and the Queen’s District, then head directly to King Street, then to the west side of Rustra. Although this is where the headquarters of the patrol cavalry are located, the cultists are inciting riots in the city, and without a doubt, the city guards and patrol cavalry’s attention should have been diverted to them. Choosing this route now is even safer.”
“Lord.”
Brendel turned around, “What is it, Medisa? What would you like to add?”
The Silver Elf Princess frowned, hesitating for a moment, and seemed hesitant to speak.
She finally made up her mind and said, “We encountered Andisha earlier.”
“Who?” Brendel was stunned, “Andisha, she?”
“Did she attack you?”
Medisa shook her head, “She didn’t, but she looked strange. Have you heard of secondary contamination, Lord?”
“Secondary contamination, so you mean she seemed to have injected divine blood again?” Brendel immediately caught her meaning, “That’s impossible, unless she wants to die.”
Medisa couldn’t help but look at her Lord curiously. Although to ordinary people, the cults of the Tree Shepherds and the Everything Returns Society, as well as the goat-headed cultists, have no difference—they are all worshippers of evil, but few are aware that these self-proclaimed withered ones, former Druids, have secretly researched the power of divine blood for more than a thousand years.
Even many people don’t understand what divine blood actually is, they confuse it with the demonic sacrifices of goat-headed cults, but in fact, Medisa knew well that the divine blood in the hands of the Tree Shepherds was indeed true divine blood, not the demon blood rumored to be hellish force.
However, her Lord not only had a clear understanding of divine blood but also immediately identified the essence of secondary contamination. She could not help but wonder where this young man had acquired such obscure knowledge.
Brendel was completely unaware of the thoughts of his young princess subordinate. He furrowed his brow deeply upon hearing that Andisha had been in the capital. Perhaps the mob had attacked the Imperial Prison, but the unusual situation of secondary contamination was alarming.
“Hopefully, there’s no connection between these two.” For some reason, he couldn’t help but feel a heavy sense of unease.
…
