Chapter 431
Chapter 431: We Have No Choice But to Resort to Threats Again. (1)
Bang!
Raoul slammed the table in a fit of rage.
He glared at the Judge of the Salvation Society, Gathros, who sat across from him, and asked, “What in the world is going on? Why can’t we control the rift?!”
Gathros couldn’t give a clear answer. They had merely opened the rift according to their scriptures.
Despite using all means to control the rift, it remained out of control. Instead, they had only lost priests and believers.
“…We don’t know everything perfectly either. We have only confirmed that we cannot control the rift by our own power.”
The Salvation Society didn’t see the lack of control as a big issue. It was their first attempt, so they didn’t expect perfection right off the bat.
The problem was that they had also created several rifts in the south where the Duke’s faction was located.
Raoul’s eyes twitched as he pointed that out. “We need to redirect some troops preparing for war toward the rift. We have to eliminate the rifts we created ourselves.”
“We have no choice. For now, we’ll lend our strength to eliminate the rifts in the south. Executor Aiden and the Order of Knights will also join.”
Raoul leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead.
Things were spiraling out of control, and now they had to fight the rifts as well.
Ghislaine had always wondered about this since her past life; why did they create rifts in the south?
Ironically, it was because the Salvation Society couldn’t control the rifts that the situation arose.
Gathros spoke to Raoul, who was deep in thought. “Just in case, we didn’t create many in the south. We didn’t make them near important areas either. There aren’t many, so it should be quick to deal with them.”
“So what? What will you do afterward? What about all those rifts spreading across the continent? And can we even stop ‘that’ if it comes out?”
“…”
“Our goal isn’t to destroy the world. Weren’t we supposed to establish a new world?”
“That’s true. Ultimately, we need to find our ‘king’ to resolve this.”
“Does that even make sense? Is that truly possible? Does such a being even exist?”
“It is written in the scriptures. We have maintained our line for a long time to awaken the king.”
Bang!
Raoul slammed the table again and growled, “You can’t even control the rift you assured us you could control! Does this ‘king’ really exist?!”
“Raoul, don’t cross the line.”
“…”
“Do you still not believe your own eyes that the ‘gate’ has opened? The time of promise has come, and He is already in this world. We just haven’t found Him yet. Our mission is to awaken Him and create a new world.”
At Gathros’s heavy words, Raoul’s expression hardened.
It was certainly true about the contents concerning the rift. It didn’t mean that everything in the scriptures was a lie.
Thus, there was a high possibility that the ‘king’ the priests of the Salvation Society longed for did indeed exist.
Gathros continued to speak soothingly to Raoul. “Since the scriptures are very old, our interpretations may have been somewhat lacking. But still, by opening the rift, we have stirred chaos in the continent, haven’t we? That’s sufficient for now.”
That wasn’t untrue. If they hadn’t opened the rift, all the armies on the continent would probably have been headed toward those who allied with the Salvation Society.
Had Count Penris not spoiled their plans, this wouldn’t have happened.
“Can we really control the rift if we find the king?”
“That will be the case. We must. The key will likely be in the Forest of Monsters. We need to seize the Ruthania Royal Family and the Forest of Monsters as quickly as possible. And we must also find the ‘guide.’ It must be somewhere in the Ruthania Kingdom… but we can’t find it at all.”
Gathros trailed off.
The Salvation Society had been looking for what they desired in the Ruthania Kingdom for some time but had seen no results. They wanted to put more effort into the search, but it was hard to make their presence felt with the Crown Prince faction still intact.
Ultimately, Count Penris was the biggest obstacle to their work.
Raoul gestured to his staff. “Bring me the newly gathered information on Penris and the Northern Army.”
Soon, Raoul received the resurveyed report and flipped through the documents as he spoke. “So, the most dangerous individual is this ‘Alfoy,’ isn’t he?”
The staff nodded, lowering their heads in affirmation. “Yes, there are quite a few suspicious points.”
“What points?”
“Count Penris was present when the 7th Circle Mage Delmood was eliminated. He was also involved in the Silverlight Battle. Quite the coincidence, isn’t it?”
“So you’re saying the rumored 7th Circle Mage is him? The one who single-handedly held off so many mages from Roderick’s army?”
“There’s a high probability of that.”
“There are so many rumors about other individuals, though. Like that maid named Vanessa. Don’t the territory residents all say Vanessa is the best mage?”
“That’s just a rumor circulating among ignorant territory residents. It means that Penris is keeping information under wraps. As evidence, Alfoy is currently known to be at the 5th Circle. But until recently…”
“He was at the 3rd Circle.”
“Yes. It’s an absurd speed. It seems Penris can no longer hide it and must have raised his rank. There’s even a ridiculous rumor that he consumed the Dragon Heart.”
“So does that mean Vanessa is truly at the 6th Circle?”
“She’s likely a concealed mage. Alfoy must have been active behind the scenes. It’s no wonder there’s a rumor about him being ‘the man who defeated the gods.’”
“Yeah, that sounds plausible.”
Raoul nodded.
No matter how many times he investigated, strange points kept lingering. But if Alfoy were a 7th Circle Mage, then all the troubling points could be resolved.
Overthinking had evidently led him to circle around the investigation instead of addressing it directly.
Raoul flipped through the documents again and said, “This Chief Officer known as the Lord of Bribes has also been deceiving us all this time.”
“Indeed. He was the commander at Silverlight. It’s accurate to say that he was the mastermind behind the annihilation of Roderick’s grand army.”
“Not being able to identify such figures is why we were bound to fail.”
Raoul clicked his tongue. He had been focused solely on the Master-level Count Penris and had overlooked other outstanding figures.
Count Desmond’s defeat also bore underlying reasons.
Raoul placed the portraits of Claude and Alfoy at the top of the documents and said, “These two must be killed if the opportunity arises. We have to sever Penris’s hands and feet. Do you understand?”
“Understood.”
After all, soon enough, they would have no choice but to confront Count Penris with force. They needed to ensure the troublesome figures were eliminated while separated from Count Penris.
So he was also planning to prepare for that in advance.
After reviewing the report, which was a mix of truth and misunderstanding, Raoul asked something else. “What about the other nobles?”
“…They’ve all turned their backs on us.”
“Tch.”
After Marquis Roderick left the faction, other nobles from the Duke faction also withdrew. Opposing the Four Great Orders was a considerable burden for them.
Only a few vassals in the south remained in place. In truth, they couldn’t leave because they were afraid of the Duke’s faction.
Raoul clenched his fists. Just thinking about it made him furious. How much had he invested in the other nobles? And now, it was all going to waste.
Among them, the one who had invested the most in the Duke’s faction was…
“Amelia has taken advantage of everything for her own gain and then cut ties right when the Salvation Society’s incident happened.”
She drained everything she could and severed their relationship immediately. While the circumstances were understandable, he couldn’t shake the feeling of having been duped.
“Hmm…”
Raoul leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
Ultimately, Count Penris was the root cause of everything. It would be favorable for them to move now while he led the Northern Army against the rifts, but that was impossible.
There were too many matters to take care of.
He opened his mouth in a cold voice. “Destroy all the temples of the Four Great Orders remaining in the south and capture all the priests to kill them.”
“…Understood.”
Most of the priests of the Four Great Orders had left the south. However, some remained, preaching the words of the gods in an effort to save people.
Now, it was time to capture and kill them. They had already solidified their status as enemies.
“And quickly assemble an army to deal with the rifts. We must reduce the scope of the rifts before they expand any further.”
They needed to tidy up the rifts in the south to begin the war. And the sooner, the better.
This was like a battle between the Northern Army and the Duke’s faction. Depending on which side eradicated the rifts in their territory first, the tides of battle would shift.
The Duke had many outstanding knights as well. With the help of the superhuman priests of the Salvation Society, they should be able to deal with it swiftly.
“However, the Northern Army’s speed is also unexpectedly fast.”
He couldn’t guarantee that they could get rid of the rifts faster. If the Northern Army and the Kingdom Army invaded the south while they were fighting the rifts, it would become problematic.
Still, it wasn’t as if there weren’t any options. They had been quietly preparing something as well.
Raoul looked at Gathros and asked, “What about Dentaria?”
“It seems the rift is expanding smoothly. It will soon reach the Northern Fortress. Thanks to the ample energy from the land, the rift has grown comparably larger than in other areas.”
“This situation is favorable for us.”
“Indeed, your strategy paid off. Woroka has already gathered warriors from all the tribes. Taking advantage of the time when Perdium is engaged with the rifts, they intend to strike the north. The north will not be able to contain their pent-up fury any longer.”
Raoul nodded and smiled.
Count Penris couldn’t just sit back and allow Perdium to run rampant. He would definitely head to the Northern Fortress.
No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t simultaneously contend with the highly expanded rifts and the vast horde of barbarians he had gathered.
Even if Count Penris succeeded in defeating one side, the north would lose everything they had built up to that point.
In the meantime, they just needed to clear out the rifts and then move.
Raoul licked his lips, giving a sinister smile.
“This time, it won’t go as you wish, Count Penris.”
So far, all of the Duke’s plans had been ruined because of Penris, and they had been dragged along continuously.
But now, it was Count Penris’s turn to be led around by his own intentions.
*
Northern Fortress Kaifiller.
The place where the Perdium Army was stationed had become quite, no, perfectly peaceful these days.
Food was abundant, and the equipment was excellent. Thanks to Ghislaine, they had developed a basic Mana Circulation Method, and the number of knights had increased significantly.
Finally, they had a military that exuded the dignity of a border count.
It had been a long time since they had fought against the barbarians. Since they needed to receive supplies, the barbarians could only behave themselves.
Because of that, the garrison at the fortress was reduced to just eating, sleeping, and training.
Of course, due to Zvalter’s characteristic caution and timidness, vigilance and patrol duties were still carried out rigorously.
“Ha… caught again.”
Skoban, who had been leisurely staying in Perdium, sniffled as he gazed at the vast northern lands.
While moving various military supplies to the Northern Fortress, he was apprehended again and assigned to patrol duty. The junior knights were focused on their training, so someone had to take his place.
Having followed him out of boredom, his handsome deputy Ricardo struck up a conversation beside him.
“Is it really necessary to come out this much when it’s so peaceful here? This used to be an area where we patrolled during battles against the barbarians, remember?”
“Hey, our lord is a bit cowardly, you know. He’s been through a lot of struggles, apparently?”
“Haven’t we become stronger now to the point where we can hardly compare ourselves to the past? We have a hundred knights now. We’re practically a great territory ourselves.”
Skoban nodded at those words.
“All thanks to the Grand Duke. He’s the commander of the Northern Army now. We must be doing quite well here!”
“Wow, I never imagined the Grand Duke would become so big. I couldn’t have envisioned it!”
Both of them reminisced about the past.
They had witnessed Ghislaine as he defeated a horde of orcs right after he returned.
Skoban had told this story to his friends but had been labeled a liar for some time, ending up drinking alone. Since nobody believed him, he had made some money off bets.
In truth, if Skoban hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that Ghislaine could have accomplished such feats. Back then, Ghislaine was just a reckless fool.
Thinking about how Ghislaine had transformed into such a significant figure compared to then brought back nostalgic feelings.
“Hey, do you remember when the Grand Duke ran out of the castle?”
“Thinking about how he ended up trapped in our prison in the Forest of Monsters…”
It was a good thing to have someone to share such absurd memories with.
The two of them roamed around sharing old tales. Since it was a patrol they often did, it wasn’t particularly difficult.
It was necessary to chat a while to make the shift time pass quickly.
When they had strayed quite far from the fortress, Ricardo jokingly said, “Speaking of which, didn’t chaos break out every time the Guard Commander got caught? Barbarians would crash in and cause trouble, right?”
“Hey, am I cursed or something?”
“No, it’s just that whenever the Guard Commander was present, something always happened. The Grand Duke’s first great success was when he tackled the orcs with the Guard Commander, wasn’t it? After that, there were wars, excursions in the Forest of Monsters, fights with barbarians… and the Guard Commander was always there!”
Ricardo’s playful remarks made Skoban frown.
“Don’t say such things, even as a joke. I’m worried something will happen.”
“Hahaha, just kidding. That kind of thing won’t happen again. We’re not going to get involved with the Grand Duke anymore.”
“Yeah, that’s right. We can just live here peacefully. Hahaha!”
The two laughed for a long time.
They were so pleased with the current peace. They had endured too much struggle. Especially, it had been significant to be involved with the Grand Duke.
While the two were laughing, a junior knight beside them asked Skoban, “Guard Commander, what is that over there?”
Although it was evening with the sun setting, it was bright enough to see ahead.
In the distance, the land was filled with blue mist. It looked as if the mist was slowly approaching them while roiling.
Skoban and Ricardo stopped laughing abruptly.
That was a phenomenon they had heard about quite often. They had been drilled repeatedly about the characteristics of the rift zones.
Cold sweat trickled down Skoban’s back.
‘Is that really because of me?’
As much as he hated to admit it, Ricardo’s words seemed to ring true.
