When Roddy returned to Sora Outpost today, Hanks had reported to him that the situation wasn't that serious.
Efta's taxes were terrible, causing the territory to fall into a financial crisis. The nobles, on the other hand, all looked on coldly and were even happy to see this … They all knew that the Duke of Angmar's body could not hold on for much longer. Once he died, the family would be completely finished …
By that time, regardless of whether the only heir of the family, Sally, could maintain her bloodline, the territory's resources would definitely be plunged into the hands of the nobles.
The nobles were thinking about how to get the most benefits. They were like sharks that smelled blood and were always sensitive to things that could benefit them. Facing such temptations, these disunited nobles were willing to stand on the same side and point their guns at Angma. Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Roddy already had a backup plan. He planned to contact the Dukes Of Angmar and have the old man issue an official 'announcement' to all the nobles in the territory that 'Roddy has returned'. He would do his best to spread the image of him killing Belorme and quickly intimidate the nobles with ill intentions.
Roddy had other matters to attend to. He didn't want to waste his time dealing with the nobles one by one. So, by scaring some and using Duke's order to put a few on trial, it would be enough to stabilize the territory in a short period of time. He knew very well that it was impossible to completely solve this problem.
But when Sodelor brought the news that 'Paar was attacked', Roddy knew that this matter wouldn't end well.
Because … they had crossed the line.
The silent Roddy narrowed his eyes as he pondered over the content of the news. Natha, the Wood Elf who grew up in Elsa, couldn't keep her cool. She took a step forward and asked in a cold voice, "Is Elsa really fine?"
"The report didn't say that the village was attacked or that there were casualties. It's just that someone is trying to track the team that entered the Silent Forest." Sodelor knew what Natha was worried about. He glanced at Roddy, who was deep in thought, and explained, "The team we left there is enough to deal with an armed force of less than a hundred people. Ordinary horses or bandits won't be a threat at all."
Although that was what she said, Natha couldn't calm down. Her relaxed fingers were now tightly gripping her longbow, and she couldn't wait to fly back to the Silent Forest.
The atmosphere was silent for a moment. Rody, who had not spoken all this while, suddenly raised his head and said, "Go and inform the team that there is a change of plans. I will write a letter to the Duke. After that … the team will depart tomorrow."
"If anyone dares to provoke us, we'll settle the score with them."
The other two couldn't react for a moment, and they stood there in a daze. Roddy turned to look at Natha. Seeing her tightly pursed lips and gripping her longbow, he reached out and patted her shoulder. He said softly, "Being anxious isn't a solution. Don't worry, I won't waste a second on what needs to be done."
As if Roddy's hand had magic, Natha's body suddenly stiffened, but she immediately relaxed. An inexplicable warmth flowed through her heart. The biting cold in Natha's eyes gradually dissipated, and she lowered her eyes. She then nodded and said no more.
As an orphan, Natha rarely experienced the feeling of being so 'cared for'. Other wood elves would have their parents to rely on when they were bullied, but Natha had always been alone since she was young. She had to bear any setbacks alone, so she was extremely stubborn and wanted to solve everything by herself.
At that moment, the first thing that came to her mind wasn't how to convince Roddy to protect her people. Instead, she was worried about a problem. If Roddy didn't care, should she secretly leave the team and go back alone?
Now that she thought about it, she felt ashamed for having such a thought. But what followed was a kind of 'peace of mind' that she had never experienced before. With Roddy's support, she found that her mood was always relaxed. Even her sleep at night wasn't as difficult as before.
"Alright, let's go back and have a good sleep. We'll set off tomorrow morning."
Roddy originally wanted to discuss the matter of 'class advancement' with Natha, but she obviously couldn't think about such problems now. So, Roddy didn't say anything more and let the two of them go back to their bedroom to rest. He went to his desk, took out a piece of parchment, and began to write a letter to Angmar …
"To deal with greedy people, the most primitive method is the only way to solve the problem."
*****
While Roddy was thinking about how to deal with the nobles of Eiferta, a mysterious ritual was quietly going on in a valley at the southwest end of the kingdom.
This place was only about 400 miles away from Ignatsu, and less than 300 miles away from the core of the Rose Cross, the 'Holy Cathedral'. In this era, although such a distance wasn't considered close, it wasn't safe at all for the Viper Cross.
However, Lennart Canyon was remote and sparsely populated. Ever since the unification of the Cullen Kingdom, there had been a total of three lords, and all of them had moved to other places dejectedly because the land was worthless. As a result, 'Lennart Canyon' had completely become a 'no man's land', and the central area was even more uninhabited.
The King's City wasn't interested in investigating this place. Even if the Rose Cross wanted to exterminate the heretics, they wouldn't be able to reach this place. Therefore, the existence of this hidden valley was still unknown.
And in the depths of this labyrinthine canyon, a huge circular altar was slowly radiating a gentle light.
More than ten clergymen in black robes were softly chanting incantations. In the center of the altar, which had a diameter of more than 20 meters, was a pitch-black, irregular stone tablet that was as tall as a person. And around it, there were more than 30 pieces of sparkling Magic Crystal. They were huge in size, and their value far exceeded those 'treasures' that could be seen in the market auction house.
These Magic Crystal obviously belonged to high-level or even top-level magical beasts. To be more specific, the previous owners of these Magic Crystal were all 'snake-type' magical beasts.
The sacrificial ceremony had been going on for an hour, but the shadow priests in black robes weren't the slightest bit tired. Instead, their eyes were filled with fanaticism and excitement. They could all see that on the prismatic stone tablet in the center of the altar, there were floating shadows that looked like coiling pythons.
"Hum —"
As the incantation grew louder, the indistinct and entangled snake silhouettes became clearer. The originally sturdy stone tablet also began to crack as the snake silhouettes swayed. It looked as though a group of colorful snakes was trying to break through the protection of the stone tablet.
But after the incantations continued for half an hour, the snake shadows did not make any more progress. The black robed mages stopped their incantations and looked at the rock-solid stone tablet, their faces filled with fatigue.
Among them, an old man who seemed to be the leader sighed and waved his hand. "We'll continue tomorrow."
His words were like an order. The rest of the people immediately bowed respectfully and then silently left the vicinity of the altar. After everyone had left, the old man looked at the altar that was filled with Magic Crystal and shook his head. "It's still a little lacking … If Kevin could succeed, perhaps the magic staff would have been awakened long ago."
Roddy, who was thousands of miles away, would never know that the mercenary leader he killed in the Silent Forest, "Executioner" Kevin, was the proud disciple of the "Viper Cross" Cardinal!
"Lord Gerd, there's news from the Brill Forest."
A black robed mage came to report the situation. In front of the Cardinal, all the members of the Viper Cross lowered their heads deeply, not even daring to look at the old man.
"The 'Rose Cross' team currently has the upper hand. They are breaking down our deployed troops layer by layer. Based on the estimated speed, they might be able to clear out all the chess pieces in the periphery of the forest in another month."
"That's faster than expected. There's a high-level mage leading the team?"
Gerd's gaze was fixed on the center of the altar, seemingly distracted.
"My Lord, the frontline said that there seems to be a strong team led by a priest. Some of the teams that originally had the ability to stop them were defeated by them. That priest has a nickname, 'White Scythe' …"
"Heh, young people always like to come up with such exaggerated nicknames."
The old man waved his hand. "These arrogant youngsters … It doesn't matter if we let them jump around for a few days. The end result will be the same anyway."
"Yes, my Lord."
The other party accepted the order and left, leaving Gerd alone in front of the altar to think about the current plan of the 'Viper Cross'.
The outside world did not know that the 'Viper Cross' had not used all their resources to fight against the 'Rose Cross'. Those so-called 'conflicts' were actually just a pretense to attract attention. The real target, was the obelisk in front of Gerd …
This was a 'huge gamble' promoted by the Pope. They wanted to borrow the power of the Snake Magic crystal to awaken the 'Viper's Kiss' magic staff that was passed down from the first Pope. They wanted to borrow the power of this divine artifact to restore the influence of the Church and change the structure of religion in this country!
And the 'Viper's Kiss', which was known as the 'divine artifact', was currently in the obelisk in front of Gerd … To open it, they had to borrow the power of the Snake Magic crystal to break through the barrier on the outside of the obelisk.
This step was a test for the owner of the divine artifact. If they did not even have the ability to break through the barrier, it meant that they did not have the right to use this' divine artifact '. Obviously, Gerd and the rest who had been working hard for several weeks had not been able to break through the barrier. They had even exhausted the mages.
The purity and quality of the Magic crystal determined the difficulty of breaking through the barrier. Thus, Gerd could not forget Kevin's death. If he had brought the crystal of the Snake King Sakya back then, the Church would not have to sacrifice so many believers to buy more time to awaken the magic staff …
"Who killed Kevin?"
Every time he had free time, Gerd would always feel pity for his disciple's death. But what followed was a hidden ruthlessness …
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
