Splitting apart? The undead had never been united to begin with, much less splitting apart.
As a mage, they would forever pursue the endless truth. They would maintain a certain level of respect and friendliness towards other archmages. This was because they were all the same in the pursuit of the truth. On the surface, they would only show respect to the Gods out of respect for their powerful strength and to avoid trouble.
A pure mage would never truly lower their head to any powerful existence. The enemy's strength would only attract their interest and curiosity. They would analyze, imitate, and learn from the enemy's source of strength in order to become even more powerful than the enemy.
"A true mage would never devoutly believe in a God. That's because a true mage will only be curious about the God's source of power. They'll firmly believe that as long as they can analyze the God's source of power, they'll become even more powerful than the God. Then, they'll send the God to their dissection table to verify the results of their research." — Truth Symposium archmage "Desecrator" Levin. "
The Haletdam generation was probably the most excessive when it came to this. Even if the Haletdam generation was able to reverse time and explore the mysteries of the Cycle of Reincarnation and the soul, they would still end up walking down this path. The Tark Republic, the undead country, had also reached a dead end because of this.
That was why mage organizations were usually loosely organized. This was something determined by their very nature. It would be quite difficult for mages to go any further if they were researchers who offered their bodies and souls to imperial power.
The reason? In the world of magic, knowledge equaled power. The foundation of research and exploration was suspicion and analysis. If one lost the ability to question everything, how could they possibly break through the mist and discover new knowledge?
Such a loosely organized alliance would also be impossible to have a strict hierarchy of superiors and subordinates. At most, the alliance would be formed based on a certain senior's reputation and connections. Obviously, such an alliance wouldn't be able to pass the test of time.
Aso's early departure caused this alliance to lose its most important core member. The Undead Emperors all knew that it was only a matter of time before they all went their own ways. That was why they had chosen this method of helplessly joining forces.
And the moment they were stopped, it would be the day that they would all go their own ways.
In that case, everything that I could do was right in front of me.
"… Even though I'm personally witnessing it, I still don't dare to believe it."
Right now, we were only secretly sneaking out of the royal palace and wearing thick white wolf fur capes as we strolled around the streets.
What astonished the Undead Emperor wasn't the high-level magical engineering products. Rather, she was astonished by a street vendor's business. The vendor was a high-level undead skeleton who was currently promoting his bone-style accessories and children's toys. Meanwhile, the buyer was an ordinary citizen who had no power at all.
The two sides were haggling over the price so much that they were practically spitting saliva at each other. The high-level skeleton was clearly able to kill the other party with a single slap, but it was still smiling and explaining its design concept and cost to them.
The buyers were obviously tempted, but they still tried to lower the price.
This was actually a very common scene of trading goods, but this kind of business between the living and the dead was probably not seen in other areas.
"… How is this possible? That skeleton general was really trying to get into those women's good books, even though he could have easily killed them. And those women aren't afraid at all! "
I could understand Sandro's mentality. For people like us, no matter how extravagant the information and spies told us, we would always be skeptical until we personally witnessed it. Oftentimes, even if we personally witnessed it or heard it, we still wouldn't believe it to be true.
But this time, Sandro had suddenly visited Sandro. Thanks to an Undead Emperor's understanding of soul wavelengths, it was impossible for him to deceive the souls before him. This seemingly simple business scene proved one thing — in Diffindor, the living and the undead were all ordinary citizens. In their own minds, there was no foundational difference.
In this generation where power represented everything, and in this world where the undead were equal to evil, Sandro found this scene even more incomprehensible than a forbidden spell.
I believed that this scene was one of a kind and unprecedented in history.
In the past, there had been cases where the undead and the living coexisted in the same country. However, no matter if it was the ancient Tark Republic or our Xiluo Empire, the undead and the living were never the same. Although the undead and the living both originated from the same country, they lived on two parallel lines that didn't interfere with each other.
In Xiluo, most of the living were slaves and the lower social class. The higher-ups were all undead.
During the Tark Republic's era, most people chose to cultivate undead magic. Political leaders and high-level officials also went missing, choosing to become undead mages. Becoming a high-level undead was actually a way for the living to become famous.
It could be said that the undead still controlled and enslaved the living in both countries. The natural difference between the undead and the living made it incredibly unimaginable for them to coexist peacefully.
"… How did you do it?"
This was the same question I had asked when we first met, but I fell silent. After all, it was indeed a miracle that I was able to reach this point. It was a miracle created by many coincidences and certainties. It was impossible to replicate.
"Let's talk as we walk …"
As we walked deeper into the business district, we saw that it was still quite flourishing even though it had already snowed several times.
The temperature had long since dropped below zero. Even the carriages had stopped moving. However, there was still an endless stream of vehicles selling and buying goods on the streets. In the past, the business district would have long since closed for business at this time. After all, it would be impossible to do many transactions by relying solely on human labor. Goods that couldn't be transported would only be a burden, and wouldn't even be considered goods.
But now, we were walking past hastily. For them, the year-end/early-year sales had only just begun.
Some of them were riding snow versions of Iron Horses (motorcycles). Some of them were using tracked wagons. However, even more of them were using the best-selling products of the Ghost Carriage Company.
Skeleton horses, ghost horses, and zombie horses were nightmares for the living. Now, they were pulling sleds, wagons, and carriages that didn't know what fatigue was.
In Diffindor, the competition between magical engineering and undead magic for transportation was becoming fiercer and fiercer. Normally, ordinary horse carriage companies would be able to participate in the competition. However, it was currently winter, and it would be better for horses to stay in a warm stable for the winter. It would be quite a waste of medicine to treat frostbite.
Since Iron Horses relied on magic to travel, they didn't have the problem of stalling in winter. There were also many snow variants of Iron Horses. The goblins, who were skilled at making money, had long since introduced a special winter model. However, their relatively high production cost meant that they were at a disadvantage in the civilian market.
Meanwhile, a skeleton carriage controlled by an undead acolyte (with two zombie laborers attached) could be hired for a day for only 3 gold coins, which was much cheaper than the Iron Horse, which was sold for at least 500 gold coins. Unknowingly, this carriage had already taken over 70% of the winter transportation market.
Since undead magic had low talent requirements and low learning costs, there were more and more "civilian undead mages" in Diffindor, where it was legal to study undead magic. The price of hiring undead mages was even decreasing. I heard that the undead mages were currently discussing whether or not they should establish a guild to regulate the price of undead magic …
I silently traveled the entire way and became distracted. However, Sandro seemed to have realized something when he saw the scene before him.
"… Link undead magic to the common people's benefits in order to eliminate their unease? That's indeed a good idea. However, the Tark Republic did the same thing back in the day, but the effects were far inferior. "
I shook my head. Common benefits weren't the crux of this. It was only the result of the undead being accepted by the common people. I would have a headache if this scene before me caused the undead to be mixed up.
"… How should I put it? This is probably a coincidence that can't be replicated, but also a type of necessity …"
My thoughts returned to the past. Everything had probably started on that day. The defeated Undead Knight army raised their tattered battle flags and hesitantly returned to their homeland. However, they were accepted and welcomed by the Diffindor citizens who still remembered the will of the Mist.
This was an opportunity, as well as a miracle. Out of nostalgia for the Mist Country and respect for the historical heroes, as well as respect for this Undead Knight, the Mist royalty's guarantee, and my personal return, the Mist citizens accepted this undead army.
The Undead Knight army was once a member of the Mist Country's royal Knight squadron. They deeply loved this land and regretted not protecting their citizens in the past. How could they possibly harm the living?
And for the living, these Undead Knight army were heroes who had protected their country in the past. Under Princess Renée's guidance, these heroic Knight Knight returned together with Prince Roland. The living only knew respect and trust.
Trust required the hard work of both sides. Their accidental return achieved the best result. The dead began to be accepted by the living.
But just this wasn't enough. As the Undead Knight squadron became more active, the royal Knight army spread out to various core industries in the Mist Country, such as alchemy, military affairs, winter hunts, and even construction. These guardian Knight Knights' activity greatly improved the citizens' lives, as well as greatly improved the relationship between the living and the dead.
Using this as an opportunity to spread the knowledge of the undead, the Ancestral Knight army continued to protect their own reality, eliminating the Mist Country's prejudice against the undead. This made Diffindor a holy land in the dreams of all undead mages. Countless undead mages traveled thousands of kilometers to come here.
As for why it was called a miracle, it was because the subsequent developments met with a miracle. The establishment of the Sinless City allowed even unfamiliar undead to be proven innocent. Only after the people of the world no longer had prejudice against the undead could friendship and trust be established.
Only after that did the benefits brought about by the great development of undead magic, as well as the open practice of undead mages. Only then did the living and the dead get along as equals.
It could be said that this scene was the result of countless coincidences, including Wumianzhe's miracles. But it was also inevitable. Without the return of my Knight army, without the adorable citizens who accepted the Ancestral Knight army, and without the Mist War Flag that had protected this land for thousands of years, this miracle wouldn't have been possible.
I had no intention of hiding these things. As I spoke, Sandro fell silent as well. He was thinking, recalling, and making an important decision in his heart.
"Replicate such a scene in other places? That's impossible in the short term. However, this land doesn't reject the undead. You've seen it for yourself … In that case, what do you think of the Tark Republic? This will directly affect our future choices. If you think that the Tark Republic is a country for the elderly, and that only by conquering a country for the undead can we be considered to have revived the Tark Republic, then there's nothing for us to discuss. If you think that the past civilization is a type of cultural inheritance, then perhaps there's plenty of room for us to communicate. "
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