In the brightly lit study room, the ruler of the Typhon Empire and the uninvited guests were facing each other in silence.
In the past hour, Rosetta Augustus? He had learned of the world's boldest, most secretive, and craziest plan — the limits of mortal ambition. The emperor was speechless for a long time.
"In the face of a plan that lasts for thousands of years, any temporary failure and setbacks are insignificant. I'm sure it's not difficult for you to understand." Firna and Rayna's voice finally broke the silence. "Your Majesty, are you questioning the authenticity of the 'Disobedience Plan'?"
"Before discussing its authenticity, I'm more curious about why you came to me." Rosetta stared at the elven twins before him. "Are you in a hurry to find a new investment target?"
"You want us to find that Gwen? Cecil? "Rayna laughed." There aren't many leaders with foresight, other than Gwen? Other than Cecil, you're the only suitable choice. "
Firna quickly followed. "Rosetta? Your Majesty Augustus, the heir of the Augustus bloodline, this is not the first time we've met. We know what kind of madness you and your family are facing … "
Rayna took half a step forward. "The collapse of the old imperial city two hundred years ago allowed your ancestors to see things that mortals should not pry into. Those twisted and crazy knowledge soaked the blood of the Augustus family, but you also saw some of the truth of this world …"
Firna followed Rayna's footsteps. "So, you only need to think a little and you will realize that what we said is true, and at the same time realize that we should be natural allies."
The Elven Twins stopped in front of Rosetta the Great's desk, showing mirror-like smiles, and said in unison, "You need to fight against the madness brought by the gods, we need new allies, we need each other."
Rosetta looked at the twins and raised his hand slightly. "Step back."
The Elven Twins immediately returned to their original positions. "As you wish."
"According to what you said, Operation Disobedience is a secret plan of the Kingdom of Gondor that is directly controlled by the royal family. How did you two elves get involved with this plan?" Rosetta wore a solemn expression, as if he wasn't moved by the persuasion of the two elves at all. Instead, he was still full of vigilance and doubt.
"Project Disobedience is indeed the legacy of the human empire, but humans are not the only ones involved in this project. A considerable part of it requires the knowledge of the Druil, and the Silver Elves are the source of most of the Druil," Rayna replied frankly. "We were once secretly recruited scholars by the Kingdom of Gondor and worked for it a thousand years ago. The Demonic Tide seven hundred years ago interrupted our work and we had to temporarily return to the Silver Empire. It was the birth of the Order of All Things Perish that made us realize that this project is not over yet. We have returned to our mission until today."
"As elves of the Silver Empire, you worked for the Gondor and did not tell the secrets of Project Disobedience to your home country?"
"… Elves are not suitable for large-scale contact with Project Disobedience. We have our own reasons."
Rosetta stared at the elven twins in front of him for half a minute before he looked away slightly. "The birth of the Order of All Things Perish … Seven hundred years ago, what did the leaders of the three dark cults see on the Peak of the Ancestors?"
Firna and Rayna looked at each other, and then spoke at the same time. "If what your ancestors saw in the collapse of the old imperial city was the fragments of the jigsaw puzzle, what the leaders of the three cults saw in the Peak of the Ancestors was the whole jigsaw puzzle.
"They arrived in the divine kingdom and saw the birth and destruction of the gods. They also saw the nature of the gods and the destined end.
"A thousand years ago, the scholars of Gondor believed that the gods were gradually approaching madness, and that they would destroy the mortal world in the final stage of madness. But they were wrong about one thing — the gods were not gradually approaching madness.
"As early as the moment the mortals began to think, the gods had already gone mad."
Rosetta did not speak for a moment. He thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "I've heard enough of these vague ancient fables. Let's talk about something more practical. What happened in the Sacred Plains? What did the Order of All Things Perish do? What did the Cecil people do? "
"We had already left Ansu before the final battle, so I'm afraid we can't give you detailed information. But there are some things we know." The elven twins replied. "The Order of All Things Perish created an artificial god, but this artificial god fell into madness when it was born. And the Cecil people … they destroyed this artificial god in the White Sand Hills."
Rosetta's eyes suddenly became sharp and deep. After a short pause, he slowly asked, "An artificial god? How powerful is it? How could the Cecil people destroy such an artificial god? How much did they pay for it? "
"The artificial god is a fake, but its power is still stronger than any mortal creature you know. As for the Cecil people … they seem to have an ally, but we don't know who that ally is."
After thinking for a while, Rosetta nodded, leaned back in the chair, and said coldly, "I see. This conversation is over."
This time, the elven twins who had maintained a confident expression finally showed a stunned look. "You're not going to work with us?"
"Did I say I'm going to work with you?" Rosetta looked at the two elves with a half-smile. "I admit, your words are very persuasive. But there's one thing you're wrong about."
The elven twins looked at each other and asked in unison, "What is it?"
"I'm not going to work with the cultists. You're not qualified."
"Then before …"
"That was just using me." Rosetta raised his right hand slightly. "Now, I'm still using you."
The elven twins finally realized that the ruler of Typhon was secretly accumulating powerful magic power. Their faces changed instantly. Countless poisonous vines drilled out of the floor and the walls and shot towards Emperor Rosetta who was behind the desk like arrows. At the same time, they were shrouded in a green brilliance and turned into small nightingales in the light screen, rushing straight towards the nearby window.
A series of explosions suddenly exploded in the study. Countless zigzagging electric arcs spread out with Rosetta as the center, instantly burning the poisonous vines to ashes. Then, he waved his hand at the two nightingales, and arcane barriers condensed like a crystal barrier, blocking the escape route of the elven twins.
The two nightingales let out a pleasant but chilling chirp at the same time. Invisible ripples rippled in the air, preventing the arcane barriers from closing. The magic power surged into layers of sparks, jumping all over the study. As the sparks flew, a slender shadow passed through the gap between the arcane barriers and disappeared into the busy night outside the window. The other shadow was caught by the magic cage formed by the arcane barriers, struggling left and right before falling to the ground.
Rosetta? Only then did he stand up from behind the desk, arcane arcs dancing around him. He stepped across the still smoking floor of the study and came to the nightingale on the ground. He looked down at the latter expressionlessly. "It's good to catch one …"
However, as soon as his voice trailed off, the nightingale suddenly twisted and trembled. Then, it was quickly enveloped and swallowed by a halo, turning into shimmering particles that drifted with the wind. Within a few seconds, it had completely disappeared before Rosetta's eyes.
Rosetta watched the scene quietly until the nightingale's residual magic reaction completely disappeared. Then, with a hint of thoughtfulness, he whispered to himself softly, "The so-called 'Gemini' … So it's just one person … Interesting."
A series of slightly messy footsteps came from the corridor, and the door of the study was pushed open from the outside. Several palace guards and a royal mage in a purple starry robe appeared in front of Rosetta. These guards who arrived late saw the mess in the study, and their expressions were particularly interesting. The royal mage in the lead hesitated for a moment before he sorted out his words. He mustered up his courage and asked, "Your Majesty, here …"
"There's a visitor in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, she doesn't want to stay for a moment longer." Rosetta waved his hand, indicating that the guards did not need to be nervous. "Clean it up, it's a small matter."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Rosetta? Augustus nodded slightly. Then, his eyes swept across the nearby bookshelves and walls, and fell on the map not far away.
He looked at the border between Typhon and the 'Ansu Kingdom'.
The Ansu's royal authority had ended, and this map should be changed.
… …
Typhon border, Winterwolf Fort. Andesha Wendell. He retracted his gaze from the battle map.
Longwind Stronghold and Winterwolf Fort were facing each other from afar. There was only a plain between them. The 'peace agreement' between the two kingdoms was still in effect, and the mithril copy of the agreement was still stored in the contract fort in the center of the plain. However, a tense atmosphere was brewing in this confrontation zone.
Both Longwind Fortress and Winterwolf Fortress had increased their troops. The border troops of both sides had almost doubled in just one month. Their respective reconnaissance troops were roaming between the controlled area and the buffer zone. All kinds of intelligence personnel were trying their best to infiltrate the towns and villages near the border. Nobody wanted to break the stalemate, but everyone was silently doing the same thing. A kind of ironic "tacit understanding" had been established between the two sides. What was more ironic than this "tacit understanding of war" was that the cross-border trade was still going on as usual and had even expanded recently.
Andesha was a military general, but she was not a reckless one. She could see a lot of information from the trade orders circulating in the checkpoints under her control. The expansion of the trade orders and the activity of the merchants meant two things. First, the Ansu's strength had not been greatly damaged in the previous war, and they still had the ability to purchase and digest large amounts of resources. Second, the Cecil family had completed their control of the Eastern Region. That was why merchants carrying Cecil's emblem would appear in large numbers in the Eastern Region and Typhon's checkpoints.
The young Wolf General could not help but pinch the space between his eyebrows to relieve the accumulated pressure in his head. At the same time, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in."
The door opened, and a young Knight entered the room.
"General, there's new information," the young Knight reported to Andesha after saluting her. "Another army of about two thousand men has entered Longwind Stronghold from the northwest. This army has the insignia of the Mountain Corps, but the commander is unknown. He's not someone we know."
"Two thousand more men …" Andesha frowned. "… Didn't their Mountain Corps suffer heavy losses? Where did they find so many reinforcements …"
Knight had been serving Andesha for many years and was an experienced officer. He voiced his conjecture. "Perhaps it's just a private army from the Northern Region under the banner of the Mountain Corps. The Ansu are bluffing."
"It's possible that they're using inferior private soldiers to disguise themselves as a trump card army. But it doesn't matter. Even if they're using their private soldiers as a front, their numbers are limited. There shouldn't be more reinforcements." Andesha shook her head. "But His Majesty's order is not to initiate an attack before we find out the actual situation. We still have to wait until we know the exact military strength of Longwind Stronghold."
The knight adjutant looked at his superior. After hesitating for a moment, he couldn't help but ask, "General, do you think we should still fight this year?"
Andesha glanced at the young man. "Do you want to fight?"
"Of course," the young Knight immediately raised his head. "It's the duty of a Knight to fight for glory on the battlefield. Besides, we're the Winterwolf Army."
Andesha couldn't help but sigh as she looked at her subordinate's enthusiastic face.
With the deepening of His Majesty's new policies, a large number of small nobles in the Empire were affected by the new policies. The traditional aristocratic life of relying on the land to receive offerings was no longer sustainable. These small families began to set their sights on military exploits. Under the current policies of the Empire, making contributions on the battlefield was the best way to maintain the family and gain wealth. Therefore, a large number of small nobles like the young knight in front of him joined the army.
Of course, with the rise of the Empire's magic industry, this was also a way for the nobles to regain their former glory. However, investing in a new industry required not only courage and foresight, but also financial resources and connections. This path wasn't suitable for everyone.
"I also want to." Andesha gathered her thoughts and sighed softly. Her father's face flashed in her mind. "Don't worry, this war will eventually happen."
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