White City, Palace of the Golden Roses.
The secret chamber of Rudolph III was a little crowded today. This special room, which never received more than three visitors at the same time, was hosting a lot of people this time. The king's three children sat next to him, his two important ministers, Grand Duke Loen and General Gloen, sat on the other side, and the Ancient Guardian sat opposite him.
In addition to these people, there were two other people in the room.
One was the history and natural history tutor of the princes and princesses, the famous scholar of the kingdom, Alfred. He was a somewhat bald, fat old man with a white beard hanging on his simple black robe. He looked very kind. He sat next to Hao Ren with a smile, curiously looking at the famous Ancient Guardian.
The other person stood behind the king. It was a mysterious woman covered in a black robe. She was tall and thin, standing there like a piece of wood that could not speak. Even her face was hidden under some kind of shadow that seemed to be a magic effect. No one could see her face from any angle. Hao Ren could only judge her gender and guess the identity of this mysterious person from the figure that was vaguely revealed under the robe. This person's ability to hide her breath was amazing. Even if you stared at her direction, it was easy to ignore her presence. Even if you noticed her figure, you would quickly forget it as soon as you turned your face. This was not a magic effect, because even Hao Ren's magic-immunity talent did not work on her.
This person was probably a secret agent of the kingdom, or the king's secret knight, or some other similar role. In short, she was not a simple character. Her presence here was enough to prove the significance of the current conversation.
"First of all, I have to say something." The first to break the silence was not the king nor Hao Ren, but Veronica. The princess had been a little angry since the beginning. "I know you are all very vigilant about the cultists, but you have listed an Ancient Guardian who has saved my life and protected Fort West as a target of suspicion. This is intolerable. Taros has always been a kingdom of justice and reason. When did we become cowards who are frightened by a group of cultists and only suspect others?"
"I'm the only one who is suspicious of the ancient guardians," Grand Duke Loen said lightly, his expression unchanged. "It has nothing to do with His Majesty and General Gloen. If Your Highness has any complaints, you can vent them on me alone."
Veronica glared at him. "I'm not venting. I'm just questioning."
Hao Ren did not expect the princess to be so concerned about his affairs. He could not help but feel a little touched. But he did not care so much about this misunderstanding. At first, he was still confused and upset, but after he vaguely guessed the truth, he did not care anymore. As an inspector wandering between the mortal world and the gods, the influence of the Kingdom of Taros on him was almost zero. He was watching Collow, not any country or individual in Collow, as long as these things did not interfere with what he was doing.
But he still had to make a statement. He waved his hand. "Veronica, don't be so agitated. I don't care. I can see that you are in trouble, and the trouble is probably not small, so I can understand. "
Rudolph III silently glanced at Hao Ren, with a trace of appreciation and gratitude in the depths of his eyes. "Thank you for your understanding, Guardian. We are indeed in trouble. Let's make a long story short. How much do you know about the Cult of Armageddon, Your Highness?"
Hao Ren was stunned. Another new term?
"The Cult of Armageddon that you are talking about?" Hao Ren shook his head. He could not make up these things, so he simply did not make it up. "I don't know. I have never heard of them."
Veronica was surprised. "But this cult has existed since ancient times, and they were quite famous a thousand years ago."
Hao Ren blinked, feeling a little awkward.
Fortunately, the ancient guardian's' memory loss' and 'confusion of common sense' were well-known. Besides, this problem was not the key, so the people present did not delve into it. Alfred, the old scholar, explained, "The Cult of Armageddon is probably the oldest cult in the world. Even the scholars of the Sanctum specialize in studying this cult and believe that they are as old as the Chaos in this world. They are mortals who have been seduced into depravity, lunatics step by step towards Chaos. Since the evil giant Lockmarton breathed his last breath, his breath had contaminated the ancient mortals and created the earliest believers of the Cult of Armageddon."
Princess Ania continued her mentor's words. "The Cult of Armageddon worships Chaos and regards the evil giant Lockmarton as the 'truth of the world'. They believe that the fate of the world is to step into Chaos and darkness, which is the fundamental purpose of the goddess of creation when she created Collow. Order and light are just occasional ripples in the development of the world. The mortals and their civilizations born in these ripples regard this temporary order as the truth, which is the 'Primordial Folly'. They believe that the continuation of order and the resistance of Chaos by mortals is preventing the development of the world along the right path, and is the source of Collow's pain. They believe that it is the endless war of Chaos that has caused Collow to fall apart and brought great pain to the land. And they have their own set of lofty 'ideals' to correct these 'mistakes', that is, to end the resistance of mortals and let the whole world fall into the right track. "
Veronica rolled her eyes. "To put it bluntly, they are wreaking havoc everywhere and trying to make humans lose the war of Chaos."
Hao Ren listened carefully to the description of the cult. He was no stranger to cults, and he was not too surprised to hear about the Cult of Armageddon. Cults, after all, were always the same. He was just a little curious. "Their ideas are quite fresh and refined, but aren't they mortals themselves?"
"Yes, so they see themselves as targets that need to be 'purified'." Veronica spread out her hands. "This is the most psychotic thing about them. When they go crazy, they don't even let themselves go. I heard that the Cult of Armageddon's Code of Armageddon also clearly states that when the end of the world comes, all believers of the Cult of Armageddon should immediately self-destruct to please Lockmarton. Do you think there is any logic in these crazy guys? "
Hao Ren nodded. "Yes, I know. When they go crazy, they really hit themselves."
Ordinary people would probably find it hard to imagine such a crazy cult because the behavior of these fanatics was not only illogical, but also seemingly meaningless. Ordinary cults always used the only chance of redemption in the end of the world as a bargaining chip to make believers believe that their crazy behavior could save them from some kind of disaster or get far greater rewards. However, the doctrine of the Cult of Armageddon pointed to the only way — not only would the believers not be saved in the end of the world, but they also had to be destroyed. They regarded themselves as things that needed to be purified, and the believers did not get anything from this belief.
Instead, they were doomed to lose their lives.
However, Hao Ren was not too surprised by their deranged doctrine because he knew that there were many indescribable powers in The Plane of Dreams. These powers were spiritual poisons to mortals. Even just hearing about it was enough to make a determined person go crazy.
If the evil giant Lockmarton was the representative of this power, then it was not surprising that his believers were crazy.
"I think you should already know what happened to Ania and Andrew," Rudolph III said in a low voice. "Although no clear evidence was found in the end, the clues show that the believers of the Cult of Armageddon are behind this matter, and what happened today is more proof of this."
Hao Ren immediately understood. "Veronica …"
"Yes, Veronica's crisis in the Western Region was not accidental," Rudolph III's face was gloomy. "In White City, it was Loen who found the alchemy master to cure Ania and Andrew. In the Western Region, it was the guardian who protected Veronica. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable."
"The defeat of the war in the Western Region is caused by the Tide of Chaos and the withdrawal of the Theocracy. Do the believers of Chaos have such great power to control these factors?"
Grand Duke Loen shook his head. "Those cultists themselves are inextricably linked to the power of Chaos. Even if they can't control the Tide of Chaos, they can make their own plans with the help of the Tide of Chaos. As for the early withdrawal of the Theocracy …"
The grand duke said, looking at Rudolph III with an inquiring look.
The king nodded and let out a sigh. "Say it. These things will soon be no longer a secret."
"The royal secret master looked at the Sanctum from the Arcane Tower and observed that the Light of Asurmen at the top of the Sanctum had been extinguished."
Ania and Veronica cried out in surprise.
Obviously, the two princesses, like Hao Ren, had just learned the news.
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