Chapter 204

Bai Jin Cheng

Saint Glendon Monastery

Gold‑clad Grand High Priest Ai Lessen stood before the small statue in the secret chamber and addressed the invited participants:

"Esteemed gentlemen and ladies, this is the tomb of Saint Glanden, a sacred place favored by Mother Nature."

"Here you may speak freely. Apart from you, the information will not reach any more mortal ears."

The secret chamber is modest, 20 m long and 10 m wide, with eighteen elongated stone benches, each seating one or two people.

All of them wear thick hooded cloaks, with masks beneath the cloaks.

Both the cloaks and the masks are magical items that completely conceal their true identities.

Naturally, such concealment cannot hide them from Luosen's investigation.

Thus, he clearly saw that the more than fifty attendees were all prominent nobles of Bai Jin Cheng.

One could say that most of the influential figures whose words carry weight in Bai Jin Cheng are present here.

This reflects both the Gold‑clad High Priest's connections and the fact that the young king's actions are unpopular, severely harming the kingdom's nobles' interests.

A more crucial reason is that if the long‑exiled Princess Levinde, who is taking refuge in Weilan, were brought back to become queen, the royal family's power would be greatly weakened, and the nobles would finally enjoy a truly good era.

As for the Duke Weilan behind the queen? The Duke Weilan is indeed powerful and renowned, but he is far away in Weilan, swamped with his own affairs, and has no energy to meddle in Princess Levinde's matters. Considering all this, the noble elders gave Ai Lessen the courtesy of using the monastery's secret chamber to hold a covert meeting to replace the king.

At this moment, Ai Lessen's role is not High Priest but political broker, and he also serves as the meeting's moderator.

He says, "Mother Nature has sent a clear divine decree confirming that there is no true king within the palace."

Eight-ring mage

"But the royal family all affirm that Lars, the young king, is of royal blood; on what grounds is he not the true king?"

Ai Lessen had already prepared his explanation: "It's simple— the royal family has been coerced. The coercer wields overwhelming magical power and vile methods."

That reason is sufficient; the Frost Envoy Lafengge's tactics are indeed mysterious and formidable, inspiring dread.

Radiant Empire

"The Princess Levinde might also be coerced by Duke Weilan, and that is ultimately Levinde's internal affair, which should not be meddled with by the Duke Weilan."

Radiant Empress

Four-ring Arcane Master

Even if the Duke wanted to intervene, he couldn't intervene much.

Levinde is still our Levinde; everyone present knows this full well, otherwise you wouldn't have come to this meeting!

Ailesen looked around at everyone: "We all know Lars isn't a fit king; he's too young, too willful, and his shoulders are too slippery."

The current international situation is dire; the world has reached a very critical juncture, and we cannot devote too much time and energy to playing games with children.

Even if he truly is of the Schira royal bloodline, he is no longer fit to be king. Moreover, the eldest princess who maintains good relations with Weilan and possesses Four-ring magic power is an obvious best choice.

As everyone knows, Weilan is about to rise, and Duke Weilan is an esteemed Eight-ring mage; maintaining good relations with Weilan would greatly benefit Levinde's development.

What he said is indeed correct, and it also voices the secret thoughts in each noble's heart.

But after all, changing the king is a major matter; if it succeeds, that's naturally good, but if it fails, everyone present could end up on the guillotine.

The risk is great; if any traitor or betrayer appears among those present, we could all be doomed.

Therefore, before we act, we must unify our thinking deeply.

Someone then said: "Larseng is no ordinary person. I've heard some secret information that he used extremely evil means to push his own magic power to a terrifying level."

His magic can easily take our lives.

Ailesen immediately said: "Larseng is indeed very evil and very powerful, but Mother Nature will protect us!"

As he spoke, the gold-robed high priest's face showed utter piety.

But his piety immediately elicited a round of low laughter.

"Ailesen, the Nature Church is just deceiving ignorant commoners; you and I both know there is no true god in the world."

That's right, I ran into you at the Moonlight Bathhouse last month. When you were fighting while embracing that girl, you even told me she was really lively.

Exactly, exactly, this probably violates the church's precepts, haha?

"Ailesen, either you come up with a genuine plan to deal with Larseng, or there's no point in continuing this meeting."

Ailesen took a deep breath: "I sincerely repent before God; time will prove my words."

He's already old; cavorting with girls may be enjoyable, but upon reflection it's nothing much.

Compared to the fulfillment and sense of achievement from receiving divine revelation and being rewarded with divine power, the former is utterly insignificant.

Of course, he also knew that relying on these words alone couldn't convince this group of big nobles who have no faith and only care about interests.

Fortunately, he had prepared: "In Moonlight Town, there is a group of powerful warriors, demon-exorcising mages from the Radiant Empire."

Because Larseng provoked terrible demons, he naturally also attracted the attention of the Radiant Empress.

I know the Radiant Empire's warriors shouldn't appear in Levinde, but in these extraordinary times we can only resort to extraordinary measures.

What we need to do is, at the right moment, bring these warriors into Bai Jin Cheng, have them charge into the palace, and kill Larseng.

Believe me, this group of demon-exorcising mages from the Radiant Empire is very powerful; just the Four-ring Arcane Masters number seventy, and there is also a powerful Seven-ring mage leading them.

As long as we cooperate, they will surely be able to slay Larseng.

After he said that, the nobles fell into silence.

After a while, someone nodded: "Now it sounds somewhat reliable."

"Ailesen, you just said Larseng provoked real demons? What do you mean?"

Ailesen actually isn't entirely clear either; he learned this from the divine revelation's intent, but he only knows a bit, not the details.

But it doesn't matter, because he can make up the details on the spot; anyway, these nobles couldn't possibly storm the palace to verify.

They are a group of demons that devour magic and disturb mortal minds, and it is precisely because of the demons' disturbance that the Schira royal family has the mongrel king spouting nonsense.

"Ailesen, where else did you learn these things? Could it be that the gods told you again?"

Someone's voice was full of sarcasm, and they simply didn't believe this golden-robed high priest's words.

Alesen was also very guilty, because he had fabricated it.

But just then, he suddenly felt a warmth in his heart, coming from divine praise.

Immediately after, a faint golden light appeared out of thin air above his head, then slowly drifted down, enveloping Alesen entirely.

At the same time, a mighty will also appeared in this underground chamber.

Every noble present clearly felt this.

More than half of the nobles present were mages, with basic knowledge of spells.

As high-ranking nobles, they had far greater insight than ordinary people, so they immediately noticed the extraordinariness of the golden light. This light had arisen out of nowhere, with no trace of magical fluctuation.

In other words, this was not a self-staged performance by Alesen.

This will that appeared out of thin air was indeed immeasurably mighty, like a towering mountain looming in everyone's heart.

Bathed in the golden light, Alesen's voice rang out; his normally slightly hoarse voice became solemn and sacred.

"You great figures of the mortal world, perhaps you hold vast power and wealth in the mundane realm, but in the spiritual domain you are either dwarfs or clowns!"

"Mother Nature has always been watching the changes in the mortal world; she remains silent because we are all her children."

"She is tolerant, benevolent, and far-sighted, tolerating her children's slight irreverence."

"But now, the most serious desecration has appeared; this evil must be purified!"

The high-ranking nobles immediately began to discuss, their voices filled with intense shock.

In their impression, Mother Nature rarely responds to mortal prayers, rarely manifests divine signs, and her interference in the mortal world has gradually dwindled to the point of being almost negligible.

Many nobles of the new generation instinctively regard Mother Nature as an optional existence.

But now, an incomprehensible miracle stands before our eyes! Someone timidly shouted: "Alesen, I admit your methods are clever, but stop pretending to be divine!"

Alesen looked over and said: "Master Fule, your cloak and mask are quite clever, able to easily deceive many eyes, but you cannot deceive the divine."

The shouter's body visibly trembled, showing that Alesen had hit the mark.

Another person shouted: "You just got lucky with your guess. My family's precious heirloom cannot be seen through by anyone. Guess who I am."

"You are Marquis Nobuton."

"Er..."

Obviously, he got it right again.

Immediately someone asked: "Since the divine is omnipotent, may I ask you, the divine's spokesperson, how many children do I have?"

Alesen felt guilty about this question, because he truly didn't know, but soon he received an answer.

"You have no children."

"Bullshit, I clearly have five children!"

Alesen is no fool; his mind works quickly, and he immediately retorted with a cold sneer.

"Go and check properly, Earl Bamut; those children of yours clearly don't resemble you at first glance."

That remark immediately provoked a low murmur of laughter; it was obvious that speculation about Earl Bamut's children had long been circulating.

Earl Bamut found it hard to accept: "Impossible! At least one or two are definitely mine! I'm absolutely certain!"

Alesen shrugged: "Saying that to me is useless; you should go ask your women properly."

"But I guess you lack fertility, yet your women want to inherit your property, so they used some clever methods."

"Shut up!"

Alesen sighed and returned to the main topic.

"Gentlemen of Levinde, remember: the divine has always been with us, silently protecting us."

"You, even including my former self, once forgot the divine and cast it behind our backs; but now, when true evil appears in Levinde, the divine steps forward to protect us."

"This is an honor for us mortals."

"Let us conduct a solemn prayer."

Having said that, Alesen clasped his hands before his chest, lowered his head, and began to recite the prayer.

At first, only he was reciting; the noble elders looked at each other, feeling at a loss.

They hadn't performed a sincere prayer in a long time, and doing so at this secret conference deciding their future fate was even more strange.

But gradually, someone began to follow Alesen in reciting.

And once begun, a warm, tranquil power immediately poured into their hearts.

This power made painful hearts calm, confused hearts resolute, envious hearts composed, and angry hearts at peace.

More and more people joined the prayer, until finally everyone was praying.

The prayer lasted about ten minutes.

When the prayer ended, everyone remained standing quietly in place, enjoying the tranquility and pleasure of their spirits.

After a long while, finally a noble moved.

He voluntarily removed the mask covering his face and raised his hand to wipe away the tears at the corners of his eyes.

"Divine, indeed you are with us."

"The second person took off his cloak: 'Since that is the case, let us act according to the divine's will. Walking with the divine will never lead us astray.'"

"It was Marquis Nobuton."

The others also revealed their true identities.

"Someone proposed: 'Just now we concealed our faces before the divine, which is a great disrespect. Let us hold another prayer with our true identities.'"

"Immediately someone echoed: 'Alesen, let's do it again.'"

Alesen then led the prayer once again.

This time, the nobles' prayer was focused and devout.

Not far away, the Feinite Garden.

The Crimson Assassin Corps has already been won over, and they are now practicing a new battle plan in the garden's large courtyard with the Imperial Shadow Guards.

Luosen stood to the side watching, while simultaneously sensing the situation in the underground secret chamber, his face showing a thoughtful expression.

"Since this world has demons that bewitch people's hearts, the appearance of a god who guards people's hearts seems only natural."

"The Nawat Republic's approach is very good, inspiring deep admiration, embodying the courage of mortals, but it seems not very suitable for the Natural Alliance."

"The Natural Alliance's church has existed for thousands of years; in its culture, the Nature God occupies an extremely important, indispensable position."

"Now, to have the people abandon the Nature God and become their own saviors is tantamount to making them deny their own history."

"This is not impossible to do, but it will certainly cause discomfort; it will force Luosen to expend extraordinary effort, and it will surely bring about many unforeseen chaos."

"But starting from the Natural Church, using a god to guard people's hearts and using a god to achieve a united front, yet it can achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Of course, this method also has a problem: there is no eternal true god in the world."

"I am also a mortal; I have lived my life in freedom, and I will surely die. If I die, the true god will be gone. Then the people of this world will suffer."

"What should we do?"

"Luosen watched the power of faith transmitted from the underground secret chamber, and fell into contemplation."

(End of Chapter)