Chapter 853: War's Omen

The Silver Star Duke's projection was crystal clear; she sensed Lei En's gaze but saw no sign, and her face showed not a trace of expression change.

The other Holy Soul Wizards were the same, evidently having already discussed it.

"What's going on?"

Lei En was momentarily baffled, unable to make a judgment.

"Banbei City!"

"Gupita Kingdom actually dares to shelter Loxhi's followers!" Over a hundred councilors debated noisily, most not surprised.

The situation on the Shabukangtinai Subcontinent was chaotic; besides three human‑dominant kingdoms, there were several small duchies, hundreds of city‑states and tribes, ratfolk, serpentfolk, Piges, goblins and countless other races vying with humans for territory and resources, with endless conflicts year after year.

The main theme here is war and murder; the entire Subcontinent is a breeding ground for evil‑god worshippers.

Most of Loxhi's followers hide within the Subcontinent, controlling many cities, and even publicly preaching the fraudsters' doctrine in some places.

Lockriang probably didn't flee to Banbei City.

Rather, Banbei City may be the headquarters of the Shadow Blade, gathering a large number of Loxhi's followers, now exposed.

The revenge operation is not just to kill Lockriang; it must uproot the Shadow Blade, at least destroy their base in Banbei City and Loxhi's underground temple.

Otherwise, the Duke wouldn't now reveal that the enemy is in Banbei City.

Even if the Shadow Blade and Lockriang know the Empire is coming for revenge, they have nowhere to run; the underground network they've built in Banbei City for years cannot be relocated quickly.

But will the Gupita Kingdom agree?

The Empire's Fu Kong Cheng and legion descending on Banbei City is undeniably a declaration of war against the Gupita Kingdom; Wilarmatia II could not tolerate it, nor dare let the Empire's troops ravage Banbei City. Even knowing they are outmatched, they must rise in resistance.

In that case, the revenge operation escalates into a war of annihilation!

The councilors' blood boiled at the thought.

The Empire hasn't waged an external war for a very long time—so long that the councilors can't recall when the last national war occurred, perhaps several centuries ago, when most of them were not yet born.

"War!"

Transcendents all love war; those who wield power have warlike blood in their veins.

Glory, territory, wealth, authority and power—things that take years of effort in peace—can be snatched in war within a few months, even days.

The Empire's councilors all became excited.

As for the Gupita Kingdom's strength, no one gave it a second thought. Before the Empire's Fu Kong Cheng and legion, a kingdom of merely fifty million people is utterly vulnerable.

Tim*Kenan, after stating three matters, immediately declared the session adjourned.

He teleported to the nearby He Palace, assuming the Consul's authority. The Holy Soul Wizards' projections also faded one by one.

Lei En walked out of the council chamber.

The councilors were all in a hurry, greeting briefly before departing.

Heisketo was summoned by Tim*Kenan to report; the legendary Wizards at Osop Manor each returned to report to the Holy Soul Wizards, and Dofu, one of the Seven Sisters, simply did not attend the Empire council, having vanished long ago.

Lei En saw Viola at the entrance of the Temple of Truth.

As the Count of Dong Ting Hu, she automatically received a seat in the Empire's council, and had just participated, sitting behind her.

"Lei En."

Viola's eyes were full of doubt.

"We'll discuss it later," Lei En and she walked out of Fubei Deng Castle together, and outside opened a portal to return to Marlinge Manor.

Viola had many questions, but Lei En shook his head, "My teacher is waiting; I'm heading to Weizelan, will return tonight to discuss with you."

"Fine." The Half-elf was very considerate.

Before leaving, Lei En earnestly warned, "Nuosiruier hasn't been safe lately; you should be cautious, limit outings. If you must go out, be sure to bring an Extreme Warrior and keep them in sight; should anything happen, I'll know immediately."

"Mm, I'll be careful," Viola lightly nodded, moved at heart.

Half a minute later.

Lei En teleported to the hall atop Weizelan Tower and at a glance saw his teacher Anxiwodasi; two others were present, the Storm Queen and the Silver Star Duke's sister.

The three were all waiting for his arrival.

"Teacher, madam, Your Majesty the Queen," Lei En greeted calmly, then asked, "How did the Supreme Council determine that Lockriang is in Banbei City?"

This was the key to all the questions.

"Prophecy."

Anxiwodasi replied, "Prophet Medif employed prophecy, witnessing the Empire's troops battling in Banbei City, with Lockriang and many Loxhi followers, the Dark Sun's black wizard, the Gupita Kingdom's transcendental legion, a chaotic multi‑front clash."

Indeed!

Lei En thought to himself, indeed.

While in the council chamber, he initially assumed the Silver Star Duke had steered the Holy Soul Wizards to form the resolution at the Supreme Council, but seeing her give no indication, he realized his guess was wrong.

He then turned his thoughts to prophecy.

Prophet Medif is the most brilliant seer in Empire history; of course, Augulevi Master's mastery of prophecy is equally unmatched, though unknown, it does not diminish Medif Master's reputation.

In the past, the prophet's predictions never erred.

He himself had participated twice.

Once during Weizelan's crash crisis, and once he obtained future information from prophecy, guiding him to the Dark Region to acquire the Spirit-absorbing Monster's core demonic soul.

Yet Lei En still felt something was off.

The Silver Star Duke had constantly urged him to attack Banbei City, and the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers were investigating covertly; before any results, the Supreme Council decided to dispatch troops to Banbei City—how coincidental!

Sometimes coincidence signals a conspiracy!

"Does the prophet's prophecy reveal the outcome of that battle?" Lei En knew prophecy rarely gives a clear result and requires interpretation, sometimes yielding the opposite, yet he couldn't help asking.

Anxiwodasi shook his head, "No."

The Silver Star Duke, however, wore a worried frown, "Why does Lockriang happen to hide in Banbei City?"

Lei En gave her a glance.

Clearly, the Silver Star Duke does not want the Empire to send troops to Banbei City; too many forces are intervening, and even if they win, their gains will be diluted, perhaps not even a tenth of the original plan.

"Hahaha, De Laier Sha, you're unlucky again," the Storm Queen said with a look of schadenfreude.

The Silver Star Duke glared at her irritably, "If I were out of money, I'd blame you."

"How dare you!"

The Storm Queen sneered.

Lei En, uninterested in the sisters' bickering, thought seriously for a moment, then asked, "Master, could the prophecy technique be interfered with?"

Anxiwodasi hummed, "It's possible, but the difficulty is great. Given Mei Difu's mastery of the prophecy technique, to interfere with him would require a caster of at least Thirty-level, and it must be at close range."

"Lei En, you're still doubting?" the Silver Star Duke halted the quarrel and asked.

"Yes."

Lei En nodded, "Madam, Your Majesty the Queen, have you ever disclosed the plan to attack Banbei City to anyone?"

The Storm Queen shook her head immediately, "I have never mentioned it to anyone."

The Silver Star Duke hesitated briefly, then said, "I discussed the plan with a few trusted aides; they have followed me for many years, and loyalty is not an issue."

"Loyalty does not guarantee secrecy," Lei En replied dismissively; Ge Nieus was a gruesome precedent. Moreover, Kai Erstong had been covertly stirring trouble in Longshande for many years, and the Silver Star Duke's secret investigation yielded nothing.

By Kai Erstong's methods, the Silver Star Duke's inner circle was probably already a sieve.

Anxiwodasi's expression grew solemn.

He was well aware of the feud between Lei En and Kai Erstong; the attack during the floating city transaction two years ago was further evidence of Kai Erstong colluding with Luo Xi believers.

But lacking concrete evidence, he could not expose the other side.

Anxiwodasi had been on guard against Kai Erstong, and upon hearing Lei En's words, he immediately wondered, "Is Ge Nieus's death linked to Kai Erstong?"

The two sisters also caught on.

The Storm Queen looked at Lei En, eyes full of astonishment, and whispered, "Could Kai Erstong's true target be you? He had Luokelian kill Ge Nieus merely to draw you out of the Empire into his trap?"

The Silver Star Duke also had an epiphany.

Killing Lei En is not easy; he is constantly within the Empire's territory or Gotham City, both protected by the God of Magic, so even if a murderer succeeded, they could not escape the deity's divine punishment.

If Lei En reaches the secondary continent, that would be different.

With proper setup, Kai Erstong might not need to act himself; by using a proxy, he could have a chance to eliminate Lei En, the thorn in his side.

In this world, there are far too many who wish to kill Lei En.

"It's possible."

Lei En nodded lightly, "But I don't understand one thing. If Kai Erstong's target is me, he shouldn't have let Luokelian flee back to Banbei City; he should have sent him elsewhere, so no coincidence would arise, and I wouldn't be alerted."

That was the part that baffled him.

The three Holy Soul Wizards thought the same and found it odd; with Kai Erstong's intellect, such an oversight was impossible.

Working backwards, there were several possibilities.

One, it was truly a coincidence; Kai Erstong didn't know the Silver Star Duke was planning to attack Banbei City and happened to collide.

Two, Kai Erstong could not control Luokelian; the master of tricks went wherever he pleased.

Three, from start to finish, the matter had nothing to do with Kai Erstong; the assassination of the Consul was orchestrated by Luo Xi believers themselves, and after completing it they returned to Banbei City.

There was another possibility.

Kai Erstong deliberately made this low‑level mistake, letting Lei En assume it was merely a coincidence, clearing suspicion, thereby prompting Lei En to go to Banbei City for a revenge mission.

This round is me anticipating your anticipation.

Lei En gave a thorough analysis; the three Holy Soul Wizards listened intently, and their eyes looked a bit odd. The Storm Queen asked in surprise, "Do you usually think about these things?"

"It's not that complicated," Lei En said, a little speechless.

Holy Soul Wizards are accustomed to speaking with violence; when facing enemies they resort to direct spell bombardment and dislike such roundabout scheming.

"Aelarslan, exercising your mind won't hurt you," the Silver Star Duke mocked, "Don't spend all day thinking about a man's crotch."

The Storm Queen erupted in fury.

Anxiwodasi interrupted her retort, "I'll summon Kaidejia, have him also perform the prophecy technique, and see what the result is."

Lei En's eyes lit up; he had actually thought of this method earlier.

The prophecy technique is Eight-ring Arcane, which only a Legendary High-rank Arcane Master can master; the Empire has few such individuals, but there happens to be one in Weizelan, namely GrandSpeaker Kaidejia, and his research into the prophecy technique is profound.

"I've met the GrandSpeaker."

Soon, Kaidejia, youthful in appearance but with a head of white hair, arrived.

He is also an Imperial Senator, though he did not take part in the recent council, but he had already received the news.

Following Anxiwodasi's order, Kaidejia performed the prophecy technique before everyone, and instantly a tableau of light and shadow unfolded in the hall.

In the vision, tens of thousands of Supernatural Legions battled within a bustling city; a floating city hovered in the sky like a half‑toppled mountain, its cross‑section studded with towering spires that radiated vast magical light, together raising a massive semi‑transparent shield that periodically emitted dazzling bursts of spell energy onto the city below.

It was Tim*Kenan's Flaniss Floating City.

Lei En examined it closely and recognized the city below as Banbei City.

The ground combat was extremely chaotic.

The Empire's forces were vast and complex: GriffinLegion, Rike Guard, Eight-Leaf Hand, Silver Armored Knight Corps, Red Robe Legion, Crimson Flame Sword Guard, Arcane Sword Knight Corps, Steel Knight Corps… just those recognizable units alone, plus numerous private militias of Imperial Senators!

Many Imperial Wizards were hunting down evil god believers everywhere; from their garb one could tell they were mostly Luo Xi followers.

However, Lei En did not see his Holy Spear Knight Corps.

In the final second before the light‑shadow tableau ended, a few tall blue figures flickered in an inconspicuous corner of the distant city.

They were Extreme Warriors!

When the prophecy technique concluded, Anxiwodasi's eyes were full of praise as he said, "Kaidejia, you did well! This is exactly the same as the prophecy Mei Difu presented at the Supreme Council, only the clarity differs slightly."

"GrandSpeaker, you flatter me," Kaidejia replied modestly.

Only then did the Silver Star Duke and the Storm Queen realize that the young Legendary Arcane Master before them possessed exceptionally high talent and even the potential of a Holy Soul Wizard.

Weizelan producing a Lei En is already outrageous, and there's actually another?

Anxiwodasi noticed the change in the two sisters' expressions, not wanting them to know more, quickly waved his hand, "You go back first."

Kaidejia performed a courteous salute without arrogance or humility, then teleported away.

"Lei En, do you have any new discoveries?" Anxiwodasi asked.

"None..." Lei En replied slowly. Kaidejia the Chairman's prophetic technique dispelled a deep-seated doubt of his, but the matter still had many questionable points, like trying to see flowers in the fog—no way to make sense of it.

The Silver Star Duke grew a bit impatient, directly asking: "Are you really going or not to Class Shell City?"

"Go! Of course we have to go!"

Lei En laughed, saying, "If I don't go, how can I still be Consul?"

(End of chapter)