Chapter 298: Episode 298_Descent of the Demon King (7)
11.
The warlocks moved in secret—unseen, yet with precision.
Simin had emphasized this to them a hundred tis, but even without his warnings, the warlocks would have acted on their own. If they wanted to live, they had no choice but to act covertly. Their mission required them to slip into the middle of crowds.
Just scouting the movents of people across the continent was dangerous work for a warlock, especially when the whole world was out for their blood. On top of that, they had to deliberately expose their black mana right under the noses of the Temple’s elite, the Holy Knights. It was practically the sa as being told to go die.
Even so, there was one reason the warlocks obeyed Simin’s reckless order: his highly credible and clearly well-prepared explanation.
“The Holy Knights won’t step in even if you insult God right in front of them. I heard it straight from the source. The Pope himself ordered them to observe the rallies, investigate, and if they beco certain of anything, to take no action and return. So stop worrying about dying and just focus on your mission.
Of course, don’t forget to stay covert. The Holy Knights might leave you alone, but the people there and the adventurers won’t. Actually, if they find out you’re warlocks sneaking around and pulling sothing, they’ll obviously drag you off and beat the crap out of you because of the misunderstanding.”
They had known he was the Temple’s spy for a long ti—since before the war, in fact. He had also proven himself on the matter of trust, even if he wasn’t exactly soone they wanted to trust. Above all, the warlocks understood better than anyone. Paradoxically, a man that calculating and self-serving was more reliable. As long as sothing was on the line, anyway, and for now, their goals aligned.
So they moved, and in the area where they could make the most of their specialty, they completed their mission brilliantly. They were masters of disguise, and the black mana they spread was too faint for any user to detect. Only a handful of top rankers could have sensed it at all. Even then, they would have had to focus and read the flow of mana, and what user would bother doing that at a ti like this, when they were blinded by the experience pouring in?
Especially now. In the users’ minds, warlocks were already cockroaches that had dug tunnels to the bottom of the underworld; they were seen as nothing more than a ans to catch the Demon King or a bonus round for leveling up.
It was easy. It was easy, and that carelessness led to reports being compiled by the Great Temple from all over the continent during the week that users were cashing in.
“Your Holiness. His words were correct. During proselytizing activities of a pseudo-religion disguised as rallies, we detected black mana and witnessed illusions being cast on ordinary people.”
“The sa in Kana Territory.”
“Likewise in Selnart Territory...”
Once could be a mistake. It could be an accident or slander. But twice, three tis, four tis... Reports from Holy Knights who had gone to each region of the continent—even to places that could be called its farthest ends—were all identical.
As if they had coordinated their stories.
The situation was unfolding in a way that was suspiciously neat, to the point of inviting doubt.
However, the Pope did not hesitate any longer. He did not, for a second, imagine that Simin had planned and orchestrated all of this. Anyone with a normal thought process wouldn’t. How could a single individual possibly plan sothing like this?
By any reasonable standard, it could only be seen as the warlocks’ sches unfolding in tandem with the spread of a pseudo-religion.
The Pope left the Great Temple with a grim expression.
In another ti, such an act would have been grounds to declare a holy war against the heretics on the spot.
If this matter hadn’t been entangled with the Demon King, the demons, and the warlocks, the Temple might have rounded up every last one of those so-called heretics and interrogated them without even bothering to verify the facts.
However, this was no longer just the Temple’s problem.
If this truly was a cult, and if the warlocks were attempting a coback through other ans, then the Imperial Family had to be inford.
The fact that several kingdoms were allowing these mass rallies to proceed unchecked was a clear sign that they were willing to stand against the Emperor.
That made it a political issue.
The Pope had never cared for politics, but even he could see the obvious.
He had to tell the Emperor.
An alliance between the Imperial Family and the Temple would be a troubling sight for the continent, but for the sake of peace, it had to be done.
The Pope headed for the Imperial Palace.
There, he t not with the Princess, but with the Emperor himself, alone.
*
Kenji was now the legitimate king of a kingdom.
Though he had not been on the throne for long, he had already made a powerful impression on countless neighboring kingdoms.
His financial power was staggering, and the soldiers at his side were formidable. On top of that, his own combat prowess was exceptional for a king, making him a natural object of wariness.
Despite this, Kenji continued to expand his army.
After all, his goal was the entire continent.
If he had been content with a single kingdom, he would never have poured in money with such disregard for loss, investing endlessly.
He was going all the way.
And he had more than enough justification to do so.
Users were flocking to the Kingdom of Kenji under the banner of the Main Quest. As the representative user leading Main Quest Act 4-1, he was steadily building his position and expanding his power.
By now, quite a few territories were surrendering and pledging allegiance to his kingdom without him even needing to wage a Territory War. Many neighboring kings, feeling the pressure of a potential conflict, were personally making overtures of friendship.
Naturally, there was no reason to slow his montum.
This was his mont.
Unlike the old days, when the continent was so vast that it was difficult to grasp the mood of even a single territory, he now felt as if he could finally read the flow of the entire continent.
That difference was huge.
The ability to see far and wide brought with it many advantages, and Kenji used them to focus on the Main Quest.
“The Empire is rotten to the core. It is ti to draw our swords,” he told the kings of neighboring kingdoms. “The Emperor no longer has any strength and has handed over power to the Princess. And the Princess, blinded by an adventurer, has deceived the continent by calling the Demon King the Heavenly King, plunging us all into danger. As for the Saintess, she was his adopted daughter from the beginning, so there is nothing more to say. At this rate, the continent will fall into the hands of the demons. The Demon King may have lost her power and is making no moves for now, but if she ever regains it... that will be the beginning of hell.”
He had now risen to a position where he could speak such words.
It was a blunt, straightforward statent—and a dangerous one that should not be uttered lightly. Yet, the kings who listened showed no signs of anxiety or nervousness.
The kingdoms spread across the continent did not obey the Empire out of deep-seated fear. They were simply pragmatic.
The first to step out of line would be swiftly and rcilessly crushed.
And if they all joined forces, the burden they would have to bear was too great. The current Empire’s power was simply too vast, its eyes and ears spread everywhere. If it sensed the slightest hint of rebellion, any kingdom that stood out would be destroyed.
Who would dare be the first to bare their fangs?
However, if soone else declared they would draw the sword first, the conversation changed entirely.
The current situation was no different.
It was true that the Empire was not what it used to be. In the past, the Emperor would have responded to the slightest sign of such rebellious movents, either by summoning the kingdom in question to the capital or by silently cutting out its roots.
Yet now, even as rallies denying the Temple—the very foundation of the continent—were being held everywhere, he did nothing.
“He may simply be watching and waiting.”
Most of the kings assessed the situation wisely. Unless they had won their thrones through a ga of rock-paper-scissors, the conclusion was obvious. There was no way the Emperor had suddenly gone senile and beco docile overnight. Given the circumstances, he was likely observing the situation, sorting out who needed to be cut down and who did not.
One could not move rashly in such a situation.
That was why they remained unmoved by Kenji’s persuasion, which bordered on blackmail. The risk of being marked by the Empire and wiped out was far greater than the risk of war.
Kenji, knowing this, cast out another lure.
“The adventurers are on my side. Most of them are, and they are growing stronger. Think back to just one year ago. Who among the people of this continent could have imagined that an adventurer could beco not just the lord of a territory, but the king of an entire kingdom? Yet in a single year, the adventurers have done it. Their influence on the continent will only grow, and they will only beco stronger. One day, the Empire will fall. Choose your side wisely.”
’I will be your shield.’
’I will be your impenetrable wall.’
In the end, it was an ambitious declaration that he would devour the continent himself, but from the kingdoms’ perspective, it was an offer with nothing to lose. They had to accept so risk, but not all of it. Besides, they had always harbored a desire to topple the Empire soday.
Rather than continuing to kowtow to the Empire, if soone else could realize that ambition and let so of the spoils fall to them, then it made sense to change sides.
“So what do we need to do?”
The kingdoms began a tug-of-war. They did not switch their allegiance imdiately, nor did Kenji demand instant fealty. There were simply too many kingdoms around him, and he still had a long way to go in his own growth.
“Turn a blind eye to the gatherings of users—of adventurers—within your kingdoms. That is how they grow. They change the continent, mingle with its people, and seep into its foundations. They need ti. They need places.”
He promised them the future in exchange for a piece of the present.
It was a mutually beneficial deal.
Word of the deal spread quietly among the continent’s upper echelons, and one by one, they began to prepare without showing any outward signs. It was the natural thing to do once they sensed a change in the winds.
’One way or another, the continent will change.’
’Whether the Demon King devours it, the adventurers devour it, or the Emperor holds his ground.’
If they could not be one of the contenders, they had to prepare for the coming storm, whether passively or actively. That was the only way to survive. When you know a tidal wave is coming, you put on a life jacket.
In any case, the kingdoms thought: if they were going to be swept up in a storm anyway, wouldn’t it be better to be hit by a hogrown typhoon than a foreign hurricane?
A true age of chaos had dawned, a chaos worse than when the warlocks had run rampant.
A bustle, unseen by the naked eye, was stirring.
It was not caused by the Demon King or the Heavenly King, beings that felt distant and unreal.
It was caused by the users. The adventurers.
Those outsiders, who had always been treated with coldness, who had always been strangers, were about to unleash a storm upon the continent.
No one denied it.
Their ingrained habit of looking down on adventurers had not disappeared, but still—
“We prepare for war.”
“Our justification? We are preparing for the demons’ descent upon the continent.”
“The Demon King is imprisoned in the Great Temple? You idiot! That’s not what matters. When they say jump, you jump!”
They did it to survive, and at the sa ti, to leap forward.
In reality or in Fantastic World, war was both the shortest path to destruction and the greatest springboard for growth.
The Emperor’s faction and Kenji’s faction.
The two forces, so lopsided it was laughable to even compare them, began to split apart, unseen.
*
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