Chapter 451
August 25, 10:10 am
The Shard Building, Central City District of Londinium.
The airship explosion completely thwarted the plan to wipe out all the Duke's Warship in one fell swoop. The Black Box remains missing, and no one knows what happened.
Theresis and the Blood Demon Great Lord were urgently preparing the contingency plan devised by the Sarkaz Military Committee.
Therefore, today it is Theresia's turn to receive Emongard, the Lich Lord of the Sarkaz Ten Royal Courts:
"We will not forget that at this time when the Sarkaz desperately needed unity, the Lich chose to step out of the silent library and stand by our side."
"Hehe, Your His Highness. Please don't be so formal. I'm just an observer."
"But you still brought gifts; the soldiers at the Frontline will make good use of those Spatial Magic Array."
"His Highness flatters me. It's nothing more than a petty trick involving manipulating Space-time Rift; it's hardly anything special. We liches are all extremely protective of our lives, and finding a safe place to hide is our top priority."
"You are too modest, Emongard. The lich's mastery of space is unmatched in the world. The lich's chair has never been removed from the royal Council Hall."
"Thank you for your concern, Your His Highness. Actually, before I came here, Lord Kal'tsit contacted me through Messenger. She said that the Mistress of Banshees was fighting alongside them and tried to persuade me not to side with you. She said that the Regent King started this war, trying to push this land into irreversible chaos and strife."
Theresia chuckled to herself; her former friend from the Babel was now on the opposite side.
"These are only temporary measures; this is the only way for Emongard Sarkaz to unite the people."
Upon hearing this, the Lich King almost burst out laughing.
Because Kal'tsit and Theresia's statements were exactly the same. They both called for unity and emphasized that their choice was the only way out for the Sarkaz.
If that's the case, why the conflict?
"Your His Highness, please rest assured, I made no promises to Lord Kal'tsit, nor to you. Liches who value their lives will not easily choose sides. We will only stand behind the victor, regardless of its race."
Theresia's eyelids twitched, because this statement indicated that the lich did not mind supporting the Exotic Demon King Amiya.
"I understand, time will tell."
Suddenly, Emongard looked into the distance. He seemed to faintly hear the tolling of Death Knell.
Theresia sensed something amiss and asked:
"What's wrong?"
"The Shapeshifter is dead."
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Chapter 527 The Cruel War (4K)
"Dead? How could Shapeshifter die?"
The current Theresia is not the complete Theresia. Rather, she is an individual that differs from the original, Confessors Leader through Secret Art after certain aspects were stripped away.
She couldn't perceive distant places like a lich, but she was still shocked by the news:
Shapeshifter, aren't they in groups?
These Shapeshifter have existed since Theresia's birth. They existed before, and they will exist in the future.
The advantage of a cluster is that the death of any single individual clone cannot threaten the survival of the entire race.
New life comes from destruction.
For every Shapeshifter clone that dies, they create a new one to maintain a relative balance in numbers.
All the clones must be killed at the same time to completely eliminate the Shapeshifter.
If this is not done, the large-scale attrition in a short period of time will cause the remaining Shapeshifter to go into hiding.
Once the number of clones they create returns to its previous level, it will be no different from being unharmed.
This tenacious vitality, even stronger than that of a cockroach, aroused the disgust of its own kind. That's why the Shapeshifter told Amiya on the rooftop that they were not accepted by the Sarkaz.
Having existed for thousands of years, the Sarkaz have long since equated Shapeshifter with immortal old men.
No one can kill him—not the Ten Royal Courts, not Theresis, not even the strongest Demon King in history.
Unless, of course, he himself doesn't want to live anymore.
Etc?!
Theresia showed a rare look of surprise, finding the outcome unbelievable.
"He... he wouldn't..."
Lich Messenger, the Emongard, produced a Crystal Ball, seemingly able to see something through its smooth surface.
Her eyes held a mixture of regret, pity, sadness, and a touch of melancholy.
"Your His Highness, you are right. All the Shapeshifter self-destructed at the same moment. With the death of the Shapeshifter, the oldest royal court collapsed."
"How... how could this be?"
Theresia was somewhat lost in thought, shaking her head to herself, still unable to accept this outcome.
Recently, the airships mysteriously exploded, causing the plan to destroy the various Duke's Warship to fail. Then, the royal court lost two generals, the King of Scavengers and the Shapeshifter, in succession, resulting in a significant reduction in its combat power.
She and Theresis simply wanted to free the Sarkaz from thousands of years of war and save them from destruction.
Is there anything wrong with that?
Why does it feel like even God is trying to stop me?
Emongard stared at the Crystal Ball, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes, before a relieved smile spread across his face.
"Heh, interesting. I doubt even the Shapeshifter themselves would have such an outcome."
Theresia lacked the power to capture the image on the Crystal Ball's surface. Only the caster could see what was displayed there:
"Emongard, what's wrong?"
The Lich Messenger did not respond, staring silently at the Crystal Ball for a long while before finally speaking to explain:
"Your His Highness, I suspect even the Shapeshifter himself didn't expect this outcome. Each of his clones originally chose to self-destruct at the same time."
However, this action triggered a biological division. What I could see was that his death gave birth to two new and weak Shapeshifter.
They are too weak and powerless. Whether they can fulfill the tasks His Highness may assign His Highness is uncertain.
As for whether the two Shapeshifter belong to the cluster and whether they possess cluster memories, I have no idea.
Theresia frowned, looking unhappy.
The bad news is, the Shapeshifter is dead.
The good news is that he was resurrected and split into two.
The bad news is, they're all too weak.
If the Newborn Shapeshifter cannot fulfill their intended purpose, then they will be of no help to the royal court and the Sarkaz.
Admittedly, the Newborn Shapeshifter have limitless potential. But they won't live to see that day.
Theresia felt there was no need to send anyone to bring the two Shapeshifter back, as it would be pointless.
"Emongard, as far as I know, was a former Shapeshifter who was always searching for the meaning of existence."
"Yes, Your His Highness."
"The Shapeshifter have found their path, but where does our path lie?"
The Lich Messenger silent, for no one could provide a perfect answer to this question. The only way to truly restore the Sarkaz to power was through violence.
But violence means destruction.
June 25, 11:30 am
Around noon, some residents of the Norbert District attempted to leave Londinium, but were blocked by heavily armed Victoria soldiers who set up roadblocks.
"I'm sorry, His Lord Duke suspects you are carrying Unknown Virus developed by the Sarkaz. To prevent this virus from spreading throughout Victoria, you are not allowed to leave the Londinium City, or you will be killed on the spot."
"We were forced to leave our homes and wander around, and now we're not allowed to leave Londinium. Do you want us to die in the city? You motherfucker, I want to fuck your mother!"
The people who were forced to relocate were already seething with anger. Now, being forcibly stopped by the soldiers, they vented all their resentment.
"Everyone, please be quiet. Let me communicate."
A refined-looking Old Man stopped the unbearable insults and stepped forward on behalf of the crowd to reason with them:
"First, it's unknown whether the Sarkaz even developed this virus. I can't prove it didn't, and you can't prove it did. Second, preventing the spread of the virus is understandable. If the Green Flame that night really contained the virus, then why were the Duke's Army able to leave safely?"
You stopped us, then carried the virus and spread it outside. Are you going to blame us for any future outbreaks in other cities?
Furthermore, you are soldiers. You are supposed to protect the people of Victoria, so what are you doing now? Or are you just the Duke's private army, killing civilians because he orders you to do so?"
The Old Man's viewpoint was reasonable and well-founded, and he immediately gained the support of the general public, who voiced their solidarity:
"Exactly, you guys are really good at using double standards!"
"We're not taking the blame for this, get out of the way!"
"Instead of driving out the Sarkaz who have occupied Londinium, you're stopping your own people. Are we the Sarkaz's accomplices, or are you?"
"If you don't even spare your own people, then you're no better than those Demon Race. They killed us because we provoked them, but you just attacked them directly!"
"My wife is dead, and my child is gone anyway. Since you want to kill your own people, just be direct. Come on, stab me with your military knife!"
Public pressure left the Victoria Soldiers guarding the Entrance/Exit and exits in a dilemma, unsure of what to do.
Faced with a barrage of questions, they couldn't answer a single one, and their resolve began to waver.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, the Victoria officer guarding the area picked up a crossbow and shot the refined Old Man who had been inciting the crowd between the eyebrows, killing him instantly.
If we can't solve the problem, then we'll deal with the person who raised it!
A brief silence fell over the scene as the refined Old Man collapsed, his eyes wide open.
Then, an uncontrollable rage surged from the people's chests to the top of their heads and erupted instantly.
"Murder! They've killed someone!"
"If we don't resist now, we'll all die here!"
"Instead of killing the Demon Race, all you do is oppress your own people. This is outrageous! I'll fight you to the death!"
The people of Norbert District had no weapons; they used everyday household items such as spatulas, knives, and rolling pins to storm the export defenses.
The infected, hidden among the crowd, angrily scratched at the Originium crystal on their arms, as if crushing them would turn them into bombs that could destroy everything.
The Victoria officer was struck in the face by Kun Dan from who-knows-where. He raised his hand to wipe his face and found his hand covered in a sticky substance. Instantly feeling humiliated, he flew into a rage and shouted:
"Damn it, you all deserve to die! Open fire! Kill all these rebels!"
The Victoria Soldiers were taken aback by what they heard and turned to look at their angry officer.
These are all locals of Londinium. When did they become a rebel army? And who are they rebelling against —the Sarkaz or the various Duke?
Seeing the Victoria Soldiers stand firm, the officer flew into a rage. He picked up his crossbow and aimed it at the back of one of the men's heads, veins bulging on his forehead.
"Obeying orders is a soldier's duty! I tell you to kill, so kill. I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong. If you dare disobey orders, you'll all be treated as deserters!"
If the soldiers were bystanders, they might do nothing. But if their lives were threatened, they would have to do things against their conscience in order to survive.
Seeing that the situation was not good, some soldiers knew they could not stop the officer, so they quietly slipped away to find the Victoria guards at other entrances and report the situation to the Duke.
But the current chaos is irreversible.
The soldiers were forced to make an unwilling choice, compounded by the shouts of the civilians who charged at them, using less-than-sharp objects to cut and stab their uniforms.
Ultimately, this led to the tragedy.
The civilians at the forefront fell one by one into pools of blood. The scene was so horrifying that the civilians behind them stopped their attack and dared not take another step forward.
A young woman in her twenties was shot in the femoral artery by a crossbow bolt and collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony.
An Old Man in a Wheelchair was on the edge of the battlefield. Seeing that no one was coming to her rescue, she gritted her teeth and tried to get closer, but was mistaken for a rebel and shot dead on the spot by soldiers.
His withered body slumped forward, falling off the Wheelchair and landing face-first on the ground. He never moved again.
"Stop fighting, run!"
The instinct for survival prevailed over the rush of passion.
Seeing the front lines retreating steadily, the citizens had no choice but to abandon their attempt to break through the checkpoint and desperately retreat with their luggage.