The Net and the Fish

The Net and the Fish

(Setting chapter; summary at the end)

Sometimes, the more you knew, the less happy you were.

Anvis's gaze darkened as he rapidly sifted through the new memories in his mind, his index finger unconsciously tapping against the sofa armrest.

Viewing history as an observer was completely different from personally taking part in it.

In his previous life, Little Anvis had been limited by his own perspective and had been unable to see what the family had truly been facing.

But Anvis, with his god's-eye view, saw suffocating information in the boy's difficult life.

It was a net!

A vast net woven by unseen hands in the shadows, one that had enveloped the entire Olyvendi Family—and even the entire Gloria Empire!

The powerful family had sunk deep into a quagmire of conspiracy and declined beyond recovery. Branch factions, large and small, were either swallowed up or uprooted outright.

Most terrifying of all, the schemes against the Olyvendi Family were merely one part of this enormous net!

Combining this with the game's background information from his previous life, Anvis had already reached several vague conclusions about the true identity of the enemy behind the scenes.

First, Ninth Rank Leaders had appeared among the Rebels in a highly abnormal fashion.

In this age where Legendary figures did not emerge, Ninth Ranks who wielded Rule Power represented the highest level of strategic deterrence.

To a motley band like the Rebels, Ninth Ranks were not an asset, but a burden.

After analyzing a great deal of the plot in his previous life, the plot-focused Players had reached a conclusion: the so-called "Rebel Army Chief" was likely not a specific Ninth Rank NPC, but a codename.

The rebel leader always appeared in a black robe and mask. Behind that mask could be any Ninth Rank.

That neatly explained how the rebel leader, with the strength of an ordinary Ninth Rank, had repeatedly defeated more than one Ninth Rank Limit powerhouse.

Artifacts capable of concealing a Ninth Rank's identity were rare, but forces above a certain level could still obtain them.

In other words, the Rebel Army was most likely only a stand-in pushed into the spotlight—a white glove doing dirty work for some force. There might even have been more than one force behind them.

Anvis closed his eyes and sank back into the sofa.

When the family's high-ranking combat forces had been drawn away by the Rebels, leaving everything else vulnerable, numerous local powers had begun nibbling away at the family's forces and industries.

The Glory Alliance must have been making moves behind the scenes. They likely also had a hand in backing the Rebels.

Then there was the Rebels' Construct Legion, which was far too unusually powerful.

Even the Iter Kingdom Federation, with its most advanced construct technology, would have found it difficult to provide such a massive quantity of high-ranking constructs.

Only one force had the ability to supply them: the Continental Magic Council, the Kingdom Federation's strategic partner and the birthplace of all construct technology on the Yar Continent.

Finally, there was that figure—the wielder of sacred power beyond the Ninth Rank Limit. The Holy Radiance Church certainly thought highly of the Olyvendi Family...

The Glory Alliance was a faction formed by large numbers of small and medium-sized imperial nobles and wealthy merchants, representing the rising class of the Gloria Empire.

The Continental Magic Council was the holy land of magic on the Yar Continent. Though its structure was quite loose, its members included eighty percent of the continent's mages, and it controlled the supreme Miracle Magic creation—the Floating City.

The Holy Radiance Church was the true power behind the Saint Messiah Empire, the largest empire on the Yar Continent, and the only force rumored to have true gods behind it.

By the time he counted that far, only one thought remained in Anvis's mind—

There was no saving this! Just wait for death! Goodbye!

Anvis could understand the Glory Alliance's objective.

The Four Great Families had stood above all others for thousands of years, occupying too many resources and territories. The empire's social hierarchy had become nearly completely rigid.

If the small and medium-sized nobles of the rising class wanted to rise, they had to do everything possible to bring down the Old Nobles led by the Four Great Families and divide up the territories and resources they controlled.

Anvis could also understand why the Saint Radiance Church had come to muddy the waters.

Among the Three Great Empires, the Saint Messiah Empire had practically been founded by the Saint Radiance Church, while the Iter Kingdom Federation likewise did not prohibit the church from spreading its doctrines.

Only the Gloria Empire, due to its hatred of the Holy Radiance Church's role in splitting apart the Ancient Magic Empire, had seen Emperor Gloria explicitly declare at the empire's founding that all activities of the Saint Radiance Church were forbidden within imperial territory.

Although enforcement of this decree had become less strict over the thousands of years as the empire's situation changed.

Allowing the Saint Radiance Church to establish small churches in certain remote regions was already the limit of what the empire could tolerate.

For this reason, friction between the two nations had never ceased.

If the Rebel Army offered to openly support the Saint Radiance Church's preaching within its territories, then the church had every motive to send powerful figures into the fray and throw the empire into chaos.

But Anvis could not fathom the Continental Magic Council's objective.

Or rather, Little Anvis had yet to obtain some crucial information in his previous life.

And lastly, the Imperial Royal Family's stance is equally worth pondering.

After finishing his analysis, Anvis let out a soft sigh, feeling somewhat mentally exhausted.

Having thoroughly analyzed the situation, he reached one conclusion: the empire as it stood today did not actually need the Four Great Families.

When the Gloria Empire had first been founded, the ancestors of the Four Great Families had faithfully aided Emperor Gloria, pacifying all directions, resisting foreign enemies, and earning immense military merit.

To win over their loyalty, the emperor had granted the heads of the Four Great Families hereditary grand duke titles and made a solemn promise: no matter how vast the empire's territory eventually became, each of the Four Great Families would receive provinces equal to one-eighth of the empire's total area as hereditary territory!

The Four Great Families possessed full jurisdiction over military, economic, judicial, social, and civil affairs within their provinces. They only needed to pay a portion of their taxes to the Royal Family each year.

The land directly controlled by the Royal Family amounted to only about 2.2 eighths of the Empire's total territory. This showed just how weighty that promise was! Yet after thousands of years of peaceful development, the local nobles led by the Four Great Families had amassed private armies and grown increasingly difficult to control.

Even when the Royal Family's will was conveyed to the provinces, it usually could not be fully enforced.

The marriage alliance between the two great families a century ago had also vaguely carried the intention of counterbalancing the Royal Family, further straining the relationship between the Royal Family and the noble factions.

Anvis could understand why the Royal Family had not stepped in to support his family while it was besieged by the Rebel Army.

What he could not understand was why, even when the Four Great Families had nearly fallen apart and were forced to form an alliance for mutual survival, the Royal Family had still never come forward to clean up the mess.

No matter how fiercely the Royal Family and the local nobles fought, it was still an internal conflict among the nobility.

No matter how they fought, it remained a game among the Empire's upper ranks. In the end, the meat would still rot in the nobility's own pot.

The Rebel Army was different. From beginning to end, they represented another class.

Perhaps at the start, they could still be seen as a blade wielded by the New Nobles. But later on, the forces backing them had become far too numerous and complicated.

Allowing them to completely destroy the Four Great Families was fundamentally against the Royal Family's interests. Gloria IV could not possibly fail to understand that when the lips were gone, the teeth would grow cold.

Unless the Royal Family had already been tied down by something even more important.

Anvis irritably tugged at his short pale-gold hair, his brows tightly furrowed.

Perhaps Little Anvis from his previous life had noticed something as well. But in the end, he had only been a Seventh Rank.

If the family were compared to a deep-sea behemoth tightly ensnared in a net, then he could at most be considered an insignificant Nordin Fish. ① Moreover, for the time being, he could not tell anyone this information—especially not the Duke or the family's High-level members.

He could not explain the source of his information, nor did he dare let anyone inspect his Sea of Spirit.

After venting for a while, Anvis released his hair, now tangled into a bird's nest, and forced himself to change his train of thought. He began analyzing the advantages he currently possessed.

If he continued dwelling on the enemy's forces, he feared that the pressure would become too much to bear and make him rearrange the structure of matter again.

"Compared to my previous life, my greatest advantage is that I possess the reincarnation memories of both Players and Natives! Before I interfere too greatly with the situation, history will still progress along its original course."

Supreme Rainbow, Perfect Blood, Secret Treasure of the Lost Empire, Mysterious Essence, Heros' Infinite Grimoire...

These top-tier rare resources that had yet to emerge, sealed treasures, Epic-grade Magic Curios.

And those still-unfledged, renowned NPCs from every major faction—the protagonists of the new era's stage.

With the enormous advantage of foresight, all of them could become my support! ① Nordin Fish: a zero-rank, gregarious water-element Magical Beast. They often move in groups of hundreds of thousands, and adult fish generally do not exceed the length of a palm. (To briefly explain: driven by their respective goals, the Holy Radiance Church, the Continental Magic Council, and other top forces of the Yar Continent—backed by the continent's strongest empire—provided the Rebel Army with equipment and peak-level powerhouses.

The Rebel Army targeted all nobles across the continent, with the powerful Old Nobles bearing the brunt of the attacks.

The New Noble class, represented by the Empire's small and medium nobles and major merchants, also targeted the Old Nobles.

The Royal Family's stance remained unclear.

The Old Noble class, represented by the Four Great Families, occupied a very awkward position. The new era had no need for Old Nobles; this was the so-called greater trend facing the Four Great Families.

As for the overall trend of the era, Gugu had not written it yet. The development of Constructs was only a small part of its outward manifestation.)

To briefly explain: driven by their respective goals, the Holy Radiance Church, the Continental Magic Council, and other top forces of the Yar Continent—backed by the continent's strongest empire—provided the Rebel Army with equipment and peak-level powerhouses.

The Rebel Army targeted all nobles across the continent, with the powerful Old Nobles bearing the brunt of the attacks.

The New Noble class, represented by the Empire's small and medium nobles and major merchants, also targeted the Old Nobles.

The Royal Family's stance remained unclear.

The Old Noble forces, represented by the Four Great Families, occupied a very awkward position. The new era had no need for the Old Noble class; this was the so-called greater trend facing the Four Great Families.

As for the overall trend of the era, Gugu had not written it yet. The development of Constructs was only a small part of its outward manifestation.