Betrayal

Returning and then leaving, Karl only stayed with his family for three days. The focus of the territory was no longer on Tianfeng Prefecture, a point Karl had already made clear to Lin and the others.

As long as there was a suitable time, he would move the family as soon as possible.

Although the journey would be extremely long, the family now had quite a few Level 9 Warriors, enough to cross the entire Magic Beast Mountain Range.

Just after returning to the Sky Wind Kingdom, Karl received some bad news.

A core member of the kingdom's high-ranking officials had betrayed him.

"Tell me, what exactly is the situation?"

"Your Majesty, this is my failure. I am willing to accept any punishment." Kevin knelt straight on the ground without a second thought.

Kevin's attitude of being ready to face whatever consequences came his way left Karl at a loss for words for a moment.

After all, this matter had a lot to do with him as well.

"So, you mean Kasa went missing the night before last?"

Hearing the explanation from Luo at his side, Karl finally understood the situation.

A few days ago, Karl had appointed two peak Level 9 experts as high-ranking legion commanders, after which he returned to the Holy Alliance. In those few short days, Kasa had gained Kevin's trust.

It was precisely this trust that led Kevin to mention the matter of the Magic Crystal to Kasa.

Although the Magic Crystal mine had been completely excavated, what Karl had declared to the outside world was merely a small vein.

While a small vein was precious, even if fully mined, its value would only be a few hundred billion gold coins. For a duchy, this was wealth enough to soar to new heights, but kingdoms that possessed Saint Realm experts would not go up against a powerhouse of the same level for such a small amount of money.

But if those hundreds of billions of gold coins were turned into quadrillions, the value would be entirely different.

This was wealth enough to tempt even Saint Realm powerhouses, and that was just the value converted into gold coins; the Magic Crystals themselves were treasures that could sway the outcome of wars.

"Up to this point, is there any definitive news?" Karl asked.

"Your Majesty, all intelligence organizations have reported their findings. However, Kasa is a peak Level 9 powerhouse, and the only known sighting is that someone suspected they saw Kasa near the border of the Dark Church," the minister in charge of intelligence said nervously.

"The Dark Church, is it?" Karl closed his eyes and remained silent.

Since Kasa had been recognized by the system, he had truly defected, but wealth moves the heart, and the human heart is the hardest thing to define.

Meanwhile.

While Karl and the others were still speculating, inside the Dark Church's base in the Chaotic Territory, within an extremely hidden underground palace, figures walked in from different directions.

These people were all wearing black robes; some held staves with high-energy reactions, while others wore armor beneath their robes.

These people occasionally nodded to each other or exchanged words. After everyone had taken their seats, Kasa walked in from outside the door, followed by two black-robed men whose auras were equally formidable.

"Everyone."

The black-robed figure sitting at the head of the table spoke softly, his voice low, yet clear enough for everyone present to hear.

Seeing the seated individuals look over, the figure at the head of the table continued.

"The person before you once came from the Yulan Empire. Until recently, he was a legion general under that Saint Realm expert of the Holy Alliance, and now he has defected to our Dark Church."

"Lashev, if you have something to say, just get to the point. We don't have the time to listen to you dawdle here."

Before Lashev could finish, he was interrupted by one of the people.

As Lashev looked at the speaker with dissatisfaction, that figure slowly raised his head.

Beneath the pitch-black robe was an extremely pale face with sunken cheeks, as if a layer of dried skin were hanging off the bone. Above his bloodless lips was a high, hooked nose, and above that were emerald-green pupils, though they were so deeply set in their sockets that they were hard to notice under the hood without a close look.

"Mite, think for yourself how many times you have interrupted my meetings," Lashev said with a cold face.

"Are we here to listen to your long-winded speeches? Just get straight to the point," Mite retorted without backing down.

Seeing the others looking on as if watching a show, Lashev snorted coldly and continued: "In the newly established Sky Wind Kingdom, a large Magic Crystal vein was discovered. The Magic Crystals already excavated are worth no less than several quadrillions."

As he said this, Lashev gestured with his hand.

"At least five quadrillions?"

The others, who had been regretting that they couldn't watch the drama, instantly perked up.

"Correct. According to the information brought by this Level 9 Warrior here, those Magic Crystals have already filled more than half of the Royal Palace," Lashev said.

"If I remember correctly, that Saint Realm expert of the Sky Wind Kingdom has only been in the Saint Realm for less than a hundred years, right?"

The meeting, which had initially held some dignity, quickly turned into a vegetable market.

Kasa, who had been hoping to advance his position based on this news, was left completely dumbfounded.

Although everyone knew that many places looked impressive but were actually run by amateur crews, Kasa had never imagined they could be this amateur.

"In my opinion, we should just kill that guy directly. He's a person of the Holy Alliance anyway, and it's hard for us to walk the same path."

In the meeting room, only seven people were seated, and all seven were Saint Realm powerhouses from within the Dark Church.

However, since they were here to develop their faith, although all seven were at the Saint Realm, only three were true existences who had comprehended the Mysteries.

Lashev, Mite, and Ulamigier, who had been sitting there without saying a word.

Among these three, Lashev was a peak Saint Realm warrior of the darkness element, Mite was a noble peak Saint Realm magus of the necromancy element, and as for Ulamigier, who had not spoken, he was the most core member of the Dark Church.

A Six-Winged Fallen Angel with strength comparable to a peak Saint Realm expert.

The three of them were all ancient relics who had lived for one or two thousand years, while the remaining four Saint Realm experts had ascended within the last few centuries; some had already achieved great mastery over the Momentum of Heaven and Earth and only needed to comprehend the Mysteries to step into the Peak Saint Realm.

Others were still in the midst of perceiving the Momentum of Heaven and Earth.

"Go and verify this news first. If it is indeed true, then you will have made an outstanding contribution to the Lord, and I will do my utmost to help you achieve the Saint Realm."

The voices of the group grew louder as they discussed, and it was at this moment that Ulamigier, who had remained silent until now, looked directly at Kasa, who was standing at the doorway.

"For the sake of the Church, Kasa is willing to lay down his life." Upon hearing this, Kasa suddenly felt as if the pitch-black surroundings were as bright as the sun in the sky.

He had originally felt some doubt about whether he had done the wrong thing, but now he felt nothing but relief regarding his choice.