The Eve of Crisis

The tower was deathly still, save for the crackle of burning torches.

Everyone stared at the strange apparatus before them, waiting for Shien's orders.

Less than half an hour later, the Sacred Flame Altar's receiving plate jolted, and the white Runes on its central gold panel flashed wildly.

Hughes bent over the console, eyes fixed on the Runes as his hand raced across a sheet of parchment, writing down the decoded message:

Activate the highest-level Plague and War Defense System.

Use every temporary Sacred Flame brazier to establish three isolation trenches and key firing positions.

Seal off the contaminated zone. No one is to enter.

The Sacred Flame Echo Console will report once an hour. Mobile reinforcements are on the way.

The Sacred Flame Echo Console could transmit only so much information, and the decoded writing on the parchment was extremely messy.

Otto stood nearby, leaning on his cane. He could not make out a word, but seeing orders arrive from Blackpine Fief within half an hour filled him with doubt. How could they have come so quickly?

Hughes, however, was a man Shien had carefully selected through the Canon of Grace and Righteousness and personally trained.

He understood the words on the page, especially the gravity of the order to activate the "highest-level Plague and War Defense System."

He turned at once. "Lord Otto, as of now, White Fang Fief is entering the highest wartime alert. The Coordination Office will take full control of all defenses."

Otto hurriedly nodded. In the end, he did not dare ask questions.

Yet he still wondered whether a little Red Moss could truly be this serious.

But from the day he signed the contract with Shien, White Fang Fief had effectively changed hands.

Refusing would accomplish nothing. Nearly everyone now managing