"Breaking News! Breaking News! The Kingdom declares war on Feysac!"
Klein, returning to Backlund from the Megro Manor, sat in his carriage, listening to the loud shouts of newsboys hurrying along the street.
Although he had been prepared, Klein still felt a pang of sadness and his spirits sank a little lower after confirming that the war had truly broken out in full force.
The hatred stemming from the loss of the crucial territory of Sonia Island... the entanglement of colonial interests... the defeat in previous wars... the economic downturn caused by pollution control... the mass bankruptcies of domestic farmers due to the influx of foreign food products since the enactment of the Corn Laws... the extremely dire living conditions of the lower classes... the widening gap between the rich and the poor...
"The middle class is blindly confident in the power of the Kingdom of Loen and desperately hopes to have the opportunity to improve their status... The contradictions between different political parties in the upper class are intensifying and tearing each other apart... The king and his faction want a large-scale war... With so many factors combined, from an objective point of view and from a materialist perspective, it is almost inevitable that Loen will export war... Reality is the best Author..." Klein stepped out of his past position and re-examined the situation in Loen from the perspective of an outsider. He found that the tide of the times had already formed and was rolling in. Without the arrival of a true god, it was really impossible to stop it.
In comparison, he was more puzzled as to why the Feynapotter Empire was willing to initiate a war.
Even if a member of some ancient, Concealment organization is indeed a high-ranking member of Feysac or the Church of the God of Combat, a key figure qualified to make decisions, they could not possibly act unilaterally on such a momentous matter. And why would anyone else agree to a world war?
"Could it be that the contradictions between different social classes within Feysac have also completely intensified, urgently requiring a war?" Klein lacked sufficient understanding of the northern empire to make an accurate judgment. "But they just won the East Balam War, seizing even more colonial benefits. There's no reason for their situation to be more serious than Loen's... Hmm, the royal Einhorn Family controls the ' Red Priest ' pathway, so their desire for war is understandable, but the Church of the God of Combat has no reason not to stop it. As a member of the Alliance of True Gods, they lack sufficient motivation to help Amon's brother advance to Sequence 0."
Thinking about this, Klein suddenly had a guess:
Did Amon's brother realize that the Goddess had obtained the " Uniqueness " of the " Death " pathway, and at a crucial moment, reveal this information to the Church of the " God of Combat "? And since the " God of Combat " and the Goddess are on adjacent pathways, they couldn't possibly ignore this and would inevitably take drastic action...
"Of course, it might not have been Amon's brother who did it. It's also possible that the Angel Heitel Artificial Death Faction by the Spirituality Religion to create the artificial Grim Reaper, discovered the anomaly beforehand thanks to the advice of the conspiracy expert, Sauron Einhorn Medici. On one hand, he pretended not to notice anything and continued to set up tests, while on the other hand, he introduced the ' God of Combat ' Church, making the situation even worse and more chaotic... The ' Red Angel ' Evil Spirit truly is a symbol of war..."
"If that's the case, then Feysac launching a war is inevitable. Moreover, the ' Uniqueness ' of the ' Death ' pathway is irreconcilable. At the crucial moment, the ' God of Combat ' might just descend directly, and a divine war that hasn't occurred since the Fourth Age would erupt..."
"The fact that Feysac's airship formation was able to pass through the nearly 100-kilometer stretch from the coast to Backlund undetected must be due to the protection of a ' Weather Warlock.' Otherwise, even if they had taken a detour through sparsely populated areas, they would have been spotted beforehand and intercepted by the Loen airship force... A ' Weather Warlock' —that's Angel! Since the Fifth Epoch, the number of times such Beyonder have appeared in wars has been extremely rare... After the fall of the Great Emperor, in various colonial wars, most soldiers didn't even know that Beyonder existed... What does the intervention of this ' Weather Warlock ' signify...?"
"This truly is a war that engulfs the entire world and involves all levels of society. Is this what Amon's brothers wanted?"
"At that time, what stance will the ' Lord of Storms,' the ' Eternal Blazing Sun,' the ' Earth Mother,' the ' God of Steam and Machinery,' and the ' God of Knowledge and Wisdom ' each choose? Will the conflicts between them, which have been suppressed for one or two thousand years, intensify as a result...?"
"The ' Earth Mother ' favors Giant, and even among her God's Blessed are Feysac. The division of the Kingdom of Feynapotter into Lenburg, Masin, and Segar has created a deep-seated hatred for Loen and Intis. The will of the monarchy and the will of the gods are likely to unite, and they may very well ally with Feysac to attack Loen and Intis from south to north. Of course, the kingdoms like Lenburg and the Church of Knowledge, standing in between, will certainly try to stop them. Uh... in the Desi Bay area, Feynapotter and Loen are directly adjacent, so the south won't be peaceful either..."
Klein felt more and more that the situation on the Northern Continent was about to become extremely chaotic, and that he was powerless to stop it from any angle.
Even a Sequence 4 Demigod, in this era of upheaval and in a situation that could lead to a war of gods, has little way to exert a crucial influence; being able to protect oneself and those one cares about is already a feat in itself.
When the Feysac airship attacked, Klein's first priority was to have his butler, Walter, and others hide in the underground area that served as a wine cellar before ' Teleportation ' to Backlund University of Technology. By then, a bomb had already landed there, killing some and injuring others. Klein's only consolation was that his sister, Melissa, was not within the blast radius.
Once Melissa and Benson were reunited, Feysac's airship didn't linger and quickly evacuated Backlund before he returned to Dawn Dantès ' mansion.
Huff... Klein slowly exhaled, turned to look out the window, and saw that after hearing the kingdom's declaration of war against Feysac, a small number of pedestrians on the street showed fear, as if recalling the air raid that morning, while most looked bewildered and a little panicked, wanting to do something but not knowing what to do.
They may not yet fully grasp the implications of such a war, but they instinctively feel that peace has been shattered and the future is shrouded in chaos and filled with dangerous unknowns.
Klein turned his gaze back to his personal servant, Enuni, and saw a slight bewilderment in his eyes.
With a half-smile and a half-sigh, Klein raised a hand to rub his temples, suppressing his frustration and helplessness, and pondered what he could do and what he needed to be mindful of:
"Regardless, with this experience and lesson learned, the King's faction has successfully launched a war. Before Loen's complete defeat, it's almost impossible for Feysac to invade Backlund again. Benson and Melissa are actually safer staying here..."
"The real concerns are food shortages and assassination attempts. The latter isn't a major concern; Melissa and Benson's living conditions and social standing mean they don't have access to high-ranking figures vulnerable to assassination, so they're unlikely to be affected Portland Moment's lab is newly established and hasn't produced any results yet, so it won't be a target that must be destroyed. As for the former, Miss Audrey can provide some 'assistance'..."
" Winter County, where the Holy Cathedral is located, is in the northernmost part of the kingdom, bordering Feysac. It's always the front line in every war. Lady Arianna might return there to assist the military. Well, she might also be sent elsewhere to protect the coast. After all, Backlund's defenses are sufficient. The royal family certainly has '0' level Sealed Artifact and Angel, and the three major churches likely have hidden methods as well... In that case, my greatest reliance is gone. At most, I can get some assistance from the churches and use some Sealed Artifact..."
"I wasn't too worried about the impact of the ' Red Angel ' Evil Spirit's return on me before, but now I have to be more vigilant about it."
" Patrick Bryan knows that Dawn Dantès Gehrman Sparrow and is equal to ' The God's Blessed,' which I deliberately revealed to try and draw suspicion to Mr. Azik, the ' Death Consul.' Now, this means that the ' Red Angel ' Evil Spirit will soon have this information..."
"The ' Red Angel ' Evil Spirit is currently only at a high level; its actual strength probably hasn't returned to the Angel rank yet. I don't have any irreconcilable grudges with it, and I don't have anything it wants. Even if it knows that Dantès is Gehrman Sparrow, the possibility of it directly targeting me is very, very low..."
"Besides taking direct action, what other harm might He cause after learning of this situation?"
"Is this a pretext to orchestrate a conspiracy, or to sell intelligence to those who need it?"
"What conspiracy... who would need it..."
Klein's mind was filled with thoughts and names, but he quickly dismissed them. These included Amon's brother and " Angel of Fate " Ouroboros. Judging from the previous actions of the " Red Angel " Evil Spirit, He was unlikely to contact the people of " Rose Redemption " at present, and Amon's brother and Medici were mortal enemies.
Suddenly, a name popped into Klein's mind:
" Zaratul!"
Zaratul, the leader of the Secret Order, goes through a path from madness to sane as a " Seer " —Sequence 1: Angel Zaratul!
According to feedback from the " Magic Mirror " Arrodes, this powerful Concealment being has left its original location and its whereabouts are unknown.
Klein had previously speculated Zaratul might arrive in Backlund due to the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence.
" The Medici Zaratul Family, and the Zoroast Family all serve the Solomon Empire. Even if they aren't friends, they must be very familiar with each other... Zaratul met Gehrman Sparrow in the Foggy Town Gehrman Sparrow. If he were really looking for something, he would definitely be after the mad adventurer..." Klein's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively began to assume that Zaratul was in Backlund, searching for Gehrman Sparrow's trail, and analyzed other anomalies based on this premise.
Almost instantly, Klein remembered something: the failed joint operation between Sharron and the Sanguine.
" The Rose School of Thought is also looking for Gehrman Sparrow Zaratul, having received this information, cooperate with them?"
"The operation was almost a success. The Rose School of Thought's leader in Backlund was in a great hurry to leave, clearly only realizing the problem at the last minute. This is unlikely to happen when the Sanguine have prepared the corresponding Sealed Artifact. Even the Duke was puzzled and confused. But what if it was the intuitive premonition of Sequence 1 Angel of the ' Seer ' pathway?"
That explains it perfectly!
"At that time, Zaratul was sitting opposite the head of the Rose School of Thought in Backlund?"
"In their hasty retreat, the Rose School of Thought deliberately left behind Puppet, created Moonlight, and cleansed everything—was this to conceal Zaratul's existence?"
"Furthermore, it's no secret that Gehrman Sparrow has some connection with the ' Death Consul.' Could Zaratul be spreading out with Marionette, sensing whether there's any death power in Backlund? When Patrick Bryan held his ritual, there was actually a Zaratul Marionette watching him from the sidelines?"
"If Evil Spirit ' Red Angel ' has already sold the information to Zaratul, wouldn't my return to Böklund Street in this chaotic situation be like walking into a trap?"
Klein's eyes narrowed, and he immediately spoke to the coachman in front:
"Let's stop here. I suddenly remembered I have some other things to take care of."
After saying this, Klein was on high alert, fearing that the driver would be unable to answer, and continued driving.
Thankfully, none of this happened. The carriage pulled over, and Klein, accompanied by his personal servant Enuni, headed towards a nearby alley.
Immediately afterwards, he snapped his fingers when no one was around, letting crimson flames emerge from his pockets and engulf himself and his Marionette.
He needed to get to Saint Samuel Cathedral as quickly and Concealment as possible!
In a flash of light, Klein and Enuni vanished from their spot.
But after he completed the jump, the flames he sensed suddenly disappeared, completely vanished.
Before him appeared a spacious living room, with an ordinary armchair in which sat a tall, thin, young man of the Southern Continent descent, with handsome features but pale complexion.
The " Red Angel " Evil Spirit, Sauron Einhorn Medici!
The " Red Angel " toyed with a ball of crimson flame in her hand, and the corners of her mouth slowly curled up:
"I noticed it earlier than I expected."
"Ha, trying to play ' Flame Jump ' in front of me..."