Smoke rose again from the western border of the Baruch Kingdom.
The mine was recovered, and all the supplies and weapons left behind by the two religious allied forces were seized. Wharton was overjoyed and ordered the craftsmen to speed up the resumption of mining while rewarding the three armies. After this battle, the kingdom's confidence was further strengthened, and even the tribes inside and outside the mountain city that had originally been watching from the sidelines all came to its side.
But this victory, which fell to the Radiant Church, became a thorn in their side that they could not swallow.
Inside the magnificent golden temple of the Radiant Church, a cardinal knelt before the papal throne, his forehead dripping with cold sweat.
"Useless trash." The Pope's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a dull knife scraping bone. "The allied forces of the two churches, tens of thousands of iron cavalry, were chased away by a bunch of rats. You have utterly disgraced the Radiant Church."
"Your Majesty," the cardinal prostrated himself, "The arrival of those rats was far too strange— Shadowmouse and Stone-Eater Rat are ancient races lurking in the Dark Forest, impossible for ordinary people to control. And Linley's magical beast, Bebe, is actually the king of the Dark Forest rats..."
"The King of the Rat Clan?" The Pope's eyes darkened. "He's just a Dragonblood Warrior, and the magical beasts he raises can actually command billions of rats in the Dark Forest?"
"Absolutely true," the cardinal said. "That night, the rat swarm swept across the mountains and plains, even Stone-Eater Rat through the earth itself. Our army was caught off guard and simply couldn't hold them off..."
"Enough." The Pope raised his hand to interrupt him, a dark glint in his eyes. "You made a mistake first, I won't kill you, but this anger cannot be swallowed so easily."
The Radiant Church's scheme failed, and it lost face instead. Naturally, this resentment was also directed at the other party— the Dark Church.
The dark bishop who had once confidently declared that "the mine would be divided between the two families, Doehring would have a handle on him," now sat in the dimly lit hall, his face ashen. He had never imagined that his plan would be shattered by a group of rats, and he certainly hadn't expected that Linley's magical beast would have such a background, commanding the entire swarm of rats in the Dark Forest.
"Those idiots from the Radiant Church only know how to fight head-on," the Dark Bishop said coldly. "If they hadn't been so eager to claim credit and launched that rash night attack, they wouldn't have been able to force out that Rat King."
One of His Highness's attendants asked in a low voice, "Sir, what about this mine...?"
"We should definitely seize the mines, but we can't be as reckless as they are." The Dark Bishop narrowed his eyes. "Magic crystal ore is hard currency; whoever holds it has more leverage. Linley now has a mine, a swarm of rats, and Doehring is in charge—this piece of meat is even harder to gnaw on."
He pondered for a moment, then suddenly sneered, "However, if you can't crack the hard ones, there are soft ones. Isn't Linley supposed to be a man of great loyalty? I heard he has a relative he parted from when he was young, named Doehring Cowart... Hmm, isn't Doehring stationed in Baruch? As long as Doehring can't leave that mountain, Linley can't leave either. This mine will eventually fall."
The two arch-enemies, the Radiant Church and the Dark Church, were actually rifted apart by a single defeat. The Radiant Church blamed the Dark Church for being too eager to achieve its goals, Dark Church resented the Radiant Church for being reckless and making mistakes. On the surface, the two maintained their alliance, but in reality, they were each making their own calculations.
Linley, far away in the mountain city, was naturally unaware of all this.
That evening, he sat in front of the stone house atop the mountain, gazing at the layers of twilight in the west, his brow slightly furrowed. Delia approached with tea, and seeing his expression, softly asked, "Still thinking about the Radiant Church?"
"Hmm." Linley took the tea but didn't drink it immediately. "We won this battle, but it was too easy. The Radiant Church and the Dark Church have always been mortal enemies. For them to join forces to seize a mine, it's definitely not for such a paltry gain. They probably have a much bigger scheme behind them."
"You mean... their real target isn't just this mine?"
"The mine is bait," Linley said in a deep voice. "What they want to test is whether Grandpa Doehring can really stay here and whether he will break the rules of the entire continent for the sake of a mine. Once they figure this out, their next move will be even more ruthless."
Delia didn't speak, only gazed at him silently. After a moment, she asked softly, "So, have you decided how to deal with this?"
Linley was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "I haven't figured it out yet. But one thing I'm clear about—we must protect this mine. Not because it's valuable, but because once it falls into the hands of the Radiant Church, we'll have nowhere to go."