Upon hearing Nuowa's question, Ed glanced at Little Green's panel and said:
"It's not on the registration form; it must have come spontaneously to join in the fun."
"As for those few Soul Returner of the educational Machine Spirit you mentioned, a few of them have returned."
"This Machine Spirit is really energetic."
Nuowa clicked his tongue in amazement and asked again:
"So how do you plan to attack the city? We can't let the Soul Returner die in vain."
Ed continued gazing into the distance as he answered:
"Of course I didn't die in vain—I was just testing them."
"The Holy Crusaders defending the city seem well-trained, but they're really nothing special."
Nuowa shook his head upon hearing this.
"In my experience, these Holy Crusaders can already be considered elite troops."
Ed turned to look at him:
"These can be considered elite troops? Then what about my Soul Returner?"
"..."
Nuowa hesitated for a moment before saying:
"Perhaps they are 'heavenly soldiers'..."
"I thought you were going to talk about the Demon Soldier."
Ed responded with a smile, but Nuowa shook his head very solemnly:
"The demon soldiers aren't that scary."
"All right."
Ed shrugged and spread his hands, looking completely unconcerned.
"This is nothing! Didn't you just ask me if I had any siege tactics?"
Ed turned his head to the other side with a "you just wait and see" look on his face:
"The time has come! War behemoths, move out!"
"Awoo!"
Amidst the strange roar of the dragon, Ed slammed his knight's sword down, plunging it directly into the dragon's head beneath his feet.
Although it looks bizarre, as if Ed killed Noya with a single sword strike...
In reality, the knight's sword houses the soul of Blue Dragon, while the enormous plant-dragon body beneath its feet is merely a temporary vessel for it.
Therefore, Ed's actions were not dragon slaying at all, but rather a temporary resurrection and enhancement of Noya.
A series of strong tremors came from beneath their feet, and with Nuowa's assistance, all the character cards Ed had collected on the dragon's back were lifted into the air.
The next instant, the plant dragon beneath their feet swelled its wings and flapped them downwards with all its might—
"Call!"
Amidst the whistling wind that pierced her ears, Noya's enormous temporary body rose from the ground.
Compared to a real dragon's body, the plant dragon that Ed sculpted from plant tissue was neither as heavy nor as tough.
But it is precisely because of this that Noya was able to fly freely as a young dragon before her death.
This feeling is like someone who is used to running with heavy loads suddenly returning to a normal state; the feeling of lightness only makes the body more controllable.
"I understand. You want to send dragons to attack the city?"
Nuowa, suspended in mid-air, stroked his chin and spoke.
"That's not the case."
Ed explained with a smile:
"You two have only recently joined the Second Holy See and are unfamiliar with the rules here—"
Seeing the puzzled looks on Nuowa and Liya's faces, Ed knew he had to make them understand the situation of the Second Holy See:
"In the Second Holy See, we generally follow the principle of duels between equals, that is—our High Tier members fight against the opponent's High Tier, our Middle Tier members fight against the opponent's Middle Tier members, and so on."
Hearing Ed's explanation, Nuowa asked in confusion:
"Would the enemy agree to that?"
"Of course not, but that's their business, and we must make the necessary arrangements."
Ed said in a relaxed tone:
" The Soul Returner are such a group of beings:"
"They can accept crushing enemies weaker than themselves, fight to the death with enemies of similar strength, and even accept and adapt to the meat grinder battlefield where they challenge enemies of higher levels."
"And the only thing they care about is--"
Nuowa listened intently. As the future emperor promised by Ed, Nuowa, who had already agreed to cooperate, had recently begun to learn from Mr. Son of God's advanced experience.
In any case, the plans of the Son of God are never as easily messed up by unknown variables as they are for me.
Moreover, those Soul Returner their original state will undoubtedly be helpful to one's future, and one must learn to get along with them better.
Seeing his serious expression, Ed smiled and said:
"I've said these words to Duma before, and I remember you know him."
Those Soul Returner do not care about death, do not care about failure, and do not care about starting over countless times.
"The only thing they care about is participation."
Seeing Nuowa's thoughtful expression, Ed continued to explain:
"It's all about participation. They can lose, they can die, they can even stand by and watch, but we must bring them along, let them experience the fun, and make them willing to continue to give their lives in the fight."
"This is the secret to getting along with the Soul Returner: no matter how weak or vulnerable they may be, involve them and let them enjoy the process."
"Just like you did unintentionally during your campaign in the Great Labyrinth City."
I see...
Nuowa thought to himself that he had encountered similar groups of people before.
Before the Demonic Tide, when he was roaming the underground streets of Norse Port, he had seen many people and many things.
Many of the guys living there live only for today and have no idea what the future holds.
For these kinds of people, as long as they are given enough money, they would agree to assassinate the emperor without hesitation (of course, whether they can succeed is another matter).
Nuowa felt that the Soul Returner were similar to those who licked blood from the edge of a knife, except that to hire them, the latter needed money, while the former needed... fun.
"Do you think they'd fight for me if I told them all my best jokes?"
Nuowa asked in a low voice to Liya, who was guarding him.
"You can tell them how you made all the dockworkers in Nors Port have diarrhea for three days straight."
"Oh, this..."
"Or is it a story where the wrong proportions of ingredients were mixed during treatment, causing the recovery medicine to turn into an aphrodisiac?"
"That's not a good idea..."
"Or is it a story about hyping up the pure air of Fairy Mountain, packaging it in cans, and selling it at a high price?"
"But the air on Elf Mountain does indeed have a fragrance."
That's because the Fairy Botanical Garden is nearby.
"Oh, I see..."
Nuowa looked as if he had just realized something.
"It's been over a hundred years, and I only just found out!"
Seeing the guards beside him turn their heads away, Nuowa, who had already gained some understanding of the Soul Returner, looked towards the city wall again.
Everyone understands the logic, but Ed has already deployed a plant dragon, while Sailesi hasn't shown up. So what exactly is his purpose in making this move?
This is quite different from the "soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals" tactic mentioned earlier.
Unless... this is a tool dragon?
With this in mind, Nuowa looked up at the city wall.
"Monster! There's a monster!"
One of the Holy Crusaders suddenly started shouting, clearly having lost his composure.
The Soul Returner rebels below are hardly human, but at least they still look somewhat human.
Why is there a huge green monster in the sky now?
The Stained Ones priest beside him grabbed his shoulder:
"What monster? You ignorant fool!"
"This is a dragon, a genuine dragon!"
After a brief silence, the Holy Crusaders squad leader, who had been grabbed by the Stained Ones, asked in a trembling voice:
"So, isn't that even more terrifying?"