"Report!"
One of the Wing Army stumbled and flew into the main hall of the Crystal Cluster Palace, falling and sliding forward for more than ten meters before coming to a stop.
"Explain."
Seeing the messenger's discomposure, [Crown] was somewhat annoyed, but also felt a pang of sadness, as she had witnessed similar incidents many times in the past two days.
The messenger knelt on one knee and said in a somewhat panicked tone:
"[Crown] Your Excellency, the vanguard of the rebel army is about to reach the city. What should we do? Please advise..."
"How is that possible?!"
[Crown] tilted his head slightly, slowly rose, and paced back and forth angrily:
"At the speed of those soldiers, it would take them at least three days to reach Sand Capital, and there should still be more than half a day left!"
Even if the Skeleton Man don't need to sleep, they still need time to rest; otherwise, a rash attack would be suicide.
Even the vanguard shouldn't be this far behind the main force!
These words shouldn't have been spoken to a lowly soldier, but [Crown] simply needed someone to listen to his analysis at that moment.
"Yes... you're right."
The Wing Army said cautiously:
"The enemy's situation was exactly as you predicted, at least until nightfall; two days of marching had exhausted the rebels."
How could this be?
[Crown] Puzzled --
As per his orders, the rebels' every move was under the surveillance of the Wing Army scouts, and there were no problems with the reports from hours earlier.
That's why he was so confused and lost his composure at this sudden situation.
"Based on our observations, this forced march was led by human mercenaries."
The scout from the Wing Army said earnestly:
"After nightfall, they found a flat area and initiated a strange ritual that included sacrifice (to summon the Resurrection Tree). They actually gained power from it and became refreshed (actually, they rotated a group of players). Finally, they entered a kind of berserk state (purely due to excitement) and then led a group of soldiers on a forced march."
"Because they have anti-air capabilities (seed cannons), we can't see too many details, but that's roughly it."
[Crown] fell silent upon hearing this.
Colin was undoubtedly the guy who had written a letter months ago proposing the recruitment of Soul Returners mercenaries.
However, he never mentioned these mysterious rituals and methods in any of his reports.
Was it that he hadn't seen it either, or...?
Surely he couldn't have been plotting a rebellion since then?
He was just a castle guard knight back then!
[Crown] immediately thought of another question and asked the Wing Army soldiers:
"Have any Wing Army been attacked by those human mercenaries?"
"Have."
Was it a wound or a shot down?
"Yes, they all are."
"What happened to those mercenaries who hit the Wing Army?"
Wing Army paused for a moment, then replied somewhat uncertainly:
"I haven't seen any changes. What consequences are you referring to...?"
"Is he/she dead?"
"No."
Are you sure?
"I'm certain that the vanguard moved very quickly, leaving no corpses of any other soldiers besides those of the Wing Army in their wake."
Damn it!
[Crown] instantly flew into a rage, frightening the Wing Army into kneeling down once more.
He couldn't understand it. The five councilors who possessed the Holy Remains had jointly established a set of restrictions to control the Soul Returner mercenaries.
In other words, every Soul Returner who officially joins the Alliance will have a Crystal Cluster between their eyebrows. This thing can be used to identify their identity and prevent accidental injury, and it can also restrain human mercenaries from attacking the Skeleton Man, otherwise the restriction will be triggered and they will die.
But it's now clear that the restrictions set up previously have become ineffective.
Why is this happening?
Could it be because of the deaths of [Divine Wings] and [Whale Tail]?
No, that's not how it works.
Even if the senator dies, as long as the Holy Remains exist, the restriction can be maintained...
[The Crown] suddenly understood.
The problem lies with the "Whale Tail," not with the senators, but with the Holy Remains.
During the battle in the Demon Realm, in order to Seizure Rosalind's Authority, [Divine Wings] forcibly used the "Whale Tail" Holy Remains as raw materials to complete the attachment of the second Authority.
Since then, because the nature of the "Holy Remains" has changed, the restriction has actually begun to fail.
There had never been a previous practice of attaching Authority to Holy Remains, so even [The Crown] was not entirely aware of it.
This change may be instantaneous or it may be gradual, but in any case, for the Skeleton Alliance, they have lost the last chain that bound the Soul Returner mercenaries.
In other words, those rebellious mercenaries may not yet realize that they have broken free of their restraints and can do whatever they want to the Skeleton Man of the Skeleton Alliance.
But then I thought, how could they dare to participate in a rebellion without even knowing about it?
Even if attacking the Skeleton Man might kill them, they would still rebel.
A bunch of lunatics!
[Crown] feels that the pressure levels inside his skeletal body are a bit too high.
He looked at the trembling Wing Army and finally gave the order:
"Issue the order: All commanders, immediately assemble and proceed to the main square. Councilor [Thousand Faces] will coordinate and arrange the overall deployment for this siege battle."
"Yes!"
Wing Army immediately obeyed and withdrew, while [Crown] turned and walked towards the elevator platform.
It's time to see the results of [Thousand Faces]'s work.
The platform sent the [Crown] into a complex underground network, and he quickly arrived at the space that resembled a cemetery.
This place doesn't resemble a cemetery anymore; after all, the skeletons in a cemetery should normally be lying down, not standing up.
Looking around, [Crown] saw that [Thousand Faces] was surrounded by unfinished Skeleton Man that were in the process of being enhanced and tested.
Behind him, there seemed to be many more Skeleton Man had already completed all the procedures.
You've made so much in just two days?
[Crown] used Psionic Energy to fly into the air and look down. He saw that the processed Skeleton Man were standing in rectangular rows. Each large rectangle represented one hundred Middle Tier Skeleton Man (corresponding to player level 50).
At this moment, [the Crown] is like Al Smith in a classic movie who has wandered into a robot factory, surrounded by Skeleton Man that look and move exactly the same.
[Crown] doesn't know what the uncanny valley effect is.
The Crown feels a bit creepy.
How's your work going?
He landed beside [Thousand Faces] and asked.
[Thousand Faces] turned to look at [the Crown].
The next instant, nineteen out of the twenty Skeleton Man around him who were adjusting their movements perfectly replicated his actions, exactly the same, without any difference.
There was only one Skeleton Man, and its neck rotation angle was slightly off, and the delay was also a little too long.