Declaration of War

The Speaker of Parliament rubbed his forehead, tearing his gaze away from the scrolls on his desk. He was, after all, quite old, and the days of hard work were taking their toll. However, the current situation and circumstances left the old man with no time to rest. A series of recent events within the Five-Nation Alliance had kept him extremely busy. Ever since the attack on the Five-Nation Alliance envoys, the Speaker had sensed that the situation on the continent was beginning to change.

The complete annihilation of the second-in-command of the Five-Nation Alliance, merely for the sake of stabilizing the resulting turmoil and its aftermath, was enough to give the leaders of the five nations a major headache. Just days earlier, a dramatic upheaval had also occurred within Lalia. The Grand Duke of Lalia was overthrown by his own son, killed, and hanged from the city walls. Simultaneously, the new Grand Duke, who succeeded his father, exhibited unsettling tendencies. He actually ordered the expulsion of the Kudel army from the territory at all costs. While this rhetoric seemed similar to his father's, the large-scale troop and resource mobilization clearly indicated that this new Grand Duke was not merely paying lip service.

Kudel, having swallowed the bitter pill, was not having an easy time either. After issuing the order, the new Grand Duke personally led his troops to attack Kudel's camp, annihilating Kudel's frontline forces in one fell swoop. This was no longer just a matter of friction between two countries; it had become a real war!

Does this new Grand Duke truly fear the potential collapse of the Five-Nation Alliance? Does he not realize that doing so would lead to a joint attack from the other four nations?

Kudel was caught in a dilemma, and the situation in Dideyasi was also suspicious. Their world-renowned Holy Princess had publicly accused the Temple Knights of the heinous act of rape. This news even surpassed the already de facto war between Lalia and Kudel, becoming the talk of the entire continent. The Temple, of course, refused to admit to such accusations, but Dideyasi had all the witnesses and evidence. Princess Catherine even produced the advanced memory spell "God's Memory" to demonstrate everything she had experienced. With the facts completely clear, the entire nation of Dideyasi was shocked. Under the dual pressure of the people and the royal family, Dideyasi had no choice but to demand an explanation from the Temple —although, judging from the Temple's appearance, they didn't intend to give one.

This series of unusual events has made the Speaker of Parliament wary. Currently, three of the Five-Nation Alliance are in chaos and turmoil, leaving only his own Vila Federation and his ally, the Xialuo Kingdom, relatively calm. However, looking at this intelligence, the Speaker of Parliament finds it hard to believe that these are merely coincidences.

Meanwhile, the conflict between the Mages' Association and the Temple suddenly escalated. The Mages' Association, which had always been subservient to the Five-Nation Alliance and the Temple, seemed to have changed. In recent days, news of battles between mages and Templar Knights had been constantly arriving from various cities. In some cases, the Templar Knights had massacred the mage towers, while in others, the mages had killed all the Templar Knights and then sealed the towers shut. This situation had left the Council Speaker both anxious and angry. Although he had repeatedly sent messages to the Mages' Association President, demanding that he stop the current chaos, the Mages' Association seemed to have no intention of responding to the Five-Nation Alliance's orders. The Temple, on the other hand, had once again loudly proclaimed its argument that mages were synonymous with evil, and had dispatched the majority of its Paladin Order to attack the mage towers in various cities.

What's going on?

The council speaker felt a throbbing headache. Although he had inquired with the Temple, the Temple remained secretive and unwilling to reveal much, which made the council speaker increasingly uneasy. The communication system of the Five-Nation Alliance was becoming increasingly chaotic, and he couldn't directly issue instructions in the name of the central leader— Lalia wouldn't listen. As for Dideyasi, if he didn't handle things well, it might incite public anger, and they might even demand that Dideyasi withdraw from the Five-Nation Alliance.

The Speaker of Parliament is certain that there is a huge conspiracy involved.

But at this moment, he had no idea who the mastermind behind the conspiracy was. To be able to do so many things at the same time and succeed— the Temple and the Mages' Association were not easy to deal with. Those small peripheral countries did not have the ability to do this; although they had the motive, they lacked the necessary strength.

So, who could it be?

Just as the Speaker of Parliament closed his eyes in deep thought, a pleasant and melodious voice rang out.

"Hello, Your Excellency Speaker of the Vila Federation Council."

Upon hearing the voice, the council chairman hurriedly opened his eyes. He looked forward in surprise and saw that where there had been no one before, a beautiful blonde girl had appeared. Her beauty even amazed the council chairman, but he quickly composed himself and warily observed the young woman before him. His study was the most heavily guarded place; logically, no one should be able to appear there without being alerted, yet this girl had appeared. Judging from her attire and the excessively large staff in her hand, the girl before him was likely a mage.

"Who are you?"

Thinking of this, the Speaker's heart sank slightly. He shifted his posture, placing his hands on the armrests, and calmly asked the question.

How did you get here?

"That's not important."

The girl gently shook her staff and revealed a gentle smile.

"Your Excellency Speaker of the Vila Federation Council, I have come to deliver our country's declaration of war."

"A declaration of war? What country are you from?"

Upon hearing this, the Speaker of Parliament was even more astonished. A nation? A declaration of war? Are you kidding me? Is it a declaration of war against the Vila Federation? Or against the Five-Nation Alliance?

"Well then—please allow me to introduce myself."

As she spoke, the girl gave a slight bow. Then she raised her head, extended her right hand, and summoned a scroll that was faintly glowing out of thin air.

"It's an honor to meet you. I am Nia, the envoy of the Magic Empire, Seven Ring Spirit Envoys, the 'Eternal Library'. On behalf of the supreme ruler of my country, His Majesty the Arcane Mage Luoxia Cathe Ellan, I hereby deliver a declaration of war to the Five-Nation Alliance."

"Magic Empire?!"

Hearing this name reach the ears of the President of the Vila Federation Council was like a bolt from the blue. He stared blankly at the girl before him, almost at a loss for words.

"Therefore, from this day forward, our Magic Empire will enter into a hostile relationship with the Five-Nation Alliance —although, theoretically speaking, we have always been hostile."

Nia placed the scroll on the table, smiled, and took two steps back. A flash of light appeared, and her figure vanished instantly.

"Wait a minute! The Magic Empire..."

The Speaker of the Council did not finish speaking, because Nia had obviously already left. Just then, the guards who rushed into the room after hearing the loud noise stared in astonishment at the Speaker of the Federation Council's unusually terrified expression. His mouth was wide open, and he was panting heavily. He stared at the scroll on the table that was emitting a faint light, hesitated for a long time, and then tremblingly stretched out his right hand.

"Speaker of the Council, what happened...?"

"Get out! All of you get out!!"

The guards, unaware of the situation, asked questions, but were quickly ushered out by the council speaker.

After the guards left, the Speaker of the Council took a deep breath. He then tried to remain calm and reached out again to grasp the scroll, which he then slowly opened. Upon seeing its contents, a bitter smile appeared on the Speaker's face.

"Although it's called a declaration of war, the characters... are completely illegible..."

At this point, the Speaker slumped weakly into his chair. He solemnly put away the declaration of war again and pressed the bell on the table. Soon, the guards came in again. They looked at the Speaker with fear and trepidation, clearly worried about being punished. But the Speaker in the present moment had no intention of causing them any trouble.

"Summon the Federation Council! Whatever those gentlemen are doing, I want them all to get to the parliament hall right now!!!"

Not long after, the members of the Federation Council hastily gathered in the luxurious council hall. Faced with the Speaker's sudden summons, most of the council members were at a loss. After all, everything in the Vila Federation was going smoothly at the moment. Although they knew that two of the Five-Nation Alliance had encountered major problems, they thought that since the emperor was far away, it was someone else's business and shouldn't concern them.

However, although everyone was curious and doubtful, they wisely kept quiet, because they were surprised to find that the usually calm and collected old council speaker was now as pale as paper. Those who did not know him well might have thought the end of the world had come.

But those who know him well would still think it's the end of the world if they saw it.

"You've all arrived? Very good."

Seeing that no one was absent, the old councilor finally relaxed a little. He forced a smile and sat down in his seat. He then closed his eyes, while the councilors held their breath, waiting for the councilor to speak.

Finally, the Speaker of Parliament seemed to have made up his mind. He opened his eyes and spoke.

"Just now, I received a declaration of war against our Five-Nation Alliance from an envoy's messenger."

The Speaker's voice wasn't loud, but it immediately caused a stir in the parliament hall. The mere words declaring war on the Five-Nation Alliance were enough to send shivers down everyone's spines. The Five-Nation Alliance controlled the vast majority of the continent, with a total population exceeding two hundred million. Their army numbered in the tens of millions. It could be said that, across the entire continent, no military force could compare to the Five-Nation Alliance. And now, a nation dared to declare war on the Five-Nation Alliance?

Who is the other party?

Although no one asked aloud, their eyes made it very clear. Under everyone's gaze, the old council speaker slowly gave the answer.

"The other party claims to be... an envoy from the Magic Empire."

These words caused a huge stir, sparking heated discussions among the crowd.

"Magic Empire? How is that possible?! Wasn't the Magic Empire already destroyed?"

"Yes, no matter what, the Magic Empire has already perished; there's no way they could ever reappear in this world!"

"Speaker of the Council, do you have evidence to prove that this is indeed information from the Magic Empire?"

I have no evidence.

In response to the questions from the crowd, the Speaker of the Council quickly gave a reply, and then briefly explained the circumstances of his meeting with Nia.

"The other party claims to be an envoy from the Magic Empire, the Eternal Library of the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys... To be honest, I'm not familiar with the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys, but rumors suggest they are incredibly powerful weapons, and the one standing before me is clearly human, not some other race. She claims to be delivering a declaration of war in the name of the Arcane Mage Luoxia Cathe Ellan. I think this Arcane Mage... we all know very well that in legend, he is the most terrifying demon lord, and the final enemy faced by the five heroes."

"But, Your Excellency, the Five Heroes must have killed him completely at that time."

One of the councilors asked, puzzled. After all, the legends and history books of the Five-Nation Alliance now firmly state the story of the Five Heroes killing the Arcane Mage. After a thousand years, almost no one doubts these rumors anymore.

This foolish question received a curt response from the council speaker, and the questioner realized his own folly: the era of the Five Heroes hadn't even begun; how could the council speaker possibly be certain whether they had truly killed the Arcane Mage back then?

"Speaker of Parliament, I have something to say."

Just then, the collector, who had been sitting silently to the side, spoke up, and the council speaker nodded in agreement to his request to speak.

"Then, if I may be so bold as to ask, did that young woman have blonde hair, be exceptionally beautiful, and carry a staff made of three floating crystals?"

"... That's true."

Nodding slightly, the council speaker also looked at the librarian with surprise. He was the official in charge of all the books in the Federation and a scholar with considerable historical knowledge. Therefore, the council speaker had invited him this time with the mindset of having nothing better to do, since there were quite a few books in the collection that recorded the history of the Magic Empire, and he thought he could get some help from him. However, he did not expect that the librarian could guess the girl's appearance without even looking at her.

Upon seeing the Speaker of Parliament nod, the Archives Officer's expression turned extremely grim. He hesitated for a moment before finally gritting his teeth and speaking.

"Then... it's almost certain that the one you met was indeed the Eternal Library, one of the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys."

"But I clearly saw a human. According to the legends, the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys should be weapons, right?"

The Speaker of Parliament was clearly unaware of this.

"It's precisely because we're human that we have problems."

The collector's lips were pale and trembling slightly.

"According to historical records, the Magic Empire once possessed a powerful weapon-making technology they called Weapon Spirit Transformation. This meant they could imbue weapons with life and transform them into human form."

"What did you say?"

Hearing this, everyone was shocked. They weren't fools; with a little thought, they could realize the military value of such a thing.

"The Seven Ring Spirit Envoys are the most outstanding representative of this group. In the Federation Library's collection, there was once a book that described the human form of the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys in great detail. This Eternal Library is the most outstanding among the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys and the closest assistant to that terrifying sorcerer. Her defining features are her unparalleled beauty, her sun-kissed blonde hair, and a staff composed of three floating crystals."

"So, what is its weapon form?"

The Speaker of Parliament asked impatiently, but the collector shook his head.

"According to records, the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys have always appeared in human form and rarely transform into weapon form. Moreover, given that this is their most secret weapon, I doubt they would leave any records or clues so easily..."

"However, we cannot be certain at this time that this is definitely the Magic Empire!"

Another member of parliament, clearly dissatisfied with the collector's statement that boosted the morale of others while diminishing their own, immediately spoke out in rebuttal.

"Moreover, the Magic Empire has long since perished, and we are now standing on its soil. If this is a declaration of war from the Magic Empire, then where are they? In those remote, small countries? If there were such signs, we couldn't possibly have failed to notice them! Furthermore, where are the soldiers? Putting everything else aside, where will the soldiers come from? Food, supplies, and equipment—all of these require massive supplies to maintain an army! Even if mages possess great power, what can they accomplish? We destroyed the Magic Empire a thousand years ago, and now we can certainly do it again!!"

This senator's words clearly resonated with the public, as this was indeed a very real issue; war is fought by people. Magic Empire —the name sounded terrifying, but what about now? They didn't even know where the other side was. With the intelligence network of the Five-Nation Alliance, if such a Magic Empire existed, it was impossible for them to remain completely unaware of its movements. Moreover, the Five-Nation Alliance had always maintained very strict control over magical items; under these circumstances, establishing a mage kingdom was extremely difficult.

Of course, this statement isn't entirely without merit. However, considering the unusual phenomena currently occurring on the continent, some councilors still harbor doubts. After all, the Magic Empire is far too distant for them; their understanding of the Magic Empire exists only in legends. Although it may seem that way now, who knows what those mages might do? Perhaps they could conjure food out of thin air with a wave of their hand?

Just as the council hall was in an uproar, the messenger entered. He hurried nervously to the speaker, handed him the letter, and then immediately withdrew. The speaker immediately opened the envelope, examined its contents, and then coughed loudly, interrupting the debate.

"It seems we're not the only ones who received the declaration of war."

With a slightly weary smile, the Speaker of Parliament showed everyone the urgent letter in his hand.

As the letter stated, Xialuo, Kudel, and Dideyasi also received the same declaration of war, delivered by the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys —however, their actions differed greatly from Nia's. Due to the tense relationship with Lalia, Kudel's palace was heavily guarded, which greatly displeased Kalin. So, she didn't even enter the palace, shooting an arrow directly at the king's feet, thus completing her mission. Xialuo, on the other hand, was terrified, as Anna had almost wiped out all the guards who tried to stop her before delivering the declaration of war to the king, who was utterly terrified, and then turned and left. Dideyasi, relatively calm, was because their declaration of war was delivered by Saint Catherine, without direct contact with the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys.

As for Lalia, perhaps they received it, perhaps they didn't. In any case, Lalia is clearly unwilling to coexist peacefully with the other four countries. Even if they received the declaration of war, they probably won't negotiate with _Tu_Shu.

Regardless of how the three kingdoms received the declaration of war, it is clear that they immediately took countermeasures and are probably currently holding meetings and discussions.

"Speaker of the Council, I believe this is merely a pointless psychological warfare tactic. Whoever they are, they simply want to create panic! We shouldn't be so tense and fall for the tricks of these petty villains!"

Another member of parliament raised objections, but this time, the majority did not support his opinion.

I don't think so.

Soon, some people voiced their objections.

"Judging from the information we received regarding the declaration of war, regardless of the country, the other side has almost certainly gained the ability to directly reach the highest commander. The Eternal Library was able to appear in the Speaker of the Council's study without being detected by anyone, not to mention that the envoys from the Xialuo Kingdom almost wiped out all the guards. With their strength, if they wanted to create panic, they wouldn't need to resort to such methods. Wouldn't killing the Speaker of the Council and the leaders of the other countries have created far more chaos? But judging from their current actions, it's clear they've only come to deliver a declaration of war, so... I think they probably aren't just trying to intimidate us."

"Does that mean... they're confident enough to destroy the Five-Nation Alliance?"

Upon hearing this, the Speaker's expression darkened.

The council hall was silent; no one could offer a suitable explanation. After all, the Magic Empire was far too distant a place for them.

Finally, the speaker of parliament sighed.

"In any case, it's always better to be cautious. From now on, the Federation Border Forces will be on high alert and must report any unusual activity to us immediately. As for other issues... we'll have to discuss that later."