Chapter 1 The Turmoil Begins

Hordies was suspended silently beside the crystal mine, facing the drastically changed Holy Mountain from afar. The earth-shattering upheaval had subsided, but the true chaos and turmoil had just begun. The Knights and Warg Riders, who had successfully withdrawn from the Holy Mountain's caves, returned to their main base in Hordies under the leadership of Ofra, and successfully reunited with the generals and bishops who remained here. However, these leaders of various parties were embroiled in disputes over the actions to be taken next.

Ofra's armor had not yet been removed; she, Uruk, and several generals even bore traces of blood from their previous battles with monsters. The female marshal sat at the head of the long conference table like a killing god,镇着 the atmosphere of the scene, while the position beside her, which should have belonged to the Pope, was now empty.

"It has been confirmed that the Pope has died a martyr," Archbishop Aubin said, looking at the empty seat beside Ofra. His rune-covered face did not reveal much emotion, but a hint of stiffness and gravity could be heard in his voice. "Even the Pope could not have survived an explosion of that scale, and the Pope's spiritual aura has not been sensed since."

The door of the council hall was pushed open, and a tall figure in a robe flashed in. It was an archbishop. He had just finished comforting the ordinary soldiers and believers in the floating city with other monks, and now he seemed to be carrying the clamor and chaos from outside the council hall: "The situation outside is a bit chaotic. The scene of the Pope's martyrdom has had a great impact on some believers, and after the Pope's martyrdom, the evil god escaped from this place unscathed. We must first find a way to explain this."

"What about the goddess's revelation?" Ofra turned her head to look at the silent, bearded ascetic on one side of the table. Since the Pope's martyrdom, this devout believer had been in a contemplative state of communicating with the goddess, using the special mental techniques of an ascetic to restore the connection with the goddess. She hoped that his long prayer would have some effect.

The bearded man slightly lifted his eyelids: "The goddess's voice is vague, but it can be confirmed that His Holiness the Pope had a long conversation with the goddess before his martyrdom, and his actions should also be the will of the goddess."

Archbishop Aubin nodded immediately: "Good, the preliminary explanation will start from this aspect..."

"The church's explanation is a matter for later. The more pressing issue now is how to explain it to the king," Prince Havermann suddenly interjected. His forehead was still shiny with fine sweat, but this time he didn't bother to wipe it. "The king needs to know if the kingdom is still safe. That black thing ran away, and it ran away unscathed. You can explain that the goddess's pressure caused the evil god to escape—but this can only be used to appease the ordinary people. The king needs a clearer answer: will that thing come back? If it comes back, how will we deal with it?"

Prince Havermann's questions were sharp, which was very different from his usual amiable and smiling old good guy image, but this was his true style in this position. As the prince's voice fell, Uruk also spoke: "We are also in a lot of chaos. The collapse of the Holy Mountain has had a great impact on the tribal state, and we also have to explain the problem of the evil god hidden in the Holy Mountain. Therefore, for a period of time, the tribal state will withdraw some of the mercenaries in Holleta."

Due to racial talent and cultural factors, the werewolf tribal state usually exports excellent soldiers and commanders as an important economic lifeline. Their mercenaries can be seen everywhere in the southern continent. The tribal state and Holleta have been on good terms for many years. When Gaddon III raised his army, he even had a group of loyal werewolf warriors around him. Therefore, there are also a large number of werewolf foreign legions in the current Holleta regular army, and some of them even hold formal positions.

Ofra frowned: "This will have a great impact on Holleta, and it does not conform to the original agreement."

"We will not tear up the agreement, but this is a special situation," Uruk said with a straight face, his tone very serious. "We will only withdraw some soldiers to solve our own domestic shortage of manpower first. After the collapse of the main peak, some towns closer to it have already been affected, and other places are also at risk of being affected by avalanches and aftershocks."

Uruk finally glanced at Ofra, but didn't say half a sentence: Anyway, Holleta is a big family with a big business, and it doesn't lack this manpower, right?

After Uruk finished speaking, the other bishops and generals also spoke about the current and upcoming chaotic situations. Some talked about the issue of military morale, some talked about religious issues, some talked about diplomatic issues, and some mentioned whether to quickly revise the textbooks after the collapse of the Holy Mountain, because the highest peak in the Southern Continent was about to be re-measured... The last one mentioned the education issue. Ofra pressed her forehead with her hand in a headache, and didn't want to get involved in this situation at all. She realized that it was completely without thinking that she rashly gathered these people together for a meeting. She only wanted to solve all the problems as soon as possible, but forgot that the more people there were, the more serious the situation would be.

"Tsk... I'm really not suitable for dealing with this kind of thing..." The female marshal was quite troubled, "It wasn't this chaotic when every king died..."

The cold sweat on Prince Havermann's forehead next to her really came down this time, and he couldn't wipe it off fast enough: "This... Your Excellency Marshal, it's not appropriate to say this at this time..."

"I know," Ofra sighed, suddenly raised her head and knocked hard on the table, "Quiet!"

Perhaps the conference hall was too big, and her first knock on the table didn't have much effect. Several ministers in the distance were still discussing enthusiastically with the generals. When Ofra saw this situation, she picked up her long sword and slammed it hard on the table with the scabbard: "I said, you be quie..."

Before she could finish speaking, she heard a crash, and the entire table was shattered to pieces.

Two ministers who were arguing about a problem across the table fell to the ground on the spot: they were so engrossed in their argument that they had basically climbed onto the table.

Ofra looked at the situation blankly, a little embarrassed: "The table's quality wasn't very good?"

The old werewolf Elson rolled his eyes: "Stop making excuses, how many tables have you smashed?"

"Okay, let's do it this way," Ofra waved her hand indifferently, "Without this obstructive thing, it's just right to prevent you from continuing to lie on it while drinking tea and arguing. Do I need to remind you? This place is Hordies! It is the most powerful floating city created by the kingdom. Even if you are just a small soldier who can stay here, you are the most elite in the entire kingdom, but so many elites are so chaotic when they encounter this little thing? Are you trying to say that you are not qualified to board this floating city?"

As soon as the level of the kingdom's aunts spoke, everyone immediately shut up. Ofra nodded with satisfaction: "It would have been better if it had been like this earlier. Put everything on the table and solve it one by one. Give way where you should give way, and execute what you should execute. I don't care if any of you here will complain about what losses you have suffered. No matter how great the losses are, you should also think about that black fortress before. As long as it comes again, the things you value will be worthless."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Uruk and Archbishop Aubin: "Sorry, I may have overstepped my authority by saying this. I can't control the affairs of the church and other countries, but I still want to remind you that in the eyes of that black fortress, it doesn't care which religion or country you are from."

Speaking of that "black fortress" that had flown to who knows where, Archbishop Aubin's face immediately became serious: "The key to the problem is still that weapon from the evil god. Its power is obviously above mortals, and even His Holiness the Pope's sacrifice failed to truly destroy it—it only expelled it. If it makes a comeback, then all our efforts will be in vain."

"Didn't you say that those foreigners went to deal with this matter?" Prince Havermann looked at Ofra, "Why haven't they heard back yet?"

"This..." Ofra didn't know how to explain it either, "There should be a reply soon. They should be able to succeed. After all, the eldest son was also solved by them."

Ofra didn't have much confidence when she said this. After all, she still had a half-understanding of the power and background of Hao Ren and his party, and she didn't know where that "black fortress" came from. She could only rely on the sense of trust accumulated from the previous incidents being resolved to believe that the foreigners had the ability to destroy that thing. At this time, she was thinking about whether she should call Becky over. That muddleheaded mercenary had spent the longest time with the foreigners and knew their abilities better than the bearded man. However, just as she couldn't help but want to ask Becky about this matter, a white light suddenly lit up in the conference hall.

"You don't have to worry about the black spaceship anymore," Hao Ren led a large group of people out of the white light, "Now there's something bigger to tell you."