178 King of Mist (2)

Even if Ava State decided on surrendering to the empire, they wouldn’t carry out any self-crippling. After all, the conditions one could obtain from surrendering depended largely on the bargaining chip in the surrenderer’s hand. The reason why the empire could offer such generous conditions was that the Ava State’s armed forces weren’t easy to deal with.

However, Morton only smiled bitterly and said, “I received information that Ward had secretly invited an important figure in the Holy Spirits Church. He hopes to complete a high-profile baptism ritual before the empire steps foot and bring Isu City under the Church’s protection.”

The moment she heard this, Remides’s eyes flickered with cold killing intent.

“Where did this information come from?” she asked without changing her tone.

With Remides’s understanding of Ward Windsong, although he was extremely ambitious and always taught himself as smart, he was never a fool. It was very unlikely for him to do such a foolish thing at this juncture.

“A few days ago, a warship left Swan Port alone. It carried brass from the Eighth Order and is headed for us. Coincidentally, a few days ago, the communication spells in Isu City were destroyed because of a magic overload. The stored coordinates can’t be retrieved,” Morton replied.

“These two things can also be completely unrelated… In other words, this is only your guess?”

“I trust my intuition,” the other party immediately said.

Remides looked at the distant mist again when she heard that. After a long time, she said, “Not long ago, the spirit in the mist told me that it sensed the aura of a dragon.”

“That’s impossible,” Morton said almost subconsciously.

“No dragon leaves the Dragon Bone Islands anymore. Even magic chanters who have honed their summoning spells to the Divine Realm can’t sign a contract with dragons to summon them.”

“But there’s still another way to bypass the restrictions and summon a dragon, right?” Remides said.

Upon hearing her words, Morton instantly looked enlightened.

“Divine Realm Illusion spell, True Shadow,” he said.

Remides nodded and said, “When the Astral Laws were formulated, all Divine Realm spells were handed over to the various factions of the Empire for preservation as a guarantee to maintain their future status. As for the spell named True Shadow, it seems to be…”

“The embryonic form of the Eighth Order, the Hermit Church.” Morton finished her sentence.

“Other than the Tacma Church ascetics and the Eighth Order brass, I don’t think anyone in this world knows how to use that spell. Since you sensed a dragon, it can minimally prove that a Divine Realm brass from the Church is on their way here.”

As Morton spoke, he stared into Remides’s eyes and asked, “What should we do?”

“Bring that person over,” Remides replied coldly.

However, Morton shook his head and said, “No, Lady Shadowmoon, I’m not asking what to do with the brass of the Holy Spirits Church.”

“Bring that person over as well as…”

As Remides spoke, she slowly closed her eyes before immediately opening them.

“Isu City, Pine City, and Clockwork City will be under military law for a week. During this period, the impeachment motion regarding the governor will be suspended. Everything will be discussed after Ward Windsong and the upper echelons of the Holy Spirits Church are brought over… This won’t be an order that’s difficult to carry out for you, right?”

Morton Bloodblade immediately crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave a Fire Phoenix bow. Then, he replied in an extremely serious tone, “This is my honor. The warriors of Phoenix Flame City will always be your Sharp Blade, Your Majesty.”

The Fire Phoenix bow was also known as Sharp Blade, and called her “Your Majesty.”

These were all customs from before Ava State’s free city-state era when the High Elves were ruled by the King of Mist as a whole.

Under normal circumstances, Remides definitely wouldn’t accept these forms of address and etiquette.

However, she was tired now and didn’t have as much energy and patience as before. She constantly balanced the various factions at the Mooncycle Conference and obtained the support of most people.

Now, even though the Empire’s threat was imminent, there were still factions in the Ava State, turning them into a state of disunity.

In fact, after failing to obtain the Tacma Church’s support, Remides was mentally prepared. If she wanted to win, or at the very least, not lose so badly, she had to firmly hold power over the entire Ava State in her hands.

Since they had labeled her the King of Mist and hoped to use this to bring her down, she would do as they wished and truly become a King of Mist.

Watching Morton Bloodblade leave, Remides felt slightly relieved.

As long as she obtained his support and loyalty, the situation in Ava State would be completely under her control—at least before the Empire’s invasion ended.

After all, in all of Ava State, only the city of mages—Moonlaw City—and the city of warriors—Phoenix Fire City—could play a key role on the battlefield.

The High Elves divided their classes according to their last names. This was a little similar to a caste system, but it was more complicated—this was because what determined one’s last name wasn’t bloodline, but the blessing inheritance a newborn obtained during the Holy Fire blessing ritual. There were a total of more than 70 last names among the High Elves, and every last name represented a class or, according to elven tradition, a path.

A newborn would only be given the last name of the corresponding path after the Holy Fire Priest interpreted the shape of the blessing flame and confirmed his or her future path.

Humans might be able to recruit young adults from farmers and craftsmen for simple training to raise an army, but there was no such thing for High Elves. Unless one chose to become a Ranger and leave Ava State for training without the protection of the Holy Fire, their last name was their mission for life.

From priests to farmers, everyone needed to devote all their energy to their path. Therefore, every High Elf warrior had been the culmination of intense training. They had spent their lives preparing for battle.

Looking at the mist in the distance and imagining the countless warships with Dragon Sword flags that would appear soon, Remides muttered to herself, “But even so, this is probably my last battle.”

The High Elves’ path tradition made the quality of their troops far superior to all the armies known in Currere. However, it also left them with an extremely huge natural flaw—they were always at a disadvantage in terms of numbers.

“But I’ll do my best…”

At this point, she pressed a hand to her heart and smiled bitterly.



After discovering that the other party was only a memory from the past, William was a little curious about how Remides killed him back then.

Even if it was just an illusion, William still had to spend some effort to kill him.

Of course, some of this was because he was also an illusion. However, if the two sides met and he didn’t use special methods, it wouldn’t be a one-sided battle.

At the very least, as an Authority holder, the god Terra chose to imitate was much stronger than the Death Vera chosen by Duke Simon.

Although Remides was a powerhouse at the Divine Realm, her strength wasn’t considered top-notch among the Judges. As she had lost the protection of the Phoenix Holy Fire, many of her talents as a High Elf couldn’t be unleashed normally.

As for Terra Riel, he grasped a powerful instant death skill.

Before William threw out the Black Hole in his hand and minced the other party and the ship into mush, the other party crushed the black-red heart in his hand.

William experienced an Instant Death skill for the first time.