Chapter 98: Chapter 81: The Mountain Stronghold_1
While Duanmu Huai and the others were fighting fiercely on the front lines, General Pastte was not idle either.
As he had previously stated, the fighting groups are responsible for assaulting and breaking the enemy’s core, leaving the other parts to the army to recover. Without their leaders, the scattered troops hidden in the ruins naturally stood no chance against the organized military. Most of Modheim had already been reclaid, and the complete recovery of the city seems to be just around the corner.
However, General Pastte looked discontented, the reason for which was the letter in his hands.
This was the reply that ca with the reinforcents after General Pastte had reported to the Great Crown Prince. In the letter, the Crown Prince first praised General Pastte greatly and urged him to persist until Modheim was fully reclaid. Then, he stated that in order to avoid further troubles, he demanded that General Pastte confiscate all the Dinsion Stones in Modheim and to transport them for storage in Aldorf.
If it had been before, General Pastte wouldn’t have found this order inappropriate, but now… sothing felt odd.
Dinsion Stones are of great importance, and Modheim is far from Aldorf. For safety’s sake, they should have been sealed on the spot.
Why should they be moved back to Aldorf?
Moreover, His Majesty the Emperor emphasized in his letter that this was of paramount importance even implying he’d rather give up Modheim than fail to get the Dinsion Stones to Aldorf. The hidden aning of this made General Pastte feel sowhat uneasy.
As for the Dinsion Stones themselves, General Pastte had seen them. They were indeed stones imbued with a mysterious power. However, his impression of these stones was not good. After all, since coming to Modheim, every ti he saw these Dinsion Stones, they were being used for so evil ritual.
Like the Desecration Ritual the Chaos Believers enacted in the temple, the portal that the Followers of the God of Lust tried to open, and now the Brutal Believers…. umm?
At this thought, a chill ran down General Pastte’s spine as a realization hit him.
Could it really be as he suspected, that His Majesty the Emperor had defected to the God of Trickery? Could he be planning so blasphemous ceremony in Aldorf using these Dinsion Stones?!
In the past, General Pastte wouldn’t have dared imagine such treasonous thoughts, but now, his views were changing.
Especially since in General Pastte’s previous report to the emperor, he had specifically pointed out that the Archbishop of Sigma Church was a follower of the God of Trickery, and urged the emperor to be cautious. But in this latest reply, the Emperor didn’t ntion anything about this Cultist of the Evil God.
In addition, as a commanding officer stationed in the city, General Pastte was aware of so of the current internal affairs of the empire, and knew that the Emperor’s position was not secure. Although he was indeed the Great Crown Prince and should have inherited the throne, his overly eager attitude had led to a lot of dissatisfaction. The previous Three Emperors War seed heated on the surface, but in reality, it was just the three princes and their supporters clashing while most of the lords remained neutral.
Moreover, there were many in Aldorf, like General Pastte, who suspected that the Crown Prince had sothing to do with the Emperor’s demise.
After all, the imperial subjects serve the emperor, and the sudden death of the emperor, especially by assassination during a large expedition, was unthinkable.
Moreover, the Crown Prince’s reaction was too quick. Almost as soon as the news arrived, he declared “a country cannot be without a king for a day” and ascended the throne. It gave people the impression that the Crown Prince had been waiting for this news.
As a result, many high-ranking officials in Aldorf City, although they outwardly supported the Crown Prince, they either disobeyed his orders secretly or found excuses to delay them. It could be said that the Crown Prince’s tenure as Emperor was not secure at all.
So, could he have so thoughts he shouldn’t have?
General Pastte was well aware of this, as he was one of them. In fact, if it wasn’t for the lack of available people for the Emperor, he wouldn’t have been sent here from Aldorf.
Hence, after learning that Duanmu Huai and others had successfully eradicated the Followers of the God of Lust, he imdiately invited Duanmu Huai and the others to discuss a strategy.
“He wants the Dinsion Stones?”
“Yes.”
In response to Duanmu Huai’s question, General Pastte nodded bitterly, realizing that he might be a pawn in this bigger ga. Now in the city, the God of Lust, Brutal God, Plague God and Ratman were all fighting over the Dinsion Stones, and they represented one side too.
But the question is, do they represent the Empire or the God of Trickery?
“This ……”
Upon hearing this, the Combat Nuns and the Witch Hunter also furrowed their brows. They agreed with the idea of sealing the Dinsion Stones on the spot in the monastery, but what did the Emperor want the Dinsion Stones for?
“Did you report the amount? The number of Dinsion Stones we have confiscated is not small.”
Duanmu Huai had previously gone to the slums and had Ogis cut a large Dinsion Stone from the center of the teor pit and brought it back. That Dinsion Stone was three to four ters high and very large. In addition, during the process of eliminating the Ratn and Chaos Believers, they had also confiscated many Dinsion Stones, and the amount of Dinsion Stones fragnts found by the army in the city was also not a small number.
“Of course, His Majesty said that all of them should be transported to Aldorf and kept by the Academy.”
“…………”
Hearing this, both the Combat Nuns and the Witch Hunter seed somber. They’d naturally heard of Aldorf’s Magic Academy, as many of their Empire’s wizards were students there. That, however, did not an that they were not a danger. In fact, as mbers of the clergy, they all held quite the grudge against wizards.
Especially the Witch Hunter – his job title alone suggested that eight out of ten of his targets were wizards. To let this mad bunch guard the Dinsion Stone?
Wouldn’t that be the sa as the fox guarding the henhouse?
“It’s simple.”
However, Duanmu Huai seed nonchalant.
“If they want it, then give it to them – only not the real one.”
“Not the real one? Are you suggesting we give them a fake one?”
Hearing this, the Combat Nun questioned, puzzled. The Dinsion Stone wasn’t just so ore but a stone imbued with magic power. It was green in color and even glowed. How could they possibly fake it?
“It’s quite simple. Grind so smaller Dinsion Stones into powder and apply the powder onto stones, then deliver them over.”
Duanmu Huai’s idea was quite straightforward. He was equally skeptical of the Emperor’s actions. Frankly, if Duanmu Huai weren’t currently barred from entering Aldorf, he would have gone straight there with the hamr to judge the Great Crown Prince himself.
Another option would have been to bring the Dinsion Stone to the Royal City and discreetly watch over it there; once the Prince decided to use the Dinsion Stone for sothing, they’d instantly expose him.
But then again… who specified that it had to be the real Dinsion Stone?
We could simply present a counterfeit.
Just like gold necklaces, they all look more or less the sa on the outside, but who could say which was pure gold and which just gold-plated?
“That’s a good plan.”
Hearing this, the silent Witch Hunter suddenly nodded in approval. As a Witch Hunter, he excelled at dealing with wizards and naturally was well versed in magic.
“As long as we find so rubble, grind so fragnts of Dinsion Stone into powder, and sar it over the rubble, we could deceive most of the wizards.”
“No problem, we can help.”
At this point, the Combat Nun also nodded in approval. Within the stocks of Dinsion Stones they were tasked with sealing away, many were pebble-sized fragnts of Dinsion Stone. Frankly, the Combat Nuns found these fragnts quite troubleso. Discarding them was risky, but properly sealing them away felt wasteful. It would be better to grind them into powder and use that to dress up stones – at least that would put them to so use.
As an aside, throughout the whole conversation, none of the people present saw anything inappropriate in their plan. They didn’t see anything wrong with deceiving the Emperor – indicating that the Great Crown Prince, their Emperor, really didn’t have much of a presence.
Soon, they made a decision. The Combat Nuns from the monastery would be responsible for completing this mission. After all, if soldiers were to carry it out, there was a risk of a leak. The Combat Nuns, on the other hand, were capable and staunch believers, so there was less risk of a leak. Also, the Dinsion Stones are usually handed over to the monastery for sealing, so this only made sense.
However, the only problem is that if the truth were to co out, the Rock Monastery will instantly beco a target.
But then again… if the truth did erge, it would an that the Great Crown Prince was really trying to use the Dinsion Stone for sothing.
At that mont, Duanmu Huai could confront him with a song of loyalty.
After sorting out this issue, General Pastte only had one concern left.
Those were… the followers of the Brutal God.
According to the Prophet, the followers of the Brutal God had already used the remains of the Sacred Knight to set up a barrier in the military camp. Anyone who died in combat within the boundary would enhance the strength of the opponent, and eventually open the portal to the Demon Realm.
However, completely avoiding battle was not possible as the barrier continued to expand. Were they supposed to completely abandon Modheim?
“That’s not a problem.”
Naturally, compared to General Pastte’s worry, Duanmu Huai appeared quite relaxed.
“I’ll take care of it personally. When the ti cos, we’ll go together and completely annihilate those Chaos Believers!”
If this had been so ti ago, Duanmu Huai might have found the task a bit daunting. But now, things were different. He had the Gravity Gloves — if not for battling, couldn’t they also be used to destroy structures?
After all, one of the thods that players used the Gravity Gloves for in the ga was to dismantle buildings, and now, it was finally Duanmu Huai’s turn to have that thrill!
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