"Don't count on for advice. That's a lost cause. Still, I can't just pretend I didn't see the ssage. At the very least, we should confirm our next steps."
Wang Yu shook his head. He didn't see why anyone would bother asking for his opinion. His strength had certainly grown, but when it ca to strategy, he hadn't improved one bit. His entire worldview was still built on the foundation he'd ford back on Earth, just patched over with the new knowledge he'd accumulated in this world. More information hadn't changed the way he thought.
Drawing upon the Chariot's power to touch the Tree of the Night, he invoked the Lady of the Night to join the Void Chatroom. He found himself entering a conference chamber woven from pure night. Wang Yu was the last to arrive; the others were already seated.
A quick glance was enough. Though they all appeared to be shadowy figures, anyone who'd exchanged private ssages through the Prayer Network could imdiately recognize the identities behind those silhouettes. And as the system's privileged administrator, Wang Yu only needed one look to know exactly who was who.
Charles. Edward. Elliott. An elder from the rfolk whom Wang Yu barely knew. The white dragon patriarch, Miselyx. The silver dragon, Aurelian. The young red dragon, Noelle. Father Fang...
Hold on—Fang? Well, fair enough. For soone who served as the archbishop of the Church of Light yet also quietly worshipped the Lady of the Night, him showing up here wasn't actually that strange.
Most of Wang Yu's familiar friends were present. The rest were leaders of the many small groups that had sprung up under the increasingly vast Church of Nightfall: rchant guilds, scholarly societies, and the like. So he barely recognized, so he had no idea even existed.
As he stepped into the chamber, all eyes turned toward him, as though waiting for him to say sothing. But what on earth did they expect him to say? If this went on, he'd be reduced to staring back at them in awkward silence. Fortunately, Charles and Edward, who understood him especially well, spoke up to steer the conversation forward.
"The five-race Alliance has sent us an invitation to join their campaign against the organization known as the Utopia. On paper, the invitation is addressed to Aleisterre alone, but I'm sure everyone knows its real target.
"This invitation is directed at the Church of Nightfall as a whole—Aleisterre, the dragons, and all our mbers scattered across the continent, regardless of status or race."
After the dragons' existence beca public, the alliance had grown aware of the Church of Nightfall's growing strength and potential. They were looking for one more powerful ally to help stabilize a continent sliding into chaos.
"We discussed it briefly," Miselyx added, turning his draconic gaze toward Wang Yu, "but we wanted to hear your thoughts, Archbishop Wang Yu. Should we accept, decline, or pursue another option?"
Coming from the leader of the white dragons, that was essentially a declaration of the dragons' stance: they would abide by Wang Yu's decision. Whatever he chose would determine their course.
The others didn't imdiately speak after him, but their attitudes were clear. Perhaps they weren't as absolute as the dragons about following Wang Yu blindly, but whatever he said next would heavily shape their own decisions as well.
"What do you all think of this Utopia?"
Instead of answering, Wang Yu threw the question back at them. He had originally intended to let them decide among themselves, but now there was sothing he wanted to confirm.
"Their motives are unclear," Charles began. "They seem to have a very old history. Every kingdom surrounding Aleisterre has high-ranking individuals similar to the royal astrologer Selene. All of those appear to be mbers of the organization.
"The bizarre siege against Aleisterre," he continued, "was orchestrated by these Utopian operatives manipulating royal decision-making. But the citizens weren't influenced, so once the overwhelming disparity in power beca obvious, the contradiction exposed every infiltrator involved.
"All those exposed mbers fled," Charles concluded. "They clearly wanted to avoid interrogation. So for now, there's little risk of further unreasonable attacks.
"From what we know, their aim is to create so sort of ‘utopia.' But from their actions, they've already beco a threat to Aleisterre. My judgnt: they're enemies."
Elliott spoke next, voice low with lingering anger. "Emmon vanished near the Bloodfang Empire. There's no trace of him, and he hasn't contacted through any thod."
Aurelian's tone was calm but firm. "Their rhetoric is uncomfortably familiar. The Church of Dragonkind had also wanted their own ‘kingdom.' Given the disaster Milos brought, and all the atrocities committed by that cult... you'll forgive us if we don't believe this Utopia is anything good."
Father Fang added simply, "Any force that twists minds cannot call itself righteous." That alone was enough to express the Church of Light's stance.
A representative from one of the Church of Nightfall's affiliated groups spoke last. "We've confird that the alliance's investigative team disappeared near the Bloodfang Empire without communication or tracking. Everything was cut off. If they had no malicious intent, such asures wouldn't be necessary.
"So of our own mbers have also vanished. Businesses run by our people have been seized as the organization expands. This Utopia will bring us nothing good."
After listening to everyone's assessnts, Wang Yu finally had a clear picture. Good. No one here was stupid enough to hear the word Utopia and believe that it ant so paradise for all.
He took a slow breath, gathered his thoughts, and, without bothering to maintain any lofty persona, offered a blunt, inelegant summary.
"Seems we're all thinking along the sa lines. This so-called Utopia is nothing more than a pack of lunatics who talk nonsense from dawn till dusk. Nothing they do bears the slightest resemblance to the utopia they keep preaching about.
"Sure, maybe they have so deep, inscrutable master plan. But if they won't speak plainly and their actions only bring ruin and trouble, then getting wiped out is nothing more than consequences catching up.
"They're enemies, no question about it. Judging from the forces they've gathered, if we leave them alone, sooner or later the trouble will spread to us. There's nothing more to discuss. We'll go against them head-on.
"The Alliance invited us because they want help dealing with that lot. Let's accept. Whatever those Utopian fools are trying to accomplish, we'll ruin it. If they try to build sothing, we'll stop them from building it. It's that simple."
Wang Yu laid out what he thought should be done. He wanted to fight the Utopia, join the alliance, and strike where needed. It was a simple decision delivered with simple force.
Seated nearby, Charles listened quietly, then smirked. The wording was blunt, but Wang Yu's thoughts perfectly aligned with his own. Classic Wang Yu.
"Agreed."
"Fair enough."
"As it should be..."
"..."
Voices of assent rose almost imdiately. Everyone present accepted Wang Yu's stance: accept the alliance and move to strike the Utopia.
"Do you have any arrangents for our follow-up operations? We could begin preparing in advance."
Elliot, speaking on behalf of the Nightfall Church's various leaders, asked whether Wang Yu had planned out the Church's next moves.
"I do. Two plans."
Wang Yu raised two fingers.
His words instantly drew every gaze in the room. All grew attentive, waiting for the archbishop's guidance. Charles and Edward, in particular, looked stunned. Wang Yu wasn't exactly known for offering strategic plans to large organizations.
"Could it be sothing Avia gave him?"
"Probably."
"Then we'd better listen closely."
The two whispered to each other over the Prayer Network as they speculated about the plans' origin.
"These two plans have nothing to do with what you will be doing. I'm not good at strategy, so I'm not about to ddle in the Church of Nightfall's operations. Discuss how you deploy your people and handle logistics among yourselves. You'll be far better at it than I would be, blundering around.
"These two plans will be concurrent with yours. Just do what you need to do. Coordinate with the alliance if possible and help crush the Utopia. The plans are preparations for things I need to handle myself.
"If you put together any battle plans, just let take a look. At my current strength, there are things I can handle more easily than most."
Wang Yu's explanation left the group montarily stunned. His "two plans" were not for the Church of Nightfall—but rather for himself. He expected the Church to determine its own strategy against the Utopia, while he would provide individual support.
"Two plans... but not for us..."
Miselyx, the white-dragon chieftain, murmured the words to himself. His expression deepened; that peculiar phrasing hinted at sothing more.
"Lord Wang Yu, do you perhaps have arrangents that might affect our judgnt if we knew of them? So all we need to do is proceed normally, as we see fit."
Elliot had so idea about what Wang Yu was talking about. He seed strangely relieved.
The rest shared similar thoughts. They were curious about Wang Yu's "two plans," and certain that he was planning sothing more profound beneath the surface.
But Charles and Edward frowned at each other. They knew Wang Yu best out of everyone here, and they were almost certain he was telling the truth... which ant he was probably about to do sothing utterly outrageous.
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