Who taught him to restore the country like this

Chapter 160 Public Opinion
"You don't need to worry about such things. Killing you will bring reinforcements from the Empire to your rescue," Grand Duke Michael said indifferently.

"Heh, I see. Was it Aetherel who promised you that?" Ron laughed out loud as if he had heard something funny.

“So what if it is?” Archduke Michael frowned.

"Has Your Grace ever considered that if that divine messenger truly had the ability and genuinely wanted to help Misian, why would he make such a demand as killing me?"

“Killing you will weaken the fallen angels of the Order of the End,” said Grand Master Mician.

"Haha, even the Duke would believe such nonsense meant to fool a child," Ron laughed loudly.

"Hmph!" Grand Duke Misian snorted coldly, and with a wave of his hand, hundreds of magic array projections brewed a magical storm.

"Out of concern for the safety of those who love me, I can tell you the truth."

Ron's voice suddenly rose in pitch.

“Aitherel wants to kill me only because of my personal grudge against him, and it has nothing to do with the power of the Fallen Angel. After today, even if you really kill me, he will not admit it, much less lead the Imperial reinforcements to support Hilchin.”

"We hope Your Grace will find an alternative way out for Hilchin in advance..."

Rumbling--

The continuous explosions blocked out all other sounds at the center.

From a distance, one can see gray energy surging at the center of the explosion, relentlessly bombarding the resisting forces.

But this power was ultimately too insignificant in the face of the Array Palace.

Ultimately, the gray energy was dispersed, and the array palace, having lost its target, gradually calmed down.

"Your Grace, the target has been killed," the officer reported.

Grand Duke Michael listened to his subordinates' report and looked at the devastated explosion site, but he felt no joy whatsoever.

He only snapped out of his reverie when the sounds of commotion from the city streets reached him.

"Handle the funeral arrangements properly."

"Yes!"

After delegating the handling of the disturbance to his subordinates, Archduke Michael turned and left.

Upon returning to the manor, he immediately used the final secret communication agreement to report to Aetherel that he had killed Ron.

Ron's last words made him feel inexplicably uneasy.

As a messenger of the gods, Aetheril should not lie.

At least before Ron said those words, he had no doubts about Aetheril.

But now... a dying man's words are good.

Were Ron's words... just simple attempts to sow discord?
One of them is lying, and we'll find out who it is once Aetherel's reply arrives.

Grand Duke Michael looked at the secret decree on the table, waiting anxiously.

Aetherel, who usually responds quickly, is unusually slow to reply this time.

……

Rishin Port.

Aetherel looked at the report sent by Grand Duke Mistias and remained silent for a long time.

According to the description, Ron returned to Hilchin alone despite knowing that Grand Duke Michael wanted to kill him, and was then killed by Grand Duke Michael using the Array Palace.

Without a doubt, Aetherel knew this was a conspiracy orchestrated by Ron to frame him.

Even though the account mentions that Ron fought back fiercely, even using the statue as a backup plan, this level of resistance seems utterly childish compared to Ron's reckless return to Hilchin.

Of course, the main reason for confirming this was a trap was... that Ron wasn't dead at all!

In his perception, the coordinate point representing Ron still existed.

It's just that I don't know how they managed to get from Hilchin to Gem Bay in an instant.

In short, Grand Duke Michael is now quite certain that Ron is dead.

If he were to reply now with "the person is not dead," Grand Duke Michael would definitely consider him a fraud.

This is probably exactly the situation Ron wanted to see.

Ron must have spoken ill of him to Grand Duke Michael.

And if nothing unexpected happens, this matter will soon spread throughout the entire Holy Unified Empire.

"The messenger of God, for his own selfish grudge, disregarded the lives of hundreds of thousands of survivors in Xi'an." Once this news spreads, he will be disgraced.

Even if these people don't blindly believe, they will still be skeptical, which means he can no longer rely on the power of faith to enter the ninth rank.

Their current strength may even decline.

Sure enough, his idea was correct.

Compared to Kertia, who only knows how to use her fists, Ron is the most dangerous.

This move is almost impossible to counter.

Unless he can now bring Imperial reinforcements into Misian State and rescue the survivors of the three counties.

But this is impossible.

Ron is not dead; he cannot fight Kertia to the death.

His truth is that one's own life is not important, but one must die a meaningful death.

In this trial of the divine kingdom, his sacrifice was based solely on the premise of exchanging one life for another with Ron.

It's not worth dying simply for the trials of the divine kingdom.

And it's stupid.

After much deliberation, Aetherel did not reply to Grand Duke Michael's message.

Delay it as long as you can; maybe things will turn around later.

……

Will things turn around?
No!

He won't show his face again until he's completely crushed by Aetherel.

At this moment, Ron, who had teleported to Gem Bay using a "Return Scroll" in his capacity as the Archbishop of the Order of the End, was standing in a magnificent palace with heavy guard.

He glanced around and nodded in satisfaction.

The ability to perceive the power of faith is completely cut off.

As long as he stays here and doesn't go out, even if Aetherel knows he's still alive, he can't possibly come here to drag him out.

"Are you done on your end?"

A clear voice, tinged with a hint of languor, came from behind.

"Correct."

Ron turned around and looked behind him.

Behind him was a circular pool filled with strange and unusual objects, all of which were rare materials imbued with the power of evil gods and the culmination of hundreds of years of accumulation by the Order of the End.

Today, all of them have been brought out for the birth of the eight-winged fallen angel.

Keltia sat in the pool, her fair and delicate body half above the water's surface, and six cool black wings spread out from her smooth back.

Above the six black wings, two illusory wings appeared and disappeared.

No matter how many times I look at it, the water is really flat.

Ron sighed inwardly.

"Is this the method you used to disappear from Orantia last time?" Keltia asked with her eyes closed, her tone tinged with surprise.

She was completely unaware that someone was approaching, and Ron appeared in the palace without even opening the sealed stone door.

“Yes.” Ron smiled sheepishly.

"You have a lot of secrets."

"Just trying to save my life," Ron replied modestly.

Kertia chuckled softly and didn't ask any further questions.

"Please trouble Lady Kertia to arrange a room for me," Ron said.

As he spoke, his face gradually changed into that of an ordinary person.

"What room do you need? Isn't this place fine?" Kertia said calmly.

“But there’s only one bed here.” Ron glanced at the bed, which was hidden behind a screen, not far away.

"Isn't one bed enough for you?" Kertia asked.

"how about you?"

"I will soon ascend to godhood; I won't need to sleep," Keltia said calmly. Is that really true?
Ron narrowed his eyes, looking at Kertia with suspicion.

Keltia remained silent, her brows furrowed slightly, as if she did not want to be disturbed any further.

Seeing this, Ron didn't say anything more.

"good night."

He is still human; he needs rest.

He paid special attention to the Hilchin Fortress last night and didn't sleep a wink. He just went through a major battle and is now exhausted, both physically and mentally.

After walking behind the screen, I didn't stand on ceremony and lay down directly on the black, soft, and comfortable bed. I pulled the quilt over myself, and a smell that was hard to describe as either fragrant or unpleasant filled my nostrils.

After finding a comfortable side-lying position, Ron quickly drifted off to sleep.

This was probably the most comfortable sleep he had ever had while in the Kingdom of God.

However, in a daze, I felt something leaning against me from behind. I tried to get up to check, but my body was too heavy to move.

So I just lay down and accepted it.

……

While Ron was entering a comfortable phase, Grand Duke Michael of Hilchin Fortress was so worried that he couldn't sleep.

A day has passed since Aetherial killed Ron, and he still hasn't replied to his messages.

It's impossible that Aetheril hadn't seen his message after such a long time.

Now that you've seen it, why not reply?

Ron's dying words kept replaying in his mind.

He gradually began to regret killing Ron.

It wasn't that he had suddenly realized something, but rather that the Order of the End had launched three attacks on Hilchin in just one day.

These were just probing attacks; he sensed that the Order of the End would soon launch a large-scale assault.

woo-

Just as he was thinking this, the warning horn sounded throughout the city.

Grand Duke Michael felt a chill run down his spine.

In the past, whenever the enemy attacked, he would immediately go to the city gate to oversee the battle.

Now, upon hearing the alarm horn, his first thought was to run away.

Because he wasn't sure which time would be the final assault by the Order of the End.

The End Order has harassed the Array Palace time and again, making it impossible for the Array Palace to recharge.

Of his two eighth-level experts, one has yet to return, and the other is still recovering from serious injuries.

At this moment, the Hilchin Fortress was simply unable to withstand the final assault of the Order of the End.

Archduke Michael paced anxiously back and forth in his study.

bang bang.

Finally, there was a knock on the study door.

"Come in," Grand Duke Michael said urgently.

"Your Grace, something terrible has happened."

A close attendant clad in silver armor hurried into the study, knelt down, and said, "The Order of the End has dispatched three high priests this time. I fear that Hilchin will be unable to hold out any longer. Please consider the overall situation and retreat to Lisk Fortress."

Upon hearing this, Grand Duke Michael's mood immediately became extremely heavy.

Whatever comes to mind.

The fact that the Order of the End dared to send three high priests to attack Hilchin shows that the pressure from the imperial reinforcements was not being exerted at all.

Perhaps, as Ron said, Aetheril never intended to aid the three counties.

Under these circumstances, there was absolutely no point in him sticking to Shirchin.

Did I really do something wrong?

Grand Duke Michael gazed at the flames of war outside the window, feeling utterly lost.

"Your Grace, there is no time left!" the attendant reminded him solemnly.

"Retreat to Lisk!" Grand Duke Mician issued the order in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

The attendant withdrew from the study.

Soon, a cavalry force of five hundred men escorted Grand Duke Michael to evacuate from Hilchin.

Actually, the better way to save our lives now is to evacuate the three counties and escape from the rear port via a long detour through the state of Misian.

But after weighing the options, he chose to retreat to Lisk.

It wasn't that he couldn't bear to abandon those civilians, but rather that he still held a sliver of hope for imperial reinforcements.

They clung to the hope that "if we can hold out for one more day, the imperial reinforcements might arrive."

However, reality is cruel.

That afternoon, the Order of the End successfully captured Hilchin.

The army arrived at Lisk early the next morning.

It held firm for only half a day before Lisk fell.

Grand Duke Michael retreated to the last county to defend.

This time, however, the Order of the End seemed to have encountered some kind of obstacle, and their rapid offensive halted, no longer pressing forward.

The last remaining county in Misian province enjoyed three peaceful days.

For Grand Duke Mician, these three days were anything but peaceful.

Although the Order of the End did not attack, they fought amongst themselves.

Negative rumors spread among the military, civilians, and the Misian noble community: “The Imperial reinforcements will not come.” “Why did you kill Lord Ron?” “The Duke killed Lord Ron without considering right or wrong because of personal grudges, causing us to fall into such a state.” “He killed Ron, he should stand up and atone with his death.”

They unanimously believed that the culprit who had led them to this state was the Grand Duke of Mician.

When they killed Ron, Grand Duke Michael promised them that imperial reinforcements would arrive soon.

But almost a week has passed, and there's still no sign of imperial reinforcements.

Grand Duke Michael deceived them.

In dire straits, the flames of anger can be ignited in their hearts at any moment.

Several nobles launched a mutiny, intending to capture Grand Duke Michael and hand him over to the Order of the End in order to quell his anger.

The result was a failure.

Grand Duke Michael was furious, believing himself to be one of the deceived.

In an attempt to divert attention, he publicly revealed the entire content of his communications with Aetheril.

Aetherel quickly became the outlet for the rage.

After allowing the nobles' hatred for Aetheril to fester for a day, the Order of the End launched its attack.

Half a day passed without any unexpected events, and the Misian region had completely fallen.

After completely occupying the three counties, the first thing the Order of the End did was to gather all the nobles of the Misian State and offer them as sacrifices in public.

Grand Duke Mician, who failed to escape, naturally became the first sacrifice.

As the Grand Duke of Miansian was reduced to a pile of charred remains in agony, the nobles of Miansian, who knelt around the altar, were terrified.

After the sacrifice to Duke Miansian, the high priests and the red and purple priests of the End Order each selected their own offerings.

The chosen nobles cried out for mercy, but this only excited the priests of the Order of the End, who then threw them into the altar like dead dogs.

Just as these nobles were losing all hope and their consciousness was gradually fading into despair filled with fear...

A gray mist had somehow enveloped the space.

The snow melts upon contact, and the gale stops at the edge of the fog.

The priests, who were about to begin the sacrifice, had to stop.

Because all the materials they used to activate the altar were destroyed by the gray mist.

They frowned and turned to look at the footsteps that sounded particularly clear in the gray fog.

A person dressed in a gray robe slowly emerged from the depths of the street.

"Who do we have here? It's the Witch of Calamity."

(End of this chapter)