Man on the ark, forced to become king

Theresa is alive, and none of the people of Babel are dead!

On his side, not only did he lose three high-level combatants, but he also lost over a hundred Sarkaz elites, as well as a lot of precious materials used to set up the ceremony. In one fell swoop, he lost both people and money!

Those combined might even be enough to conquer a small town!

What kind of utterly stupid and ridiculous plan could possibly achieve such a feat, leaving the enemy unchallenged and one's own forces utterly wiped out?!

Even if they sent a pig, they should have been able to leave behind a few of Babita's elite operators!

"...What did they all do?"

After a long silence, Theresis decided to listen to what new tricks those guys had come up with. He simply couldn't understand how they could achieve such outrageous results.

"They used unknown witchcraft to combine traits from multiple Sarkaz races, turning many mercenaries and infected creatures into pure killing machines, but it didn't work."

"Then they used magic to fuse those creatures into a giant beast, which, according to the Blood Demon's impressions, seemed to be the legendary Chimera, and should have fought the Demon King to a draw."

Manfred pieced together the scattered information he had obtained from the Blood Demon and described it as completely as possible.

High-level Blood Demons can probe into fragments of a host's memories from a period of their previous life by injecting 'living blood' into other creatures, but these fragments are incomplete. Therefore, they can only know some general details about that battle and cannot know any more specific information.

"So how did they lose?"

Hearing him say that, Therese was even more speechless.

If you can summon something like a chimera and still fight Theresa to a draw, doesn't that mean you've already won?

Could it be that other elite operators from Babel played a crucial role?

"A third party intervened in the battle. According to the Blood Demon's intelligence, the man who suddenly joined in somehow transformed into a giant dragon no smaller than a chimera. He then used an unfamiliar black flame to completely incinerate the chimera and took the Demon King away."

"A person who can transform into a giant dragon?"

Such Originium Arts were unheard of. Even the Sarkaz royal family, which possessed a vast collection of spells and magic, had never heard of any spell capable of doing something similar. Theresis couldn't imagine anyone in the Tower of Babel who could do it.

Theresis could only think of one being capable of transforming from a human body into a giant beast—a legendary god.

Their true forms are various enormous beasts, and they can appear before the world in human form. They are powerful species capable of fighting against natural disasters on their own, and their power has reached an unimaginable level. If it is them, then a mere chimera would naturally be no match for a god.

But how could the Tower of Babel summon a god?

After fighting for so many years, everyone knows each other's situation like the back of their hand. If Babita could recruit this level of combat power, would he still be keeping it hidden?

That's a god, a terrifying being capable of truly changing the course of a war!

Because of certain past experiences, Theresis had some understanding of inhuman beings, and he did not believe that there was really a god inside the Tower of Babel.

So, what exactly is it?

"Teacher, what should we do next?"

Manfred glanced at the military camp below the mountain and guessed that their plans were probably going to be interrupted this time.

The teacher's advance troop movement was probably intended to wait for the outcome of the battle on the side of the Pardoners, so that they could take advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack, establish a decisive victory in Kazdel, and completely end this long-running civil war.

But in the current situation, the Demon King is not dead, and the elite forces of Babel have not suffered any losses, so they naturally have no way to attack.

"How is Theresa?"

Therese did not answer, but instead asked another question.

The power of the Demon King is not a power that can be used for a long time. His sister's physical condition is not optimistic. If she fights such a big battle, her condition will probably not be very good. If Babita temporarily loses the Demon King as a top combat force, then the surprise attack can still be carried out as planned.

The loss of a top-tier combatant is more effective than eliminating several elite operators.

"We have no news about the Demon King. The host body into which the Blood Demon injected its blood was not observed until the end. The battlefield observed afterward had nothing but traces of the battle. All we know is that the bloodline resonance with the Demon King was still active until the very end. The man who transformed into a dragon discovered the assassin and magic swordsman troops, and he easily killed all of them. Because those assassins did not have living blood in their bodies, we have not obtained any further information."

"Unsure... let's wait and see."

After a moment's thought, Therese ultimately decided against launching a surprise attack.

The Demon King's condition is uncertain, and the opponent also has an assistant who is suspected to be at the same level as the Demon King, or even at the level of a god. Launching a surprise attack rashly would be too uncertain and could easily lead to failure.

In any case, they have an absolute advantage in the current situation, so they can continue to wait for opportunities and there is no need to be impatient for quick success.

Moreover, they did have people planted within Babita, so when Theresa returns, they will naturally obtain more accurate intelligence, and it won't be too late to make further plans then.

"By the way, where are Theresa's guards? Did she go alone?"

After making the decision, Therese suddenly realized a problem: Manfred seemed to have never mentioned anyone else from beginning to end, as if the only participants in the entire battle were Therese and the mysterious man who joined in halfway through.

Where are Babita's people? Where are Theresa's guards?

She couldn't possibly have set off alone, could she?

"The Blood Demon's host saw the Babel Tower convoy leave the ritual-sealed area and guessed that the Demon King ordered them to leave the battlefield, and the Exorcists did not stop them."

"madness!"

There was no need for Theresis to think too much; she could picture the foolish face of the pardoner back then.

Those fools think they possess ancient witchcraft and are so arrogant that they look down on everyone. This battle with the Demon King must have made them even more conceited, and they no longer care about the minions in their eyes.

A promising situation has been ruined in an instant!

What a great opportunity that is!

Even with the Demon King's obstruction, she couldn't protect everyone. If she could seize the opportunity, she could at least keep some people. But those idiots let everyone escape because of their arrogance!

As for whether any of those people were elite Babita operators... well, they definitely were!

Would the Tower of Babel really assign a group of ordinary operators to important leadership protection duties?

"Contact our informants and keep a close eye on them. Report any information about Theresa or related matters as soon as possible."

With her chest heaving slightly, Theresis stopped thinking about how stupid the pardoner was; after all, the person was dead, and there was no point in thinking about it.

What they need to do now is keep a close eye on the Tower of Babel's movements and see if there's still a chance, or if things can still turn around.

"Yes."

Manfred could tell that his teacher was probably not in a good mood, so he didn't dare to say anything and left the mountaintop directly.

Therese stood atop the mountain, closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and completely calmed her restless heart.

The loss of three pardoners, along with an elite force of over a hundred including assassins, was considerable, but still within acceptable limits. In a large-scale frontal battlefield, these people would not be of much use, and it was not worth getting so angry about.

—Most importantly, the absolution master couldn't really be considered his person; they were just partners, so his death was no big deal.

However... there might still be some room for maneuver in this matter.

He had no problem with those fools courting death, but the fact that his elite troops were also wiped out along with them was something that needed to be addressed.

As his gaze swept over the assembled army below, a cold glint flashed in Theresis's eyes, and he made up his mind.

Those unruly individuals rarely suffer a major loss. If handled properly, a bad situation might turn into a good one. Gaining more initiative in the cooperation would be very beneficial to their future plans.

Next, we should get news from Lentinium soon, and we'll need to rely on those guys' help.

Who wouldn't like being a high-ranking cannon fodder who doesn't have to take responsibility themselves?

"Oh, my sister...you're always so lucky."

"However, your failure was already destined..."

Chapter 160 Forbidden Magic: Source Stone Knife

"That's almost it."

Wiping the sweat from his face, and looking at the two-story wooden building in front of him, Hedley suddenly felt an urge to burst into tears.

God knows how he's been these past few days!

While others could rest inside that big tree at night, he and Ines had to pitch a tent outside! The tent was something they got later!

That's fine, after all, being a mercenary means you're used to living a life of hardship and exposure to the elements, it's nothing special.

But here, they not only had to endure the elements and sleep outdoors, but the houses they painstakingly built had to be left for others to live in first, while they continued to pitch tents!

Finally, after so many days of hard work, with the help of Ines's magic, they finally finished building all the houses as required, and tonight they can finally have their own rooms to stay in.

Oh, right, and that Ms. Kal'tsit too.

Hedley glanced discreetly under the golden tree, his gaze lingering on the small green tent, and felt a sense of comfort.

Fortunately, they weren't the only ones enjoying this treatment; Phil, from the Tower of Babel, received the same.

She was only allowed to enter the tree during the day; at night she had to come out and sleep in a tent. There was no place for her to rest, neither in the huts that had been built outside nor inside the tree.

"Ok?"

Kal'tsit's keen senses immediately detected that someone was watching her, but she didn't move.

There are only a few people here, and it's obvious who it is—the unlucky Sarkaz who was punished to do hard labor. There's no need to pay too much attention to him.

She tried to focus on the book in her hands, but she couldn't calm down completely.

Although the owner of the Golden Tree, that despicable fellow, did not treat her well, he did not forbid her from reading the documents stored inside the Golden Tree. However, these books were written in languages ​​she had never seen before, and she had to learn them from scratch.

In the past few days, whenever she had free time, she had been studying hard, trying to learn it as soon as possible, and had even temporarily put aside the secret of the Golden Tree.

After all, even if we wanted to conduct research, we don't have the necessary equipment right now.

Normally, given her abilities, her learning progress is quite good; she can already understand simple sentences. But today, she really isn't in the mood.

The news that Theresa was about to arrive at the Golden Tree, coupled with the sudden departure of Lin Lu and Lani, made her feel inexplicably uneasy, as if something bad was about to happen.