Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Silver City, top of the round tower, chief's room.

With graying hair and old scars on his face, Colin Iliad gazed out the window into the deep darkness until a sharp, silvery light suddenly burst forth in the distance, bringing a few seconds of illumination. He then withdrew his gaze and nodded slightly.

"Hilmont has been promoted..."

His gaze immediately fell on the boy who was only a little over two meters tall standing in the center of the room:

"Derrick, do you know why I, now a Sequence 3 'Silver Knight,' have been suppressing my plans to explore the 'Giant's Court'?"

Derrick thought for a moment and said:

"Your Excellency, on the one hand, you want to see if there is another way to get to the seaside, and on the other hand, you are waiting for one of the other elders in the 'Six-Person Council' to be promoted to Sequence 3."

Now, both of these things have been accomplished:

A few months ago, an exploration team from Silver City discovered a hidden path that bypassed the mountain where the "Giant's Court" was located and reached the sea. However, the sea was an illusion and could not be crossed at all. Forcing one to enter the water would only cause the body to gradually disintegrate.

Now, another demigod of the Council of Six, Wethilmon, has finally been promoted to the Rank 3 Silver Knight, and can have his own title and respond to the prayers of the other residents of Silver City within a certain range.

Colin Iliad looked pleased and approvingly said:

"Very good, your understanding of the matter is very clear and comprehensive."

"Exploring the 'Giant's Court' is necessary, but I don't know how dangerous such an exploration will be, so I can only make ample preparations in advance. Now, Hillmon has finally succeeded. Even if something unexpected happens later and we can't return, he and the other elders can support Silver City and keep everything going, waiting for the next opportunity."

Derrick remained silent. In truth, he had always felt that exploring the Giants' Court might not be as dangerous as he had imagined. After all, it was explored personally by Mr. "Lover," and even if there were any dangers, they had already been eliminated by Mr. "Lover."

For Silver City, the danger they face is perhaps only comparable to that of the Afternoon Town camp.

But Derrick certainly knew he couldn't say these things casually; unfounded speculation wouldn't do them any good.

Colin Iliad looked at the silent Derrick and then asked:

"Have you fully digested your 'Priest of Light' potion?"

Derrick said with some shame:

"It will take some more time."

Mr. Lover has given him the recipe for the potion "The One Without Darkness," and Mr. World has promised to provide him with the extraordinary trait of "The One Without Darkness." However, in exploring the dream world, Derrick's progress is almost the slowest in the Tarot Club.

He has yet to gather the 100 million souls needed to digest the potion.

"Silver Knight" Colin said softly:

"We will begin our first exploration of the Giants' Court tomorrow."

Derrick was not surprised by this, nor did he have any complaints.

The Chief and Silver City cannot wait indefinitely; they must go to the Giants' Court as soon as possible to confirm the existence of hope with their own eyes.

Derrick, however, felt that the exploration might go even more smoothly than he had imagined.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, they should be able to find a direct route out of the Forsaken Land.

-

North End, 160 Berklund Street. Klein, watching the embers depart, murmured to himself:

"war……"

Since the beginning of the Fifth Era, the Northern Continent has experienced many large-scale wars, the most recent of which was the War of the Oath Breaker, but that was more than six hundred years ago.

In 738, a religious war broke out in the Northern Continent.

The southern kingdom of Feneport originally worshipped both the Earth Mother Goddess and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, but due to certain factors, the two churches became seriously opposed, and believers often clashed.

Its two northern neighbors, the Kingdom of Rune and the Kingdom of Intis, seized this opportunity and, under the pretext of protecting religious freedom, started a war. Later, the Fusak Empire joined in, attempting to thwart Rune and Intis's schemes, but still failed to reverse the situation and suffered defeat.

As a result of the war, the countries of Lunburg, Masic, and Segal, located at the borders of Rune and Feneport respectively, and Intis and Feneport respectively, gained independence and began to worship the god of knowledge and wisdom. Only the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess remained within the Kingdom of Feneport.

Because both sides accused each other of breaking the sacred oath made at the end of the Fourth Age, the five-year conflict was called the "War of the Oath-Breaking".

After that, the Northern Continent enjoyed more than 300 years of peace. This does not mean that there were no conflicts between countries, but that there were no longer such large-scale wars. All of this continued until Russell invented the steam engine and improved sailing ships and cannons.

In 1173, Rosell, as colonel, quelled the rebellion and staged a coup, transforming the Kingdom of Intis into a republic and appointing himself consul. For the next 19 years, he reformed the legal code, encouraged invention, and paved the way for the Industrial Revolution, greatly enhancing the nation's power. He also waged wars in the south and north, bringing Lenburg, Massil, and Segal under his protection, and forcing the three powerful northern continental powers—the Empire of Fussac, the Kingdom of Loen, and the Kingdom of Feneport—to submit.

Furthermore, Russell's discovery of new sea routes in his later years led nations to shift more of their attention from the northern continent to their colonies in the southern continent. For over a century, even localized wars were rare in the northern continent; most of the fighting took place in the colonies of the southern continent.

In other words, the Northern Continent has not experienced a large-scale war for over six hundred years.

This has led many people to become unaware of the existence of war; to them, war is a distant history.

But now, Ember suddenly brings up war.

It might sound like a fantasy, but Klein knew very well that the war Ember had mentioned was very likely to happen!

There are two main reasons why large-scale wars have not broken out in the North since Russell spearheaded the Industrial Revolution.

Firstly, in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, the Republic of Intis, with its first-mover advantage as the initiator of the Industrial Revolution, achieved overwhelming power over the other three countries. However, due to the existence of the Church and theocracy, Roselle was not confident in completely annexing the three countries, thus maintaining a brief period of peace.

When the other three countries vigorously promoted the Industrial Revolution and their national strength became roughly the same as that of the Republic of Intis.

Rosell was then assassinated by the Church of the Eternal Sun, the Soren family of the Indys royal family, and other nobles, and perished in the White Maple Palace.

With the fall of Roselle, the Intis Empire was reverted to a republic, and the Intis Republic's power was greatly diminished. It could no longer single-handedly confront the entire world as it had during the reign of Emperor Roselle.

Therefore, they had no choice but to bow down to other powerful nations in the northern continent and cede some interests in exchange for peace.

Thus, for more than a hundred years since then, the Northern Continent has maintained a "peace"—a peace so fragile that it could be shattered at the slightest touch!

The absence of war does not mean that countries are not preparing for war!

Since Russell invented the steam engine, the national power of various countries has achieved a qualitative leap. On this basis, even though all parties have refrained from going to war due to restraint, they have been making various preparations for war in secret.

This behavior can be described in layman's terms as an arms race.

Yes, the so-called "peace" of the past hundred years since the Industrial Revolution has actually been an arms race that has lasted for more than a century!

At this moment, the Northern Continent is like a powder keg; even the slightest spark could ignite an unprecedented war!

This is absolutely not an exaggeration, because Klein has ample evidence to back it up—

For example, Europe on the eve of World War I!

At the time, Europe was also engaged in a protracted arms race, and with colonies already largely divided up worldwide, war was imminent. The Serrajevo incident was the spark that ignited total war; even without the Serrajevo incident, there might have been the Paris attacks or the Berlin attacks, and war would have been inevitable!

The situation is similar in the North Continent now. With the colonies of the South Continent being completely plundered, war between the nations is inevitable.

"etc……"

Klein's expression suddenly changed, because he suddenly realized something terrifying.

If we compare the Northern Continent to Europe on the eve of World War I, then we can find one-to-one correspondences among the various countries of the Northern Continent!

The Kingdom of Rune corresponds to Great Britain, the Republic of Intis corresponds to France, and the Empire of Fussac corresponds to Germany!

Not only in terms of the role they played in wars, but even in terms of their national positioning in various aspects, their positions were strikingly similar to those of the three great powers of Europe in history!

Before World War I, the British Empire possessed the world's strongest navy and the most overseas colonies.

The Kingdom of Rune possesses the world's strongest navy and the most overseas colonies.

Backlund, the capital of the Kingdom of Rune, suffers from extremely poor air quality and is shrouded in smog year-round, making it difficult to see the sun.

London, the capital of the British Empire, was also shrouded in darkness due to industrial pollution, and was even jokingly called the "Foggy City"!

The British Empire's monetary system was 1 pound = 20 shillings = 240 pence.

The currency system of the Kingdom of Rune is 1 gold pound = 20 soles = 240 pence!

Klein can find many similar examples, such as members of parliament and the Grain Act, etc.! All of this is enough to prove that the Kingdom of Loen is almost a one-to-one replica of the history of the British Empire!

Similarly, the Republic of Interis is a one-to-one replica of France—historically, France overthrew the Pontifical dynasty and established the First French Republic, but was quickly replaced by Napoleon's First French Empire. With Napoleon's defeat, France reverted to a republic, all of which is remarkably similar to the experience of Emperor Russell. And the current Republic of Interis's position is almost identical to that of France!

The Fussac Empire was no exception; like Germany, it was aggressive and considered itself a descendant of a noble race…

One could be a coincidence, but what about the other two or three?!

Yes! It's just a coincidence!

"Adam!"

Klein took a deep breath. With just a little thought, he realized that all of this was inextricably linked to Adam!

Adam ruled the Twilight Hermits, whose purpose was resurrection, or rather, awakening the true Creator.

It is claimed that when the end of everything arrives, the original creator will rise from the dead, awaken from slumber, return everything to himself, and create a new world and a new history.

Because the 'era' itself is part of the original creator, only when the 'era' develops in accordance with expectations can he draw power from it and be resurrected.

Therefore, the Twilight Council consistently interferes with the course of history, shaping it to suit its own needs in order to achieve its goals at a certain juncture. If the tides of history do not turn as they anticipate, they will strive to reverse that trend.

Rosell was a member of the Twilight Hermits, as was George III. Could we then infer that the rulers of the Republic of Intis, the Kingdom of Rune, and even the Empire of Fussac before this were also members of the Twilight Hermits?

Given that the rulers are members of the Twilight Hermits, Adam cleverly uses "coincidence" to drive the development of the history of various countries, gradually turning them into replicas of England, Germany, and France. For Adam, who is a "writer," this is almost no difficulty!

What does this mean?

"This means that Adam at least knew about England, France, and Germany, knew about Europe, and knew about the Industrial Revolution, and there's only one explanation for all of this—Adam also came from Earth! Or rather, the ancient sun god came from Earth!"

Klein took a deep breath, not daring to express his inner thoughts in words, as Adam would perceive any form of record.

Adam and the true Creator were both ancient sun gods, or rather, parts of Him.

Adam's claim of "resurrecting" the Creator is fundamentally unfounded.

The Creator has already been resurrected, but has not yet become a god.

Everything Adam did was actually paving the way for his own godhood—

The ritual of Sequence 0, "The Dreamer," involves aligning the development of the times with one's own vision, and then, at a crucial juncture, within the prescribed trends of the era, consuming a magical potion.

Adam must have had countless opportunities to do this over the past few millennia. But his delay may have been due to a variety of considerations.

On one hand, Adam, lacking a Sequence 1 extraordinary characteristic, cannot advance because "0-08" is in the hands of the Goddess of Night.

On the other hand, it may be because Adam was deeply affected by the shadow of the "Ancient Sun God" being corrupted by the "Primordial One," and was afraid that becoming a god would lead to being corrupted by the "Primordial One" again, so he dared not advance casually.

But now, perhaps it has come to the point where he has no choice but to do so, and Adam is already seeking to become a god.

A world war that engulfs the entire globe would undoubtedly be the most fitting "node" for the ritual!

What's even more amazing is that even the Seven Gods couldn't stop this war!

The Fussac Empire, needless to say, thirsted for war.

Even if the other three countries yield, the Fussac Empire will eventually invade southward.

The Kingdom of Rune's attitude was quite clear—last year, the Hanged Man had asked Miss Justice a similar question, and her answer was that the King and the Prime Minister had a tendency to wage war, but chose to first carry out internal reforms and straighten out relationships in all aspects.

Now, almost a year has passed, and the various policies introduced at that time have basically gotten on track.

In other words, the upper echelons of the Kingdom of Rune probably also believe it is time to start a war to reclaim the interests Rune lost in East Bailang and to reclaim the island of Sunia that Rune lost during the Twenty Years' War!

War was inevitable, and Adam's ascension to godhood was also inevitable.

So, what about Ince Zangwell?

For Adam to become a god, he must retrieve '0-08' from Ince Zangwell.

Klein's divination indicated that Ince Zangwell would definitely appear in Backlund.

In other words, Backlund was the focal point of the war?

Klein's expression changed slightly; his family and friends were all in Backlund!