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

"Don't worry? How could I not worry!"

Inside the mausoleum, Roselle sat high on the throne, his eyes filled with worry, and complained:

"The thing I hate most in this world is riddle makers."

Just now, he communicated with Bernadette and confirmed that the "Dark Moon" beside Bernadette is the same person he brought back from the moon more than a hundred years ago.

Roselle was very worried about this, but Ember just told him not to worry and that it might not be a bad thing.

However, Yu Jin refused to reveal any more specific details.

Russell utterly despised this kind of riddle-maker behavior, even though he himself enjoyed doing it. But when he truly put himself in the riddle-maker's shoes, his hatred for them reached its peak.

However, riddles aside, at least the Embermen are still reliable.

Since Ember said so, it proves that the old one is probably still related to him, which is why he doesn't need to worry.

Moreover, as of now, there are no signs of contamination on Bernadette's body.

At least in this respect, Bernadette was much better off than her unfortunate old father, who had been tormented by the corruption of the Fallen Mother Goddess for over a hundred years. If Ember and the others hadn't found this place in advance, his mind would have been completely destroyed when the apocalypse came in a dozen years.

Moreover, now is not the time to worry about these things.

He has only just been resurrected and has a lot to do.

Rosell looked up at the empty mausoleum, feeling a strange sense of loneliness.

When he first arrived in this era, he treated everything as a game and had a lot of fun. But occasionally he would think back to his hometown and the past that shaped most of his personality and hobbies.

The longer you live, the more frequently this feeling occurs, just like fallen leaves always return to the roots of the tree. However, at least he has established a family, with an obedient daughter, a gentle wife, and two sons who cause him a lot of worry. He still has many attachments in this world and a certain degree of belonging.

But more than a hundred years have passed, and all the people he once knew have long since passed away.

None of the original Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse survived, his wife had long since passed away, and his former mistresses probably wouldn't be alive now either... well, except for that witch, she's probably a demigod now, so she won't fall so easily.

Of his children, his eldest son Charles was the most unfortunate, inheriting only a few of his extraordinary traits yet forced to repeat his father's path. Many years have passed, and Charles has long since passed away.

The second son, Bonova, was born a Sequence 5 Extraordinary and is now an angel of the Steam Church.

Bernadette was undoubtedly the one who pleased him the most. Not only had she grown into an angel, but she had also saved him, her old father. Not only had she brought the embers to help him solve the pollution problem, but even the world he had given her in the painting still had half of its inhabitants worshipping the "Black Emperor."

It is the existence of these believers that allows him to maintain his 'Sequence 1' status.

However, Bernadette is not the Lord of Steam, and the Dawn of Elements is not the Church of Steam; they cannot cram millions of people into the Painting World. To date, the total population of the Painting World is only two hundred thousand, half of whom are only one hundred thousand, insufficient to support his return to Sequence 0.

It could be said that Bernadette was almost his only attachment in this world.

Even so, Roselle remained lonely, just like Klein, who had left before Bernadette arrived.

Russell could sense his loneliness, a loneliness that emanated from his very bones.

On this point, perhaps only they can understand each other.

Not even embers, except for each other.

Compared to them, Ember, who experienced the Dark Souls trilogy, clearly had more attachments. Compared to living in Dark Souls for thousands of years, his experience on Earth was merely childhood—he had memories, but not many.

That's why Roselle felt lonely, a loneliness that no one could understand.

With the departures of Klein, Ember, and even Bernadette, the sudden solitude made his heart feel even emptier.

"I'm really going crazy."

Roselle chuckled self-deprecatingly. From the time he "traveled" to his "death," it had only been a little over thirty years, but he had been tormented by the Fallen Mother Goddess in this mausoleum for over one hundred and fifty years!

Although the corruption of the fallen Mother Goddess has been removed, the tormented experience is not so easy to forget, and his mind has inevitably been affected to some extent—for example, he has become more sentimental, more prone to loneliness, and more afraid of loneliness.

Rosell sighed softly and muttered to himself:

"However, we have to get through this eventually."

He can't keep sinking into this state forever.

Rosell rose from his throne and walked down the platform.

But as soon as he stepped off the throne, his surroundings changed immediately.

He was no longer surrounded by the darkness of the mausoleum; he appeared in a palace, a magnificent palace that shone brightly in the sunlight!

It doesn't have a glittering exterior; its slightly yellowed walls and blue roof give it a rich historical feel.

It has a main tower, six palaces, five irregularly shaped courtyards, and four gardens. At this moment, Roselle stood in the fountain courtyard in front of the palace, looking at everything around him with a complicated expression.

This is the White Maple Palace, the place where he served as regent and ruled the Republic of Intis for twenty years. It was also the place where he proclaimed himself "Caesar," transformed the republic into an empire, and implemented a dictatorial rule. And it was also the place where he met his end.

Rosell sighed softly:

"I really miss those days."

"However, more than a hundred years have passed, and this place hasn't changed at all. This just goes to show that Intis is truly amazing!"

"Guards! Where are the guards! Take him down!"

A piercing, sharp roar reached Roselle's ears. Turning his head, he saw a fat, richly dressed "noble" pointing at him with immense anger. Further away, guards from White Maple Palace were rushing towards them.

As for the reason, Rosell had already guessed it—because he was now wearing a black crown inlaid with various jewels, black armor, a cloak of the same color, and holding a scepter, which was exactly the image of "Julius Caesar" more than a hundred years ago!

In Intis, a republic that had been in place for over a century, his attire was tantamount to being crowned emperor, a blatant provocation against the republican system.

"Kneel down."

Rosell coldly swept his gaze across the group around him and gave a curt order.

The deep, majestic voice instantly resounded throughout White Maple Palace, and then throughout Trier, echoing in everyone's mind.

Pfft!

The moment they heard the voice, everyone felt an immense pressure and involuntarily knelt down. No one was exempt, whether ordinary citizens or high-ranking nobles!

Even the demigod who was the "hunter" guarding the White Maple Palace could only kneel before Roselle, his body trembling as he lowered his head, not daring to raise it.

Rosell coldly withdrew his gaze, but then suddenly sensed something and looked up at the sky. In the distance, from the direction of the Church of Saint Rosell, a figure flew towards White Maple Palace.

Russell's excellent eyesight allowed him to see the man's appearance clearly, which bore a striking resemblance to himself.

"Bonova".

Roselle murmured His name, filled with both pain and despair.

Bonova was his most gifted child, without a doubt.

Even Bernadette wasn't born with the privilege of having a Sequence 5 extraordinary ability.

Yet this most gifted child's fate was sealed at birth. The Lord of Steam chose Bonova to be His Holy Spirit, His Angel. To others, this would undoubtedly be a blessing, but Roselle knew it was merely the Lord of Steam's precaution against him, an attempt to control Bonova through control of him.

The Lord of Steam clearly knew the principle of "give a slap and then a sweet treat," so even the name of the headquarters of the Steam Church was changed to "Saint Rosell's Church." However, in Rosell's eyes, the more the Lord of Steam did this, the more pretentious he found it!

They're just using each other, so why pretend you have a really good relationship?

Moreover, if the Lord of Steam truly cared about past relationships, he wouldn't have joined forces with the Eternal Sun Cult to destroy his eight mausoleums.

Moreover, Bonova has now completely transformed into the form of the Lord of Steam. Rosell is, after all, a parent. How could he not feel heartbroken watching his child become a plaything in someone else's hands?

Bonova hovered above the White Maple Palace, looking down at the angel below. After a long silence, he lowered his altitude, landing on the ground at the same level as the angel.

Because he recognized the other person; it was his father, or at least he used to be.

Rosell stared coldly at Bonova, gazing towards the direction of the "St. Rosell's Church," his deep, authoritative voice proclaiming the return of the "Black Emperor" to all the people of Intis:

"Intis, your emperor has returned!"

So what if it's a steam church?

Even if he is only at Sequence 1 now, he is still the undisputed king of Intis!

The angels of the Steam Church are at most Sequence 2, and the Lord of Steam himself cannot easily leave the divine realm. Even if he did leave, Roselle wouldn't be without support; he's not afraid of anyone!

Today, Intis is going to revert to an imperial system, and even the Lord of Steam can't stop him, he says so!

late at night.

There is one hour left until January 1, 1351.

Backlund welcomed the New Year amidst swirling snowflakes.

Despite the devastation that the kingdom and its people have suffered from the war over the past six months.

Fortunately, the war ultimately ended in victory for the Kingdom of Rune.

Therefore, despite the devastation of war, the people of the Kingdom of Rune still took to the streets on this day. Their faces beamed with joy as they celebrated this hard-won New Year amidst the hustle and bustle of the night.

Inside Sodrak Palace, nobles and survivors of the war are invited to attend the royal New Year's Eve party.

Audrey stood aloof from the crowd, quietly observing the changing emotions of the people with a glass of champagne in hand.

"You don't seem to like attending banquets?"

A slightly strange female voice came from beside her ear.

Audrey turned around and saw a woman who was only 1.5 meters tall and another beautiful woman with long brown hair walking towards her.

Audrey smiled and said softly:

"That's not it. I actually really like the atmosphere here, but I just can't quite fit in."

Hugh Deere looked at Audrey with some surprise and muttered:

"I thought I was the only one like this."

Her ancestors were former court counts, and her father had served as the chief of the court guards, making them a long-established noble family. However, her father was killed early on for "treason," and she and her mother had to hide with her younger brother, never having attended such a formal banquet before.

Although she had already cleared her father's name with the help of the Hall family, that alone was not enough to qualify her for the banquet.

The reason she is here is because of her current identity—General Director of MI9.

She is able to stand in her current position partly because she has indeed made enough contributions in the war against countries such as Intis.

Not only did they obtain crucial intelligence from the Fursak side on multiple occasions, allowing the Rune side to respond in a timely manner and thwart several of the Fursak's attacks, but they also had the feat of ambushing and killing the Fursak demigod during the defense of Backlund.

On the other hand, her rise to power was also due to the downfall of the previous head of MI9.

Although there are other deputy directors at the demigod level in MI9, and these deputy directors are far superior to Hugh in terms of seniority and relationships with superiors, they are far more competitive for the director position than Hugh, a newcomer who has been with MI9 for less than a year.

However, with the help of the Hall family and his impressive feat of directly killing a demigod, Hugh still managed to defeat his rivals and become the head of MI9. In addition, Hugh was placed on the royal honor roll, which will be awarded after the New Year.

Although the specific list has not yet been announced, Hugh, as the head of MI9, has already received inside information that she has been internally designated as an earl. Without a doubt, the future Dill family will fully restore its ancestral glory, and perhaps even grow stronger, because Hugh is destined not to remain in Sequence 4 for long.

Of course, Hugh himself actually hated dealing with these nobles.

On the one hand, she lacked relevant experience and found it difficult to handle the tedious etiquette and probing among these nobles.

On the other hand, she had become accustomed to solving problems through more direct means, and the subtle probing among nobles only annoyed her.

But she still had to attend the banquet, not for herself, but for her family.

Hugh Deere glanced at the docile golden retriever lying at Audrey's feet and suddenly said:

"Have you heard about what happened in Intis?"

Audrey immediately perked up her ears; they were all members of the Tarot Club and knew each other's identities.

In the intervals before the Tarot meeting, they often exchanged information and shared resources, just like they are doing now.

Is the mention of Intis because something unexpected happened there?

Seeing Audrey's expression, Hugh Deer guessed she probably didn't know, and whispered:

"Roselle has been resurrected and is now confronting the Steam Church in Trier."