Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

"Oh, right, someone asked me to give something to Her Majesty the Saintess." Someone came to Joan of Arc's side and took out a package.

"Who gave it to you?" Joan of Arc asked.

"I don't know. That person's identity is very mysterious. When we saw the package, it was already on our table. Lydia was in the room at the time and didn't notice he had been there," the man said, adding that he was still a little scared when he talked about it.

"Even Lydia didn't notice?" Jeanne took the package and roughly understood that it contained some documents. After tearing open the outer kraft paper and seeing the text on it, she quickly understood why Lydia hadn't noticed.

“If it were him…you really wouldn’t have noticed,” Joan of Arc said softly.

The person who sent the package was the All-Knowing Sword. The All-Knowing Sword hoped that Joan of Arc would pass the package on to her teacher, hoping that he would change his mind.

Why not just hand it over to the teacher, but have her deliver it? Joan of Arc didn't know, but she immediately began to look at the documents inside. The more she looked, the more alarmed she became. The documents were actually the results of the All-Knowing Sword's investigation into the various secret experiments the king was conducting. Although Joan of Arc had heard some of the inside story, when this detailed document, personally investigated by the All-Knowing Sword, was placed in front of her, she still felt overwhelmed by the amount of information she was receiving.

"Wait... what is this...?" Joan of Arc had only intended to skim through it, but when she saw a certain experiment, she stopped as if she had caught a key word.

"The person in charge of the experiment... Jerome Bescon."

Isn't this the person in charge of the "Catfish Project" that the teacher is in charge of?

Instead of continuing to oversee the self-destruct experiments, he secretly moved on to other covert projects.

Although the information compiled by the All-Knowing Sword was very detailed, it contained very little information about this secret research. It only knew that the person in charge was Jerome Bescon, and that they were indeed conducting some kind of research, but nothing else was known. Even the All-Knowing Sword could not find out what he was doing or what secret he was hiding.

“I have something important to attend to,” Joan of Arc said.

"Oh, but it's a memorial service..."

"No, this matter is more important than the memorial service; it may be a matter of life and death."

*

Esgard, a thriving bar.

“I didn’t expect you to contact me.” Brand sat in the shadows of the bar, pulled back his hood to reveal his signature eyes.

Joan of Arc cut straight to the point, taking out the coin Brand had given her: "I want you to do something for me."

Brand was silent for a moment: "You teachers and students are really restless, always trying to do big things every day."

"Did your master also come looking for you?" Joan of Arc's gaze suddenly turned cold.

"This intelligence is equivalent to a request."

Joan of Arc shook her head: "Jerome Bescon, that's his name. He's the head of Project Catfish."

"Should we kill him?"

"No, I want him to come to me alive."

“The deal is done. The Red God has given it to us, and now the Red God has taken it back. From this day forward, we are even.” Brand took the coin.

How long will it take?

"Finding him won't be easy. He's the king's lover now, and he's under almost the kingdom's tightest protection, but I promise I'll get him to appear before you before the war begins."

"They are protected under a system no less than that of the king..."

Joan of Arc's gaze sharpened; she knew she had stumbled upon a crucial point, but before the war began...

There might not be enough time, but they were the fastest to find him.

“Wait… if even he wants to protect him, then what are you going to do…” Joan of Arc seemed to have realized something was wrong.

"The king is not in a good state right now."

"Something's not right? What's wrong?" Joan of Arc pressed.

"You need to fulfill one condition for me regarding this information."

"Okay, I promise you."

To Brand's surprise, Joan of Arc agreed without hesitation the moment he finished speaking.

Although she had mentally prepared herself and understood that she might pay a heavy price in the future, Joan of Arc still felt a sense of fear when she heard Brand's answer. This fear did not come from her own heart, but from the mysterious fate.

"Because of the Book of Omniscience."

"The Book of Omniscience?"

"No ability in the world comes without a price. The king's omniscience has been greatly weakened. He can only use his omniscience a few times now, so his focus is now only on the most important things, and he can't discover many things."

"Alright, consider this free information, a way of repaying your teacher." Brand got up and left, leaving Jeanne deep in thought in her seat.

*

Meanwhile, about twenty kilometers from Esgard, at the forest's exit, a man in a black trench coat struggled to emerge from the dense jungle, his body and head covered in countless leaves and dirt. He brushed the leaves off his head in a disheveled manner, looked up at the massive black city standing in the distance, and finally collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

"Have we finally arrived... Esgard..." The man sighed softly, his gaze filled with tenderness as he looked at Esgard, as if it were his homeland.

The man is like a traveler returning home. He has traveled a long way and is finally able to come back to see his hometown. Now, all the hardships he has endured on the journey have become meaningful, and the journey has finally come to an end.

“Excellent, I can’t wait to destroy Esgard.” The man smiled.

He took out a badge from his pocket and pinned it to his chest. It was a unique gold badge with a simple design: an upward-pointing sword.

At this moment, the branches and leaves of the grass behind him began to tremble, as if an earthquake had occurred. More and more black shadows appeared behind him. At first, there were only a few huge shadows covering the sky and the earth, but then they found that the shadows behind him seemed endless, more and more numerous and denser. Their sheer number was terrifying, as if the gates of hell had opened behind him.

“They would never have imagined that we could arrive here fifteen days ahead of schedule. They have no idea how much preparation we have made for this war.” A hoarse voice sounded beside the man.

"It's a pity we can't launch a surprise attack. I really want to see the expressions on the faces of the Lucernes."

"No rush, it will only take an extra day at most. Besides, do you really think we can keep our arrival a secret from that plenipotentiary king? And besides—"

“We need to take time, not because we need to unwrap the gift we’re giving to the Lucerne people, right?” the man grinned.

Chapter 92 Fog of War

On the morning of the year 883, historical records indicate that the sun did not rise as usual over Asgard, and the sunlight did not illuminate the entire city as before.

Before the night had completely dissipated, a thick fog had already crossed the plains and covered the city, an atmosphere somewhere between dawn and dusk seeping into the city's very being.

The world was completely silent, visibility on the road was extremely low, and the sentries who had patrolled all night were panting heavily as they rode their horses at breakneck speed as if they were being chased.

According to the schedule, it was time for him to change shifts, but his heart was pounding. Instead of going to the handover point, he ran towards the city wall, a bad premonition looming over him.

After dismounting, the sentry leaped onto the wall, grabbed a short knife, and began to climb. Due to the fog, the once familiar city wall was covered with an unfamiliar color. When he was halfway up the wall, he found that the alarm was sounding loudly. When he reached the top of the wall, he saw countless sentries like himself standing on the wall, looking down at the rolling yellow sand on the plain.

"What's going on? Why is the alarm going off? Why aren't you using the Stone of Omniscience?" the sentry demanded.

The sentry who arrived before him turned around expressionlessly and picked up the Omniscient Stone in his hand: "Captain, the Omniscient Stone has malfunctioned."

"It's malfunctioning?" The Sentinel Captain snatched the Omniscient Stone from the other's hand and found that the stone, which had originally been radiating a blue aura, was now covered by a thick fog, and the aura had dimmed.

"What about yours? And yours too? Hand over your Omniscient Stones!"

"Boss, there's no need to try anymore. We've already tried everything. All the Omniscience Stones are ineffective, even the telegrams."

"Where are the scouts outside the city? Why haven't they sent any news?"

"No, not a single word has come out. All seven of our teams outside the city have disappeared without a trace, and all our surveillance facilities outside the city have also failed."

"We have already sent someone to headquarters to deliver a message, because we never thought something like this would happen. We can only do what we did in ancient times and send someone to deliver the message."

After he finished speaking, everyone fell silent. The sentry turned his head and looked at the rolling yellow sand on the plain. A feeling of impending doom filled his heart.

Although there was no evidence, he vaguely felt that the thick fog had rendered the Omniscient Stone useless. The Omniscient Stone had always been the pride of the Lucerne soldiers, and the entire Lucerne military system was built upon it. Without the Omniscient Stone, it would be as if Lucerne had been blinded. Before the war even began, the giant Lucerne was already bleeding profusely.

The Sentinel Captain was unaware that this was a turning point in history. In Star Calendar 883, a weather weapon called "Fog of War" spread across the skies above Esgard.

This is a weapon developed by the Seven Nations Alliance for the Lusset War, a global weather weapon specifically designed to target the Omniscient Stone. Under this dense fog, human visibility is reduced to a radius of only twenty meters. The Omniscient Stone's ability to observe and communicate is completely cut off in the fog, rendering the Omniscient Knights blind and deaf, dragging them into the same predicament as them.

Lucerne's eyes had been blinded, and the sentries stared at the thick fog rolling across the city wall plain, wondering what awaited them inside.

Suddenly, huge fireworks lit up the sentries' eyes.

They saw flames, like fire dragons, rise from the ground, briefly dispersing the thick fog before soaring into the sky and hurtling towards the massive Asgard. In an instant, the flames illuminated the faces of everyone on the city walls, as if a massive rain of fire had fallen from the sky.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A thunderous sound exploded over Asgard, but the flames did not ultimately reach the city. Although half the city was covered by thick fog, the spiritual energy barrier covering Asgard remained intact, blocking the enemy's attack.

But before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, they saw a continuous stream of intense light breaking through the thick fog and descending like meteors over Asgard. Although these attacks ultimately only caused ripples in the sky above Asgard, they knew that defending with spiritual energy was far more costly than attacking with it.

In fact, they had already taken precautions against this situation. Once the first layer of defense was breached, they would abandon the less important parts of Esgard and concentrate their efforts on defending the center of Esgard.

Simply put, when the first layer of defense is breached, they will abandon one-third of Asgard and concentrate their defenses within the city of Asgard. By then, the area outside Asgard will become a hellish wasteland covered in artillery fire.

"May the all-knowing God protect us..." In the end, the sentry could only pray silently as he watched the fireworks fill the sky.

It was past eight o'clock, and the sun, which had not yet risen, had caused panic among the people. News spread from who knows where that residents near the city walls would be the first to be attacked, and large numbers of residents living near the city gates began to flee. Once the panic spread, it could no longer be controlled and spread like a tidal wave.

In the old town, black horses bearing the insignia of the Knights of the Omniscient were rampaging through the streets, and the driver was completely ignoring the ban, heading straight for the house he absolutely could not approach.

"Charlotte! Mom! Come out quickly!"

Xiwan jumped off the carriage, rushed to the door, and pounded on it.

As an all-knowing knight and a prince, Sirvan's arrival in broad daylight would normally attract attention, but no one cared about him at this moment; everyone was busy escaping.

"Brother!" Charlotte, who had been observing the situation outside from the window, ran over and opened the door to meet her brother.

"I'm so glad you're alright. Where's Mom?"

"Mom's alright, she's upstairs. What happened outside? Could it be..."

"Just as you thought, the war has begun. I'm here to help you escape. I'm here to take you to a safe place." Xiwan'er spoke simply and walked into the house.

"The war... has really begun..." Charlotte's voice trembled. Even though the war had been going on for a year, when the Seven Nations Alliance actually attacked Esgard, she still felt like the end of the world was coming.

"The seven-nation coalition is attacking the city walls. Run! The first line of defense won't hold for long. I'll take you inside the city."

"And you? What are you planning to do? Will you go out of the city to fight them?" At this moment, Charlotte showed her awareness as a princess and asked seriously.

"No, we have received orders that we will not go out of the city to fight until the first layer of defense is breached; we will defend the city walls."

Charlotte knew that this was an order from the King to the Omniscient Knights, who were the core fighting force of Lucert. She hadn't expected that when the enemy was at the gates, these Omniscient Knights would still think of hiding. An uncontrollable anger surged in Charlotte's heart: "Are you really going to just watch Esgard be engulfed in flames!"

“I didn’t want to either, but it was an order. The King must have his reasons!” Sivan grabbed Charlotte’s wrist. “Quickly call Mother, pack your things, I’ll take you to a safe place, and then—”

Sivan paused for a moment and then said, "I will go to the city wall to meet the enemy."

The anger that had filled Charlotte's heart suddenly vanished. She suddenly realized that not only was the country about to fall into a deep tragedy, but her brother was also about to go to the battlefield. He would be facing the terrible Seven Nations Alliance on the battlefield. Suddenly, a feeling of worry and tenderness welled up in Charlotte's heart.

“I…I also have extraordinary powers, and I will go with you,” Charlotte murmured.

“Don’t joke around! If you die, who will take care of Mother?” Sivan shouted.