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

“We must contact the others and let them know about the fire. Where are the others?” Joan of Arc asked.

“I know where they are, but…” Aurelion, who was usually decisive, hesitated.

“We can’t hesitate any longer, Commander.” It was Jeanne who cast a determined look at Aurelion. “We must go see them now! Before the first barrier is breached!”

Aurelion looked intently at Joan of Arc: "Very well, then let me gather everyone together."

*

The Imperial Palace, headquarters of the Omniscient Knights.

"What did you say? We can't even launch a counterattack?" Enzo slammed his fist on the table, furious. "We're just going to let them attack for nothing! Without fighting back?!"

The knights below trembled and said, "My lord! It's not because we don't want to, but because..."

"Enzo, don't make things difficult for him. He's already made himself very clear," Cilio said calmly.

"The entire city is shrouded in this damned fog. The enemy has clearly come prepared. This fog not only renders the Omniscient Stone ineffective, but ordinary spiritual energy also cannot penetrate it. It's as if the enemy has blinded us with this thing, turning us into blind people. How can we launch a counterattack when we don't even know where the enemy is?"

Syrio looked out the window: "If it were a battle between two armies, we wouldn't be able to see the enemy clearly, and the enemy wouldn't be able to see us clearly either. They wouldn't be able to do anything to us. But who told us to let the enemy attack our stronghold? Esgard doesn't have long legs after all. The enemy can just close their eyes and pour artillery fire over the city. They don't need to worry about whether they can hit the target."

"Can't we just drop bombs on the places where the enemy is firing?" Enzo was still unwilling to give up.

“We’ve tried… but our artillery fire disappears into the fog, and we can’t tell if we’ve hit the enemy. It’s like fighting an underwater enemy. We’re worried that this is just a waste of ammunition.”

The news made the atmosphere in the meeting room somber. Although Lusset had excellent ranged troops, it was like an archer who, no matter how skilled, was useless if he was blind.

"I summoned you all here not to discuss this matter." Suddenly, the conference room door opened, and a man in a dark gold robe walked in, with Joan of Arc and Lydia beside him.

“Aurelian? Shouldn’t you be at the city gate right now? What happened? And Joan of Arc, what are you doing here?” Enzo asked.

Aurelion didn't answer him, but instead looked around the conference room: "Is everyone here?"

Apart from Aurelia, all the captains and high-ranking members of the Lusset Knights have gathered here.

"Aaron hasn't arrived yet, he..." Enzo seemed hesitant to speak, as the Obsidian Knights had the fewest members in the entire conference room.

“I can’t wait for him any longer.” Aurelion gave Joan a look, then stepped back, letting Joan take his place.

The knights in the conference room were all taken aback. Most of them recognized the girl, Joan of Arc, the saint who had recently become famous in the city.

Joan of Arc stood before the high command of the Knights without flinching and said loudly, "Before that, I would like to introduce someone to you."

At that moment, the conference room door opened, and a man in a white coat walked into the conference room.

“Dr. Jerome?” Aguirre recognized him; as one of Lucert’s most renowned scientists, many people had met him.

"Your Highness, it's been a long time." Jerome seemed somewhat uneasy.

Then Joan of Arc and Jerome told them about the fire from the heavens, and how Joan of Arc had discovered it.

At first, they found it unbelievable, but with Jerome corroborating their story, they were already half convinced.

“I witnessed what happened next with my own eyes, and I can attest that what they said is true.” Aurelion stood up for Jeanne from behind, and since the captain had spoken, no one in the Blazing White Knights questioned it.

As for the Obsidian Knights, Jeanne had been a regular member of the Obsidian Knights since she was thirteen. Almost everyone in the Obsidian Knights knew Jeanne, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they had watched her grow up. Naturally, they believed Jeanne's words.

The most silent group was the Omniscient Knights. Several years ago, the Obsidian Knights betrayed the king, and Joan of Arc was the one being hunted down by the King. Therefore, the Omniscient Knights did not fully trust Joan of Arc, and since they were the most supportive of the king, they remained silent after hearing Joan of Arc's words.

They are also Lusset's most important fighting force. Joan of Arc came here hoping to gain their support, and the opinion of the Omniscient Knights will ultimately depend on the Knight King.

"Is there anything that can prove it?" asked the All-Knowing Sword.

"Have."

Joan of Arc took out the monster's head and, in front of everyone, bombarded it with her spiritual power. Everyone saw golden flames ignite on the monster's head, and then it exploded in the air with a bang.

Although the explosion wasn't very powerful, they had just heard Joan of Arc's explanation, and since everyone present was a highly skilled knight, they could tell that this wasn't an ordinary explosion. Just as they had described, it was caused by Joan of Arc's spiritual power being ignited.

Chapter 97 Choice

People were looking for Aaron everywhere. Letters were flying to his door like snowflakes, and every few minutes horses' hooves trampled past Aaron's house, frightening the old man next door. The knights searched for him like madmen, but they couldn't find him anywhere.

When the war broke out, Aaron didn't go anywhere; he went to Aurelia's house as usual.

This place isn't exactly secluded; it's one of the villas in the Aurelia Sanatorium. To maintain its privacy, the villas are kept very private, and only a few upper-level residents know about it.

Although the war broke out earlier than he expected, it did not affect what he wanted to do next.

Aaron took out a bottle of wine from the freezer as if he were in his own home, then took two clean glasses, poured one for himself and one for Aurelia, and then drank his own glass in one gulp.

Everyone else was in a panic because of the war, but here they were still so quiet. He even had time to have a drink, which felt surprisingly good.

"The palace was sealed off from the very beginning of the war. Everything could only leave, not enter. Only one order was issued: hold the city gates," Aaron said softly, hearing footsteps upstairs.

Now he was somewhat disappointed, realizing that he still had faith in the country.

Now that disaster is imminent, even the birds in the forest should consider flying away separately.

“Yes, I already know,” Aurelia said calmly.

Aaron was suddenly stunned, because Aurelia had tied her hair up, but not because of that, but because of her clothes.

Over the years, when Aaron met Aurelia, she was basically dressed like a Lucerne woman. Her image would not look out of place in a department store. The scene Aaron saw most often was her wearing a casual sweater and long skirt, holding a coffee and warming herself in front of the fireplace. He would never have guessed that she was the most powerful person in the country.

Only occasionally could one see her dressed in a formal gown, adorned with shimmering epaulettes, attending various events. Aaron vividly remembered this scene, as it was when she was the leader of the Knights.

But her current attire is different from before. She has tied her hair into a ponytail and changed into clothes from her younger days, a smart women's military uniform, just like when Aaron first met her.

“I also received the news, so I had no intention of going to the meeting at all,” Aurelia said with a smile. Even though she had only changed her clothes, Aaron thought she looked much younger.

What are you planning to do?

“I’m prepared to gamble my entire political career, built up over thirty years, by disobeying orders,” Aurelia said with a smile. “When I was young, I was a very rebellious person, fearless and daring.”

She then calmly said, "But it's also because I'm about to die, so I'm trying to gamble on something before I die. I think this is the last worthwhile thing I can do. Afterwards, everyone can just blame me."

A surge of anger welled up from the depths of Aaron's heart, followed by a pang of sorrow, because this time Aurelia was telling the truth; she really was dying.

It is common knowledge that Aurelia's health is poor, but the exact extent of her condition has never been definitively determined. Occasionally, Aurelia can be seen attending events, where she appears to be in good spirits, suggesting that her health may be gradually improving.

But in reality, for many years, Aurelia had been a dying person. The king had been using medicine and technology to keep her alive. Every month, Aurelia had to undergo a painful blood transfusion to stay alive. This was a technology that only Lucretia possessed, and it was extremely expensive. Only people of the rank of captain could afford it. Sometimes, Aaron would also thank the king for his secret experiments. It was the results of these experiments that had kept Aurelia's life hanging by a thread.

Even with the most advanced technology, extending a person's lifespan by ten or eight years is already the limit. Now, Aurelia is dying. In fact, it's not easy to keep her alive for so many years. Now, Aurelia is like a withered tree, unable to squeeze out any more vitality.

Although Aaron also became a powerful figure in the country and possessed extraordinary power that shocked the Knights Kingdom, he was unable to do anything for Aurelia or change her death.

In the very end, Aurelia still intended to do something for the country with her own life, completely disregarding the infamy she would bear after her death, and dedicating everything to the kingdom.

"Let's put everything else aside for now, what do you think of me in this outfit?" Aurelia asked.

"It smells like a wardrobe." Aaron turned his head, unusually behaving like a child, even his voice was muffled.

Aurelia said helplessly, "There's nothing I can do. It's been in the closet for a long time. If I hadn't kept remembering it, it would have been thrown away when we moved."

“But it’s actually not bad. You were wearing this outfit when I first met you,” Aaron added.

Aurelia was taken aback: "Is that so? I don't remember this at all."

Aaron chuckled self-deprecatingly and said nothing. What you think is important may not be remembered by others. This is common. People sometimes think they are very important.

“But I do remember what you looked like when I first met you,” Aurelia said.

"Was it because it rained heavily that year?" Aaron asked.

"Yes, it was raining heavily at the time, it was pouring down, it felt like the end of the world, but that's not why it left such a deep impression on me."

"Is it because I came from a casino?"

"Ah."

Their first meeting was indeed at a casino. Aurelia was not the kind of person who usually went to casinos, and she strictly forbade her subordinates from doing so. At that time, Aurelia just happened to be passing by the casino when a torrential rain started pouring down, which is why she witnessed that scene.

She saw a man stagger out of the casino. Judging from his movements, she knew he had lost all his money. This was nothing new; it happened every day in Asgard. Logically, Aurelia should have cursed him as a gambler and turned away. Gamblers shouldn't be pitied.

What distressed Aurelia was the man's age. The boy who came out of the casino was only nine years old. Aurelia saw a nine-year-old child stumble out of the casino with a blank expression on his face, as if he had lost all hope and exhausted all his life force.

Aurelia was stunned. It was raining heavily, and the world was pitch black. The only sound was the patter of the rain, with only the occasional flash of lightning illuminating the pale world.

Even though Aurelia had taken shelter under the eaves, the wind continued to whip raindrops onto her clothes, and at the moment the rain started, everything living under the sky was desperately trying to avoid the rain.

But when pale lightning occasionally flashed across the sky, only the nine-year-old child wobbled along in the rain. He looked like a person who had lost all vitality and aged prematurely. Aurelia watched with a heavy heart as he slowly moved from the road to the park bench. Once there, he seemed to lose all his vitality and slumped onto the bench. For a long time, his body remained motionless, like a dead man, letting the rain soak him. Occasionally, lightning would flash from the sky, illuminating only a corpse. His soul seemed to have been ripped away, and soon his body would slowly melt into the bench.

It's impossible to describe how Aurelia felt when she saw that scene. Even though she was already in a high position and had seen a lot in the world, she had never seen such profound weariness and despair in a child, as if he had lost all hope. He was only nine years old. What could have caused a nine-year-old child to fall into such a state?

Her feelings gradually turned into concrete actions. Just as she saw someone about to fall off a cliff or into the water, Aurelia walked over without thinking and held the umbrella over the nine-year-old boy's head.

"What's your name?" Aurelia asked in the rain. Because the rain was so heavy, she had to shout so the boy could hear her. The boy opened his eyes with difficulty and looked at her weakly. Later, Aurelia learned that Aaron couldn't speak at all. He couldn't understand or speak Lucerne and knew nothing about this strange world.

Because he had just transmigrated from another world, he was an orphan. He had neither a system nor any cheat codes, and he didn't know anyone around him. All he had was a little money that the original owner was desperately clutching in his hand.

Later, Aaron told Aurelia that his reason for going to the casino was that he owed a large sum of money. Ironically, he had just transmigrated and knew nothing, yet a group of menacing-looking people used their physical actions to make him understand that he still owed them money, and that this debt had a deadline; if he didn't pay it back within the specified time, they would come back.

After the group left, Aaron stayed in the place he had traveled to for a long time, but he realized that if he continued like this, he would either starve to death or be beaten to death. So, having nothing left, he decided to take a gamble and, in a fit of rage, went straight to the casino.

Whether it was luck or misfortune, although many things in this world were different from his original world, the only thing they played in the casino was the same. The games they played in the casino were the only two things Aaron could understand in this world. The decadent atmosphere of the casino deeply attracted him, so Aaron decided to take a gamble, since he would die anyway if he didn't gamble.

At first, Aaron's luck was surprisingly good. He won several rounds in a row and quickly amassed a large amount of chips. The sudden surprise made Aaron almost believe that he was the chosen one. Perhaps the gods had sent him to this world so that he could enjoy life, and what he had just experienced was just a small trial. Later, he realized that it was all just his imagination. Soon, his winning streak turned into a losing streak, and he lost all the money he had. He was truly penniless.

But just when he was at his lowest point and had nothing left, the luckiest thing in his life happened: he met Aurelia.

Aurelia discovered that Aaron not only couldn't speak but also had a high fever. She immediately took him into her arms and brought him back. For Aurelia, saving Aaron was no different from saving a small animal, but for Aaron, Aurelia saved his life.

Aaron didn't remember much after the fever. Afterwards, Aurelia gave him food and a warm place to live. When she discovered that he couldn't speak, she began to teach him to speak and also taught him various common sense about this world. Aurelia gave him everything, things that couldn't be described in words. Aaron reciprocated and became Aurelia's loyal follower. If she said one thing, he would never say another. When she became the leader of the Knights, he became the third seat of the Knights.

In truth, now that things have come to this, Aaron feels he owes Aurelia a great deal. He didn't even have time to do anything for her, and now Aurelia is about to die.

“Now is not the time to bring these things up,” Aaron said, calming himself down.

Aurelia shook her head: "Aaron, you're not actually from this world, are you?"

Aaron suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with undisguised shock as he looked at Aurelia.

This was almost his biggest secret. He hadn't told anyone about it and intended to take it to his grave, but he never expected it to be revealed in this way, and by Aurelia no less.

"When..." Aaron's throat was a little dry.

"Actually, I noticed it the first time we met. A nine-year-old child living in Esgard who can't speak a word of Lucerne, don't you find that strange?"

“At the time, I thought you were a foreigner and that you could use that as an excuse. But you didn’t even know a foreign country, your understanding of the world was almost zero, and you couldn’t even say where you came from. You were like an alien, weren’t you?”

"When...did you find out...?"

"I knew about it a long time ago, but at that time I only suspected it. I gradually figured it out later."

“Don’t you think… I’m weird?” Aaron said.