Chapter 98

The capital of Lortheran.

Before news of the upheaval in the north could spread, the Papacy and the Royal Palace were the first to receive it.

Sylvain stared silently at the hastily written letter, but after putting it down, he summoned a magic circle.

The magic circle's runes lit up, then shifted several times before finally settling on an unfamiliar combination. Sylvain watched quietly, then raised his hand, and the runes vanished.

If Dragon were in Phoenix, he would definitely try to dissuade Veris, but since the matter is already settled, there's no need to dwell on it anymore.

Sylvain took out a pen, pondered for a long time, and then wrote the first line of text on the letter paper.

The idea that the land cannot be altered, ultimately stemming from the prophecy of the Earth God Ambrose, certainly has some merit. However, currently, only a continuous mountain range has appeared in the north, suppressed by Veris's magic circle, gradually altering the terrain over the years. The benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

It's beneficial for the people of Phoenix, but the downside is that new problems may arise in the future. The mountains are sparsely vegetated, and the seabed silt is prone to collapse, causing sandstorms and rocks to fly south, which is probably not a good thing.

The cold front will inevitably flow into the Demon King's Forest and down the Western Sea.

The ports in the northwest may need to be relocated.

Sylvain wrote page after page, down to the smallest detail. Veris may have considered these things, but not necessarily in great detail.

Meanwhile, inside the royal palace.

Upon receiving the letter, Lortheran nearly jumped out of his chair.

Veris is so ruthless!

Standing beside him, Ethan looked blankly at Lortheran, whose expression had changed drastically, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Lortheran slammed the letter on the table, stood up, frowned and thought for a long time. He felt that the Phoenix matter was not urgent for the time being. Now that the army was preparing to march south to attack Anga, it was better to plan this matter first.

He looked up at Ethan and smiled, "Ethan, I'll take you for a walk in Anga."

Ethan's skin was several shades darker than the noble little prince he used to be. Seventeen-year-old boys grow fast, and in just over six months, his height had increased dramatically, and the lines of his skin had become increasingly defined.

Upon hearing this, the young man immediately understood Lortheran's intention and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, my uncle and I will go, but you absolutely must not go!"

What if the people of Anga resort to dirty tricks?

Ethan's expression was serious.

Lortheran waved his hand dismissively: "It's alright. Let Garcia stay at the palace. You've been training in the army for so long, it's time for you to see the outside world!"

Before Ethan could persuade him further, he enthusiastically invited Ethan to tame the animals.

Beast taming is a training method developed by Lortheran, allowing non-beast tamers to tame beasts and then rapidly grow stronger through battles of wits and courage with magical beasts... though they will end up getting beaten black and blue by the beasts.

Ethan's face immediately turned green, but he didn't dare to argue with Lortheran and obediently followed the old man.

Ever since a teacher stirred things up a few months ago, Lortheran replaced all the teachers around him. According to convention, the crown prince should receive a dual education in both academics and martial arts, and Ethan's initial teachers were also selected according to this standard.

After the incident, Lortheran felt that those writers were not chosen by him after all, and they were too talkative, so he replaced them all with a wave of his hand.

Ethan had six military instructors, but only one literature teacher—the old prime minister. The old man was quite old, with gray hair and a faltering gait, yet he still had to teach literature and law, so Ethan naturally had the utmost respect for him.

In three months, Ethan transformed from a sentimental little prince into a dark-skinned, strong and robust crown prince.

Although he still has a heart that yearns for literature.

At the end of June, Veris returned Prince Phoenix's head.

The royal envoy arrived in Phoenix, bringing with him a massive amount of supplies from the capital, and the church provided fervent assistance.

In July, Lortheran's army besieged northern Angah, but Angah continued to resist. Lortheran, along with Ethan, led a small force of five thousand men north overnight. At dawn, Lortheran's longsword beheaded Angah. In the Duke of Angah's study, they found evidence of his communications with Salem and Phoenix, including some old letters related to the Mercury rebellion the previous year.

The entire nation was shaken, and Lortheran's prestige reached its first peak.

The draft for currency reform has been completed.

In August, the various guilds in District 11 established their structures, and the Warriors' Guild and the Pharmacists' Guild successively issued announcements to enhance the level assessment of warriors and pharmacists.

Mercury was named District Twelve, Milford City was named District Thirteen, Salem was named District Fourteen, Phoenix was named District Fifteen, and Angara was named District Sixteen.

The remaining counties, with the southernmost port of Wilde quickly surrendering and being renamed District 17.

The remaining counties remained inactive, but a dark cloud hung over them, and everyone was on edge.

The army of Lortheran entered Daventry.

At the end of August, Daventry was renamed District 18.

The Papacy is calm, but a new storm is about to begin—the selection of the next archbishop is about to commence.

Once the candidate is selected, they are secretly trained, which takes several years.

The sweltering heat of July and August passed quickly, and September brought the general election for District 11. The election was directly related to the academy's training program of the previous years, so it was still limited to District 11.

At the end of September, the general election was completely over, and new forces poured into the administrative agencies of the 18 districts, with some of the old guard being promoted and others being dismissed.

Lortheran's army returned to the capital.

After a long period of silence, Griva completed his first full-length novel.

He and Clark traveled south from Daventry, through Edenburg, the former town of Milford, and then into Mercury. In the house that Veris had once bought in Mercury, Griva wrote the last line of this long masterpiece.

After further revisions and editing, the book was sent to the Papacy for review by the Holy Son. In December, with the help of the Church, various chambers of commerce in the eighteen districts began to promote the novel.

A busy year, a year of tremendous change, has quietly passed.

On the first day of the new year, Lortheran announced the revocation of the right to mint coins, initiating a currency reform that shook the continent.

The following day, Lortheran announced reforms to the political system, establishing a Tripartite Parliament, electing members, and retaining the monarchy.

On the tenth day, the remaining anxious counties united in rebellion.

In January, the Lotheran army was reorganized, with Prince Garcia as commander-in-chief and Crown Prince Ethan accompanying the army.

The Papacy dispatched nearly two-thirds of its magicians, with Clark and Uther accompanying the five great magicians.

The newly minted eighth-tier mage, Murphy, requested to accompany the Holy Son, and the Holy Son granted his request.

In January, the entire continent was still shrouded in the chill of winter.

At the northernmost tip of the continent, a continuous mountain range is shrouded in a light golden magic circle. The climate, so different from that of the rest of the continent, allows the vegetation here to take root and sprout rapidly.

The vast wilderness south of the mountains has much richer vegetation, but it's still snowing, and everything is a white expanse, so you can't really see anything.

Veris stood on a mountain, looking down at the endless snowfield, and sighed.

I thought I could go to the Demon King's Forest after staying for half a month, but before I knew it, another year had passed.

To regulate the climate, care for the vegetation, and improve the land, this mountain range was destined not to be lush with vegetation. Veris also brought in plants with extremely large root systems from some deserts and planted them in the mountains.

It was a completely new experience for him. He used to just trim flowers and plants, but this was the first time he had ever studied the relationship between soil and plants so carefully.

He didn't feel anything amiss being alone in these desolate mountains.

Sylvain would often come to see him, and the two of them would squat beside a withered plant, wondering why the grass had died again.

Every time Sylvain came, he would tell him about the changes on the mainland.

Veris listened attentively, then nodded.

However, he was more concerned about something else.

“Your divine status is still unstable, Sylvain,” Veris said with great concern. “Perhaps we should put aside our official duties for now.”

Sylvain remained silent. He was aware of his own problems. Of course, he wanted to stay with Veris forever, but the disordered memories were a ticking time bomb. Humans are easily affected by their physical and emotional state, and he was afraid that he would hurt Veris.

“Do you know what it’s about?” Veris asked, looking at him.

Sylvain whispered, "The Demon King's Forest is acting strangely; be careful."

Veris frowned. He remembered that Sylvan was the progenitor of the demon race. If Sylvan's unstable divine status was related to the demon race, then it would make sense.

The memory distortion did not affect his handling of official duties. No matter what state Sylvain was in, he knew how to handle official matters after reading them once.

Moreover, their mutual friend Lortheran tearfully pleaded that Sylvain absolutely had to stay calm—no, the Church absolutely had to stay calm, because this was a critical time.

This crucial period may last for a few years, or it may last for decades.

Veris now lives in a cabin deep in the mountains. Over the past six months, he has traveled throughout the mountains and carved a huge magic circle. With this magic circle, the mountains will become what he imagines they will be able to withstand the cold.

Sylvain would come to him, sometimes to his close friends, sometimes to his adopted son who depended on him, and sometimes to the most unfamiliar and slightly stressful...an ancient deity.

However, he had only met the god Sylvain a few times. The other party was very talkative, and he rarely saw Sylvain being so talkative, but he was still very happy.

After all, they've lived for so long, they might be going stir-crazy.

In March, the winter snow melts, plants sprout new life, and tender green shoots emerge from the once barren fields.

The white-haired youth put on his hat, draped a half-shoulder cloak over one shoulder, revealing a long striped shirt and brown trousers underneath. A black belt accentuated his lean waist. He folded the cuffs and then put on black gloves.

Sylvain brought him a new ninth-tier magical beast, which was said to have been caught from the dragon enclosure.

His originally beautiful face underwent several changes, eventually settling on a handsome appearance.

Her hair has turned back to black, but it hasn't been trimmed in a while and has grown to her waist.

Sylvain said he liked it, so he simply didn't cut it back to the original length.

This magical beast can change its form and is as docile as can be. As long as it doesn't become food, it's willing to do anything!

Isn't it just a means of transportation? It's going to be the coolest means of transportation!

East of Phoenix lies the Demon Forest.

The spring wind was still strong, blowing her long hair wildly. Veris raised her hand and slightly lowered the brim of her hat. She walked through a forest, and a desert came into view. Beyond the desert lay the Demon King's Forest.

Looking north from the desert, the silhouettes of the Stone Forest can be faintly seen.

This place isn't exactly deserted; it's a gray area.

Veris, riding his magical beast, naturally attracted a lot of attention. Both overt and covert gazes were assessing the young man's strength and whether he was capable of robbing him.

Even though it only takes a few hours to get out of the desert, it still takes several hours.

That monster doesn't look like something you'd want to mess with.

However, the young man's clothes didn't look like those of a poor person; they were clean and tidy, and he must have something valuable in his pocket.

Soon, some people couldn't wait to make a move.

But before they could even get close to Veris, a terrifying pressure descended. It was a demon who made the move. Humans always like to think things through before they act, but demons don't care about such things.

This oppressive aura was clearly directed at the demons, because the other humans present were too frightened to react to what was happening, and the demons were all kneeling on the ground, trembling and not daring to make a sound.

"Boom!"

The sound of the monster running and the ground shaking could be heard.

The terrifying pressure was drawing ever closer.

Veris raised his eyes and looked at the Demon Clan's Grand Protector, who was swaggering towards him.

The other party had distinctive features of the demon race: medium-length purple hair, black demonic markings on their face, and ears that were different from those of humans, resembling the pointed ears of elves, but with curved tips.

Frodien hung a row of silver rings on his ears.

On the day he argued with Duke Serinfini in the capital, Florin was captured by the High Papacy and imprisoned for a day before being released. He received some news from the demons and decided to return to his hometown.

Sigh, my backward hometown!

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Author's note: This is the start of a new dungeon, probably the last one, or the second to last one (heart emoji).