Chapter 869: Star Antimony Can Be Divided Infinitely

The meeting place of the Rosicrucian Society has always been secret, and not everyone can be gathered for every meeting.

Their meeting mode is very special - when a senior leader decides to call other people together, he will first call four people, calling them "my cross guardians", and inform them of the time and place of the meeting, as well as the theme and importance of the meeting.

And each person who is summoned will summon up to four people from the association list, and each person who is summoned will summon up to four people... and so on.

Eventually, someone will be told their address by multiple people at the same time, and someone will definitely not be told their address.

That's someone who is deemed untrustworthy by those currently attending the rally—or at least someone no one is willing to vouch for.

——On the other hand, anyone who can appear here at least shows that they are trustworthy.

But Master Walter's words pointed out very clearly that there must be a traitor among them.

Walter's sharp eyes scanned the surroundings.

There were only twelve of them, the lowest being at Level 4. All those who knew the secrets of the Tail Ring ritual were here; all the remaining Level 5 transcendents within the Rosicrucian Order had already gathered here.

There are four people in total.

—Ms. Marcia, Master Walter, Miss Sprengel, and Dr. Levikühn.

In other places, four fifth-level transcendents would be enough to form a country. Even in today's Xingtan, they already account for more than half of the fifth-level powerhouses!

With the deaths of Earl Dawn, the first Red Prime Minister Pomponazzi, Valentine VII and Lady Emma, ​​plus the two who were taken away after the split of the Narcissus Principality... and the two inside the Spirit Tower, they may leave the fifth energy level of Star Antimony at any time.

There are only nine fifth-level transcendents left in the entire Star Antimony.

You have to remember that at this time a year ago, Xingti still had a full seventeen fifth-level experts, the most of any human nation. But in just one year, that number had been halved.

Among them, if we remove General Karl, who is no longer a Transcendent, the two from the Royal Alchemist Association, the one from the Red Castle, and the Master of Amber who is nowhere to be found... even if we add General Karl and the newly promoted Minister Lalo, the Demonology Society can only mobilize a pitiful six fifth-level powerhouses, which is already at the same level as the talent-poor Avalon next door!

The worst thing is that their black and red phases can no longer protect the kingdom...

We were on the verge of rebuilding the brilliant and glorious Hellasr Empire...how did it become like this?

"We are the only ones who know about the Tail Ring ritual."

Looking at the gloomy atmosphere among the crowd, Master Walter spoke again and emphasized: "There must be a reason why the Theocracy suddenly made such a big move.

"The Theocracy cannot allow a sixth-level transcendent to appear elsewhere. That would undoubtedly destabilize the world's balance—and this generation's Pope is human. Power is inherently intoxicating, especially since they're from Avalon. There's no doubt they're coming for us. Their goal is to stop the Tail Ring Ritual."

"What should we do then?"

Masalacia, an elderly woman with white curly hair as white as snow, said unhappily, "Are you going to stop? The ceremony hasn't officially begun yet, so we still have a chance to regret it."

“—It’s no use.”

Miss Sprengel simply smiled and shook her head, denying the situation. "The Tail Ring Ritual has been in preparation for almost a year. The outer ring ritual has already begun, the inner ring ritual will begin in four days, and the summoning will be complete in another month. Foreign Transcendents have been gathering since the end of last month—it's clear that there's no stopping them now."

"Miss Sprengel is right, ahem…"

Dr. Levitra coughed. "Now... cough, I can't stop. If we stop... I can't explain it to the others..."

He was a frail man, wheelchair-bound and wearing glasses. His thighs were even thinner than a normal person's arms. His skin was sagging, but a faint purple light permeated his eyes. A faint shadow lingered around him, making his presence seem much smaller than that of the others.

In fact, Dr. Levitra was also the most unsociable among the Rosicrucians, and not many people were willing to get close to him.

Because the fly demon in his body is the evolved form of the rift demon, the demon that people who commit the sin of gluttony will turn into after death.

The rift-mouthed demons possess an insatiable hunger, but their gaping mouths allow food to leak out, making them a rare group of demons that continually attack humans. If they "adapt" to this state, they may evolve into the adaptable higher-level demons known as fly demons.

Dr. Levitra's body decayed, his pale, flabby skin filled with fly eggs. These flies, carrying deadly diseases, were his alter egos, and through the swarms of flies, he could also gather his consciousness. Wherever he appeared, he would silently take the lives of others... Even his colleagues were wary of him, after all, no one knew whether he had already sown the seeds of disease.

If he hadn't been invited this time no matter what...I'm afraid he wouldn't have been at this party.

Compared to the others, Dr. Levitra was more of a pure scholar. He was too weak to be a fifth-level person, as if he could die at any moment.

"—don't cough on me, Doctor."

Master Walter frowned, showing clear displeasure.

Normally, he wouldn't be so rude to his friends.

He looked a little tired and his beard was unkempt - everyone else basically knew why.

Master Walter's only daughter, the spoiled, rebellious one who had now degenerated into the Son of the Moon, failed and died in the promotion ceremony last night.

Generally speaking, Moon Children possessed stronger vitality. Even if the ritual failed, or they were seriously injured or died, they wouldn't necessarily die completely upon returning to the real world.

In fact, he had some doubts about whether the person who killed Andrea was the promoted Lalo and the Princess Royal. Given their distance, it was entirely possible that they had participated in the same promotion ceremony. Master Walter had already sent people to warn Andrea, but she was clearly unwilling to obey Master Walter's orders.

The Red Keep currently has only one Fifth Level, the head of the Chamber of Secrets, Lady Blood Diamond. This means the next Fifth Level will surely become this generation's Red Prime Minister and the person Louise trusts most.

As the current ruler of Star Antimony, Louise will definitely not participate in the promotion ceremony. Therefore, she will most likely encourage the other Moon Children stuck at the fourth energy level to attempt to advance... The Serpent Father's influence on the world's transcendental consciousness is now extremely strong, and the energy level increase and promotion ceremony are much simpler than before, and will become even simpler over time.

Although Andrea has become the Child of the Moon...she is dead in a sense.

But she is Master Walter's only daughter after all——

On the one hand, he knew that "it was just a monster that stole his daughter's body and memories", but on the other hand, looking at that face and hearing that voice would make him cry. Whenever this happened, he would understand why Valentine VII was bewitched by Queen Louise.

So Master Walter couldn't help but tell her the secret - future promotions will become easier and easier.

Unexpectedly, this news sparked a rebellious spirit. Or perhaps, Andrea was eager to advance now because it would be easier to advance later...

And Dr. Leviqun certainly knew where Master Walter's anger came from.

"Sorry... cough..."

He did not argue with Master Walter, but nodded slowly while coughing, politely turned his head away and covered his mouth with his hand, and then continued coughing.

Seeing that Dr. Leviqun ignored him, Master Walter felt as if he had punched cotton.

He stared at Dr. Levitra for a long moment, then finally looked away.

He abruptly changed the subject: "So what should we do, everyone? Vote.

"How many of you want to stop the ceremony? Raise your hands."

Out of the twelve people, only two raised their hands.

Both of them looked to be over 50 or 60 years old, and only one of them was at the fifth energy level, and that was Ms. Marasia.

"That means there are ten people who want to continue the ceremony."

Master Walter nodded: "Then the ceremony will proceed as normal-

"But we can't afford to lose anyone else. We need to trick someone from a foreign transcendent into serving as a sacrifice. This matter..."

"Let me go," Miss Sprengel said suddenly.

The words of this senior surprised Master Walter.

But he readily agreed: "I'll trouble you, Miss Sprengel."

Sprengel just smiled gently and didn't respond.

“…Cough, cough, cough…”

Dr. Leviquern coughed for a while and suddenly said, "I've actually been thinking of a possibility...

"Could it be that... the Tail Ring Ceremony was a scam from the very beginning?

"Just sacrificing one person can allow a group of people to advance to the sixth level. This is completely unfair. Even in terms of a 'ritual', this is too lenient..."

“I’ve actually thought about this.”

Unexpectedly, Master Walter did not say anything blunt like "There is no turning back" or "Things have to go on now", but he actually gave his opinion: "So we should be prepared for both situations.

"Let's see if the Tail Ring Ritual can be established first. If it can, then it's easy. If not...

"Then we can win over these foreign transcendents and offer them concessions. We have the support of the Ministry of the Army and many officials on our side. If that doesn't work...

"—We can also become independent, separate from the Alchemy Association and the Red Castle, and directly carve out a piece of land to rebuild a nation, creating a pure transcendent nation... As a paradise for demonologists, this is also a way. Including the four of us, there are already nine transcendents participating in this ceremony. Even if a few die in the process, we are enough to protect a country together."

"But how do you convince them?"

Ms. Marasia frowned, pushed up her reading glasses, and commented sharply, "Transcendents never yield to others—let alone those at the fifth level."

"So we just create a country without a king, just like the Iris people did."

Master Walter spoke.

This scared people.

Because the Church's primary protection was that "monarchs of all nations could not be assassinated by other nations," people never considered abandoning their monarchs. As long as a monarch existed, they could at least ask for the Church's help when their nation was about to perish.

Come to think of it... the Church is no longer neutral, so their principles of intervention must have changed as well.

In other words, "king" no longer has an irreplaceable meaning!

"Parliamentary?" asked Dr. Levitra.

“…It should work.”

Ms. Marasia thought for a moment, then raised another question: "But what about Lalo and the Princess in our hands? This is also a card, right?"

"Then we can do both. We can have a king, but he has no real power, just a symbol. Such a country can be called a country of transcendence. It's better than having no king at all, because we still have someone to transcend."

Master Walter spoke seriously, "There's also the Rose Tantra, the tantra passed down through our society. Miss Sprengel has already retrieved the Blood Tantra, which was previously loaned to the Noble Red Society, from Avalon. Whether it's the ability to seal a demonic incarnation within a person or to bypass a contract and kill one's contracted demon directly, these skills are certainly valuable to them."

"If we establish a nation, we must also find ways to make these two tantras technical and popular. They can become our core competitiveness."

"I think it's okay...but does the princess agree?" Ms. Marasia had no greed for the two tantric books, but just asked another question.

"She's very weak and will agree. Even the worst order is better than chaos, and even the smallest power is better than being a mere mortal. If the country truly collapses, the status of an exiled princess is worse than that of a commoner... She'll figure it out."

Master Walter said without hesitation: "Otherwise, why did I advocate saving her in the first place? Among the many children of the Seventh Generation, she is the easiest to control.

"Since everyone agrees, why don't we establish a nation first? That way, we'll have a bargaining chip to negotiate with those people. At worst, we can conquer them later."

"The city we now completely control is only about a quarter of the size of Star Antimony itself. Although small, I believe it's sufficient.

"Extraordinary power is the only true thing in this world. As long as we are strong enough, we can regain the land we have lost today. On the other hand, if we are weak enough, even if we have an infinite territory, we will still gain nothing."

"Then establish a country."

Ms. Marasia said decisively: "Go and tell the princess that we will establish the country on May 1st."

And now, on the other side.

Lalo was still sitting in front of the mirror, frowning and playing his instrument intermittently.

"Illusory blood..."

He murmured, his face showing a rare absence of frivolity, but instead an unusual seriousness.

This ability...

...Why does it feel like a trap?

On the one hand, it can satisfy his desire to "dedicate everything to Xingtan", allowing him to better directly interfere in the political situation without having to think about "how to make the monarch listen to him".

After all, the end point of "persuading the monarch" is "forget it, I'll do it myself."

And the eldest princess is full of desire to escape...this ability can fully satisfy two people at the same time.

No one would attack a monarch, and for this reason, there was no flaw in this transformation - he could permanently transform into the eldest princess for 24 hours a day, and then he would become the eldest princess herself.

Because of this... this ability, while satisfying my own wishes and resolving my own troubles...

It will also bring out the evil within oneself.

But if he keeps using the eldest princess's appearance...how is that different from usurping power?

But as the eldest princess said, she is now seriously injured and unable to move... She needs Lalo's treatment to gradually heal her soul.

She couldn't let anyone know about this, otherwise many people would want her to lie like this forever.

Therefore, all the "Princesses" who go out now can only be played by Lalo.

On the other hand...

...As long as the eldest princess dies, no one will ever know that this "eldest princess" is Lalo.

He didn't even need to kill anyone - he just had to do nothing and the soul-damaged princess would die on her own.

"What an evil power..."

Lalo played the instrument a few times and murmured to himself in the mirror: "Do you really want to see my ugliness? God who has no eyes and no self..."

I will never give in.

I will never yield to my inner desires—

"I bet you," Lalo murmured softly, "that my true heart is not twisted at this moment.

“No matter what happens, I will never be greedy for anything other than ‘me’…”

That ordinary mirror naturally didn't answer.

But Lalo saw himself in the mirror raising his head and revealing a strange smile.

——Who knows?

Lalo in the mirror moved his lips and said so.

Update completed! I'm exhausted, I'm going to have lunch...

Today is an update of 7,000 words, please vote!

(End of this chapter)