Chapter 873 Avalon's Second Legion

April 6th, Avalon.

Isabel sat quietly in her study, looking through the letters that had been sent back.

"That's really interesting."

She flicked the letter with her fingers and chuckled, "What do you think, Sir Hermes?"

As early as a week ago, Isabel sent a letter to Xingti expressing her intention to make an "official state visit".

However, Xingti did not respond to this news immediately.

Although Avalon and Star Antimony are separated by the ocean, this does not easily affect the transmission of information.

Because international correspondence of this magnitude is always delivered through the church. The Candlestick's apostle, "Winged Flame," is passionate about mailing items for others, and letters delivered by the apostle and carried by the church ensure maximum security. Therefore, there's no chance of a letter being lost or a letter being mailed but not yet arriving.

After such a long time, Xing Ti didn't reply...but he replied immediately after the Theocracy started recruiting soldiers yesterday.

But Isabel was neither angry nor upset, she just had a smile in her eyes and a relaxed demeanor.

Her eyes grew brighter, and she already possessed the calm demeanor of a monarch.

"They are afraid, Your Majesty."

Mycroft Hermes said without looking up.

He was wearing a thin sweater and a white shirt, sitting opposite Isabel, sorting documents slowly and methodically.

Compared to last year, this man who was as fat as a seal is now obviously two sizes thinner.

On the one hand, it was due to exhaustion... On the other hand, it was also because of this reason that his adaptability to the Twilight Path had weakened. That obviously abnormal "steady and solid obesity" was largely due to the inertia caused by the overflow of his adaptability to the Twilight Path.

After all, neither he nor Sherlock's father or mother, nor any other members of the family were fat. And Mycroft himself was quite self-disciplined, and there was no sign of him having any habit of gluttony or alcoholism.

He had become so obese because his Twilight Path adaptability had exceeded his current energy level—a typical case of Path loss of control. Not all loss of control causes a person to go insane or transform into a deformed monster. Becoming obese was a milder form of loss of control.

Now, as his workload gradually increased, Mycroft's Twilight Path's adaptability also deteriorated.

The fat on his face had receded a lot, and he could already see some of Sherlock's shadow. He was much more handsome than before, and had become a man. Compared to Sherlock's thin young man image, Mycroft's face was still square, and he had a calm and upright aura.

He exhaled, stood the documents upright, tucked them gently on the table, and put them away, then said slowly, "It's obvious that the Theocracy's... little tricks scared them.

"Originally, they might have had some concerns about your visit, Your Majesty. But now that the Theocracy has begun recruiting, they dare not refuse your visit. Or rather... they desperately want you to arrive at Star Antimony as soon as possible. Preferably before the elves arrive."

Mycroft looked at the Queen's guards in the corner of the room, chuckled and asked, "Do you think I'm right?"

"Although we don't know why the Church suddenly lifted its neutrality and resumed conscription..."

The oldest of the Queen's guards replied casually, "But since it was a joint decision made by His Holiness the Pope and the cardinals, it must be correct.

"Those humans should have replied. It's a courtesy. Besides, the ruler of that country right now isn't the king, but the queen mother. For them to reply after hearing about the Theocracy's conscription...it seems ridiculous. As if the Theocracy is recruiting soldiers to punish them."

"They're not qualified!"

Another elf, who looked much younger than Isabel, laughed and said in a clear voice, "That's far from enough! My instructor once said that if the elves ever raise a Paladin Legion again, we will definitely be fighting against the enemies of the world."

"Indeed," nodded the Queen's guard, who appeared to be in his thirties and had the most mature aura. "If the Church wants to clean up the fragmented Herasil, there's no need to recruit soldiers. Those Imperials always think too highly of themselves—even when Herasil was at its peak, there's no way His Holiness the Pope would change the traditions of the Church for this."

"Based on my understanding of the church, this is most likely to combat enemies at the level of apostles or even celestial ministers. Lifting neutrality early is simply to prevent confusion and fear among the people at a critical moment, allowing them to adapt in advance."

She was the oldest of the guards, so she never had a clear and distinct understanding of the Star Antimony, but she did know a lot about the Empire. She always felt that it was actually still part of the Helasar Empire... She didn't even know how many parts the Helasar Empire had split into, or what their names were.

"Since they are so anxious, let's not rush for now."

Isabel didn't correct her, but leisurely folded the letter. "Let's set the date for a week from now. Let's give them some time to dry out. Besides, Aiwass plans to go there first to do something... so as to avoid causing him trouble."

Now that she has a child, her work style has become noticeably more stable.

After Aiwass merged with Aleister and took off the Holy Crown, Aiwass was able to meet Isabel again in the dream world.

Knowing that Aiwass was safe and well, Isabel finally felt relieved.

Through communication in the dream world, Isabel also learned of Aiwas's plan.

Aiwass planned to travel to the Narcissus Principality to reunite with his mentor. Master Chongbo had already sent out a call for archaeologists a long time ago. Isabel had already sent Aiwass's archaeology mentor, Bud, there, and Aiwass should be on his way by now.

It is said that the ruins contain the remaining power of the Celestial Master, and Aiwass is quite concerned about it.

However, as one of the very few dual-path fifth-level powerhouses in the world, Aiwass will definitely be fine.

What's more, Aiwass said that a cardinal would accompany him this time.

"But it's normal for Xingbi to be panicking," Isabel said casually to Mycroft. "I heard there was something going on over there... a white tide?"

"Yes, a kind of undead disaster. It's said that Valentine VII died without a proper funeral, so he resurrected. Some also say he became the Earthly Apostle of the Winter Division... after all, he's related by blood."

Mycroft nodded. "It hasn't spread yet, and is only affecting a small area. The undead transformed by the former king have a special characteristic... they don't lose much of their original extraordinary abilities, and they retain almost complete sanity and memory.

"I think this is another kind of Moon Child—a cold Moon Child. Perhaps it can be called the Winter Child? Hehe..."

Mycroft smiled as he spoke.

If this had happened in Avalon, he would have been incredibly troubled—the previous Queen, filled with resentment, had risen from the ashes and transformed into an undead spirit, vowing to return to the capital and seize power. And her actions had involved killing everyone else and transforming them into intelligent undead like herself. This matter was a matter of considerable difficulty, and no matter how it was handled, it would undoubtedly give rise to criticism...

But since it happened on Star Antimony, Mycroft was happy to watch the fun.

He knocked on the table and asked Isabel, who could communicate privately with Aiwass, "I heard that this was a conspiracy of the Ziggurat? They wanted to fight against the Red Phase, so they upgraded the Winter Girl to the Winter Master. Now that the Red Phase is dead... What does the Ziggurat say now?"

"The Ziggurat doesn't intend to deal with this matter. They intend to cut ties with the Winter Maiden to a certain extent."

Isabelle actually knew about this. She spoke directly, "On April 9th, the Ziggurat will rise from the ground and fly to Avalon. I've already prepared a place for them to stay... directly in Eagle Point Village. They'll love Eagle Point's deathly aura and the power of dusk... and the Wild Hunt will form a barrier to prevent any undead spirits from entering the mortal world."

This was something she had discussed with Aiwass.

Mycroft was astonished. "If I hadn't asked, you wouldn't have told me, my Lord!"

"Because in the short term, there's nothing to deal with. Most people won't know the Ziggurat has arrived in Avalon, and there's no rush to recruit students. We don't yet have a sufficiently complete environment to accept necromancy... I had the Glass Steps newspaper subtly influence public opinion last month, but it will take a few special events before people are willing to coexist with necromancers."

Isabel smiled, quite proudly. "I am also doing something, Sir Hermes. Not everything depends on you."

Mycroft shook his head.

A little helpless, yet a little relaxed.

"Oh, there's one more thing—"

Isabel suddenly asked, "Do you know the 'Second Legion'?"

As we all know, there is only one Griffin Legion of Avalon.

Mycroft nodded hesitantly, then shook his head, and said tactfully, "I can know, or I can not know."

"Don't be afraid, Sir Hermes."

Isabel said readily: "It is not a bad thing. That is the man Ligeia pulled out of me.

"The people inside include Haena and David. After Haena became a royal guard, David, who had previously been a warrior, also regained his new class on the Path of Transcendence at the end of the month—'Black Knight.' Aiwass said he'd long wanted to embark on the Path of Transcendence... and now he's finally satisfied. Compared to the Demonologist, this class suits him better."

Mycroft, of course, knew what the Black Knight was—

That is a new profession opened up by the anti-Heaven boss "Lanmalok".

That was truly their "ancestor" - although they were not from the same family, after so many years, they could at least be considered relatives.

"I'm planning to form a brand new legion. The age of warriors has arrived, and we can't just rely on air cavalry. And the Black Knights, a class that transcends the Dao, have the opportunity to transfer to Ligeia's class. I'm planning to recruit a larger group, and since the end of the month has already passed... the first batch of Black Knights should have appeared by now."

Isabel smiled and said, "Can you help me, Sir Hermes?"

"...Then which department should these Black Knights work in?"

Mycroft realized that a large amount of work was approaching and covered his forehead in pain.

"Let's go with the Inspectorate. Compared to the Inspectors, whose abilities and personalities lean towards discipline and surveillance, the Black Knights, who are obsessed with revenge and justice, are more suited to overseeing power itself... and are also more suited to doing things that shouldn't be done publicly."

Isabel narrowed her eyes slightly. "As Avalon's paths become increasingly diverse, so too will the diversity of voices. We certainly hope that people will no longer be constrained by the constraints of the past, unable to freely express their own paths... but we also don't want those who have been bewitched or bribed to mingle among the crowd and cause chaos.

"As the paths become more diverse, society will become relatively freer, but also more chaotic—both Herasil and Xingbi have proven this.

"The people of Avalon are also Hellasir, and we have the opportunity to restore Hellasir's glory. But at the same time... we must also be wary of Hellasir's fall.

"'Using copper as a mirror, one can adjust one's attire; using history as a mirror, one can understand the rise and fall of things; using people as a mirror, one can understand gains and losses' ... That's what Edwards said to me."

Isabel said calmly, "Although it's difficult, it's the right path. So we have to take it, but we can't walk it carelessly either. We have to walk it carefully—the right path means difficulty, because nothing in this world is easy."

After staring at Isabel for a long time, Mycroft suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and laughed out loud.

For a moment, he seemed to see the shadow of the old queen in Isabel...

This little princess... no, this young queen is growing up so fast.

It's only been a few months.

“…That’s really fast.”

Mycroft murmured.

I feel a little melancholy and a little touched.

Update completed! Chapter 2 of nearly 4,000 words, the cat is exhausted (lying down)

I started to feel sleepy after taking the cold medicine... I want to take a day off tomorrow to rest while there are no serious interruptions yet!

I'll take a day off tomorrow!! (loudly)

(End of this chapter)