Chapter 18: Omens of Unrest
Time goes back to when Beichen had just left Elysien.
West Wind and Agard, with the Night Cavalry, marched into the territory of Arcadia with the support of a highly respected general from Arcadia.
Leading troops into another country, even if the two countries were allies, was a highly sensitive and dangerous undertaking. Both men acted with extreme caution, probing the general several times through their words. During the march, Xifeng also quietly left the group several times to investigate for any suspicious forces or traps nearby—ultimately, it seemed he had discovered that Arcadia's peril was genuine. The general, clearly frustrated by their reserved attitude, was eager to reveal his true feelings and convince them that he truly needed help.
So, the two men began to march faster. However, to avoid being caught, they also tried not to issue orders that would give others an opportunity to exploit. Before every march, they would check with the general for confirmation, which made the general internally complain: "I can't mobilize your Night Cavalry. Can't you be more proactive? Why do you always consult me? Aren't the Night Cavalry best at hunting and fighting non-human enemies?"
In fact, Xifeng and Yagad were also anxious.
But unlike Beichen, they still held a certain wariness towards the Queen of Arcadia, Ringdir. The Queen of the Underworld, Ringdimia, was unlikely to deliberately harm Beichen, but whether she would drag Elytheon down with her country in times of crisis was hard to say.
Only Beichen would send reinforcements so seriously. If it were other more slick kings, they would probably send them over, then shout slogans on the outskirts of the battlefield, fight for a while, then complain about the lack of food and casualties, and take advantage of the situation to fish in troubled waters, and finally withdraw the troops without any losses - winning is the best, the other party owes you a favor, losing - the other party is seriously injured, wouldn't that be even better?
Of course, since it was Beichen's order, they would complete it thoroughly.
Although Beichen's actions were not very tactful, it was precisely because she did not lose her original sincerity even after becoming a king that Xifeng stayed with her until now.
As for Yagard, Xifeng didn't know - it should be said that no one could see through this man's thoughts. I'm afraid even Beichen didn't know what he was thinking.
The army gradually moved to the outskirts of the central battlefield. On the eve of the most important battle, the army camped in a desert to rest, and Xifeng, who had completed the deployment, had nothing to do and ran to Yagad's tent.
When I walked into the tent, I saw Yagard staring at the map of Arcadia on the table, as if he was thinking about some marching strategy.
"Why? Is there anything else you haven't considered?"
Xifeng took a few steps forward.
"No, just one last check. There shouldn't be any problems."
Yagard scanned the map one last time before closing it and throwing it into the storage space.
"Is there something you need from me, Lord Xifeng?"
"... Just West Wind. You hold a higher position than me in Elysion, right? Why do you always use honorifics for me?"
Xifeng, who was wearing a military uniform, also had the characteristics of a soldier in his bones. After being called by Yagad with a respectful title for a long time, he finally couldn't help but complain.
──In Elytheon, Yagad is not only the commander-in-chief of the Night Troopers, but also serves as the king's national advisor──In other words, if anything happens to Beichen, he is the one who has the most say and can even replace the king. Xifeng, Gu Yinyue and Lahan are the generals of national defense (but there are differences in their ranks, Lahan is slightly lower), Yaye leads the army of the fallen dark race, Atlas, Black Disaster and Sujie serve as the commanders of Beichen's guards (although they often absent themselves from work so the poor deputy commander is actually the one who takes the lead), and Xiang Ying just came back and has not had time to be assigned a task.
From this perspective, Yagad wasn't Beichen's closest friend, but he was the one she subconsciously trusted most with, trusting her with everything she'd worked so hard for. Of course, her choice wasn't wrong. Yagad's ability to manage political affairs was unmatched. Originally, when he was in charge alone, his brutal and ruthless methods might have sparked resentment. But now, with Beichen, a soft-spoken figure, as a buffer, the intensity was just right.
Beichen also doesn't mind the term "puppet regime" at all.
Most of the military officer positions in Elysien were filled internally, while most of the civil service positions (except for Prime Minister Xiao Peng) were filled by attracting talented immigrants with generous treatment. This created a somewhat amusing situation - the civil service officers did not understand the queen and her knights, and made a lot of jokes.
Soon after the state began to stabilize, several immigrants who had passed the examination and entered the political arena, self-proclaimed astute civil servants, saw the vast manpower and resources that Argad could mobilize in Elytheon, and immediately, in their own cleverness, turned their attention to currying favor with Argad. The result was predictable—they were tied up and thrown into Beichen's presence, where they were recounted in a stern tone all sorts of disloyal words and deeds. Beichen was left in a state of confusion: "Weren't you a corrupt official? How did you suddenly become so honest?"
Yagard's expression immediately changed: I am now loyal to my real master, how could I possibly embezzle the money... But Miss Beichen was right in reminding me, it is actually a good idea to accept some bribes to enrich the national treasury. Since they are so willing to open their wallets, it is a good thing to accept them.
So Beichen fell silent, and Yagad became a corrupt official again. However, those poor guys who were released by Beichen and had chosen the wrong horse were frightened. After they exaggerated his words, many civil servants did not dare to show their favor to him casually. Instead, they became more upright than each other, for fear that they would be caught by Yagad - as a result, this time, the corrupt official got nothing.
People also learned that although Agard had absolute power, he could actually be considered the queen's lover (?), so what belonged to the queen belonged to her, and what belonged to him belonged to the queen, and in the final analysis, it still belonged to the queen.
"It's normal for me to use honorifics for you, because you are very important to Miss Beichen. You must be treated as a noble person by me. It has nothing to do with your military rank."
"Anyway, just call me Xifeng. Not only me, but that woman Beichen too. It's been two years, and you're still speaking in such a strange tone. Your precious witch will be depressed."
Sure enough, when Beichen was mentioned, a hint of confusion appeared on Yagard's expressionless face.
"...I don't quite understand, but since you've said so, I'll call you West Wind."
"Um."
Xifeng nodded with satisfaction, then changed the subject:
"Maybe tomorrow we'll face that humanoid possessed Moon Envoy. What do you think of that strange thing?"
“…”
Yagad was silent for a while, and finally answered in a low voice.
"Maybe it has something to do with the Red Tower."
"'Red Tower'? I've heard Beichen mention that term before. ...But isn't that thing related to the Red Moon? The humanoid Moon Envoy possessed by the Moon should be related to the Poison Moon, right?"
"But he's undergone a transformation into a weapon, so it's hard to say."
Xifeng raised an eyebrow:
"Come to think of it, I've been a little curious before. You don't seem to know much about Chiyue?"
The knight did not refute, but nodded.
"We have communicated through our consciousness, but that was before Miss Beichen was chosen to become a priestess. Chiyue has taught me a lot of knowledge and also given me some special abilities, such as how to suppress my desires and emotions, as well as the activation chip for the Chiyue armor."
"But Chiyue didn't even tell you the crucial truth? You still don't know why you were chosen as Beichen's knight?"
"Yes."
"...You simply accepted this mission and served Beichen wholeheartedly without resistance?"
This time, Yagad did not nod immediately, but fell silent and did not answer.
It was not until Xifeng became impatient with the strange atmosphere in the tent and was about to leave that the knight slowly spoke.
"My loyalty is not to the mission... but to Miss Beichen, who rescued me from this 'mission'."
"What's the meaning?"
But until the battle was over, Agard did not answer this question.
The battle on the second day went smoothly.
Maybe it was due to good luck, but the reinforcements didn't encounter the humanoid Moon Envoy, and they took great pains to defeat the violent iron ghosts one by one. Although it took some effort, the casualties were very small due to the combat experience against behemoths accumulated over the past two years. By the evening of the fourth day, the crisis in Arcadia was completely resolved.
Lingdir was probably very busy, so he just sent a prime minister to express his gratitude with spirit crystals, and also gave some money and property as compensation and thanks. Xifeng and Yagad didn't care much about these things. They were anxious to bring the army back to the land of Elytheon - there were still hidden dangers from Youyu there.
After the problem was solved, Arcadia of course released the people readily, so Zephyr and Agade led the army back without stopping. On the other hand, there had been several small disturbances in the palace of Elytheon.
It all started when Glen She lost the Soul-Killing Sword.
Because using the Soul-Killing Sword consumed a lot of physical strength, Glenshe simply used Beichen's room as her own dormitory and slept there for several days. Except for eating and washing, she hardly went out. Not only did she create gossip such as "the queen and her brother's illicit and tragic love story", but she was also supporting Beichen. After all, if the king of a country leaves his own land, it is indeed a great opportunity to cause trouble.
However, after waking up one day, Glenshe immediately discovered that something was wrong - the Soul-Killing Sword he had always carried with him had disappeared.
The chief of Tuling tribe immediately knew that something was wrong, and he gathered all the reliable people as quickly as possible - Heihuo, Sujie, Gu Yinyue, Xiaoping, Li Ye, and Atlas - and then somehow, Xiaxue, who happened to have just returned from the capital, also came to join in the fun.
"The loss occurred between yesterday evening and now. I confirmed it once before."
Glenn She didn't waste any words, but just gave the time when the knife was lost.
Black Fate frowned. "First of all, the most bizarre question is, who could have taken the knife from you? Even if you were asleep, with your acuity, it would be very difficult to get within three meters of you without being noticed, right?"
Glenn She nodded:
“Yes, I do have that confidence.”
"But that only applies to humans, right?" Xiao Peng said, "If someone used some spirit crystals that could eliminate auras—or a Fallen Dark Seed weapon…"
"As long as it's human, I can detect it even if it uses spirit crystals. However... I forgot to be on guard against the Dark Seed... It was my negligence."
Glenn She admitted his mistake honestly, but because the lost item was too important and no one thought that anyone would touch the knife, and Glenn She was sleeping in Beichen's room which was guarded by three layers of defense, no outsider could get close to him, so no one blamed him at all. Everyone's mind was on who took it and how to get the knife back as soon as possible.
"No matter what, the Soul-Killing Sword must be recovered immediately."
Xiaxue, who always seemed to be relaxed and at ease in the face of everything, had a particularly serious expression this time:
"Otherwise... unimaginable consequences may occur."
Hearing Xiaxue say this, the gloom in everyone's hearts grew even greater.
"Xiaxue, what do you mean?"
Xiao Ping stared at the black-haired, golden-eyed man with cold eyes—he already had a bad feeling.
Xiaxue was the culprit who led Beichen to touch the black card, which more or less catalyzed the fact that she was occupied by the projected personality. Of course, Xiaxue knew Glenshe's identity and thought that this was a good opportunity to kill Chiyue in one fell swoop, so she added fuel to the fire. Her original intention was to help Beichen and his party.
Xiaxue, who knew the whole story, of course knew more about the working principle of the Soul-Killing Sword than anyone else.
"The Soul-Killing Sword doesn't actually kill souls, but rather transfers the personality of the person being attacked... into the sword."
As soon as these words came out, everyone took a deep breath in silence:
"In other words..." Su Jie lowered his head, his eyes icy as he stared at the ground. "Beichen's projection is actually still alive... and is sealed in that knife?"
"right."
"Then the motive is obvious." Li Ye bit his nails lightly, "Someone wants to resurrect the real Red Moon Priestess."
Gu Yinyue concluded solemnly: "The most important thing is who this person is."
"Of course it's someone who knows the truth about the Soul-Killing Sword."
Xiaxue spoke, a dark and cold light flashing in his eyes.
"Besides me, maybe it's Su Mo..."
"Sure enough." Gu Yinyue punched the wall, making a heavy thud. "So this is their trick. Yizhi's arrival is just to divert our attention?"
The room fell into an eerie silence.
Just then, there was a knock on the door of the conference room.
"Master Xiaoping, the search results are out."
Xiao Ying immediately walked over and opened the door. A Fallen Dark Warrior walked in and saluted everyone.
"How about it?"
"We haven't found the whereabouts of the Soul-Killing Sword, nor have we found any traces of suspicious people entering or leaving the palace. It's just..."
As Du'anzhong spoke, he glanced at Gu Yinyue and paused.
"But we discovered something else during the search. ...Ms. Fang Ai's room... We found a blueprint of the imperial palace in an envelope, as well as the location crystal for the 'Homecoming' spirit crystal—in other words, someone could directly reach her room through 'Homecoming'."
After Du'anzhong finished speaking, everyone in the room turned their attention to Gu Yinyue.
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