Chapter 80: Vol1 Ch80: Three years of war

Translator: La0o9 Editor: La0o9

With Negary’s involvement, the war gradually leaned towards Interkam and the vigorous counterattack began.

Under Nala’s lead, the lost territories were reclaimed little by little, causing Interkam who nearly had their spine broken to burst with renewed enthusiasm and vigour.

The nearly-ruined country of Interkam was once again rejuvenated, and Nala’s name of ‘Saintress of Salvation’ was becoming more and more legitimate day by day.

The war was also becoming crueller day by day. Among the land that they reclaimed, quite a few of the nobles who used to own them were already dead. If you make enough military contributions in battle, then those who were originally peasants could become knights, while those who were originally knights could obtain peerage and their own territory.

Meanwhile, Royas’ side was even more dedicated to the war, because they had no other choice. Under the pressure Eldridge had placed, these nobles barely had any rights and authority remaining. If they couldn’t win this war, then the only choice left for them was to launch a rebellion on Eldridge.

The counterattack began and continued for three years, the devastation and intensity of which was significantly greater compared to the seven years before that.

…

This was a long staircase with stone lampstands lining on both sides that housed orange flames within them. At the end of the staircase, there was a huge black stone statue that depicted a humanoid creature. The creature had both arms extended upwards as if begging for something, or perhaps embracing something.

The stone statue was facing away from the staircase, while a person was staring at the back of this stone statue as if pondering something.

Even when there were noises coming from the stairs behind him, the man didn’t pay any attention to it and simply continued to stare at the stone statue. His face was a little blurred, but if someone focused on him, they would feel that he gave off a natural sense of pressure, followed by a feeling that he was born to be above them. As if the only thing that they should do was prostrate themselves at his feet.

If the people of Hale saw this man, they would find his existence to be similar to the God within their perception, he was like an abyss that no matter how much one tried, they would never be able to tell his true depths.

“Your Majesty, Klee County—-” two men in uniform appeared from the bottom of the stairs, both of them had heavy expressions on their faces. Quite obviously, the situation of Royas today had made them concerned.

“I already know” Eldridge interrupted the two. It was simply the loss of Klee County that was reclaimed by Interkam, even though Klee County was one of the few territories originally belonging to Interkam that they still had left.

This stone statue in front of him was called the Statue of the Last God. It was the root of Royas. The ancestral spirit ritual of Royas and the potion of the Last God he developed, both came from this stone statue.

“What a hopeless world we live in” Eldridge said with a sigh. After several generations of accumulation, it was he who managed to obtain more information from the Statue of the Last God. It was information from the Statue of the Last God that shaped Royas into what it was today, but it was also what was causing Eldridge to slowly step towards his destruction.

For example, the truth about the collapse of the First Empire. The First Empire was called the Age of the Gods. At that time, among the three gods born from the first flame, except for the Giant that created all things from his body, the New Deity and the Progenitor Dragon still remained in this world. Both the Divine race and the Dragon race were not considered rare.

Unfortunately, the majority of the Divine race and Dragon race then abandoned this world. It could be said that, from the perspective of this world, the New Deity and the Progenitor Dragon were both sinners. It was their abandonment that led to the first eruption of the Black Abyss and caused the First Empire to perish.

If the Last God, which was this statue in front of him, had not appeared together with a few other heroes who stood up to save this world, then the world itself might have already returned to the Black Abyss.

The price to pay for salvation was that the Last God turned into the statue that he was today. Furthermore, now that the Black Abyss had become turbulent again, who are they going to rely on if there was only one Last God? That fake God from the Church of Divine Grace? Or the ghouls in Sacred Valley?

Perhaps Negary, who has caused me countless troubles, might be qualified to do such a thing. But that entity would definitely not do that, even if this entire world fell to ruin, he would not do such a thing.

“Who’s their leader?” Eldridge asked.

“Nala Tagula” his two subordinates replied in a deep voice.

“I understand, you may step down” Eldridge nodded and continued to stare at the stone statue.

Eldridge’s attitude was causing his two subordinates to feel more and more puzzled day by day. With his majesty’s greatness, in the past, he would have already arranged layers upon layers of preparations so that even the so-called Saintress of Salvation wouldn’t even get a chance to resist.

But in truth, ever since the appearance of that Saintress of Salvation, Eldridge had not left this place, nor did he send down any orders. For the last three years, it had been them who dealt with every official business, big or small.

“Saintress of Salvation, hah hah” Eldridge simply grinned.

She is indeed Salvation, just not for a mere country.

He stared at the Statue of the Last God and fell back into contemplation.

…

“Your Excellency the Princess, please hand over the command to Sir Rhys Laval and come with me back to the capital to receive further orders” the herald coldly said and caused a disturbance in the barracks.

“This is a decision made by both His Majesty and the Grand Dukes” the herald continued.

Nala was currently donning her armour with the dragon scale sword in her hand, compared to three years ago, she had matured considerably.

She glanced around herself, the nobles and knights who followed her were displaying anger and confused expressions on their faces, but some of them had also lowered their heads in shame.

Rhys was not blinded by the right to command. He understood very well what was happening right now, it was nothing more than the country’s own power struggle. At this point, Interkam had already reclaimed the majority of their lost territories, leaving at most one or two battles left.

As the Saintress of Salvation who had saved Interkam, Nala’s prestige had reached a terrifying degree, enough to cause a few people to lose sleep. Seth the First was certainly one of them, but they also included the very aristocrats who supported her to this position in the first place.

Wasn’t it Eldridge’s prestige that allowed him to completely oppress every single force including aristocrats within his country? Well, the current Nala had a level of prestige that surpassed Eldridge’s prestige in Royas at the beginning of the war.

If she really took the throne, the power of aristocrats in Interkam would likely fall to a historical low. If these people were able to sit still while Interkam fell to ruin for the sake of their aristocratic rights, it was natural that they wouldn’t sit still and watch as Nala continued to develop her forces and prestige.

Naturally, Nala’s character could be vouched for by all of her subordinates and the people she had met, but there was still the Church of Divine Grace who placed her onto this position in the first place. Not to mention her devout believer of a mother, these were all factors that could affect her.

Therefore, victories under Nala’s name could not be allowed to increase. Meaning, recalling her to the capital to act as a mascot was the right choice to make. This way, Nala would only be the leader in the early stages of the counterattack, while it would be Rhys who truly completed the counterattack.

Even if Rhys didn’t want to admit it, he was still a member of the nobility, he could support Nala’s ascension to the throne, but he could not allow Nala become the puppet of the Church. And this was also part of the noble’s consideration.

Although Nala was simple, she was not stupid. This command was jointly issued by the majority of those in power within the country, she couldn’t resist it, nor did she plan to do so.

“Be careful of Seth the First. The other domestic nobles might still hope for you to take the throne, but Seth would surely try to do something about it” as Rhys took over command and became the new Marshal, he whispered that to Nala. The only thing he could do right now was to take good control of military power for Nala’s sake.