stjorthotic Chapter 685 - 684: Intelligence in the Mist
Chapter 685 - 684: Intelligence in the Mist
In the brightly lit study, the ruler of the Typhon Empire and the uninvited guests of the night confronted each other in silence.
During the past hour, Emperor Rosetta Augustus had come to know the boldest, most hidden, and most insane plan in this world—the limit of mortal ambition, leaving the emperor speechless for an extended period.
"In the face of a millennium-spanning plan, any temporary failures and setbacks are insignificant. This point shouldn’t be hard for someone with your vision to understand," Fyrna & Lelena’s voice finally broke the silence, "Emperor, do you doubt the authenticity of the ’defied Plan’?"
"Before discussing its authenticity, I’m more curious why you came to see me," Rosetta stared at the Elven Twins before him, "Are you eager to find a new investment target?"
"Should we have approached Gawain Cecil instead?" Lelena chuckled, "There aren’t many visionary leaders, and apart from Gawain Cecil, you are the only suitable choice."
Fyrna spoke up immediately: "Emperor Rosetta Augustus, heir of the Augustus bloodline, this isn’t the first time we’ve interacted. We know the kind of mad shadow you and your family are confronting..."
Lelena took half a step forward: "Two hundred years ago, the collapse of the old imperial capital allowed your ancestors to witness things mortals shouldn’t have peered into. Those twisted, insane knowledge permeated the Augustus Clan’s bloodline, but you also glimpsed some truth about this world..."
Fyrna followed in Lelena’s footsteps: "So, with a little thought, you will realize that everything we say is true, and understand that we ought to be natural allies."
The Elven Twins stopped in front of Emperor Rosetta’s desk, revealing identical mirror-like smiles, speaking in unison: "You need to combat the madness brought by the gods; we need new allies. We have mutual needs."
Rosetta looked at the twins and slightly raised his hand: "Step back."
The Elven Twins immediately returned to their original positions: "As you wish."
"According to you, the defied Plan is a secret plan of the Gondor Empire, directly controlled by its royal family. So how do you two elves relate to this plan?" Rosetta’s expression was as calm as deep water, seemingly unshaken by the elves’ persuasion, remaining full of vigilance and skepticism.
"The defied Plan is indeed a legacy of the human empire, but not only humans were involved—it required considerable Druidic knowledge, and the silver elves are the source of most Druids," Lelena responded frankly, "We were secretly recruited scholars by the Gondor Empire, serving it a thousand years ago. Seven hundred years ago, the chaotic wave temporarily interrupted our work, we had to return to the Silver Empire temporarily. It was the birth of the Oblivion Association that made us realize the mission wasn’t over—we returned to the mission until today."
"As elves of the Silver Empire, you served Gondor without disclosing the secret of the defied Plan to your motherland?"
"...Elves aren’t suited for extensively contacting the defied Plan; we have our reasons."
Rosetta gazed at the Elven Twins in front for a full half minute before slightly looking away: "The birth of the Oblivion Association... Seven hundred years ago, what did the leaders of three dark sects actually see on Ancestral Peak?"
Fyrna and Lelena exchanged a glance before speaking simultaneously: "If your ancestor saw a fragment of the puzzle in the old imperial capital collapse, what the three sect leaders saw on Ancestral Peak was the complete puzzle.
"They arrived at the kingdom of gods, witnessing the birth and destruction of gods—also seeing the essence of gods and their inevitable demise.
"A thousand years ago, Gondorian scholars believed the gods were gradually approaching insanity, which would lead to destruction in the mortal world during the final stage. But they actually got one thing wrong—the gods never gradually approached insanity.
"Back when mortals began to think, the gods were already insane."
Rosetta did not speak immediately but pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "I’ve heard enough of these ancient ambiguous fables. Let’s talk about something real—what happened on the Plains of the Holy Spirits? What did the Oblivion Association do, and what did those of the Cecil Clan do?"
"We left Anzu before the great decisive battle, so I’m afraid we can’t provide overly detailed intelligence, but we do know some things—" The Elven Twins replied, "The Oblivion Association created an artificial god, but this artificial god was insane from birth, and those of the Cecil Clan... They destroyed this artificial god in the White Sand Dunes."
Rosetta’s eyes instantly became sharp and profound, contemplating before slowly asking: "An artificial god? How strong was it? Did the Cecil Clan have the capability to annihilate such an artificial god? What was the cost they paid?"
"The artificial god was a counterfeit, but its power still surpassed any mundane being you know, and as for the Cecil Clan... It seems they had allies assisting them, but we’re not yet aware of who their allies are."
After brief contemplation, Rosetta nodded, leaned back in his chair, his voice indifferent: "I understand—this conversation is over."
This time, maintaining a confident expression, the Elven Twins finally couldn’t help showing a bewildered look: "You don’t intend to accept our cooperation?"
"Have I ever said I’d accept?" Rosetta glanced at the two elves with a faint smile, "Indeed, your words are quite enticing, but you made one mistake—"
The Elven Twins exchanged a glance and, in unison, asked: "Which mistake?"
"I don’t cooperate with evil cult followers—you’re not qualified."
"Then, earlier..."
"That was just leverage," Rosetta slightly raised his right hand, "now, it’s also leverage."
The elven twins finally sensed the formidable magical power secretly accumulated by the Typhon ruler. Their expressions changed instantly as countless poisonous vines sprung up from the floor and walls, stabbing like arrows towards Emperor Rosetta Augustus behind the desk, while they themselves were simultaneously enveloped in green light, transforming into little nightingales within the luminescence and darting straight towards the nearest window—
A series of explosive sounds suddenly erupted in the study, countless splitting arcs of electricity spread out from Rosetta, instantly burning the poisonous vines into ashes. He then waved his hand at the two nightingales, and arcane barriers congealed like crystalline walls, blocking the elven twins’ escape route.
The two nightingales simultaneously emitted a melodious yet chilling call, invisible ripples resonated in the air, hindering the closure of the arcane barriers. Magical energy surged, creating layers of sparks jumping around the study, amidst the sparks, a slender shadow slipped through the gaps between the arcane barriers and disappeared into the busy night outside the window, while another shadow was captured by the magical cage formed by the arcane barrier, thrashing left and right before falling to the ground.
Rosetta Augustus finally stood up from behind the desk, surrounded by the leaping arcs of electricity, stepping over the still-smoking ground of the study. He came to the fallen nightingale, looked down at it expressionlessly: "Catching one isn’t bad..."
However, as soon as his voice fell, the nightingale suddenly twisted and trembled, and was quickly engulfed and consumed by a glow, turning into particles of light scattering in the wind, disappearing completely in front of Rosetta within seconds.
Rosetta watched this quietly, until the magical reaction of the nightingale completely vanished, he then whispered to himself with a hint of musing: "The so-called ’twins’... turns out it’s just one person... rather interesting."
A slightly chaotic footsteps sounded from the corridor, the study’s door was pushed open from outside, several court guards and a court mage dressed in a purple starry robe appeared before Rosetta. These late-arriving guards saw the mess in the study, their expressions turned exceptionally colorful. The leading court mage hesitated for a moment, then gathered the courage to ask: "Your Majesty, here..."
"A visitor arrived late at night, unfortunately, she didn’t want to linger," Rosetta waved a hand, signaling to the guards not to be alarmed, "Clean up, it’s all trivial."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Rosetta Augustus nodded slightly, then his gaze swept over the nearby bookshelves and walls, landing on the map not far away.
He looked at the border between Typhon and the "Anzu Kingdom."
Anzu’s royal power has ended, perhaps this map should be updated.
...
At the Typhon border, within Winterwolf Fortress, Andresha Wendell withdrew her gaze from the battle map.
Longwind Fortress and Winterwolf Fortress stood off at a distance, separated only by a plain. The "peace agreement" between the two nations was still in effect, its Mithril counterpart stored within Winterhold Castle at the center of the plain, yet a tense atmosphere continued to brew in that stand-off zone.
Longwind Fortress was increasing its troops, Winterwolf Fortress was also increasing its troops, both sides’ border forces had expanded nearly double within just one month. Their respective recon forces were interspersed within the control area and buffer zone. Various intelligence personnel were working hard to infiltrate towns and villages near the border, no one openly provoked the situation, but all were silently doing the same thing—an ironic "tacit understanding" was established between the stand-off parties, and more ironic than this "war tacit understanding" was that cross-border trade activity continued as usual, even expanding in scale recently.
Andresha was a military general, but not one without wisdom. She could read much information from the trade orders circulating within her controlled checkpoints. The expansion in order volume and merchants’ activity indicated two things: First, Anzu’s vitality wasn’t severely damaged in the previous war; they still had the capability to buy and digest a large amount of goods. Second, the Cecil Clan had completed its control over the Eastern region, hence merchants bearing the Cecil insignia appeared in large numbers in the Eastern and Typhon checkpoint areas.
The young Wolf General couldn’t help but rub her brow, easing the mental pressure building up, and then the knocking sound timely came from outside the room, interrupting her thoughts.
"Come in."
The door was pushed open, and a young knight walked into the room.
"General, there’s new intelligence," the young knight approached Andresha, saluted, then crisply reported, "Another force of about two thousand troops has entered Longwind Fortress from the northwest direction. This troop is bearing the insignia of Mountain Corps, but the leading commander is unknown, not our familiar person."
"Another two thousand added..." Andresha frowned, "...Wasn’t their Mountain Corps heavily damaged? Where did they find so many supplementary troops..."
The knight adjutant had followed Andresha for many years, and was himself an experienced officer. At this moment, he voiced his speculation: "Perhaps they’re just northern private soldiers posing under Mountain Corps banners; Anzu is bluffing."
"Using low-quality private soldiers to masquerade as elite troops... perhaps there’s such possibility, but it doesn’t matter; even if they rally all those private soldiers for appearances, the numbers are ultimately limited. Their supplementary troops should no longer have more," Andresha shook her head, "However, His Majesty’s command is not to take the offensive before clarifying the reality, in order to avoid falling into a trap. We still need to ascertain Longwind Fortress’s specific military power before taking action."
The knight adjutant looked at his superior, hesitated for a moment before he couldn’t help but speak: "General, do you think we’ll fight at all this year?"
Andresha glanced at the young man: "Do you want to fight?"
"Of course," the young knight immediately raised his head, "Winning honor on the battlefield is the knight’s duty—besides, we are the Winterwolf Legion."
Looking at this earnest subordinate, Andresha couldn’t help but feel somewhat sentimental.
With His Majesty’s new policies deepening, a large number of small aristocrats in the empire were affected by the new policies. The traditional life, reliant on land tributes, had become unsustainable, so these small families focused on military merits—building achievements on the battlefield was, under the current empire policies, the best way to maintain the family and acquire wealth. Thus, a large number of lower-born small aristocrats like the young knight before her joined the military.
Of course, the rising magical industry in the empire now provides another path for small and medium aristocrats to return to glory. However, investing in emerging industries requires not only courage and foresight but also basic financial and networking abilities, a path not suitable for everyone.
"I want to as well," Andresha gathered her thoughts, exhaled lightly, her mind unwittingly flashing her father’s face, "Don’t worry, this war will eventually break out."