Chapter 27: Reactions from All Sides, Bayerzost Prophecy (Volume 1 END)

In the end, only about twenty Golems, in the best condition and carrying the wounded and various supplies, followed Yang Hao and the others as they left.

The Golems were controlled by the Ling tribe members who had not participated in the battle. Most of the Golems carried essential food and medicine for them.

They were now heading toward the Ling tribe village. The tribe members needed to reunite with those who had stayed behind, and Yang Hao and Teresa needed to collect their reward there.

The Ling tribe members who had fought earlier lay resting on the Golems’ backs, ready to switch out with their companions.

Narujia, stood at the front, directing her Golem to clear the path while also giving space for Yang Hao and Teresa, who seemed to want to speak privately.

Teresa appreciated her understanding, but now she was unsure how to start a conversation with Yang Hao. She was a bit confused. But she figured that they should discuss the now Golem- and scream-filled town of Kagard behind them, right?

“How do you feel now?” Teresa cautiously asked, avoiding questions about Yang Hao’s future plans.

After all, he had just vented his frustrations, and asking about his future plans now wouldn’t be helpful. It was better to ask about his current feelings.

Yang Hao simply nodded slightly, tightly holding Teresa’s left hand, and said, “Better than I expected. My sworn brother once told me that revenge is not the source of emptiness, but a necessary path. I think I feel quite good right now.”

“Quite good?”

“Because my future life isn’t just about revenge, Teresa.”

“Hmm.”

Teresa understood the implication.

It seemed there was no need to worry about this little puppy collapsing into a purposeless existence after his revenge was complete.

Teresa just smiled. Looking at the Golems and the Ling tribe around her, she felt a bit reluctant to part ways with them on the upcoming journey to the Elven Kingdom. These demon folk were much better than the humans of the Roman Empire. They seemed more human than the so-called “ignorant” demonkin as judged by the Romans.

She really didn’t know what to say.

She sighed and then asked a question that had been on her mind.

“When I mentioned having someone notify the military and the diocese to send troops to Kagard, Narujia gave me a terrifying look. She seemed worried that I was betraying you. What about you? Aren’t you worried that I might betray you?”

Teresa reflected on her actions and realized she had done something foolish.

Without informing anyone, she had independently instructed an enemy attendant to use divine magic to notify two forces fully capable of wiping them out to send reinforcements to Kagard.

If it weren’t for Yang Hao’s complete trust in her, others might have seen her actions as a betrayal.

But why wasn’t Yang Hao worried?

Teresa recalled Yang Hao’s past experiences, trying to empathize with his emotions. But doing so only made her feel her own distrust of those around her.

If she had experienced what he had, she would probably end up trusting no one. So why wasn’t he worried about her? Why did he trust that she wouldn’t betray him?

Teresa turned to look at her man’s profile. Noticing that this “bad puppy” was also looking at her. She shyly turned her face away, not wanting him to see her blush.

“Why should I worry that you would betray me?” Yang Hao asked.

“Huh?” Teresa was taken aback.

“Because if you wanted to do that, you would have done it long ago, right?”

“That’s true.”

Thinking about it, it made sense. If she really wanted to betray him, she could have done so already.

But still, this unconditional trust was somewhat troubling.

‘What must I do to feel worthy of this complete trust you have in me?’

Teresa smiled, entwining her fingers with his, and leaned gently against his shoulder.

Behind them, the church in Kagard Town was engulfed in flames.

Count Kagard, impaled on the cross, watched helplessly as his town was destroyed. Blood tears streamed from his eyes. If he could go back, he would never have pinned the massacre on the Regent King.

But now, it was all too late.

Kagard became the first county to suffer complete destruction since the founding of the Roman Empire.

This news, not only spread through the divine magic of the priest’s attendant to both the diocese and the military district but also quickly spread throughout the entire Roman Empire through the accounts of the few survivors.

Everyone knew that Kagard’s teleportation gate was no longer functional, but no one had anticipated that Kagard would be destroyed by a demon folk attack.

For a moment, even those idlers in the capital who spent their days complaining about how the former Regent King left behind a mess were stunned.

***

At midnight on March 1st, several survivors from Kagard were brought to the palace and urgently escorted to a court banquet hosted by the Empress’s uncle, Prince Garson.

The nobles, dressed in their fine clothes, felt disgusted at the sight of the suddenly arriving guards and the ragged commoners.

The Empress, who sat silently on the throne, unable to speak, watched them while receiving care from the former chief judge. She also sneaked glances at the faces of the nobles allied with Prince Garson.

Garson merely waved his hand to signal the guards. When they approached, his kind expression turned fierce as he grabbed a guard’s shoulder and hissed in his ear, “Didn’t I say?! Unless necessary, do not let anyone in!”

This banquet hosted by Prince Garson was not only to assert his hidden influence but also to win people over.

And now, the guards had brought in a group of commoners? Wasn’t this a disgrace to him?

Terrified, the guard quickly whispered back, “But, Your Highness, Kagard… Kagard has been breached! The demon folk took less than two hours to capture Kagard Town. The teleportation gate anchor has completely disappeared, and the survivors claim that demon folk from the Monster Forest might have already occupied Kagard Town. What should we do?”

Facing the guard’s anxious gaze, Prince Garson was stunned for a moment before exclaiming in shock.

“What?! Kagard has been breached by the demon folk?!”

As soon as he said this, the nobles exchanged glances. The young Empress suddenly remembered something. Hope flickered in her eyes, while the former chief judge seemed to be deep in thought, her expression suddenly changing to one of helplessness.

Meanwhile, the survivors from Kagard knelt on the ground, crying and begging the prince and the Empress to send troops to save their families.

Prince Garson regained his composure and asked about the situation on the ground. 

But they couldn’t provide any useful information.

They only described seeing countless stones falling from the sky and hearing earth-shaking footsteps from outside the city. Beyond that, they had nothing else to report.

“Quickly send General Dreycar and the diocese troops to provide support,” Prince Garson shouted at the guards, ignoring his banquet. “Contact the Night Witch directly and have her take the Imperial Knights to investigate. What are you standing around for? Go now!”

Some guards immediately left, but as soon as they exited, new guards entered.

These guards, pale-faced, reported that just recently, divine magic had been detected from Kagard Town.

Both the military district and the diocese had received news that Kagard Town had been breached and the entire town had turned into a hellscape.

The military district had already dispatched troops to Kagard Town, planning to trap and eliminate the demon folk who were plundering the town. The diocese’s Holy Guard had used the powerful magic of the White Bishop to teleport to a border village near Kagard Town.

As for why they didn’t teleport directly to the outskirts of Kagard Town, the reason was simple.

There was no longer any trace of any followers of the Church of Light in Kagard Town.

Not even a trace. Even if Archbishop Peter himself were to act, he wouldn’t be able to appear in a place without followers.

But at least seventy percent of Kagard Town’s population were followers of the Church of Light. In a large count’s territory, not finding a single follower meant something significant. The nobles present all understood what this implied.

In the sudden silence, someone murmured, then suddenly exclaimed in horror.

“The Massacre of Kagard, it’s the Massacre of Kagard! This is the Regent King taking revenge on us!”

Everyone was stunned at first, then immediately broke out in a cold sweat. They felt a chill run through their bodies, knowing that if this was truly the Regent King’s doing. If he really was confirming the false charges against him, then almost everyone in this banquet hall would not escape the Regent King’s reckoning.

Each of them had voted for the death sentence during the Silent Exile incident. If the Regent King was truly acting out of revenge, everyone here would be doomed.

The terrified nobles exchanged glances and simultaneously put down their wine glasses or cutlery.

They all turned to their leader, Prince Garson, hoping he would come up with a solution.

But what could Prince Garson do?

The situation was utterly chaotic.

How had the former Regent King, who had disappeared from the country, allied with the demonkin?

Not only that, but he had also led the demonkin to breach Kagard Town, even killing the priests stationed there. All to confirm the charges from the Silent Exile incident?

Sweat beaded on his forehead. He struggled to comprehend what had happened.

But fortunately, the military and the diocese acted quickly. If there were no accidents, they should be able to trap the former Regent King in Kagard Town. If he truly planned to use Kagard Town as a base for his revenge, if…

Prince Garson was sweating profusely. Just as he decided to reassure everyone—

A cold voice interrupted, “Her Majesty the Empress wishes to rest. I’ll take her back now.”

Prince Garson turned around in a daze to find it was the former chief judge, leading the Empress. The former chief judge’s green eyes were coldly staring at him, and behind her, the young Empress was also staring intently at her uncle. Her eyes were filled with a vengeful pleasure.

“Please, let her rest early,” Prince Garson could only say, gritting his teeth.

Although he had put the young Empress on the throne as a puppet to avoid becoming a target himself and was merely a figurehead, a target—in this setting, she was the Empress. No matter what, he couldn’t break the rules in this situation.

He watched, feeling a chill down his spine, as his niece and the former chief judge left the banquet hall.

The gathered nobles also stared at him in stunned silence.

***

Meanwhile, in the Elven Kingdom’s capital, in the elven palace of the Sky Garden Fingal.

Fen, the leader of the elves, had also received news from Kagard and the grim tidings from the Roman Empire.

It was midnight, but Fen had no intention of resting.

She summoned her confidante, Kenna, asking her to verify the authenticity of the information and particularly emphasizing for her to pay attention to one detail.

“Fen, I don’t understand.”

“Yes, my dear attendant, you cannot comprehend the excitement in my heart at this moment. Do you know what this means? It means that His Majesty the Regent King has completely given up on the possibility of returning to the Roman Empire. He has chosen to wander the world, and among those destinations, the Elven Kingdom, which has border conflicts with the Roman Empire, will likely be his next stop.”

Fen’s smile left Kenna stunned for a long while.

After a moment, Kenna looked directly into Fen’s green eyes and shook her head, saying, “Yes, I can understand your excitement, but why do we need to confirm whether there are traces of divine power being converted on the scene?”

The divine powers of religious deities were known as divine arts or divine magic. Priests borrowed this power to cast divine spells, and depending on the strength of their faith in their deity, the amount of divine power they could access varies.

The power from different deities could not be shared, so Kenna couldn’t understand what divine power being converted actually meant.

Facing her attendant’s confusion, Fen simply smiled and shook her head. “My dear attendant, do you know of a prophecy?”

“A prophecy?”

“Yes, a prophecy.” 

Considering her attendant’s feelings, Fen spoke from her diaphragm, explaining it in a manner akin to reciting poetry.

The smile on Fyn’s face slowly disappeared, replaced by a seriousness that Qinna hadn’t seen in hundreds of years.

“A prophecy made by the last emperor of Bayerzost before the empire and almost all its cities sank into the ground, just before he perished along with the core of the demonic disaster.”

“Fen, does this mean?”

She continued, “In a thousand years, the last Purple Princess will reclaim the power of light from the followers of the false gods. With a pillar of light reaching the heavens, she will awaken the remnants of the empire, bringing the buried empire back to the light of day.”