Two years after Kyle started comprehending the Rank A Materials, something major happened in the Skysand Kingdom.
Kyle knew that something was about to go down when the Skysand Kingdom asked him to join the war or pay six times his usual contributions.
Either they really wanted him to join, or they really wanted a lot of metals.
Naturally, Kyle just paid.
He had already comprehended the majority of Rank A Materials, and he didn't need the ones he had already understood anymore.
Of course, the Forthing Family was also hit with a hefty demand.
They had to pay even more than Kyle.
All the Four-Weapons Guilds were forced to send everyone in the Third Realm to the army.
The Royal Artificer Academy had to close for some time since all of the Master Artificers were required to go to the frontlines.
Something big was going to happen, and everyone knew it.
Naturally, the Winterfire Kingdom had its spies, and something as big as this couldn't be kept secret.
Almost all of the Rank A Materials Kyle and the Forthings had given the kingdom were used to create equipment for the "volunteers".
If they survived, they would be allowed to keep the equipment.
While not many people of the Skysand Kingdom knew what this was all about, the Winterfire Kingdom knew.
Something like this happened once every couple of decades.
It could only mean one thing.
One of the two kingdoms was going to raise another Transcendent.
They were going to sacrifice one of their Ether Essences.
Now, the question was, which Ether Essence?
The Skysand Kingdom had two safe Ether Essences.
One was beside the capital, and the other was off the coast between the peninsula and the capital.
These two were considered safe since the Winterfire Kingdom couldn't possibly get to them without reaching deep into the Skysand Kingdom.
Then, there were two Ether Essences that were endangered.
The big landmass in the middle of the world had five Ether Essences in total.
This big landmass was also referred to as the central frontlines.
The two Ether Essences in the south and east of the landmass belonged to the Skysand Kingdom, but they were not safe.For original chapters go to N()velFire.net
With an elite striking squad, the Winterfire Kingdom could slip through the actual frontlines and attack the people stationed around them.
Then, there were two more Ether Essences, but they were contested, which meant that the frontlines were essentially around the Ether Essences.
One of them was at the World Peak, while the other one was in the southwest of the big landmass.
Choosing the correct Ether Essence to create a Transcendent was tricky.
They could create a Transcendent with almost guaranteed certainty as long as they chose any of their safe ones.
However, those were safe Ether Essences. They were the backbone of the economy, and the Winterfire Kingdom couldn't do anything against them without literally overrunning the Skysand Kingdom.
The contested Ether Essences were basically not on the table.
The World Wyrm was too much of a threat, and it might attack the person trying to advance.
This left the two endangered Ether Essences.
Yet, the bad part about them was that the person had to advance close to the enemy frontlines.
If the Skysand Kingdom managed to get a fourth Transcendent, it was very likely that the equilibrium between the two kingdoms would be broken.
King Skysand just needed to keep King Winterfire busy.
The General of Skysand just needed to keep the First Advisor of Winterfire busy.
While that was going on, the Champion of Skysand and the new Transcendent would kill the Second Advisor of Winterfire, and it would snowball from there.
It had been a long time since a new Transcendent had been born.
In fact, it had been almost 150 years.
Yet, that didn't mean that the kingdoms didn't try.
There had been a couple of attempts, but none of them were successful.
All for the same reason.
An enemy Transcendent broke through the frontlines and killed them.
Of course, they lost quite a bit of their Karma, but that was worth the price.
After all, if they didn't pay the price, they would die.
Both kingdoms knew what was going to happen.
Both of them knew that the new Transcendent would advance with one of the two endangered Ether Essences.
Soon, the entire world would experience a tremendous battle.
The Winterfire Kingdom readied its own troops and waited for the attack.
Today, all six Transcendents of the two kingdoms would see battle.
It started with a tremendous attack near the western front.
Over 50 people in the Third Realm went around the World Peak, avoiding the World Wyrm's domain, to directly attack the Winterfire Kingdom.
If they could surround the massive mountain range, they could conquer the World Peak and secure the Ether Essence.
Naturally, the Winterfire Kingdom fought back.
But this was only one aspect of the conflict. The truly important part was how one distributed their Transcendents.
If the western front collapsed, they needed a Transcendent present who sacrificed some Karma to kill the most powerful members of the attacking force.
However, if an enemy Transcendent was also present, things could get really bad.
While there was a significant difference in power between people in the Peak Third Realm and Transcendents, people in the Peak Third Realm were not completely helpless.
A good Spell from a Peak Grand Sorcerer could injure a Transcendent, and when two Transcendents fought, such a Spell could change the outcome of the battle.
Yet, could they actually afford to send a Transcendent to this place?
After all, if the Skysand Kingdom was actually raising a Transcendent, they would surely have another Transcendent protecting them.
The General of Skysand was always near the central frontlines and had to be engaged in battle to get to the Ether Essences.
But what if the Champion of Skysand had been moved to one of the Ether Essences to protect the one advancing?
That would leave the western frontlines open.
But what if the Skysand Kingdom expected that?
There were too many unknowns.
The Winterfire Kingdom had to commit to one strategy, and it was the same strategy they used every time.
"Gain a Transcendent or lose your capital and your safest Ether Essence."
King Winterfire flew over the ocean and attacked the capital of the Skysand Kingdom.
tg://resolv?domain=StrongestHammerGod
The author's patreon. If he gets more than 1000€ per month, he will increase the number of words in the chapter.