C706 "Are the Empire's losses really that severe?"
Kashimir spoke in a trembling voice.
He had just received a report from Jet.
Even Jet found it hard to believe the figures written in the report.
Approximately 30,000 military personnel, including knights and magicians, had died.
Civilian casualties were nearing 800,000, with more than 50,000 commoners and nobles captured as prisoners...
Jin and his companions also touched their foreheads as they reviewed the report.
Only three days had passed since the chaos army led by Dyfus attacked the temporary alliance's territory.
In just three days, so many innocents had been wounded or taken hostage.
The numbers written in the report didn’t seem real at all."It seems we were able to partially mitigate the situation thanks to the technological support and equipment from Doctor Qwaul and Lady Amelia. Without them... it would have been even worse, Your Highness."
Jet spoke in a heavy voice.
Three days ago.
It wasn’t just Dyfus and Joshua who attacked the Lutero Magical Federation and the Empire.
Lionel, Stam, as well as unidentified knights from the 'Mausoleum' were also attacking the human world at the same time.
The same was happening in Kinzelo territory, the Land of the Beastmen.
Although they had relatively better defenses due to Orgal's dimensional movement through the steel gate, Cold Joe was captured along with over 5,000 beastmen.
"We’re the only ones who weren’t attacked... Is there any reason why?"
As Lata said, among the alliance members, only Tikan was not attacked.
"It might be a plan to undermine the temporary alliance."
"Attacking Tikan might have been too burdensome. When they attacked Drakka's main base in the Federation, they only lurked nearby. If their purpose is to create despair and take hostages, this place is not suitable."
Unlike the small island nation of Tikan, the territories of other alliance members were vast.
That was the reason they couldn’t adequately respond to the sudden invasion by the evil god.
They would attack near Drakka's main base, then suddenly appear in the Milkun Kingdom, attack the area near Yuka Yuka Market, and then move to the other side of the Great Mitra Desert in an instant.
"…Or maybe they simply see us as the last meal to savor."
As Jin spoke, all eyes turned to him.
"Empire, Zipple, Kinzelo. The number of prisoners captured in the temporary alliance's territories alone exceeds 80,000. And since our Vamel Alliance has no choice but to go to Huphester to rescue them, Rosa might be trying to make up for her desperation by watching us suffer. That’s what I’m thinking."
Within the magical map created by Veradin, the points of despair were getting bigger.
The content wasn’t limited to areas directly hit by the chaos army.
The fear of the common people, which had been suppressed since the Glyek War, had become uncontrollable due to this incident, spreading throughout the world.
Refugees were emerging from everywhere. Even commoners who had considered Drakka's main base the safest place were leaving, not to mention other regions.
The land they sought was Tikan.
The terrified crowd didn’t believe Tikan was a safe zone, despite explanations to the contrary.
"If it’s as Young Master Jin predicted... then the evil god and the 4th Flagbearer are probably setting an inevitable trap for us."
The world order is collapsing.
The alliance now had to show the people that they had enough power to resist the evil god.
They had to go to Huphester, rescue the captives, and eliminate the invaders.
Otherwise, the fear and despair enveloping the world would continue to grow, and all of it would be used to complete the evil god.
"Oh, isn’t that Zephyrin?"
"She came with the young patriarch of Zipple."
Lata pointed outside the window.
In the distant sky, a huge steel gate formed, and from within, Zephyrin and Beradin emerged.
They entered directly into the conference room.
While Veradin maintained his usual calm expression, Zephyrin seemed extremely fatigued.
She had been assisting Orgal all the time, protecting the entire land of the Beastmen and exploring near Rikalton until reaching Tikan.
"Ah, you're making a big fuss as soon as my master regains some strength... You're definitely going to hell, Sir Jin."
The exploration of Rikalton was Jin’s idea.
Orgal had the best mobility within the alliance, possessed knowledge and power to adapt to variables, so it was natural for him to handle the exploration.
"Why didn’t Orgal himself come?"
"Are you asking me now? He must have sent me because he was exhausted from his recent hard work, and also to ensure that Zipple’s travel time wasn’t wasted. So be grateful that I brought Veradin."
"Convey my thanks to Orgal when you return."
When Jin readily expressed his gratitude, Zephyrin blinked for a moment.
It seemed she expected him to respond with sarcasm, thinking that it wasn’t something he should help with anyway.
"The sun will rise in the west."
"Did the exploration of Rikalton yield any results?"
"Well, as expected, all the captured humans were gathered in Rikalton."
"How are the captives being treated?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary. They’re being whipped and dragged somewhere. My master said it seems like they’re being subjected to some sort of torture one by one."
"Torture... I see."
"The captives weren’t subjected to torture all at once. The Chaos forces took between thirty and a hundred people and entered some buildings. After a couple of hours, they took the next group."
"Then during that time, did they torture and kill about thirty or a hundred people, increasing the factor of despair?"
"I'm not sure about that. However, Sir Beradin seemed to catch something when he heard about it."
As Zephyrin finished speaking, Beradin unfolded the map.
In Tikan, it seemed he couldn’t fully harness the residual energy of the Sun God, and the map was much dimmer and more unstable than when they saw it in Drakka.
"Let’s all take a look at Rikalton."
Beradin pointed to Rikalton with his finger.
"Jin, I've been watching the map since that day. Especially focusing on Rikalton... As you can all see now, the marks of despair are getting smaller."
Jin and Beradin had naturally expected that the marks of despair in Rikalton would become larger and darker after the incident.
However, Beradin's initial findings were quite the opposite.
Every time captives arrived at Rikalton, the marks became clearer.
"But this phenomenon changes daily. It decreases for a day and increases the next, always denser than the previous day. Do you understand what this means?"
"It means they give hope and then crush it again."
"Yes. The Garden of Swords takes groups of thirty to a hundred captives every two hours and engages in some kind of mental manipulation. First, they give hope and then break it. This is how they maximize the despair they can extract from the captives."
"Zephyrin, are the suspicious places of torture that you and Orgal discovered limited to Rikalton?"
"Yes, there were no captives taken anywhere outside Rikalton."
"Even on my map, there was no area where the total amount of chaos suddenly increased except in Rikalton. There was a general increase, but nothing exceptional."
"It’s becoming increasingly certain. We need to quickly gather the alliance’s forces and head to Rikalton."
"That's what we need to do. But when you say quickly, when are you thinking?"
"Within two days. No, if possible, even tomorrow."
Beradin and Zephyrin shrugged at Jin’s response.
"Two days or tomorrow? That’s too fast. We need to observe a little more. We should also prepare for traps. Even if they’re predictable and obvious traps."
"I agree, Sir Jin. For now, the chaos army has halted its assault, but we don’t know when they’ll reappear."
"Of course, since we can’t predict when the Chaos army will launch an instant large-scale assault on the human world with large-scale teleportation, we can’t wait indefinitely. But it seems wise to monitor the situation for at least two weeks."
Jin looked at the two of them and shook his head.
"No, the reason the Evil God halted the invasion was confirmed just before you arrived. While you were exploring and examining the map, we weren’t just standing idly by…"
The top floor of Rikalton Castle.
Ilina was drenched in sweat, pressing her hands against various parts of Dyfus’s body as if trying to stop the bleeding by force.
[Damn it! What am I supposed to do if you’re like this? Things are overflowing just with Joshua, that idiot.]
Ilina's angry voice made Dyfus chuckle.
[Don’t blame me, prophet. If you had known in advance about this fire, this mess wouldn’t have happened.]
Fire.
The eternal flame clinging to Dyfus’s body continued to burn, corroding his flesh.
Ilina had come from the Garden of Swords to this place three days ago in an attempt to extinguish it.
But Ilina couldn’t extinguish it no matter what she did.
[And besides, you came here saying you’d put out the fire, but you’ve been working uselessly for days.]
[Hey, Dyfus Runcandel. It’s impossible to extinguish this fire unless the matriarch herself intervenes…]
Rosa was in a state where she couldn’t move due to the absorption of despair.
[Well, it's fine. Fighting with you would only be disrespectful to the matriarch. Anyway, the fire is calming down a bit now, so it will be resolved soon. This is why the invasion has stopped… Be more careful from now on. The despair that should have been directed at the matriarch has become smaller than expected.]
[The parasite clinging to my mother is crawling to the end. Do you know that Histor checked the dimensional portal left in the Shol feudal state earlier?]
Ilina’s eyes widened at Dyfus’s words.
[What……?]
[Histor must have discovered the reason we stopped the invasion and returned. You were completely unaware of it… Think carefully if you have the right to call Joshua incompetent.]
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