Chapter 134: The End

Drip, drip, drip...

A fine rain began to fall, gradually soaking the earth.

Amid the downpour, a convoy transporting supplies had taken shelter in a civilian residence.

“Haha! I heard that before we set out, our priest predicted there might be heavy rain recently, so we departed a few days early on purpose. Who would have thought we would really run into it?”

A rough voice echoed through the house. A burly man in leather armor gazed at the curtain of rain outside and laughed as he spoke.

“Fortunately, we left a few days early. Otherwise, we might not have made it in time.” After a while, he sighed.

Seeing him like this, a young man standing beside him looked over curiously.

“Uncle Andy, what’s wrong?”

“Has something happened on the front line again?”

Andy turned to look at the young man and saw the intense curiosity in his eyes. He patted the youth on the shoulder and smiled.

“I don’t know whether it’s true or not. I have a distant relative serving as a centurion on the front line, and he often has people pass news back to us.”

“According to what he told us, the monsters that once filled the front line have begun to grow fewer. Even His Majesty Adis seems to have started ordering the troops to launch attacks proactively. It looks like this will be over soon.”

Clink...

Just then, the sound of something falling to the ground rang out, making the burly man freeze.

He turned around and saw a middle-aged woman outside the house. The bowl she had been holding had fallen to the ground, spilling the dough inside across the floor. There was a faint trace of excitement in her eyes as she stared at them. After a long while, she finally turned and left.

“Ah...”

Seeing her reaction, a middle-aged man beside the burly soldier let out a sigh.

When he noticed the puzzled looks around him, he explained, “Both children of this household are soldiers. A year ago, the army stationed nearby was entirely recalled to resist the monster tide. They have both been guarding the front line ever since and have not returned for a very long time.”

At his words, everyone present fell silent.

“Actually, things are already considered fairly good here. Although many people died when the monster tide erupted on the front line, at least the tide was stopped. The families of fallen soldiers were also compensated with substantial tracts of land, along with other forms of compensation. At least they still have the means to survive.”

“It was far worse in the south. I heard that the monster tide there was just as fierce, and the Royal Court failed to stop it. Who knows how many people died?”

In the midst of the silence, another man spoke up, immediately drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

A while later, after the rain had continued for some time and gradually ceased, the group set out once more. Escorting their supplies, they continued onward toward the front line.

...

Within a fortress on the northern frontier, battles were still erupting everywhere.

After such a long passage of time, the enormous monster tide they had seen when they first arrived had nearly vanished. Across the land, the countless monsters that had once gathered together began to scatter, engaging the soldiers of the front line in battles at various locations and staining the earth with patches of blood.

“How are things at Nadir’s position?”

On the battlements, Adis casually asked the question while watching countless arrows shoot through the air beside him, piercing one demon after another.

Standing beside him was Bill, dressed in priestly robes. Divine power rippled around him, and after enduring such prolonged slaughter, it seemed even his presence had taken on a trace of grim, martial ferocity.

With a solemn expression, he looked at Adis and said, “Commander Nadir sent word two days ago that the monster tide at his defensive line has begun to recede. Compared with the beginning, it has already been reduced by more than half.”

“The reports from the other defensive lines are similar. The monsters are gradually becoming fewer. Many of the commanders stationed there have sent requests asking His Majesty to order a proactive offensive, so that the monsters beyond the defensive lines can be cleared out.”

Hearing this, Adis exhaled softly, as though a great weight had finally been lifted from his heart.

“It has been more than a year.” He could not help sighing, his voice tinged with emotion.

“This battle has been far too difficult.”

The attendants standing nearby all nodded in agreement, clearly sharing his sentiment.

Yet Bill merely smiled when he heard Adis speak so wistfully.

“I never thought Your Majesty would have such feelings.”

“Still, although things have been difficult for us, the others may not be having an easier time.”

At this, Adis turned around.

“You mean the Royal Court?”

“Have we received any news from the southern Royal Court?” he asked.

Bill nodded.

“Our priests who went south in disguise, along with several of our merchant caravans, have sent back word that the monster tide in the southern Royal Court is still raging.”

“Compared with ours, the tide there is no weaker. It has swept directly across half the southern territories. No one knows how many people have died.”

“Moreover, because their new king has only recently ascended the throne, the great nobles who uphold the traditions of the Royal Court may acknowledge his rule, but he possesses nothing like the authority or influence of the previous king. After suffering defeat in the opening battle, the tide broke through their defenses. His prestige has now been severely damaged.”

That was what Bill reported.

However, Adis shook his head after hearing him.

“Although it sounds reasonable, there must be another cause behind all this.”

“There is.”

Bill continued, “It seems he failed to deal with the matter cleanly. The First Prince and Second Prince whom he had decisively killed in the imperial capital were merely substitutes. The real princes later emerged and incited a rebellion. Then, while the king was resisting the monster tide in the south, they secretly sabotaged him, directly causing his defeat in the opening battle.”

“So that is how it was...” Adis pondered silently.

After a moment, he asked, “Did the Royal Court’s ancestral god not intervene?”

The question startled Bill.

He naturally understood what Adis meant. In truth, to priests who served the God of Nature, the existence of ancestral gods was no great secret. Some high priests like Bill had even personally taken part in suppressing them.

To these priests, such beings were evil gods.

Bill lowered his head and carefully considered the matter. Information concerning the Royal Court surfaced one detail after another in his mind, and he gradually pieced together the answer.

Finally, he shook his head.

“There has been no sign of intervention whatsoever. Even when the monster tide broke through the defensive lines, the Royal Court’s ancestral god did not appear. It seems to have fallen directly into slumber.”

“As expected.”

The thought flashed through Adis’s mind, and he faintly understood the key to the matter.

Although these ancestral gods appeared immensely powerful, they were in fact bound by limitations. Without the strength supplied by regular blood sacrifices, they would fall into slumber once their power was depleted too severely. Unless someone awakened them, they would not rouse themselves easily.

During the previous war between the Duchy of Adis and the Royal Court, the Royal Court’s ancestral god had clashed directly with the God of Nature.

The expenditure involved in a battle between such beings was immense. For existences dependent on blood sacrifices, it was especially devastating. Thus, immediately after the battle, the ancestral god had fallen into slumber. Even when fierce fighting broke out in the outside world, it had never awakened.

“However, although it has fallen asleep, it likely retains the most basic awareness. If it senses the presence of its true body—or the aura of a demon god—it will probably awaken from its slumber at once.”

“Even now, although it has not yet awakened, the monster tide in the south is growing increasingly violent. Sooner or later, it will sense the danger and awaken.”

Adis gazed at the distant sky, his thoughts turning rapidly.

“But that process will not be so quick. The time we have gained before then is time for us to develop.”

“Send the troops out.”

He looked at the scene before him and spoke to Bill.

“After such a long stalemate, it is time to put an end to this.”

In the distance, across the vast earth, the deep demonic aura that had once seemed impossible to dispel was gradually fading. It appeared to have begun receding ever since the demon god’s heart had self-destructed and that otherworldly space had collapsed.

Now, it had reached a critical point.

As his order was issued, the entire front line erupted into motion. Under the leadership of their commanders, the troops advanced toward the border, crushing the countless monsters that blocked their path.

At this point, including the reserve forces and the continual reinforcements sent over the past year, the army on the front line numbered more than a hundred thousand. Gathered in one place, this immense force collided head-on with the countless monsters along the northern frontier.

Countless soldiers fought to the death in unfamiliar lands, struggling against one hideous and terrifying monster after another.

The ordinary monsters were relatively easy to deal with. After Adis had promoted battle aura throughout the army and the soldiers had endured more than a year of tempering, nearly everyone on the front line had learned to cultivate it. Even an ordinary soldier now possessed the strength once associated with a knight’s squire.

As for officers such as decurions and centurions, the requirements were even higher. By now, they needed at least the cultivation of a true knight to hold such positions, and many had also learned divine arts.

The army was far weaker in its numbers of grand knights and earth knights. Although Adis had invested great effort in developing such forces over the years, they remained few.

After all, in just over a year, enabling an ordinary person to reach the level of a knight already required a talent bordering on genius—let alone advancing beyond it.

Furthermore, the monster tide in the north contained a considerable number of third-rank monsters. Whenever one appeared, it brought a tremendous disaster, powerful enough to break through a defensive line and slaughter countless people.

Therefore, under Adis’s orders, countless priests were mobilized and sent to the front line to assist the army in suppressing the monster tide.

Even Pope Gramar was summoned there, personally leading a host of priests.

Under the suppression of such formidable forces, half a year later, the deep demonic aura that had once shrouded the earth gradually faded. The monsters that had been everywhere were slowly eradicated in the encirclement, leaving behind only scattered remains, which the army burned.

At last, the monster tide that had ravaged the north for years was finally brought under control.