Azure Scepter

Page 145

Therefore, although Irina's statement was extremely outrageous, no one refuted it. On the contrary, everyone began to think about it.

The third mage sitting next to Irina coughed lightly and then took on the responsibility of guiding the conversation.

"So you mean that the strange phenomenon that spans the entire sky was created by someone cleaving it open with a single sword?" he said deliberately. "Excuse me for being blunt, but this is something that only happens in myths and legends!"

"It's not one sword, it's eight swords, because there are eight beams of light in the sky," Irina corrected quite seriously.

"..." The three Dharma Masters remained silent for a moment, "What is the basis for your judgment?"

Irina snapped her fingers, and a virtual planet projection appeared on the table with a "snap," with wisps of illusory air swirling around the rotating planet.

“Based on long-term statistics from the Star Monitoring Department, this is the prime material plane, showing the basic weather conditions of our planet. To help you understand, I’ve created a projection that can simulate this.” Irina pushed up her dusty glasses. “Furthermore, based on planetary gas cycle theory and gas dynamics in a narrow sense, let’s try to introduce an assumption—if someone, at this location, suddenly unleashes a sufficiently high level of energy using a sword-like object…”

Irina stretched out her hand, and line after line of data written in Elvish, along with numerous formulas, floated out beside the planet. The planet's projection grew larger and larger until a humanoid projection holding a sword became faintly visible—Irina gently touched it with her finger.

"boom!"

A wedge-shaped wound slowly emerged from the troposphere, and a massive white gas flow, along with the planet's rotation, slowly dispersed to both sides of the wedge. On the symmetrical side of the wedge's apex, another wedge-shaped wound also slowly appeared, seemingly in a reaction.

“Look, a perfect fit,” Irina said softly. “It’s easy to verify this. I think you are all near this wedge-shaped front. Just look up and see the angle between the beam and the equator. I’ve already done the calculations before we came, and the model fits perfectly.”

“What if it’s a sword-type magic form simulated by spells?” Asa retorted in a deep voice, “The premise of that hypothesis is flawed.”

Irina raised an eyebrow, then looked at the other person with an expression as if they were looking at an idiot.

"Can you feel the surge of magical winds?"

“Of course not.” Asa frowned. “But in physical phenomena caused by magic, there will naturally be no magical wind. Everyone knows that magic is just a lever of the great power of nature—if you throw a stone with the hand of a mage, you will naturally not detect magical wind in the stone.”

Irina pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You have absolutely no concept of the magnitude of magical winds required to create this level of imagery."

“Therefore, our race is facing a great threat.” Schilzson gently interrupted his son’s foolish remarks. “Master Irina, I think you should share this data with the Grand Council.”

"It's natural."

Irina nodded slightly, but she couldn't figure out Schilzson's true purpose.

However, the next moment, Schilzson directly revealed his true purpose.

"Similarly, for the common good of all elves, you should also share all knowledge about sparks."

Irina narrowed her eyes slightly.

—Schulzson still wanted to know the secret of how he became a Planeswalker.

“After the explosion, I have already openly reported all the information about Spark. I have not hidden anything,” Irina said in a deep voice.

Asa's face was sinister. He sneered, "Then why has no one ever replicated your power, Master Irina? I think it's because some people's selfish desire for power has overcome their public spirit of protecting their race."

Irina completely ignored Asa, and through her glasses, she looked coldly at the elderly Schilzson.

Schilzson shook his head.

“Master Irina, you should know better than anyone that the Southern Duchy of the Kingdom of Orko is a dangerous vortex, and the risk to Fydia there is extremely high.” He carefully chose his words. “However, according to the exile order issued by the Grand Council, you absolutely cannot leave the Broken Isles. So, to be on the safe side, I can go to the Southern Duchy myself and bring Fydia back safely.”

“I thought this meeting was about how to deal with the crisis,” Irina said coldly.

Schiltzson chuckled and said, “That’s not contradictory. If you can give us all control of the Spark, then this crisis won’t even be a crisis. Our power will once again rival that of our great ancestors, and the Star Sea will be nothing more than an inland sea to us—it’s a noble deal, isn’t it?”

Irina took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled through her nose.

“I would be happy to, but I really have no new information to share,” she said in a low voice.

Schilzson's face darkened.

"Irina, you're really stubborn."

He said with a forced smile, and the next moment he raised his withered hand and slammed it hard on the table!

"boom!"

"boom!"

Trier pushed open the door and strode into the room.

Inside the door was a rather spacious rectangular room, with a round table placed alone in the center.

On the table sat a crystal ball; a miniature, broken statue of Saint Seir; and a faceless knight statue.

"Master, everything is ready." Noi's ethereal voice came from beside my ear.

Trier took a deep breath, bracing himself and forcibly dispelling the weariness that seemed to seep into his bones. He turned his head to look at Noe.

"Have the medical treatment arrangements for the citizens been made?"

Noi lowered his head.

"Of course, Master, with the help of the Guardians of the Faith, mercenaries, and temporarily recruited volunteers, we have basically stabilized the chaos in Eraf."

She paused for a moment, then raised her scarlet eyes and glanced furtively at Trier.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."

Chapter 282 The Evil Alliance (Part Two)

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything," Noi said softly.

However, at this point, she frowned slightly and hesitated for a moment.

“Master, is it really necessary to be in such a hurry? You have already defeated Losevie, and logically speaking, you have a great advantage now. Perhaps you need some proper rest? Would you like to take a hot bath?” Noy blinked. “Besides, you haven’t seen Fudia since you returned from the Tower of Stars. She is very worried about you and Prince Edith.”

Trier took a deep breath, savoring the cold air in his nostrils. The chill traveled through his veins into his spinal cord, instantly easing his fatigue.

He slowly shook his head, then said in a deep voice, "Losevier is a lich, and she can be reborn from the phylactery at any time. If we don't seize this window of opportunity, the situation will become more complicated once Losevier recovers. Now is not the time to worry about these trivial matters."

At this point, Trier couldn't help but recall the final moments a few hours earlier—his final victory was extremely dangerous and lucky. His time-stop slash was only about half a beat faster than Laurence's avatar. If the opponent had drawn her sword first, he would have been the one to die.

To be honest, if given the chance to do it again, Trier wouldn't want to risk a sword duel with Lothaway.

"But Master, if you can defeat Lothaway once, wouldn't defeating her a second time be quite easy?"

“That was just an avatar. Lorsevie’s true form is far, far stronger than the avatar.” Trier pulled out a chair and leaned back comfortably. “To resolve this issue as quickly as possible, we need to win over some allies.”

Noy glanced worriedly at the Saint Seir statue, the crystal ball, and the cracked Faceless Knight statue on the table.

Without a doubt, the allies Trier referred to were Saint Sel, Lady Bloodthorn, and the demigods of the Dream Realm.

“Is it really necessary, Master?” Noy asked as he slowly walked to Trier’s side.

Trier waved to cut off contact with the others, then said, "It is necessary, and it must be done quickly. From agreeing on the outcome to taking action, it should take no more than a month."

"In other words, within a month, you either achieve godhood or all your previous efforts will be in vain?"

Noy lifted the hem of her priest's robe, knelt gently beside Trier, tilted her head, and slowly rested her cheek against Trier's right hand.

Trier couldn't help but chuckle. He ruffled Noy's hair, the silver strands flowing through his fingers like quicksand, the cool, smooth touch like silk.

"Of course we won't give up now. In any case, Rosevie can't leave the mirror city below Wilt City for the time being. If the problem can't be solved within a month, then we'll just have to find a slower way."

The time traveler paused at this point.

"But as time goes on, more and more people will realize what is happening here, and the unpredictable risks will become greater and greater—this includes not only the spying of divine beings, but also some people from the prime material plane."

Noi blinked, and then whispered, "But Master, what can Saint Seir and the others offer you?"

Trier raised an eyebrow slightly.

He knew very well that Noy hadn't asked the question out of curiosity, but rather to help him clarify his thoughts before starting negotiations.

“Three reasons,” Trier said.

"First, to deal with Losevie, we need enough cannon fodder. These cannon fodder can deal with Losevie's undead army and also serve to distribute firepower. The Asmo army left by Saint Seir on the Prime Material Plane is a good choice. If He disagrees, then when necessary, we can choose to summon demons from the abyss in a specific no-man's land."

"What about the second point?"

Trier's gaze swept over Noy's fair face, then he said in a deep voice, "Those who possess divinity can protect up to five mortals, making them immune to the effects of divine powers such as time stop and the power of life and death. By winning them over, we can obtain 15 protection slots and also help them gather a number of legendary figures."

“I guess the final reason is definitely the most important reason.” Noy blinked.

Trier nodded, but remained silent.

The third reason is a rather dark consideration: whether it is Saint Seir, Lady Bloodthorn, or the others, the divine office, divinity, or divine status they possess constitutes a resource that can be obtained—and Trier knows very well that they would have the same thoughts about others.

Everyone is both hunter and prey.

Seemingly noticing Trier's silence, Noy also fell silent. She reached out and stroked Trier's palm, then gently rubbed her cheek against his palm. After a moment, she squinted her eyes in enjoyment.

"Then, Master, what can you offer them?" Noi asked softly.

Trier replied without hesitation: "A chance to temporarily bridge the differences, a chance to deal with the weakest one together."

On the surface, Neuer’s question was about what cards Trier could play, but in reality, it was about the demands of each individual.

—Everyone's apparent demands are quite simple, nothing more than the distribution of Laurence O'Neill's estate.

However, Trier was quite clear that Saint Sel, Lady Bloodthorn, and himself all belonged to the evil camp in a broad sense, and a key characteristic of villains was that they all had enormous appetites.

If any of them shows signs of weakness, the others will not hesitate to swarm in and divide up what they have—and in order to gain even more, everyone is very likely to sabotage them in secret.

This is why even a lawful evil like Trill doesn't actually like to cooperate with evil people. Cooperating with evil people like Lady Bloodthorn means constantly worrying about being hindered, betrayed, and fighting among themselves; while cooperating with lawful good people like Edith means not having to think about so many things, and only needing to focus on getting the job done.

With that thought in mind, Trier sighed and then removed his hand from Neu's head.

Noy blinked, looked up at Trier, and a few seconds later, she understood what he meant.

—Trill is going to continue his operations.

Thinking of this, Noi tidied his somewhat messy white fur, then slowly stood up and quietly left the room.

The bright holy flame shone through the window into the room, where only Trier remained.

Trier's head was bowed, his face completely hidden in the shadow cast by the clock, the gears behind the second hand ticking away.

When the clock struck 5:30, Trier slowly raised his head and then snapped his fingers.

"Snapped--"

It's time to start negotiations.

PS: First update

Chapter 283 The Evil Alliance (Part 3)

The snap of fingers echoed in the room, and the next instant, the scene before Trier's eyes suddenly changed.

He slowly walked through a beam of pale blue magical light and arrived at a circular space—a space surrounded by a semi-transparent ring boundary, beyond which lay deep darkness, with a few lights flickering in the darkness like fireflies, resembling stars in the astral plane.

In the starlight, a cold beam of light shone down from the top of the ring-shaped space, focusing on a brown round table, around which four chairs were placed.

At this moment, three "people" were already sitting in the four chairs.

Trier walked slowly to the table, raised his head unhurriedly, and his gaze swept steadily over the group of people.

This was the first time Trier had met Saint-Sel, Lady Bloodthorn, and the others face to face.

Upon seeing Trier, the people already seated in their chairs reacted in various ways.

Saint-Sel, wearing a black hood, leaned back in his chair with a relaxed posture. Upon seeing Trier, his posture remained unchanged, his right hand casually toying with a die. With this movement, a glimpse of his face beneath the hood flashed by—the wounds inflicted by Lothaway on his face writhed like centipedes, a fine layer of golden blood slowly seeping out; his injuries looked exactly like those of the bronze dragon Aurelius.

Lady Bloodthorn leaned forward, her slender fingers interlaced into a tower shape, steadily supporting her pale chin. The corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, her full, berry-red lips seemingly carrying a faint smile, while her violet eyes were fixed undisguisedly on Trier.

Directly opposite Trier, countless overlapping and converging figures twisted and formed a burning golden fireball—the faces of these figures were male and female, old and young, but regardless of their appearance, all the figures appeared extremely silent.

Without a doubt, this strange fireball is the dream realm demigod "The Ones". He seems to be trying his best to shrink his body, but due to his unique shape, he can't hide it no matter what he does.

Trier withdrew his gaze and slowly grasped the armrest of the chair. The cold, hard iron armrest reminded him of the face of someone who had frozen to death in winter.

At this moment, the circular space was silent. A suffocating atmosphere, like ice encasing flames, permeated the small space. Although the atmosphere was relatively harmonious, Trier sensed a deep sense of apprehension towards him from the reactions of the others.

"Thorn-"

Trier sat in the chair, the sound of the chair being moved echoing in the deathly silent space, sounding extremely jarring.

Magical dust emanating from the walls slowly fell under the cold light, blurring everyone's expressions in the dim environment, making the sense of oppression and tension even heavier.

Whether it was Saint Seil, Lady Bloodthorn, or the others, they all knew that this would be an extremely difficult negotiation. Getting Trill, who had the upper hand, to concede would be very difficult, and it was almost an impossible task.

After all, the Holy Slash that directly altered the weather of the entire planet was simply too incredible! That was a true miracle!

At this moment, Trier was in no hurry to break the silence; he leisurely observed the three people in front of him.

Time ticked by, and finally, Saint-Saëns broke the silence.

He slowly raised his head, revealing a rather delicate face.

“I saw the supreme radiance and truly received His revelation.” Saint Sel’s eyelids drooped, and his voice was flat. “Do you all know what the oracle I received was?”