Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 466: Falling Star Temple
Glenn Cilia stood in the crowd, quietly looking at the carriage that was slowly driving towards the Falling Star Temple, and the man sitting against the carriage.

She is now a centurion of the Holy Land Guard, and the hundreds of people behind her are all wolf hunters who once belonged to the Xilia family and are now the fourth generation of giants.

It has only been over half a year since the establishment of the New Giant Dynasty, but the area around the temple has become extremely expensive. Even those adults with noble bloodlines have to restrain their huge bodies and move around in human form.

The nobles forced the captured human craftsmen to build magnificent pavilions and palaces, and the specifications were naturally designed according to the human body shape. Sometimes, Gran Cilia even felt that today's giant nobles were more human than humans.

They live in elegant palaces of humans, wear gorgeous clothes of humans, no longer eat raw meat and drink blood, but are happy to enjoy a variety of delicacies. They are greedy, stupid, lazy, and possess all the most authentic characteristics of humans, but neglect to conceal their own desires like real humans.

In time, what will be the difference between these "heroic bloodlines" who claim to be noble and regard the giants transformed from humans as inferior races and the inferior races?
Oh, maybe there are some. They are far more useless than the lowly creatures. Any one of them is a complete waste.

Through the iron mask that concealed her face, Grant gazed toward the back of the temple. As the main planner of the human side of this feast, her lover had been promoted to one of the twenty first generations, and was only one step away from becoming the ancestor who truly held the power of the royal court.

He had just come to see her a few hours ago and said that after this great defeat, the power structure of the royal court and even the holy land would be completely reshuffled, and the opportunity to ascend to the position of the ancestor was at hand. When necessary, he would need her and this wolf hunting team of a thousand people to help.

Of course she agreed to his request, just as she would never refuse any of his requests. He also promised her that once he became the first ancestor, he would hold her hand and step together to the pinnacle of power in the new dynasty of giants, and they would share all the happiness and glory together.

And all of this ultimately depends on the man in front of the carriage.

"King of Giants" Calleleus, just a month ago, was a terrifying name that made people tremble with fear.

There are nearly one million giants in the Xin Dynasty, and eight out of ten of them are transformed from various races. Even though their blood, thoughts and even souls have been transformed into thorough giants, the fear of the king still flows in their bones.

That is the absolute awe of the lower for the higher, and the involuntary trembling and worship that the beings at the bottom of the food chain can't help when they look up at the lonely and lofty sky!

Even though Gran Cilia's heart was filled with that man, she had to admit that Calelius was an extraordinary king when facing him. In front of a true king, the so-called heroic bloodline was as ridiculous as a bug.

It's a pity that this true king is about to be destroyed, thought Grant.

After returning from a bloody battle where his life was at stake, what awaited him was not the sworn protection of his subordinates, nor the heartfelt understanding of his people, but the brutal counterattack that the Elders' Council had been waiting for for a long time.

It's not that Calerius has no foundation in the court, but the whereabouts of the Sixth Ancestor, whom he trusted most, was unknown, the Eighth Ancestor died in the battlefield, and the Third Ancestor Mocero, who always regarded himself as a loyal and brave minister, did not even dare to return to the court after learning that he was seriously injured. The rest were either centrists who wavered between the two, or die-hard fans of the Elder Council.

As for those young and strong generals who supported him with all their enthusiasm, there were often complicated family relationships behind them. Even if there were any who could stand up at this time, how much voice could they make in front of the Council of Elders?
The new dynasty was born less than a year ago, but the Council of Elders and the giant aristocratic class behind them have already existed for thousands of years. They are like the huge roots of a giant tree beneath the soil. It is easy to cut the trunk in half, but if you want to uproot it, everything will be turned upside down.

After losing the absolute power to suppress an area, although Kalelius still bears the title of "king", how many people in this three thousand miles holy land recognize him as the king?

On the wide marble platform in front of the temple, the high priest Gulag and all the elders formed a square formation to welcome Karelius. Including the Holy Land Guards on standby, there were 20,000 to 30,000 people. Unlike the soldiers of the Holy Land regiments sent to the front line, the Guards were the core and most elite backbone of the giants. According to the law, they could only be mobilized with the authorization of Karelius, Gulag, and the elders. Therefore, even when the battlefield of Thor was the most tense, this group of powerful combat forces, who were an average of four generations of giants, did not appear on the battlefield.

On the contrary, a few days ago, when the Elders' Council was so worried that Lucia would lead her troops south that they could not sleep at night, the Guards, which had been silent for a long time, were immediately mobilized and stationed around the temple day and night. This time, they also served as the guard of honor to welcome the return of Callelius.

That’s right, a guard of honor—at least that’s what the Presbyterian Church claimed.

There are 333 stone steps descending from the marble platform, which were built to represent the 333 locks of the chain surrounding the cauldron.

Until Calerius' car drove to the bottom of the long steps, the elders had no intention of coming down to greet him. Instead, they all smiled, bowed slightly, and stood respectfully on the platform, waiting for Calerius to come up on his own.

Amodia glared fiercely at the figures in tall crowns and gorgeous clothes on the platform, her wolf-like eyes ready to devour anyone, and she was ready to rush up with the whip in hand.

Suddenly, a hand gently pressed her shoulder from behind.

Kalerius shook his head, took a deep breath, and walked up the red carpet in the middle of the long steps.

Amodia angrily threw the whip to the ground and followed closely behind her lord, keeping a distance of three levels from him, occasionally raising her head and glaring at the elders above.

All the elders who met her gaze unconsciously avoided it. The more respected ones were not afraid of embarrassment and just smiled it off, while the less sophisticated ones showed some obvious anger in their eyes.

In their eyes, Kalerius was no longer a threat. He was nothing more than a lion without claws and a puppet that had run out of energy. As long as they did not open the forbidden door again to heal his injuries, any team of well-trained guards could take him down.

But Amodia is different - she and her brother are the only remaining orphans of the clan of the former general Akaris. Although their father has died many years ago, the siblings are still the most noble heroic bloodline. Their existence itself is closely tied to the order on which they depend for survival, symbolizing the indisputable legal principles and traditions of the Elders' Council.

To put it bluntly, they could change a king of low birth, but they could not change the blood flowing in Amodia's body, especially since Adonis was the most capable general under the high priest during his lifetime, and when he just died fighting for his country, no one wanted to offend Amodia.

But the Ninth Ancestor obviously did not want to live in peace with them. They were obviously her family, but she was just like those reckless youngsters who were hot-blooded and didn't care about anything. She insisted on becoming a diehard fan of the lowly ones. Isn't this an infuriating betrayal!

Calelius stepped onto the last step. He was already a little out of breath, and beads of sweat appeared on his pale forehead.

Amodia hurried over, ready to support His Majesty at any time, and her eyes became increasingly cold as she glanced around.

"Your servant Gulag, together with all the members of the Council of Elders, respectfully welcomes our king back to the Holy Land—" Gulag stepped out first, bowed deeply and said, "May you be healthy and live a long life!"

(End of this chapter)