Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 1316 The Kingdom of Wanning and its Sultanah
Whether it was Sherlock guarding Paradise City, Isabel waiting in Rock Cellar City, or others who were either involved in or waiting for the end of this Celestial War, they all gathered in Holy Spring City three days later.

At this moment, the city of Holy Spring already knew who had performed this miracle.

Therefore, when Aiwas and his party re-entered Holy Spring City through the main gate, they were greeted by people lining the streets.

At first, people were quite afraid of Aiwas. This was because most Parthians were unaware of the character of this earthly deity who had changed the world…

Several daring children approached Aiwass amidst soft gasps of surprise, but unexpectedly, they were not punished at all. Instead, he gently held them in his arms, patted their heads, smiled, patted their backs, and sent them home.

Only then did people finally believe that this earthly deity was completely different from the benevolent ruler—

Of course, these children were actually planted by Aiwass.

They were all once members of the Red Hand.

As the rule of the benevolent rulers collapsed, they entered the city of Holy Spring amidst the chaos, with the help of the "hero" Ismail, Morgan, and Lily.

As the first city-state of Parthia and its former capital, Holy Spring City covered a vast area and was rich in resources.

In a time when water resources are no longer scarce, it is the perfect opportunity to bring these homeless people into the area.

Moved by the undeniable miracle, the vast majority of the Red Hands laid down their weapons.

They witnessed the fall of the benevolent ruler, the fall of the Great Abyss, and the change of the pillar god. They also saw the desert turn into fertile land and the wasteland into forest. Naturally, they knew that the old era, which they had resisted with all their might and at the cost of their lives, had come to an end.

Although each of them was prepared for death... even in the face of death and inhuman torture, they remained unshaken by the burning hatred deep within their hearts.

But when faced with this "paradise within reach," they all hesitated.

Now, the prophesied savior has arrived, the rule of the benevolent has collapsed, and they have endless water and land as fertile as other nations…

...So, will they still resist as fiercely as before?

Then it naturally becomes meaningless.

If everyone could live a good life, who would want to suffer until death?
However, some members of the Red Hand were so shocked that they could not accept this reality—or rather, they could not accept the fact that "the new era was not brought about by them."

Because they have already sacrificed far too much for this ideal.

They killed so many people, burned so many oases, executed so many benevolent people, and caused so many innocent people to die... If they are not the ones who ultimately save everyone, how will they face the sins they have committed?
When sacrifice is neither sacred nor recognized, it becomes an act of ignorance and cruelty.

In a single day, one can go from hope for tomorrow to a prisoner deserving of death... No one can bear such a fall from grace.

Although this "new god" offered them a chance for redemption—they could relinquish their old names and identities, become believers on earth to the new god who was about to ascend to heaven, build temples for him, and guide his followers—in exchange, the new king would grant them a special pardon.

Although many accepted this pardon, they entered Holy Spring City, ending their long and ultimately devastating journey of resistance.

However, some people could not accept it and left this place, leaving everyone's home, and went to the deep mountains.

Fortunately, the outside world was no longer filled with endless yellow sand. Even if they stayed in the mountains, without the secret assistance of a few benefactors, they wouldn't starve or die of thirst; at least their survival was guaranteed.

Aiwass then found them a new protector—

That was Cardinal Belisarius.

The deceased "Iceheart King" was actually the mastermind behind the Red Hand. The fact that these slaves and homeless people could be transformed into powerful superhumans was due to Belialius's training.

This iron-blooded cardinal still respects the traditions of the Holy Kingdom—never forcibly changing the customs and lifestyles of other countries in the name of the Elves.

This may seem like an overly lenient order, but it's only when the Chinese people understand its underlying meaning that it truly matters.

Because the power structure of the theocracy is entirely composed of high-ranking devotees, they are all, in a sense, "good people"—or rather, too good—to the point that they are willing to give everything for others, including their own power, strength, and life.

The problem is that everyone's perceived path, their own sense of "justice," "morality," and "what should be done" are not entirely the same.

This means that if elves try to reshape other countries according to their own ideas, the first problem they will face is "interference from other elves." Because what they consider correct may not align with the ideas of other elves.

The path of the selfless is often more destructive than that of the selfish. This is because the selfish know how to compromise, know when to stop, and have a clear concept of interests and gains... while the selfless are willing to pay any price to achieve their ideals.

The essence of this ban was that the ancient elves had experienced a massive civil war that even affected the entire world because of this, resulting in the deaths of countless elves and the destruction of many other ancient races... It wasn't until there were only a few races left in the world that the elves finally came to their senses.

The Eternal Kingdom was established because the remaining elves realized this problem: they could never build a world that would satisfy everyone. So they chose to compromise... that is, the elves no longer actively interfered in other countries, but only accepted passive requests and maintained basic order.

It can only be said that behind every seemingly inexplicable and strange rule lies a complex story.

However, as the cardinal of the trial center, Belisarius was undoubtedly one of the radicals.

Compared to the more conservative cardinals, he was trying to circumvent this prohibition issued by the first eternal pope—

—Because he could not accept Parthia's system of slavery, no matter what.

However, the existence of slaves is essentially to support the Heavenly Bureau; the existence of the desert is to bury the Sin Thorn, which was placed there by the Order of the Candle.

This was a decision made by the leader's leader, not something a mere cardinal could change; and the Yuantian Division was a divine being without sentience and unable to communicate, so even if they understood advanced divine arts, they could not establish contact with the Yuantian Division.

There are four principles for extinguishing fires, based on the three elements of combustion: removing combustibles, isolating oxygen, lowering the temperature below the ignition point, and terminating the chain reaction through chemical inhibition. Since the first two methods are ineffective, and the third is merely a temporary fix, Belisarius has no choice but to opt for the fourth.

He couldn't destroy the desert, nor could he eliminate the Heavenly Lords, so Belisarius decided to strip the Good Lords of their power.

Therefore, Belialius led a legion of paladins and remained stationed in Parthia for a long time.

If people ask him for help, he will act; if many people are willing to risk their lives to cross the sandstorms to reach him, it means that people's patience has reached its limit—and then he can use this as an excuse to directly send troops to attack Parthia.

Of course, Belisarius alone is certainly not enough.

He was merely a fifth-level being, and his paladin troops were all fourth-level. He could easily kill a few benevolent lords and defeat a few city-states. But no matter what, he could not possibly fight against all the benevolent lords alone; he would surely die here, hunted down by the omnipresent curses and rituals… but that didn't matter.

Because if he dies here, the Holy Kingdom will have to respond to his death and the death of the paladin legion he led.

By then, the pretext for war would no longer be "interference in the internal affairs and traditions of other countries," but simply "revenge." Many cardinals disapproved of Parthia, but they lacked any reason or excuse to act.

Ultimately, the strange rule of the Papacy doesn't actually bind the Papacy as perceived by other nations, but rather as perceived by other elves, and even by other cardinals. Therefore, as long as all the other cardinals agree to the action, there's no risk of division. Unfortunately…

All those who crossed the endless yellow sands to see Belialius and thirsted for power were either not interested in destroying the entire Parthian Empire but only wanted to avenge themselves; or they saw through Belialius's surface intentions and were worried or wary of the elves' pretext for invading the Parthian Empire; those who were smart enough to see through Belialius's deeper plans did not want this good man, Belialius, to die here.

As a result, although Belisarius cultivated many rebels, he never had the opportunity to emerge himself until the very end.

This is a failure...

But from another perspective, this is also a kind of success.

He had already sensed it when Yuan Tiansi descended.

At that time, Belialius led his paladin legion all the way from the depths of the desert... but by the time he arrived, everything had already been settled.

He naturally knew Aiwass, the former pope, and also knew what had happened here.

He was delighted that the Parthians' suffering had finally been relieved. Moreover, unlike his initial "compromise approach," Aiwass had not only eliminated the Heavenly Lord, but also the Benevolent Lord, even eradicating the Sinful Thorn and transforming the desert... This approach, which addressed both the symptoms and the root cause, truly won over Belisarius.

It was precisely because of Belisarius's help that the Red Hands were able to be so subdued by Aiwass.

Their actions became so radical not entirely because of Hassan's influence—after all, Hassan had been gone from Sarnath for a long time, and they themselves had only recently returned, not even recognizing everyone.

The Red Hand gang's veneration of Hassan as their leader was, in a sense, merely an attempt to use the "well-known Hassan" as a figurehead.

Hassan, who had truly received a monastic education, had strategies that were more stable and rational, and these people's decisions were completely ineffective. This was also the reason for his previous reclusive behavior... but neither Grey Sky nor Morgan told him the reason behind it.

—Because the true leader of the Red Hand is Cardinal Belisarius!
That idea, which mixed "premature death" and "necessary evil," and the idea of ​​sacrificing oneself to make things bigger, came from the influence of Cardinal Belisarius.

As a cardinal who controls the core military power in the papacy, it is perfectly normal for Belisarius to be radical and hold more violent ideas, and there is no need to interfere.

After all, Belisarius's actions were always within the rules—even though he had personally supported the Red Hand, it was still within the scope of "the Parthians should resolve their own affairs." He did not teach the Red Hand any extraordinary knowledge beyond his authority, nor did he directly give them any weapons or equipment beyond the Parthians' technology.

Now, it is exactly what Cardinal Belialius wanted for him to entrust with the care of those Red Hands who were too radical to accept change—his paladin legion did need manpower, and those who were radical enough were indeed more suitable to be paladins.

After everything settled down.

On July 10, Aiwass publicly announced in the Square of Holy Spring that the era of the Good Lord had come to a complete end.

No one is a slave, and there is no slave owner.

All people are born equal, and all lives are equally precious.

The new country was named "Vanning" by Aiwass.

In Parthian, this word is composed of "dwelling" and "safe," meaning "a safe haven." This was also Aiwas's first and most beautiful wish for the Parthians... simply that they could live well.

Iwass's wife, Isabelle, the last queen of Avalon, was the first Wanning Sultanah.

The word "Sultan" in Parthian means "the one who has been granted divine power," and also implies the holder of authoritarian authority. Sultanah is the feminine form of the word Sultanah, and this title couldn't be more fitting for the current situation.

After all, in the Parthians of the past, no god granted them the power to rule. The Parthians had no god of their own—the Great Deep was not their protector. Therefore, the Parthians of the past had no sultans, only kings.

Today, Wanning no longer has deserts, sacrifices, abysses, or benevolent rulers.

The reputation of the Winged One Aiwass is now at rest—or rather, "Vanning"—it has reached its undisputed highest point.

After all, it was a world-creating act, a miracle witnessed by everyone.

Even if the Parthians of the past had the deepest feelings and cultural inertia towards slavery, from now on... for at least three generations, no one will have any wavering or questioning of this.

People were completely immersed in a hallucinatory ecstasy, and statues of benevolent gods were toppled, their paintings were torn to shreds, and their expensive clothes were turned into banners.

It wasn't that there weren't any good men who tried to resist—but their plans to rebel against the new king didn't even last a day before they were killed on the spot by their own guards, who offered their heads as a sign of their allegiance to the new king.

After all, the strongest of the good lords had already received invitations to attack the Abyss Heaven Division. All the remaining good lords in this country were at or below the fourth level... When their personal guards betrayed them, these fragile forbidden mages and ritual masters were completely powerless to resist.

The more shrewd lords, however, attempted to flee the city with their families and slaves, taking with them the treasures they had plundered over the years—at least a portion of them. It must be said that this was a very wise choice.

Now even the wilderness is more habitable than the old oasis city, and as long as they lay low and change their appearance, no one will remember their existence.

All they needed to do was find some connections to help them exchange these treasures for wealth, and they would at least have extremely comfortable living conditions—or even escape abroad! There, no one would know they were once benevolent patrons, would they?
However, even this attempt failed.

If the Parthians worshipped Aiwass like a god... then for the Harpies, Aiwass was their god.

Aiwass has now become a true pure-blooded winged being. The wings on his back are proof of his former status as the Winged King, and the jeweled shoulder strap is a token personally crafted by that king. The harpies held Ligeia, an ordinary winged being, in the highest esteem, let alone Aiwass now.

Under the relentless pursuit of the harpies, all the good lords who attempted to escape under cover of night were captured within three days. The good lords and their direct descendants were all eaten, while the remaining family members were sent back to be imprisoned, awaiting a future pardon or execution by the Sultan.

The only surviving benevolent ruler was Ismail the "hero".

As the only one among all the benevolent rulers to side with Aiwass, he was the only one fortunate enough to receive a pardon and forgiveness. In the new dynasty, he would serve as a general responsible for maintaining order.

Isabelle's personal guard is led by Ligeia—this was her job in Avalon, and now she's back to that job.

After all, Wanning is severely understaffed right now... The current order is entirely maintained by Aiwas's prestige, but this situation is unlikely to last long. They need to establish a new order before people cool down.

Even Aiwas and Isabel had to stay at "Encyclopedia's" house for the time being... After all, the Lord of Goodness's palace had been destroyed in the battle with Yuan Tiansi, and there was no time to rebuild a new palace.

While everyone was extremely busy...

An incredibly humble uninvited guest knelt and knocked on the door of Aiwass's temporary residence—

That was a goblin.

"Hidden in the belly of a horse," Monsieur Grandet.

(End of this chapter)