Who designed this underworld dungeon?.

Chapter 599 War Ceremony, but it seems like no one's here?
The most tormenting thing is not failure, but expectation.

Waiting with anticipation is like a dull knife cutting into your flesh. With each passing minute of waiting, the dull knife cuts a little more, causing constant pain. Yet, because of the anticipation, people are willing to accept this pain.

King Frederick was in such a state at this moment.

"Where is everyone? Where has everyone gone? The festival starts tomorrow, why is no one here?"

His impatient footsteps echoed within the palace as he paced around the room in circles.

Tomorrow, the war festival will begin, where fighters from all sides will gather to compete and determine who is superior. In reality, it is a struggle between the two major factions: tradition and reform.

On the reformist side, Lanler and his group, along with the fighters recruited by Yunka, had arrived in the capital several days earlier. They spent their days demonstrating the Qi conversion technique to people from all over the country who came to participate in the festival, creating a harmonious and joyful scene, as if they had already won.

"I get annoyed every time I see them like this." Fred gritted his teeth, like an old rascal whose limelight had been stolen. He glared at the window that offered a direct view of the capital city. If looks had power, half the capital city would have exploded by now.

No matter how he looked left, right, up, or down, all he could see outside the city were countless tents set up by people who had come to participate in the festival.

Neither Temud, whom he had been hoping for, nor the mission sent to the Kingdom of Anor to study, appeared!

Not only did none of them appear, but many of the fighters he had previously summoned also disappeared without a trace, according to the report from his attendant yesterday!
Traditional fighters, who were already few in number, are now as rare as pandas. If a traditional fighter wants to win the crown at the war festival, on average, one fighter has to fight forty reformers.

What's the point of fighting?! A war of attrition could wear down our soldiers!

"Temud, where did you go? Why didn't you send a message?"

Fred was extremely agitated. Gazing at the unattractive night sky outside the window, he muttered to himself:
"You'd better come back tomorrow with a surprise, or you'll be in big trouble!"

If these words came from the mouth of a cruel monarch, they would be quite frightening, as if he would kill the whole family if things didn't go his way.

However, this old king exuded no sense of danger whatsoever.

Because his current mental state is like that of a widow who has seen her partner late in life and who knows where she has gone off to fool around, and who vaguely realizes that she has been NTR'd.

The most tragic thing is that even though he sensed a hint of NTR (Netorare, a form of sexual assault), he was still unaffected.
But he didn't even know what it was that made him so awesome.

His anger, with nowhere to vent, finally turned into a face full of resentment.

In fact, Temud bears an undeniable responsibility for Fred's current predicament.

He had actually sent someone to report the war festival to the other party long ago, and also indicated that he might not be able to return to the capital to participate in the war festival for the time being.

However, when he was mobilizing the delegation, which had already set off halfway, to abandon the capital and join him in embracing the underground city of Sein, he used his excellent oratory skills to describe the battle festival as excessively passionate and grand.

So much so that the messenger who was supposed to go to the capital to report the news, after weighing the distance between the two places, realized that if he went to the capital, he might not be able to make it back in time for the battle festival.

So he secretly skipped going to the capital and mingled with the crowd to participate in the battle festival.

And as it turned out, the Ratan Festival, which compelled the messenger to defy orders to participate in, did not disappoint anyone.

The next day, in the early morning.

Fred, who had tossed and turned all night, got up with huge dark circles under his eyes and went to participate in the tedious ritual that would last from dawn until dusk, feeling listless.

When he arrived at the arena where the war festival was being held, his son, the current king of the Warrior Kingdom, Bontou, and the court's great magic sage, Yunka, had already arrived.

Meeting the gazes of the two men, Fred simply nodded as a greeting, then sat down on the highest platform, overlooking the vast arena.

It seems that the people don't have a very close relationship.

This historic arena has always been the venue for various large-scale events in the Warrior Kingdom, and it has considerable historical significance. On weekdays, all kinds of gladiator matches are held here, and every match is packed to capacity.

Today, coinciding with the War Festival, a major festival for the warrior nation, the arena was naturally packed with people, as always, with every seat filled.

Fred's gaze, which had been sweeping around, suddenly froze.

Wait, as always?

He keenly sensed that something was amiss and turned to look at his son.

Both the other person and Yuenka were frowning and looking around, seemingly equally puzzled.

Confused? That's perfectly normal!

The war festival is a major ceremony that is held only once in a long while, so it is only natural that the arena is full of people; that many people are necessary.

But why is the number of people here "as always"? In other words, the number of people coming to watch this festival is almost the same as the number of people coming to watch gladiatorial combat on ordinary days!

Something's wrong!
Fred had previously predicted that the number of people coming today would be at least ten times that of a normal day, and would easily exceed ten times, so extra seats were temporarily set up, and those seats could be extended to accommodate more people at the same time.

But now, although those seats are occupied, no one is unfolding them at all, because that's the only number of people!

"This"

Fred was at a loss for words. Did young people these days have completely lost interest in old traditions like war festivals? He, an old man, really didn't know what young people liked.

But when he turned around, even Bontou, who claimed to understand young people best, looked completely bewildered.

So, what exactly is it that has intercepted the people who should have come to participate in the war festival?

So confused was Fred that he temporarily forgot his anxiety about Temud and the others not coming.

And so, the war festival began.

After all the sacrificial rituals and performances, the whole day had passed. The number of people in the arena had increased slightly, but it was still quite different from the expected scene of overcrowding.

As dusk fell, horns sounded, and warriors entered the arena to begin their duels. The atmosphere of the entire festival reached its climax with the warriors' fierce battles.

The confusion on Bontou and Yuenka's faces turned into smiles at this moment, smiles for those reformist fighters who had made a name for themselves.

Fred remained expressionless, because Temud and the others still hadn't arrived.

Alright, now he has no more expectations and has sealed his heart from love.

He stared at the arena with a dark expression. A group of warriors were exchanging magical blows, using Yunka's "improved magic." Each one was wielding it with ease, and even struck a cool pose between battles. He also spotted Edgar, who had recently been making headlines. This guy was the most flamboyant of the fighters, looking completely basking in his own glory with an arrogant air.

How did this person come up with technology that even Eunka hadn't thought of?

Watching the group of people unleashing their magic in the warriors' arena, Fred was furious, his beard bristling and eyes wide with rage. He kept banging his cane on the ground and muttering, "What kind of behavior is this? What kind of behavior is this?"

Not long after, the lowly fighters had been eliminated, and all that remained in the arena were elites. Fred's traditional warriors were quite capable, with many still alive, but compared to the massive reform faction, they were simply no match.

His face was as black as the bottom of a pot. And if traditionalists like Fred looked sour, reformers like Bontou, Eunka, and Lanler would be delighted.

"Grandfather looked very angry."

Lanler looked up at Fred, then turned and smiled.

The seat next to him should have been Temud's, but it was empty. Since Temud was not there and his delegation had not appeared either, it meant that the letter Lanler had written earlier had worked and had completely shattered Temud's confidence, causing him to give up attending the war festival.

Lanler thought so, because he had set off a few days earlier and was unaware of the details of the subsequent battle festival, assuming that it was ultimately just a matter for the adventurers.

"It's a pity that the dwarf community in the country is still a staunch supporter of tradition. There's no way to persuade these guys. But there's nothing we can do. Magic is a high-barrier profession, which is not suitable for dwarves."

He muttered to himself with a pleasant tone:
"In this way, the domestic reform trend became unstoppable."

At this moment, Lanler looked at Younka, who noticed his gaze and gave him an approving look, clearly taking credit for Temud's absence from causing trouble.

At this moment, Eunka was also in a good mood.

Good things have been happening one after another these days.

His disciple Edgar suddenly seemed to have a breakthrough, proposing a brilliant and feasible improvement method for the Qi conversion technique, instantly pushing the technique to a completely practical level, which amazed even his teacher.

He was already considering passing on his title of sage to Edgar in the future. He wasn't a jealous person; the more successful his disciples were, the happier he was.

Although his research on sapphire magic was still progressing slowly, it wasn't a big deal; his other research on improved magic was going very smoothly.

Moreover, most of the traditional warriors did not appear at today's war festival, which created a very favorable situation. Although even if Temud and his men came, they wouldn't be able to cause any trouble, but just in case, their absence was the best outcome.

Once the war festival ends, the faith in magic within the Warrior Kingdom should reach a new peak, at which point a new phase of the plan can begin.

The usually composed Eunka suddenly showed a smug expression, having not felt this happy in a long time.

I feel like I have the whole world under my control.

By the way, it's been a while since I checked the specific values ​​of magical faith concentration. Let me take a look now.

Just as he was channeling his magic to investigate, the gladiatorial combat entered a break, and as was customary, he was to stand up and offer blessings and praise to those who remained.

So, while checking the concentration of magical faith, Eunka stood up, and the whole room became excited, eagerly awaiting the master's speech.

He cleared his throat and said with a friendly smile:

"Brave and fearless warriors, your performance today was truly... wow!!!"

At this moment when everyone was watching, Eunka suddenly let out a loud, strange scream!

Oh dear—

Yeah!

Hey--

The strange screams echoed through the arena, and the expressions on people's faces quickly changed from anticipation to astonishment.

The entire room fell silent, utterly still, and everyone's gazes were like thorns piercing Eunka.

Lanler was so startled that he jumped up and turned around to stare at Eunka in disbelief, never expecting that the other party would be so rude on such an important occasion.

Not only him, but Bontou was also startled and stood up, looking at the court's great magic sage with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty.

"What are you guys up to?" Fred asked without hesitation, his brow furrowed. Although he and Yuenka didn't get along, the other party's current behavior was a matter of national dignity, and they couldn't afford to be impolite on such an important occasion.

Edgar stopped smiling, tilted his head, and stared straight at his teacher.

Eunka's body was trembling slightly.

At this moment, he was completely oblivious to the questions around him and the piercing gazes of the audience. All he could see was the concentration of domestic magical faith that he had just researched.

The level of faith had already steadily reached over 80%, just one step away from reaching 90%, creating a thriving situation.

But now, now...
"Half of it evaporated!?"

Eunka cried out again, and a chaotic surge of magic erupted uncontrollably from him, shaking down a large flock of birds in the sky.

His tone was filled with a rich array of emotions: shock, anger, confusion, sadness—all negative emotions.

What exactly happened? Why did the concentration suddenly drop by more than half? Shouldn't it be thriving?!
Who exactly caused this, and what exactly caused it?
His expression changed several times. He could no longer stay in the arena and watch this boring performance. Under the astonished gazes of the others, he created a hurricane and rushed into the sky, disappearing from the vicinity in the blink of an eye.

"."

People stared blankly at his departing figure, and the entire place was silent for a few seconds before erupting into chaos.

"What's going on? What's going on? Where did Master Eunka go?"

"Could it be that another country has invaded?"

"Maybe there's something wrong with his experiment?"

Seeing the many dangerous rumors circulating in the arena, Bontou reacted quickly, waving his hand to order the soldiers to maintain order, but he himself was also taken aback by Yuenka's behavior.

The soldiers sternly rebuked the rioting crowd, and it seemed the situation was about to calm down, but just then...

"what is this?"

Edgar walked over to the flock of birds that had been knocked down by Eunka, and he suddenly realized that they were carrier pigeons, each with a small tube attached to its leg.

Upon opening it, one finds a roughly polished photographic stone inside, with several large characters engraved on its surface.

【Battle Festival】

"What?" Edgar asked in confusion. His intuition told him that this was no good and had to be confiscated.

Just then, the sky above the arena began to coo loudly. He looked up sharply and saw that large flocks of pigeons filled the sky above the arena.

next moment.

The small tubes containing the photographic stones fell like raindrops.

(End of this chapter)