A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 600 An Argument Between Former Friends

Richard forced a smile in response to Rorschach's "witty remark".

Bart, realizing what was happening, looked incredulous: "You don't want to stay with the Alliance?"

"An alliance? It's nothing more than a tool for rebels and a small group to achieve their ambitions." Richard shook his head. "Its banner is to end wars, but its means is to start wars; it claims to pursue equality and reform, but its initiators are all sons of prominent nobles. Even if the alliance succeeds, the nobles will still control the overall situation, only changing direction in some matters. So why should the empire and its people shed blood?"

Bart's expression turned indignant: "Do you know what you're saying? Do you know who's in charge of the alliance right now?" He then changed his expression, spreading his hands at Richard:

"Rick, you've become a general. If you came to the Alliance, it wouldn't be impossible for you to become a marshal and lead all the troops. You should have seen the guys in the Alliance. We have first-class artillery, the best assault troops, and an air force that is much better than airships. The only thing we lack is a good general."

"If you come, we'll be invincible! Not only will the Empire's current territory be manageable, but unifying the entire continent of Ferroron won't be a problem!"

Richard's gaze lingered between his two former classmates before he spoke again: "Libust and I experienced the turmoil within the Imperial Army and witnessed their misguided efforts. They claimed to be doing something righteous, but in the end, they only blindly created killing and chaos."

"Now that the Empire and Valois have signed a ceasefire agreement, the war between the two countries is over. So, I remember the alliance's full name is the 'Alliance for National Salvation,' right? The Empire's crisis has been resolved, so does this alliance still have any meaning?"

"The Empire's crisis and ills are not merely due to external enemies; the real root lies within! Valois is more advanced than the Empire, which is why it was able to defeat it against all odds. The Alliance is more advanced than the Empire, so we should replace it. We are us!" Bart prepared to deliver another long and eloquent speech, a skill he excelled at even more than casting spells.

However, Libs interrupted him: "Who is 'us'? My father and I certainly aren't, right? Then, is my brother, the fool you've manipulated like a puppet, considered 'us'? As far as I know, the Byrne royal family..."

"Oh, little girl, you can't just say things like that. Otherwise, you'll end up like the Second Prince, completely insane." Rorschach stopped the pointless argument and asked Richard for his own thoughts: "I, Bart, and the Alliance's higher-ups all hope you'll join the Alliance. Whether you continue as a general or come to the Mage Tower to study magic is entirely up to you. Now, you're unwilling to join because of your doubts about the Alliance, is that it?"

"It's not that I'm unwilling to join, but that I'm unwilling to betray the empire. I'm not serving the emperor; you should understand that."

"If you're willing to dedicate your life to the glory of the empire and its people, then isn't a stronger empire always better?"

"certainly."

"Now that you've seen it all, Byrne, is the Special District more powerful than the Empire? Are its citizens living there better off than those in other parts of the Empire?"

"Rorschach, you're taking shortcuts." Richard pointed out the window: "Everything outside is amazing, and you've brought incredible good days to the residents here, but can this be universal? Everywhere I look, there are magic circuits, alchemy equipment, and puppets. There are far more apprentices and spellcasters on the streets than anywhere else."

"Can you guarantee that other regions can be like this? If you conquer the world according to Bart's idea, and the whole world lives according to the special zone's residents' standards, can the resources of the plane and your economic system afford it?"

"If not, then for those imperial subjects who cannot obtain a new life, will there be any difference between rule from here and rule from the capital?"

"If not, why subject others to war, suffering, and bloodshed? Just to fulfill ambitions?"

These words left Bart and Amelia speechless for a moment.

Rorschach stepped forward, wanting Richard to go outside and talk to him alone. He led Richard to a door that led to the Lancaster Space Center.

Pushing open the door, they entered a silver-white building. This was another tower, its antenna section used to transmit and receive signals, tracking and controlling the entire elevator system. From the upper levels of the tower, below were three enormous circular buildings, each forty meters in diameter, standing upright, one-third of them embedded in the ground, surrounded by complex pipelines, facing numerous tracks, and rows of multiple arches resembling "ribs."

Every now and then, the ring would briefly activate, allowing the portal to move in or out. Ground crew were to spacecraft what ants were to food thousands of times their own size, not only pulling these things along but also...

"You may have misunderstood Byrne, misunderstood what I'm doing," Rorschach stated calmly. "Rick, you probably think the Special District is just an exception. True, it's similar in nature to Valuwana and the Imperial City; it's a 'premier' of a region, gathering a large amount of resources and talent. The achievements here cannot be a vision to lure everyone to their deaths, because not everyone can be born in Valuwana, the Imperial City, or the Special District."

"Before you said it, I didn't understand where my doubts came from, but now that you've said it, I truly think so. I've studied the great changes, read books written by Valois people, talked with prisoners, and finally come to a terrible conclusion:"

"The more something needs to be saved and changed, the greater the price to pay and the less it ultimately gains."

"Let's not talk about the past, let's not talk about Valois anymore, let's just talk about the present situation." Rorschach looked at the space center: "There are some things I can't say directly to Bart, otherwise he'll definitely scold me."

"The Alliance ends here; it will coexist with the Empire."

Why?

"The Salvation Alliance should have been destroyed in the first place. Those who started it were too naive, powerless, and inexperienced. The reason it has been able to develop to this point is because of the support of the Arcane Senate and the guilds. Their dissatisfaction with the Empire has accumulated to an irreconcilable point, and they want to completely overturn the table. What we want is not for the current emperor to abdicate or turn to ashes, that's easy. What we want is an Empire that will never produce another emperor."

Richard wore an "I knew it" expression: "No wonder they said Bart would hit you. So this 'we' doesn't include him at all. You're a member of the Senate now, and I'm a valuable asset to be won over, right?"

"No, that's not it. Let's get back to the topic we were just discussing. The reason the Senate changed its mind is because the end times are approaching. All signs indicate that the Mother Goddess is about to awaken. The information being released to the public now says that She is an evil god, but in fact, good and evil are meaningless to Her, and the destruction She brings us is not based on any moral stance."

"In the past, guilds and churches misjudged His threat, thinking it was just an ordinary evil god. In today's world where the gods are silent, there is no god of equal strength to fight against Him. But if we unite, we may not be unable to fight Him."

"But with the subsequent outbreak of disasters across the world, and the Grey Elves handing over their mythological texts to us, and the interpretation of the legends of the Danu and many primordial pantheons, the Senate has confirmed His status."

"He has countless incarnations, is the founder of ancient pantheons, the creator and terminator of all things, and is the supreme god, second only to the creator. After creating all living beings, He fell into slumber, and when He awakens, it will mark the end and the beginning of the next cycle. In other words, if He fully awakens, the destruction of the world will be His destined end."

In reality, these mythological compilations merely eliminated the last vestiges of hope, proving through the records of various races and beliefs that the idiots in the underground cult weren't just bragging.

Richard had never encountered anything like this before. Like most people, he assumed the Earth Mother was an evil figure among the many gods. Now, he was still somewhat incredulous: "Then what's the point of what we're doing?"

(End of this chapter)