After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

While the two fleets of the Northern Army were still adrift at sea, Oswald finally received an urgent report from the capital.

Suppressing his emotions, Oswald read the intelligence report word for word, then took out his pipe and fell into deep thought.

He had oversimplified everything.

In this life, Oswald did not actually possess much of a prophetic advantage, nor did he ever imagine that anyone other than himself would attempt to access and control the power of calamity.

The good news is that Medivh inadvertently revealed the Southern Territory's trump card; the bad news is that his only heir, Luna, was sent to the Southern Territory by him.

The two sides are separated by thousands of mountains and rivers. Even if Oswald is anxious, it will take him half a month to get to the royal city and then use the teleportation array from the royal city to go to the southern territory.

There's also the worry that arriving in the royal city might trigger a major war...

Oswald had previously planned to go directly to the royal city and expose all those monsters and demons.

Now, if both lords were to die suddenly outside, Eleanor would probably have to die with Heaven and Earth again.

Alas, my poor little mole.

Oswald sighed and was about to send Paul to the Southern Territory when, not long after, another messenger from the capital arrived.

Oswald vigorously wiped his face, silently praying that it wasn't bad news.

The exhausted messenger reported the news listlessly.

"His Majesty assures the Duke that after extensive investigation, Miss Luna has successfully evacuated the Southern Territory and will likely return from the Eastern Territory by ship."

"His Majesty instructed the Duke not to make any rash moves, and that Miss Luna is perfectly fine."

Upon hearing this, Oswald was somewhat bewildered.

Just moments ago they were telling me to step forward, and now they're telling me not to make a move. The interval is so short, could it be that... the calamity in the Southern Territory has already been resolved?

After instructing his servants to pour the messenger a large glass of water and let him sit down to rest, Oswald finally spoke up to ask questions.

"Explain clearly, what exactly happened in between?"

The messenger, barely regaining his strength, hurriedly explained, "Your Grace, after Lord Medivh had the magician issue a warning, His Majesty the King immediately dispatched several powerful warriors to the Southern Territory using magic arrays."

"According to their investigation, the calamity suddenly broke out during the chaotic battle between the Northern and Southern armies, and both sides immediately withdrew their troops and fled for their lives."

Oswald jumped to his feet, his expression grim. "Wait, the calamity has already begun?"

The frightened messenger nodded frantically and said in detail, "Yes, many civilians in the Southern Territory have confirmed that there was a huge creature flying through the night sky, and the strong winds that rose up could even blow the roofs off."

"Moreover, that calamity beast didn't attack people; it just flew eastward into the river valley..."

Oswald remained silent for a long time, and now only two possibilities remained: either the calamity had gained intelligence, or the duke in the southern territory who was afflicted by the calamity was able to control the calamity that was one with him.

But in either case, it will be more troublesome than Oswald imagined.

There are still too many unsolved mysteries in this world. There are giant dragons that can share the soul corruption of dragon slayers, and then suddenly a magician appears who uses forbidden magic to forcibly transfer a part of the calamity.

You should know that the goddess has been trying to break through the limitations of the soul on immortality magic. In addition to the forced protection of the system that Oswald has, there are now three ways to maintain the soul.

The first method is to achieve a balance between life and immortality magic, but this is not very useful, since the original body is still human, not an undead.

The second method involves using another soul residing in the body to bear the erosion.

The third method is to transfer the erosion and share it with others.

There are also special cases like Lilith, who are not included in this discussion because she has the power to control death, and she did not become an undead at all.

Otherwise, her increasingly full belly cannot be explained.

"You've worked hard, go and rest now."

Waving the messenger away, Oswald stood by the window, looking up at the azure sky.

The three gods, without exception, chose to abandon their natural physical bodies when deciding on the next era.

One is immortal, one is mechanized, one is nihilized...

This is like three bastards having a race, and the one who breaks through first will have the power to completely change the world and life.

[How about we try a divine war?]

The faint electrical hum of the system startled Oswald.

(What am I supposed to fight in a god war? The monsters there are all over the place. If I gain the slightest advantage, she'll poke me with her finger...)

[Actually, host, you just lack the awareness to become a strong person, or rather, you haven't yet unleashed your full potential.]

(for example?)

[For example, this system]

Seeing how seriously it was speaking, Oswald couldn't help but laugh out loud.

(Let's think about how to deal with the calamity in the Southern Territory. I have a feeling there's some kind of conspiracy involved. The more restrained the enemy is, the more unpredictable the danger becomes.)

The first and crucial point is that the Southern Territory's goal from the beginning has always been Frank in the royal city, which is very troublesome for Oswald.

Because it's impossible for him to go to the capital to be Frank's bodyguard.

Oswald was indeed worried that Frank's death would cause the situation to collapse, but the power in the royal city was far from being his sole dominant force.

According to John's investigation, the sage in the library has not shown himself in public since the time reversal occurred.

This is completely inconsistent with the story in which he often enlightens heroes and guides them in the direction of their lives.

The hero Thorne definitely harbors a secret, and it's very likely a secret that hasn't even been revealed in the story. In order to carry out this secret, the old sage and the Magicians' Guild have been protecting Thorne's growth.

If we temporarily regard the Sages and Magicians' Association as the goddess's lackeys.

The goddess's goal is to bring about the next era of the undead, so Thorne's secrets are likely related to the transformation of the undead.

The Duke of the Southern Territory, whatever his schemes may be, has in fact completed another form of undead transformation.

Oswald worried that if the duke was also guided by some goddess, Frank, who was using the army as his trump card, would lose all his advantages.

The day the undead army invaded marked the beginning of turmoil in the royal city.

But as I said before, Oswald will not go to the royal city during this period. On the day he defeated the Blood-Clad Saintess, from the moment the goddess forcibly transformed him into an undead and stripped him of his sight, there will be no peace between the two sides.

[Have you thought it through? How do you resolve this calamity?] the system asked silently.

Oswald shook his head and smiled wryly. (I've thought it through; we can't go.)