Shadow of the Evil God

"Let me tell you this, how old do you think the people sitting in this room are who care about this? Five? Three?"

The young knight rushed over, and as he expected, he was easily excited.

Angry people are mostly nothing to be afraid of, though they're also quite suitable for biting people. Cesar reached out and pushed Kilder's fist away. With his other hand, he ran over his breastplate and found the belt holding up his military jacket. He grabbed it. With one hand, he grasped the back of his neck, the other by his belt. Using the momentum, he flung him through the air, slamming him into the corner of the wall like a naughty child.

The latter went crazy, his face completely red, and he stood up from the corner while yelling, groping at his belt, trying to find the sword he had handed over before entering the meeting room.

Count Villars finally shook his head and waved at Gilder. "For Helgast's sake, take your brother out of here and don't let him embarrass me again." Cesar glanced over as two silent officers quickly approached, one on each side, holding the red-faced Gilder. The young knight struggled desperately, his face covered in dust and dirt, but he was no match for his two towering brothers and was forcibly carried out of the meeting room.

This old man has so many sons, Cesar thought, no wonder he let one of them out to bite people. If he showed even the slightest thought of having an equal dialogue with Gilder, he would naturally be at a disadvantage in the subsequent conversation with Villar.

Chapter 169 Uncle Cesar

Villar watched his son, Gilder, leave the meeting room without saying a word. Afterwards, he suddenly sighed and said, "I already know what this young man is thinking. Iset, now tell me what you think."

"As a commander, my Uncle Cesar is certainly not to be underestimated, but this mercenary army itself needs some experience." Cesar looked towards the conference room entrance and saw a young man with black hair and blue eyes, dressed in court attire, slowly approaching. Despite his elegant and comfortable attire, his expression bore traces of the old Thane's fierceness. "Dominion will provide ample support for the front lines, but some remote areas will inevitably be overseen, such as the currently under-defended northern fortresses," the visitor said.

Cesar had heard that while the Borgia family had many members, most were insignificant. However, those dispatched to Domini were clearly not members of such insignificant families. His nephew mentioned something he couldn't avoid—the mercenary army itself. While these ragtag mercenaries, armed with muskets and armed with artillery, were a formidable force against the cavalry, the mercenaries of Olidan were no match for the professional mercenaries of the Casar Empire; their overall quality was still far inferior.

To exploit this, there's no need to insult his reputation or overly degrade the mercenaries into refugees. All one needs to do is point out the facts and, based on them, make seemingly reasonable arrangements for him, and many hopes will naturally be fulfilled.

"Nice to meet you, Isette," César said. "Are you blaming General Villar for his decision?"

The other bowed and said, "That's not true. I'm just stating the facts. To save a kingdom from ruin, people sometimes have to give up something. But where you give up, you can always make up for it."

"You want the various armies of Olidan to perform their duties as you wish?"

"I'm not being so offensive, uncle," Iset said. "I just discussed my own approach with General Villar, and now I hope to give further suggestions. As for providing support to the best of our ability, after the main army determines the main battlefield, the other armies will have to make up for the shortcomings of the peripheral battlefields."

Cesar frowned slightly, "You said it was General Villar's absence, but was it actually the northern fortress he was supposed to be guarding?"

"That's... not very flattering. But that's the reality. Currently, the Knights of Auridan's Kingdom stationed in the north are definitely overkill. Therefore, you need a more suitable army to guard the border."

"What do you want me to guard?"

"Fugitives, refugees, and some exiled beastmen." Isett smiled brightly. "They're not worth mentioning, but they still need people to watch over them. This includes arranging the whereabouts of fugitives and refugees, as well as wiping out the exiled beastmen communities."

"It was indeed an oversight on my part," murmured the Count of Villars, "and I am deeply ashamed of it."

Cesar thought of the worg herd he had encountered in the wilderness. They had mentioned that their tribe was heading south in search of enlightenment. This was important. "Can you tell me how many garrisons they have placed at the northern fortress, General Verard?" he asked. "If I were to go north to take over this mess, how many unfortunate monsters or exiled bandits would they let in before I could take over?"

Villar hesitated and did not answer. From his attitude, Cesar felt that he probably knew something, and the information came either from the Empire or from Iset.

"There's another question," Cesar continued, "Who's responsible for any accidents that occur during this period? Only if you can give me an accurate answer can we discuss the next matter."

In fact, some of the beastmen might be easier for him to deal with than humans and the temple. Even if other beastmen harbored strong malice and were completely uncommunicative, he could at least inform the worg pack, or even the cruel goblins, and learn how to deal with them.

Isett pondered for a moment. "Since you are willing to assist General Villar,

It will indeed make things much easier. This venerable old general has risked everything for the kingdom. Will you make amends for his mistakes while he strives to crush the rebellious nobles?

"Maybe, but that's not what I want." Cesar

Road.

"what do you want?"

"Don't let what happened to Governor Vermir happen again." The meaning was clear. He wanted to ensure that he had absolute autonomy and that no possible traitors could disrupt his decision-making or hold him back.

"You will be fully responsible for the north. You can mobilize the garrison troops and use the city's supplies at your disposal," Villar suddenly said. "If you truly wish to fill the gap in the north, I can also allocate a large portion of the military supplies decided by Urbino this time."

Whether Count Villars had a sudden change of heart, or was preparing more burial objects for him to make his death more graceful, Cesar couldn't tell. However, it didn't matter; securing the urgently needed military supplies in the initial stages was his primary concern. While defending the north might seem like a significant challenge, it wouldn't be a greater threat than the confrontation between the various temples and the main battle force the nobles had been preparing for countless years.

Avoiding the brutal main battlefield in the early stages of the war and possible internal power struggles, and having full authority to decide the garrison methods in the north, these conditions combined are enough for him to take on this matter.

After all, his first battle in this world was a city defense battle. If this mercenary army could start its training by defending the city, it would definitely be better than confronting the nobles' main combat army head-on on the main battlefield.

If trouble really happened, he could use this full authority to expand Governor Gonzalez's garrison area, connecting it northward to the northern fortress, drawing a longer supply line, building a larger-scale logistics, and recruiting a larger number of local farmers and townspeople.

Cesar looked them over. "I can fill the gap in the north, but any trouble that spreads to Olidan before I arrive will likely fall to you, General Villar. It's not that I'll shoulder it, but I don't want to have to deal with oversights that have nothing to do with me while defending the north. It doesn't really matter who handles it."

"You don't need to worry about anything else, Uncle Cesar." Isett swaggered into the meeting room. "Don't we still have us? Ever since the war in the north was temporarily suspended, Domini has received many battle-hardened soldiers returning from the Casal Empire. A few minor omissions are nothing to worry about. You only need to guard Gonzales and the northern fortresses. Everything else is not your responsibility."

"If that's the case, I would naturally agree with it," Cesar said.

"Very good," Villar said, pleased with the result and agreeing. "If that's what you say, then it's settled. I'll write you the document myself. If anyone in the north disobeys military orders, regardless of their relationship to me, you can deal with them as you wish."

Chapter 170: A Day for Three People

......

"Although it's no longer necessary." Cesar sat down beside Diana's bed, reaching out to stroke a few strands of Fils' hair. She was engaged in unconscious meditation, which, as Diana said, could, to a certain extent, maintain her existence. "But I still want to take her to Itris," he said. "After all... my original promise was to take her to Itris."

Diana, flipping through a coded manuscript on the bench by her desk, glanced over at him. "You're quite adept at making unfulfilled promises to lonely, helpless girls," she said. "I think you'd be just as adept at deceiving boys, regardless of gender. There's a fine line between tempting a reckless knight to lose his temper and demanding his loyalty."

Cesar shrugged. "We weren't trapped then," he said. "Even though we were living in the slums of downtown, surrounded by bugs and filth, I felt like there was only a wall between us and the freedom of moving around. Later, when we got outside that wall and achieved this power and fame, it was more than just a wall."

"You're taking too much too quickly," she said. "A lot of it won't have time to digest, so it'll just sit there and make it hard for you to walk."

"That's easy for you to say," Cesar complained, "but when I think about it, you have no right to judge me. You and I are completely opposite. If there was a bakery on the street, you'd be the owner who throws away the extra bread, while I'd be the homeless person who picks up bread from the ground. What bothers you is that there's too much power and status, and it's not to your liking. You have to pick and choose, to find the ones that do suit you. What bothers me is that there simply isn't enough of them."

"Well, you're right. First it was the sacrifice, then the poor people from the lower town, the thieves who stole fish, the slaves sold for a few coppers, and then suddenly, they became a fictitious blood relative of an old noble who had no children. It's really a legendary year." Diana sighed. "Why do you explain all this so clearly?"

"All these things, combined, are nothing compared to the title of Analik," he said. "I don't think there's anything to hide. After I gain the position of governor and military power, these things no longer matter. At least I don't have to insist on them to anyone. It's fine to be careful with my words and actions in public, but at a time like this, what's the point of wasting time and effort, carefully choosing my words, and insisting on a fictitious noble identity? Don't you think people always need a place to be myself, not someone others want me to be?"

Diana

He was choked for a moment, "You are really... It's hard for me to describe it."

"If you could describe it, I wouldn't say that," Cesar replied. "So what are you thinking about, Diana?

It is about participating in worldly political affairs, and concealing all the cursed things that people don't want anyone to hide, and conducting research on their own."

"It's nothing." Diana looked at the ciphered manuscript in her hand. "If my school's sifting and prophesying generation after generation is to create a soul that can penetrate the truth, then what I want to do first is to make everything revolve around me, and all values ​​​​are judged by me."

"I understand. You want to be the center of the world and have everyone else revolve around you?"

"Not really," she wrote down the recent changes in the cipher manuscript. "I just don't want to be held in someone else's hands and used as a tool for them to write their own life. If you understand what I'm saying, don't trick me into thinking you're my teacher. In the past, I called people "teacher" in the academy, but that was just a necessary step for children to take when they grow up. I never used that term again. This title..."

"Is it because of the status difference that you don't like?" Cesar laughed. "It seems the question isn't about who is qualified to be your teacher, but rather that you only want to be others' teacher, rather than accepting others as your own. Simply put, you only allow others to look up to you, but not you to look up to others."

"You're really good at cutting things off," Diana said. "All I need to do is observe and think. What do you think I do all day? Just sit around combing my hair?"

"What if you accept Aya as your military command teacher for a few years?"

Diana glanced at him and said, "Vision can't be learned by taking someone as a teacher. If my judgment is not accurate enough, it means I haven't observed enough and my thinking is not comprehensive enough." She shook her head and said, "Most people take someone as a teacher, but they just read some books and learn some rigid skills from them. When I want to learn knowledge, I can bypass this channel and do it myself. It's actually more efficient this way." She added casually.

"You've slashed away all the value attached to the title of teacher, leaving only a channel for acquiring knowledge. And you're still accusing me of cutting off the beginning and the end? What on earth are you thinking?"

Diana turned and stared at Cesar, this time completely averting her eyes from the coded manuscript. "Why can't I?" she asked. "You yourself treat your aristocratic status as a channel, disposable, and yet you ask me this question? I haven't asked you, Cesar, what is the fundamental difference between the status of a noble and the status of a teacher? Do you think small-scale social relationships are more valuable than larger ones, huh?"

The fruitless argument lasted for a long time. Finally, Diana could no longer speak and began to hold her neck to ease her breathing. Cesar could no longer speak. He wanted to find Phils to relieve his emotions, but she moved her hand away under her piercing gaze because she asked him not to disturb others' meditation and not to make any further contact than stroking a few strands of hair.

"You must be the worst kind of teacher." Cesar leaned against the headboard, spread out one hand, and waved it vigorously. "If someone even slightly breaks the rules, you'll scold and discipline them. You can't do this or that."

"Why don't you reflect on your actions and think about why I'm telling you not to do this or that," Diana said. She flipped open her coded manuscript, pulled out a scroll from the bottom, and stood up, bending over to place it on the bed in her bedroom. The scroll itself looked ordinary, but there was a complex pattern engraved in the center, and Cesar had no idea what it meant.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Kastari," Diana said. "A game played by the high priests of the Kuna. If you think you have wisdom, use it to settle the question of who will convince whom."

"I don't understand what you want to play. There's just a weird picture on it, and I don't see any chess pieces."

"You'll find out what the chess pieces are in a moment," she said. "This piece of paper is the chessboard that has been passed down from that era to this day, and this inexplicable picture is a rubbing of the divine text that you've only heard of but never seen."

Cesar thought he must be crazy to play their game as a beginner against a master mage, but this thing was really incredible.

As Diana explains, Castalli's game is described as a game of chess, yet there are no fixed pieces. This is because its rules are unrelated to those of ordinary chess. Instead, it is a highly developed secret language system centered around divine texts, like ciphers and true knowledge, but far older. Castalli's game synthesizes diverse knowledge, attempting to express everything through the game and establishing interconnected causal relationships between all knowledge systems.

This may have sounded like a foolish dream, but surrounding the so-called divine text rubbing, some of these near-fantasies suddenly became reality. Even within reach.

Through his third-person perspective, Cesar saw that Diana's entire bedroom had been transformed, based on divine scripture. Her bedroom had transformed from the interior of a secular building into a series of inconceivably complex mechanical structures, so intricate that they could be subdivided into infinite details, at least to his senses, he could not see the end.

It is like a piano built with the world as its skeleton, with various keys and pedals of various shapes and sizes, and their number is so large that they can be infinitely subdivided.

Any combination of symbols can be used to express knowledge and semantics.

Diana said that the first step in Castalli chess is to determine the rules, otherwise there will be so many combinations of notes that two people will have no connection with each other.

They muttered to themselves within their knowledge system. She selected a set of keys and pedals, explaining that these were the most classic Castalian opening moves, and that their game would revolve around them. However, unlike normal chess, these keys and pedals could be replaced, added, or removed at any time, and the chessboard itself could be extended infinitely.

There are no fixed rules in the game, as every shift in keys and pedals can alter the rules themselves, sometimes completely overturning the existing framework. The so-called opening move is, in fact, just a starting point.

Cesar felt that this thing was already ridiculously complicated. Even the introductory step required the third perspective. From a secular perspective, it must be like two hysterical lunatics dancing in front of a piece of white paper.

Diana, however, paid no attention to worldly matters. She repeatedly emphasized to Cesare the significance of Castalli, claiming that this game wasn't just a game of chess, but a true reflection of the players' train of thought, character, emotions, and knowledge. If two people couldn't reach a conclusion by arguing in secular terms, they could surely determine the winner by switching to Castalli. In fact, she argued, no matter what opening moves a player used, even a thousand times, would produce two identical games, because a person at each moment is always different from the person they were at the moment before.

The game was long, and as the morning wore on into the afternoon, Cesar felt he was being forced to expose the worst side of his character. He stared at the piano keys, which had already circled twice, trying to figure out what he had done wrong. He thought for a while, but couldn't figure it out, so he dropped his piece, extending the entire chessboard even further.

The flat ring becomes a three-dimensional structure.

Diana stared at the chessboard with a frown on her face. "Why do you always change the rules when you're about to lose, forcing us to start all over again and again?"

"You said I could do it. And you laughed at me for being so weak." Cesar sighed, imitating Diana's gesture, and raised his chin towards her. "So weak, Cesar."

She glared at me, "I'm saying this so that you don't lose so badly."

"No, you say that so that when I lose later, you can laugh at me even more thoroughly."

"You're such a rotten person."

"You and this game suck."

"You're so obsessed with winning and refusing to admit defeat that our gaming experience is so..." Diana sighed. "Never mind, it's not bad. There's always a way to find an opportunity to start over, which is actually a remarkable ability. But this Castalli game is taking too long. Do you want to wait until next year?"

"I'm still a beginner," Cesar said nonchalantly, "but I guess if I play this game of Castali until next year, I won't be a beginner anymore. Then you'll know if you'll act like a rogue when you're about to lose."

He glanced at the Castalli board, realizing his previous move had gone awry, and reached out to touch the recently placed piece. As he placed his finger on it, her hand touched his, rudely sweeping it aside. Her hands were delicate, fair, and delicate, but her attitude was less than friendly. "If you take back your move," Diana said, "you'll have to play Castalli for the rest of your life."

"You said I was a beginner and you could make me take back my moves."

"You're not anymore. If nothing else, your skillful scoundrel skills make my teachers seem mediocre."

"Maybe they are too embarrassed to do that," Cesar said.

"Not entirely," Diana said. "As far as the game itself is concerned, trying every possible way to block your path has given me a lot of different ideas. I'm happy to continue this game of Castalli. This morning's game is more worthwhile than interacting with a thousand mediocre people. However, I still have to ask you to consider more than just escaping. Also... are you awake?"

"I can't open my eyes. I feel dizzy..." Phils complained. "Why did you two put up so many weird things from the third perspective?"

Cesar turned around and saw Phils curled up in a ball, looking confused. She hadn't been very lucid during the day lately. He brought her over and placed her on his lap. He rubbed the corners of her eyes with his index finger, then kissed her eyes as she mumbled, licking her sleepy eyelids open with the tip of his tongue.

"Can I ask you something, Cesar?" Diana suddenly asked.

Cesar looked up. "What?"

"Did you teach her to lick people's eyes while they were asleep?" she asked.

"How could that be?" he retorted. "It's Phils who stays awake at night and rubs and licks my eyes every morning, waking me up from my sleep. I guess she might not be so lucid lately and hasn't figured out who you are. She just feels inexplicably close to you, so she does this. - Is it strange for ancestors to show a little closeness to their descendants?"

"Didn't you two say this was fine?" Phils muttered.

"You are my first..." Diana was speechless for a moment, "I wish I could think so, but this is a... Do you know that Ferriers

Never in my life…"

"That's good." Cesar said decisively, and then continued to rub the corners of Phils's sleepy eyes with his fingers, lowered his head and kissed her shoulder, "You see, she doesn't have any objections, she just asked." He looked up at Diana, "

You said that people are always different from the moment before, so why do you still keep thinking about Big Ferriers?

Chapter 171 The Fire That Was About to Go Out

"Where we're going," Fils said, "will we stay long, or settle down? I mean, somewhere that can be used as a testing ground."

It was time to settle down. With Firth's situation, being a wanderer year-round wasn't a good idea. He really needed a testing ground similar to the Neuen Underground Castle.

Cesar considered it. "Gular Fortress stretches north to the Kasar Empire and south to Olidan, making it more strategically significant than Gonzales. While it's not a good place to live long-term, that's just for the secular world. If we want to migrate north in the future, occupying the entire area surrounding the fortress is also crucial. I think that place can serve as a long-term stronghold, while Gonzales is more suitable as a logistical supply point."

Diana tutted at his deliberate speech. "I can set up a test site," she said, "but I must remind you that the fortress is not only close to the Southern Kasar Empire, which has an alliance with the South, but also to another part of the southwest."

"Southwest?" Cesar asked.

He knew little about the various territories that had splintered from the Kasar Empire. He only knew that after the old emperor's death, various factions, each with its own princes and princesses, had claimed to be legitimate, and now had long since changed their title to emperor. Years after the puppet emperors were forced into marriage, the various splintered empires had already begun cultivating the next generation of princes and princesses, with Altinia being a prime example.

Diana spread out a map that did not exist in reality in the third vision. Cesar took a closer look and found that it could hardly be called a map, but a miniature world.

This map was not only the product of an ancient school of sorcery's study of land structure, river flows, and mountain barriers, but also a vivid, three-dimensional work of art, a bird's-eye view so realistic it could be mistaken for reality. He could see the inland sea as a deep blue, the rivers as flowing light blue, the mountains as brown ridges, and the cities as gray blocks, every detail depicted with impeccable precision.

While the more remote areas lacked detailed depictions, most of the core areas were clearly visible. From this vantage point, it was like looking down upon the distant land from above. It wasn't long before Cesar found Gonzales, discovering the forests and mountains they had passed through during their march, the mountains that backed Fort Gonzales, and the valley at the city's gate. Northwest of Gonzales, following the Huala Mountains, they would reach the northern border where Fort Gural lay.

Diana pointed to the Gural Fortress and marked out an area to the north. "The southern Kasar Empire is ruled by the former Imperial Chancellor, and they're very open to trade and alliances." She then marked out the area north of the fortress and moved westward. "To the west of this area lies another part of the Kasar Empire, bordering the Endless Steppes. It's ruled by the Empire's border general. It's a place where military power reigns supreme. The general's family is a renowned military aristocracy in the Empire, having fought against the Sasule people for nearly a thousand years."

This strategic map would be rewarded handsomely if given to any king or emperor, but unfortunately it was meaningless to the Origin Society, and Diana didn't care.

She continued rowing west, until she reached the light green area north of the Sanctuary Abyss. "For years, Count Villar has seen no success in his campaign, maintaining a stalemate with them. This is why the Vizier favors Domini over Olidan. Artinya said the Vizier sees the lush grasslands of the southwest as a delicacy and has always dreamed of acquiring them, grazing them extensively and breeding war horses. However, their repeated attempts have been unsuccessful. As for that general, I don't have any specific information, but I know they are very close to the Gular Fortress and pose a considerable threat. This area is theoretically defended jointly by Olidan and the southern Kasar Empire."

"Threats are fine," Cesar said. "After all, Gural Fortress is a necessary route for us in the future. Repairing and expanding it sooner rather than later will reduce the risk of accidents along this route. Even if we reach the Empire's borders, won't we still rely on the supply route through Olidan?"

Fils stared at the map. "The proving grounds aren't just for shelter. They can also be used to prepare large-scale war spells, right? Materials like plague, corruption, withering, and erosion become unstable after further processing. In these cases, the proving grounds can serve as a secure storage environment. As long as there's a constant supply of unstable media, creating materials for war spells on demand is simple. It's quick and easy."