As soon as these words were spoken, there was a burst of whispers from the audience. The Church of Bane, which had always been interested in challenging the authority of the Church of Talos, even made a clicking sound.

The black-haired young man also frowned, and his voice was transmitted to Archbishop Talos's mind: "Your Majesty, I must warn you: Although some people may use intimidation to retreat, Larloch is clearly not one of them. If you do not adopt a proactive attitude, it may cause misunderstandings and further unrest within this army."

We absolutely do not want to see a strong ally like Larloch part ways with us at this point in time.

Archbishop Calwind of Talos seemed completely oblivious to these words. He spoke in a resounding voice, "We will give Lord Larloch an explanation, but we cannot continue to ignore one problem: the quality and quantity of souls are plummeting. I am already under pressure from our Lord."

Now, the tent became quiet.

Apparently, the priests of Talos were not the only ones under pressure.

At the beginning, the Hazy Realm was like a riverbed at low tide, filled with souls that were oblivious to the world around them and in a daze. They just had to go up and torture them. During those days, everyone was so tired that they had to use magic to recover from fatigue, and their eyes were filled with the joy of harvest.

Compared to when they set out, the strength of this army has increased significantly - the ecstatic gods generously rewarded them for their contributions, the power of countless priests increased, and the priests who were originally archbishops also made further progress.

But it was clear that this situation was unsustainable. Kelemvor hadn't been in office for long, and not many major wars had broken out since then. After several months of desperate efforts by their army of nearly 100,000, the number of souls in the Hazy Realm had noticeably decreased.

At the same time, there is something even more deadly.

The Archbishop of Talos sighed. "My Lord believes that the souls delivered recently are of poor quality. They are mostly farmers, fishermen, wildlings, and even goblins and orcs. He asked me to work hard to improve this."

Then, the entire tent fell into a long silence.

Finally, Archbishop Talos continued, "Our efforts have clearly reached a bottleneck. Operating solely on the periphery of the Twilight Realm will yield absolutely no better results. It's even foreseeable that our results will deteriorate. My daughter acted as she did because she was under increasing pressure."

"We have already had to consider the option that was previously abandoned.

"The City of Judgment is now leaderless and in chaos. If we wait until they adapt to an environment without a god, attacking the city will only become more difficult."

Calwind turned to the black-haired young man and said, "I hope to advance our next plan. We need to tear down the Wall of the Unbelievers, capture the City of Judgment, and legally plunder all the Death God's accumulation over tens of thousands of years. By then, even the most demanding gods will be forced to recognize our work."

Then, they will return to the material plane with this fully upgraded invincible army to wipe out the damn alliance that is still resisting in the material plane.

Baldur's Gate, Elturgard, Halruaah, the Three Pillars of Justice, the Pantheon of Knowledge.

This outrageous alliance was simply called the Emia Alliance among them - if it weren't for Emia of Lunia playing the role of a middleman, this solid military alliance would never have been formed.

But with Mage King Emiya as their logistics chief, this alliance is unshakable! Withdrawing from the alliance will obviously result in the loss of Emiya's support, which is an unacceptable and horrific loss for any member.

If you don't make a fortune in the Hazy Realm, then the Mala Church will serve as a warning - no one wants to fall on the eve of the arrival of the new world.

"The problem now is that it's not that easy to capture Judgment City," the black-haired young man said. "Although Kelemvor has left, and Jaeger's whereabouts are mysterious, he may not just stand by and watch Judgment City become a wasteland."

"I have three directions, Mr. Raphael," said Lightning Colwind.

-----------------

"Three directions," Emiya said. "First, we must ensure the defense of Judgment City and inflict heavy losses on the attackers in this battle. Second, we'd better take control of Judgment City to prevent the enemy from making a comeback and forcing us to defend it again. If the battle goes well, we will launch a simultaneous attack on the material plane and completely defeat the enemy.

"Now, we are ready for the third step. With just one command, they can be reduced to rubble in Cormyr. The question is how to maximize the impact of this attack and completely destroy their will to resist."

Faced with this topic, Mars pondered for a moment, a hint of coldness in his eyes: "If you want to make them completely collapse, the most effective way is naturally to kick them when they are down - let them scatter and seek shelter, only to be surprised to find that their base has been reduced to ashes."

The timing must be accurate enough.

While interdimensional communication is difficult, Halruaa is likely the only city on Faerun with the technology for direct interdimensional communication. But even if the Church can't, the gods always have. Blocking information during a world war like this is incredibly difficult.

Now the airship has arrived at the Hazy Realm. In order to ensure their whereabouts are secret, they are flying at a very high altitude as usual.

Yin personally created an illusion beneath the airship. They were now several thousand meters in the air, making it impossible for anyone to detect their presence with the naked eye.

The amazing thing is that the vision in the Hazy Realm is unexpectedly clear - they can now easily see the tents that cover the sky and the City of Judgment that is so huge that it seems to have no end.

Fortunately, the inhabitants of Judgment City were all deceased. Otherwise, a city this large would be unable to withstand a siege. Cut off from the outside world, such a megacity would turn into a living hell in a very short time.

Now, they still have some time to prepare for this.

"Do you think there is any problem with this action plan? If not, we will start to refine it according to this guideline." Emilia patrolled for a week with doubts, and everyone agreed.

At this moment, Yin suddenly narrowed his eyes, tugged at the corner of Emiya's clothes, and said, "He's here."

The next second, the familiar, decrepit old man slowly appeared beside the crowd. The moment he appeared, he immediately looked at Kelemvor, one of the most unique passengers on the ship. "Ah, look who this is! I thought you'd returned to the City of Strife much earlier."

"Jaeger." Kelemvor easily recognized his senior and former colleague and replied sternly, "What brings you here?"

"It has nothing to do with you anymore." Jaeger's voice was calm, yet it carried a certain kind of rational indifference. "You can't become the god of death again. You and I have nothing to do with each other anymore."

"Then what are you here for?"

The wrinkles on Jaeger's face, like the cuts of knives and axes, moved like snakes, as if laughing: "From the Friendly Arm to the Forest of Teeth, from Baldur's Gate to Elturgard, from Candlekeep to Halruaa, in the end, you still ended up here. Don't you think this is some kind of fate?

"Emia of Lunya?"

In an instant, Emilia became the target of everyone's attention.

He had met with Jaeger many times, both publicly and secretly. This was a secret that had never been made public and was only known to the team members.

At this moment, Emilia raised her head and said, "I don't understand what you mean."

"Okay," Jaeger replied, "Your plan is missing a crucial part. The ambitious people below won't discuss the most crucial aspects of this operation publicly. They'll only act in private because the rewards from this part can't be shared with others."

Kelemvor's gaze narrowed.

"This one gave the perfect answer back then," Jaeger said, pointing at Kelemvor. "As a deceased person, he mobilized the residents of the City of Strife. With his spirit body and wielding the God-Slayer Sword, the incarnation of Musk, he personally slew the then-God of Death, Cyric. Well, even if I recall it again, I still find it difficult to understand how he accomplished this, but he did it.

"Now, it's your turn, Emiya. You need to prove that you are worthy of becoming a Death God.

"This is the most precious prize in this chaotic, hazy realm."

Forty-three The Kingdom of Death (3)

In a sense, this was the first time that Jaeger appeared in public and spoke his mind to Emiya and his companions.

Therefore, the airship fell silent.

The next Grim Reaper?

This is a hotly debated topic in every corner of Faerun. The throne of the God of Death cannot remain vacant forever.

Just like the throne of the Goddess of Magic, which had been vacant for tens of thousands of years, only for the brief period of less than a hundred years during the Arcane Calamity, the throne of the God of Death was vacant for almost no time.

All the dead must go to the kingdom of God under the gaze of the god of death, and no one can live forever.

At the same time, all the previous gods of death are among the most powerful in the Pantheon.

If it weren't for the current situation in Faerun where the war atmosphere is spreading to every corner, all the churches would probably be eager to fight for the position of the God of Death.

——Even the members of the Alliance of Gods and Non-Gods may be doing this.

"Our topic is strange." Emilia frowned. "I'm not surprised that you found us..."

Now that the Death God's seat was vacant, the entire Hazy Realm could be considered Jaeger's personal domain. It was highly likely that their disguises wouldn't fool Jaeger.

But, fighting for the position of the God of Death? This was not part of Emilia's plan at all.

It can be said that the final trump card of Emilia and her group is almost obvious: as long as Yin returns to the throne of God, all difficulties can be solved.

Although the position of Magic Goddess has always been full of twists and turns, but to challenge the Magic Goddess head-on...

This decision not only challenges courage, but also intelligence.

As for who would ultimately take the throne of the God of Death, this was, in Emiya's view, irrelevant. This position could not determine the final outcome.

Jaeger stared closely at Emiya's face, and finally nodded. "Ah, what a familiar expression. Perhaps in your view, fighting for the throne of God is an extremely utilitarian endeavor. A young and promising hero like you shouldn't invest too much energy in the struggle for fame and fortune. You wouldn't refuse the throne of the God of Death if it were readily available, but to expend energy on it tarnishes your noble integrity—am I right?"

Emiya did not answer the question.

To him, Jaeger had always been a mysterious observer, his purpose unclear. In fact, if it weren't for the silver he always had as a guarantee, he would have absolutely no desire to have too much contact with Jaeger.

He didn't trust this secretive old man from the beginning, and he was even more unwilling to be driven by his words to do anything.

Now that he has the Silver Fire on him, as long as he doesn't say too much, even Jaeger won't be able to cross the Silver Fire and read his heart.

Then he wouldn't say even a word.

Of course, he hoped to resolve the issue of the Son of Bhaal, but this was obviously an extremely bad environment in which to speak - if he made a request at this time, he would only be met with a loud request from the Lion Jaeger.

However, he wanted to hide, but he couldn't.

Jaeger's withered eyes shifted slightly and looked at the most heavily armed man present.

Mars has been wearing the heavy golden armor since he boarded the ship, and even his pupils are hidden behind the gaps - he is in a state of combat all the time.

After Jaeger appeared, he had already taken half a step forward and was faintly visible in front of Emiya.

Jaeger said calmly, "Sons of Bhaal, this name was once a perfect excuse for ambitious individuals. Countless Sons of Bhaal used this name to stir up chaos and slaughter, but it was those three freaks who survived to the end.

"Apodel Adrian, Imoen, and Mars of Candlekeep, the three of you have refused to use the power of Baal even once since birth. But unfortunately, I have to regretfully inform you that this decision is brave, but unfortunately meaningless," Jaeger said. "This extremely risky move may only improve your sleep quality, but it cannot change your fate."

Mars had no intention of speaking at all, and replied, "We're very busy. If you want to find someone to guess riddles for you, go to Candlekeep. The monks there love riddles the most."

"It's you who's bluffing, Mr. Mars," Jaeger said calmly. "The three of you have been trying to evade reality: the moment only one Son of Bhaal remains, the last survivor will be betrayed by his own body. You're simply maintaining a tacit agreement: by always keeping the Son of Bhaal within the relationship between you three, almost like foster parent and foster child, you can prevent internal strife from happening.

"But unfortunately, the lifespan of the Son of God is not infinite, and the body is not immortal," Jaeger replied. "If you continue to delay, the moment they die of old age together, you will be possessed by another body, Mars. If they really wanted you to live, they should have had children long ago - only in this way can you survive."

"What a joke," Mars snorted. "If they had chosen to have children, they would have become a large family of several hundred people by now. The internal strife had already begun, but this time, the people fighting each other were actually brothers and sisters who grew up together."

"He's talking about something else," Jaeger commented.

"And you're just using the only card you have to threaten my friend." Mars' voice showed no sign of wavering. "I'm sorry, but I just think that one day of free swordplay is better than a hundred years of miserable existence in the world. I don't want to be someone else's puppet at such a young age."

"I haven't even stated my terms yet."

Mars sneered: "If it was Emiya who encountered this situation, he would probably help others solve it before starting to explain."

Jaeger's face twitched unusually: "Do you think everyone is like him?"

"Not everyone is afraid of death," Mars scolded. "If you want to cooperate, then state your conditions. Everything can be negotiated. If you keep playing tricks, get off the boat!"

Such ruthless words made Kelanwo, who felt he had no right to speak, jump with fear.

The combat capability of today's airships has actually been severely reduced.

They had split up their forces. Metatron, Silinsi, and Xinbu, the strongest at the moment, were not on board. Filleresel was merely a messenger and had already returned to Avandor.

The only ones on the ship now were actually Emya, Mars, Silver, Elastrid, Midnight and Kelemvor.

According to the plan, they should be a surprise force rather than a team responsible for attacking the enemy.

It's naturally easier to be at a disadvantage than to be in a strong position. But if the situation gets worse...

In this world, there is still the possibility of overturning the table.

Kelemvor didn't want to engage in a fight with Jaeger just like that—Jaeger could barely be distinguished as friend or foe in this melee.

Kelemvor is not afraid of Jaeger and dares to swing his sword at him, but it is a bit of a luxury to talk about the chances of winning.

"Cooperation? That's indeed a possible option." Jaeger's lips trembled slightly, "But first, I think I should reveal my bargaining chips."

In an instant, although Mars was still standing in the same place, his blood seemed to boil.

Mars was by no means a gentle person; strictly speaking, he was tyrannical and bloodthirsty. Therefore, his fighting style on the battlefield was quite different from that of ordinary paladins. Ordinary paladins wouldn't fight with such reckless abandon, leaving their enemies lying everywhere like Mars did.

However, he is also an arrogant and self-righteous person, so he will never allow himself to become a slave to his emotions.

However, the endurance energy of mortals is not infinite.

Almost for no reason, the dissatisfaction and vigilance towards Jaeger rose in his boiling blood at an unimaginable speed and turned into a blazing murderous intent.

What was originally a defensive posture turned into an offensive posture almost in an instant. Before Mars could react, the shining Holy Avenger had transformed into a killing arc and slashed towards Jaeger's head.

The corners of Jaeger's mouth curled up slightly, but then he saw the arc of light flowing in his silver eyes.

chapped.

Under the shocked gazes of the crowd, the most powerful holy sword, the Holy Avenger, cut off Jaeger's head without any hindrance. The withered body just stood there without any resistance and allowed himself to be beheaded by the sword.

The old man's blood gushed out of his neck like a weak spring, and Mars was completely stunned on the spot.

"I... killed Jaeger?"

At this moment, not to mention Mars, even Emilia's brain has crashed.

However, he realized something and glanced quickly at Silver.

At this moment, Midnight's actions were exactly the same as his.

Yin didn't even move at this moment, as if he had done nothing.

Jaeger's ability to inspire bloodlust in the Son of Bhaal was within his comprehension, but allowing himself to be beheaded? Given his knowledge, that was completely incomprehensible.

At this moment, the body that should have been dead staggered back a few steps and hit the side of the ship. As if time had gone backwards, the head that had flown out of the body fell back on his neck. The gushing blood stuck to the withered head, making the already withered and rotten head even more hideous.

"...This is definitely not the result I expected." Jaeger slowly stood up straight. "But I must say, you are an exceptionally determined sword. I did provoke your murderous intent, but you truly have no fear in your heart. I must say that Apodel is a paladin with the identity of a Son of Bhaal, while you are a Son of Bhaal disguised as a paladin."

"Well, you win. You do have the qualifications to negotiate terms." Jaeger finally stated his purpose. "I hope to establish a sufficiently stable relationship with the new Grim Reaper."

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