A siege is a profound torture for both sides, both physically and mentally. The besiegers cannot afford to work so hard only to return home empty-handed, and the defenders cannot accept the outcome of losing everything.

Now, the area outside the City of Judgment was unusually quiet. However, the besiegers showed no sign of leaving—which meant that the next siege could arrive at any time.

This means that the people who are truly responsible for protecting the city have no time to spare.

The mages of Halruaa, and some Gond priests who had also died the day before, were forced to leave their spellcasting positions and become artillery instructors.

Emiya had come from such a distance that it was impossible for her to carry the cheapest but heaviest gunpowder with her. The City of Judgment now used the highest-quality equipment: elemental amber.

These wondrous treasures come from Abel, the product of a dark ritual of crushing flesh and blood. Similarly, only the elemental dragons of Abel can produce such magnificent gems that contain terrible power.

It's possible to create it outside of Abeir, but unfortunately, the only person who has ever replicated this miracle is the former goddess of magic, Mystril. Yin admitted that the difficulty of this task is ridiculously high. Even now, she finds it difficult to directly draw power from the inner planes to create elemental amber. Creating some for emergency use is fine, but mass production is impossible.

The only good news was that although this resource was nearly non-renewable, its consumption and current reserves were still abundant, enough for the Mage King to squander in one or two battles.

It is enough to make the City of Judgment noisy for the next one or two days.

"Damn it! They are just a bunch of savages!"

On the other side of the crystal ball, the Halruaan mages and the people of Gond were complaining to their common leader, "We tried to explain the principles at the beginning, but their knowledge was so out of date that they couldn't explain it to us at all! And yet, they even tried to act like they were seniors!"

When it cannot be explained through theory, the only option is practice.

Therefore, the City of Judgment is now leisurely, or rather, is actively conducting test firing and calibration fire outside the city.

As for test firing and calibration, is there any possibility of causing accidental injuries?

All I can say is that there's a chance of injury, but it's unlikely to be accidental. They've already been practicing with live ammunition—if they miss, it doesn't matter; if they kill someone, it's a huge win.

Their test was successful - not that they killed anyone, but at least they couldn't verify the results.

But they had successfully forced the originally aggressive siege army to move back more than ten kilometers - although this was not entirely Emilia's original intention.

The deterrent effect of the artillery firing indiscriminately on the hundred-meter-high city wall was still too terrifying.

After mobilizing the mages, the efficiency of the prayer to manufacture materials is not low - many materials for making weapons are actually surprisingly cheap. Just a few prayers are enough to make a large number of artillery shells.

In this world, the truly valuable things are technology and people, not materials. Now, the prayer technique solves the material problem, while the silver stabilization field solves the technology and manpower problem.

As long as these guys don't act recklessly, they will be able to maintain a stable advantage.

Oppression, oppression, oppression.

We must force them to constantly change their expectations and plans, force them to mobilize their forces, and force them to continue to move.

——But, we must also leave them with hope.

Tempt them to keep increasing their bets, making it impossible for them to extricate themselves from the gamble and eventually lose everything.

To achieve this, water temperature is key.

It is very painful for them to give up, and it is even more painful not to give up. They are caught in a dilemma, unable to move forward or backward. Only Emiya's side can achieve the most perfect result.

A few days ago, Kelanwo showed some flaws. At this time, instead of being conservative, we must attack fiercely to show the cowardice that the Emia side wants.

Emiya still hoped for more direct interaction. It was difficult to determine the enemy's specific reactions based solely on elusive intelligence leaks.

However, for now, Emilia still has to solve the current problem first.

"Thank you for your hard work," Emiya could only say. "Let them test the artillery... Complete the calibration as quickly as possible. Once the battle begins, we need them to be able to inflict sufficient damage on the enemy. If there's a shortage of supplies or any equipment damage, please report it to me after counting it. I'll try to restock it within two days."

"Yes!"

At this moment, Mustafa said from the other side of the crystal ball: "Your Majesty, a new problem has emerged on the city wall: there is an infectious disease."

"...Is it the Plague Church?"

"I'm afraid so," Mustafa said. "In my limited knowledge, it's hard to imagine that the soul can be sick... but this is the result. Although it's not serious, the spread has begun."

"Is the magic effective? Can it heal?"

"The divine magic can heal us," Mustafa said, "but this is just the beginning. If we remain on the city walls, we'll fall ill again even if we're healed."

This is an exchange of resources.

"It doesn't matter." Emiya said flatly, "Morale is the most important thing right now. I'll contact Kelemvor and try to provide sufficient divine support. We must ensure the full strength of the battle."

"...Your Majesty." Mustafa never expected that he would receive such strong support just by casually mentioning it.

However, Mustafa was no docile man, but a political animal who had served as a patriarch and elder for centuries. He looked at the young man on the other side of the crystal ball and couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. "You're treating them a little too well."

"What's the meaning."

"My original intention was to ask you to authorize me to temporarily isolate some patients and use divine magic to heal the critically ill few. To cure them all directly with divine magic is too extravagant!" he cried. "Furthermore, if you take on so much responsibility, they won't be grateful for your kindness and will instead nitpick over any minor mistakes."

"I'm not the Grim Reaper." Emilia shook her head, completely ignoring the warning. "I'm only making sure they don't lose any men due to the siege rather than combat. What they think of me is none of my business."

Mustafa shook his head. "If I have come all this way to offer assistance, I cannot allow my help to be ignored."

"I don't care. I don't need their thanks."

However, Halrua's Mage King genuinely didn't care. However, this noble Mage King was still a little annoyed: "Also, after the observation towers you requested were completed, why were there several more floors on top? I should have emphasized that these are observation towers for bombardment, not the mage towers you're competing for height."

Mustafa was silent for a moment, then spoke rapidly, "I'm leaving immediately. I will not tolerate the ungrateful residents of Judgment City!"

Click. Communication ended.

“…………” Emiya rarely felt a little powerless, “What’s the point of the height of the Mage Tower?!”

He gasped in anger and decided to put this troublesome matter aside for the time being.

After he died, he would consider rectifying the situation in the Hazy Realm. He really didn't have the energy to deal with such details right now.

He needed to speak to Kelemvor.

However, just as he stood up, the disconnected crystal ball suddenly restarted, and Mustafa brought new news: "Your Majesty, we have just received a letter attached to an arrow. This letter is specifically addressed to His Majesty Kelemvor."

"What's the specific content?"

"We didn't open it," Mustafa replied, "but the envelope contained the subject of the letter: they wish to negotiate a ceasefire."

Fifty-six Swords of Death (Part 4)

[Your Majesty Kelanvor, I am honored to meet you in person.]

It's been a century since that trial. I was shocked to learn that an old friend had resigned without cause. I was deeply distressed, and my inattention led to my neglect of my subordinates. Now, some foolish individuals have taken the initiative and attacked the Twilight Realm, disregarding our long-standing friendship. I have ordered them to cease their actions immediately and to negotiate a prisoner exchange with you to prevent any innocent people from being harmed in the process.

From Bane, God of Tyranny, Lord of Disaster, Hand of Darkness.

When Kelemvor finished reading the letter with a stern face, the whole room fell silent.

They never expected that the other side would have so many tricks up their sleeves. They actually sent a peace letter at this time.

Soon, Kelemvor's former subordinates asked, "Is this really a letter from Bane?"

"That may be true, but it doesn't matter," Kelemvor said. "What matters is what he intends to do. Bane's reputation is probably better than Cyric and Shar's, but it's a shame it's only a limited one."

They stared at each other for a long moment before one of the priests finally asked, "Lord, would you consider talking to me?"

The air stagnated again.

Kelemvor raised his head, a shadow falling over his eyes.

Kelemvor didn't immediately refute him, but turned to him and said, "Why?"

"It's not that I believe they're trustworthy, but I believe we have no chance of victory if we continue." The priest, realizing he wasn't immediately refuted, perked up and continued his ramblings. "You also said that your strength hasn't recovered. In other words, if we truly engage in a life-and-death battle with those jackals, the strength you've painstakingly accumulated will inevitably be squandered in this protracted siege."

"A bloody battle between the two sides would be extremely disadvantageous to both sides, both in the short and long term. In my opinion, it would be better to use your power from the previous day to completely scare them away, and then both sides could stop fighting and negotiate, buying you time to recover. From now on, whether to retaliate or not, the initiative is in your hands."

"So, do you think the other party's peace talks are sincere?" Kailanwo asked back.

The priest hesitated for a moment and said, "The problem now is that they have indeed captured a large number of divine messengers during your absence. After all, you are the master of the Hazy Realm, and we have a responsibility to rescue them. Therefore, at the very least, we should not close the door."

Kelemvor remained noncommittal. "I will consider it," he said. "Now, return to your posts. His Majesty Emya requires your strength."

The priest did not leave immediately. Instead, he continued, "You've already made a mistake before. You must not show your flaws again this time. Moreover, His Majesty Emilia shows the utmost lack of respect for us. He treats us like ordinary workers and squanders our precious divine arts..."

The former Grim Reaper did not respond.

After all the priests had left, Midnight, who had been watching silently from the beginning, finally let out a long sigh. "I never imagined that the core members of Judgment City would be the ones least willing to fight—even those arrogant defenders and mages have already begun to learn from Halrua, and yet the priests still have such unrealistic fantasies."

"Because they're certain the members of the Alliance of Gods and Non-Gods won't kill them." Kelemvor propped his chin up on his hands. "The priests of the City of Judgment are messengers among messengers. They're responsible for guiding the dead to judgment and guiding the gods' messengers in their quest for the dead. It's a position that's difficult to replace in a short period of time. The more someone aspires to be a god of death, the less likely they are to kill them. Not even Cyric would. And the ambitious people outside the city—the devil, Talos, Bane—are all far more orthodox than Cyric.

"If the City of Judgment truly falls, these functionary priests will be treasures themselves, and they cannot be slaughtered. As long as they can survive the siege, no matter who becomes the God of Death, they will still be priests—no matter how devout a priest was in life, they will transform into this after staying in the Twilight Realm for a long time."

At this point, Kelemvor drew the sword from his waist and stared at his own face in amazement: "—This even includes me."

If he had been resolute enough, he would not have been deceived by Xirik's sweet words and eventually gave up his original intention, turning the seat of Death into his own torture rack.

Midnight sighed deeply, leaned forward and kissed his cheek: "It's over. From now on, we only need to be responsible for justice and ourselves."

"Let the next God of Death deal with these guys bound by their positions. As for justice..." Kelemvor's expression became a little strange. "According to Emya and Grimnir's plan, I should agree to a meeting and then do the most unethical thing."

"What does it matter?" Midnight stretched lazily. "You don't really think the other side intends to negotiate?"

"How is that possible?" Kelemvor said angrily. "Those church members are like a bunch of sticky candies in the material plane. Now that they have the upper hand in the Twilight Realm, there's no way they're going to retreat. They must be thinking the same thing as Emya right now."

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

Then, the besiegers received a somewhat unexpected response.

Agree to negotiate.

When the news came, the whole camp was in an uproar.

Does the sun rise from the west?

From top to bottom, from gods to believers, from Larloch to the weakest Plague Church - no one thought that Kelemvor would agree.

He was the first lawful good man to ascend to the throne of the God of Death. He did so by mobilizing the oppressed in the City of Judgment and personally beheading Cyric in the Kingdom of Death!

As for why he was removed from the position of the God of Death, there are still many different opinions, and no one in the alliance knows the reason.

As for the charges, no one took them seriously.

If you use divine power, you're abusing it. If you don't, you're just sitting there doing nothing and being unworthy of your position. If he wants to deal with you, even if you step left first, you're wrong. If he doesn't want to deal with you, it doesn't matter if you print his face and name on toilet paper.

The AO has never been known for its impartiality. He's even considered a supreme god, bordering on madness. While theoretically, the AO's actions aren't frequent, it's a shame that the absurd Year of Turbulence occurred just over a hundred years ago, leaving a deep impression on all existing gods.

They speculated internally that after losing Midnight and enduring a hundred years of loneliness, Kelemvor finally lost his patience and planned to join the battle between good and evil - and then he was fired by AO as soon as he chose a side.

Would a god who had just finally found his way to the Three Pillars of Justice negotiate with them? Could it be that he had finally been driven mad by AO and Jaeger?

"Could this be a trap?"

"...A trap? That Kelemvor? Would he do such a thing?"

"But he hasn't dreamed of being a hero in over a hundred years. Perhaps..."

It was naturally impossible to draw a conclusion immediately from this strange phenomenon, and the crowded new tent was once again plunged into noise.

"But we haven't even decided what we want." Raphael clapped his hands. "Everyone, we have indeed captured these divine messengers, and they seem to be our most important shields at the moment. But we can't keep them imprisoned forever. If we don't capture the City of Judgment, sooner or later we will have to leave the Hazy Realm. In the end, we still haven't reached a final conclusion on how to deal with them."

"Releasing them is naturally out of the question. Killing them outright would simply vent our anger, and no one would agree to that. Sacrificing them would certainly benefit us greatly, and would surely earn the favor of the gods. However, the scale of the captives captured this time is too great, and no church could tolerate such a level of humiliation. When we slaughter the gods' messengers, the material plane will inevitably be engulfed in endless chaos, and we might not have time to digest the gains of this trip."

Raphael reiterated the consensus they had reached in their previous argument. Invoer of the Church of Bane interrupted impatiently, "You've heard this so many times. If you have new ideas, please share them. If not, don't waste our time."

"Then I'll tell you." Raphael took a deep breath. "If we can exchange the envoy for a ransom, that would be the best. We have an opportunity right now—hypocrites always put themselves in danger because of their own banners. Now we have another chance to control them."

"Negotiate, but make those divine messengers both cargo and hostages. If they make any unusual moves, immediately sacrifice the captives and begin the siege," Raphael said. "The key to this plan is to force Kelemvor out of the city and get him to personally participate in the negotiations. Only then will we have room for further maneuver."

"Will Kelemvor be so obedient?" someone questioned. "Don't they realize this is a trap?"

"They want it." Raphael smiled confidently. "The problem is, it's hard for them to come up with a ransom to redeem the envoy. We don't need money, at least not for money. What we need most is the soul we're about to put on the negotiation table. So, given this negotiating disadvantage, if they still want to save the envoy's life, they have to show some sincerity. For example, let Kelemvor leave the city in person."

"By then..." Raphael looked deeply at his comrades.

It's time for them to show off their talents.

How many churches will fight each other for the Sword of Death? Will the Alliance immediately fall into internal strife?

Even if this happens, Raphael can only go on like this!

Take a day off

I'm sorry, during this period, I'm reducing my food intake and fat, exercising a lot, maintaining the current updates, preparing for the next book, studying hard, and enduring the ups and downs of summer temperatures.

And then he was still in jail for Uma Musume.

The result is that I'm tired and hungry, don't feel like doing anything, am grumpy, and haven't written the update yet.

Things are coming one after another, and my mentality is a little broken. Please allow me to rest today. I am very sorry.

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