People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

"The following information was relayed by a caravan from the Kalan Trade Company. It is a way of repaying you for helping us obtain trade licenses and preferential policies for the Duchy of Windermere and the Duchy of Caest."

He paused for a moment before continuing:

"According to intelligence, the Sarkaz are not just causing trouble; they're planning something big."

"Caravans of the Kalan trade witnessed scavengers marching across the wilderness of Victoria."

The Carrion Eaters—Ernst had heard about this race from the Kelshkop Sarkaz clan. They grow stronger by consuming corpses, and their hunger seems endless, with no apparent limit to their enhancement.

Theoretically, a scavenger that "eats enough" could become a god-like being. However, limited by basic physical factors, and the existence of potential, albeit currently undiscovered, limits, a scavenger can never fulfill the purely conceptual requirement of "eating enough." But this does not diminish the scavenger's power.

Because they have the perfect environment for themselves—Terra's cesspool!

Kal'tsit said that Kazdel had been destroyed more than three thousand times, and then rebuilt again and again. Not a single one of these three thousand destructions was not stained with blood and tears—the blood of their own people, the blood of other races. In one civil war and invasion after another, how many corpses of Sarkaz and other races were left behind? Even if the Carrion Eaters could only devour one ten-thousandth of them, their strength had already reached an astonishing level.

Kal'tsit referred to the scavengers as: "They are the war itself of the Sarkaz."

If Ernst's guess is correct, and every Sarkaz clan has a King of the Court like Logos or Fremont, then the power of the King of the Carrion's Court must be beyond everyone's imagination.

"The War God of Sarkaz"—according to the custom in Kazimierz, where Ernst is currently located, he should be addressed with this title.

Enciodes used the word "marching" in his words, which at least proves that the scavengers gathering in the Victoria Wilderness are not a single person.

Has Theresis finally lost her temper?

"In fact, the carrion eaters are not difficult to find. Caravans of the Kalan trade can spot large armies of carrion eaters from afar, let alone the spies of the various duchies?"

“They didn’t hide themselves at all, or rather, they couldn’t hide themselves at all. My businessmen said that their aroma could be smelled even from several kilometers away, truly embodying the saying ‘good wine needs no bush.’”

Ensiodis continued,

"The dukes clearly wouldn't allow such a Sarkaz army to enter Londinium, hence this siege plan. My guess is that their objective is simple: not a true siege, but rather—"

"Encircle and attack reinforcements."

Ernst and Enciodes said in unison.

This explains why the Duke of Caesar was present in Casimir at this time. Because this matter didn't require her personal command. She wasn't a military noble like the Dukes of Windermere or Wellington; going to the battlefield wouldn't necessarily be helpful, and there was even the risk of execution. She preferred to remain in the rear, even if that rear area extended to the capital of another country.

In any case, she had a "legitimate reason"—Russell's invitation. She could also use this to mislead foreign powers that still harbored doubts about the situation in Lentinium.

And Therese's decision to mobilize a large army at this time in an attempt to approach Lentinium was something Ernst had not anticipated at all.

The army marched so brazenly across the wilderness that it caught the attention of the dukes, something he hadn't anticipated.

Admittedly, Ensiodis did say that the army of scavengers was difficult to hide, but the Sarkaz had many strange and unusual abilities, and Ernst had seen them before.

Who would have thought that the firepower unleashed by a small and adorable Balrog could warm the entire Sherag?

This is Ticauz. Do any of you have a Ticauz like this?

There was no concealment whatsoever, nor any other means of communication. Even though Theresis dug a tunnel to transport troops, Ernst assumed he was genuinely planning a tunnel warfare strategy, a Trojan Horse tactic. But to openly and brazenly send the carrion eaters...

"To be honest, Ensiodis, I feel there's something wrong with this."

"The dukes are thinking of besieging the stronghold and attacking the reinforcements, but are the Sarkaz really that easy to deal with?"

Ernst frowned.

He wasn't sure if his judgment on the matter was correct, after all, in his two lifetimes, he had never experienced even a single war.

The country did protect him very well. The biggest "battle" he ever fought was when he was in elementary school, full of vigor, leading his "Evil Bone Gang" to challenge sixth-grade students. In the end, the teacher went overtime, and before they could even get to the sixth floor after rushing out of the classroom, they were forced to retreat because the bell rang again.

shame!

He didn't really have any so-called "war sense"; he was just making some guesses based on the existing intelligence and his understanding of the various anomalies of the Sarkaz.

He felt it was a trap.

Is there any way to stop them?

"How do you stop it?" Ensiodis retorted. "Are you planning to have Jeston jam the wheels of the high-speed warship, or are you planning to stop the war machine that has already started with a letter?"

"Even if you do stop them, so what? Are you just going to let the Sarkaz army enter Londinium and completely occupy the Victorian capital? And the Grand Dukes who claim to be protecting the country and defending the capital won't fire a single shot?"

"This is not something that can be explained away as a 'security regiment' or 'mercenaries.' The dukes will not allow it, and even if it's just for the sake of that damned international image, this battle is inevitable."

Seeing Ernst's increasingly somber expression, Enciodes sighed, reached out, patted Ernst's shoulder, and offered heartfelt words of comfort:

“Ernst, this is reality. There is never a shortage of war in Terra. You haven’t experienced it yet, but you’ll get used to it soon.”

"This time, you really can't stop it, but don't forget that the organization and the order you're trying to build have become the hope for the future in the eyes of many Terrans."

"You just lack the ability right now, but look ahead. It's not too late."

Ernst, his face ashen, did not answer, but continued to ask:

"And what about Colombia?"

Enciodes pursed his lips, but in the end, he didn't try to comfort Ernst much. He had grown up, and now that he was in this position, he had to learn to accept these things on his own.

He replied:

"Nasti has returned to Sherag. The Sarkaz talent recruitment program you commissioned He Dalei to carry out has also yielded results. A Sarkaz named Mudrock has arrived. Nasti said she's... the Son of Civil Engineering?"

Ernst paused for a moment, making sure he hadn't misheard the race name, before he couldn't help but mutter a sarcastic remark:

"What a unique racial name. Nasty will definitely like it."

Speaking of which, the Sarkaz are quite special.

Compared to names like Felin, Liboli, Lupo, Volpo, and Aslan, which sound completely nonsensical at first glance, only the Sarkaz clan name is a breath of fresh air on Terra!

Blood Demons suck blood, Carrion Eaters eat corpses, Wendigos seem to be deer-headed monsters from the Americas in a previous life, and the Son of Civil Engineering... Seriously, is that really his name? It sounds kind of funny, he looks like he's made of ashes!

Why is their naming convention so different from that of other races in Terra?

First, let's rule out the possibility that the game's designers were lazy and didn't want to think of any other names. Could this be hinting at something?

Recalling the mainframe I saw in Laterano, the suspected extinction weapon floating in the sky, and the things that Ragnaros always mentioned, such as "Kazdel rules everything!", "The overlord of the gods descends from the sky!", "Don't treat me like a toy!" Cough cough, the last one doesn't count.

There do seem to be many, many differences between the Sarkaz and the Terrans.

Ultimately, demons and angels are two races that are very different from other small animals; their art style is almost like something out of a published book.

A wave of doubts surged in Ernst's mind, but since there was no guiding light at the moment, he could only suppress his doubts and nod.

In any case, compared to war, this is indeed good news.

Chapter 403 Theresis: Quickly summon the Shapeshifter swarm!

Victoria, Londinium, Royal Palace.

In the empty hall, Therese stood alone with her head down, seemingly taking a nap.

The restoration of the Shard remains a long way off. The technology involved in this superweapon has surpassed the limits of the Sarkaz. Theoretically, if it is to be used normally and its true power is to be unleashed, the Sarkaz would have to climb the tech tree all over again.

Moreover, they would have to climb to a level that they currently cannot comprehend at all.

Even if Theresis obtained the method to operate the Shard Tower directly from that guy, that evil spirit who called himself "God" probably never expected that their superweapon would be broken so completely.

But that wasn't all that was troubling him. Compared to the already perplexing restoration work on the Shards, the leak of the King of Carrion's whereabouts was the real headache.

Although this was something he had expected.

It would be a miracle if such a large royal army marched across the wilderness unnoticed. Terra today is not the Terra of two hundred years ago. Two hundred years ago, mobile city technology was still in its infancy; the cities of the early inhabitants groveled under the weight of natural disasters, lacking any shelter or convenient transportation. The wilderness was, for them, another name for hell.

And now? With the construction of the first mobile city on the earth by Lingons, the threat of natural disasters to civilization has been reduced to an acceptable level. As a result, the wilderness has also become part of the "nation". The wilderness is now full of the footprints of Terrans, caravans, messengers, mercenaries, and even countries like Columbia, which take pioneering as one of their basic national policies, aiming to expand the scope of civilization hundreds or thousands of times outward, until they reach the ends of the earth.

Although Lingons has disappeared from the map along with its country, the wheels of history have already rolled over the dust and left tracks, and they will not turn back.

"The King of Carrion should wait a little longer. Who knows, we might be able to repair the [Timeline] portal."

Manfred, who came to report the news, let out a sigh.

He always felt that not only himself, but also the General and even the entire Military Commission had been dealing with "repairs and patching" all these years.

They repaired the damage to the mobile city of Kazdel, they mended the conflicts caused by the Tower of Babel, they restored the divisions brought about by the civil war, they healed the pain caused by the death of that prince... the Demon King, and even now, even though they have moved from Kazdel to the capital of Victoria, there are still countless things in the city of Londinium waiting for them to mend.

The Shard, General Therese's grand vision, and the malfunctioning Timeline portal.

What is equally poignant is that almost every attempt they made to repair the damage ultimately proved to be futile.

It's no use trying to fix it; a broken mirror can never be mended.

“This is not Niecilei’s fault.”

Therese shook her head and sighed:

"It's the Sarkaz who can't wait any longer."

Winning the civil war, killing the Demon King, destroying the Tower of Babel, and occupying Londinium. The Military Council's achievements in the past two years have been enough to excite every Sarkaz who supports him, and enough to tempt every Sarkaz who is still hesitant.

They kept winning, winning and winning, until they finally pushed themselves to the brink of disaster.

Even Theresis himself knew that they had already won to the point where one wrong step would lead to utter ruin, and they couldn't stop now.

You either keep winning or you lose everything.

Who isn't going all in?

When extreme populism is stirred up, and when the entire race is filled with intense feelings of revenge, a leader can only play two roles.

Either go with it, manipulate it, and let it impact others.

Either resist it, oppose it, and then be killed by it.

Therese always chose the former, while the one who chose the latter was already dead.

Therese opened her eyes, raised her head, and looked at Manfred. Her scarlet pupils under her dark circles looked somewhat frightening.

He asked slowly:

What were the reactions from the other royal courts?

"The Blood Demon Lord indicated he could lead his Blood Demon army to join the Carrion King's forces at any time. The Banshee King's court threw our representative out of the valley and threatened that even after you die, they wouldn't sing your dirge. The Stonewing Demon King's court still has no trace of him, and the Cyclops King's court..."

Manfred suddenly stopped, which puzzled Therese:

What happened to the Cyclops' royal court?

"The Cyclops royal court has refused our invitation."

Therese paused, glancing at Manfred with a puzzled look.

Shenjin, that made me laugh.

"Isn't it normal for the Cyclops to refuse us? They didn't accept Kazdel's invitation back then."

Theresa was still alive. When the Military Council was first reorganized from the War Council, it sent representatives to the Cyclops, hoping that this Sarkaz tribe could return to Kazdel, seek development for Kazdel, and contribute to the great revival of the Sarkaz people.

Unfortunately, the Cyclops refused.

Rather than saying they refused, it would be more accurate to say they simply couldn't find their people. Using their ability to foresee the future, they left the camp a step ahead, leaving Theresis and Theresia's messengers empty-handed.

Moreover, they fully demonstrated their low emotional intelligence and unsociable attitude by sending their prophecy to the Military Commission at almost the same time that the messenger failed to arrive.

Therese didn't remember the specifics; he always scoffed at things like prophecy and fate, but he did remember the general gist.

The gist is that you two siblings will initially work together very well, but it won't be long before you fall out, and Kazdel will be plunged into war again, until something like the Spear of the King comes along to end your era, and Kazdel enters the next cycle.

Haha, I don't believe you for a second! You cyclops, you're really bad!

That's fucking accurate!

Even when Theresa was alive, the Kazdel Military Council, with its full legitimacy, couldn't recall the Cyclops Royal Court. Now that Theresa is dead, what's so surprising that a regent's court can't recall it? It's worth Manfred pausing for a moment, keeping everyone in suspense.

Manfred: "They sent a representative to Shelag."

Theresis: "........?"

With a snap, Theresis quickly stood up from her chair: "What?"

"The Cyclops Royal Court has sent a representative to Sherag."

Manfred's expression was also hard to keep up; when he received the news, his expression was basically the same as Therese's.

What's wrong with the Cyclops? How did they get involved with Kjerag again?

But this is the truth, as members of the Cyclops Royal Court have stated themselves. The Cyclops Royal Court is very curious about someone in Kjerag and has already sent a delegation that is on its way to Kjerag.

If their investigation is confirmed, then Therese should not contact them again, lest Sherag misunderstand.

Therese was completely stunned.

Royal Court, this is the Royal Court, not just a single Sarkaz individual!