In the sky not far from the War God projection, several dragons were circling, watching the War God projection below that was entangled by burning vines.
“Is that the power of the Tower?”
“It should be correct. Eryx dislikes vines the most; only the Tower can do such a thing, right?”
The dragons were continuously exchanging information.
Many dragons seemed to recall unpleasant memories when they saw those vines, even their circling speed became cautious.
“Why not take this opportunity to completely destroy humanity?”
Originally, according to plan, the dragons intended to continue supporting An Zhu to defeat Cape and the Elves first, after all, their old relatives on this continent were on the side of the Elves and Cape. Even if the Tower was exchanged one-for-one by Eryx, dealing with those relatives along with all of humanity wouldn’t be easy.
So the dragons chose to first support one side of humanity, letting humans start infighting, thereby greatly depleting humanity’s internal strength; this was the experience the dragons summarized from the last continental war.
“If you don’t care about that War God walking on the continent, I don’t mind.”
The other dragons flapped their wings in agreement.
Upon hearing this, one dragon mockingly said, “So you think humanity can solve this problem?”
“After all, this is a mess created by humans, and we can’t solve it.”
If the dragon form could shrug, this dragon would surely do so.
“Alright then, humanity always manages to come up with something new; hopefully, they won’t end up killing themselves this time.”
The dragons did not take action as estimated by Alberto; they were like a group of hunters, waiting for the crucial moment to deliver the final blow.
Alberto was now unable to think so much.
After the operation was completed, Alberto almost rushed on with An Zhu’s army towards the direction of the War God projection.
Time waits for no one; Alberto could only adapt to the sensation of connecting to the spiritual network while on the move.
As they marched through the starry night, the soldiers were still damp with dew, and Alberto could feel the exhaustion of most soldiers, even smelling the scent of dew on them.
To be honest, Alberto felt this sensation was not bad; although it didn’t enable him to see into people’s hearts, it connected the entire army as a whole.
This sense of transparency made Alberto think that perhaps being a so-called firewall wasn’t so bad after all.
Especially after Alberto became the anchor point of An Zhu’s army, he could even feel the various emotions within the army, and even the overall emotion of those who had undergone surgery behind him.
The spiritual cleansing had its effects.
This strong feeling of cleansing reminded Alberto of the Caged Girls that Cassius sold; no wonder those Caged Girls looked like soulless dolls—it turns out personalities were washed away like this?
And Cassius had been enduring such cleansing all along; this led Alberto to doubt whether the spirit that remained until now was still the original personality after being washed repeatedly like this.
Was Cassius still that Cassius who served the Old Empire? Would he remember this King a thousand years later?
“Your Majesty, according to reports, we will soon see that War God projection; please be prepared.”
Cassius’s familiar voice interrupted Alberto’s thoughts.
“I understand. Bring the horse; I want to see what facing a god will truly reveal.”
“Your Majesty, please do not overexert yourself.”
Cassius led the warhorse and followed Alberto away from the marching army, reaching the top of a hill.
In the distance, dragging burning vines, wearing heavy armor, with six arms hanging together, the War God, who had no armor to conceal his exposed bones, was being controlled by some force, moving slowly but steadily in a particular direction.
Unlike what was seen in the footage, Alberto felt the genuine spiritual impact.
The still dark sky seemed to be torn apart by this enormous War God; the War God’s projection resembled both a shadow and a physical entity, its existence seemed to distort reality.
The surrounding air quietly solidified, and Alberto felt that every breath he took was accompanied by the taste of rust and blood. He could even faintly hear whispers in his ear, sometimes resembling the sound of a ringing blade, sometimes filled with the wails of a defeated army, as if they were gradually tearing apart his sanity.
But Alberto did not look away; instead, he gripped tightly the firearm he loved most, clutching it so hard that his knuckles turned white, allowing cold sweat to drip onto the exquisite firearm.
The whispers of the War God combined with the spiritual cleansing almost made Alberto lose himself. Cassius was carefully observing Alberto’s condition from the side. Although Cassius felt pressure when looking directly at the War God, it was far less dangerous than Alberto’s state.
If Alberto could not withstand it, Cassius would immediately send him to Cape, to his old colleague for treatment.
Cassius could feel that his King was reaching his limits; he even extended his hands, wishing to take Alberto away, but was stopped by the last bit of Alberto’s consciousness.
In that moment, Alberto recalled the letter sent to him by the Northern Border Governor: “Human fear originates from the unknown; things we cannot understand plant a nameless dread in our hearts. But when you can see through it, analyze it, fear has no foothold.”
“The War God projection must also follow certain rules to manifest; it is not an unknown existence, it even needs to feed on negative emotions, and my knights may even scrape off some fragments from it.”
“Humanity stands on this land because of this thirst for knowledge, because there are those who risk everything to dispel fear.”
These words had already been beautified in Alberto’s heart; ever since that time he teased the Former Queen of An Zhu, the Governor had been scolding him in every letter.
But the information mixed in the whispers suddenly made Alberto realize something.
At that moment, the whispers suddenly shattered, and Alberto’s thoughts were like a boat surviving a storm, sailing out into the wind and waves.
Alberto lifted his head from the edge of the abyss, staring at the War God projection in the distance, whispering, “In the end, it’s just a counterfeit of a War God.”
Alberto underwent a sanity check, and fortunately succeeded greatly, as if it were a reward for the brave.
“Let’s hurry, drive those mad believers away, Cassius; we have much to do and cannot fall here.”
“I understand, Your Majesty.”
Cassius’s tense face suddenly relaxed, while Alberto seemed to enter a certain state; with just a thought, the army at the foot of the mountain began to move.
This army was the final force against Cape, composed almost entirely of specialized professionals who had undergone surgery; they specifically came to oppose the Lars Knights mentioned in the intelligence. However, in Alberto’s view, the ultimate goal of this army was still to defend An Zhu, and now it was time to serve this army.
Due to the internal spiritual network connection, the army said not a word; they simply maintained solemnity, advancing towards that rotting giant.
Thanks to Alberto acting as a firewall, after seeing the War God’s immense figure, the army, though somewhat restless, soon loyally executed the orders.
Can humans overcome gods? These soldiers did not know, nor would they contemplate such complex problems; they had to protect their homeland, albeit their opponent had now transformed from an army of another nation into a massive deity. Even if this deity was a counterfeit, in the end, it was still a deity.
The Avars would not help them, the Demon Clan would not help them, the dragons would not help them, and although the former old adversary, the Cape clan, had shown goodwill, the stubborn An Zhu people would not accept their help.
Asking neighbors who had been fighting for decades to lend a hand was more painful for some old An Zhu people than death.
“Burn! Burn quickly! We must help the War God break free from his chains!”
Those fanatics still wore frenzied expressions, unaware that they were already mad, using various methods to burn and cut the vines, which seemed alive; at first, they did indeed fear flames and blades, but eventually, those vines still tightly wrapped around the advancing War God projection.
The War God let out a terrifying sound; the fanatics believed it was the War God encouraging them with his war roar and redoubled their frantic efforts to clear the vines. However, not far away, Alberto, at this moment, seemed to hear a mournful scream.
“Form ranks!”
Alberto commanded through the spiritual network, causing the entire army to stand ready. The fanatics then noticed not far off, an army that had not gone mad was already preparing to attack.
