In the Central Region, the Holy Covenant Fortress in the city of the Gate of the Middle Region is renowned for the miraculous signs revealed by a certain saint in history, and it has attracted quite a number of pilgrims in the past.
However, the local church, under Hubert’s rule, has crazily exploited those faithful, which has led to a quiet decline, turning it into an ordinary territory.
In reality, when the church’s power had not yet weakened, the Hubert family also dared not excessively exploit the believers. However, after Augustus III, the church could only rely on the imperial power to survive, prompting the Holy Covenant Fortress to exploit more fiercely.
When the believers could no longer endure the excessive exploitation, Hubert then turned his attention to the ordinary subjects.
At this moment, two guards were idly patrolling around the castle.
“This damn weather, how did it get so foggy in the middle of the day?”
“Could it be that some guy wants to invade the Lord Viscount’s castle and cast magic?”
Faced with this unusual weather, the two guards felt somewhat uneasy, but ultimately, they simply sat down on the ground and started to slack off.
After all, if a professional capable of controlling fog truly wanted to enter this manor, there was nothing they, as ordinary guards, could do to stop him.
Might as well take advantage of the fog to relax a bit.
“But this fog is really strange, why is it so gray?”
“Are you stupid? If the fog isn’t gray, do you expect it to be white?”
“No, that’s not what I mean, it just feels like this fog is a bit dark.”
After saying that, one guard took off his glove, wiped his hand across the condensation on his arm armor, and then showed his companion, “Look, the water that came off this fog is all black.”
“Well, it’s not completely black, but it is indeed a bit dirty.”
Just as they were slacking off and discussing the bizarre weather, many blurry figures suddenly appeared in the thick fog.
“Stop! Ahead is the Viscount’s castle, ordinary people are prohibited from passing!”
Seeing that someone was coming, the two guards immediately stopped their slacking and drew their swords from their waists.
However, one guard felt that his hand, which had just wiped the condensation off his arm armor, itched for some reason.
…..
Barnard was very lucky; it seemed that due to more commotion from his father and brother, the monsters all gathered there, allowing Barnard to break through the blockade of monsters in Oregon quite easily. Following that, Barnard took off all his armor, wrapped himself lightly, and rushed towards the Royal Capital. By the time Barnard was nearing the Holy Covenant Fortress, Old Koen had already given him three horses, leaving him with just one.
Even so, Barnard still couldn’t outrun the fog.
The only good news was that it seemed the further he was from the Basil Region, the lower the concentration of darkness in the fog.
The Basil Region was still being poured upon by dark rain, Oregon was filled with dark fog, making one feel as if they were in a black sandstorm, and the fog around the Holy Covenant Fortress leaned more toward a gray-black color, not much different from that in ordinary areas.
Despite this, Barnard hardly encountered any living people along the way, and he was unsure how much longer his horse could endure; he couldn’t even find anyone to swap horses with.
Barnard dared not let his horse run at full speed anymore; if he kept racing like this, he’d have to run to the Royal Capital to deliver the message himself.
As the saying goes, if there were horses, they would definitely be at the local lord’s castle. Holding onto this thought, Barnard cautiously navigated through the fog, heading toward the local lord’s castle of the Holy Covenant Fortress.
All along, Barnard constantly prayed, hoping that the local residents were simply deterred by the thick fog and had not turned into monsters.
Even amidst the fog, the grand castle of the Hubert family remained quite prominent, but Barnard’s mood did not improve much, as the castle was known for showcasing the saint’s glory by perpetually shining lights day and night.
To put it in modern terms, it meant that the Hubert family liked to put on large-scale LED light shows on their castle, yet now that grand and massive castle appeared quiet like a dead city beneath the thick fog.
As he got closer to the castle, there were hardly any patrolling guards, which left Barnard feeling utterly despondent. When he entered the castle, the horrific scene before him caused him to cover his eyes.
A group of half-monster, half-sludge creatures were dragging a pile of noble corpses, gnawing on them continuously, while the towers and walls of the castle were crawling with bodies that had already turned into black sludge.
This left Barnard, who was seeking a stable for a horse, in complete despair, and he was even more crushed by the fact that despite having taken every precaution, those half-monster creatures still noticed him.
“Sir… noble lord.”
Hearing the creatures softly calling out “noble lord,” Barnard felt goosebumps all over.
Right now, Barnard just wanted to flee this castle infested with monsters, but he quickly realized that the walls behind him were already crawling with many monsters, all staring at him.
“Noble lord, be eaten!”
The creatures’ tone seemed to turn aggressive, with more and more closing in on Barnard.
Just then, Barnard noticed the difference between these monsters and those in Oregon; these half-human creatures obviously retained some rationality, and their mumbling was not incomprehensible—perhaps they could communicate.
“Wait a minute!”
Summoning all his courage, Barnard shouted, “I am not from the Hubert family!”
Upon hearing this, the actions of the half-monsters actually halted.
To his surprise, Barnard continued, “I am Barnard from Oregon, the elder brother of Her Majesty the Queen. The entire Eastern Border has turned into a hell on earth, and I must convey important information to Her Majesty!”
In fact, Barnard had no idea whether these half-human monsters still possessed cognitive abilities or what they were thinking, but instinctively he brought up Lilith because she was held in high regard among the commoners. He hoped these creatures would let him go for the sake of the kingdom.
Although these half-monster creatures possessed only half the traits of humans, it was apparent that nearly all of them were ordinary citizens.
“Her Majesty the Queen…”
“Lady Saintess…”
For some reason, the monsters present suddenly started to weep.
Upon hearing Lilith’s name, the half-monsters’ emotions erupted into chaos.
This made Barnard anxious again; were his words having an adverse effect?
But just as Barnard grew uneasy, one half-monster suddenly spoke up, “Sir, are you really the elder brother of Her Majesty?”
“Of course!”
Even if these monsters were to eat him, Barnard would not deny this fact. After saying that, he even patted the emblem of the Fern family on his clothes.
“Please, sir, leave here quickly. We… we do not know when we will completely become monsters; you must flee while you can.”
After this, the monsters surprisingly made way for him.
Stunned by the scene before him, Barnard wanted to take a step forward but stopped, bending down to ask the half-monster who had spoken with him, “What exactly happened here? Don’t you still have your wits? Why did you attack the Hubert castle?”
“Sir… we can’t go on. There’s nothing to eat, the harvest was poor, and the Lord has collected taxes until thirty years from now.”
“When the messenger of the Lady Saintess came, the Lord was somewhat restrained, but once the messenger left, he started ramping up the tax collection again. Even little children getting married had to pay taxes to the Lord.”
Hearing all sorts of nonsensical tax details, Barnard felt his head spinning. Putting everything else aside, at the very least, Barnard and Old Koen had honestly collected taxes, often granting exemptions, and they had never imagined taxes could be enforced until thirty years later.
Not to mention those taxes that needed people to contribute.
This was merely the simplest form of exploitation; the local Hubert family had even begun to fully utilize the power of religion, transferring assets under religious influence.
Lilith’s initiatives were still too rushed; although her influence had managed to reach the central region where the borders lay, it was still not strong enough for the nobility that were farther from the royal capital.
Moreover, due to the radical policies introduced by Lilith, these nobles worried they wouldn’t be able to reap any profits in the future, prompting them to escalate their exploitation even further.
“We were left with no choice, prayed to God, and it seems we genuinely received an answer. We turned into monsters, broke into the castle, and devoured the Lord and those fellows.”
“Sir, please kill us. We feel we are losing control; if this continues, we will cause trouble for others.”
Watching the half-monster begging for him to kill them, gazing at the corpses that had been gnawed on, Barnard suddenly felt he was unable to sympathize with these fellow nobles.
These creatures were so lowly that, even now, they worried about causing trouble for others.
