Chapter 1316
The Kingdom of Wanning and its Sultana
Sherlock, who was guarding Heaven City, and Isabel, who was waiting in Rock Cell City, along with others who were either participating in or waiting for the end of this Heavenly Envoy war, all gathered at Holy Spring City three days later.
At this moment, Holy Spring City already knew who was responsible for this miracle.
Therefore, when Eivass and his group entered Holy Spring City through the main gate again, they were greeted with fanfare.
Initially, people were quite fearful of Eivass. This was because most Anxi people did not know the personality of this earthly deity who had changed the world…
Until a few daring children, amidst the soft gasps of the crowd, approached Eivass. To their surprise, they were not punished at all. Instead, he gently held them in his arms, patted their heads, smiled, patted their backs, and sent them back.
Only then did people finally believe that this earthly deity was completely different from the Lord of Goodness—
Of course, these children were actually accomplices hired by Eivass.
They had all been members of the Red Hand.
When the rule of the Lords of Goodness collapsed, they, with the help of “Brave” Isma’i, Morgan, and Lily, entered Holy Spring City amidst the chaos.
Holy Spring City, as the first city-state and former royal capital of Anxi, was vast in area and extremely rich in resources.
Now that there was no longer a shortage of water resources, it was the perfect place to accommodate these homeless refugees.
Inspired by the undoubtedly miraculous divine intervention, the vast majority of the Red Hand laid down their weapons.
They had personally witnessed the fall of the Lord of Goodness, the demise of the Great Abyss, and the change of the Pillar Gods. They had also seen the desert turn into fertile land and the wasteland into forests… Naturally, they knew that the old era, against which they had resisted with all their might and even their lives, had ended.
Although every one of them had been prepared to die… even in the face of mortal danger and inhuman torture, they remained unyielding, relying on the fiery hatred deep within their hearts.
However, when faced with this “touchable paradise,” they hesitated instead.
Now, the prophesied Savior had descended, the rule of the Lords of Goodness had collapsed, they had endless water, and fertile land like other countries…
…So, would they still resist like fire as before?
That would have no meaning.
If everyone could live well, who would be willing to suffer until death?
But there were still some members of the Red Hand who were too shocked by this change and could not accept this reality—or rather, they could not accept the fact that “the new era was not brought about by them.”
Because they had paid too much for this ideal.
They had killed so many people, burned so many oases, executed so many Lords of Goodness, and caused the deaths of so many innocent people… If they were not the ones who ultimately saved everyone, how could they face the sins they had committed?
When sacrifice is not sacred, nor recognized by others, it becomes a foolish and cruel act.
In a single day, they fell from being the hope of tomorrow to condemned prisoners… No one could bear such a drastic change.
Although this “New God” gave them a chance for atonement—they could abandon their old names and identities and become believers of the ascending New God on earth, building shrines for him and guiding his followers. In return, the new king would grant them a special pardon.
While many accepted this pardon, entered Holy Spring City, and ended their long and ultimately destructive resistance, there were some who could not accept it and left, abandoning all their residences and heading into the deep mountains.
Fortunately, the outside world was no longer filled with sandstorms. Even if they stayed in the mountains without the secret funding of individual Lords of Goodness, they would not starve or die of thirst; at least their survival was guaranteed.
And Eivass found new protectors for them—
That was Cardinal Belisarius.
This “Ice Heart King” of Anxi was, in fact, the mastermind behind the Red Hand. The fact that these slaves and homeless people could become powerful extraordinary beings stemmed from Belisarius’s training.
This Iron-blooded Cardinal still respected the traditions of the Church—never forcing changes to the customs and ways of life of other countries in the name of the Elves.
This seemed like an overly benevolent, lawful prohibition. But in reality, only the people of the Church knew the meaning behind it.
Because the ruling body of the Church was composed entirely of High-Tier Devotees. This led to them being “good people” in a sense, or rather, too good—to the extent that they were willing to sacrifice everything for others, including their own power, strength, and lives.
But the problem was that the path recognized by each individual, their understanding of “justice,” “morality,” and “what should be done,” was not entirely consistent.
This led to the problem that if Elves tried to reform other countries according to their own ideas, the first problem they would face would be “interference from other Elves.” Because their definition of correctness might not align with the ideas of other Elves.
The roads of the selfless often diverged, and their destructiveness was often greater than that of the selfish. This was because the selfish understood compromise, knew when to stop, and had a clear concept of interests and returns… whereas the selfless would spare no cost to achieve their ideals.
The essence of this prohibition was that ancient Elves, for this very reason, experienced a civil war of an extremely vast scale, which even engulfed the entire world. Countless Elves died, and many other ancient races were destroyed… Only when there were very few races left in this world did the Elves finally come to their senses.
The establishment of the Eternal Holy Kingdom was due to the realization by the remaining Elves of this problem: they could never build a world that satisfied everyone. So they chose compromise… that is, Elves would no longer actively interfere with other countries, but would only accept passive requests and maintain basic order.
It could be said that every seemingly inexplicable strange regulation had a complex story behind it.
However, as the central figure of judgment, Belisarius was undoubtedly an extremist among the Cardinals.
Compared to the more conservative Cardinals, he was trying to circumvent this prohibition issued by the first Eternal Pope—
—Because no matter what, he could not accept the slavery system of Anxi.
But the existence of slaves was essentially to support the Abyss Heavenly Envoys; the existence of the desert was to bury the Sin Thorns, and the Sin Thorns were ordered to be stored there by the Candlemaster.
These were decisions made by the leaders of leaders, not something a mere Cardinal like him could change; and the Abyss Heavenly Envoys were mindless and incapable of communication, so even if they understood High-Tier Divine Arts, they could not establish contact with them.
Regarding the three elements of combustion, there are four principles for extinguishing a fire—removing combustibles, isolating oxygen, lowering the temperature below the ignition point, and terminating the chain reaction through chemical inhibition. Since the first two were impossible, and the third only treated the symptoms and not the root cause, Belisarius could only choose the fourth.
He could not eliminate the desert, nor could he get rid of the Abyss Heavenly Envoys, so Belisarius decided to revoke the power of the Lords of Goodness.
Therefore, Belisarius had long stationed a Paladin legion in Anxi.
If people requested it, he would act; if many people were willing to risk death to cross the desert and reach him, it meant that their patience had reached its limit—and then he could use this as an excuse to directly dispatch troops to attack Anxi.
Of course, Belisarius himself was not enough.
He was only Fifth Tier, and his Paladin troops were all Fourth Tier. He could easily kill a few Lords of Goodness and defeat a few city-states. But no matter what, he could not fight all the Lords of Goodness alone; he would surely die here, hunted by the omnipresent curses and rituals… but it didn’t matter.
Because as long as he died here, the Church would have to respond to his death and the deaths of his Paladin legion.
At that time, the excuse for war would no longer be “interference in other countries’ internal affairs and traditions,” but a clear and straightforward “revenge.” And there were many Cardinals who disliked Anxi, but they simply lacked the reason or excuse to act.
In the end, what the Church’s strange regulation truly bound was not the “Church in the eyes of other countries,” but the “Church in the eyes of other Elves,” and even “other Cardinals.” Therefore, as long as they could persuade all other Cardinals to agree to act, there would be no worries about division.
But, unfortunately…
All those who crossed the desert, saw Belisarius, and yearned for power, either had no intention of destroying the entire Anxi and only wanted revenge for themselves; or they saw through Belisarius’s superficial intentions and thus worried or were wary of the Elves’ excuse to invade Anxi; those who were smart enough to see through Belisarius’s deeper plan did not want this good person, Belisarius, to die here.
As a result, although Belisarius had cultivated many rebels, he himself never had the chance to act until the very end.
Although this was a failure…
From another perspective, it was also a success.
When the Abyss Heavenly Envoy descended, he had actually sensed it.
At that time, Belisarius was leading his Paladin legion from the depths of the desert… but by the time he arrived, everything was over.
He naturally knew Eivass, the former Pope, and understood what had happened here.
He was very pleased that the suffering of the Anxi people had finally ended. And unlike his original “compromise approach,” Eivass had not only eliminated the Abyss Heavenly Envoy and the Lords of Goodness, but had even wiped out the Sin Thorns and transformed the desert. These means, which treated both the symptoms and the root cause, truly convinced Belisarius.
It was precisely because of Belisarius’s help that the Red Hand members were so submissive to Eivass.
Their actions became so radical was not entirely due to Hassan’s influence—after all, Hassan had left Anxi long ago, and he had only recently returned here, not even recognizing everyone.
The Red Hand regarded Hassan as their leader, but in a sense, they were only using the “well-known Hassan” as a flag.
Hassan, who had truly received mage education, had strategies that were more stable and rational, and they did not influence the decisions of these people at all. This was also why he had been reclusive before… but neither the Grey Heavenly Envoy nor Morgan told him the reason behind it.
—Because the true leader of the Red Hand was Cardinal Belisarius!
That philosophy, mixed with “premature death” and “necessary evil,” that idea of escalating things by sacrificing oneself, was influenced by Cardinal Belisarius.
As the Cardinal who controlled the military power within the Church, it was very normal for Belisarius to be more radical and hold more violent ideals, and there was no need to interfere.
After all, Belisarius’s actions were always within the rules—even though the Red Hand was supported by him, it was still within the scope of “Anxi’s affairs should be resolved by the Anxi people themselves.” He did not teach the Red Hand any supernatural knowledge beyond their authority, nor did he directly give them any weapons or equipment beyond Anxi’s technology.
Now, Eivass entrusting him with the care of those Red Hand members who were too radical to accept change was exactly what Cardinal Belisarius wanted—his Paladin legion indeed needed personnel, and sufficiently radical individuals were indeed more suitable to become Paladins.
After everything had settled down.
On July 10th, Eivass publicly announced at Holy Spring City Square—the era of the Lords of Goodness had completely ended.
No one was a slave, nor was there any slave owner.
All people are born equal, and everyone’s life is equally precious.
The new country was named “Wanning” by Eivass.
This word in Anxi Language is composed of “residence” and “safe,” meaning “a safe haven.” This was Eivass’s initial and most beautiful wish for the Anxi people… he only hoped they could live well.
And Eivass’s wife, Isabel, the last Queen of Avalon, was the first Sultana of Wanning.
The word Sultan, in Anxi Language, means “authorized holder of divine power,” and it also implies a controller of authority. And Sultana is the feminine form of Sultan, a title that was most fitting for the current situation.
After all, in the past Anxi, no god could grant them the power to rule. Because the Anxi people had no gods of their own—the Great Abyss was not their protector. Therefore, in the past Anxi, there were no Sultans, only Kings.
In present-day Wanning, there was no longer desert, no more sacrifices, no more Great Abyss, and no more Lords of Goodness.
The prestige of Eivass, the Winged One, had now reached an unquestionable peak in Anxi—or rather, “Wanning.”
After all, it was a feat akin to creation, a miracle witnessed by everyone.
Even if the Anxi people of the past had deep feelings for slave culture and deep cultural inertia, from now on… at least for three generations, no one would have any doubts or questions about it.
People were completely bathed in an illusion-like ecstasy. Statues of Lords of Goodness were toppled, their paintings were torn to shreds, and expensive robes turned into flags.
It was not that some Lords of Goodness did not try to resist—but the plan to resist the new king did not even last a day before they were killed on the spot by their own guards, who offered their heads to show their allegiance to the new king.
After all, the strongest Lords of Goodness had all received invitations to hunt the Abyss Heavenly Envoy. All the remaining Lords of Goodness in this country were Fourth Tier or below… When their personal guards defected, these fragile Forbidden Mages and Ritualists had no power to resist.
Smarter Lords of Goodness, however, tried to take their hoarded treasures—at least a portion of them—with their families and slaves, and flee outside the city… this had to be said to be a very clever choice.
Now, even the wilderness was more habitable than the oasis cities of the past, and as long as they avoided trouble and changed their identities, no one would remember their existence.
And as long as they found some connections to help them convert these treasures into wealth, they would at least have very comfortable living conditions—at a minimum, they could even flee abroad! There, no one would know they were once Lords of Goodness, right?
However, even such an action ended in failure.
If the Anxi people worshipped Eivass like a god… then for the Harpies, Eivass was their god.
Eivass had now become a true pure-blooded Winged One. The wings behind him were proof of his former status as King of Winged Ones, and the jeweled shoulder strap was a token personally made by the King of Winged Ones. The Harpies showed immense respect even to Lixia, an ordinary Winged One, let alone the current Eivass.
Under the tireless search of the Harpies, these Lords of Goodness who attempted to escape in the night were all captured within three days. The Lords of Goodness and their direct descendants were all eaten, while the remaining family members were sent back to be detained, awaiting future pardon or execution by the Sultan.
The only surviving Lord of Goodness was “Brave” Isma’i.
As the only one among all the Lords of Goodness who stood with Eivass, he was fortunate enough to receive pardon and forgiveness. In the new dynasty, he would be responsible for maintaining order as a general.
And the leader of Isabel’s personal guard was taken by Lixia—this was her former job in Avalon, and now she had found her old job again.
After all, Wanning was severely short-handed at the moment… The current order was entirely maintained by Eivass’s prestige, but this situation was bound to not last long. They needed to establish a new order before people cooled down.
Even Eivass and Isabel could only stay at “Encyclopedia’s” home for now… After all, the palaces of the Lords of Goodness had been destroyed in the battle with the Abyss Heavenly Envoy, and there was no room to build new palaces at the moment.
And while everyone was busy to the point of exhaustion.
An extremely humble uninvited guest, kneeling, knocked on the door of Eivass’s temporary residence—
It was a Goblin.
Mr. Grandet, the “One Who Hides in a Horse’s Belly.”
(End of this chapter)
